Will TNA become WCW 2.0?

[Strife3]

Now that Hogan and Bishoff have complete 100% "control" of TNA are they going to run TNA into the ground like WCW was?

Like WCW, TNA has former WWE stars. the new Immortal Faction is just a new version of the nWo.

Just from what I've seen with how things have gone since Hulk Hogan came in lsat year I can't help but seeing this is the begining of the end for TNA, WCW you had Ted Turner and on the other Hulk and Eric. Now it's just changed from Ted to Dixie Carter who Eric Bishoff tried to suck up to about having a huge pair of balls. Which of course was a shot at Vince but then again Dixie's the one who 'HASN'T' worked for him.

Time will tell but I think that TNA is going to be short lived if Hogan and Bishoff are allowed to do what they want just like in WCW.

 

[GrandSword]

Strife ... as much as I hate to say it as I'm not a fan of the product at the moment, and yet I so want the best for TNA... whatever Hogan is doing, it's working. I think they are getting ratings of 1.5s at the moment.

Now before Bischoff came in they were running at 1.2s and then when they went to Monday it went down 0.8, but now it's at their highest rating since the beginning...

Yes a 1.5 is nothing on the 3.5s WWE get but it is a move in the right direction...

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I'm not a huge fan of TNA's current product overall at all but TNA has been doing a good job of sustaining momentum. They've been doing it better this year than, maybe, anytime over the past few years. For most of the past several weeks, TNA has been pulling numbers that, in the overall history of TNA, have been strong. Last week's iMPACT! drew a 1.37 and 1.855 million viewers. A lot more people just seem to be interested in the TNA product at the moment. From a numbers standpoint, TNA has rarely looked stronger.

Whether or not you're a fan of the product, people are watching and that's what TNA wants. As long as they can keep doing stuff that has folks interested, then they're going to be ok. Hell, as long as they retain their hardcore 1.4 million viewers, they're not going anywhere anytime soon.

 

[GrandSword]

This is the thing.. alot of epople are bagging out the current product.. but the numbers don't lie. they are obviously doing something right, and be it promoting guys like Hardy and Anderson as much as alot of hardcore TNA fans don't like it and they think it's all WWE Lite, it is working and TNA is getting higher numbers...

 

[MB1025]

It seems like every month someone starts a "Is TNA going to be WCW 2.0" thread. What people fail to realize is WCW was actually a good thing. The merger with AOL/Time Warner was the main problem with their fall. The other problem was around 98-99 was not putting new stars in the main event scene and continuing throwing out Hogan, Flair, Savage, Sting, and Luger. That group of names couldn't put on a decent match in 1996. 3 years later they are still wrestling. TNA isn't even in the position to do that because Hogan can't wrestle and Sting, Steiner, and Flair can't go full time let alone part time. So besides those guys TNA has no choice but to give you younger guys.


What always confused me was why Bischoff didn't take the WCW route with TNA as far as structuring the show. If you go back and look at Nitros in 95, 96, 97, and 98 they always had pretty good matches that had a lot of time. They also always started off the show with a cruiserweight match or a match that had a guy in it that was super over. Imagine if Impact started off every week with any combination of...

Kazarian
Doug Williams
Amazing Red
MCMG
Generation Me
Ink Inc
Beer Money
Brian Kendrick
Samoa Joe
Matt Morgan
Jay Lethal
Crimson
Desmond Wolfe ( I know he is injured )

They don't even need to talk. Just come out and have a match either against each other or have them face jobbers to just get the crowd hot and build momentum for themselves.

 

[owen8472]

TNA is not as well backed as WCW was and have the money firepower to get hot new names or steal people the wwe wants to keep.. they get what the wwe used up all ready

 

[ptsheridan]

No, they won't. Why? Because TNA was never number 1 in the ratings for 80 weeks or so. WCW was a legitimate threat to WWE. TNA is just a giant joke that was run into the ground from the go.

 

[Chopper]

They already are. It's only a matter of months before TNA goes bankrupt. Their product is stale, boring and their roster is full of WWE reject that nobody cares about.

PLus, with Russo, Hogan and Jarrett calling the shots. I am surpirsed they're still going.
Mark my words: 2011 will see the demise of TNA.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

I don't think TNA will ever come anywhere near WCW's success so the answer is no. Sure TNA is following a similar blueprint that WCW followed but they need to actually become competition to WWE in order to become WCW. It's not a knock against TNA just an observation.

WCW was never a bad thing, without WCW there most likely wouldn't have been an Attitude era, they provided healthy competition and in turn made both companies push the envelope. WCW was necessary and considering what Bischoff made WCW into from when he got it was pretty extraordinary (in 3 years the company went from losing 12 million to making 50 million, that says alot).

TNA isn't doing bad, but without a substantial increase in ratings and PPV buys they will never be WCW 2.0, hell I don't think even think Vince McMahon could tell you anything about TNA because he doesn't even pay attention to them, at least WCW did enough to where Vince paid attention.

All in all TNA is doing fine overall and even though they haven't gained much over the last 5 years in terms of audience at least they are moving forward and thats all that matters.

 

[midgensa]

TNA is consistently growing. That is a fact. Talking about it being "run into the ground from the get go" is absolutely incorrect. Their numbers have grown from being a weekly PPV show that barely anyone bought to a weekly cable show with a 1.5 rating and with decent PPV numbers.

That being said, they are nowhere near what WCW was at their height, or even really at their end. Which helps and hurts them. Part of WCW's issue near the end was that they had beaten WWE for a significant amount of time, and it was apparent they would never do that again.

I think TNA is perfect for the niche market it is in now and it will continue to grow. I personally am not a huge fan of the current product and think the likes of Dixie Carter should have NEVER even appeared on camera. But, the ratings are going up.

It is not going away any time soon ... and hopefully will continue to carve out a spot in the wrestling pantheon and become a major player in the next 5-10 years. It would be the best thing for both TNA and WWE.

 

[clinicallyawesome]

It seems like every month someone starts a "Is TNA going to be WCW 2.0" thread. What people fail to realize is WCW was actually a good thing. The merger with AOL/Time Warner was the main problem with their fall..

I wasn't going to say anything on this thread untill I got to this quote. Bro, I'm glad someone said this.... finally.

 

[deforty]

I wasn't going to say anything on this thread untill I got to this quote. Bro, I'm glad someone said this.... finally.

I agree completely with this. No one seems to remember that AOL did not want wrestling on their newly acquired programming they were pulling the strings not Bischoff and Hogan. WCW would probably still be around if Turner was running things.

These types of things happen in every merger/acquisition the newer company sees things to get rid of that they don't want to fund and WCW was that thing with them. I mean if I took over a company and found a way to make over not sure what Vince bought it for I would guess around 200 million to help fix anything that was not making money I would. It's simple business. It happens in all companies that merge or sell majority ownership, something goes away right away.

I do wish they would let Bischoff run a little WCW style shows but I think Panda Energy has more pull than all of know about, they are playing the safe route i think.

They have done some of the same stupid crap that was at the end of WCW but not all of it. I would like for them to hire some new writers to help them out and give Russo a little less. He does better when he is not in complete control.

I don't think so ratings are up here but we have no idea what they are doing around the world as in some areas they are more popular than the WWE. Plus since the company is privately owned and not public we don't know their financial situation. I would say that they are probably ok at the moment.

 

[wushady]

I don't think TNA is going anywhere anytime soon. Their ratings have been going up little by little. They're still nowhere near WWE's ratings, but they're heading in the right direction. I can see why people compare TNA's product to WCW, but I don't think they will suffer the same fate as WCW. WCW was totally unwatchable the last year or two they were around in my opinion. However they were only sold to WWE because the new owners AOL/Time Warner didn't want to be in the wrestling business.

They were still getting ratings similar to what TNA is getting now. The main problem for WCW was they lost their TV deal and the owners had no plans to keep it going and give Bischoff and others a chance to make it profitable again. In TNA's case Spike TV seems to be 100% behind them, and I don't think Dixie Carter will sell the company anytime soon. She may not have a great wrestling mind, but I think she's 100% dedicated to making TNA a major company.

TNA has yet to be a major threat to WWE as WCW was, but they have been on a major network almost as long as Nitro was. I don't think Hogan and Bischoff have anywhere near as much power now as they did in WCW. So I don't think they would be responsible if TNA were to go out of business.

 

[shattered dreams]

Pleasantly surprised that idiots have not managed to flood this thread with that gibberish we hear all too often. Instead the majority are accurately assessing the downfalls of WCW which tends to poke a giant hole in that myth that it would be bad for TNA to have any similarities to WCW. WCW was one of the most successful prowrestling companies ever. The IWC has spent years building up exaggerated legends around who to blame because the average person needs someone better to be angry at than faceless suits.

 

[klunderbunker]

They're a LONG way off from being WCW. WCW in its dying days was a bumbling mess with no way of telling what was going on or having anything at all as far as coherence. TNA may have flaws and plot holes but it's perfectly clear what the basic story is. Almost anyone can watch a show and they'll know what's going on. Also they don't ahve the WCW money to throw around which was a lot of the problems WCW had. Finally, WCW had a major issue with their past. WCW was so popular at one point that when they fell through the ground people saw them as a shell of their former shelves. TNA doesn't have far to fall but can go a long way up, which works in their favor here.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

They already are. It's only a matter of months before TNA goes bankrupt. Their product is stale, boring and their roster is full of WWE reject that nobody cares about.

PLus, with Russo, Hogan and Jarrett calling the shots. I am surpirsed they're still going.
Mark my words: 2011 will see the demise of TNA.

Mark my words- No it will not

TNA is getting stronger, slowly but surely. I think that this year will see the break out of Robert Roode into the main event scene, which the fans are waiting for. We will see the old guys fade away more as the year goes on, and I also think AJ Styles will end up back as the top guy in the company.

Everyone is so negative about TNA, and while the promotion has problems, it is nowhere near as bad as people make it out to be. Anderson, Morgan, Crimson, Roode and others all have a great chance to do something this year and using those guys correctly, plus a sprinkling of the more experienced wrestlers like Sting, and the recognised main eventers in Hardy, Angle and RVD, TNA has a great talent base

As long as we dont have too much Hogan and Flair, I think TNA will end the year with higher ratings than it is doing right now.

 

[Baximus]

They already are. It's only a matter of months before TNA goes bankrupt. Their product is stale, boring and their roster is full of WWE reject that nobody cares about.

PLus, with Russo, Hogan and Jarrett calling the shots. I am surpirsed they're still going.
Mark my words: 2011 will see the demise of TNA.

Ding, Ding, Ding! We have a winner for the dumbest post of the thread!

While everyone else was doing a great job having a mature discussion about the demise of WCW, someone had to be the turd in the punch bowl and trot out the tired old cliche statement of 'TNA sukkz LOLZ Hulkabankruptcy!'

FACTS:

1) TNA has significant support from Spike TV, whose patronage has allowed TNA to grow to what it is today: The 2nd largest wrestling promotion in the world
2) TNA started doing live events almost 3 years ago to gauge the level on interest in the company potentially becoming a touring promotion. They've met good success during those three years, including multiple successful European tours that saw them draw a house of over 8,000 fans at the Wembley Arena.,
3) TNA just went on the road, proving that they can draw a big enough crowd (and a 6 figure gate BTW) to justify the continued expansion of their touring onto television.
4) Oh yeah, EVERYONE who has a direct knowledge of TNA's finances has said that the company is profitable and has been for years.

TNA is slowly growing into a legitimate #2 company to the WWE. If they can continue to gain momentum and take their shows on the road then you could see their ratings start to come close to Smackdown's in the next year or two.

They're certainly not going ANYWHERE, especially not bankrupt.......

 

[achromat666]

Ok, I admit to never having been a fan of the Bischoff era WCW and therefore not a fan of the current TNA, but if WCW didn't have the Kidmans, Mysterios, Juvi's, Saturns, Malenkos, etc to give people high quality matches in the last years of that promotion, the Hogans, Steiners, Nash's and Jarretts wouldn't have meant anything. In this case, the Styles, Kazarians, Shellys, Sabins, and others round out TNA and help many of it's fans continue watching. Do I think Hogan and company have way too much TV time? absolutely but these threads seem to forget the reason why the Hogans were and are able to stay in the spotlight is because of the talent that a given promotion has.

When I see there is far less interest in Hogan, Flair, and the rest and more focus on the talent I'll consider watching again. Until then, whether I'm watching or not TNA isn't nor shall never be WCW. And regardless of your feelings on WCW this is a good thing. TNA is it's own show that now simply borrows too much from the past. This current phase can only last so long as the older talent can't last forever. Then the comparisons will stop and we can focus on what's important.

 

[ABMorales787]

They already are. It's only a matter of months before TNA goes bankrupt.

I guess you're the teller at Dixie's bank. Completely ignoring the fact that are hiring more talent and selling out buildings for Impact. But you know. TNA's failing.

Their product is stale, boring

Funny. I say the same thing almost every Monday.

and their roster is full of WWE reject that nobody cares about.

Hi-yo!! Hello, Ignorance. How are you today?

I'm fine. Thank you.

Hey Ignorance, remember the 80's and 90's?

Nope.

There were so many wrestling companies. Wrestlers jumped from company to company like nobody's business. It was like "homegrown talent" was a fairy tale.

It was also the most successful periods of wrestling, but whats your point?

Obviously what's important is how a wrestler performs and not where the hell he grew up.

Tell that to some posters.

I just did.

PLus, with Russo, Hogan and Jarrett calling the shots. I am surpirsed they're still going.

Success. But you know, if you don't headbutt 3.8 in the ratings in a year, it's bad. After all, we have to satisfy some dudes on the internet. The know EVERYTHING we do. EVERYTHING. Even our finances.

Mark my words: 2011 will see the demise of TNA.

Let's mark them in stone. And stand them next to the Aztec calender. Where it says that in 2012 a random something or other will senselessly end life. At least that's what the smart people who aren't scientist's say.

 

[AntiChristDeicide]

They already are. It's only a matter of months before TNA goes bankrupt. Their product is stale, boring and their roster is full of WWE reject that nobody cares about.

PLus, with Russo, Hogan and Jarrett calling the shots. I am surpirsed they're still going.
Mark my words: 2011 will see the demise of TNA.

this is the dumbest post i have seen today.

1. How would you know about the finances of TNA do you work there?
2. Did you know that you need establish veterans of the ring to get talent over? Thats why TNA needs the ex-WWE wrestlers dumbass.
3. Russo, Hogan and Jarrett are not running the show, Dixie and her parents oversea what happens in TNA
4. Blah Blah Blah and the world will end in 2012 yeah right.

 

[quink987]

what i dont understand is that everyone keep saying "will TNA be the next WCW", "why isnt TNA as big as WCW" "TNA sucks it will never be as big as WCW" well come on guys did WCW become what it was over night no! WCW started in 1988 and it wasnt till 1997-1999 that it was considered to be on the same level as WWE or even bigger thats 10 years and why was this they brought all of WWE's top talent.

they spent millions and millions on talent they already had homegrown talent who was over (e.g) Sting, Ric Flair and so on, they introduced the Cruiserwieghts which had never been seen before which helped them get bigger.but TNA hasnt had that chance for a company to where it is now is a great milestone nearly every wrestling fan knows who TNA is, their on Cable TV, they've even made their own star and they have star waiting to brake through Robert Roode, Samoa Joe, AJ styles, MCMG, i know all of these are from the independent circuit and that but their stars now. I think TNA needs everyone to get behind them and thinking their going to be the next WCW overnight!!!!!!