Could WWE put TNA out of business?

[mork83]

If they wanted to, could WWE put TNA out of business?

I don't think they want to for two reasons. 1)TNA isn't nearly on the same level as WCW was. 2)I think that WWE has learned that competition is good and TNA makes them better.

However, if Vince made it his mission to end TNA, how could he do it? I think the most obvious way to hurt TNA would be to move Smackdown to Thursdays. That would definitely damage Impact's ratings.

Also, losing Christian and Gail Kim has weakened TNA a little, but if 2-3 others (Kurt Angle, AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Awesome Kong, LAX) left for WWE, that would be really hurt. WWE could throw money at talent for their benefit, but also so that TNA couldn't have them.

The last thing I can think of would be to somehow schedule a PPV the same night as TNA. This one would make WWE look desperate, but the other two could be explained. I think all of these would hurt, maybe kill TNA, but they could also backfire. By doing these things, WWE would make TNA seem more important than they probably are.

Personally, I think that the TV and PPV ideas would backfire and ultimately help TNA, but WWE could definitely buy up talent. I think that without Kurt Angle alone they not the same. Add AJ or Joe or another big name wrestler, I think TNA would be in trouble. TNA's roster isn't that deep and with Steiner, Booker, Sting, and Nash involved, is old too. Plus, Roode, Storm, LAX, Shelley aren't big enough to main event yet. Again, I don't think that WWE wants TNA to end, but I think they could do it. Thoughts?

 

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

If WWE wanted to, I bet they could knock TNA on its ass, but it'd be stupid for them to do such, as TNA is actually sort of helping them if you think about it.

The main reasons for taking them out would be that they're competition that is stealing money from the WWE, but they really aren't.

How many people choose the TNA ppv of the month to buy over the WWE one?

TNA having their program on Thursdays doesn't interfere with any WWE programming at all, so that's no problem.

TNA can't offer superstars more money than the WWE, so they won't be having "all the big names" leaving like what once happened to the old WWF/WCW scenario. Losing Hogan, Luger, Perfect, Savage, Flair, etc was hard, and it'd be the same if the WWE were to lose Cena, Orton, Edge, Batista, etc now, but since TNA can't offer them more money OR glory, that won't be happening. TNA will just continue to pick up old retired people that think they deserve a title purely for their "legend status" and nothing else, midcarders that feel they're being underutilized and want that main event push but won't get it in the WWE, or recently fired people that simply need a job.

But having TNA in there actually helps the WWE out because it gives some people some true "spotlight practice" so to speak. We're hearing rumors now that Robert Roode is on the target list for WWE since his contract expires in the next few months. WWE officials can watch TNA just like everybody else and get to see what people are capable of, hear stories from their connections about backstage problems, and then if they like what they see and hear, scoop the guys up from TNA without having invested tons of effort and money in them previously.

Could WWE put them out of business? I wouldn't doubt it. But should they? Not until TNA starts actually putting up a fight and becoming a legitimate threat to the organization.

 

[klunderbunker]

I'm with NoFate. Sure they could but they're not going to. Easiest way to do that: move Smackdown or Raw to Thursday nights at 9, or just put on a new show of that level on at that time. People would watch WWE over TNA any day for the most part. WWE doesn't need to put them down though as they're a different type of enemy than WCW was. For the most part, TNA can't take much from WWE. People can watch both companies if they want without taking anything from the other. The only thing would be the PPV buys, but TNA is miles behind in those. So sure they should, but there's really no reason to.

 

[Mustang Sally]

If Vince wanted to knock TNA out of business, he would need to hire away anyone and everyone who is a big attraction for them. He would be foolish to do this since it would dramatically increase his expenses, which he doesn't want to do.

WCW got WWE in trouble (for awhile) by stealing away Vince's talent with the offer of mega-buck contracts. Eventually, WCW was losing $60-$80 million a year and destroyed themselves financially. I doubt the McMahons would make the same mistake.

WWE has no need to cause TNA to fail. There are plenty of capable wrestlers around and TNA doesn't seem to be making any inroads into taking WWE's business away, at least not according to TV ratings.

TNA's biggest problem might be themselves, just as WCW caused their own downfall by overspending. After all, it was just two years ago that we were reading how Samoa Joe was earning only $700 per match. Apparently, the company couldn't afford to pay him much more at that time. Presumably, he makes a lot more now. Then, you add in the considerable amount of money TNA had to pony up to attract people like Kurt Angle, Kevin Nash, Sting, etc. Before these guys arrived, the television rating was 1.0. Today, it still hovers around that mark.

Unless TNA has created some lucrative new money streams, they may price themselves out of existence without WWE having to do anything.

 

[Father:_Polley]

WWE could put TNA out of business easily if they wanted to and probably could have done so numerous times in the past, they same way they could have probably bought out other indy feds had they chose to.

Fact is, competition is healthy for WWE and stops them becoming stale. I think the main reason is probably they want to see what TNA has to offer - the likes of a main event trained Christian, AJ and Joe with some experience at holding belts, and then take them off their hands. Fact is, TNA is better than signing AJ to FCW for a few months, off TV and with guys who are infinately better than Kizarny and co.

Face it, WWE keeps TNA in business as a FREE training facility and then can steal who it likes. Smart business move

 

[Pimpin]

Of course. WWE could take them out this second if they truly wanted to but I think Vince McMahon loves competition cause after he bought out WCW & ECW there wasn't any competition out there for him to compete against(there still isn't). I think he wants to see what TNA can do as in competing against the WWE. Besides right now WWE doesn't need to take TNA out cause TNA could probably do that themselves plus it's not like WWE is being affected by other people watching TNA anyways.

 

[Blade]

Sure he could put them out of business, but where's the fun in that?

Simply put, Vince doesn't consider TNA a threat, and probably never will.
Look at it this way;
WWE put WCW out of business
Now compare TNA to WCW

Exactly.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

With the help of the recession, TNA may very well implode from within. They're PPV buyrates are already terrible.

Plus, if they lose Sabin and Shelley ... and then lose Angle once his contract expires ... I think all the writing will be on the wall that TNA is not in good shape. I would not be surprised to see them out of business in 3 years. And it may not even take that long.