Did TNA jump the gun?

[Fuel The Fire]

Ok with everyone jumping up an down for the x-mas gift we are getting from tna for the showdown with raw on Jan. 4th.
I was wondering would have been better if they held off on the annoucment until closer to the 21's week or maybe even the 28th week of december.
I know that it was a good idea for them to get this out and start advertising for it but I just cant help but wonder that if they did wait would it throw vince off balance and give him less time to prep. Because if your telling me vince doesnt think of tna as a threat , i really think he does. For the rumors that have started going around that he is also doing a 3 hour show and bringing in the rock now to host raw tells you that he does think of tna as a threat and hes trying to make sure tna doesnt get more of an audence for their show.
Now back to what i was thinking that if TNA held off the announcment for a few more weeks would have been better for tna so that vince would not get ready for war? Or does tna want vince at his full game just to see if they can hang with vince in rattings? Just curious and i was wondering what you guys thought.

 

[burnout4200]

Vince's time for reaction didn't come in to play with the decision. The fact is most old school wrestling fans gave up on sports entertainment and now watch UFC. Hogan wanted to reach those fans and that was the perfect way to do it. Considering the fact that Kimbo was also fighting cemented that TUF would get huge ratings and viewers that don't even normally watch UFC.

UFC is kicking WWE's ass in pay per view buys and what not as well. TNA got a chance to advertise with WWE's biggest competition. If anything was ever perfect timing this is it. Throw in the fact that WWE is stale and currently taking a gamble to create new stars, the whole thing couldn't have better timing.

 

[EStreet]

all makes sense to me to release info early. plus, in terms of gaining ratings, TNA should not just be thinking about Jan 4th. but also the upcoming rounds of Impact!..Hogan announcement last about month, now its time for new hype to carry the program until the showdown...

as i said in another thread..if Vince does anything different for his Raw Jan. 4th (and that includes bringing in a HUGE name (THE ROCK) to host) then he is obviously very concerned about TNA

 

[burnout4200]

Word of mouth is also the best form of advertisement. You gotta give people the time to spread the word before the show airs.

 

[Ubiquitous]

Vince isn't bringing in The Rock in as competition towards TNA's 3 hour special, if no one seems to recall, 1/4 has been the rumored date of The Rock hosting Raw since his special appearance on Smackdown awhile back. I personally think Vince may extend Raw from 8-11 just to absolutely crush TNA and show them they can't hold their own against WWE. I'm not saying I want this, as I like and appreciate both products, but I honestly think Vince's ego is so big, that he lost the word "competition" from his dictionary when he bought WCW.

 

[TellMeWhy]

Now that I think about it, fuel you made a great point. TNA announcing this gives Vince such a strong head start. But I don't really think it's jumping the gun. I think it's smart. TNA got free publicity on a high rated show from 1 of America's biggest wrestling icons and biggest icons period, Hulk Hogan. The announcement on the show will only help TNA.

Vince's time for reaction didn't come in to play with the decision. The fact is most old school wrestling fans gave up on sports entertainment and now watch UFC. Hogan wanted to reach those fans and that was the perfect way to do it. Considering the fact that Kimbo was also fighting cemented that TUF would get huge ratings and viewers that don't even normally watch UFC.

UFC is kicking WWE's ass in pay per view buys and what not as well. TNA got a chance to advertise with WWE's biggest competition. If anything was ever perfect timing this is it. Throw in the fact that WWE is stale and currently taking a gamble to create new stars, the whole thing couldn't have better timing.

Just curious to know, how do you know this to be a fact? Is there some consensus or poll out there with fans of UFC that says that they were once former wrestling fans? Where does this talk come from because I always here it? But anyway, this is a great post.

 

[burnout4200]

It's just a general observation. I'm the only one of my friends left that carried his wrestling fandom into adulthood. All of those friends now support The UFC. Besides, MMA has more in common with old school wrestling than any other type of televised competition. It seems like the logical place for those fans to be. Also UFC's rise in popularity seemed to coincide with wrestlings decline. Both phenomenons seemed to take place around the same time.

If you really enjoy MMA it leaves Sports Entertainment looking extremely weak comparatively. Alot of people watched wrestling because there wasn't any fighting shows except boxing. Unfortunatly Boxing seemed to have this crooked aura surrounding it which took away from it's appeal as well. Now with MMA there's finally a fighting advancement for people to watch and they flocked to it.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

Burnout is absolutely right. I can't tell ya how many times I heard someone say " Screw that weak WWE crap Watch UFC that's the real shiiiiz! " .. most of these guys are my friends. If not all of them. This move was really genius imo. Kinda makes me take Hogan seriously for a moment.

 

[donutman]

It's just a general observation. I'm the only one of my friends left that carried his wrestling fandom into adulthood. All of those friends now support The UFC. Besides, MMA has more in common with old school wrestling than any other type of televised competition. It seems like the logical place for those fans to be. Also UFC's rise in popularity seemed to coincide with wrestlings decline. Both phenomenons seemed to take place around the same time.

If you really enjoy MMA it leaves Sports Entertainment looking extremely weak comparatively. Alot of people watched wrestling because there wasn't any fighting shows except boxing. Unfortunatly Boxing seemed to have this crooked aura surrounding it which took away from it's appeal as well. Now with MMA there's finally a fighting advancement for people to watch and they flocked to it.

That has nothing to do with "sports entertainment". Hell, most people were WWE fans when "Sports Entertainment" (Rock/Stone Cold/DX/ect) were at its finest. Some people get older and just grow out of wrestling. And Vince isn't trying to compete with UFC. Thats like trying to compete with boxing, NBA, or the NFL. Their only competition is the other pro wrestling organization out there, TNA.

Burnout is absolutely right. I can't tell ya how many times I heard someone say " Screw that weak WWE crap Watch UFC that's the real shiiiiz! " .. most of these guys are my friends. If not all of them. This move was really genius imo. Kinda makes me take Hogan seriously for a moment.

What makes you think they look at TNA differently? It's still pro wrestling, just a different name. Most those people wouldn't think twice about watching TNA. All the former wrestling fans I know never even seen TNA. You're right though, they watch UFC because its a real sports competition. How is TNA going to give them that? Being on the same network as UFC won't change their view on pro wrestling. Before TUF finale, UFC would always diss pro wrestling by calling it "fake fighting". Joe Rogan was notorious for this.

 

[BladeRunner]

If you really enjoy MMA it leaves Sports Entertainment looking extremely weak comparatively. Now with MMA there's finally a fighting advancement for people to watch and they flocked to it.

I just think that it depends on what you want from a product. If you want ANY kind of storylines of any sort, MMA is not for you.

If you want over the top, larger than life characters, MMA is not for you.

If you just want wrestling, then yes MMA is for you.

Most wrestling fans love all the things that modern "sports entertainment" includes which are some of things I listed. I don't see how MMA can really fill all the voids that would be left if there was no "sports entertainment". Only the people who just really want wrestling and nothing else are particularly inclined towards it.

As for the topic at hand.

I think that TNA is trying to be as tactical as possible to push itself onto WWE turf. And to say that Vince would not notice at all when TNA is obviously trying to steal viewers, is pretty much nonsense. Vince sees it plainly and I'm sure that he will do what it takes to try to make RAW the best he possibly can. And we're all going to be rewarded, whether we watch RAW or TNA so I think everything's great about all this and it's really something interesting to look forward to.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Now back to what i was thinking that if TNA held off the announcment for a few more weeks would have been better for tna so that vince would not get ready for war? Or does tna want vince at his full game just to see if they can hang with vince in rattings? Just curious and i was wondering what you guys thought.

I think that TNA holding off the announcement would be a bad thing because they don't advertise enough as it is. Just look at PPV commercials or the commercials for tv shows like Impact. You see commercials for WWE shows and PPV's on many channels, including ones that don't have those shows on them.... but I don't think I have ever seen a TNA one that wasn't on Spike.

TNA should advertise more, so I think they did not jump the gun at all in terms of announcing this because the anticipation will build and that means more people will watch it because they had already heard about it a while before it happens. Now, them jumping the gun in terms of trying to compete with Raw this soon.... that's where they may have jumped the gun because it might still be too early, we'll have to wait and find out.

 

[burnout4200]

That has nothing to do with "sports entertainment". Hell, most people were WWE fans when "Sports Entertainment" (Rock/Stone Cold/DX/ect) were at its finest. Some people get older and just grow out of wrestling.

None of what you said changes the fact that if you mention WWE you always get a smart ass saying "That's fake, watch UFC". It's an advancement either way and that's what people are drawn to. Myspace is far superior to Facebook in my opinion yet Facebook is taking over.

And Vince isn't trying to compete with UFC. Thats like trying to compete with boxing, NBA, or the NFL. Their only competition is the other pro wrestling organization out there, TNA.

America has a struggling economy and alot of families won't buy more than one pay per view a month. WWE is in direct competition with UFC for PPV buys no matter what way you look at it.

What makes you think they look at TNA differently? It's still pro wrestling, just a different name. Most those people wouldn't think twice about watching TNA. All the former wrestling fans I know never even seen TNA. You're right though, they watch UFC because its a real sports competition. How is TNA going to give them that? Being on the same network as UFC won't change their view on pro wrestling. Before last night, UFC would always diss pro wrestling by calling it "fake fighting". Joe Rogan was notorious for this.

You said it yourself by saying some people just grew out of wrestling. It's called nostalgia and only one person could bring that to the table covering all generations of fans. Hulk Hogan. I'd watch a new Ninja Turtles movie even though I've grown out of cartoons. People tend to feel intrigued to relive their past.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

TNA doesn't really have any option but to really just advertise the 3 hour Impact on Jan 4th. TNA is a company that, when compared to the WWE, does not draw a huge audience. On Thursday nights, TNA has been drawing somewhere in the vicinity of a 1.0-1.1 for a few months now with no competion. So, it's deciding to go up against the biggest wrestling company in the world on Monday night as sort of a test run to see whether or not Impact will possibly make a permanent move to Monday nights. TNA needs any and all advertising it can get if it hopes to draw any significant number of viewers away from Raw on that night.

Yes, it's given Vince McMahon all the time he needs to come up with a strategy and to build a strong line up for the night just in case, but there's really no way around it. If TNA was a larger company, then it may have been able to get away with announcing only a week or so in advance that it planned to go head to head against the WWE. Therein lies one of the major problems that TNA has: It's nowhere near as big, well known or established as the WWE so it has to pull out all the stops of getting word out. In the weeks to come, TNA is going to have to advertise and plug the hell out of the show. It has to get as many people interested as possible and TNA cannot rely on its name alone to guarantee that it gets the audience that it wants/is hoping for.

 

[NSL]

I'm not in favor of them announcing Hogan and the January 4th show so early, but I can see why they did it. They needed to get the ad spots for the show, they needed to wrap up storylines and sort out their roster, and they needed to give the guys on the roster a heads up as to what was ahead for them, and the company.

Had they waited until Christmas week, or even New Year's, they wouldn't have had the time to get everything together, even if it was already planned behind closed doors. They got the fans hyped, and they got the media outlets buzzing, so we'll have to wait and see just how much they "jumped the gun"...

 

[gd]

I think they had to announce it as early as they did. TNA has always had a problem adverstising their product and getting it out there. By announcing it so early on such a big stage, not only do you get a lot of the UFC fans to notice, but you also give yourself more time to advertise.

They've had a month to run commercails, posters, radios ads, etc. It's also something to mention on every one of the countless shows that Hogan goes on. Instead of just talking about Brooke's ass on the Jimmy Kimmel Show, he can talk about January 4th as well.