Did TNA pick the wrong time to go live?

[bfred27]

The question I want to ask to the masses is did TNA pick the wrong time to go live? They plan on going live in March which is right in the middle of Wrestlemania build up. This is the time where WWE creative puts out their best product. While TNA may have some interesting stories going on right now, but can they honestly compete with wrestlemania. Would it have been better to wait until after wrestlemania to go live. I feel as if they are biting off more then they can chew. I could personaly care less about hulk hogan or ric flair wrestling, id rather see the great stories being built for wrestlemania.

So basically just wanted to get everyones opinion on this. I know TNA has to start competing at some point but could they have done it later in the year and had more success.

 

[Chrome]

The question I want to ask to the masses is did TNA pick the wrong time to go live? They plan on going live in March which is right in the middle of Wrestlemania build up. This is the time where WWE creative puts out their best product. While TNA may have some interesting stories going on right now, but can they honestly compete with wrestlemania. Would it have been better to wait until after wrestlemania to go live. I feel as if they are biting off more then they can chew. I could personaly care less about hulk hogan or ric flair wrestling, id rather see the great stories being built for wrestlemania.

So basically just wanted to get everyones opinion on this. I know TNA has to start competing at some point but could they have done it later in the year and had more success.

I don't think so, I think its ripe for the taking now. Personally I think that WWE being PG is simply to get Linda elected. Once elected then WWE may go back to PG-13. If TNA wants a run at the big time, now is there shot. There IS a demographic out there that wants more adult storylines and promos and that will be TNA's way of getting them in.

Also remember that When WCW went to Monday nights it was only getting 1.2 ratings on Saturdays (there main show) when it moved to Mondays was a huge step for them but it was Hogan and Bischoff leading that. And if they did it before they can do it again. I only hope they learned from WCW's mistakes (not everything was there fault but learned from there own mistakes as well as everyone elses) to make TNA the company its trying to be.

 

[proofinlife]

While obviously going head to head with the big E during their hottest time of the year that produces the best storylines (arguably) is an automatic shot in the foot, if postured properly, can actually work well in TNA's favour in the long run.

Trying to compete with WWE's most well-built part of the year can teach them how to properly compete with WWE storyline wise for the rest of the coming year, and do it in a more solid fashion. Seeing what is working and what isn't against the E during this time will give them a much better gauge on their product than any other time of the year, and, in the long run, will make them a better company for it.

Let's just hope TNA takes this opportunity to learn from their mistakes in the booking and entertainment department and put on a superior product to anything they've done in the past. I'd be happy to see TNA getting solid 2.0 - 3.0 ratings for foreseeable future and only get better and become more agreeable with the general public.

Now, obviously these changes will not agree with the IWC, because what most internet wrestling fans see as a good wrestling product is not what general viewers agree to be a good wrestling product. So, in order to become more profitable they are going to have to piss off the IWC and become more entertainment orientated, which is something that needs to be done if they are hoping to ever become a serious threat to RAW (which, at this point, is not even possible).

 

[The Con Volt]

Not necessarily. It's my belief that WWE would have stepped it up like they have been in recent weeks no matter when TNA decided to go to mondays. It's no coincidence that Bret Hart showed up out of nowhere after a 12 year absence.(Not counting his HOF induction.) Vince heard that TNA wanted to finally go head-to-head, and he was like, "OK, I'll push a young gun into the main event, bring back Bret Hart, and replace WWECW. Anything else you guys have been wanting for years now?" That's what this all comes down to really. In the last year, TNA has been slightly more enjoyable than WWE was. And that was ok for Vince because he was still ahead in ratings, merchandise, etc. But the second TNA started hinting at going permanent on mondays, Vince started burning on all cylinders, trying what I am assuming is his damn near best to actually improve the WWE product. To prove how much the product has improved, here is a little fun fact: I've been so caught up in it, that I have not watched Impact! for damn near 3 weeks now.

What was originally meant to be a full on war, has all but dwindled down to an ass-whipping of TNA before it can even begin. I of course am going to watch both promotions starting March 8th just like EVERYONE ELSE, but if Flair and Hogan's tag match happens to be on at the same time that say, A Miz promo, or a Christian match is on, sorry TNA, but WWE will have officially won the war on the first night. TNA is seriously gonna have to shine if they're thinking about going head-to-head with WWE on the road to Wrestlemania.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

I think they needed to shift to Mondays at the earliest possible date. Hogan/Bischoff/TNA are not stupid enough to think they are going to win the ratings war right now. It may take a year, two years, maybe three years to compete, and possibly beat, the WWE on Monday Nights.

But Hogan and company struck while the iron was hot. TNA is not overwhelming anyone in the ratings, but their is a buzz about that company. People are interested. People who now turn in to see TNA that didn't before are not doing so because they think TNA has a great product. They are there to see the evolution of the company. They want to see it get bigger and better, and be able to say in ten years (if the company is still alive and kicking) that they were there to watch it all go down.

Basically, it was a good move. Who's to say that a year from now things are automatically going to be better for TNA. What if things have gotten worse? Then SPike tv would not even consider moving them to Monday nights. They needed to do it NOW while the opportunity is available. Because down the road, that opportunity might not have been there.

 

[psykohurricane]

This is kind of a hard question to answer because on the one hand, i think that the timing his perfect for them to move to monday nights since March as always been the hottest month for wrestling fans and even with all the wrestlemania hype that the wwe will be getting, wrestling fans will still try to catch anything else wrestling related. On the other side of the coin, they are not ready and it a huge risk for them moving to monday nights simply because if they lose fans with the first show, especially since the main event is hogan/abyss vs Flair/styles, then what's next.

TNA is desperate right now and they've got nothing to lose so is the move to monday night's a bad move, i don't know, we would have to wait and see how well they did in the ratings to find that out. If they go lower then 1.2 on the first broadcast and the ratings don't comes up in the coming weeks then yes, it was a bad move for TNA but if the rating are higher then 1.2 and are able to keep them in or around the same area every weeks then it wasn't the wrong time.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Fuck yes they did

For goodness sakes. RAW is only half worth a fuck for about 8 weeks a year, and oh, wahey, lets make RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE of those 8 weeks when we decide to go head to head. Hair brained. In the summer or the fall would have been a far more advantageous time to do this, when all the WM momentum has died down, and there is lull in the WWE giving a fuck about what they put on TV.

 

[Papa Shango]

Based on what Eric Bishoff has said, TNA thinks they can take some of Raw's audience and bring them over to impact. I guess they think if they do it when Raw's at its highest viewership of the year, then they'll get an even bigger boost in ratings.

That reasoning is ******ed. They are building to WM, the biggest show of the year. Between that and the fact that they now have direct competition, and WWE will go out of their way to make sure that RAW is absolute must-see, don't change the channel for fear of missing something huge, prime television viewing.

And TNA has the Nasty Boys.

 

[Tastycles]

I don't think so actually. Obviously going against WWE when they are creatively at their strongest is fucking ******ed at face value, but I do think there is method to the madness. The time around WrestleMania is when the buzz around wrestling is at its biggest. ROH always put a big show on at this time of year, and Lockdown, which is generally hot on WrestleMania's heels is well received most years. By going live now, TNA may not get people changing the channel in their droves but it might get the odd person looking at the product for the first time whilst carried in the buzz surrounding Mania. If it works, it also means they can try themselves out when WWE are at their strongest to see if they can survive in any situation. If they can do it, then it will show true strength. It's certainly risky, but fortune favours the brave, you know?

 

[ThunderCloud]

yes and No but the problem is TNA made a few mistakes in going o Mondays and the main issue is they shouldve started at 8 EST and not head to head . If they have a good product people will stick around if not they will watch a hour of Raw or the opening minutes for Austin. TNA will have to hit a home run at the top of the hour to keep them but Im not sure if it will work.

 

[Vintage Nick]

Based on what Eric Bishoff has said, TNA thinks they can take some of Raw's audience and bring them over to impact. I guess they think if they do it when Raw's at its highest viewership of the year, then they'll get an even bigger boost in ratings.

That reasoning is ******ed. They are building to WM, the biggest show of the year. Between that and the fact that they now have direct competition, and WWE will go out of their way to make sure that RAW is absolute must-see, don't change the channel for fear of missing something huge, prime television viewing.

And TNA has the Nasty Boys.

Are you serious? He actually said that? Wow Eric, I never thought you'd seem that stupid.

TNA is desperate, desperate enough to slam Hogan and Abyss vs Ric Flair and "Lil' Flair (AJ)" onto their first live show on the first night of the "war." If they honestly think two old, near-crippled-as-fuck guys, an athlete in his prime whose character went down the shitter in the last few weeks, and a big child-like "monster" will boost ratings and kill Raw, then I pray to God that Vince and the writing team get their asses into gear and slap TNA silly in the ratings.

Going against WWE, especially in their most viewed time of the year, is suicidal. Wrestlemania's just around the corner, very interesting storylines/matches are happening on the Grandest Stage of Them All, and TNA thinks they can match up to WWE right now?

 

[Dave]

The fact that TNA have chosen this time is positively ******ed.

Honestly, WWE is never the same during the Road to Wrestlemania and trying to go up against them when they are putting out their best material and their best superstars is a but crazy, to be honest. I don't think that TNA will suffer massively because of this but I think they might realize that they have made a mistake, sooner rather than later. I would hazard a guess that a lot of TNA fans are also WWE fans and that, given the choice, fans would much rather watch WWE built up to a solid gold event, than TNA on any other given Monday. Do I expect TNA to give the ghost and move back to Thursdays? N, I don't and I think that this might be the undoing of everything that they have done well. They are going to suffer over the next few weeks and I can honestly see Spike TV scratching their heads in a couple of weeks thinking "what the hell have we done!?"

Then again, the road to Wrestlemania may help TNA too. A lot more fans generally tune in to watch the build up to Wrestlemania that don't watch at any other time and you never know how many of them are going to switch over. Again, I would hazard a guess at "not many".

 

[Dagger Dias]

Yeah, TNA picked a bad time to go live because this is the time of the year when WWE is at its best. Had they done this a year ago then they would have been destroyed because the buildup for last year's Wrestlemania was arguably the best set of Raw's in YEARS.... however.... TNA does have a small (very small, but it's there) chance of survival despite it being during the Road to Wrestlemania. Raw is full of lame segments, pointless matches, and stupid guest hosts who have no reason to be there. If I had to pick between watching any of that or watching TNA Impact, it's gonna be TNA. There are only a handful of people on Raw worth watching in my opinion, and that's sad considering it's the Road to Wrestlemania right now. So.... TNA did pick a bad time to go live, but they do have a small chance at survival if they can put on a great show in the next few weeks. Once Wrestlemania is over and the hype dies down, things COULD (and i'm emphasizing the word COULD) turn in TNA's favor. Like I've said to many other questions regarding Monday Night War II.... we won't know what's going to happen until it happens, I'm excited though.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I might be wrong on this but I think TNA's move to Mondays now is a mistake but not really for the reason some are thinking. Raw's average rating for 2009 was roughly 3.6 with about 5.3 million viewers and that's right in line with what the show has been doing this year so far. That's roughly the same as Raw pulled on January 4th as well.

The reason I personally think it's a mistake is because TNA hasn't done jack with their product in months. Hulk Hogan, Abyss, Ric Flair and AJ Styles have been almost the entire focus of TNA and their main event tomorrow night is the only thing that TNA has hyped about the show. TNA's mid-card scene is something that, for the most part, they only pay lip service to, their women's division is now about as pointless as the WWE's and their tag team scene is completely dull and stale. TNA really has nothing going on right now except this.

Excitement and buzz about TNA's permanent move has been luke warm at best. Compare that to Hogan's debut and iMPACT! having a live show on January 4th when buzz and excitement were so high that it was almost something solid you could touch. I don't expect Monday Night Wars II to start off with a bang, but a whimper. Hell, with the DVR, the idea of another MNW is really kind of moot. Even if you watch one live and record the other one, the one that's being recorded will still be factored into the Nielsen ratings data so it'll be just as if you'd watched it live as well.

If TNA pulls off the same ratings they pulled on the 4th, or do even better, I'll be extremely surprised.

 

[hatehabsforever]

I was thinking the same thing, JACK. As Jan 04 approached, there was an obvious buzz amongst the IWC. Thread after thread, post after post, were being made about the debut of Hogan, Bischoff, and friends. The numbers of visitors to the TNA section were soaring, and people couldn't wait until the big day arrived.

This time I'm not getting a vibe anywhere near this. And with Sting, RVD, Jeff Hardy waiting to arrive, plus the whole Hogan/Abyss vs Flair/Styles main event, plus whatever other surprises are in store, I expected a lot more hype, a lot more bravado from the TNA smarks claiming that TNA was coming after the WWE. I actually almost forgot about tonight. The re-birth of the Monday Night Wars has been pretty low key, which I guess is not too surprising after last Thursday's iMPACT.

Bodes ominously for TNA if you asked me. I predict their ratings will actually be lower than Jan 04, right about where they've been in the 1.1-1.3 range.

 

[LascoX]

I think now was as good as any time to go against Raw on Mondays. I do think they messed up by not starting an hour earlier to pick up the viewers leading into Raw. The threat of competition has improved WWE programing and with the build up to Mania the WWE will pull out even more stops. TNA could have gotten a much better bump in ratings doing the lead in hour and possibly hooking in viewers rather then go head to head with Raw, exspesially going into Mania. I tend not to flip channels much so TNA won't be getting a ratings bump from me. They would have hooked me in for at least the first hour had they not chose to start at the same time. I think thier start time is a bigger mistake then chosing to compete against Raw going into Mania.

 

[TheStar]

It's March 8, 2010 or as the internet is calling it "Armeggedon 2010" the day of the new "Monday Night Wars!"

Well to start out lets look back at what made the Monday Night Wars. In essence it was WCW or should I say the newer, modern, and ungodly funded version of the NWA. At the time of WCWs height in the late 90s it wasn't like WCW was hurt for stars, they had up and coming, internationally known, as well they has "THE HORSEMAN!" People lets remember WCW had stars that people who were intuned with wrestling either knew or remembered.

Now not saying TNA doesn't but lets look at the facts; TNA doesn't have that much money. They are bank rolling Angle, Hogan, Flair, Nash, Bischoff, RVD?, Jarrett, Anderson, Foley, and soon J. Hardy. THEY BETTER make a profit cause if not they are only shooting themselves in the foot.

In the foot, some of you may think I am crazy but lets be real. Hogan has the gift of telling you something is good but in essence when put in a position of power he only is looking out for his "inner circle." He did it in WCW and you can now see it in TNA, if AJ wasn't already the champion now he probably would never have the title. Oh wait next week the champion will be Abyss or don't make me dread a droopy 24 inch saggy man tit champion. Or even worst (Please forgive me naitch) a 18 time world champion who is only good for nostalgia and dropping elbows on suit jackets and beer cans!

Lets be real people the only thing TNA is doing in the end is giving their younger talent, try out time for the WWE. Yeah we all know Hogan is going to run his boys through one more big payout. What???? What???? What???? who cared 2 years ago if they ever saw the Dudleys vs. Nasty Boyz? WAIT who would have cared to see the Nasties, we all got TV and Hogan or Brooke (whatever or whoever) knows best. To be honest it looks like Nick Hogan knew best and drove right into a wall! (Sorry)

So Desmond "Should be Nigel" Wolf should be in WWE but like Hardy them drugs are mean, meaner than headling the event that is now hand in hand with pro wrestling. Hate Vince or not but he got the ULTIMATE BIG JOKER and that's Wrestlemania. Any wrestler in the world whether your WWE or ROH, TNA, or NWA wants to wrestle on the big dance.

Oh yeah before I drab on and on and on, remember WWE could take two people away from TNA and the end will be upon them. Those two people are Sting and Chris Daniels.

Sting- It will finally give Sting the chance to compete for the WWE and solidify his legacy which will almost garauntee a HOF bid as well calm the peace in him.

Chris Daniels- Yes getting old but given the respect you are looking at the only man who can take the Undertakers crown as the phenom and conscience of the WWE. HANDS DOWN no one else!

I would have said Bryan Danielson but he was from ROH and TNA constantly over looked him. But hey WWE got him now and so far so good he is looking to break the mold and recreate it in his own image.

Now I have mentioned ROH, don't people think that Vince is not dumb? IF TNA does get an itchy spot on the balls of the WWE. Don't you know Vince would just cut them at the knees and build a working relationship with ROH as he did with ECW? Half of the best talent or almost all the best new talent is coming from ROH and TNA has been real ignorant with them in the past. So Vince comes a calling and TNA goes-a balling and no not like MVP balling for you idiotic marks out there.

So TNA I wish you luck but remember don't keep lining Hogans pockets, drinking the posion kool aid of Bischoff (At least Heymans kept you entertained), and last but not least don't piss off the people who made you cause in the end they can break you.

Now to be a hypocrite- THANK YOU TNA for giving your younger talent this platform to try out for the WWE! Thank you...good night... and woman oh woman won't ya marry me now...woooooooooooooooooooooo!

 

[gd]

The closer we have gotten to this night, the more it appears that they did indeed choose the wrong time. Just like last year, the build up to Wrestlemania has been superb. I am really excited for basically every match on the card at the moment and overall have enjoyed the WWE much more over the last few weeks.

When it comes down to it, Wrestlemania is just much bigger and better than anything TNA can possibly give us. The biggest part of TNA's year is Bound for Glory. That featured Matt freakin' Morgan in the semi-main event. Simply having a live weekly show is a huge thing for TNA. WWE has given us one every week for years.

However, I know it's tough for TNA to wait. Looking at their own company, now is probably the best time if they want to compete. Everything seems to be coming together. Lockdown, which is pretty big, is coming up soon and you need to get people excited. They could've, and probably should've, waited another month though.