Did TNA Screw Itself By Not Promoting RVD and Jeff Hardy?

[Tenta]

Now, first, I'd like everyone to know I'm referring to promoting these two insanely over superstars to the casual fan. Not the IWC, not tyhe fans who read the dirt sheets. I'm speaking directly about the type of fans TNA needs to pull in if they want any chance of winning this war; the casual fan. Clearly, while a 1.0 isn't horrific, TNA failed to grab that casual fan. Quite frankly, I believe that was TNA's main goal for the 3/8 edition of Impact. Why else would you promote the two most well known wrestlers to casual fans, arguably, in Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan?

Now then, I personally believe that 1.0 would have been higher, had TNA outright said that Jeff and Rob were showing up Monday. Instead, TNA banked that every single fan reads the dirt sheets, and knew from reading Wrestlezone et. all that these two men were coming back. This is the kind of mistake that doomed WCW's booking in Russo's first stint. It seems as though TNA is assuming the casual fan reads the dirt sheets. And quite frankly, that's just not the case. I'm all for swerves as much as the next guy, but I feel as though outright saying, "Hey, we have RVD and Jeff Hardy" would do so much better business than trying to keep them under wraps.

Alas, that's just my opinion. Did TNA screw the pooch by refusing to promote RVD and Jeff Hardy?

 

[Coco]

Not even close, Tenter. Saying Van Dam and Hardy are showing up and then having them show up might strike some as business as usual and while it would be good television, not everyone would buy it as exciting television. On the other hand, if any casuals did watch, they saw two surprising names show up and they were sucked into the moment by the fact that they didn't know. So not only do these big names get to be a hook for next week, but fans also get to guess what else TNA has in its bag of tricks. That surprise element is something plenty of people don't feel they're getting from Raw, so a great way to set themself apart this week was to show that they do have surprises. That is going to go a long way in branding TNA in the casual's eye and letting them know what they have to gain by switching over: unpredictability.

Now you advertise that you have Rob Van Dam with no limitations holding him back and the hottest wrestler of 2009 on the roster AND tease the viewer with further surprises. That's how you do it.

 

[Uncle Sam]

I'm told by a, well, completely unreliable source (it's the fucking internet, what do you expect?) that a senior TNA official - who may or may not be Earl Hebner - was quite upset when it leaked/was guessed that RVD and Jeff Hardy would be showing up on Monday night. I'm therefore guessing it was TNA's strategy to keep this quiet and for nobody, not even their beloved dirt sheet readers, to know about it.

Anyway, I suppose we'll find out the answer to your question next week. I'm guessing they'll both be advertised for next week. You know, if Jeff doesn't have his dick too far up Shannon Moore's ass. You'd think I'd go for a drug reference. Too easy.

 

[Lee]

I think it's better they didn't promote it. It would only be for one week anyways, after that everyone's like whoa RVD and Jeff Hardy in TNA, I'll tune to see that. Plus there's the added thing that it was a surprise...well I'm going to tune into Impact next week in case they give us another surprise, I don't want to miss it live. I don't mind waiting for Raw.

That trail of thought will push the ratings up in the long term rather than the one week push it may have caused if they had of pushed RVD/Jeff.

 

[Kenny Powers]

TNA did advertise Sting at the last minute, but I think they should of done the same for Hardy. They did do videos on their website and on youtube about 3 big debuts and a surprise happening in the first 5 minutes. However, besides the IWC, who is going to find that information out? I've read TNA is going to have a huge main event scheduled for next week, but unless you are on the internet no one is going to know about it.


It's nice seeing surprises every now and then, but TNA needs promote their matches week in and out. Raw has 3 big former WrestleMania matches next week with the Hart/McMahon contract signing, and with Steve Austin as the guest host. Why can't TNA advertise their matches like that? They don't have to give away PPV matches on live television, but they should at least advertise their main events.

I could be wrong but I think TNA would of gained huge viewers if they advertised the 4 way title match on Impact last Thursday a week before. It's nice to have surprises, but new viewers aren't going to tune in if they don't know who is wrestling. In some instances its better the viewer doesn't know, especially when TNA had Orlando Jordan, Nasty Boys, and Tomko in their main events.

 

[Tenta]

I think it's better they didn't promote it. It would only be for one week anyways, after that everyone's like whoa RVD and Jeff Hardy in TNA, I'll tune to see that. Plus there's the added thing that it was a surprise...well I'm going to tune into Impact next week in case they give us another surprise, I don't want to miss it live. I don't mind waiting for Raw.

I see the logic tyhere, though I feel as though there's a bit to disagree on this matter. the fact is, Jeff and RVD are probably the biggest stars in wrestling, today. RVD was the hottest free agent in the world, and Jeff Hardy was the superstar of 2009. How can you really top that? After WCW shocked the world by bringing in Lex Luger, did they really bring in another shock along those lines? The closest they came was Syxx, a relative jobber in the WWF, and Rick Rude, now a manager. TNA had all of it's trump cards available, and if they wanted to, they could have exploited it all to the casual fans for a whole week, promoting the return of two of the greatest wrestlers in the world. Besides, it's not like TNA was lacking in shock appeal without RVD and Jeffy. They brought back Sting and turned him heel, and that in itself was shocking enough for the fans in the Impact Zone.

Plus, aside from that, this really wasn't a shock to anyone in Orlando. All the smarky fans in Orlando ruined the "surprise" by chanting the guy's fucking name before his music played. If TNA thought they could keep both of these moves a secret, in this day and age, they're even dumber than I gave them credit for. Someone was going to leak it. Hell, Matt Hardy had been hinting it on his Myspace for weeks. Leave it to Matt to ride Jeff's coattails. The point is, this was already the worst kept secret, so now that part of your audience already knows (and will potentially spoil it to the casual fan who doesn't read the dirt sheets), why not just offer countless promotion for them. You just schilled out plenty of bucks for them. Why not at least get a couple more views from fans who know both RVD and Jeff?

 

[Lee]

I see the logic tyhere, though I feel as though there's a bit to disagree on this matter. the fact is, Jeff and RVD are probably the biggest stars in wrestling, today. RVD was the hottest free agent in the world, and Jeff Hardy was the superstar of 2009. How can you really top that? After WCW shocked the world by bringing in Lex Luger, did they really bring in another shock along those lines? The closest they came was Syxx, a relative jobber in the WWF, and Rick Rude, now a manager. TNA had all of it's trump cards available, and if they wanted to, they could have exploited it all to the casual fans for a whole week, promoting the return of two of the greatest wrestlers in the world. Besides, it's not like TNA was lacking in shock appeal without RVD and Jeffy. They brought back Sting and turned him heel, and that in itself was shocking enough for the fans in the Impact Zone.

Plus, aside from that, this really wasn't a shock to anyone in Orlando. All the smarky fans in Orlando ruined the "surprise" by chanting the guy's fucking name before his music played. If TNA thought they could keep both of these moves a secret, in this day and age, they're even dumber than I gave them credit for. Someone was going to leak it. Hell, Matt Hardy had been hinting it on his Myspace for weeks. Leave it to Matt to ride Jeff's coattails. The point is, this was already the worst kept secret, so now that part of your audience already knows (and will potentially spoil it to the casual fan who doesn't read the dirt sheets), why not just offer countless promotion for them. You just schilled out plenty of bucks for them. Why not at least get a couple more views from fans who know both RVD and Jeff?

I honestly don't know why they didn't promote Jeff and Sting. RVD I will use my same argument as before, simply put it's good to have surprises (see Christian on ECW last year) but onto Jeff and Sting. Both we saw on the last head to head (Sting in the rafters and Jeff at the end of that steel asylum match), so anyone with any sense would assume they would be there again on this show. TNA should have promoted both guys as showing up this week, that in turn would have got the Sting marks and of course the Jeff ones. Jeff being a very hot commodity in the wrestling world and Sting being one of WCWs big four (with Hogan and Flair plus Goldberg). That way you get a mix of the old generation (WCW marks) and the new ones (WWE marks) tuning in AND have the added element of surprise with the hottest free agent showing up (no not Shannon Moore, I'm talking RVD!). In turn increasing ratings for both weeks.

 

[Tenta]

I honestly don't know why they didn't promote Jeff and Sting. RVD I will use my same argument as before, simply put it's good to have surprises (see Christian on ECW last year) but onto Jeff and Sting. Both we saw on the last head to head (Sting in the rafters and Jeff at the end of that steel asylum match), so anyone with any sense would assume they would be there again on this show. TNA should have promoted both guys as showing up this week, that in turn would have got the Sting marks and of course the Jeff ones. Jeff being a very hot commodity in the wrestling world and Sting being one of WCWs big four (with Hogan and Flair plus Goldberg). That way you get a mix of the old generation (WCW marks) and the new ones (WWE marks) tuning in AND have the added element of surprise with the hottest free agent showing up (no not Shannon Moore, I'm talking RVD!). In turn increasing ratings for both weeks.

You know.... You got a fantastic point there. You really do. It makes sense to promote Jeff and Sting, because, well, they are TNA entities that the crowd id aware has at least some deal working with TNA. My only thing though, is that if you promote Jeff Hardy, you'd better have a match, or something big set for him. I'll admit I found it anti-climactic to only see Jeff for less than two minutes. If I want to see Jeff, I want to see him in a match, or doing something (sorry) Impactful. Going after people with a chair is predictable, and really doesn't give out his full value.

As for Sting, he was used perfectly. I loved the heel turn, which for me is shocking because I initially thought it's blow up in their face. He looked a bit out of shape, possibly why he was wearing the shirt over his chest (Something I'd highly advise of Ric Flair). But it was quite odd to consider that Sting and Ric Flair seem to be on the same page. Still, you have a point. Sting is still pretty much a draw, and can bring in fans. I'd totally bring in Sting, and hype up that he has something to say to Hogan and Dixie. It can be (and was) compelling television

 

[Whistler 3:16]

No they didn't, in the short term yes, but in the long run no, look it was there first Live Show since announcing it'll be a by-weekly thing, and they thought people would tune in to see if it would be like January 4th but they didn't, why? Because no one really really really wants to see Hogan&Abyss vs Flair&Styles, not over Cena vs McMahon and corp. 2 weeks before WrestleMania were you would think somethings bound to happen.

By not announcing the signing/hyping Jeff Hardy and Rob Van Dam, the expected happened, no one watched the Main Event really, why? Because its Hogan and Flair for F*ucks sake. So in the short term yes, they screwed up, in the long run no, no they didn't.

Its there first episode, they didn't hype them, now though, we need to see the next episode before anything can really be judge, everyones saying TNA had the better Product Monday, and they did, once the surprises came out, but thats just it they were surprises, people not on Wrestling Websites don't know, so they don't watch, now they know, and now is when people will start tuning in to see guys like RVD and Hardy.

Or so TNA hopes...

 

[kideternity]

It didn't seem as if TNA promoted the move to Monday nights at all. The Jan 4th show had way more backing behind it.

I think TNA should have advertised one of them, keeping Sting and RVD a surprise while advertising Jeff Hardy, or a variation of that.

In the long run maybe nobody will care and once people find out they will tune in, but you know for TNA starting a 'war' or so they say they sure didn't do much..

 

[Mr Breezy]

YUP, of course they did. RVD & Jeff Hardy are two of the biggest names in the business regardless of what anybody said, maybe Hardy could have randomly showed up but I definately would have expected TNA to promote the hell out of RVDs debut.

 

[thepalaceprince]

I think tna screwed themselves big time you cant surprise and shock people who arent watching. Jeff hardy is arguably the most popular wrestler out there right now. Why the hell wouldnt you want everyone to know that jeff hardy is going to show up and make a splash?! I think the biggest thing thats crippling tna right now is marketing. About the place you see ads for tna on tv is on spike and even then they arent on very often. If tna wants to chanllenge the wwe they need to create a brand a name that is known amongst the general population. If I say wwe to someone they instantly know what Im talking about its a worldwide brand if say tna they prolly think Im talking dirty not about wrestling. Ultimately thats going to be the biggest obsticle for tna is creating a well known brand and not just marketing impact but trying to get action figures maybe a video game. Trying to reach the genral public any way they can

 

[Sabutage]

I think it would have been great to promote the hell out of their arrival to the average viewer. Of course anyone following on the internet knew, but outside of that nothing.

They should of have had commercials, billboards saying RVD and HARDY are coming to TNA etc. Suprises are good, once people are watching. If know one's watching, the suprise is gonna have hardly any impact, literally.

I know quite a few WWE fans who up until yesterday when I told them didn't even know Hardy and RVD had come to TNA, so I think they are missing out on a huge market that would be tuning in to seem them.