Do You Think Panda Energy Should Put More Money into TNA?

[MachoMadness1988]

In a recent thread called TNA Needs Help, But From Who?, the OP was asking who could help TNA grow and expand. There were some interesting awsners, but I thought the best was not a person but simply money. That got me to thinking, why doesn't Panda Energy put more money into TNA? From what I've read Panda Energy is a private company that makes quite a bit more money then the WWE does. They purchased a controlling interest (72%) back in 2002, so they have an intrest to see that TNA does well. Now, I'm sure Panda puts plenty of money into TNA already with big name contracts and other aspects we don't know of. It's obvious though that TNA needs some money to get out of that iMPACT! zone and start touring iMPACT. Panda obviously has a reason to make sure that TNA does well, so why don't they really start putting some money into TNA to help with diffrent aspect to make them progressivly bigger then they are now? Like the old saying goes, to make money you have to spend money. Panda obviously has boat loads of money. I'm not saying pour everything they have into TNA, but help TNA really get on their feet. I think now is the time to really give them a chance.

So my question to you guys, do you think Panda Energy should put more money into TNA to help them get on their feet with touring iMPACT! and other aspects they need more money to accomplish?

NOTE: I know there are other things they need to work on, but this isnt a thread to start talking about TNA's booking or talent choices. This also isn't a thread to bash TNA.

 

[LegendKiller716]

I do not think Panda Energy should put more money into TNA. Dixie Carter does not know how to run a wrestling company, and if I were Panda Energy I would not invest in TNA.

 

[AndarielHalo]

As a humanitarian, I would say yes, if only so that the wrestlers could be paid more for their suffering (physical and psychological)


But as a businessperson and realist, I say NOOOOOOOOO. LegendKiller716 puts it succintly; Dixie Carter does not know how to run a wrestling company. She is a failure. Her business model is one that coasts by on mediocrity and relying solely upon a small, devoted fanbase that is unphased by whatever is shat on stage for them. They have done immense things to try to gain more viewers and money, and this FAILED MISERABLY. If TNA were a sitcom or a drama show, it would be legendary due to its inability to be shitcanned for so long, despite critical scorn and mediocre ratings.


They have been around since 2002, and they are a national television show. TV programs with exponentially greater ratings than TNA get shitcanned mid-way through their FIRST season by networks like NBC and Fox and ABC and the like. Being a wrestling program has been a crutch for TNA to get away with for the longest time, and Dixie Carter is the current owner of the company, she was tasked with doing something about it, using the HUGE HUGE HUGE names of Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Mick Foley, etcetera, and she failed miserably.


I WISH I could get by in life the way she runs her company; put on an unpopular, mediocre product and consider it a GREAT SUCCESS when the UAE calls wanting to have TNA do A show in their country, while hemorrhaging money and ratings that have been stagnant for YEARS

 

[wishwcwwashere]

Yes they should invest more into TNA Dixie Father should do it like Ted Turner did with WCW hire a guy to run the company who is familiar with wrestling and who can market for ex. Eric Bischoff or else

 

[Poop Master Flex]

Difficult question to answer because I don't really know what Panda Energy already gives TNA for funding and I also don't know what TNA's current accounting books are like (I've heard they are both making money and losing money so I dont really know).

I'm guessing if they have enough money to hire the likes of Hogan they probably have a pretty generous bank book because everyone knows that Hogan does not work for cheap. Also looking at some of the other stars they have I would guess that money isn't a factor in TNA at this point.

TNA should rely on the money they can make themselves and lay off the handouts from Panda Energy as much as they can, its almost impossible to improve if you can just get bailed out of every problem you have. For me I don't think its an issue of not enough money its more of an issue of how that money's getting spent. WCW always had more money than WWE, but they had no idea how to use it and that was a big problem they had to deal with, no one wants to shelf out millions of dollars to a company that doesn't produce revenue.

At the end of the day my guess is TNA probably doesn't need the extra money at this point, they just need to spend it a little more wisely.

 

[EStreet]

There is an interesting question here: Does TNA need money to bring Impact on the road or won't impact on the road bring in money to TNA?..it seems as if they are scared to leave the studio because ratings are low, ppv buys are low, and logic would suggest attendance at away-Impacts would be low. Otherwise I'm sure they would be generating money by touring already. - therefore Panda Energy does not need to pour more money into a slowing sinking ship

 

[hewittor]

I do not think Panda Energy should put more money into TNA. Dixie Carter does not know how to run a wrestling company, and if I were Panda Energy I would not invest in TNA.

The above answer is one I see alot from people who do nothing more than repeat the same B.S. over and over.

TNA is doing great. It's a wrestling show that entertains. Ratings don't mean shit anymore. It's impressive that a company whom has all of their shows in the same location and taped is doing this well. Once they get more money and are able to take Impact on the road ratings will grow. It's the same thing that happened to WCW.

WCW had most of all their shows in 2 locations in Georgia...look it up. Then Billionaire Ted through alot of money in it, because he loves wrestling...and WCW rose to #1. Then he sold out and they fell.

Solution is to get more money from Panda and maybe bring Ted Turner into the picture as a small investor or part owner. Peace

 

[UltimateHitman]

Oh, Lord have mercy, no. Think about how much money Turner and Co. pumped into WCW when Bischoff, Hogan, and Russo were at the helm. I know this isn't about the booking and what not, but we can't ignore history.

If they would put more money into the thing, with the current people in charge, they would simply use it poorly and thus allow Vince to get TNA for a song, much like he did w/WCW. Could you imagine a TNA invasion angle w/Vince being in total control? I prefer that history does NOT repeat itself.

That being said, if they would use the money to buy out 3 contracts and hire a new creative team, I would be all for pumping more money into TNA...

 

[MachoMadness1988]

I did not mean endlessly pump money into TNA for whatever reason they can think of like Ted Turner did. I meant like help fund a few certain areas that TNA needs right now to move on to the next level, like taking iMPACT on the road or marketing.

 

[tRKOj]

TNA has great potential with a great roster. TNA is still a small company that is growing, when WWE grew to great heights they had help by buying up all the territories, there are no more territories for TNA to buy up so they have had to start from scratch. Panda Energy should give them just a lil bit to get them moving because they have to tour iMPACT its crucial to there success and that company needs to succeed for Professional Wrestling to become relevant in main stream culture again!!

 

[CM11]

No!!! I will nt rip into TNA here, though i should since ruinned fo love for it over the last year,

Touring-This is not as much as to do with funding as much as it is time, as is well known the top stars in TNA work no more than around 180 days so taking TNA on the road to pomote it wont happen as it wont work without the big stars. the Angles of this world work for TNA party because of the light schudle and less travel from the impact zone location so they can spend more time at home so pumping money here has no logic and askin top stars to travel more wont work either or else the ones that could will go to WWE. i.e van dam, hardy, angle!

Marketing- They have already put huge amounts into marketing and it hasn worked, probably because the product is unappealin to a majority at the moment. Hogan at madison square garden sayin they are going to go head to head with WWE failed as they lost that battle, the marketing behind moving to monday nights got the point across but also did not work as people perfered WWE and bringing in stars such as "the pacman" didn increase viewing numbers, putting jersey shore cast members on the show did not increase viewers and paying money for lashley to mix hiswrestling and MMA career together to get MMA viewers to tune in didn work so marketing the product is currently failing all due to the product. you can promote promote promote but the production must live to the hype.

TNA raised the profile at the start to gain the viewers they have now by having innovative wrestling with a mixture of promotion, signing a couple of top names (not an unbelieveable amount as they have now) with original tna wrestlers thrown in. at the minute the product is stale and throwing more money wont work as travelling wont work with the current roster as many of them wont or cant and marketin a product that has already marketed by all means and gained nothin or very little is pointless.

So to finish PANDA by the looks of it have already put money into TNA along with other investers and are prob thinking they cant do much more at the minute.

 

[brighamosity]

They have been around since 2002, and they are a national television show. TV programs with exponentially greater ratings than TNA get shitcanned mid-way through their FIRST season by networks like NBC and Fox and ABC and the like.

Are you implying that Impact should be pulling the same ratings as the networks? NBC, Fox, and ABC are available in virtually every home in America. Spike TV is only available in homes who have cable or satellite, and not even all of those. (I, for example, have cable but don't get SyFy.) And 2002 isn't that old. Ring of Honor's been around for just as long as TNA and they don't have nearly as much to show for it.

But to answer the question, it's a firm no. If I were Panda Energy, I'd sell to whoever was willing to buy it. If Hulk Hogan and Bischoff couldn't help TNA, there's not much else that can. And John Cena is not about to jump ship.

 

[VencomHardcore]

I AGREE WITH THE WISE POSTERS = NO !!!!

TNA has one MAJOR FLAW - The Product . Say what you want but TNA is extremely inconsistent. You have overbookings in every ppv main event, the overuse of security and storylines that get dropped after two weeks with no mention for months on end.

Throwing money at TNA will not help. I don't care how much money you have, if the product is bad or has flaws, you won't be successful. No wise business owner is going to throw money at bad causes. Like others said Hogan, Flair, EB, RVD, and The Hardy's have not raised TNA's ratings one bit. So the problem has to be something other than star power.

What TNA Needs to To :

Repackage the product. And simplify the storylines. We don't need security breaking up every fight on tv, fake gm's taking up most of the wrestling time, wrestlers on tv that can't put on great matches and very bad attempts to be racy.

TNA needs just needs to accept its an indy product and focus on being the best at producing great wrestling. Keep the storylines minimal and let the announcers tell the story.

While I am at it, Please hire some acting coaches and better writers.

Money can't help TNA where they need it. So NO.

 

[Davi323]

Doesn't the answer to this depend entirely on how Panda Energy itselt views TNA? If they are happy with whatever profit TNA brings, and see the company as a sort of side project rather something they consider a primary focus, then there is no need to invest any more money than what they are already. If they are happy with TNA, if it aint broke, don't fix it.

If they want TNA to be a real threat to the WWE like WCW did, then they will need to invest a hell of a lot more money. I know some TNA fans think presentation doesn't matter, that it should be purely based on matches, but that is simply a display of ignorance as to how the real world works. TNA needs to match the production quality of the WWE to realistically compete. If that is Panda's ultimate plan, then they need to spend like Ted Turner did.

Really, it all depends on Panda's expectations, not the fans.

 

[SpecialFNK]

is Dixie Carter the main person running TNA? according to wikipedia she is, President and Executive Producer. I'm sure there are others around Dixie that are doing just as much as she is.

TNA is currently on tour over seas. any word on attendance over there?

I have often wondered why TNA does not do shows(like Impact) outside of the Impact Zone, and have wondered if they stay in the Impact Zone because it is cheaper. if they can get more money and then do more shows outside of the Impact Zone then I think it will benefit the company.

whatever marketing TNA has done, it hasn't worked. that doesn't mean don't do it anymore or don't put more money into that area, but you change how your marketing. maybe they need to get their product out to more people that would watch, like viewers from MTV or sports networks.

you need to spend money to make money.

 

[roethlisberger78]

I'll be honest I didnt read everyones comments on this subject so this might have already been said. But I will agree with a couple that I did see posted. Dixie Carter does not know how to run a wrestling company let alone any other company for that matter or so I'd guess. Top that with the face that I wouldnt let Vince Russo nor Eric Bishoff touch anything related to a story, and I get the answer that no I wouldnt give TNA more money if I was Panda Energy. On to some other reasons, 20 years ago I'd give all the money in the world to have Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, and maybe even Foley but sure as hell not today. Now onto what I would honestly recomend, I know there is alot of bad talk about Mark Madden but the man knows what he is talking about people just hate him because he makes money off of makin fun of TNA. He does have the right idea though. Good Ol' JR is a wrestling man through and through bussiness wise and fan wise, the man knows his stuff, he has found great talent for WCW and WWF/E and giving the chance to completly change everything TNA does he could turn that company around. Hell even put him and the Man Genius Paul Heyman together scrap the hogans flairs foleys bishoff's and russo and start out clean. Keep Anderson, Angel and Pope from the WWE and use your TNA stars and let them deveolpe into their own characters and you'll be on the right track. I'll be honest I like TNA, I dont like TNA for the stuff they put out story wise I like TNA because I'm a giant wrestling fan and I'll watch it if its on TV. But I do feel if the right changes were made they could be well on their way to being a bit of comp for the E.

 

[wushady]

If I was running Panda Energy I definitely wouldn't put anymore money into TNA. They have already spent so much on big names and ratings haven't gone up much. Plus TNA keeps wasting money on people like J Woww and now possible Ochocinco. It's obvious Dixie Carter isn't the best business woman and doesn't know how to run a wrestling company.

Not only do I think they shouldn't put more money into it. I seriously doubt they will because I've seen reports that they are cutting the budget on TNA because it's not turning a profit.

 

[SpecialFNK]

TNA keeps wasting money on people like J Woww and now possible Ochocinco.

as far as I remember, the Impact with JWoww was one of the higher rating episodes. personally I question bringing in JWoww, because she was from Jersey Shore which just happened to air the same time as Impact.. but it did get Impact a lot of viewers. no idea if those were a lot of Jersey Shore fans who tuned into see JWoww.
TNA could use some more well known celebrities. wrestling is entertainment.

 

[mrpops]

They need to upgrade the impact arena. The show needs higher quality of everything. Right now it looks meh. New lights. New stage. New cameras(and new camera men for that matter). Also, some of the wrestlers need to upgrade their wrestling attire. Samoa Joe looks like he wears stinky gym shorts from the 50's.

The camera men need to go. They all have terrets/parkinsins and are constantly shaking the camera. Also, they keep on zooming in and out every 2 seconds which is annoying because it loses focus also. Just hold the camera in 1 place. Dont zoom in.

And yeah, travel to bigger arenas because the impact zone looks too dinky and only holds like 2 people.

 

[BJM0703]

No because TNA is not worth the investment.