Does anyone else get it?

[czar76]

I read these forums all the time and each time I do there is someone taking a shot at TNA no matter what the topic. "Second rate, waste of time, lowbudget, and on and on. No one can deny that TNA is a far cry from WWe from a production standpoint. They simply don't have the money to put on that big of a show. Yes, at times, the storylines don't make sense and yes there are plenty of other things that I or anyone else could complain about.
My question however is...does anyone realize that they have only been around for 8 years?

I know most people on here weren't around when WWE first took off or WCW for that matter. And sorry folks if u watch the past on youtube you still don't know what u are talking about. That being said I understand that most modern fans have only seen the big budget WWE but they weren't always that way.
The first few yeas after VKM took over were a mess. Nothing made sense. Booking was terrible because Vince had to make room for new people on a already crowded roster(sound familiar) and they really didn't know if any of it was going to work. It took until mania 3 for things to take off and put WWE on a new level.
Plus when Vince took over he bought a ready made company with a built in fan base. So even if the expansion didn't work the north-eastern fans would still be there.
Tna started with nothing and no one. Now they are struggling to find there place and people shit all over them for it. I just want to know if people understand that there time may still come. Maybe they will be dead in a year or maybe as time goes on they will come in to there own.
Thoughts?

 

[CB429]

you're really confused about the bashing... there's a huge different... wrestling territories were largely successful at that time because wrestling was actually popular... The reason why people hate tna is that they have no commitment... they prefer finding the flavor of the month in comparison to actually building stars which is kinda the transition wwe is in right now just not too successfully... don't get me wrong tna has really great talent but they're very uncommitted and impulsive with their booking... thats the difference with the past as there used to be people built and it used to logical... right now its very impulsive.... But i do agree with you that TNA might soon be at a crossroad where they might get a lot of success or they may go bankrupt... With the way they're going its much more likely to be the latter.

 

[LSN80]

you're really confused about the bashing... there's a huge different... wrestling territories were largely successful at that time because wrestling was actually popular... .

Wrestling still is popular. Millions of viewers tune in to watch both WWE programming and TNA each week. Id say that's popular. If you can get millions of viewers to watch a show, you're popular.

The reason why people hate tna is that they have no commitment... they prefer finding the flavor of the month in comparison to actually building stars which is kinda the transition wwe is in right now just not too successfully...

I don't mean this rudely, but Im guessing you havent been watching TNA lately. They only spent 8 months on a storyline over "Deception" and "They". They've had champions with far longer title runs then WWE has with their World Titles. AJ had an 8 month reign, Van Dam a 4 month, and Hardy is almost at 2 months. Id say they've shown commitment to their top belt and treating the holder of it as important.

don't get me wrong tna has really great talent but they're very uncommitted and impulsive with their booking... thats the difference with the past as there used to be people built and it used to logical... right now its very impulsive....

I agree with you here. While they may have success within the tag team ranks, and the KO's division, they're booking has been poor in alot of ways since Hogan and Bischoff took over. Theres been too many hands in the cookie jar, so to speak. I felt the last few months leading up to the arrival of Hogan and Bischoff were actually some of their best. Things have fallen flat, and some pushes have been of the start/stop nature.

But i do agree with you that TNA might soon be at a crossroad where they might get a lot of success or they may go bankrupt... With the way they're going its much more likely to be the latter.

You must not realize who owns TNA. Its Panda Energy, owned by Dixie Carters parents. Its a Billion dollar corporation. I doubt they'll be going bankrupt any time soon....


As to the original poster, people criticize TNA because they care about the product, and they actually DO want to see it succeed. I understand what you're saying about the WWF when it was first founded, but TNA is a different story. They had stars from day 1 that were known to people. Even guys like AJ Styles, who had never worked for WWE or WCW had a cult following within the IWC like a CM Punk or a Bryan Danielson did. They also had men in charge of booking who had been there before. So its a completely different story.

 

[kingjaekob]

I GET IT! I watched the beginning of Vince's WWF! When Hogan won the wwf World title from Iron Sheik. I watched the beginning of WCW! I also watched WCCW at its prime, NWA, and AWA. We cannot compare TNA to these companies. All the video tape TNA has created in last 8 years is junk! Nobody wants to see this. I dont know how in the world Tna has been around that long! its 8 years too long in my opinion!

Now is the time for someone to create a company. I would create a company like Vince did in 83-86. What separeted Vince from all the others, is VINCE KNOWS MARKETING! I was hooked once I saw WWF for the 1st time! I bought everything I could WWF.

Now on the Talent of TNA! What talent? Nobody on that show is a complete Entertainer! They hire wrestlers that WWE doesn't want anymore! Im sorry, I just havent seen anything good in TNA EVER! The name itself sux! I could go on and on, but I will stop here!

 

[CuddleBuns84]

Trust me, if TNA doesn't succeed, they will go bankrupt, ask any lawyer during a free consultation.

Overall, people don't like TNA, because it doesn't use the talent at hand. They have enough on that roster to compete with any big time company (Yes, I know there is only one!). Yet, they always try to do old "major" WCW angles.

I don't need to watch a super stable ran by Hogan, Flair and Bischoff, and I don't need Jeff Hardy to be as a high as kite telling me how bad ass he is. (Little off topic, but, a High Flying heel, it's kind of stupid in my book.)

Then if I'm a TNA fan, and they rarely move out of the Impact Zone. To where I have to drop big dollars to fly across country to see a TNA event, then I'm also not willing to pat them on their back.

Then, In my opinion. For some reason, I never really liked the guy, because he has an ego, and doesn't have the career to back it up... Jeff Jarrett. Just because he is the founder of TNA, doesn't mean he gets all this main event time. In fact, it devalues the product. "Hey! I'm one of the guys incharge, oh look! I have the title again! How nice!"

In the this debate, I'm going to compare WWE in the 1970s to TNA today. One company worked there ass off, making wrestling go mainstream, the other one can't let go of attitude era.

 

[Wrestling Free Thinker]

Wrestling still is popular. Millions of viewers tune in to watch both WWE programming and TNA each week. Id say that's popular. If you can get millions of viewers to watch a show, you're popular.

Wrestling isn't that popular as it was. If it was, TNA would be selling out 15k arenas like WCW did, and ratings for both companies would be big. Wrestling isn't seen as cool anymore when people watch MMA for "real fighting".

I don't mean this rudely, but Im guessing you havent been watching TNA lately. They only spent 8 months on a storyline over "Deception" and "They". They've had champions with far longer title runs then WWE has with their World Titles. AJ had an 8 month reign, Van Dam a 4 month, and Hardy is almost at 2 months. Id say they've shown commitment to their top belt and treating the holder of it as important.

Long title reigns don't mean anything. Triple H had a 9 month reign and people hated it for example. And he said commitment to building stars, not to titles. Don't know why you brought up titles.

You must not realize who owns TNA. Its Panda Energy, owned by Dixie Carters parents. Its a Billion dollar corporation. I doubt they'll be going bankrupt any time soon....

Panda might not, but TNA might. When you have something that you own that doesn't make enough money and you just keep throwing money at it, they'd get rid of it. The carters could also just eventually get sick of putting money into it. And I don't think they are a "billion dollar corporation", if they were you'd think they could run more advertisements and actually travel to get noticed. Constantly being in a 1,300 seat arena all that time isn't that successful.

As to the original poster, people criticize TNA because they care about the product, and they actually DO want to see it succeed. I understand what you're saying about the WWF when it was first founded, but TNA is a different story. They had stars from day 1 that were known to people. Even guys like AJ Styles, who had never worked for WWE or WCW had a cult following within the IWC like a CM Punk or a Bryan Danielson did. They also had men in charge of booking who had been there before. So its a completely different story.

Those guys were NOT "known to people". They weren't on TV so only the internet fans knew. That's not that much of an accomplishment. That is nothing like if they started with Rock or someone like that.

 

[Aaronliveshere]

I get it. I watch WWE programing and I kind of watch TNA. By "kind of" I mean that I normaly DVR it and then I end up fast fowarding through whatever seems dull or boring to me. Lately that's been at least half the show. The best thing I have ever hear of that makes the most logic in regard to TNA is from an interview Hulk Hogan did shortly after joining TNA. Basically he said that he felt that Randy Orton was the best wrestler out there right now, but it has taken him 10 years to get to that point.

TNA has only been around for 8 years now, not one person, not one story with some history, but the company is only 8 years old. I feel that with the exception of about 3-4 TNA wrestlers, it will be their next generation of wrestlers (10-15 years from now) that will determine their place in Wrestling...assuming that they are still in business

 

[klunderbunker]

I'm sorry but this doesn't hold up at all.

TNA has been around over eight and a half years. That's the late 80s for WWF, the late 90s/end of the company depending on what you define as WCW, and well past the end of ECW. TNA has had nearly 9 years and they still can't get it together. They've been around the exact same ratings for years now, they have a more or less unopposed night as far as sports go and they still were in the same range of NXT's average shows.

The company has given us excuse after excuse for why they're not growing better than they are. Bad marketing, talent leaving, changes in direction, not the right time slot and all kinds of other jazz that doesn't excuse the fact that they've been doing the same numbers for years now while they're unopposed by WWE directly. They're established with a fan base and a steady timeslot and they're just not growing. They've had more time than WCW had, more time than ECW had, and WWF would have already reached its peak of the 80s. This does not hold up at all.

 

[ThePeoplesChampion]

I'm in no way the Biggest TNA Supporter far from it to be exact..but i will say they have some good talent and stars who could...but these past years Throwing money at Hogan and Bishoff..i understand they were trying to get rating off Hogan...but honestly i think more people dislike him more than ever....Instead of developing The Pope, Mr. Anderson, and the man who should be the face of the company..AJ Styles...so there is one reason why they get low ratings...two they stay in the same place...Orlando, Florida...unless you have a kickass job your not going to have many people outside the south go to Florida...I'll give you something i noticed...Living in Indiana mind you (midwest) for every one person who has seen TNA in Person ive met 15 -20 people who have seen WWE live...they need to venture out of the florida area..and obviously out of the USA for our foreign friends...three next time you go to your local Wal-Mart..take an adventure to the toy section and look for the TNA action figures...give up?...not going to find them...i know many people don't like the push for getting kids viewers..but gotta admit they help with ratings and revenue a little...there a saying you gotta spend money to make money...they got the spending part down pat...now just to spend it in the right places

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I'm sorry but the old "they've only been around for 8 years" crutch that a lot of TNA fans have leaned on just doesn't hold water anymore. You still hear it sometimes, though not nearly as much since TNA's faild attempt on Monday nights, but it'll still pop up now and again.

We all know that TNA doesn't have the kind of money the WWE has. I don't hold their production values against them as they're simply doing the best they can with what they've got. The problem I have is that too many TNA fans praise the company in certain situations but will sometimes attempt to fall back on lame excuses for certain others. When it was announced that TNA had signed Hulk Hogan, plenty of TNA fans thought that Hogan was going to be the golden goose and, quite frankly, a lot of smack was talked and aimed toward WWE. When it was announced that TNA was going to move to Monday nights, lots of TNA fans continued talking smack with some even going so far as to say TNA was going to bury WWE. However, as the Hogan-Bischoff era flops and TNA pulled some of the worst numbers in its history on Monday night, here came the excuses and the whining for why it didn't pan out. I do give TNA credit for trying, I honestly and truly do. But it got its ass kicked by one reason or another and there are fans that still try to make excuses for it.

You want to know a big reason why some people see TNA as second rate? Because the biggest stars on their roster for years have all been guys made in either WCW or the WWE. The TNA roster has been flooded with veteran wrestlers that the WWE isn't interested in using or wrestlers that they've fired from their roster. Since it's inception, there have been 7 different men to hold the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. Of those 7 men, 5 of them are veterans that have been multi-time World Champions in WCW or WWE. If you don't create your own stars and if you consistently use your young talent to elevate much older veterans, some of which are far past their wrestling prime, then people are going to see you as being second rate.

Every wrestling company has flaws, nobody is perfect after all, nor should anybody expect perfection. We're all fans here and, as fans, if we see what we think are flaws then I see no reason why we shouldn't state them and talk about them. Simply put, if you don't like the idea of someone negatively criticizing or talking about a certain wrestling company, then an internet forum just isn't the place for you.

 

[Y2J420RKO420]

I get it. like some one else said tna was great leading into hulk coming in but like everything tna does they hype something so good and it turns out to be horrible. tna is all hype in my opinion they hype everything like its going to be revolutionary and 90% of the time its a huge let down. every true wrestling fan has givin tna chance after chance but at the end of the day they dont deliver.
Tna has all the tools to become a solid wrestling show but unfortunately there focus is on has beens instead of the future.
And you cant compare the past with the present because so many things have changed for example these days we expect way to much for tna and even wwe. back then (well i wasn't around back then so im only guessing) wrestling was different because it was fake but they tried to make it real these days its fake and unbelievable.
All in all the reason the iwc bashes tna so much is because everytime they start to build momentum and 90% of the time we get let down if they would just take it easy and not have everything revolve around one storyline they could have a solid wrestling show

 

[TheAbsolute1]

I don't like TNA anymore, it changed for the worst and quite rapidly at that. I started watching TNA a while back because I was tired of seeing all the WWE guys winning the same titles and so on. But now TNA is pretty low quality. I used to love the Styles vs. Daniels classics. Team Canada! Sonje Dutt vs. Black Machismo. I loved watching EY, KAZ, Americas Most Wanted. So much potential being used so correctly, that was the time to watch TNA. Now who has the spotlight? Jeff Hardy...Hulk Hogan..Flair..Bishoff..... The only originals getting any good air time are 4tune and Abyss. Now I don't see a point in watching TNA anymore(I'm about to go to another promotion) with WWE's new youth movement. I love watching these new faces like Swagger, Sheamus, Gabriel, Barrett, Hawkins, Barreta, Ziggler...The list goes on.

TNA isn't what it used to be at all, now they're doing stupid angles like shore?! Why disrespect the hard work that Jay Lethal put into the X by giving that shore clown the title? And how does Eric Young go from a member of a huge heel faction in Team Canada to...Super Eric? Then from leader of a fan-FUCKING-tastic anti-American group in the World Elite, to a ****** with a fruit as his best buddy?(If you're gay, please don't be offended)

I think I speak for alot of the people who used to be into TNA when I say they should push the originals alot more than they do.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Simply put, if you don't like the idea of someone negatively criticizing or talking about a certain wrestling company, then an internet forum just isn't the place for you.

Well put.

I think it's great that TNA exists. It gives more wrestlers a chance to work at their chosen profession and it makes WWE better because competition always lights a fire under Vince McMahon. But when the guy who started this post states that TNA has been around for "only 8 years," he's miles off the mark.

Eight years is plenty of time for a company to find a direction.....and TNA had one in their original Thursday time slot. They were carving out 1.0 ratings that probably would have increased over time.....and they were doing it without throwing mega-bucks at wrestlers who earned their stardom at WWE.

Then came the Hogan-Bischoff initiative which proved to be one of the most ridiculous, foolhardy corporate moves ever seen. I still don't know if these guys actually have creative control or not but my feeling is that they sold TNA on themselves, saying :"Bring us in and we'll knock WWE out of business!" But whether it was TNA's idea or Hogan/Bischoff's, it was one of the most disastrous mistakes ever. For them to think that Hogan had the drawing power he did 20 years ago showed a corporate incompetence that may have doomed the company (after whoever is funding them decides that enough is enough). Now, their payroll has increased dramatically while their ratings haven't improved at all. They're only now seemingly getting over the idea of hiring as many ex-WWE'ers as they can and starting to trim that bloated payroll.

Sure, TNA has it's fans. Many of them like the product.....and many just hate WWE. Either way, it's good for TNA to exist but it would be interesting to know what their financial situation is really like.

Just a few years ago, Samoa Joe had become a genuine star for them.....and he was complaining about earning only $700 a match. Today, they have Ric Flair main eventing and only heaven knows what they're paying him.

You tell me about direction.