Does WWE consider TNA as competition?

[Dizzy]

At the Monday Night RAW taping in Orlando, a fan ringside was wearing Hulk Hogan merchandise.

Security personnel made him remove almost all of his Hulkster garb, and was given a "Stand Up for WWE" T-shirt to wear.

http://pwinsider.com/

Now, I know everyone will obviously say no but if they are really doing this then why should they be worried if a few fans wear TNA merchandise? Unless they really do look at TNA as a threat somewhat.

The Stand Up for WWE shirt was unnecessary considering they're in Orlando.

 

[MrHashasheen]

Now, I know everyone will obviously say no but if they are really doing this then why should they be worried if a few fans wear TNA merchandise? Unless they really do look at TNA as a threat somewhat.

The Stand Up for WWE shirt was unnecessary considering they're in Orlando.

While it is a dick move, this isn't an indication. The WWE's policy towards TNA wrestlers and affiliated paraphernalia has gone from just ignore it to ban it to openly discuss. Until they settle on a cohesive policy, then we'll talk about fearing TNA.

 

[King_of_Swing1520]

i think this was less of a fear of tna than a distain (sp?) from vince and wwe towards hulk. he made the wwe what it is today. there is no denying that hulk hogan is the biggest name in wrestling history. vince doesnt like having a character he made in another wrestling company. even if vince doesnt feel that tna is a threat now, in the back of his mind he knows that they could be oneday. with hogan, flair, and hardy in tna he's probably more afraid than ever. but unfortunatelly for tna and us as wrestling fans hogan, flair, and hardy have done nothing to boost ratings, atleast not enough for vicne to care. right now vince and the rest of the wwe does not fear tna, but they do know tna is there and know that the more former wwe wrestlers that go there the worst it will be for vince and company if tna starts to take off. vince might even respect tna if they became a competitor by just building there own stars and there own fan base. but the more former wwe wrestlers that are there when/if tna does take off, vince will feel that he and his company made tna by giving it the talent and fans. if bringing in hulk, flair, and hardy had really helped tna then vince could have said "your welcome tna. the stars i created in the wwe made tna succedd"

 

[GameOver]

Whether you consider them a threat or not, why would you advertise the opposition on your show, and moreso WWE has blackbanned mentioning of people working for other companies for ages, so thats nothing new. They have always done that.

another issue TNA is not PG so WWE sure as hell don't want anything to do with them being shown on WWE programming

Deal with it.

If TNA actually drew ratings beyond WWE Supertars they might be worried and put on a major counter.

 

[thesubverse]

TNA is a competitor, sure. Even the New England Patriots would consider the Carolina Panthers competition. That doesn't mean they take them seriously.

 

[My Couch Pulls Out But I Don't]

I've been to several live shows and it is not uncommon for WWE to have fans wear WWE shirts if they are in line with the cameras and whatnot. I have seen them tell my friends to remove WCW shirts, TNA shirts, and even older WWE shirts. One of my buddies was wearing an old Wrestlemania 17 shirt and was told he needed to put on something different so they gave him one of those generic red RAW shirts.

I don't think it has anything to do with TNA as competition, but more due to the WWE wanting people to see their merchandise on everyone possible.

 

[oldschool123]

That is like asking if the NFL considers the UFL competition.

Like the UFL it is where the has beens and never weres go when the big boys don't want them.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Being compared as competition and being compared as a threat are two very different things.

Do WWE see them as a threat? I doubt it, seriously. TNA just doesn't have the financial backing required to truly become the threat WCW was to them years back.

Do WWE see them as competition? Absolutely. This event is a prime example of it.

 

[Lionshare]

Competition or not, they do it just to show merchandise, i dont really think this count as an example. But to bash tna on live commentary is, just like the old monday night wars.

 

[I_got_bant_for_idiocy]

wwe competition is the cartoon network... after watching smackdown last night im pretty much almost done with wwe.. you got a giant eagle vs a midget wtf is this shit..

 

[ABMorales787]

What? Now you people start to notice how egocentric and ego-driven WWE's become? This has been going for a long time. It's not a matter of WWE taking TNA as a threat or as competition, it's a matter of "do it our way or fuck off". Long gone are days of taking sign to Raw saying "WCW -insert text here-". It really wouldn't surprise me if a report comes in about a fan who's "TNA SUCKS" sign was banned or taken away. It's WWE. They live in their own world. Why else are the fan's solely called the "WWE Universe". Why are the wrestlers only called "Superstars and Divas" as Michael Cole kindly told CM Punk? You don't see this done by any other company. Ever. I remember Bound For Glory where a couple of fan's had "TEN TEN TEN" signs where the "N" was the Nexus logo. But if you go to a WWE event with anything not WWE, it will be banned. Even if you are praising WWE.

TNA is not seen as a threat or competition. It is seen as an outside entity. Therefor you don't belong in our "WWE Universe".

 

[Syborgg]

One of my buddies was wearing an old Wrestlemania 17 shirt and was told he needed to put on something different so they gave him one of those generic red RAW shirts.

That probably has more to do with the WM 17 shirt having the scratch WWF logo on it that is forceably blocked from all WWE programming and DVD productions.

TNA is not a threat, but WWE is also not about giving free advertising to anyone. They sort of broke that "rule" back when DX invaded WCW HQ or when ECW invaded WWF, but beyond that WWE usually flat out ignores other "wrasslin" companies. It could be partially about avoiding lawsuits, but it's more about not giving free advertising. I'm not saying I condone the move, but perhaps the fan in question purposely wore Hogan gear to try and somehow cause a stir.

 

[hunterXhunter21]

Like other have said this is nothing new. Awhile back me and my ex-wife went to a WWE show. She was wearing a old Austin 3:16 shirt and I had a new(well new at the time) TNA shirt. I think it was the I smacked it raw and want more shirt or something along those lines. We both got shirts to put over it. So point of the story want free WWE shirts? Wear a TNA shirt.

 

[Mr. Artistic guy]

You could ask a different question and get the answer you require, IS TNA a threat? Well, nope, not yet and not for at least a good while will they be. And if TNA is currently not a threat, then there is no reason for WWE to view them as such. The example you gave isn't them being worried about the threat someone wearing a Hogan T-shirt may instill, it's just obvious that your not going to plug the competition to help them along, even if they aren't a threat to you right now, that's poor business smarts.

WWE won't be seeing TNA as a threat currently, but they aren't going to be doing them any favours unless you considered them plugging Mick Foleys book a free ad for TNA, but that's debatable. It may also be a little bit of what Kofi Orton said, a shot at Hogan because of what he did to devalue WWE's HOF, with his bismurching of the HOF ring he was given. Either way, you see TNA take shots at WWE often because they know they have to make a name for themselves challenging the big company. WWE doesn't take shots at TNA because they are the big company and they don't have to focus on anything else but themselves... ultimately because TNA isn't a threat. If it was a threat.. then just like during the monday night wars, you'd see WWE shooting over at TNA, but as this isn't happening, you know WWE's stance on TNA.

 

[Serious Mozzarella]

It's because the fans are actually on TV, and everything the fans wear is basically an advertisement. If you see a fan wearing a wrestling product, they're in turn advertising that product. If you see a fan wearing a Hulk Hogan shirt, they're advertising a competing product.

When you ask if the WWE considers TNA as competition, you're implying that the WWE may consider TNA a threat to their viewers, and TNA isn't even close. Yes, it's a competing product, which is why the WWE isn't in any hurry to advertise their wrestlers, but that doesn't mean the WWE considers TNA a threat.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Vince McMahon is a control freak. He has an obssessive desire to control as much around him as he possibly can because, if he doesn't, then he fears losing it all. Would allowing fans to wear TNA merchendise to WWE events put a dent in the WWE armor? In the mind of a rational person, of course not. Vince, however, is an obssessive personality and I wouldn't doubt that he views a fan wearing TNA merchendise to a show as some sort of conspiracy by said fan to garner even some degree of exposure for TNA on WWE programming. And that just ain't gonna happen if there's anything Vince McMahon can do about it.

If it's not WWE wrestling, Vince doesn't want much of anything to do with it. As an ordinary person, you just have to kind of scratch your head at Vince sometimes and wonder just what goes through his head at times. When you look at it from the stance of a businessman, it makes more sense though it still comes across as somewhat neurotic. Vince made the WWE as big as it is and he didn't have help from anybody doing it. He had a vision for his company and he'd do whatever it took to see that vision come to fruition and he's not going to let any other wrestling company get over in even the tiniest way with WWE aid unless he allows it. I'd bet my left nut that the man probably needs to be on some form of medication.

As for whether the WWE considers TNA competition, well there's two real answers to that. TNA is a rival wrestling company that airs its product on national television and has, at one time, tried to go head to head with the WWE. These factors in and of themselves, by definition, makes TNA competition. However, TNA is not even remotely a threat to WWE right now and probably won't be at anytime in the forseeable future. TNA doesn't a large enough audience to be considered a viable threat to the WWE.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

Hell no. Look at it realistically -- TNA's ratings have never, ever passed the 1.5 point. They don't release PPV Buyrates information to the public for obvious reasons. They are a tiny company compared to the WWE and are not threatening them. Period. I like TNA, I think the product is light years ahead of WWE's, but these guys are nowhere NEAR WWE as far as everything else goes. That's the truth.

Now, what they did with the whole Hogan merchandise thing -- if true of course -- is absolutely pathetic and hypocritical. Wasn't Vince bitching and moaning during Linda's campaign that WWE fans were not allowed to wear WWE merchandise when attending her campaigns or speeches or whatever?

Vince has the power to do it -- and he does it, but this is absolutely sad. You take away signs - cool, I understand that. But merchandise? Are you kidding me?

Still, I doubt that this is even true. It sounds like something WWE would do, but I've seen people with TNA T-Shirts before, I've seen TNA Signs before, I've seen Beer Money signs and even a "Pro Wrestling is Real ... People are Fake" Sign.

 

[realdealasshole]

Sorry to burst your bubble, but the answer is no. Nobody in their right mind would see TNA as a threat. It looks worse than WCW did in their last days (not saying TNA's in it's last days. Just saying it sucks that bad). They have no direction, they're producing to raise just .1 in the ratings every week (and to no success I might add), and they're pushing all the wrong guys. TNA sucks and WWE knows it. Not even close to being a threat.

As for the story of them making the guy in Hogan apparel change out of it, not sure if it's true or not, but I do know that WWE has showed multiple clips of Hogan and even mentioned his name over the past few months. No one cares about what he does in wrestling nowadays. He's not relevant.

 

[Calderownz]

From a business sense, they technically have to. Any other company supplying the public with the same type of product you are, is technically competition. In the sense that you always have to deliver, because it's one more group that could benefit from your decreases. (Obviously.)

However, on a major level? (Which is what I assume you meant.) No. They can't They barely beat their secondary shows. Realistically, they don't touch Raw and they failed head-to-head with Raw. They have been measured up against each other, and TNA failed in a business sense.

Virtually all fans that know of WWE know of TNA, most do anyway. And they continue to choose WWE. It's hard to call that legit competition.

 

[CerebralViper96]

WWE does not acknowledge TNA but they know they are there.I'm pretty damn sure sees whats happening in all major wrestling companies such as TNA,ROH,etc.But they will never mention any affiliation with anything TNA unless they have a pretty strong base such as Hulk Hogan,Jeff Hardy,and soforth.

 

[Kenny Powers]

TNA isn't a threat to WWE, but they are competition. I'm not sure if WWE also confiscates signs or bans shirts of ROH or UFC, but it wouldn't surprise me. They don't want to advertise for other wrestling or fighting companies on their show. I really don't think showing one fan with a Mr. Anderson shirt or a Hulk Hogan sign is going to make fans change the channel to Impact. I'm surprised WWE actually shows former wrestlers that work for TNA now on video segments and DVDS like Foley, Hogan, and Flair.

Then again, its pretty hard to make a wrestling DVD without mentioning Ric Flair or Hulk Hogan. TNA really has no problem talking about other wrestlers from WWE when it comes down to their history with TNA wrestlers. I doubt you will hear Michael Cole or Jerry Lawler talk about CM Punk's feud with Jeff Hardy, but stranger things have happen. They did plug Mick Foley's book so maybe WWE is starting to loosen up a bit.

 

[LSN80]

Competition, yes? Playing on an even field? No.

Make no mistake WWE certainly views TNA as competiton. This here is an example as to why they do. They may not feel threatened by TNA, but they certainly see them as competition, which they are. WWE is the number one wrestling company in the US. TNA is number two. Even if the competition isnt remotely close, its competition nonetheless.