Financial Woes, Dirt Sheets vs TNA

[Reddannihilation]

DISCLAIMER: This purpose of this thread is to compare factual information provided by TNA, with speculatory reports often quoted in negative comments directed at TNA. As always, I encourage anyone and everyone to post their opinions on the overrall situation, provided that you offer solid reasoning behind your opinion.​

Over the past few months a recurring (see: redundant) aspect of negative posts regarding TNA is the "supposedly" dire financial situation the company is in. Numerous reports have been posted stating that TNA is cutting costs, TNA is trying to renegotiate contracts,TNA is planning on releasing people, TNA wants Paul Heyman to run the books, TNA's PPV Buyrates are low, TNA's live attendance for house shows are low,etc.

To put this into perspective none of these reports have any sources, no basis, nothing. Despite this, criticising TNA's finances seems to be a popular trend. So I've decided we'll compare TNA's successes and how they rate financially, to the reports and see if we run into any contradictions.

1.) TNA has low House Show attendance and therefore are losing money :
Dirt sheets:Various websites have stated that TNA has low attendance levels and don't make any money from their live events.

TNA: over the past weeks TNA has been consistently breaking their attendance records with their latest announcement being just above 6000. Keeping in mind that TNA's shows don't take place in massive arena's the facts seem to contradict the reports. On top of this TNA is planning their third Maximum iMPACT tour for 2011, this would seem to be a contradictory action if live events aren't making money.

2.)TNA is trying to renegotiate contracts and release people in an attempt to save money:
Dirt sheets: TNA was reportdly asking wrestlers to take pay cuts and even trying to limit contractual obligations.

TNA: TNA has not enforced pay cuts nor have any contracts been renegotiated.

3.) TNA wants Paul Heyman to take over.
Dirt sheets: It's been said that TNA wants Heyman to come in an take over the creative department. Reports have also stated that Heyman wants "full control" of TNA.

TNA: TNA has not released any statements regarding a desire for Paul Heyman to take over their creative department.

4.)TNA has low PPV Buyrates
Dirt sheets:Since Slammiversary 2009 reports have constantly circulated that TNA's PPV's routinely get less than 7000 buys.

TNA: TNA is a privately traded company who do not release buyrates to the public.

So on that note, I'll open this up for discussion. Do you believe the reports posted on various dirt sheets without any legitimate source? Or do you believe the official statements and policies of the company at hand?

If you feel theses reports deserve to be believed tell me why, better yet tell everyone why. If you believe TNA tell us why.

*Please note that while your posts may be your opinion, it will certainly help if you're capable of providing solid reasons for what you're saying, blanket statements are discouraged. Also if you plan on posting and then complaining when some challenges your opinion avoid this thread.

 

[Optimist Prime]

Thank you for posting this. I feel a lot of people like to create inaccurate information to back up their irrational opinions on certain matters. The easiest thing to do when you want to get your point across without any information to back it up...is to make up nonsense. We see a lot of that here unfortunately.

That being said. I never heard this "Paul Heyman" should take over thing...and I hope I never hear it again. I liked ECW but I don't think TNA wants to limit themselves to becoming just another ECW. I'm sure...with the people they have involved...they EVENTUALLY would like to grow into a much larger business altogether. Although I do not have any factual information on this...I am only making educated guesses using the context clues surrounding the situation.

 

[Joe's Gonna Kill You]

I agree with you 100% on this and always find it to stupid to see when people say Tna is financial trouble it makes no sense because Tna is a private company and they dont have to release information about PPV view buys and other financial information. The attendance is doing well also they just drew there largest house show crowd at New York with around 5000 people and they are also scheduling a 3rd Maxium Impact tour in the Uk and they also recently announced that they will be doing a tour of India. If Tna was in such financial trouble like the dirt sheets are reporting they wouldn't be doing another tour of the Uk and going to India, they also about to get a second show in the Us with Xplosion.

 

[Money Inc.]

IMO

I'm going to take Dave's and Alvarez's news over Dixie/Bischoffs/Hogan/ETC 365 days a year. What does Alvarez have to gain by telling the public he's heard from an inside source that the past couple ppv's have been under 10 thousand ppv buys. TNA on the other hand has everything to lose by releasing this news simply because its the same numbers who ROH (when they were on PPV) and Dragon Gate USA (when they were on ppv) were doing without a national TV slot.

On a side note, I think everybody needs to get the YouShoot with Dixie coming out simply because the preview looks like she received some pretty tough questions regarding Steroids in TNA/TNA paydays/Buyrates/Russo's Writing/ETC

Some TNA marks will of course say taking the dirt sheets side is "looking for something to rip TNA for" ... but seriously what do major writers have to gain by making up and/or exaggerating expenses.

Edit

(By major guys, I'm saying the ones who already have established their name as a major source for breaking news/etc... not a shady site who has everything to gain about breaking false news..sorry for the confusion)

 

[neildittmar]

I totally get what you're saying about fact vs. fiction, dirt vs. research, etc. Allow me to advocate for the other side of the fence here a bit...

The fact that TNA is breaking their own personal attendance records does not automatically signify that they are making money on live events. Case in point, ECW regularly sold out the ECW arena, the Hammerstein Ballroom, and other select locales every time they were there. However, the company never really made a dime and in the end was bought for peanuts by Vince McMahon. I loved the original ECW dearly, but a positive attendance record doesn't necessarily equate to a positive cash flow. There is a lot of money that goes into producing live events.

As for TNA renegotiating contracts and release people to save money, I'm not quite sure how this can be construed as negative if true. The fact is, all of the "high price" talent aquisitions did not directly contribute to the product. To then want to go back and renegotiate, re-contract, or outright terminate some folks/contracts is smart business. The truth is ultimately in the details here. If someone like Ken Anderson, Pope, AJ Styles, or another "young" guy is being asked to take a pay cut or gets outright released, while Nash, Angle, or Sting are getting pay raises or contract extensions, then that signifies a problem to me. If it's something more focused or across the board, then this could be smart business in my opinion.

As for TNA wanting Paul Heyman to take over, I think this is one of the best things they could do right now. Heyman is bad with money, but Heyman has two proven successes under his belt at the booking side of things. He specializes in hiding performers weaknesses and most importantly, excentuating their positives. This is critical in pro-wrestling and Heyman does it like no other. Again, I'm not quite sure how this could be construed as a negative. TNA has almost everything to gain and nearly nothing to lose by getting Heyman on the creative side of things. If they are, more power to them. If they're not, they should try.

In regards to buyrates, I am likely to believe that they are low. Less than 10K low? I'm not sure, but they're probably pretty low. WWE PPV buyrates are reported given the companies publicly traded nature. Those numbers have come in quite a bit lower over the last year from what I've seen, more likely due to the global recession rather than a poor product necessarily. I can't imagine TNA is doing better than WWE is, even from a relative perspective. I like TNA, but nothing they've advertised so far has gotten me to "Cross the line" and drop $30-$40 on one of their PPV's. Granted I'm only one guy, but I'm nearly certain I'm not alone in my opinion.

I think the nail was already hit on the head that given TNA's privately held nature, the public won't truly know if something bad is brewing behind the scenes until the company tells us. There might be "signs" and "gestures" that point to some impending doom of the company. Until TNA announces (if ever) that they are no longer a continued interest, these "news sites" (or dirt sheets if you must) remain nothing but speculation and hearsay.

 

[HoganKnowsBest]

I don't know why you'd force yourself to believe somebody who actually tried to pass off "official" illegal streaming numbers. That said all you need to know about the anti-TNA agenda the sheets have.

What do the dirt sheets gain by putting out false information? The same thing that tabloids do. They're essentially the same thing. "TNA is doing steady business, shown some improvements, as well as some setbacks" doesn't quite get the readers interested like "I've heard from an unofficial source that TNA is down to their last dollar!"

Its just a situation where people need to start thinking for themselves. Yeah, reading the wrestling news is fun. It makes for good discussion. But to give it much validity when its been far off so often is silly. If TNA is in financial turmoil and making roster cutbacks...why are they adding talent, extending contracts, and supposedly negotiating with a guy who has made it clear that he'd join for a huge amount of money? (Heyman). The information contradicts itself too much to take it too seriously.

 

[Bobby B]

1.) TNA has low House Show attendance and therefore are losing money :
Dirt sheets:Various websites have stated that TNA has low attendance levels and don't make any money from their live events.

TNA: over the past weeks TNA has been consistently breaking their attendance records with their latest announcement being just above 6000. Keeping in mind that TNA's shows don't take place in massive arena's the facts seem to contradict the reports. On top of this TNA is planning their third Maximum iMPACT tour for 2011, this would seem to be a contradictory action if live events aren't making money.

"Consistently" ? They did it once in Brooklyn didn't they?

My personal opinion on the matter is that they're doing ok - albeit they'd like to be doing better.

2.)TNA is trying to renegotiate contracts and release people in an attempt to save money:
Dirt sheets: TNA was reportdly asking wrestlers to take pay cuts and even trying to limit contractual obligations.

TNA: TNA has not enforced pay cuts nor have any contracts been renegotiated.

May be an indicated of point 3 (TNA reluctant to fire people if they are looking at shifting the balance of control.

3.) TNA wants Paul Heyman to take over.
Dirt sheets: It's been said that TNA wants Heyman to come in an take over the creative department. Reports have also stated that Heyman wants "full control" of TNA.

TNA: TNA has not released any statements regarding a desire for Paul Heyman to take over their creative department.

Oh come on!!! I can give you the other three points, but how can you deny this. Sure there's been no press release on the website but why would there be? Dixie wants Paul-E.

4.)TNA has low PPV Buyrates
Dirt sheets:Since Slammiversary 2009 reports have constantly circulated that TNA's PPV's routinely get less than 7000 buys.

TNA: TNA is a privately traded company who do not release buyrates to the public.

I'm not saying you should believe them but I don't think you should throw them aside purely because they haven't come from an official source. If TNA buyrates were better they wouldn't be doing the ECW storyline. I think this may be you trying to defend TNA for the sake of defending TNA. If there were reports of them doing 25-30,000 buys I doubt you'd be going - "Yeah, that must be wrong".

I'll respect other peoples opinions, sure. And I think people should act with caution when reading Wrestling websites with the odd article. But when there's a wave of news like the Heyman story has, I think you're a stubborn person to ignore them.

 

[Optimist Prime]

I don't know why you'd force yourself to believe somebody who actually tried to pass off "official" illegal streaming numbers. That said all you need to know about the anti-TNA agenda the sheets have.

What do the dirt sheets gain by putting out false information? The same thing that tabloids do. They're essentially the same thing. "TNA is doing steady business, shown some improvements, as well as some setbacks" doesn't quite get the readers interested like "I've heard from an unofficial source that TNA is down to their last dollar!"

Its just a situation where people need to start thinking for themselves. Yeah, reading the wrestling news is fun. It makes for good discussion. But to give it much validity when its been far off so often is silly. If TNA is in financial turmoil and making roster cutbacks...why are they adding talent, extending contracts, and supposedly negotiating with a guy who has made it clear that he'd join for a huge amount of money? (Heyman). The information contradicts itself too much to take it too seriously.

Absolutely brilliant post. I would give you one of those "Rep" things if I were able to (for whatever reason I'm not able to click on that button at work - but I'm allowed to click on almost every single other one).

Anyway, everything you just said should be re-written for emphasis...but I will focus on one part that I particularly enjoyed the most and let everyone else go from there.

It's just a situation where people need to start thinking for themselves.

This needs to be the case for basically everything these days. People are so impressionable from the media these days...nobody ever takes a step back and tries to look at it from a rational point of view...using logic and reasoning to determine the best scenario that's in front of them.

It's sad. It really is. But it's something that just won't end for some unfortunately.

 

[Optimist Prime]

My personal view on this whole thing is...who gives a shit?

As long as TNA is still on television and has the chance to improve I don't see the relevancy for their financial status whatsoever.

We're aware that the product is lacking in areas. I don't see how the financial status of the company changes anybody's opinion of anything. Are people who were continuing to give TNA a chance going to all of the sudden abandon the company because of their financial status? And we don't even know who's telling the truth!! So it's even more of a WHO CARES?? Even if it were chisled in stone that TNA was having financial trouble...who the hell am I to base what entertains me on what's behind the curtain? I don't watch the show because of their financial status and I certainly won't abandon the show for the same reasons. I don't know why anybody would...so what the hell is the point??

Anti-TNA scribes will dig up nonsense that isn't even actually proven in order to get over in an argument and/or to make themselves look respectable. That's the only reason this crap is out there. Even if this were true...why the hell would anybody dig up this dirt on a private company? For what reason? Because they think people are just DYING to know where a company they have literally no financial investment in - is going?

People need to relax. This stuff is a waste of everyone's time.

 

[ABMorales787]

If there's anything I can add here it's to the PPV buyrates thing. I have DirecTV (latinamerica). I for one am not sure if the latinamerican buyrates are taken into account, but for one, I am unable to purchase a TNA Pay-Per-View. My satellite provider does not have that service. If anything, it may not be people not buying but people not being able to buy. However I sincerely doubt this to be anywhere near a solid fact. TNA has done a great job of promoting their PPV's over the last few months. I seriously doubt there is an inside source for the dirt sheets to get this info seeing how they have been wrong with everything else.

Saying TNA is interested in Paul Heyman can be an easy guess due to their creative team having changes, however to say they are desperate for him seems inaccurate. They have Tommy Dreamer, who has been the man behind the ECW reunion. It was his idea. Not a scheme to lure Heyman in. If there indeed were a strong desire to bring Paul Heyman in, television material is not the correct way to lure a man in. It takes strong business to bring a man in. Offering payrolls and workdays plus possible perks and insurances. Making his friends world champion and surrounding themselves with "his boys" is not a business deal or a business move. People can say it is all day long, but then how is it that Tommy Dreamer is the one orchestrating all of this and claims its a one night deal? It's his vision and idea to tap into an old fanbase using a method that had worked to a great extent the last time it was done. Which was by him.

If the dirt sheets were wrong about the low morale, Samoa Joe's catering fiasco, house show attendance and Kurt Angle wanting to quit, just why should I believe they have information that, for one is illegal to disclose and, two has no solid proof? Remember Dixie's "pep" talk about "tightening up"? Haven't heard shit about it since it was "reported". Wonder why?

 

[Schizophrenic]

I'm with Optimous. I don't get why people feel the need to know every bit of financial news whether it be WWE or TNA. Last I checked no one here works for TNA or WWE so I highly doubt their own financial status hinders on that of the company so it really is a waste of time.

 

[shattered dreams]

I think the biggest point is that there is nothing wrong with reading these reports or even speculating about them, however, it is absolutely moronic to treat them as fact. The difference is saying, "is it possible TNA is having financial issues?" Then having a discussion about the topic and actually using your own brain to determine if the facts fit. Opposed to stating "TNA is having financial problems" with the entirety of your evidence the opinon of a vague entity. If that is how you do most of your thinking then an unnamed source familiar with your financial situation has reason to believe you should give me your credit card numbers. Even worse is when someone uses "the fact that" TNA is "having financial problems" to justify other odd notions about the product. Eventually the whole thing just snowballs into a cesspool of ignorance.

 

[wewanttables]

I think that the main reason that we even have this thread is because fans want TNA to be around and to be a viable alternative to WWE.
Are there reasons not mentioned in the thread that cause people to worry about the condition of TNA? Yes. Does Dixie leave people thinking that she is in over her head running the company. Yes. Is the head booker a guy that was stering the ship when WCW ran into issues and folded? Yes. Is TNA relying exesssively on Spike to showcase their product? Yes. Is the former encarnation of Spike, "TNN" the station that canceled ECW's tv deal resulting in them running out of businsess? Yes.
The thing is that TNA has made it through tough times before. The went for a while between Fox Sports and Spike without a tv deal. They were not drawing huge numbers when they went from weekly ppvs to monthly ppvs. Spike does come across as willing to let TNA work out its issues and part of this may be anger over how WWE left the channel so they want to "show them" that another wrestling show can succeed there. The WWE has also taken a hit in the ppv department and like TNA is more reliant on live attendance and television money for their bottom line. No one is saying that they are financially in danger.
Also, some of the people saying that TNA is in financial trouble have also mentioned that several companies have wanted to by out Panda. So even if you assume that the rumors of financial troubles are true, the company will still probably not go away.

 

[twentytwo]

From lordsofpain.net

The last two TNA PPVs have gotten about 8,000 buys. The last year of WCW PPVs were getting 40,000 buys.

Kind of hard to stay in business when no one is buying or watching your program.

Ouch.

 

[Schizophrenic]

The last two TNA PPVs have gotten about 8,000 buys. The last year of WCW PPVs were getting 40,000 buys.

Kind of hard to stay in business when no one is buying or watching your program.

The fact that you said 8,000 homes ordered the PPV says that your comment of "no one" watches is a little off. Clearly you do't pay attention to what other people say as wewanttables said, TNA is reliying more on their live attendance and merchanising and tv money which all far outweigh the money they get frm PPV. Not to mention (as it was so gracefully pointed out to me by Shattered Dreams a week or so ago) even if TNA gets 8,000 buys they are still getting money off that. Add that in with all the money they are making at live shows and through merch and I highly doubt that TNA is in financial perril

 

[JackBurton]

I think that the main reason that we even have this thread is because fans want TNA to be around and to be a viable alternative to WWE.
Are there reasons not mentioned in the thread that cause people to worry about the condition of TNA? Yes. Does Dixie leave people thinking that she is in over her head running the company. Yes. Is the head booker a guy that was stering the ship when WCW ran into issues and folded? Yes. Is TNA relying exesssively on Spike to showcase their product? Yes. Is the former encarnation of Spike, "TNN" the station that canceled ECW's tv deal resulting in them running out of businsess? Yes.
The thing is that TNA has made it through tough times before. The went for a while between Fox Sports and Spike without a tv deal. They were not drawing huge numbers when they went from weekly ppvs to monthly ppvs. Spike does come across as willing to let TNA work out its issues and part of this may be anger over how WWE left the channel so they want to "show them" that another wrestling show can succeed there. The WWE has also taken a hit in the ppv department and like TNA is more reliant on live attendance and television money for their bottom line. No one is saying that they are financially in danger.
Also, some of the people saying that TNA is in financial trouble have also mentioned that several companies have wanted to by out Panda. So even if you assume that the rumors of financial troubles are true, the company will still probably not go away.

A minority of fans want TNA to do well - the ones who understand what impact competition has on the whole industry, not just WWE. Its been pointed out in this thread that everyone with an anti-TNA agenda or bias, will pull all sorts of irrelevant points to support their position. Its all here in black and white. TNA's finances are completely irrelevant because no-one is posting thread talking about Dixie or her family becoming one of the fortune 500 via TNA. Its redundant. Its shit stirring by the so called journalists - who have little or no credibility with the people within the industry. They just parrot the shit they know most internet fans want for ammunition in their silly, childish, horseshit, tribalistic battle of WWE vs TNA. And you do, you lap their crap up - regardless of the fact that most of these guys clearly has some axe to grind with either company. Then all dullards who read their shit bring that baggage on to places like this and reduce every discussion to a "Ive got more toys than you" gayfest.

Ratings only indicate how many people watch these shows. American Idol or w/e the fuck you call that show, does what? well over a 10 every week? Its STILL FUCKING GUFF. Most people only watch WWE because they always have. Its almost a ritual. I watch certain shows now that I've watched for 20 years - most of which arent as good as the alternatives that have come along since - still watch it though.

How many journos use the term "a source said" or "an insider claimed"? Its crap 99% of the time. Paul Heyman says TNA wouldnt give him what he felt would make it worth his while - know how I know that? No, not because "an insider told me" or because I have some kind of extra sensory perception. Here's how;

I seen a video on youtube of him after Lesnars last fight.

Should I go and right an article siting sources or "insiders" and be hailed by all the mindless plebs that populate the IWC?

Fuck no.

 

[Phenomenal]

I couldnt give a shit, most of internet writers are Vinnie mac fan boys anyway. As long as i get Awsome wrestling and and awsome angles on T.V, im HAPPY.

Also, more Knockouts, Blood and hardcore shit.

 

[Hitman-1998-Hargreaves]

The Wrestling Indstury Seems To Relove Round Wwe . Okay There The Greater Company . And The More Famous .. Okay There A Millon Dollar Made Company .. I Think They Have Some Money Woes.

Tna Have Poor Ratings ... And Money Woes Cause

1: The Dont Atracct Large Audinces On T.V .
2: The Have Impact! In The Same Place .
3: The Dont Tour Around As Much .

Tna Want Heyman To Take Over Cause He Is Experince On Building Founditions For Companys In The Indtrusy .

Tna .. 2nd Best .

If They Just Do What ROH Do Any Sit Back And Not Compete ..


WHAT AN INDTURSY ..


"Yourrrrrr Firrrrredddddd "

 

[darkman_96]

This is very sad to hear whats happening and was unaware if this. Thank you. I agree with those ideas because i look at the roster and i see people i havent seen in ages so i think they should drop a few people.

I would love for Paul Heyman to take over hes always had good ideas that the fans like. You say the PPV veiwers are low this could be because it has got more expensive lately. ITs almost doubled here in Australia but i still buy every PPV.

Hope TNA can get through this and hopefully this wasnt caused by Hulk or Eric? Can you please reply to me about that question cause itll be bugging me forever.

 

[Reddannihilation]

"Consistently" ? They did it once in Brooklyn didn't they?

the week before they broke it, then broke it again. Consistently.

Oh come on!!! I can give you the other three points, but how can you deny this. Sure there's been no press release on the website but why would there be? Dixie wants Paul-E.

Speculation. Until someone from TNA says it, then it isn't happening. And as to why they'd announce it, hmm well who was the last person they brought in to shake things up...oh right Hulk Hogan and it was TNA that announced it. And see here's the strange thing, prior to TNA annoucning Hogan signing with the company no reports were made suggesting that the two parties were talking. I have this strange feeling that if TNA was able to keep Hulk Hogan a secret they'd have no trouble keeping Heyman a secret.

Of course there were also a ton of these reports saying that TNA wanted JR and that he had a big interview were he asked questions TNA couldn't answer. Strangley no source was posted on that.

I'm not saying you should believe them but I don't think you should throw them aside purely because they haven't come from an official source. If TNA buyrates were better they wouldn't be doing the ECW storyline. I think this may be you trying to defend TNA for the sake of defending TNA. If there were reports of them doing 25-30,000 buys I doubt you'd be going - "Yeah, that must be wrong".

Because ECW is known to draw money now? Didn't really work out for the WWE, save for the one PPV. Every wrestling company runs angles to get people to watch, but that doesn't mean people aren't watching.

I'll respect other peoples opinions, sure. And I think people should act with caution when reading Wrestling websites with the odd article. But when there's a wave of news like the Heyman story has, I think you're a stubborn person to ignore them.

And I think the millions of tabloids that've posted articles about UFO's are ridiculous, but seeing as so many have done it I guess they're telling the truth, right?

 

[Optimist Prime]

I don't understand why anybody would want TNA to fail. It doesn't make sense to me.

If these people would take a step back and think for a second they'd realize that competition creates better products on both ends. It forces your favorite company to put out a better product in order to stay on top. This isn't anything new. This happens in ANY kind of business atmosphere.

Wanting TNA to fail is basically like saying "I also don't want the WWE to get any better...I'm perfectly content with their half-assed and mediocre product they are putting out. If they even TRY to improve, I will cancel my cable subscription and replace my toilet with my television set."

 

[Vintage]

TNA can't be doing so bad, I wasn't able to get tickets for the house show in Brooklyn. All the good seats sold out before I had a chance to get to Keyspan..er MCU park or whatever they call it now.
Damn me for thinking I didn't need to rush like any other event and procrastinating

 

[Reddannihilation]

I don't understand why anybody would want TNA to fail. It doesn't make sense to me.

If these people would take a step back and think for a second they'd realize that competition creates better products on both ends. It forces your favorite company to put out a better product in order to stay on top. This isn't anything new. This happens in ANY kind of business atmosphere.

Wanting TNA to fail is basically like saying "I also don't want the WWE to get any better...I'm perfectly content with their half-assed and mediocre product they are putting out. If they even TRY to improve, I will cancel my cable subscription and replace my toilet with my television set."

What you've stumbled onto here is what I like to call "sports fans" alternately "McMahon's brainwashed followers". One of the biggest problems with the Monday Night Wars is that too many fans looked at each company as a sports team. It essentially ended up with people picking sides and that's why we now live in a world with one company that holds a monopoly on the pro-wrestling industry.

When it comes right down to it the purchase of WCW and ECW, were it in a business outside of wrestling, probably would've been blocked by a federal action in the same way companies like McDonlads would never be allowed to purchase Burger King. With McMahon holding wrestling in the vice-grip he's had it in for the past 9 years the quality of his product has dwindled but it's stayed afloat because the only competition are smaller companies like TNA and ROH.

As for McMahon's followers, these are people who literally believe everything the WWE does is the epitome of wrestling, they're not objective and much like the "sports fans" from the 90's in their eyes any and all competition failing is a success because they think they're on the winning side of a battle when in truth their causing the downfall of the industry by not challenging their preferred company to do better.

 

[Optimist Prime]

What you've stumbled onto here is what I like to call "sports fans" alternately "McMahon's brainwashed followers". One of the biggest problems with the Monday Night Wars is that too many fans looked at each company as a sports team. It essentially ended up with people picking sides and that's why we now live in a world with one company that holds a monopoly on the pro-wrestling industry.

When it comes right down to it the purchase of WCW and ECW, were it in a business outside of wrestling, probably would've been blocked by a federal action in the same way companies like McDonlads would never be allowed to purchase Burger King. With McMahon holding wrestling in the vice-grip he's had it in for the past 9 years the quality of his product has dwindled but it's stayed afloat because the only competition are smaller companies like TNA and ROH.

As for McMahon's followers, these are people who literally believe everything the WWE does is the epitome of wrestling, they're not objective and much like the "sports fans" from the 90's in their eyes any and all competition failing is a success because they think they're on the winning side of a battle when in truth their causing the downfall of the industry by not challenging their preferred company to do better.

Beautifully put and I couldn't have said it any better myself.

This is precisely the problem. It's almost sad to think about how many people are just unable to see something so clear too. It's extremely disappointing and doesn't reflect that well on the genre of wrestling fans as a whole.

 

[shattered dreams]

What you've stumbled onto here is what I like to call "sports fans" alternately "McMahon's brainwashed followers". One of the biggest problems with the Monday Night Wars is that too many fans looked at each company as a sports team. It essentially ended up with people picking sides and that's why we now live in a world with one company that holds a monopoly on the pro-wrestling industry.

When it comes right down to it the purchase of WCW and ECW, were it in a business outside of wrestling, probably would've been blocked by a federal action in the same way companies like McDonlads would never be allowed to purchase Burger King. With McMahon holding wrestling in the vice-grip he's had it in for the past 9 years the quality of his product has dwindled but it's stayed afloat because the only competition are smaller companies like TNA and ROH.

As for McMahon's followers, these are people who literally believe everything the WWE does is the epitome of wrestling, they're not objective and much like the "sports fans" from the 90's in their eyes any and all competition failing is a success because they think they're on the winning side of a battle when in truth their causing the downfall of the industry by not challenging their preferred company to do better.

Which Monday night wars are you talking about? I agree that this is what happened during the most recent fake "wars" and the truth is it was somewhat predictable. I often wonder if it would not have been so polarizing if Hogan and a few others had used softer rhetoric instead of pushing it as a war when they had to know they were against some lofty odds.

Now in the original wars I do not remember the polarization. Ultimately you kind of had to pick one you preferred to follow but if we had todays technology then I think most people would have watched both. I do not remember knowing many people that would not flick back and forth based on quality etc. There was nothing wrong with liking both in fact it was what many wrestling fans did. There were certainly discussions about what each company was doing that worked and what did not but it was never about having to pick one and only one.

Essentially the difference is that the loyalty was actually quite fickle during the original monday night wars. People had preferences but often they were only as loyal as the comparative quality of the segments of that evening. While recently people seemed to put loyalty over quality at least as far as TNA was concerned. It seemed like TNA fans would flip to WWE when there was something worthwhile but WWE fans were largely oblivious to TNA no matter how bad a divas segment got. When people are too loyal to a product the company has little incentive to improve. While in the original wars the companies had every incentive to attempt to bring their A game every week.