Financial Woes, Dirt Sheets vs TNA

[Reddannihilation]

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.

I had actually been talking about the original. The more recent Monday Night Skirmish was definitely an "us vs. them" moreso than the original. But between the "Vince Fears nWo" signs, the fact that guys like X-Pac would cut promos against WCW and get cheers, DX declaring war on WCW skits, Bischoff challenging McMahon to a fist fight. And probably the biggest indicator, WCW being booed during those few airings of RAW and Smackdown! when WCW was presented as a separate brand before the Invasion sort of give me the idea that a lot of people picked sides.

I mean that promo that Vince cut during the final Nitro about firing all the stars got cheers, which confused the hell out of me because liked both companies. But a lot of fans seemed to pick sides that went beyond personal preference. I definitely think that in the 9 years since then, the number of "WWE Patriots" has increased or the number of people who aren't like that has decreased.

The point I was making is that there are groups of people who literally seem to think that if TNA or any company that isn't the WWE fails, then it's a good thing because their favourite brand has won a fight. Even the though "winning" essentially means the fans lose.

 

[shattered dreams]

I agree with you on the whole. I was just pointing out the difference in the fans then vs now. The fans and performers could not do all the things they did if everyone was not familiar with both products. It would not have worked. Some people surely totally picked a side, opposed to a preference, but nowhere near what we have now. Even those that picked a side at least had an idea of what was going on in the other product back then. Their is a difference between how fans viewed the products at the height of the wars (a great time for wrestling) and the end of the wars when wcw had a lot of problems. I, like you, find it curious that many fans have no desire to tap back into that magic of the height of the wars.

 

[Optimist Prime]

I had actually been talking about the original. The more recent Monday Night Skirmish was definitely an "us vs. them" moreso than the original. But between the "Vince Fears nWo" signs, the fact that guys like X-Pac would cut promos against WCW and get cheers, DX declaring war on WCW skits, Bischoff challenging McMahon to a fist fight. And probably the biggest indicator, WCW being booed during those few airings of RAW and Smackdown! when WCW was presented as a separate brand before the Invasion sort of give me the idea that a lot of people picked sides.

I mean that promo that Vince cut during the final Nitro about firing all the stars got cheers, which confused the hell out of me because liked both companies. But a lot of fans seemed to pick sides that went beyond personal preference. I definitely think that in the 9 years since then, the number of "WWE Patriots" has increased or the number of people who aren't like that has decreased.

The point I was making is that there are groups of people who literally seem to think that if TNA or any company that isn't the WWE fails, then it's a good thing because their favourite brand has won a fight. Even the though "winning" essentially means the fans lose.

Yeah, but by that point WCW was barely even a business anyway. Most fans had abandoned them either long before that...or just took a break from wrestling as a whole in other cases. And yes, some just jumped over to watch Raw full time as well.

The misconception I think a lot of fans create is that "somebody has to be held responsible" for "running" WCW into the ground. Insert Russo, Hogan, etc. here.

I choose to look at things from an entirely different, yet logical, perspective. How the hell do you follow up the greatest storyline in the history of the business?? In an age where things are getting easier, faster, better - every single day and technology is booming and attention spans are being spoiled rotten...how the hell can you follow up the NWO and Goldberg?? Fans are sitting there getting bored with the same thing going on for too long...but at the same time they want something BETTER...because that's what they're used to. And they never got it. And panic took place and as a result - a poor product was put out on top of it because they really didn't know what to do.

Meanwhile, the WWE were staying afloat with Austin, The Rock, DX, and company (although not quite beating the NWO at first) - and once WCW really had no back up plan - Austin, The Rock, and these DX angles, while maybe not as epic, had better longevity than the NWO because they were smaller entities.

By the time Vince McMahon bought WCW - All the previous midcarders HAD to be promoted to main event status because there was basically nobody left.

 

[I_Like_All_Wrestling]

Just like people don't know what goes on behind the scenes in TNA, people don't know what goes on behind the scenes of these website or "dirt sheets." They may very well have a source within TNA that is giving them information. We don't know.

Now regarding the points made in the original post:

1) Have you ever been to a TNA house show? Attendance is not good. They perform in small venues and really don't do all that well. That attendance record of 6,000 was in a BASEBALL STADIUM. It was minor league, but a baseball stadium nonetheless.

2) No idea about TNA asking talent to take pay cuts, though I can't imagine they'd do that.

3) If they are talking to Heyman and the don't allow him complete creative control, they're stupid. If he doesn't ask for complete creative control, he's stupid. He has the track record to back this up.

4) I believe it's correct that TNA does not release this information, but I'm sure it's got to be available somewhere. If not, have you ever met anyone...anyone who has bought a TNA PPV? I haven't.

 

[Reddannihilation]

1) Have you ever been to a TNA house show? Attendance is not good. They perform in small venues and really don't do all that well. That attendance record of 6,000 was in a BASEBALL STADIUM. It was minor league, but a baseball stadium nonetheless.

Last year they had planned to tour Australia but were forced to cancel in favour of their UK Tour, 3 of their shows had sold out when they cancelled and they weren't at small venues.

4) I believe it's correct that TNA does not release this information, but I'm sure it's got to be available somewhere. If not, have you ever met anyone...anyone who has bought a TNA PPV? I haven't.

I know 30 people who bought the last one. 31 if I include myself.

 

[bigflo82]

You know you guys really need to wake up already. I mean, dirtsheet writers and wrestling websites? This is who u guys are blaming now? The funny thing is that you are doing it on a WRESTLING website. What the hell is that? You act like a guy like meltzer does not have the cred. If you are a wrestling fan you know better than that. The guy has been covering the sport WE love for almost three decades now and to be honest his word is as good as anybody in his field. He is the reason there is even an IWC in my opinion. TNA is not doing good. face it. I know you ppl love it but that doesn't mean it is a winner. No matter what you ppl want to believe, it is what is. Why would anybody who reports on something for a living want the very thing they report on to do bad or even worse go under? That makes no sense what so ever. These guys make money off of pro wrestling whether ANY promotion does good or bad(even though if the business as a whole was doing great they would make more) Some people on here including some mods wanna go against everyone who doesn't agree with them, for what? People are entitled to their opinion just like you guys are. You can like what you like but please for the love of god be real with yourselves

 

[Sonics Garage]

You see, here's one of my biggest problems with this. These same dirt sheets that some of you trash on, most of you, are the same dirt sheets anti-WWE fans use to throw dirt on Vince and Triple H and WWE and...you get my point. I'm not saying here, barely been here for a cup of coffee, but it does get to me that some cry foul while when it's TNA or ROH or PWG but when it's WWE, then that's the "truth" because they are "evil". That's what gets me.

But other than that, do I believe this? No. Not really. Not the biggest TNA fan, but people want to exaggerate this "situation" that TNA is in to get more hits. The economy is not the greatest last I check. Did they give out some bad contracts, yes. What do these dirt sheet writers have to gain? Revenue from ads. Hits on their page. Look at any website and you'll see misleading headlines in order to lure people for the cash they get from ads (at least that's how I think it is). Don't even have to go that far.

"The Miz compares himself to the Rock"

And that's not a knock on the websites that do that, but to think Meltzer has nothing to gain from saying those things about TNA is silly. True or not, Meltzer gets more hits on his page and there is a discussion right now about it all in some wrestling websites.