Getting People to Watch TNA

[b the man]

So TNA had there first live show last Thursday and their ratings were less than stellar. Now even though I am not a TNA fan, I was genuinely shocked when I saw the low ratings. (0.89) I honestly expected TNA to get higher ratings about a 1.5 or even pushing the 2.0 category due to the hype of the show going live. But for whatever reason, it didn't happen. Now I know that unlike me, there are people on here who actually like TNA and they can't understand why other people don't like it as much as they do. Therefore, I wanted to hear from TNA fans as to why I should watch TNA. (Or should say, why I should watch TNA again. Since I've watched it a few times before) So feel free to explain why TNA is the show to watch. Anything goes, with the exception of two (ableit non-inforced) rules.

1. No whining or throwing little girly temper tantrums towards anyone who doesn't watch TNA. For example, nothing like, "PEOPLE DON'T WATCH TNA BECAUSE THEY ARE A BUNCH OF STUPID KIDS WHO DON'T KNOW WHAT REAL WRESTLING IS! THEY ARE JUST A BUNCH OF STUPID SHEEP WHO HAVE BEEN BRAINWASHED. THEY AREN'T REAL WRESTLING FANS LIKE I AM." and so on and so on. Please none of that. It makes you look like a lunatic and honestly it does nothing to convince people to watch. In fact for me, it does the complete opposite.

2. No mention of the WWE either directly or indirectly. I am not looking for comparisons between the two products. I especially don't need to hear stuff like, "Yeah well at least unlike WWE, TNA doesn't have dancing dinosaurs or little midgets running around." I am not interested in why I shouldn't watch WWE or why it sucks. I'm interested in learning WHY I should watch TNA. Just tell me what's so good about TNA and leave the rest out.

So there you have it. I look forward to your pitches, and even though I can't guarantee that you will be able to convince me to tune into TNA, by posting your reasons you might be able to convince other people instead. So good luck.

Oh one more thing. This article is not meant to bash TNA in anyway or form. So if you are going to post something like "TNA sucks!" Please safe it for another post. I'm just interested as to why someone should watch TNA.

 

[ヒュー　G.　レックション]

I think people should watch TNA because it is entertaining. It has very good wrestlers. A large roster with a variety of styles, a mix of veterans, current guys and up-and-comers. Matches are usually good, some of them I'd even consider PPV worthy!

All of the champions right now, except for the Knockout tag titles (who considers them belts anyway really) are excellent champions and all of them have a prominent role every week.

The storylines are enjoyable for the most part. A couple are bad.

TNA is not perfect but it is the best wrestling show going right now in my honest opinion.

 

[The_Irish_Warrior]

Like you I wasn't a TNA fan, I hadn't watched the product in about three years. I watched it last week and this past week and I really wasn't expecting it to be as good as it was. While of course there are faults that everybody will cry over there are a lot of positives.

Bobby Roode being World Champion is a really good thing, also the way the show is filmed the backstage look at things makes it really unique. They also have a lot of wrestling talent while some of them are green Crimson etc. They still have guys Jeff Hardy they still have guys like Kurt Angle.

In my opinion, instead of everybody ragging on TNA, do what I did and actually watch it.

 

[satchmokilnt]

i get sick of all the tribalism from so many on here, and in general. people feel the need to slag off the other company to high heaven, just because it isnt wwe/tna/roh etc. people slamming roh and tna for not having the production values of wwe's level! well, duh. of course they arent going to be able to. do i really have to point out why that is? the stupidity of some on here just grates. and then the coup de grace has to be when they reveal that they dont even watch the competition. (yet spout like a font of knowledge!)

myself. i watch what i can, when i can(be bothered). i dip in and out of wwe when it gets my interest, but they seem to do a good job of losing me.(lesnar, the summer of punk II, the rocks returns) tna the same. they do so much good, and then ruin it with so much awfulness. roh and other companies, are so hard to find unless im in the mood for seeking them out. they all have their good, their bad and their downright baffling. but they are different, so i dont end up watching the same old shit time over. thats what should make wrestling. i enjoy puro, but i couldnt take 5/6 hours a week of it. variety is the spice of life, and getting into a rage over wrestling is just dumb. you'll all end up having a brain hemorrhage if you dont step back and take it for what it is.

why would you want a replica anyway? as the saying goes "if everyone was the same, the world would be one fucking dull place."

on a personal front, i watch tna when i can/or can be bothered. but my ppv viewing wont show up in the ratings, neither will me watching impact. you only have to click on the illegal links to know im not the only one. the sites were buzzing with numbers during the live impact, but we ignore this. so we arent getting the whole picture.

sorry for my little rant. tell me off if ive done wrong. just something i needed to get off my chest.

more on topic, i shall say that people really need to pack it in with the ratings. its 2012 not 1992. theyre obsolete. when it comes to the wrestling world and the ways it can be watched these days, they just arent a fair and decent reflection in any way. we could all sit here and skew the argument in any way we wanted, if we wanted. tna have good ratings in the uk and many other markets, better than wwe. but scratch the service and you find out why. wrestling fans keep seeking this magical neilsen rating number as if its the holy grail. well, im sorry to shock but it just isnt going to happen any time soon. if ever again.

its affirming when the real true wrestling brains outhere like heyman and so forth say how wrestling is stuck in the stone age. until those at the top wise up, the slow death of wrestling will carry on.

AND breathe...........haha sorry about all that.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Like any other wrestling company or program, there are alreays gonna be wrestlers or storylines that some fans just aren't into.

For instance, I like Bully Ray. I like listening to him on the mic much more than watching him wrestle, most of the time. While he did a good job this past Thursday, I'm not all that interested in the Joseph Park storyline. It's not that it's bad, it just bores the snot out of me. I also like Bobby Roode and think he's done a good job overall as champ and the spot he's been given, but I couldn't care less about seeing him & Sting renew their feud. Again, not that it's horrible, it's just not entertaining or interesting to me all in all. A big part of that is because the way TNA has booked things between Roode & Storm for much of this year all in all, it seems that nearly every feud Storm has had has been a placeholder against someone in which there's no heat until TNA decides to pull the trigger and put the strap on Storm. Also, there's Styles & Daniels. Two great in-ring talents and Daniels is someone that's gotten much better on the mic, but also two guys I've seen wrestle soooooo many times that it's lost it's spark. They're the Cena vs. Orton of TNA.

To me, TNA is a company that's gotten past some of their biggest problems. We no longer see the older veterans dominating the show and the younger talent being used to put them over. The corporate power struggle/faction wars storyline has mercifully beenput to rest. The meaningless 3 minute gimmick matches that were once a staple of TNA are no longer there. They're putting younger stars into the spotlight and using them well overall, such as Roode & Austin Aries. Wrestling content overall is more meaningful than it's been the past several years.

Sure there are still problems, there'll always be some problems because nothing's ever going to be perfect. As far as getting people to watch TNA, I'm not sure that there's anything that TNA can do to generally increase their audience right now. Wrestling's not super hot right now, they've tried bringing in the bigger names, they're trying out different formats & concepts and have been for a while but it just hasn't worked. As for the show's low rating, I honestly expected it. Viewers might have other programs on at 8 pm that they'd rather watch than TNA. That's certainly the case with some people. They may have other things that they've got to do around that time rather than watch television. Some fans might simply not be used to the fact that TNA's on an hour earlier. The show being live wasn't the inscentive that TNA was hoping for, but this particular outing might've been just a bump in the road. Over the next few weeks, I expect the ratings to return to the level that they normally are. However, if they don't or if they sink even lower over the course of the next month or so, it won't surprise me if Spike cancels the live experiment and moves the show back to its traditional timeslot.

 

[crotzo99]

TNA needs to be made a viable alternative to WWE, it needs to be everything that WWE isnt it needs to extreme they need to put steel cage matches and ladder matches on Impact like back in 2007 they need a big storyline, a main storyline like Immortal v Fortune was. They need returns, TNA lacks making a big signing and having a big return storyline, like Christians debut was they need these things to make it good tv, something fans are going to want to search for hours on the internet to find theories. It needs to be non PG, thats what TNA is good at, those high spot moments and they got the talent to do it like AJ and Jeff. They need to use there original stars better like AJ where has he been? he should be in the top bracket whereas hes not they need to utilise talent better. This is what will make me watch TNA.

 

[dotty_84]

Throughout the card the creative invest good time on each belt/fued. The matches on TV are good and you can expect PPV quality matches every now and again on TV.

Their roster is strong throughout for me picking out talent it's Austin Aries, all round he's great. Bully Ray, best he's ever been talk of giving him a strap he's been that good on the mic. Bobby Roode, slow burning great reign something not seen much of in recent times. People missing out on his rise, have missed out on something.

 

[Merkin353]

Um I've got one... Fire Brooke Hogan now & maybe I'll put it back into the things I look for when I wake up on Thursday & go "Damn the playoffs aren't on tonight"

 

[Lowdown]

I think people should watch TNA because it is entertaining. It has very good wrestlers. A large roster with a variety of styles, a mix of veterans, current guys and up-and-comers. Matches are usually good, some of them I'd even consider PPV worthy!

All of the champions right now, except for the Knockout tag titles (who considers them belts anyway really) are excellent champions and all of them have a prominent role every week.

The storylines are enjoyable for the most part. A couple are bad.

TNA is not perfect but it is the best wrestling show going right now in my honest opinion.

He pretty much summed it up here. Right now all of the champs are enjoyable to watch, Devon especially for me. Don't pay attention to the KO tag titles as they have made that a running joke. But if you tune in for anything you should check out Austin Aries. He's probably their best overall talent right now. Bully Ray is close behind him, and he's the best heel these days. While still not the best on the whole, the KO division is the best in women's wrestling on US TV. You just have to tune in and find what you like.

 

[jerry20xx]

I'm sorry but I have tried numerous attempts to watch TNA. It just isn't any good. The only time they were ever decent to watch was when they were on Fox Sports South West.

TNA relies too much on other peoples table scraps because their roster sucks.

Also, for anyone that wants to scream AJ STYLEZ!!! Yes, he truly is phenomenal but he was in WWE before TNA so technically he was a WWE table scrap.

 

[Suq Madeeq]

Here is a scenario that could set up various potential feuds and matches...

Hogan brings back Joey Ryan (stay with me on this one) and makes a deal to get one more chance at a TNA contract. He will get a rematch with Austin Aries and if he can beat him, he will be guaranteed a contract. The twist will be that it will be for the X Division title, so Joey Ryan can really show what he's made of.

The match goes on and they bang up the ref accidentally. Samoa Joe sneaks into the ring, Muscle Buster on Aries and Ryan makes the cover and shockingly wins the Title. This sets up several good scenarios. One, Joey Ryan "proves" what he has been bragging about, that he is "money". He waves the Title belt in front of Taz and will use it to persistently antagonize him on a weekly basis. This could set up for a good program between Joey Ryan and Chris Sabin too.

Second scenario is that it will spark a crazy feud between Austin Aries and Samoa Joe. This just looks so damn great on paper and I know they can deliver some amazing matches between the two.

 

[Metalcrack]

Here is a scenario that could set up various potential feuds and matches...

Hogan brings back Joey Ryan (stay with me on this one) and makes a deal to get one more chance at a TNA contract. He will get a rematch with Austin Aries and if he can beat him, he will be guaranteed a contract. The twist will be that it will be for the X Division title, so Joey Ryan can really show what he's made of.

The match goes on and they bang up the ref accidentally. Samoa Joe sneaks into the ring, Muscle Buster on Aries and Ryan makes the cover and shockingly wins the Title. This sets up several good scenarios. One, Joey Ryan "proves" what he has been bragging about, that he is "money". He waves the Title belt in front of Taz and will use it to persistently antagonize him on a weekly basis. This could set up for a good program between Joey Ryan and Chris Sabin too.

Second scenario is that it will spark a crazy feud between Austin Aries and Samoa Joe. This just looks so damn great on paper and I know they can deliver some amazing matches between the two.

I like it. Chris Sabin is reportedly leaving, so fill that in with Zema Ion. No need to give someone TV time that is leaving.

 

[whoopin' ass]

they need 2 things right now to help. first is some good media. despite being around for 10 years, they are not as well known as they should be. that is what the role of guys like Foley and Flair should have been - making the rounds, talking about TNA Wrestling and getting the name out there. that is the biggest problem they have right now.

the other things is they need to do is just be the best product they can be and quit trying to find a new gimmick. i love how they talk about being more "real" -no scripts, live and true reactions) yet you get something like Gut Check which is supposed to be real and yet is scripted. this is a confusing message for the audience. i think they are still getting organized after getting rid of Russo and creative has gotten better but they still need to get things lined up and focus a little more.

 

[prestonluv]

TNA's production is so far below that of the WWE's that its honestly hard to watch. The average 'fair weather' fan looks at these things and as a result they tune out after watching one episode.

Also, TNA has had so many 'huge' announcements that is competely denegrated their excitement/shock value. I mean they must of had like 10 huge announcement shows in the last 2 years. Companies who consistently promote so called big announcements reek of desperation. Crying wolf only works the first few times.

Subpar production plus an abundance of huge announcements(which really are not huge) = very few new fans.

 

[b the man]

I think people should watch TNA because it is entertaining. It has very good wrestlers. A large roster with a variety of styles, a mix of veterans, current guys and up-and-comers. Matches are usually good, some of them I'd even consider PPV worthy!

All of the champions right now, except for the Knockout tag titles (who considers them belts anyway really) are excellent champions and all of them have a prominent role every week.

The storylines are enjoyable for the most part. A couple are bad.

TNA is not perfect but it is the best wrestling show going right now in my honest opinion.

Good, logical arguments. I think if more people could argue for TNA wrestling like this rather than get worked up and angry over anybody who doesn't watch it, then more people would be willing to give TNA a shot. Good job.

 

[b the man]

Um I've got one... Fire Brooke Hogan now & maybe I'll put it back into the things I look for when I wake up on Thursday & go "Damn the playoffs aren't on tonight"

Thanks. But I'm not interested as to why I SHOULDN'T watch TNA. I'm only interested into why I should watch TNA.

 

[b the man]

I'm sorry but I have tried numerous attempts to watch TNA. It just isn't any good. The only time they were ever decent to watch was when they were on Fox Sports South West.

TNA relies too much on other peoples table scraps because their roster sucks.

Also, for anyone that wants to scream AJ STYLEZ!!! Yes, he truly is phenomenal but he was in WWE before TNA so technically he was a WWE table scrap.

I'm sorry. But as I stated before I'm not interested in hearing how bad TNA is. This is meant to build TNA up. Nothing more.

 

[Ballin247]

TNA should be called "The Bobby Roode Show" because he is basically the only one worth watching. I say if you wanna see a pretty good heel champion watch TNA. Other than Roode, there isn't much else. A few good veterans like Hardy and Angle. AJ Styles is okay sometimes. Other than that their roster is pretty shitty. Not to mention the horrible announce team of Taz and Tenay. Just make sure you have plenty of tylenol handy because that show will give you a headache.

 

[Rampage Bentley]

I watched TNA's first few PPV's (back when it was weekly and only $10) and throughout their history I've been fed up, stopped watching, came back, rinse and repeat. I'm currently enjoying TNA, so I'll add to this conversation.... reasons why I'm liking it...

1. The new crop of talent/Old talent relevantly reinventing themselves.
Austin Aries is the greatest thing in wrestling today, not named CM Punk. Add to that the recent pushing of guys like Bobby Roode and James Storm and you actually have some good, homegrown, interesting main event guys. Then there's Bully Ray... I must say for most of his career I though this guy was a useless, walking bag of cow pies but he has really worked on his character, gotten himself in shape and is probably the best heel in wrestling right now.

2. The quality of matches.
Not every match every week is a "slobberknocker" nor is every match even good, but few are unwatchable and they usually go out of there way to give at least one great match every week.

3. They're willing to try new things.
I know not everyone is a fan of "Open Fight Night" or "Gutcheck" but I think they're innovative and entertaining concepts, and it's good to see them throwing out some solid ideas. Status Quo is not often broken in the world of wrestling, and I admire when a company tries. On another related note, I do like their balance of reality vs. kayfabe. They will acknowledge scripts and the booked side of wrestling, all while indirectly insinuating that the matches are not predetermined.

4. Vince Russo is gone.
Do I really need to explain this one?

5. To get rid of the current monopoly in wrestling.
I'm not saying a company should be watched and supported for the sole reason of bringing competition to the market, but a servicable option 2 is always a good thing. I think we can all agree that The WWE was best when it was going to head with WCW. Competition makes both sides throw out their bests and it provides better and more competitive working conditions for the talent.

I'm a WWE guy through and through, but I have been thoroughly enjoying TNA's product for the last month or so. I'd say throw it on your DVR and give it a few tries. Worst case scenario, you'll skip through most of it, but find some entertaining nuggets that keep you coming back, if only for them.

 

[pepentorresHHH]

I watched Impact today for the first time in 2 years and like most people have said there are good things and bad things just like WWE, granted Im a WWE loyalist since 98 but i will watch Impact if they give me more good than bad, I was impressed with the Bobby Roode vs Sting Match, I liked the X division match, and AJ styles was phenomenal..... so I will definetively watch next week. There are bad things too, The production value is atrocious when compared to WWE but nothing to do about that i guess, at first i thought i wouldnt recongnize anyone but with so many former wwe guys i thought wow I actually know whats going on ! lol

 

[kor420]

Everything is there for TNA to succeed, wrestling, feuds etc... They are lacking in one department and that is hurting them more than anything else, and that is Marketing/Advertising.

The only advertisement i see is on spike and that's it! Think about it, when is the last time you seen a advertisement for TNA anywhere other than SPIKE TV? There isn't very much else out there. Mr Carter would be STUPID to put all his eggs in one basket until it shows that it can succeed.

The last time i seen a advertisement for TNA was way before hogan came back to help eric was on ESPN 2 and that ad was very low quality for HD and was in Spanish!

So what can TNA do to gain more viewers?

Well this is what i would do if i was in charge of marketing.

First thing i would do is stop all ads for the U.S admittedly, because they have spread their marketing campaign to thin. With the budget that Mr. Carter set aside isn't enough to fully cover the entire U.S to be effective.

Second thing i would do is contact ever popular sports bar and tavern in the south east and work out a deal with the owners to show iMPACT at 8PM est every Thursday.

Now listen, a lot of people aren't going to care too much about "wrestling" and you're going to have the wwe fan and causal fans enter these establishments from time to time, even if they don't directly watch it, they're going to get use to impact wrestling if that visit that Establishment frequently.

Next thing i would do is step up other marketing strategies in the south east only, and when the time comes i would gradually step up my marketing campaign in other states.

After awhile, i would have tna tour the south east and only the south east.

I Bet $100 to a donut that they market TNA more in the U.K than the U.S.

 

[GameOver]

Everything is there for TNA to succeed, wrestling, feuds etc... They are lacking in one department and that is hurting them more than anything else, and that is Marketing/Advertising.

The only advertisement i see is on spike and that's it! Think about it, when is the last time you seen a advertisement for TNA anywhere other than SPIKE TV? There isn't very much else out there. Mr Carter would be STUPID to put all his eggs in one basket until it shows that it can succeed.

The last time i seen a advertisement for TNA was way before hogan came back to help eric was on ESPN 2 and that ad was very low quality for HD and was in Spanish!

So what can TNA do to gain more viewers?

Well this is what i would do if i was in charge of marketing.

First thing i would do is stop all ads for the U.S admittedly, because they have spread their marketing campaign to thin. With the budget that Mr. Carter set aside isn't enough to fully cover the entire U.S to be effective.

Second thing i would do is contact ever popular sports bar and tavern in the south east and work out a deal with the owners to show iMPACT at 8PM est every Thursday.

Now listen, a lot of people aren't going to care too much about "wrestling" and you're going to have the wwe fan and causal fans enter these establishments from time to time, even if they don't directly watch it, they're going to get use to impact wrestling if that visit that Establishment frequently.

Next thing i would do is step up other marketing strategies in the south east only, and when the time comes i would gradually step up my marketing campaign in other states.

After awhile, i would have tna tour the south east and only the south east.

I Bet $100 to a donut that they market TNA more in the U.K than the U.S.

disagree, they are lacking more then just advertising/marketing

Creative still has no f'ing clue what they are doing from week to week
The production values are dismal
they still refuse to leave the crappy 1000 person impact zone and can barely fill that anyway.
Acting/promo skills still leave alot to be desired for most people
PPV's that the only way they can get the majority of people to watch is to pay them same with Impact.
and to top it off they have religiously gotten rid of the good talent and good ideas over the years in favor of quick fixes that are bad in the long run.

so how is that just marketing/advertising. Sure that is part of the overall picture.

lastly stop fooling themselves claiming that every week this will be revolutionary and change the business for ever, unless they mean make it worse.

TNA doesn't advertise where i live in Australia either, the only advertising is on the Main Event PPV channel and on Fuel TV which is a mostly UFC/Surfing and Extreme sports channel on cable here. and there is WWE advertising on that channel too.

They need to appeal to these other countries cab;e networks to expand there viewing audience, guess some people think the companies pay to have there shows aired on a network when it's actually the other way around, the network pays to air the show and puts in ads to make up for that cost and hopes people will tune in

 

[kor420]

disagree, they are lacking more then just advertising/marketing

Creative still has no f'ing clue what they are doing from week to week
The production values are dismal
they still refuse to leave the crappy 1000 person impact zone and can barely fill that anyway.
Acting/promo skills still leave alot to be desired for most people
PPV's that the only way they can get the majority of people to watch is to pay them same with Impact.
and to top it off they have religiously gotten rid of the good talent and good ideas over the years in favor of quick fixes that are bad in the long run.

so how is that just marketing/advertising. Sure that is part of the overall picture.

lastly stop fooling themselves claiming that every week this will be revolutionary and change the business for ever, unless they mean make it worse.

TNA doesn't advertise where i live in Australia either, the only advertising is on the Main Event PPV channel and on Fuel TV which is a mostly UFC/Surfing and Extreme sports channel on cable here. and there is WWE advertising on that channel too.

They need to appeal to these other countries cab;e networks to expand there viewing audience, guess some people think the companies pay to have there shows aired on a network when it's actually the other way around, the network pays to air the show and puts in ads to make up for that cost and hopes people will tune in

Everything you just mentioned is fine for now. You're wanting TNA to have a WWE budget, well they don't have the type of budget for bigger production..

They have to get more than 1.4million people to watch before travailing to every other state week after week, in other words if they aren't taking in what it's costing them to travel to state to state each week, than why even travel in the first place when it's costing more than you're taking in?

They have to do what they can with what they have to spend because even though daddy carter is Vince rich doesn't mean he's going to put all his eggs in one basket.

Everything else you mentioned is fine. It all boils down to marketing themselves properly instead of spreading themselves too thin.

I'm watching a stream of nascar online because i'm in my office, the stream is from Australia and i already seen 4 ads for Impact Wrestling Saturday.

edit make that 5 ads for Impact Wrestling on Fuel TV, saturday.

 

[The Ghost of Benoit]

I'm sorry but I have tried numerous attempts to watch TNA. It just isn't any good. The only time they were ever decent to watch was when they were on Fox Sports South West.

TNA relies too much on other peoples table scraps because their roster sucks.

Also, for anyone that wants to scream AJ STYLEZ!!! Yes, he truly is phenomenal but he was in WWE before TNA so technically he was a WWE table scrap.

Pretty much agree. Though I consider AJ Styles to be a TNA product, not a WWE table scrap.

TNA relies too much on WWE rejects instead of growing their own talent. I made a joke to my wrestling friends, that on TNA's website they should have for each profile: Name, Birthplace, Height, Weight, Finishing move, and WWE release date.

Also another reason is that its still feels like watching an Indie wrestling show. Probably because their TV production isnt as good.

Im not trying to hate on TNA, I wish them well. But as mediocre as WWE is today, it will still take more for me to swtich over to TNA.

 

[kor420]

Pretty much agree. Though I consider AJ Styles to be a TNA product, not a WWE table scrap.

TNA relies too much on WWE rejects instead of growing their own talent. I made a joke to my wrestling friends, that on TNA's website they should have for each profile: Name, Birthplace, Height, Weight, Finishing move, and WWE release date.

Also another reason is that its still feels like watching an Indie wrestling show. Probably because their TV production isnt as good.

Im not trying to hate on TNA, I wish them well. But as mediocre as WWE is today, it will still take more for me to swtich over to TNA.

So in other words, any ex-wwe wrestler isn't allowed to work anywhere else?