Hardcore Justice 3: TNA What In The Fuck?!?

[ABMorales787]

TNA's January outing in PPV's was known as "One Night Only: Hardcore Justice 3". It's the usual schtick of an all gimmick PPV. Street Fights, Last Man Standing even a Lethal Lockdown match. The show itself, was actually quite fun to watch. It was a small crowd but a damn good one. Here's some stills:

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What's bothering me about it?

Well, here's the line-up:

ECIII vs Tommy Dreamer (Tables Match)
Austin Aries vs Chris Sabin (Xscape Cage Match)
Bobby Roode vs Samoa Joe (Singles Match for Lethal Lottery Advantage)
Lei'D Tapa vs Velvet Sky (Street Fight)
Joseph Park/Eric Young vs The Bad Influence (Full Metal Mayhem)
Bully Ray vs Mr. Anderson (Last Man Standing)
Team Angle: Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe, James Storm & ??? vs Team Roode: Bobby Roode, The Bromans & World Champion Magnus (Lethal Lockdown)

Do these look familiar? The feuds are either going on, or just concluded in TV. TNA never advertised this. At all. They advertised their previous one, "Tag Team Tournament". They're advertising their current one "#OldSchool". Whatever the fuck that means. But not this one. Watch it. Then compare it to the 2 part dribble called Genesis. This PPV was for all intents and purposes what Genesis should've been. A solid B-level PPV. And something that TNA is missing. They put way too much emphasis on progressing their stories and their TV Supercards, which are billed as and supposed to be what their PPV's use to be, are degrading in quality each time as a result.

This little PPV outing is the perfect example of what TNA needs to do. But they aren't. A simple PPV with feuds tied to TV so we care about them without as much direct consequence. Not the silly gimmicks they give us like "Jokers Wild" or "World Cup".

It's such a simplistic vibe with fun matches. Like a good ECW PPV. If they had HD. Or good lighting. It's even got a different announcer. That Jimmy Jay guy from TNA Shop, who sounds like the child of Justin Roberts and Howard Finkel.

 

[ProWrestlingFan]

ECIII vs Tommy Dreamer (Tables Match)
Austin Aries vs Chris Sabin (Xscape Cage Match)
Bobby Roode vs Samoa Joe (Singles Match for Lethal Lottery Advantage)
Lei'D Tapa vs Velvet Sky (Street Fight)
Joseph Park/Eric Young vs The Bad Influence (Full Metal Mayhem)
Bully Ray vs Mr. Anderson (Last Man Standing)
Team Angle: Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe, James Storm & ??? vs Team Roode: Bobby Roode, The Bromans & World Champion Magnus (Lethal Lockdown)

Do these look familiar? The feuds are either going on, or just concluded in TV. TNA never advertised this. At all. They advertised their previous one, "Tag Team Tournament". They're advertising their current one "#OldSchool". Whatever the fuck that means. But not this one. Watch it. Then compare it to the 2 part dribble called Genesis. This PPV was for all intents and purposes what Genesis should've been. A solid B-level PPV. And something that TNA is missing.

It's such a simplistic vibe with fun matches. Like a good ECW PPV. If they had HD. Or good lighting. It's even got a different announcer. That Jimmy Jay guy from TNA Shop, who sounds like the child of Justin Roberts and Howard Finkel.

I know. This PPV was great, way better than Genesis and they didn't advertise this at all. All matches were good to decent.

They put way too much emphasis on progressing their stories and their TV Supercards, which are billed as and supposed to be what their PPV's use to be, are degrading in quality each time as a result.

This little PPV outing is the perfect example of what TNA needs to do. But they aren't. A simple PPV with feuds tied to TV so we care about them without as much direct consequence. Not the silly gimmicks they give us like "Jokers Wild" or "World Cup".

Couldn't have said it any better.

 

[GameOver]

Agreed looks like a far better card on paper, given the PPV's are taped upto 6 months in advance it would make no difference to advertise for a live crowd, but they obviously did some local advertising since there was a crowd, as small as it is..

In the end who knows that goes through the minds of people in charge of TNA, seems they have no F*ing clue how to dig themselves out of the hole they created years ago

 

[New Hot Fed]

Their whole strategy of having no monthly PPVs but having these ONO shows PPVs that nobody watches(yet are good) and selling the Impact shows like Genesis as if it was PPV quality but are not has been a complete misfire to me. The person that thought about this should be put in an asylum. Nothing makes sense.

 

[Fabulous Freebirds]

Their whole strategy of having no monthly PPVs but having these ONO shows PPVs that nobody watches(yet are good) and selling the Impact showslike Genesis as if it was PPV quality but are not has been a complete misfire to me. The person that thought about this should be put in an asylum. Nothing makes sense.

They have not been a misfire. The two week Genesis shows have provided TNA with their best ratings in over a year. Ratings matter.

One Night Ony pay per views are probably getting the same buys that the old b-shows ppv's like Sacrifice were getting.

I am looking forward to One Night Only: Old School. I am going to buy that one simply because the top 3 main events are worth the price of admission: Bully Ray / Tommy Dreamer, James Storm / Robert Roode and Jeff Hardy / Abyss.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

But you're assuming they should've advertised it after you watched and saw it was good. What if it was total shit (like the rest of them)? You'd think it was a great idea they never advertised it, because it was a bad show, so thank God nobody saw it.

Yeah, sometimes they'll be good and sometimes they'll be bad, but I highly doubt anything substantial would've come out of this. There's a good reason they dropped most PPVs. It's not because they wanted to "free up more time for feuds", it's because they probably spent more money on them than they made.

These things are glorified house shows anyway, look at the card. They were testing the waters for the feuds we have today.

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

The point is, they should be advertising EVERYTHING they do, whether it's good or not. They had to put out a lot of money to tape these damn things, and they're not even bothering to talk them up. This one especially, since it follows the current TV meta, should have been talked about for weeks. "Hey, go watch our ONO PPV, it's this Friday".

I haven't seen this show, but I've heard all good things. Looking at the card, it should have been promoted better. Again, they have paid the roster a ton of money to do these shows, and it costs just to take up space in the building and get them on TV. If you do something, promote it. There's no point doing it otherwise.

The only reason I like PPV is that we get long matches without commercial breaks. I don't need them otherwise. I much prefer the storyline progression of weekly television. My whole idea from the beginning was to scrap PPV, scrap the ONO specials, and coordinate with Spike TV to do a commercial-free episode of Impact Wrestling every two or three months. Supplement that with Lockdown, Slammiversary and Bound for Glory, and you've got about 7-8 PPV quality events with no ads annually.

 

[Papa Pillman]

Forgetting about the show, its booking, its promotion, etc. for a moment, there is something else I really like about this event that I want to point out:

I love the look of this show. I think TNA could afford to travel with Impact if they used this type of arena strategy. Play these small theater/ballroom looking arenas with a very ECW/ROH type of set-up. I would guess the cost of renting this type of venue is much cheaper, and the production costs of this type of ring and lighting set-up has to be cheaper than traveling with and setting up their traditional stage and tron. It also gives the show the look of an alternative product when contrasted against WWE's more glitzy presentation. I can't imagine that it would adversely effect ticket sales, and this type of venue sold out with 1000 fans looks and sounds like a much more alive atmosphere than putting that same size crowd into an arena that could hold three or four times as many people.

 

[New Hot Fed]

They have not been a misfire. The two week Genesis shows have provided TNA with their best ratings in over a year. Ratings matter.

One Night Ony pay per views are probably getting the same buys that the old b-shows ppv's like Sacrifice were getting.

I am looking forward to One Night Only: Old School. I am going to buy that one simply because the top 3 main events are worth the price of admission: Bully Ray / Tommy Dreamer, James Storm / Robert Roode and Jeff Hardy / Abyss.

Genesis was in two parts. Both shows had good ratings but the first part was an abomination.

 

[New Hot Fed]

But you're assuming they should've advertised it after you watched and saw it was good. What if it was total shit (like the rest of them)? You'd think it was a great idea they never advertised it, because it was a bad show, so thank God nobody saw it.

Yeah, sometimes they'll be good and sometimes they'll be bad, but I highly doubt anything substantial would've come out of this. There's a good reason they dropped most PPVs. It's not because they wanted to "free up more time for feuds", it's because they probably spent more money on them than they made.

These things are glorified house shows anyway, look at the card. They were testing the waters for the feuds we have today.

What he meant was, regardless of quality, these shows were all matchs and at the same time used the wrestlers to advance current storylines. And that's what the weekly Impact shows should be like. Cause they are even better than the weekly "theme" shows that were PPVs once?

But now you have these quality PPVs that really nobody watches.

In my opinion there's easy solution: bring back the 12 monthly PPVs and promote them well.

 

[Rayne]

The PPV model hasn't been working out for TNA for a very long time, and they've known it. That's why they've cut back on their monthly PPV's to four a year. Where the impetus to cut back came from, that I don't know. It could be InDemand saying that they no longer want to set aside twelve slots per year for a TNA product that's never done that great on PPV, or it could be TNA realizing that they really weren't getting anything out of those eight PPV's they cancelled.

The PPV model is old, anyhow. It was designed for how people viewed television in the early '90s, and hasn't changed at all since then. These ONO pocket PPV's are a step towards establishing a new model for professional wrestling (one very similar to microtransactions in gaming).

Where the model fails- in the form it currently exists in- is that professional wrestling stories are still told on a three-month cycle, which no longer applies when you're talking about a model in which PPV doesn't matter as much. How do you get someone to buy those ONO PPV's in the middle of a three-month cycle?

That's what's frustrating about these current ONO PPV's. The idea is there, and it's not a bad one. But it's hard to sell people on the middle of a story; you pay for the conclusion. TNA's still telling stories the way they've been told for decades.

And if I knew how to change the story-telling model that professional wrestling has been using for decades to adapt to the current media environment, I wouldn't be here talking to you guys. I hope the person who figures that out gets filthy stupid rich.

 

[Fabulous Freebirds]

I don't understand why my last comment was deleted. The OP said that the January One Night Only ppv was Hardcore Justice. I did the research, it was listed as a tag team tournament ONO. Did they switch the shows?

I know Old School airs this month. But I am confused as to what aired last month?

 

[ABMorales787]

I don't understand why my last comment was deleted. The OP said that the January One Night Only ppv was Hardcore Justice. I did the research, it was listed as a tag team tournament ONO. Did they switch the shows?

I know Old School airs this month. But I am confused as to what aired last month?

Tag Team Tournament aired last month starting January 3rd and Hardcore Justice 3 started airing the following week. Both aired in January but TNA prioritized the Tag Team Tournament.

 

[klunderbunker]

The worst thing: this was one of the better One Night Only shows. I've watched all of them so far and if Hardcore Justice 3 wasn't the best, it was second at worst. The show is SO much easier to sit through without Dixie's babbling about her company for thirty minutes a night. The wrestling was good, the stories were already set up and the crowd was hot. It makes perfect sense and was a good show.

So why not advertise it? The show was $15 for a nearly three hour show which is as cheap of a night of PPV wrestling as you can legally get. It's a nice change from what TNA usually does and could bring some more people into the fold. At the end of the day though, it comes off as TNA being incompetent again. The show is already there, so why not try to get a couple thousand buys and MAKE SOME MONEY? THis is one place WWE has always crushed its competition: if you watch ten minutes of WWE programming, you'll know EVERYTHING they have coming up in the next month. Yeah they pound it into our heads, but that information stays with the viewers and they won't miss it when the date comes.

It just comes off as stupid for TNA. Why in the world would you not market your own product, no matter the level of quality or importance? TNA needs a bigger audience and a $15 show is a very good way to get people into the tent. But hey, I know where I can find Dixie Carter's tweets so that's something, right?

 

[Randy Orton's Head Blood]

It pissed me off that they didn't advertise this over in the UK either, because I missed it. I managed to catch it in the end, and it was pretty damn enjoyable to say the least. Nice to have some decent matches, that intertwined with the current TNA feuds.
TNA need more of this and more crowds like this too.