How long until TNA is competition?

[Slapnutjoey]

Ok I really don't post much on here but I wanted to throw my 2 cents in... Anyway I think the Impact crowd is ok with the "Noise" Problem is that they are stupid with their chants.... It is like they are trying to create a "Moment" in wrestling. Example... When Jim Neidhardt came to ring the Impact Crowd stated Chanting "You Still Got It" I was like WTF You still got it??? They are correct he still has his fat gut... Also this has been on countless matches... Match has begun and 2 mins into the Match they are Chanting "This is Awesome" I mean Really come on... Like I said I don't think it is the Noise... Just them die hard TNA Marks trying to create a Moment.

 

[cnmasaki]

Here's why TNA will never be able to compete. It's the same reason WWE is slowly spiraling around the toilet, why ECW failed, and why WCW died.

The total package.

For wrestling to work as a source of entertainment, you have to have EVERYTHING in place. You have to have great characters, great action, great stories, great fans, great business savvy.

TNA is missing great stories because it's booking team has been changed too often and in all kinds of different directions. The long term stories aren't there, the short term stories aren't there, and even the stories in the ring are only being told by the veterans with the balls to ignore the writers and tell the good stories.

TNA is missing great characters because the wrestlers have become watered down, lifeless, "we're LIKE the WWE but NOT the WWE so watch us!" type things.

TNA has lost its great fans because of the two above.

TNA has never had great business savvy because it's being run by marks - people that don't know the business well enough, or people that are too busy promoting themselves to put the company first. Hogan will not change this. Bischoff could, if he wanted to, but he's pretty well set so what does he care?

TNA has always had the action. Always. But without the great stories and characters, all you've got is a really fancy puppet show. There are backyard feds out there that have much better action than the WWE in it's prime did, but because there's no stories being told, no larger than life characters, no one cares.

How do you get the total package, you ask?

First, you need someone with money to be smart enough to put someone with wrestling savvy in charge. Like an Eric Bischoff, Paul Heyman, or Jim Cornette. Bischoff kicked a lot of ass in WCW because he was savvy and he was playing with someone ELSE'S money. He had to worry about his job, but he wasn't panicked over HIS BUSINESS, and therefore didn't have the crazy control issues that Vince McMahon has. Paul Heyman only had his own money, and while he had a brilliant wrestling acumen, he simply couldn't pay the bills properly.

Then you need the RIGHT core talent. Guys who have experience, who can tell stories in the ring without writers, who are experienced on the microphone in front of a dozen people or 10,000 people. The older generation - Jericho, Angle, Taker, Triple H, HBK, etc.. Even the Hogans, Austins, and Nash's could have their place, if properly controlled by the guy in charge listed above. These are your principle characters, your protagonists and antagonists. The characters everyone else is reflected against.

Then you get into your stories. Pursuit of championship gold, pursuit of power, revenge, seeking competition, love, betrayal, robbery, politics. No pregnancy angles, no getting hit by cars - make it about the business. Make the belts a big deal, make being The Man a big deal, make being the main event mean something real. Your up and comers get into it with your old school talent until your up and comers are good enough to go at it with each other, and tell their own stories.

Do this, week in and week out, and the fans will come. The action is your medium. That's why Hogan vs. Piper sold out every night - those two guys sucked in the ring. They didn't have writers. But they told a story, they were backed by smart business, and they played.

It's why I'm horrified by the fact that Hogan/Flair might tear down everything if it's done the right way. Those guys, even at their advanced age, can tell the story without a team of writers, without special effects and bands playing their music and special guest hosts. Just two guys in the ring, telling a story, with the right guys running things behind the scenes, and it will get fans, will make money, and if everything goes right, every one of those guys on that tour will be the next generation of core players.

 

[Skrilla]

I seriously live by 5 min right behind Universal Studious, where they film Impact!. I have never been to one taping, nor watched TNA. It's free to go too. I LOVE wrestling and even went to wrestling school, but after watching countless youtube videos, I think it's garbage. They have people with loud speakers standing in Universal as people are exiting the theme park and trying to convince them to come watch the show and "be on tv." No one rarely goes.

The bottom line is, the reason why the crowd has no energy it most of them are tourists whom have no idea what the hell is going on.

 

[BigRed007]

TNA's house shows aren't any better. They don't even use the entire arena. They just cut it down to be the same size as they do for Impact, at least they did where I was. Giving away FREE tickets to EVERY episode of Impact? And why do they tell the crowd when to cheer and when to boo? That's something wrestling did like in the 80s. I've been to a few WWE shows and they've NEVER told the crowd how to cheer or boo. And they certainly don't give out signs. They have their guys take anti-Cena signs away but don't give people signs. TNA needs to have their show in different cities weekly and not tape 3 weeks worth of their show at once. I guess that's why their schedule is so easy. Tape 3 weeks have two weeks off then one show one PPV etc etc. Pretty painful

 

[Uncle Sam]

The problem with the TNA fans is that there's not as many of them as there are WWE fans. I hate to blow my own trumpet, but I think I pretty much hit the nail on the head with that one.

Besides, TNA's ratings are subject to the TNA effect. TNA's ratings go up at a gradual rate no matter what TNA does. There's fluctuation between these points of growth, sure, but eventual growth is consistent and inevitable. It's weird. Therefore, TNA don't have to worry about the quality of the product. Whether what they do is brilliant or what they do is shit, their ratings will gradually grow either way. 'Tis both a gift and a curse.

 

[Mr_billy]

Maybe Smaller arenas with the same amount of fans would increase the electricity, less room more noise, watch ROH, it has a better feel. Also filming several episodes at a time hurts their growth, because if you can read the spoilers and nothing stands out, why watch. And listening to the TNA chants, do they have hype man like Oprah or something, because sometimes chants start for something mediocre, like a laugh track on a bad sitcom.

 

[The Five-Star Frog Splash]

This is probably one of the top problems of TNA. The fans. The fans aren't fans. THAT is the problem. About a good 75-80% of the people in the iMPACT zone are just random theme park visitors. Like previous posters, ECW proved that having a smaller, tighter arena with fewer people can be just as electric as MSG. You could say TNA's overall product needs to become better for those random people that visit the impact zone to become TNA fans when they go back home. But you could also say that Universal studios is holding TNA down.

But I would keep the impact zone because it's a way to help create new fans and you gotta think too that those people live all around the country. They may come to TNA and love it and continue watching it from home. That was probably the original plan Jeff Jarrett had in the beginning of TNA/Universal's agreement. Sounds like a good idea on paper, right? Well, as the years go on, attendance at TV/PPV tapings may be the same, but this is going to be DETRIMENTAL to TNA's revenue department. Most of the WWE's money comes from live attendance and PPV. If TNA were to actually market their product, maybe attendance in other cities wouldn't suck so badly! And the arenas don't have to be the size of the Pontiac silverdome, they can be like the size of the Brent Center they used for BFG. (IF they don't paper the event and can actually sellout the joint...) They need to go to arenas all across the U.S. to spread and advertise their product to fans and keep them HOOKED and LOYAL TO TNA! That also means, (stay with me here) have TV tapings OUTSIDE of the impact zone! Way more revenue for TNA, which means bigger checks for superstars. The higher the pay TNA actually can afford, the more attractive it looks to wrestlers, which also means a higher standard of production for us, the fans! But sadly, it may take years and years of hard work to get out of the impact zone and start doing tapings outside of Universal. We may have a better idea of changes such as these ones once we know what Hogan/Bischoff's roles are in the company.

 

[blowjoe5]

Ok, a few things TNA need to do in order to properly compete.

Get rid of the 6 sided ring. It's fun, but it looks ridiculous, and you can't take the action as adult with something that looks like something from gladiators.

Dim the lights in the arena. Something WCW, ECW and WWE always did during the 90's, have a darkened arena. This adds to the feeling of things being more adult, grungy and allows people to suspend their disbelief. WWE in the 80's and 2000's has been glossy and brightly lit, and you feel like it's a harlem globetrotters show, not a wrestling show.

Have edgier storylines, add controversy, sleaze, sex, whatever. People like these. The entire atmosphere of TNA looks like a gladiators style show, it's bright, not very big and quite silly. Back to the normal ring, make the arena darker, more black than red etc.

Get some good, masked crusierweights to come in for the x-division. The x-division is something any fan will enjoy watching, but people recognise masked wrestlers.

Have an big, long storyline involving Hogan as soon as he comes in. Have him attacked or run over by someone and have months of 'whodunnit?'. It could be Angle for stealing his spot at the top, Nash for just about anything, Flair, Bishoff etc.

Have a regular tv spot in the UK. I genuinely have no idea where, if anywhere, TNA is on. I have to watch it online most of the time, and the UK audience, while obviously not as big as the US, is still an important one.

With WWE now, and for the forseeable future, offering cookie-cutter characters and PG storylines, TNA can capitalise on the more adult ground. If WWE is getting little kids, and is also tied down by their rating, TNA needs to focus on getting teenagers and real wrestling fans.

Bring in a couple of celebrities, but not in a ridiculous capacity like WWE. If Hogan can get some celebrities that people will actually be interested in seeing and use them in a minimal way, then that can gain a lot of extra publicity.

Throw in some more, bloody, high spot matches with weapons etc. There is clearly a lot of old ECW fans out there who like hardcore matches, good spots and quality wrestling, appeal to them. Foley, Abyss, Raven, Stevie, the Dudleyz etc.

Make the main events feel like main events. One of the great things WCW did was hype the shit out of their main events, and made you really excited to see them. The title had prestige, at least for a while, and you were genuinely excited to see the title matches.

release some of the shitter talent, lacey, cody deaner, consequences, don west, kip james (without the outlaws he's awful) and shark boy for a start.

Aim to hire the following: rob van dam, paul heyman either as part of creative or a manager, ken anderson, Sabu, chris hero, Jack evans, London, Kendrick.

They should also try and poach the following from WWE: Matt Hardy, Shelton Benjamin, Carlito, Regal.

Maybe even try and get Brock Lesnar to make an appearance. He's ill so he can't fight for UFC, he might be willing to make a couple of appearances for the right fee. Keep his profile up, earn him some money for doing very little and give TNA a lot of publicity from the UFC fans.

TNA essentially need to concentrate on changing the presentation of the show, having edgier storylines, giving the fans the good moves and matches that they don't get in WWE and bring out some big storylines with big, memorable moments.

They also have to leave the universal studios location. TNA aren't going to sell out MSG or anything like that, and it isn't even that they necessarily need to tour just yet, but move somewhere with a lot of wrestling fans who'll by the product they're selling, like New York. With some real wrestling fans, the product can start to grow, rather than the current problem people mentioned, the fans are often not actually wrestling fans as such, and so don't really care about the events.

 

[RavensFlock1990]

They should get rid of Creed, Bashir, Kiyoshi, Deaner and Big Rob. Bring back some guys like Petey Williams, Shannon Moore, Low-Ki and give Red some credible challengers. Red could end up being TNA's Rey Mysterio but right now the only guy worth a fuck that he can face is Homicide. MCMG's are going after the tag titles so I won't count them.

 

[Wonka]

I don't think TNA competes because Spike TV doesn't help elevate it's popularity. The majority of Spike's ratings now come from the many UFC events they show. Most MMA fans despise "staged" competition. Only way TNA is gonna compete is to get on TBS, TNT and get a syndicated deal with local stations. Also, they need to ditch the 6 sided ring, it's just stupid looking and doesn't really do anything to differentiate their product like they thought it would.

On another note, it will be interesting to see what Shane was talking to Danta White about, because Spike is so involved with UFC and now that Hogan/Bischoff have made development deals with Spike, if Shane happens to buy the Fertitta's share of UFC, how much influence will he play in keeping TNA down no mater what happens?

 

[NSL]

*Moving/Bumping this thread for relativity*

I don't think we'll ever have a definite answer here. TNA can come out and get a 3.5 on the 4th, and it won't make it competition. It'll take months (maybe a year+) of solid ratings to be considered a threat, but then they still need the PPV buys. If TNA is going to be competition, we may not even notice it happening.

One day, we'll all log on here, and see "TNA beats RAW Rating" and then say "Oh, that's nice", and then it'll be "TNA gets 4.0 Raw get 3.1" and we'll view it as a non-event since we already saw RAW get beat, and the moment TNA became competition will have passed us by.

In all honesty though, I don't think they will be competition. They may "compete", but I don't see Impact ever consistently beating WWE in ratings, and I don't see the PPV buys suddenly doubling or tripling to compete with RAW. The best thing to wish for, as a TNA fan, is that they stay in business, no matter the ratings.

 

[mattg0728]

Full disclosure, I'm a much bigger fan of WWE than TNA. I actually enjoy watching Impact every once in a while, especially since they put on entertaining matches on regular TV more often than WWE does in my opinion. The one problem I see from TNA is their creative obviously, because I can't keep up with who's a face or who's a heel week in and week out. Wrestlers change between being a face and heel way to often. And the feuds do not last long in most cases, not all but most. I do enjoy watching Styles, Daniels, Joe, MCMG and most of the young talent though. Creative just sucks imo.

 

[LegendKiller716]

I think in order for TNA to be real compitition they need to figure out what they want to do. Do they want to conform or be original.

When TNA first came on air they had 3 set divisions, World title, X division, Tag division

They had original match types exciting matches a six sided ring, but lately they are conforming to WWE.

They have a world title, the global title is like the us/ic, tag title, x title is turning into the criewserweight title, and a womens title. Hogan is trying to get rid of the six sided ring. the only thing that makes them original is there meaningless knockout tag belts. Double J had it right with 3 belts TNA was great, I can understand the knock out belt, but then another midcard belt made the x title less prestigues, the tag belts made less contenders for the knockout belt.

In order to compete with WWE, TNA needs to find their identitiy

 

[CardiffCam]

People say WWE uses its name to make its stars bigger, and TNA uses big names to make its company bigger. But is this nesecarily a bad thing?

Right now, TNA is second-rate to WWE, real and kayfabe-wise. They're just not equal. Because when WWE signs TNA talents, they push them as midcarders, which makes people think of TNA main eventers as equal to WWE midcarders. Then TNA instantly pushes WWE midcarders as main eventers, which furthers this status quo.

But you have to have the bigger stars to make a company bigger. If someone wants to see Angle in TNA, and they come in and see him beaten by some one they don't care about, they'll clal bullshit and change the channel. They hadn't heard of TNA, so their stars can't be bigger.

So what TNA needs to do is become bigger, before they start building stars from scratch. Having stars from the wWE that have made their name already in the midcard helps nothing. Look at ROH, can you really imagine Danielson instantly doing anything big in WWE? No. Can you imagine anyone in ROH going over MVP, or Kofi Kingston? No. Because they're bigger stars. Because ROH is smaller.

So TNA is building. Its using the older stars to make the company bigger. THen when its big enough, theyll start creating a roster full of their own stars.

Some say that line like its a bad thing, but its exactly what TNA should do.

 

[theincredibleaaronbridges]

This sentence intrigued me. You say WWE uses its name to make its stars bigger, and TNA uses big names to make its company bigger. But is this nesecarily a bad thing?
Right now, TNA is second-rate to WWE, real and kayfabe-wise. They're just not equal. Because when WWE signs TNA talents, they push them as midcarders, which makes people think of TNA main eventers as equal to WWE midcarders. Then TNA instantly pushes WWE midcarders as main eventers, which furthers this status quo.
But you have to have the bigger stars to make a company bigger. If someone wants to see Angle in TNA, and they come in and see him beaten by some one they don't care about, they'll clal bullshit and change the channel. They hadn't heard of TNA, so their stars can't be bigger.
So what TNA needs to do is become bigger, before they start building stars from scratch. Having stars from the wWE that have made their name already in the midcard helps nothing. Look at ROH, can you really imagine Danielson instantly doing anything big in WWE? No. Can you imagine anyone in ROH going over MVP, or Kofi Kingston? No. Because they're bigger stars. Because ROH is smaller.
So TNA is building. Its using the older stars to make the company bigger. THen when its big enough, theyll start creating a roster full of their own stars.
You say that line like its a bad thing, but its exactly what TNA should do.

I understand what you are sayng but when wcw aquired hogan they had big names like sting, and flair and when the wcw brought any1 from wwe they automatically put over wwe talent over there own. while when wwe brings in talent from other places they usually get squashed, with jericho,rvd,beniot and goldberg being exceptions. Tna has a prime time slot so it is time or has been time to get over more stars to a higher level instead they have headlined with wwe guys. christian goes back to wwe nd becomes ecw champion and who does ecw have. who has christian beat william regal, shelton benjamin, tommy dreamer and abunch of new comers who go on to bigger things on raw and smackdown, but in tna he was your top guy for how long. you invested all that time for him to leave back to wwe. Angle deserves to be at the top because he is an icon but you know eventually he is going back to wwe so now they should have him putting over wolfe. all im saying is that just because you get more people to watch doesnt mean they are going to keep it on the channel when they see that a guy whose 5 ft nothing holding the tittle and the only names are old wwe guys who were losing in wwe but tittle contenders in tna. The only reason i am comparing them at all is because tna states it is going to war but the truth is they should thank wwe for giving them so many jobbers and leftovers to build a company with instead of working in the wwe favor by creating no new stars or faces like wwe did when all they had was bret hart. thats right they made austin, rock, foley hhh and many others stars when wcw had 80% of the star power.

 

[boozinjedi]

There was one huge reason why WCW was able to go to war with WWF/E,
TURNER!!
It was Ted's bankroll that allowed the battles to get so rough.
As good as a product TNA might put out,It has nowhere near the pocketbook to compete with Vince!!
And not to sound mean...as long as a good amount of TNA talent is most comprised of WWE/WCW castoffs....they'll never be taken seriously.

 

[Rzarectah]

While I can't really see TNA competing with WWE in the long run, I sure hope it happens. If TNA can put out a quality product each week on a level equal/better than WWE can than Vince will definintley switch up the way his show is set up for the better. He knows he will have to push the button and start putting better matches with better feuds on his shows. Right now WWE is just lazy, but with a solid competition, they have the talent and ability to have an amazing show.

 

[I_AM_AWSOME]

I think that Tna needs do what wwe is doing in order to have chance. The reason wwe is so popular right now is kids and how the THE GOLDEN BOY John Cena and DX.

TNA needs a golden boy to carry them and grab the attention of kids, and i know what everyone is thinking that that's a stupid idea. That's like going pg. Well that's what i think well make them successful. TNA needs a bigger audience and focus on being more popular. I think that they are only targeting towards the teens but most watch ufc so that's why they have to target there focus on kids to become popular which will give them a great fan base like the wwe and then they can become a threat. But Tna wants to be different from the wwe they want to cross the line.

 

[jimpedro419]

It wont happen now or ever. Hogan is as dumb as it gets when it comes to wrestling. he wont lose. he wont let his friends lose. and its gonna be like wcw its gonna suck like it does now. Get your own wrestlers not the ones wwe doesnt want anymore then maybe oh wiat no chance in hell.

Also if tna gets close then vince will pull the best move in wrestling. He will go back to everyone on all the brands and you will see a better wrestling show like you have never seen before with main events like the undertaker vs john cena on monday or friday and not just pay per views. so no way will tna survive. REST IN PEACE TNA.

 

[psykohurricane]

After last night, i pretty much given up on TNA being competition for the WWE and with the rumor going around that Hogan's want to go back the the four sided ring, i don'T see it happening anytime soon.

The fact of the matter is the last couple of month before Hogan came to TNA, they were on the right track. They were doing what they needed to be doing all along and that to let the TNA wrestlers shine by having them actual wrestling matches without complicated storylines. The only problem TNA has isn'T the talent because they got some of the most talented wrestlers in the industry working for them. It's not the six-sided ring. The only problem with TNA before last night was the IMPACT Zone. They need to move out of there already if they want to be look at as competition because until they decide to move out, you could have every hall of famer imaginable makes all the changes you want, it's still going to look like and overproduced independant league and TNA will never become competition to the WWE.

By the way i just want to say something to Vince McMahon, i know he's not going to read this but still. The way things are going, don't be surprise if most of the young TNA originals don't try to contact you about getting a job with the WWE because they way things are going, it's not going to be long before TNA is overrun with Hogan's friends and all the young talents that help build TNA will be either release or overshadowed by them.

 

[King Douche]

Wow you people given up on TNA after one show?!?!?! One show! Damn! How the wrestling buisness gonna get better if their is no competition but WWE? The wrestling buisness will get worst and worst and worst. Starting to think Vince making it mainstream destroying the territory system was the biggest mistake in wrestling history.

 

[THEGRANDSLAM]

I doubt TNA will ever compete with the WWE, I thought Mondays Impact was terrible, it was just a bunch of old boys shooting about nothing in particular for 3 hours. How many matches were there? 5 in 3 hours of TV? Does anyone actually care about the Knockouts Tag Team divison? I can't imagine many people do. What was that rubbish with Bischoff ripping up the 'format'. The Nasty Boys haven't been over since they lost to LOD at Summerslam, 5 mins of Bret and HBK in the ring ethered 3 hours of TNA rubbish. I'd be very surprised if TNA is still in business in 5 years.

 

[psykohurricane]

How long until TNA is competition? That's simple, TNA will be competition to the WWE when somebody finally realise that they need to move out of the IMPACT Zone. TNA can bring every big name stars they want, but they will always look like a minor league promotion if they don'T get out of there. It funny how you had gauys like Hogan & Flair come out in limo's last monday and the only thing i could think about is how ridiculous they coming in a limo's to a studio that situated in an amusement park. At less Mick Foley knew he was in an amusement park and actually walk to the studio stage. The other thing that a found funny was how A.J. styles locker room looks like a janitor's closet. Poor guy, he the TNA champion and he has to share a room with a mop.

TNA isn't competition to the WWE and they will never be unless they completly chance every aspect of the company. They want to be look at as the alternative to the WWE, the place were wrestlers actually wrestles, then stop having stupid WWE type storylines and go out there and wrestles. They want to be competition to the WWE, go out there and tape IMPACT in small arenas instead of a Studio stage. Stop having all the big names all over the show everyweek, have faith in the younger guys you got. If you let them work with the veterans you will see, it will pay off.

Until, all of this happens, TNA won't be competition to the WWE because even with big names star like Hogan, Flair and Sting, if they continue taping everything in the IMPACT Zone at universal studios, they will always be looked at as being a second rate promotion and worst of all, they might even have the reputation of being were the old guys goes when they need money.

 

[TheBestThereEverWillBe]

WWE is by far the biggest wrestling industry in the world hands down and TNA is trying to make a push. lets be real. TNA still aint even close.

In order for TNA to make themselves competitors, they need to take direct shots at WWE and make their voices heard. Yea, they recently brought in big names to their business but WWE is clearly not even close to acknowledging there existince. what TNA needs, is to take shots at them some how using the old WWE talent they have. they need to dig deep and throw something at them during iMpact. Or even throw themselves out there like DX did to WCW years back. If they want to be acknowledged, they gotta get personal some how. WWE is a big business with years of experience to where TNA is still just getting started.

What do you think would really kick start some real wrestling competition? what does TNA need to do?

 

[psykohurricane]

To be competitive with The WWE, TNA Needs 3 Things:

1- Move Out Of The IMPACT Zone: The fact is, TNA can have all the big name stars you want, they are always going to look like a second league independant promotion if they stay there. Just look at last week's Live IMpact show. You had all the big star coming in limosine Mick Foley walking in a amusement park to found his way into the IMPACT Zone, Ric Flair going into A.J styles locker Room that look more like a janitor'S closet. It look Cheap and i made all those big stars look normal. TNA should be taping there show in small arena's around the U.S. They could even replace show of their house shows for t.v taping.

2. Put money in the marketing department: I'm sorry but TNA has a serious problem as far as marketing is concern, Over the years how many of you found out at the last minute that TNA was coming to your town for a house show, I sure did. The fact is that they don'T promote anything, they spend millions of dollars on big names stars and then don'T promote the arrivals. Look what happens when they decides to promote something, they get good ratings. Last week show had good ratings because they promoted the hell out of the fact that hogan was coming to TNA and it got people watching. If they would spend more money on marketing there shows and less money on big name guys they would probably be competition to the WWE right now.

3. Stop imitating what The WWE use to do: TNA always said it was a wrestling company yet week after week i see more sports enteetainment out of them that i see out of the WWE. They Want to be a wrestling company then be a wrestling company, build feud around wrestling and not about who controlling TNA. Actually put some wrestling matches on T.V. instead of squash matches. For the last 2 month they use to do that but now where back to the sports entertainment stuff.

With these 3 things i just mention, TNA would be competition to the WWE within a 2 years time period but right now, but let's face it, Dixie and the boys don't have the balls to make drastic change to the product and are happy riding the co-tails of Hogan and Bischoff hoping that they are to people that going to save TNA. They said the same thing when they sign Sting, Mick Foley and Kurt Angle and all they got is the same ratings they always have because they are scared to take chance and actually do something they would advance their product. Unless TNA does these 3 thing i just mention, now matter who they bring, they will always be the number 2 company in the u.s just like ECW was the number 3 promotion in the late 90'S.