How Will WWE respond to TNA?

[Ambiguous Turd]

Well, now it was just announced that Sting is going to be on Impact along with Hulk Hogan for that episode. TNA has a real opportunity here, and I am truly hoping for the good of the entire wrestling business in mind, that they take full advantage of it.

What they should really work on is doing a "Commercial Free" Impact, as that will surely infuriate Vince. But TNA really should work with Spike on this one to make it a possibility, as this will inevitably damage Raw severely if they can pull that one off.

Now, as far as what Raw can respond with ... they aren't going to get The Rock for that so close to the holidays. I would be extremely surprised if Rock would participate.

However, WWE needs to pull out all the stops, and unfortunately they have pulled out just about every stop they have with the current roster.

However, if I were WWE, I would consider a Vince McMahon vs John Cena confrontation. Those two on the mic are gold and we haven't seen this occur to any real degree. But I wouldn't go all out, as I would save this feud for IF TNA moves Impact to Monday Nights, to use this feud to combat it.

Although, to be frank, it may not be enough to combat IMpact at this point, as I strongly sense fans are just in the mood for an alternative to WWE.

 

[Steamboat Ricky]

This will be very interesting...and Vince has to play this very carefully. His best bet is to ride the fence.

He doesn't want to acknowledge TNA too much by making a huge spectacle out of Raw on Jan 4. That is, he doesn't want to make a huge deal about it based on the fact that TNA is airing against it. However, Vince also doesn't want to underestimate this "call to arms." Whether or not TNA poses a legit threat, if TNA happens to surprise the heck out of Vince...then he ends up looking like an idiot.

Vince needs to just wait patiently and feel out the momentum.

 

[The Best At What I Do]

Well, now it was just announced that Sting is going to be on Impact along with Hulk Hogan for that episode. TNA has a real opportunity here, and I am truly hoping for the good of the entire wrestling business in mind, that they take full advantage of it.

What they should really work on is doing a "Commercial Free" Impact, as that will surely infuriate Vince. But TNA really should work with Spike on this one to make it a possibility, as this will inevitably damage Raw severely if they can pull that one off.

Now, as far as what Raw can respond with ... they aren't going to get The Rock for that so close to the holidays. I would be extremely surprised if Rock would participate.

However, WWE needs to pull out all the stops, and unfortunately they have pulled out just about every stop they have with the current roster.

However, if I were WWE, I would consider a Vince McMahon vs John Cena confrontation. Those two on the mic are gold and we haven't seen this occur to any real degree. But I wouldn't go all out, as I would save this feud for IF TNA moves Impact to Monday Nights, to use this feud to combat it.

Although, to be frank, it may not be enough to combat IMpact at this point, as I strongly sense fans are just in the mood for an alternative to WWE.

Interesting... This makes sense but the thing is: Vince doesn't have to combat Impact. While fans are in the mood for an alternative to WWE, I being one of them, TNA made quite a huge misstep. They've already announced that it's being re-aired thursday night. I thought I would have to choose between watching the two and I was actually planning on giving TNA the rating until I heard this. Now I really have no reason to miss RAW in order to see it

 

[beefthelegend]

As Lord Sidious eluded to, The Rock isn't officially signed on for that night. He said he would LIKE to come back and host Raw, amongst other things, and the IWC lost it and started scheming, looking at the Rock's movie dates and decided that it HAD to be this week because of his film opening.

I DO think WWE will respond by getting The Rock to guest host a three hour edition of Raw. The Rock owes Dixie Carter a huge debt of thanks though, because the Rock can charge out the wazoo and get it. For as much as JR, and others, have said that TNA isn't even on Vince's radar, I gotta believe McMahon noticed this-and is sitting up and taking notice. The fact that he made that Raw three hours, allegedly, is enough to see that.

This is a HUGE risk for TNA, because I would imagine Hogan didn't come cheap. And if the Rock does appear on Raw the same evening, it would be overkill. It won't finish TNA off, but it will certainly deal a HUGE blow to the confidence of the roster. They aren't stupid, despite the management, they KNOW the Rock is a huge draw, and that they'll be screwed.

This is a HUGE mistake by Dixie. Typical of a spoiled child, she wants it all now. If she could wait, build some momentum, and build her own superstars (like she is doing with AJ) then TNA COULD pose a threat to WWE...down the road. NOT in January. WWE will be gearing up for "The Road to Wrestlemania" when they typically put forth their best programming anyway. Dixie needs to do her homework, and pick her spots.

In short, i guess i can say this: Rock > Hogan. Always has-always will. Hogan was a gimmick. He was over with the crowd because he was an icon of America. Rock is talent. Rock is skill. Rock is over, Hogan is not.

TNA needs ALOT of work before it can contend with WWE.

 

[ianfromlondon]

WWE doesnt have to respond to tna going head to head with them cause lets face it tna have got nothing to offer to viewers and that shows by the crap rating they get every thursday

wwe does not have to be 'scared' or 'worried'

there is no kind of compertition anywhere close to wwe so theres no chance that tna will even get a decent rating

 

[Jack Tunney's Ghost]

First, there's not going to be any "war" between WWE and TNA for a very, very long time. TNA is barely on WWE's radar -- hell, TNA is barely on anyone's radar in the big picture. I'm not saying that TNA doesn't have it's own fan base, because it most certainly does. But, the number of dedicated TNA fans pales in comparison to WWE's. It's been mentioned, but, TNA hasn't been around long enough to really make a dent to WWE's overall numbers. TNA can stack the talent roster with former WWE stars or other wrestlers from around the world all it wants, but, bottom line, TNA's challenge is that TNA is NOT a "household" brand name. That'll require some time or a major miracle for TNA to get to The Promised Land... and they are putting stock in Hulk Hogan to help get them there.

The move to do a 3-hour show against Raw was one that TNA *HAD* to make, even if they didn't want to (not saying that TNA doesn't... but, they set themselves up to the point where it's a absolute necessity to make this move).

In many respects, it's somewhat of a suicide mission. TNA understands that they're not going to hurt WWE by this, and TNA knows they're going to take a beating here. But, they're going to have to do this because now's the time and they're trying to get the buzz going. They've signed Hogan, they're trying to get more TV airtime, and apparently they have other plans in the works as they've been teasing for past few weeks.

Despite what TNA (or at least Dixie Carter) would have you believe, TNA really has no intention of going to "war" with WWE. They're just trying to establish themselves as a "serious" wrestling company. They're trying just to find its own fanbase. I mean, a LARGE fanbase and to basically just get the TNA name out there to not only wrestling fans, but, to everyone. TNA would be happy if people knew they even existed to 2nd place next to WWF/WWE. I've said this before, but, you ask a stranger in the street and ask them what they know about wrestling, and usually the response is, "You mean WWF type wrestling?" They usually don't even know about WWE's name change, nevermind anything about TNA. TNA is known simply as "Tits and Ass" to most people... so TNA's own brand name is another huge challenge for the company.

So, yeah, if you're getting a hard-on thinking that there's going to be a "war" between TNA and WWE, go take a cold shower and get back to reality. It's not going to happen at this stage of the game. Maybe down the road, but, not anytime soon.

This is a big move for TNA, sure, but they simply don't have the resources to be a threat to WWE in anyway. If the 3-hour TNA show is from the Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida from "The Impact Zone" that should be your first clue that they're not in any position to be a serious threat to WWE. TNA would have to spend money and actually be on the road in an arena that holds thousands, not dozens of fans to be taken seriously by anyone. I still think TNA is in financial trouble and that Panda Energy is close to pulling the plug on the company, and if I'm right, TNA won't be around long enough anyway to be any kind of a threat to anyone, nevermind WWE. And yes, TNA is dumping alot of money in the the 3-hour show, but, repeating it on Thursday proves that they're just trying to get as much bang for their buck by this stunt.

WWE won't acknowledge TNA at all on Raw. Why would they give TNA any free publicity on their air time?

There have been mumblings about The Rock hosting Raw for a while now... I doubt TNA's little experiment plays too much into him being a potential guest host. If WWE is going to do a 3-hour show, it just makes perfect sense to have him host. Although, I admit, the motivation behind the 3-hour Raw may be because of TNA's stunt... but, USA has been pushing WWE for 3-Hour shows for a while... and what Meltzer says isn't exactly The Gospal.

But, yeah, this is all interesting nonetheless.

 

[fredstephenson]

Nothing.

I reckon the moment WWE acknowledges TNA exists by talking about them on Raw or Smackdown then the true war will start because then you know TNA are seen as a big enough threat to respond to them.

 

[Daedalus]

WWE really doesn't need to do anything as TNA isn't a solid threat to them at this moment. Vince has always said in the past that he wants to help another company because "it's good for the business" but we all know that's bullshit unless it somehow directly benefits him. His ego will most likely get in the way and he will want to pull out all the stops on January 4th. It's a shame as if he truly lived by his comments of doing what is best for the overall industry he would welcome competition from TNA as it would be nothing but good for the overall wrestling business. I don't think Vince will do much until/if TNA goes live every Monday night head to head and he may still not do much until TNA makes a dent in the ratings. TNA received a 1.0 I believe last Thursday which is lackluster to RAW's ratings and don't think this "one time" event will do much for TNA. Hopefully WWE fans will turn to TNA during commercials and boring segments but I think Vince will load the show in hopes of preventing this from happening. WWE has been losing viewers in the second hour of RAW it seems lately but that could be due to football but maybe that's a sign that some WWE fans will turn into TNA out of curiosity and Hogan/surprises happening. I don't understand how anybody doesn't want TNA to flourish as it will only push WWE to present a better product which is a win for everybody who enjoys wrestling.

 

[hatehabsforever]

I stand to be corrected here, but isn't it true that TNA has only announced this three-hour special this one Monday, January 04, 2010? In other words, aren't a lot of you jumping to incorrect conclusions in the resurrection of the Monday Night Wars, this time between WWE and TNA, because as far as I've heard, there's been no indication that this is an ongoing committment that TNA is making to a head-to-head confrontation between themselves and WWE at this time. Lots of bravado from Dixie and Hogan, but nothing tangible.

My guess is that TNA will put a lot of time, effort, and thought into this evening and see how they stack up one-on-one against the WWE machine. If they do well, they may consider doing it more frequently, and eventually, every week, but as far as I've heard, there's been nothing to suggest that's the plan right now.

So what will Vince McMahon and the WWE do in response to this assault? Nothing, absolutely nothing. I thought I had read somewhere earlier, likely on this site, that Jan. 04, 2010 had the Rock's name pencilled in to be guest host, long before the announcement of this head to head showdown on this date. If that's the plan, the WWE will continue with the plan. If not, they'll use someone else. But I don't expect the WWE to deviate from what they've been doing (good or bad) because of this one time assault from TNA. Forget changing the PG rating. Forget any acknowledgement whatsoever from the WWE about the existence of TNA.

It will be status quo for the WWE, whether you approve of it's direction, or whether you want to be a Chronic Complainer about it. But make no mistake about it. IF, and only if, TNA actually mounts a significant challenge to WWE, which all of us wrestling fans would love to see, the gloves will come off, and WWE will blow TNA out of the water. Again. Like ECW. Like WCW. And like any other challenger to come along.

 

[Supersayin]

It will be status quo for the WWE, whether you approve of it's direction, or whether you want to be a Chronic Complainer about it. But make no mistake about it. IF, and only if, TNA actually mounts a significant challenge to WWE, which all of us wrestling fans would love to see, the gloves will come off, and WWE will blow TNA out of the water. Again. Like ECW. Like WCW. And like any other challenger to come along.

And then you wake up Jimmy. But back to the question, if TNA went head to head with RAW outside the Impact zone, i guaranDAMNtee TNA would of beat RAW. The Impact zone does not do TNA favours as all it does is turn of viewers because of the ameture look. And there is nothing better than having Hulk FUCKING Hogan debut outside of the Impact zone going against Raw on monday Jan 4th.

TNA really missed the boat on this as i think they will only probably get 1.5,1.6 instead of in the 2's or 3's. Hell even 4's if they did it outside of Impact Zone.

 

[NOD_FAN]

I think Vince should not change what he is doing accept limit the comedy and sketches and add more wrestling. If he goes from 2-3 hours I think that sends a message that he has panicked... I hope this works for TNA and I am so glad the Monday night wars are back well for at least one Monday.. Plus why would TNA do it on the date that the ROCK makes his return??? I think they should have waited because we all will tune in to see if the rock is going to smack the taste out of someone and he will I am sure..lol.. Also I was banned from here for a week and glad o be back… I don’t know how I got banned it said spam.. Can someone please tell me the etiquettes’ so this doesn’t happen t me again… I never left anything inappropriate so I am not sure. Thanks guys…. RIP UMAGA.

 

[Baximus]

Here's my opinion, as a guy who watches both companies:

If there's no Rock on Raw, I'm watching TNA. For Damn Sure it will be a better show than watching Swoggle get stomped.

But if Rocky comes back then TNA is going to get buried. Raw will draw above a 5 in the ratings becuase The Rock is the golden symbol of how great the WW'F' used to be.

 

[cole924]

I think this is the best thing that could have happened to the WWE. Instead of being the only true market out there, the WWE will not be up against a competitor. That will make the WWE writers stay on their toes because they are finally competing in general.

I think the WWE will listen to their fans more (and that doesn't mean just the internet community). I think the WWE will up their game and start getting back to what made them so successful. Hell, I even think it could be the end to the PG rating as well.

This is nothing but great for the WWE.

 

[hatehabsforever]

And then you wake up Jimmy. But back to the question, if TNA went head to head with RAW outside the Impact zone, i guaranDAMNtee TNA would of beat RAW. The Impact zone does not do TNA favours as all it does is turn of viewers because of the ameture look. And there is nothing better than having Hulk FUCKING Hogan debut outside of the Impact zone going against Raw on monday Jan 4th.

TNA really missed the boat on this as i think they will only probably get 1.5,1.6 instead of in the 2's or 3's. Hell even 4's if they did it outside of Impact Zone.

If TNA went head to head with RAW outside the Impact Zone, it would be the same result as we've been seeing for years, namely RAW miles ahead in terms of ratings and numbers. We'll see a spike in TNA's ratings for that one night, upto a whopping 1.5 or 1.6, then the Hogan hysteria will die down and people will recognize that it's not the 80's or even the 90's anymore, and a 56 year old man who can barely walk, let alone wrestle, and who has tons of baggage (which is why he's back), is not the long-term answer for TNA. And boom, it's back to struggling to crack the 1.0 barrier again.

IF the Rock does appear on RAW that night, RAW will destroy TNA in the ratings. Then what? If not, RAW will still dominate, but not by as much.

TNA missed the boat by announcing they will re-broadcast the show on Thursday. So everyone will watch RAW as per usual, then watch TNA on Thursday night, out of curiosity to see the Hulkster. Then they'll return to RAW regularly again, pausing to watch TNA occasionally out of curiosity.

By the way, why so defensive about your beloved TNA. If anyone says anything that you construe as an attack on TNA, you appear to get very agitated. Look, you're entitled to your opinion, and I'm entitled to disagree. But just relax and enjoy the "Monday Night War," as trust me, it will be short-lived and one-sided.

 

[RavensFlock1990]

WWE doesn't have to do anything. I actully expect TNA ratings on their live Monday to be lower than usual. But if WWE feels the need to counter TNA just in-case then they can have Rock guest host and feature all their top stars and have alot of matches with combinations of Cena, Orton, Batista, Taker, Punk, DX, JeriShow, Rey, Christian, Kofi, Morrison, Miz, Matt Hardy and Kane all on the January 4th RAW. They could even get Edge to make an appearance. Have interactions between Cena and Rock.

WWE just has too much star power and their brand name is too big for TNA to stand a chance anytime soon. Its like a store brand of soda trying to compete with Pepsi.

I don't even get why Dixie wants to compete with WWE for. TNA has been growing at a good pace but now she thinks Hogan in his shape and in this day and age is all they need to compete with WWE. Is Hogan even a draw anymore? I mean if Sting, Foley, Nash and Angle don't draw then why would Hogan? Somebody needs to tell Dixie its almost 2010 and not 1998.

 

[beeflange]

WWE will respond by doing what is usually does by having RAW in an arena with 1000's hosted by the ROCK while TNA is in a little TV studio with 100's with old Hulk Hogan and WWE is more professionally done than TNA and the fans will be able to compare and see how much better WWE is. WWE should go back to TV-14 and consider moving ECW against Impact, just tweaking ECW a bit would be enough to destroy TNA, ECW has about the same rating, so against Impact on Thursdays would cut TNA's rating down.

 

[AMH]

It amazes me how naive some of you can be by actually thinking TNA has a chance against the WWE in the Monday night ratings. And don't go thinking I'm a WWE mark or I hate TNA. I'm just saying this simply because of what's happened thus far pertaining to Hogan. When the news came out that he signed with TNA the internet was buzzing with anticipation, saying this was THEE guy who would bring TNA to the mainstream. And why not? He's an "icon" to the business. He and Vince revolutionized how we see the product.

Yet, we forget now that he's pushing sixty years old, and, unless you've been living under a rock, haven't noticed, the ratings discussing his signing and forthcoming appearance have done NOTHING to improve the ratings. And don't pussy foot saying "well, they went up .1 or .2" or something because they'd have to go up significantly higher than that if they want to compete with the WWE. Now, I know TNA will go to whatever heights needed to put on a good show.

We'll probably see an ultimate X match or a street fight or whatever else to differ from the WWE, but in the end it will do NOTHING. Especially, and if this is true I won't even flip once to TNA, if the one and only ROCK is the host!!! They can't compete with that!! Hogan can't compete with that!!! And, sadly, TNA cannot compete with that!!! Now, what they should've done is waited. Checked to see what difference Hogan would make in the ratings. And if that was a significant, and I mean SIGNIFICANT increase, THEN put on a Monday show against RAW. It almost makes me wonder why TNA is in such a rush. Why are they running with this so fast? Something is definitely going on. Perhaps, the spoiled little egocentric heiress miss Dixie Carter (say otherwise, read her little tweet saying "this is the first shot") is running out of options.

Perhaps, her backers aren't being as patient as they once were. But I truly hope not, because I like some of what TNA provides. I like Styles and Joe and ANGLE (come back home, pleassseeee!!!!) as well as their other young stars. But with Hogan there now...I'm just worried....Forgive my rant.

 

[Tripleb2k1]

I doubt they will change significantly...

but this could very well be a mistake by TNA. The Hogan/Bischoff Creative Team is unproven in the TNA environment and they wanna go head to head with Vince's flagship program...either it will get decent ratings or flop. I think the need to build TNA into a contender first and develop name recognition. By a great portion of wrestling fans TNA is still seen as a minor league with above average production value

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Like many of the users here, IMO if the WWE does anything to even acknowledge the threat, they've played into Hogan/Carter/Bischoff's hands perfectly, and in doing so have actually taken a step down in terms of just how "superior" they really are (or aren't).

This is a shot in the dark for TNA, and they need all the help they can get IMO, so I really hope Vince does the right thing here (for the business) and fires back.

 

[Super Crazy]

Like many of the users here, IMO if the WWE does anything to even acknowledge the threat, they've played into Hogan/Carter/Bischoff's hands perfectly, and in doing so have actually taken a step down in terms of just how "superior" they really are (or aren't).

This is a shot in the dark for TNA, and they need all the help they can get IMO, so I really hope Vince does the right thing here (for the business) and fires back.

This is true. If they acknowledge TNA in any way shape or form, they will play right into the hands of the competition. I too hope they do fire back though, as it will really put them to the test and see if TNA can take away even a small portion of viewers.

In order for TNA to test the waters, the WWE need to put out the best possible show, quite possibly the best show they've had in a long time. Although, I believe, this Raw will be the one the Rock supposedly hosts, so this should be a huge night either way.

I cannot wait to see what happens on 1/4/10. This is a huge hit or miss opportunity for both companies, and I'm looking forward to seeing the best product possible from both.

 

[bigfatnacho]

Ha, imagine hornswoggle interfering in Rocks promo and then hornswoggle gets rock-bottomed. Now that'd be fun to watch also with DX united RAW is going quite smoothly but i'd like to see more promos from DX because DX is very entertaining and I enjoy watching do promos. And has someone else said, on the 3 hour raw they should bring all the Top superstars from all brands such as Rey, batista, kane, undertaker, Christian, CM punk, Matt hardy, Chris Jericho (if he loses at TLC), Edge (if he returns early and all the maybe all the commentators.

Now that's something I'd love to watch.

 

[theblackmamba]

This indeed is a rather interesting turn of events... For on the one hand, it would be quite a success for TNA if WWE acknowledged their going live on Monday nights AT ALL. Since up to now, TNA definitely has spent more time pointing out that "this guy and that guy" came from WWE, whilst WWE, in tune with classic keyfabe, has never so much as hinted to the existence of TNA.

Plus, they put Christian, who was considered a major player in TNA, in ECW upon his return, just to make an example out of how little "value" his TNA stint added to his name compared to when he left. They put Christian back right where he had been before he left for TNA, and more or less completely ignored the fact that he was top tier champion in TNA for quite awhile.

However, as said, if WWE chooses to make a move BECAUSE of TNA going live, it is a win - albeit a very small one, and could come at a very high price - for TNA.

On the other hand, The Rock had been rumored as the guest host for that specific edition of RAW for quite a while, and I guess WWE will go through with this... because if they do, they can always claim they had The Rock planned to appear a long time before any news of Hogan & Bischoff signing with TNA or TNA going live and head to head with RAW had ever surfaced. Thus, they'd have a powerful weapon (arguable THE most powerful weapon available in professional wrestling at this particular point in time in The Rock) to counter TNA's every move and STILL make it look like they'd not have done out of the ordinary. In so far, it is not a good move for TNA to debut their live format on that particular date; because that is just playing straight into WWE's hands.

I just don't think that TNA is at that stage yet where they can truly challenge WWE at all (and it's questionable if they'll ever be unless they have financial backing similar to what WCW had when they made their revolutionary move back in the 90ies) - but no matter who they sign (and Hogan definitely is not the draw he used to be, there's just too much sh*t gone down around him recently, and he is - even regardless of all that - just too old to still make a real impact in the Impact Zone, except being another breakout obstacle for younger stars - and I'm saying that as someone who has always been a Hogan fan) - TNA can NOT go against The Rock. Because even if The Rock isn't the draw anymore he used to be, since he's been gone that long now, he still is more present and more credible in a wrestling role at this point than Hogan is, and he also fits better into the entire picture of today's wrestling scene. Hogan, ultimately is, and will always be, a product of the 1980ies (or, at best, of the mid/late 1990ies if you consider the nWo look, but I don't think that could be reproduced again, especially not since TNA had comparable angle in the Main Event Mafia rather recently anyway) and just does not really have a place anymore in today's wrestling scene. He still is a nice sideshow attraction, and for me, it'll always be great in a way to see the Red'n'Yellow come down the aisle, for whatever reason (since I just grew up with the fellow), but he is in no age or shape to be the center of attention of an entire company anymore. And unfortunately, we all know that Hogan really can't stand being anything else than the absolute focus of attention. So we'll see how that bold move plays out for TNA...

Personally, I think it is a little premature, and a decidedly bad point of time has been chosen for it (if indeed The Rock will host RAW); and thirdly, TNA's money might have been put on the wrong steed. Eric Bischoff may be a valuable asset, but Hogan will be more of a liability due to the immense cost his signing undoubtedly must've caused, and even more so because of his creative control that has to come with it.

I really hope the best for TNA, as a veritable challenger to WWE's title is desperately needed at this point in time... but I'm really not sure if this particular move is the best right now. I really hope it is, but at this point, I fear WWE just has the much stronger position. But I guess we'll see how it plays out soon enough, heh...

How should the WWE respond? They should be respond by......wait for it......NOT responding. They should just continue to work on their own product and not even acknowledge TNA. I don't understand, and I never will understand the need for competition in the first place. Instead of picking on the big bully on the block, TNA should worry about its own product and making it the best it can be. The Yankees and Red Sox are rivals in every possible way, but they're not trying to put the other out of business. Remember, it was WCW that started the Monday Night Wars. Sure they were ahead for more than a year, but the endgame was Eric Bischoff finding himself working for Vince Mcmahon. He became Nas to Vince's Jay-Z. So apparently, here we go again, with TNA gunning after WWE. Have we not seen this movie before? Only difference is, TNA will NEVER, that's right I said it, NEVER overtake WWE for 1 month, let alone 1+ years.

 

[Jack Tunney's Ghost]

A bit of a reality check is definitely needed here --

1) Again, there will be no Monday Night War here. To have a war, you need two sides to be a threat against the other. TNA is no threat to WWE to "fire back" which brings me to...

2) The WWE will definitely NOT fire back, much less acknowledge TNA on their programming including the 3-hour RAW. To be blunt, TNA needs WWE for the rub, but WWE doesn't need TNA. It's comparable to Coca-Cola putting the logo of a small generic brand soda on the bottom of Coke cans. Why would Coke do that? There's nothing in for them.

3) As I explained earlier, even though TNA is trying to give everyone the impression they going to war with WWE, they really are NOT... at least not at this point. TNA is trying to establish itself as a "serious" wrestling company and trying to build their own solid fan base. TNA, once again, is just trying to get the rub off of WWE and simply trying to get a buzz going about the TNA brand.

4) The Rock isn't going to deliver the massive ratings as most of you seem to think. YES, should The Rock and WWE manage to work out a deal for him to host Raw for the 3-hour special, the ratings WILL increase, but, I highly doubt that Raw's ratings would reach to a 5 share. I would suggest that Raw's ratings will peak to the "late 3's" or "early 4's" (maybe 4.3 if they're lucky). A lot of years have past since The Rock was a major player in WWE and a lot of things have changed since then (such as WWE Raw become somewhat and more difficult to watch each week). He'll garner mainly wrestling fans who have been turned off by WWE's product since he left and WWE will maintain it's audience who already tune in each week. But, there'll be very few outside of wrestling fans tuning into Raw to see him to make any real impressive increase to Raw's ratings.

5) TNA's 3-hour show won't make any notable impact on Raw's overall ratings that night. There may be a spike here and there as TNA will pull some kind of a stunt during their show (like Hogan's debut or perhaps an announcement and maybe a special match). But, advertisers don't buy time based on ratings by the minute, they buy by overall show ratings.

6) WWE will not be eliminating the PG-13 rating any time soon as it's easier to get advertisers with PG-13 than anything higher. Other than swaying towards have no blood on their shows, is there really THAT much of a difference in WWE's programming than it was 2 years ago? Since WWE has gone PG-13, I'm actually seeing a swing more towards wrestling away from the horrible back stage vignettes of the Divas ****ting around with wrestlers in the showers. I'm really quite okay with PG-13, to tell you the truth. I hate censorship, but, before, WWE gave us way more bad acting by Divas than anything else. The guest host thing is a clusterf*ck, but, that's being foisted onto WWE by NBC-Universal, so, I can't really blame that on WWE.

7) The talent roster of either promotion doesn't really affect ratings THAT much. I'm not saying the talent roster doesn't gain viewers -- but the sad truth is, the talent roster is basically expendable. You can list all of your favorite wrestlers of a promotion here in the forums and claim they're going to take the promotion to the top above the other, but, at the end of the day, the wrestlers are basically a small cog of the promotion's machine. The booking, how well a promotion uses their talent, how the promotion presents itself and looks production wise on TV and in the arena all play bigger roles than a handful of wrestlers. I know I'm sounding pretty mean against the talent, but, it's a true nature of the beast.

8) Getting TNA out of the Impact Zone will be a great move on TNA's part to just simply give the impression that TNA is being serious. Someone here said that TNA looks amature-ish because of being in the small studio as The Impact Zone and that's a bang-on description. But, The Impact Zone really doesn't play into the ratings. I doubt anyone really tunes in to TNA because of The Impact Zone, but, first impressions mean a lot. I don't think TNA necessarily loses viewers because of the Impact Zone, but, The Impact Zone does make it difficult to take TNA seriously... especially when WWE is in a major arena, and on occasion, is even in MSG. For TNA -- The Impact Zone isn't exactly helping their cause.

9) TNA has made several mistakes recently. Dixie's "I'm The Boss" speech tp the wrestlers on Impact a few weeks ago backfired huge and should've never been aired. TNA pulled the trigger waaaay too early announcing Hogan's arrival. The longer this drags on and the more they're painting Hogan as the one who'll bring "TNA to the next level" is basically killing the buzz it establish when the news first hit and is getting to the point of overkill, making too many promises they may not be able to deliver, and basically making people lose interest before Hogan debuts is going to backfire again. TNA announcing the repeat of the big 3-hour show for Monday will be repeated the following Thursday will distract viewers from the Monday airing. Plus giving any indication that they going to the non-existant war with WWE is just going to make them like the lesser brand when they won't be able to knock WWE down when Hogan himself said that they're going to overtake WWE. Checks have been written that TNA's ass won't be able to cash. That's again, another big backfire for TNA.

 

[The Viper]

And then you wake up Jimmy. But back to the question, if TNA went head to head with RAW outside the Impact zone, i guaranDAMNtee TNA would of beat RAW. The Impact zone does not do TNA favours as all it does is turn of viewers because of the ameture look. And there is nothing better than having Hulk FUCKING Hogan debut outside of the Impact zone going against Raw on monday Jan 4th.

TNA really missed the boat on this as i think they will only probably get 1.5,1.6 instead of in the 2's or 3's. Hell even 4's if they did it outside of Impact Zone.

Wow really?! you GuaranDAMNtee TNA would WIN? (guaranDAMNtee being a word you stole from WWE) where is your logic on this?! because whatever it is your wrong! TNA could brodcast from anywhere they want and not even make a dent in WWE thats physics! more fans around the world means a better rating, sorry but thats the truth i guaranDANMtee it

 

[beefthelegend]

2) The WWE will definitely NOT fire back, much less acknowledge TNA on their programming including the 3-hour RAW. To be blunt, TNA needs WWE for the rub, but WWE doesn't need TNA. It's comparable to Coca-Cola putting the logo of a small generic brand soda on the bottom of Coke cans. Why would Coke do that? There's nothing in for them.

While I completely agreed with your first post in this thread, i do have to take issue with this statement. If the rumors are true, and WWE has in fact made RAW 3 hours this day, then they have already fired back. And that's exactly what TNA wanted-some sort of notification that Vince has realized they are around.

YOU ARE FUNNY MADE ME LAUGH BUT SERIOUSLY DUDE TNA SUCKKSS I NEVER WATCHED TNA AND NEVER WILL DIXIE CARTER THINKS SHES ALL COOL BY CHALLENGING WWE AND CHEATING. TNA IS THE REASON WHY SUPERSTARS ARE DYING DUDE THEY DONT EVEN HAVE A WELLNESS POLICY BECAUSE DIXIE DOESN'T CARE IF HER WRESTLERS FROM WWE ARE DRUNKARDS AND DIE SHE ONLY WANTS MONEY WWE IS AWESOME AND IDC IF ITS PG OR G OR TV 14 I AM A LOYAL WWE FAN AND WILL ALWAYS BE... THATS MY OPNION AND WE'RE JUST HAVING A DISCUSSION. so those are the facts i know about TNA. i watched TNA once and i didn't like it at all....

Your hatred of TNA does not belong here. Also, don't know what wrestlers dying has to do with anything. It certainly has nothing to do with WWE and TNA on January 4th. Bring actual opinions and state them intelligently, and you may get farther.