I don't think TNA gets enough credit

[Bobby B]

It frustrates me reading this area of the WZ forums. I've only been watching TNA for 4 weeks (and yes - you're going to rip me apart for that fact alone when you read this thread) but personally I think we need to give TNA some credit where - on glossing over this forum, it isn't getting.

Personally, having caught up with the recent history of TNA (Hogan & Bischoff/Monday Night Wars) I think TNA made a huge mistake trying to challenge the WWE. It put in on a pedalstall that (having watched 4 shows) it certainly isn't on.

But I don't think that this fact should take away from the point that TNA is in a good place right now. Now as a Brit I don't pretend to understand the US ratings system - but it seems to me like Raw's base line is a 3.0, and TNA's is a shade below a 1.0. Now, from my perspective, this is quite an achievement if you ask me. TNA has only been going 8 years, and it's drawing what seems to me like good ratings.

Now I'm not going to say that all is fine in TNA - because it isn't (although the same volume of issues could definitely be said about the WWE). There seem to be a number of issues that have been discussed in depth. But all I seem to read (on the whole) is hate on TNA on this forum. I think that's wrong.

I've only seen 4 shows (and feel free to use that fact against me), but certainly in the one this week, I saw a very good product. The production values certainly aren't there in comparison to the WWE (and I thought it'd be a big problem when I decided to start watching), but I saw something there that is going places, and that can only be good for the wrestling business.

Just my thoughts...

 

[dman1373]

OK firstly at very least raw is 3.3 and at very best tna is 1.0. Just had to state that. And the problem is they are going backwords. They had numbers in the mid 1's and one point and now can hardly get a 1. And They may have only been around for 1 month, but superstars, which has been around for a year is beating tna every once in a while.

 

[CobraVenom]

All of the hate is from people who have been watching for longer than four weeks. I think those viewers are in a much better place to express their opinions about TNA than you are. Let's say, for argument's sake that the last four weeks have been outstanding programming. It will take a hell of a lot longer than four weeks to fix that sinking ship. The biggest problem is Hogan. He was brought in to help with the ratings on name alone, and thank Christ he isn't wrestling yet. The ratings have not risen on Hogan's watch. It is time for Dixie to axe him, as he just isn't helping any. If anything, he is hurting. When I see Hogan on tv, I change the channel or just mute the damn thing.

Then there is the fact that you think a 1.0 is good? LOL

Finally, you say that TNA has only been going for eight years. Only eight years? Wow! That is a long time, especially in this business. Will it take another eight years to come close to becoming a rival for Vince and Co.?

 

[GUMBO2ndcoming]

I agree Tna is taking steps back ive been watching almost since the beginning. Im supposed to be able to turn to TNA and get to watch an alternative. But its the same ol' garbage. And with all the has-beens its like mini WWE and WCW there now. When i first started watching it was all about the wrestling, its now become WWE escpecially since the hogan/bishoff era began. I like TNA but they're going in the wrong direction.

 

[johnboyy49]

though i enjoy both wwe and tna are completely different product. tna has made great strides for only being founded 8 years ago. as of late tna looks to be struggling. every time tna looks like there going to reach the light out of the tunnel the ball is dropped somewhere. the majority of the blame has to rest on DIXIE CARTER. she is a smart business women but does not have a wrestling mind therefore tna has hulk hogan. everytime she has an announcement that is going to change "wrestling" forever it is automatically going to be compared to wwe for similar product type. also she needs to stop comparing her company with VKMs. moving tna to monday was a terrible idea along with allowing hulk hogan to invite all of his goons to the company. dixie should go back to being a silent partner and keeping her mouth shut.

 

[ABMorales787]

The problem here is that people think:

1) Money doesn't grow on trees. If you don't have a million bucks, you can't crap 'em out of your ass to finance a company. If it were that easy TNA wouldn't need the iMPACT! Zone. And they could pull out a hell of a lot more advertising outside of Spike TV.

2) 8 years is actually pretty fast. McDonalds didn't become a world wide franchise in 8 years. Neither did Nike. WWE was a territory for over 20 freakin' years. So was WCW. Do you know how hard it is for companies to get world renowned exposure? Especially a sport franchise? UFC was laughed at for years before it began to be look at seriously. It was a side show to many. 8 years. TNA grew in a mere 8 years. What about ROH? PWG? CZW? All of these started pretty much at the same time. Including TNA. Where are they? Do they have 1.0 cable ratings? Do they have monthly televised PPV's? Do they have a weekly program on a national TV channel? No they don't. TNA does.

3) Its drawing attention. Clearly there has to be something for people such as Kurt Freakin' Angle and Mick Foley to drop out of their high positions and head there. Clearly guys like Kevin Nash, Scott Steiner, Booker T, 16 (plus) time World Champion Ric Flair and even Hulk Hogan see something here. It may be dollar signs, but they are coming. It can't be for the hell of it.

4) People are just totally blind to the fact that one company has somehow managed to pull through in a monopolized field ruled by a 50 year old multi-million dollar monster hype machine known as World Wrestling Entertainment.

5) Not only that but there are other assholes who just can't accept the fact that now there's a choice. Electric Chair? Or Lethal Injection? It doesn't have to be what the big guy with the thick voice says anymore. They go out of their way to demean the product and make seem like its not right. Ain't that the same shit with Pepsi and Coca Cola? The 50 year old king of sodas. It succumbed to the new guy. Now they're equals.

6) Then you have your "we know more about running a company than the company itself even though we're sitting at home writing on a computer" guys. Oh fire Hogan. Oh fire Russo. Oh gimme a break. How the fuck do you know they are the ones responsible? Telekinesis or some other psychic shit? Gimme a damn break. A corporation running the show and you somehow can pinpoint its one flaw over past offenses. Because apparently Vince Russo and Hulk Hogan are the only two jackasses working in the booking department. Sit down and finish your college education on Wrestling Administration. I don't have it, that's why I just give an opinion on the product rather that trying to dictate what should be done.

7) The impatience of people really sickens me. 8 years running. 4 and a half years with a stable television program. 2 years running for 2 hours. Yet to have a second TV show. Yet somehow they are garnering support. Little by little. If the product was so good in 2006, why the hell wasn't getting the 1.1's until last year? If the product is so terrible now why does it get a steady 1.0? Even against the freakin' NBA Finals? Magic? Not every tree grows the same. They can be the same kind, but it will never grow the same. Some will die, some will keep on growing. The fact that the TNA tree has survived so much and is still growing, shows that anybody can stand up to WWE. It takes... Time. Bitches.

 

[Mailman]

I really can't see why people think that Hogan is the biggest problem in TNA. He's only been there a few months, so the ratings for Impact aren't going to skyrocket over night. Obviously, the move to Monday nights hurt TNA and they're now looking to rebuild their audience on Thursday nights. They did what? A 1.5 on January 4th? I guess all of those people turned in NOT to see Hulk Hogan. Who knows how things would've played out had TNA live on Monday Night from that point forward and not have gone back to the Thursday taped episodes. I think this time last year, they were doing a 1.2 consistantly with all of their "homegrown stars."

You gotta have your mixture of talent. Flair and Hogan have done nothing but help the product, in my opinion. I don't think TNA and WWE are that much alike.

Edit: Riaku makes a very good point about spending money. It's all about brand awareness.

I think some of you guys are the same people who think WCW started when the first Nitro aired.

 

[Sandpiper]

I have been watching since the first Wednesday PPV. Yes, I was watching the flying elvis's. Yes I was THAT starved for an alternative to romper room on USA network. We got shafted as fans for 4 solid years of one single national wrestling company and had to sit through 2 years of HHH at the 9:45pm mark, finally lay the microphone down. We had Katie Vick, the birth of a hand, two failed counter-promotion invasions, John Cena, the NWO for 4 weeks, and a limo exploding. I am freakin' ecstatic that there is some other channel I can flip to. Ectastic.

 

[hewittor]

You TNA haters are nuttz and never seem to amaze me. All I read on here is how there booking makes no sense and this and that. Let's be honest if you guys would have never learn to use a computer and get online to read some of the jargen that's on here you would not even know what booking is. It's a damn wrestling show. It's not suppose to make sense. It's a show. WWE does have more programming and a bigger name, but they make a whole lot more mistakes than TNA.

Jericho, please save us from all of the internet hate. Please take all of your WWE lovers, but only the ones who are TNA haters and treat them like the filthy, dirty, disgusting, bottle feeding, trash back...h__... that they are and teach them that TNA is building almost from the ground up. They have changed just about everything. For wrestling to work, you have to take guys that people recognize (Sting, Angle, Wolfpak, Nasties, 2D)...put them on and slowly add new faces. Remember Bischoff and Hogan are there not for the already TNA fans, but to get new guys like the POSTER here to tune in and watch. Thanx for posting this guy...CHEERS...by the way, I do watch every episode of WWE as well...I just hate Superstars.

 

[Rammsteinerteen]

I liked TNA back then. I liked it a lot. But ever since 2010, it got pretty silly. Now, since Hulk Hogan came, TNA is getting very boring. I'm starting to think all TNA is trying to do right now is get good ratings in each show. I loved Desmond Wolfe's storyline with Kurt Angle, but ever since Hulk Hogan came, he let Wolfe job to Abyss, RVD and Jeff Hardy. TNA was a promising product, I used to buy most of there PPVs each year. But I really think Hogan is killing TNA. There storylines are so uninteresting. Back in 2005, I watched TNA more then Raw. Raw also sucks, except for the NXT storylines. Im hoping TNA just realizes that Hulk Hogan is just doing this for himself.

 

[rondiesel2005]

I think the problem is the whole product, i remember the only reason why I watch TNA was because of AJ styles, Joe and Chris Daniels which was back in 02. I dont know what happen it seems as if we are watching it the storylines began to look like crap that didnt make sense for us to still watch the show. And you know what else is the problem, they are havin a hard time sellin it out. tell me anybody who is suppose to be the Top guy in TNA give me one name??? they brought it Hogan who suppose to be a big draw but i guess that didnt matter, they bring in anderson, jeff hardy and RVD, problem is these guys arent the whos who help draw the ratings. I dont know what gave them the idea to go to monday because they werent ready for that, but somehow still got low ratins when move back to thursday

If the company thinks the whole ECW thing gonna work forget it those guys they got comin in arent gonig to do any good. they need to stop bringin in people and fix the product first before they move forward

 

[trinerigelado]

The fact of the matter ppv buys are where they were when they were on Fox Sports 6 years ago. They have a weekly tv show on the same night every week now, yet they can't get people to buy their ppv's. PPV's buys suck, most ppv's at a tv studio or at a heavily papered mid size venue, no action figure deal, no video game deal, can't get DVD's on store shelves. How is any of that good?

 

[MisterRob]

Telekinesis or some other psychic shit? Gimme a damn break.

Telekinesis is actually moving objects and the like with your mind, so your reference is a little off. But aside from that I agree with pretty much all you said when it comes to criticism and the critics of TNA, me being one of them.


TNA does deserve praise for how far they've come as a company and the success they have had. I don't always agree with the 8 year example as some crazy point to show TNA's success and their impressive growth, because after all, how long was ECW around (and I'm not talking about Eastern Championship wrestling) before it was on Spike (and was doing the same numbers or better then TNA Impact is) and had PPVs? You also have to give credit to Ring of Honor for how far they've come in a rather short existence if you're giving TNA credit fort he same.

TNA has lots of promises, they have a great roster, they're on television and are the number two promotion in North America. But at the same time there's just as many flaws when it comes to TNA as their is good points. But the fact is is that TNA's at least attempting to be successful and give the wrestling business an alternative, so they should at least be credited for that, even if they're failing in that alternative in many ways.

 

[dman1373]

The problem here is that people think:


2) 8 years is actually pretty fast. McDonalds didn't become a world wide franchise in 8 years. Neither did Nike. WWE was a territory for over 20 freakin' years. So was WCW. Do you know how hard it is for companies to get world renowned exposure? Especially a sport franchise? UFC was laughed at for years before it began to be look at seriously. It was a side show to many. 8 years. TNA grew in a mere 8 years. What about ROH? PWG? CZW? All of these started pretty much at the same time. Including TNA. Where are they? Do they have 1.0 cable ratings? Do they have monthly televised PPV's? Do they have a weekly program on a national TV channel? No they don't. TNA does.

Yeah don't compare TNA to ROH. TNA didn't start from scratch as they had the left overs of the The wcw and ecw buyout. They had guys like Sting and Shamrock who have alot of fans. ROH had people you had never seen before unless you followed the indies. TNA got a boost from their Partner or whatever NWA. ROH didn't. And Ring of Honor is still closing in on TNA. They got a National TV deal for a year and have had a monthly pay per view for a couple. They haven't had the help of the biggest name in wrestling either. Oh wait and they can survive on Mondays which TNA can't.

 

[WWEIsLife2]

I'll be honest Im really amazed TNA has been able to last 8 Years. I will give them credit for that but thats as far as me giving them credit goes. I do watch TNA as well along with WWE but to me the Bad outweighs the Good. Dixie Carter might be a good buinesswoman but she has no idea how to run a Wrestling Company and I get tired of her "Groundbreaking" Annoucments that will change Wrestling forever,please Dixie shut up already. No wonder the Morale in TNA is always Low because of lack of Direction and Orginazation. Im not saying WWE is perfect all the time but they have Direction and Orginazation despite Vince having his vices at times.

 

[Jimmy King]

People will never give TNA the credit it deserves. Let's face it, wrestling has been on national television for decades. Considering it's viewed now more as entertainment, companies are bound to have similar storylines. How many times have television sitcoms used to "two dates" storyline? This is when one guy promises two separate girls a date on the same night. Therefore, he runs between two different restaurants to please the two. Bottom line, I'm tired of hearing where WWE rips off of TNA and TNA rips off of WWE. People hate on the gimmicks that TNA try and capitalize on. But, most of these gimmicks are what established the stars in the first place. Why change their recognizability?

That being said, I feel there's no reason TNA should not be drawing a 1.5-2.0. I have been a fan of TNA, shitty booking or not, since day one. The only problem I had was in the earlier days whenever a B-list wrestler came to TNA they seemingly won the title immediately. But, TNA has a chance to become something great. Dixie has to cut down the roster. Vince Russo and other writers need to capitalize the untapped potential of the younger stars, even though recently they've been doing better. Surprisingly, I don't think Hogan has been that bad. The Nasty Boys are gone, so is Val Venis. Hopefully, Orlando Jordan will be, too. Bischoff needs a little more creative control/writing responsibilities. Paul Heyman could do wonders, and TNA could really push Spike Reps to try a semi-formal partnership with UFC. They need to go live every Thursday. I do not read the spoilers for the month, but a lot of people do. There's no element of surprise, even storyline surprises. Bischoff needs to utilize some of his "Hollywood pull" in trying to convince Batista to do it big for TNA. And, I wouldn't mind an all X-Division show. These are things I think would blow TNA into superstardom, but as far as the current product, they're doing great.

I apologize for the long, somewhat rambling post, but this is my first reply as a forum member.

 

[Jimmy King]

Yeah don't compare TNA to ROH. TNA didn't start from scratch as they had the left overs of the The wcw and ecw buyout. They had guys like Sting and Shamrock who have alot of fans. ROH had people you had never seen before unless you followed the indies. TNA got a boost from their Partner or whatever NWA. ROH didn't. And Ring of Honor is still closing in on TNA. They got a National TV deal for a year and have had a monthly pay per view for a couple. They haven't had the help of the biggest name in wrestling either. Oh wait and they can survive on Mondays which TNA can't.

Regardless of how many people will blast me when I say this, ROH is a total gimmick. It's all about the shock factor in wrestling. It's all about high-flying and extreme moves. I'm not saying it's not entertaining or that it's stupid. But, I am saying that as a universal product, ROH can never compete with WWE or TNA without tweaking its product some. Also, ROH has had some big names help them along the way. Whether or not you call Jerry Lynn a big name or not, he is not an ROH original.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

You know, for a company criticized this often for being a stones throw away from armageddon, being able to lay claim to having over one million – count them – fans on a week-to-week basis sure seems like the total opposite a figure you'd associate with a failing franchise, no?

As it's been noted, eight years is hardly a scratch on the two-decade long legacy the WWE built (as did the WCW) prior to their respective ascensions into the laurels of pro-wrestling history.

TNA is doing just fine if you ask me, so I fully agree with the OP that they don't get nearly the credit they deserve.

 

[Rckstrtmmy]

Now I've been reading these forums for some time but never felt it necessary to speak my opinion till now. The reason TNA doesn't get any credit is because they haven't EARNED it yet. They have some good talent on their roster but instead they shove the same old, tired characters down our throats every week. Another problem is they need to come up with something that they can do better than WWE. Not on par with, better. Way better. They need to find a niche that can set them apart. There is no way in hell that they can even consider themselves the WWE's competition. They have no production value, talent WWE decided they didn't want already (no offense to Dinero and the few others that proved WWE wrong), and they need to try some new things that can attract a crowd. If you're given the choice of watching WWE or any promotion trying to copy what WWE does which would you choose? Exactly, why leave your comfort zone? WWE is safe and doing whats been working for them for years. TNA needs to grow some balls and say to hell with WWE, I'm gonna do MY thing. Then I'll give TNA some credit because then they will have earned it.

 

[klunderbunker]

My issues with TNA more or less boil down to one thing: they keep getting in their own way so much that they can't get where they're capable of going. Be it anything from trying to use Hogan and Bischoff to get ratings up (hasn't worked and it's now almost 6 full months) to all of the swerves etc, TNA keeps getting in its own way. My criticisms of the company stem more from the fact that the talent to put on an alternative wrestling show that could give WWE a fight in the future is there but just like in WCW, they keep going for the quick win. TNA seems obsessed with trying to score a fast win over WWE and continuously going for a quick fix plan and that simply does not work. TNA has the talent, but they keep getting in their own way and when that's happened so many times it becomes too much to just keep overlooking, which is why I have an issue crediting them.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Now I've been reading these forums for some time but never felt it necessary to speak my opinion till now. The reason TNA doesn't get any credit is because they haven't EARNED it yet. They have some good talent on their roster but instead they shove the same old, tired characters down our throats every week. Another problem is they need to come up with something that they can do better than WWE. Not on par with, better. Way better. They need to find a niche that can set them apart. There is no way in hell that they can even consider themselves the WWE's competition. They have no production value, talent WWE decided they didn't want already (no offense to Dinero and the few others that proved WWE wrong), and they need to try some new things that can attract a crowd. If you're given the choice of watching WWE or any promotion trying to copy what WWE does which would you choose? Exactly, why leave your comfort zone? WWE is safe and doing whats been working for them for years. TNA needs to grow some balls and say to hell with WWE, I'm gonna do MY thing. Then I'll give TNA some credit because then they will have earned it.

What comfort zone? The one that doesn't conflict at all with any WWE programming seeing as Superstars runs from 8pm to 9pm, and iMPACT! runs from 9pm to 11pm?

This is exactly the mentality I have to combat at every step, man – the idea that because the WWE did it once, that it should never be done again. You do realize the WWE didn't invent pro-wrestling, right? Furthermore, you realize they too stole a number of angles/stories over the course of their history too, yeah?

TNA doesn't need to be "competition". All they need to be is an alternative – simple as that. Doesn't mean they need to do everything the WWE doesn't, and it certainly doesn't mean they need to re-invent the wheel. They just need to be an alternative, the same as the WCW once was.

 

[ilapierre]

Kudos to the poster who created this thread. Great point! TNA does not get enough credit. And Wow. I don't think ever once in the time i've been on WZ have i read something (Riaku's post) that 100 percent accurately conveyed how I feel about the TNA situation as a company and of all the idiot know it all bashers. Riaku, absolutely excellent post, i agree with every single word you said. There needs to be more intellectual posters like you posting objectively to combat the majority of subjective WWE lovin TNA whiners.

 

[MisterRob]

You know, for a company criticized this often for being a stones throw away from armageddon, being able to lay claim to having over one million – count them – fans on a week-to-week basis sure seems like the total opposite a figure you'd associate with a failing franchise, no?

As it's been noted, eight years is hardly a scratch on the two-decade long legacy the WWE built (as did the WCW) prior to their respective ascensions into the laurels of pro-wrestling history.

TNA is doing just fine if you ask me, so I fully agree with the OP that they don't get nearly the credit they deserve.

No offense but the 8 year argument (and praise) just doesn't hold up. TNA fans seem to act as if TNA started as an obscure company all on it's own and everything they've done and gained over the past eight years has all been from obscurity. They seem to forget that in the beginning TNA was linked with NWA and used the NWA's lineage to grow and become recognized long before they broke ties with the NWA. How long has the NWA been around? Uh huh. TNA not only promoted themselves with the NWA name but they also carried the very NWA championships for years. So to say they've solely been around eight years and have grown from nothing is a very tainted view. They only broke ties with NWA once they'd gotten everything they needed from them and had established themselves to a greater audience (because of the NWA's history and help).

And then when you compare them to WWE and WCW and claim they've done such great things in such a short time compared to those two companies you're also using flawed logic and a tainted view.

The WWF back before Vince McMahon bought and took over it from his father was also a part of the NWA and connected to that lineage just like TNA was in it's beginnings. It was only about five years from the time Vince took over to the time he expanded and grew the business to the point of it's first WrestleMania. Vince founded Titan Sports Inc in 1980, he purchased his father's company in 1982, and the first WrestleMania was in 1985. It only took two more years (how many is that in total? ) before WrestleMania three which was really the pinnacle of the wrestling boom at that time.

WCW was also part of the NWA in it's beginnings. And then when you look at WCW's birth out of Georgia Championship wrestling and the time it then took to become a national promotion and have it's first Starrcade you'll also see how similar a timeline it was in comparison with TNA right now.

And, once again, just like all the others, ECW was linked to NWA in its very beginning too. It only took ECW 3 years from when they broke away from the NWA (creating their own Extreme Championship wrestling) to get to PPV. It only took ECW 5 years to get on national television on TNN (Spike) where they got equal or better ratings then Impact does now. And they didn't have the constant financial backing that TNA does in Pandra energy.

So as I said, the eight year praise isn't as impressive as you think it is. What truly makes a company successful is their growth, and TNA hasn't been growing their audience or making the strides and the financial gains like other promotions have before them. Even Ring of Honor is likely on the same level as TNA when it comes to growth and expansion of their company.

 

[TommLew10]

I use to watch wrestling until around '99 or '00 then I began to get bored with it. I just started back watching wrestling around December of this past year, mainly because I'm raising my nephews now. I use to watch both wwf and wcw back in my earlier days and probably favored wcw the majority of that time. My nephews started watching tna in January after hearing Hogan was going to be coming to tna. The first few weeks I watched wwe I realized just how much wrestling is the same I was able to always predict what was going to happen simply because it was all the same as it use to be, my nephews would always say, "how did you know that was going to happen?" It wasn't until recently with the whole nxt angle that I've actually been entertained by wwe.

Now as I said we watched tna starting in January and at least to me it has been less predictable than wwe. That doesn't always mean better as they tend to cut stories short and that helps the unpredictability in a bad way sometimes. At least to me it is more entertaining than wwe since I started back watching the two.

I think that the main reason from watching the two during this stretch that wwe gets more viewers has to be reputation and their roster boasting more popular stars. I don't think their story line's are any better than tna's and the guest host segments are terrible, but sometimes those famous people draw people in each week. I think if tna were to find a face for their company that would be a start. No it can't be Hogan and that's the issue at this point. They need someone to make these kids and young adults say "Who do you think would win between John Cena and --------". Just like people use to do during the wcw and wwe days wit guys such as stone cold, bill Goldberg, the rock, and sting. Tna truly needs a bill Goldberg and not some veteran a home grown created wrestler. From the current roster I suggest rob Terry.

 

[twentytwo]

What about ROH? PWG? CZW? All of these started pretty much at the same time. Including TNA. Where are they? Do they have 1.0 cable ratings? Do they have monthly televised PPV's? Do they have a weekly program on a national TV channel? No they don't. TNA does.

TNA doesn't have shit. Without Panda Energy they'd lose 70% of the roster and be lucky to be doing shows in gyms for 40 people with the product they put out.

If Panda Energy ever discovers ROH or Chikara, they'd blow away the ratings TNA gets.