If You Want TNA to Challenge WWE, You'll Never Be Satisfied

[lil bitch Kid]

If TNA got a big time, big name sports related investor, then, there might be a chance they find an identity that makes sense with the current industry. The only name that comes to mind is Mark Cuban, and he's way too smart to buy into a losing prospect. So, TNA has to work with what they have. Again, this means trying to figure out who they are, accept it, and do their thing.

 

[scottyshowman82]

You bring up a lot of interesting points but I just don't believe in the word never.
I never thought Scott Hall would show up on Monday Nitro on that infamous night in May
I never thought WCW would have guall to put their new live show Nitro against WWF.
I never thought WCW would beat the WWF for 84 consecutive weeks.
I never in a million years... thought flagship WWE superstar Hulk Hogan would join WCW.

People do have to be realistic or some level but people have to dream big, people have to have hope, it's part of the human spirit. Absolutely TNA is quite behind WWE but is so farfetched to believe a main stay in the WWE would get disgruntled and join TNA. It is so hard to believe TNA could put something together to spark the interest and capture the imagination of all wrestling fans? They could crash and burn but that's really a glass half empty type of way to look at things. They're not the WWE but they do have a lot of pluses.They're only 11 years old, let them grow, and nobody should put limits on anyone, well at least that's what I believe.

Man, never say never especially in the world of professional wrestling.

 

[oldschool123]

^^^^^Ah, the old 'They Started It!' excuse. Nope, that's definitely not it. This ain't footbll and there is no team to root for, it's wrestling. WWE talent isn't better than TNA talent or vise versa. They're fake wrestlers, nobody's competing. WWE has a bigger following and more fans because they spend years building it.

Sure the outcomes are predetermined but to act like some wrestlers aren't more skilled than others is laughable and makes you look incredibly stupid.

 

[Weems2k]

The fact that TNA's been in business for over 10 years after the Monday Night Wars should say something. Everybody forgets that the wrestling crowd has shrunk considerably since 1999. A lot of those fans have moved to UFC. Sure The E has it's loyal core, but Raw is barely able to do a 3.0 nowadays. In fact, it's been trending downward the last few years than up. Impact, while smaller, has been in a consistent range for the most part.

The E is kinda like the NFL. Everyone tunes in for the Super Bowl, aka WrestleMania, and the show after. Then it goes back to normal. That's all from name recognition, and hype. TNA is still trying to build that name brand. The UK has taken hold, but that's only 1 step.

 

[chibet]

the biggest thing WWE has going for it is NOSTALGIA, and they know it, thats why they have to keep bringing back these part timers. I firmly believe that if the WWF AND WCW went down together and two NEW promotions came out of it, the current WWE product and the current TNA product, with complete fresh 'originals' like TNA did. The landscape would be much.....MUCH....different.

 

[Mustang Sally]

The fact that TNA's been in business for over 10 years after the Monday Night Wars should say something. Everybody forgets that the wrestling crowd has shrunk considerably since 1999.

You're thinking of the wrong Monday Night Wars. TNA wasn't involved in the one from the 90's......that was WWE-WCW. The war TNA started occurred in January, 2010.

Since TNA doesn't disclose their financials, no one outside the company knows whether they earn enough revenue from their operations (TV income, merchandise sales, ticket sales, etc) to cover their expenses......or whether they receive periodic injections of cash from investors. The latter can mask weaknesses in the company's operations: since there's money to pay the bills, outsiders figure the company is paying it's own way.

This may be so, but we really don't have any idea if it is, despite the number of folks on this forum who claim to "know" that TNA is profitable. But the notion that the talent, including Hogan, is being paid late.....is far from encouraging.

Hopefully, it's not too late to straighten out the financial house.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

The fact that TNA's been in business for over 10 years after the Monday Night Wars should say something. Everybody forgets that the wrestling crowd has shrunk considerably since 1999. A lot of those fans have moved to UFC. Sure The E has it's loyal core, but Raw is barely able to do a 3.0 nowadays. In fact, it's been trending downward the last few years than up. Impact, while smaller, has been in a consistent range for the most part.

The E is kinda like the NFL. Everyone tunes in for the Super Bowl, aka WrestleMania, and the show after. Then it goes back to normal. That's all from name recognition, and hype. TNA is still trying to build that name brand. The UK has taken hold, but that's only 1 step.

It's quite unfair to compare WWE and TNA when it comes to numbers. WWE wins every time due to a plethora of reasons, such as longevity in the business. It's just not realistic. When WWE has shit shows people jump on the "At least it's not drawing 1.0's like TNA" wagon, and that's no solid argument. It's like boasting that you can run faster than a ten year old. Of course you can, it's a fucking ten year old.

I really think TNA and WWE should be compared with themselves instead. TNA has its standards and WWE has its standards. Currently, TNA is below its usual standard of 1.1-ish ratings although it has been getting better. Overall, in the last few years they have been consistent with some minor mishaps.

WWE on the other hand is showing some decrease in the ratings department. Drawing multiple record breaking low ratings, SmackDown's ratings being lower than anyone can remember in recent history. It's not a good trend and it's below their usual standard.

TNA is here to stay, that's not changing anytime soon despite the constant reports from WZ aimed at nothing but stirring the pot and the inevitable wave of gullible assholes who repeat the same old "TNA is dying" bullshit. I just don't think it's here to rival the WWE, business wise. Not unless WWE shrinks to TNA's size.

 

[MWRedskins]

let me firstly say this.........i dont understand why we in the IWC cant be fans of BOTH shows. why does one have to be great while the other sucks??? i think both shows have their positives and negatives. the real negative with TNA though has been all the stories that has come up in the last week with all these budget cuts and hopefully tna finds a way to fix this issue because one thing it NEEDS is more talent. mainly with the knockouts and x-division. WWE has their issues too, but they dont have these budget issues that TNA seems to be having. both companies though have talented wrestlers, there are some guys i think need more pushes, but both companies have talent, but tna does need to fix their rumored money issues and i hope they do because i like having two different shows to watch.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

Of course its unfair to compare TNA to WWE (although it doesn't help when TNA has outwardly tried to compete with them) but sadly it is what it is, being compared to top dog is quite common in and out of wrestling, just how people compared Sid to Gretzky before he ever laced up a pair of pro skates.

Personally the last thing TNA needs to do is worry about WWE and do their own thing. They've had substantial growth in the last decade so they must be doing something right over there. As you said Tasty without a catalyst to switch over it will never happen for them although they've sure tried to get that catalyst. In order for fans to stop watching a company that's been around for decades something huge has to happen. Even if WWE completely shits the bed they won't switch, they'll just stop watching. I will say though that because of this I wouldn't bring in too much WWE talent unless its cheap, only guy people would change the channel for is Cena at this point and if you are gonna pay former big names good dough try and make sure you benefit from it in a big way.

Expecting TNA to compete is ludicrous and its something they shouldn't concern theirselves with. Theres only 24 hours in a day and those should be focused to what TNA is doing, not other wrestling organizations.

Now with all the recent TNA news something is happening in TNA that shouldn't be. Not saying its dire but something got greatly mismanaged, hopefully they can recover and I think they can.

 

[wrestlingfan]

TNA is never going to compete with WWE. There's just no way an 11 year company is going to compete with an industry giant that has already forged itself in the minds of the people what pro wrestling is and stands for. Yeah WCW competed with WWF, but that's because they were able to snag WWE's best talent, and because they branched off from NWA, which was a company just as long if not longer than WWF.

 

[Cereal Killer]

TNA is never going to compete with WWE. There's just no way an 11 year company is going to compete with an industry giant that has already forged itself in the minds of the people what pro wrestling is and stands for. Yeah WCW competed with WWF, but that's because they were able to snag WWE's best talent, and because they branched off from NWA, which was a company just as long if not longer than WWF.

Yeah well both TNA an ECW came off the NWA. What difference did being part of the NWA make anyway? The only thing was that WCW had Ric Flair after the NWA split, and then they had Ted Turner as the owner of then company. This is "Billionaire Ted" we're talking here. That's the only reason they did take WWF's top talent and were able to compete, and that's how TNA CAN, if they get a big branch of money some how, or telly brush up their work.

If they do get that big batch of money some how, think of what they could do. They could expand their market, create partnerships with major companies and even sign up WWE's talent. As unlikely as the last point may be, they can still compete with all that money. No matter how good their product is, it wouldn't matter. Not many know of TNA and there are several people out there that only watch the WWE because of its history and its market. TNA have Hulk Hogan, Sting, Kurt Angle, AJ Styles, Austin Aries and Bobby Roode, yet their ratings are below 1.1 and their buy rates are not sky high.

The only way they'll get on that competitive level is with the money, and to say they never will is unfair.

 

[BrianFNPillman]

Like I said in an earlier post though, even if they snagged up WWE's top tier talent Vince has everything he possibly can trademarked up to the eyeballs.

You'd get John Cena coming out...and not being able to act like John Cena, sure you could call him by name. But thing's like "Attitude Adjustment" "F-U" "Five Knuckle Shuffle" all his theatrics, his entrance music, "Hustle Loyalty and Respect" you wouldn't get it. You'd get John Cena in name only.

Vince learned from the Monday Night Wars, Vince knows how to protect "his property." And if he ever got wind of TNA becoming a legit threat he'd buy them up without a moments notice and crush the competition like he did with WCW. Because he's Vince fucking McMahon. Why do you think TNA gets away with mentioning terms like "WCW" and "ECW" and everything else? Why Tazz can fumble so much commentary by mentioning things he REALLY shouldnt? Because Vince doesn't see TNA as enough of a threat to bother suing them. And that really is the sad truth.

Now I'm not bashing TNA, I love it. I love having an alternative, it's the same reason I keep updated with ROH and everything else when I can, because there are more worlds out there than what WWE puts out.

That being said, TNA needs to focus on putting out a quality product and being a healthy alternative. So long as they keep turning a profit, it's all gravy for them.

 

[Starkist]

I do not want TNA to challenge the WWE. I just want TNA to get their bearings together and put on a great show every Thursday night. All this talk of every wrestling company going head to head with the WWE is nauseating. Why, why does it have to compete with WWE. I get the logic, the thought, along with the idea why, but seriously why?

Why do they need to compete with them just for more people to bash the company. How come TNA cannot just simple be TNA? Is it that hard for them to do that - they already have been called WWE lite, WCW 2.0 and whatever else possible. TNA just needs to regroup, figure their finical stuff out, take a better direction with their product rather than trying to be anything besides TNA. All TNA needs to do is market themselves better than what they do now. That is, if they market now, if not at all. Just be TNA and quit the comparing and competition factor of everything. WWE is huge and TNA is tiny and they are competition sure, but they are not even realistically close to what the WWE is.

I am happy with TNA the way they are. I have been happy with them since their FSN days in the early 2000's. I watch TNA more than I do the WWE if that says anything. Competition is good, but competition can also be bad. Especially when one dose not realize they do not have a fighting chance, just yet that is.

 

[shattered dreams]

I consider the main "evidence" that TNA is competition to WWE to be how the E has changed their position on part-timers. Now, will TNA ever be bigger than WWE? Not anytime soon, that is for sure. I think TNA ends up bearing the brunt on the frustration of smarky marks with the lack of popularity of Indy wrestling. People want TNA to be wildly different than WWE and successful with unknowns. Too bad that isn't a smart way to do business.

 

[newwaveknight]

I'm not trying to be a dick, but hasn't it already be established that TNA can't compete with the WWE? I feel like we've already had many, many, many threads done about this already.

We all KNOW that TNA can't compete with the WWE. There's not even close to enough money to back it. Back when Ted Turner bought out WCW he was wealthy as all-fuck. Dixie Carter has a little cash, but not Ted Turner cash.

So, are we going to plagiarize The Death of WCW and relate it to TNA or are we going to move onto something better?

 

[BrianFNPillman]

So, are we going to plagiarize The Death of WCW and relate it to TNA or are we going to move onto something better?

Hey there fella', that wasn't a bad book. For me at least it provided an in-depth history of the early days of WCW and what I missed as a fan.
But yeah, they can't compete. Factor in the factor of all actors. And they still cant. Silly *****.