Impact Going Down Like ECW?

RicSpade

Mr. All-in
So here we after TNA has had multiple years in business, since then we have seen the company go from the Jarretts to the Carters, Guys like Sting and Christian and Angle and Hardy and Hogan come in, and wrestlers like Christian, Lethal, Williams, Hogan, Love go out.

We had a six sided ring and all kinds of unique matches and then all of a sudden we were down to a four sided ring and the usual wrestling that is cookie cutter.

I have learned TNA so far has cancelled at the least 3 house shows since Hogans contract was coming up, and rating have declined. Talent were getting paid late by Panda Energy

Now looking at it now, ECW was in a similar situation prior to its demise live events had to be cancelled. Heyman was having issues paying guys on time which caused most of his top guys to jump ship to the WWE. TNN the former entity of SpikeTV decided ECW wasn't what they were looking for when the ratings were down so they were messing with ECW's TV time until their contract is up.

We are seeing things come to this point with TNA, I am not saying its dying because I think if it was other guys would be jumping ship (unless AJ is still fishing for a WWE contract it could be happening already), but with ratings doing horrid, Hogan leaving (not that he contributed much in the last year) will SpikeTV pull the plug like TNN did to ECW? If TNA doesn't find a permanent home for live events like ECW did with the ECW arena will TNA close its doors?
 
The ratings are what TNA mostly gets. TNA's ratings usually stay in the 0.8,0.9,1.1 range and have been for years. Pointless thread.
 
Yes, TNA will go down like EWC and WCW. It won't be able to find a spot to film so it'll be dropped from Network and NetworkS, forcing its demise. It will end up having been a nice little engine that could but never did and all of its loyal fans will be disappointed. WWE will reign supreme, buy them out and their stars will go on to greatness in the mighty WWE. We will see some spectacular DVDs on why TNA died and we'll wait for the next wrestling company to come along.

Now, can we enjoy what's left of TNA's brief life and end these damn discussions once and for all, coming to the conclusion that TNA will go down soon? K Thankxxxxx
 
On your first point about guys like Hardy, Angle and Sting coming and others like Christian, William and Lethal leaving isn't any indication that Impact is going down. Wrestlers leave, other wrestlers come in. That's the way things work. Doesn't matter where the wrestlers coming into TNA come from

The wrestling quality is still great. The shape of the ring doesn't define wrestling quality. I believe that the wrestlers prefer the four-sided ring over a six sided ring.

And finally, TNN/Spike treated ECW like crap. They seem really supportive of TNA and since TNA is, I believe, their highest rated show, I imagine Spike will do anything to keep it. If TNA goes "down" I expect Spike or Viacom to keep it afloat.

That said, no I don't think Impact will go down like ECW.
 
TNA is nearly at the unwatchable stage. It is a disgrace. Bound for Glory wont be getting my money, I dont need to see Roode vs Angle yet again, AJ WILL win the title and enter a feud McMahon/Austin like with Dixie trying to screw AJ out of the belt. The X Division....WHAT? Knockouts who can wrestle.....VANISHED. I never cared for the 6 sided ring so that isnt an issue for me, at least it gave TNA its own identity. They have a hall of Fame, which is fucken laughable....11 years in business and they havent inducted anybody who was there in the formitive years......Angle goes in before Jerry Jarrett/Dutch Mantell/Jeff Jarrett/Ken Shamrock......joke. TNA will be gone the second Dixies old man cuts off the purse strings. Hogan cops plenty, but he isnt an idiot, he has gotten out while the going is good. Be nice to see him at least attend Mania 30, then sail off forever into the sunset, BRUTHA
 
there's a difference, ECW was very different to the other 2 and had watchable shows and buyable PPV's on a caonsistant basis plus a fraction of the income but the network didn't like the content and Heyman refused to tone it down or ECW woulda been alive alot longer.

None of the following has much to do with star power, TNA has quality stars and a quarter of the roster is top quality.

TNA on the other hand is very hit and miss, it was great in the early days when the Jarret's and Mantel were running the show, but for the most part in the last 6yrs its been weak at best
* ECW didn't have mainstream attention yet it managed to be known worldwide and it's stars were not marketed yet many of them were known worldwide, meanwhile TNA does have mainstream advertising yet still noone knows who most of there stars are.
* they have to give PPV's away for free cause noone will pay to watch them
* PPV's are at best Impact with a different name
* with the money they have the quality of the presentation is pathetic
* the backstage crew are useless obviously guys/gals working the commentry, and interviews are weak with exception of Borash for me he's the only one thats redeemable and he's only on Explosion.
* Dixie is pathetic she couldn't sell water to a city that's ablaze "bless your hearts"
* everything that works for them they scrap

the rest i agree with thebarber.

TNA is not dead in the water yet or they wouldn't be bringing in new development stars but it's certainly can't be in a good position and the future does not look bright, in fact quite the opposite it looks in the worst position it has ever been, the main eventers are only going to last another5 yrs maybe then what? who's gonna take over when AJ, Aries, Roode, Kaz, Angle, Hardy are all gone. answer noone on the current roster
 
Generally speaking, TNA's ratings are in the same ball park as they've been for the past several years. Thus far in 2013, TNA's average rating has been a 1.01. It was the same in 2012, it went up to a 1.17 in 2011 and it was a 1.06 in 2010. Based on what I've read, if accurate, TNA's problems lie in that they're just not pulling in the amount of money to justify how much Panda Energy pumps into it. TNA's ppv buys aren't any higher, or at least there aren't any reports suggesting that they are, taking the show on the road hasn't really resulted in them drawing huge crowds to television tapings. Again, if all the various info I've read is true & accurate, TNA usually doesn't draw more than 2,000 fans to tapings of Impact Wrestling. They do draw bigger crowds than they did in the Impact Zone, which had a capacity of about 1,100 or so, but I have a difficult time believing that it's anywhere near the sort of crowds they were hoping to pull.

Earlier this week, a report came out that stated Bob Carter is no longer listed as the CEO of Panda Energy but Janice Carter is. It's hard to know what's true and what isn't as it pertains to TNA financial information. Janice Carter, however, has been in charge of the purse strings of TNA for quite a while and it's possible that the major budget cuts in TNA are signs that she's tired of watching the company hemorrhage money.

All in all, TNA has its hardcore base of fans who don't seem to be going anywhere. If that's ultimately enough to keep Spike happy, then there's hope. If TNA can continue to generate the sort of results financially while operating on a much, much stricter budget, then maybe that will satisfy Panda Energy. It might not result in any sort of substantial growth for them. It might be enough to keep them above water, which I think might be the only realistic goal for TNA right now as they're certainly not gaining any ground in terms of growth.
 
It's a similar situation, but with one key difference- Panda Energy money.

One of the stupidest things that gets said on these boards (it's a tough competition) is that because Panda Energy is worth a lot of money, TNA can never fail, because they can just keep pouring money into it without worrying about profit. This sounds all well and great if it isn't your money.

What it does mean is that there is no natural "hard" cutoff of funds. Panda Energy can keep TNA on life support with minimal funding until they find a buyer, allowing them to recoup some of their capital investment into TNA. With Paul Heyman, the point came at which banks looked at him, laughed, then noticed he was there for a loan application and laughed even harder. There were no funds to support ECW, and no buyer at an opportune time; hence, he lost most of his capital investment and had it bought for a song by the WWE.

TNA isn't "going bankrupt", which is a popularly used mischaracterization around these parts. (Bankruptcy is a legal proceeding in which you are released from some of your legal debts and obligations.) They're being kept afloat by injection funds from a much larger company, and with those tightened up, are being forced to reconcile profit and loss for the first time in a while. They aren't "out" of money, nor will they ever be; what will happen is that if Panda Energy can't find a buyer, they'll find a way of either breaking up or reducing TNA so that they can slowly regain their capital investment before closing.

ECW ran out of money. TNA is running out of willpower.


Zeven, going into an epileptic fit every time someone points out the very obvious fact that TNA is not performing up to its own expectations isn't going to help matters any. Blinding themselves to reality is what got TNA into this mess in the first place.
 
One of the stupidest things that gets said on these boards (it's a tough competition) is that because Panda Energy is worth a lot of money, TNA can never fail, because they can just keep pouring money into it without worrying about profit. This sounds all well and great if it isn't your money.

Very true. So many people don't understand that even a deep-pocketed investor wants to see a return on their investment at some point, even if they've given the venture a long, long time to get to the point of viability. The investor needs the company to eventually stand on it's own and, through profitable operations, make money for the investor rather than costing it bucks. No one invests in a venture with the idea of keeping it going forever, even after losing money year after year. (That concept is called "throwing good money after bad")

The Hulk Hogan question is interesting. Some folks presume the savings TNA will enjoy by not employing him anymore will ensure it's ability to stay in business. Others figure that letting Hogan go will cost TNA in other ways that translate to less money coming in, and that they need his presence to keep going.

Personally, I hope TNA can stay in business as a viable alternative to WWE, but can also recognize the possibility that with or without Hogan, it might be that there's just no reasonable way the company can keep going if Panda Energy closes the cash box and forces the company to stand on it's own, as all business ventures must at some point.

Here's hoping they can.
 
Seems people forget ECW's finances were managed by a balding walrus with a hard on for Justin Credible while TNA has a full office staff of professionals supervised by a major investor. The difference is quite large. Just because TNA isn't meeting goals in its TV ratings and attendance while being low on money for on the road support does not mean it's dying like ECW. That would mean videogame companies, PPV and Spike TV were screwing with them while TNA shows no desire to change. We all know that its not true. TNA resembles the very early days of Monday Night Raw right now. Having issues to fill the larger arenas and losing money just to air. But WWE made very painful adjustments. We all know the issues they went through in 1994-95. And they pulled through. TNA can too. It's nowhere near the shape or condition ECW was in where even a cheap videogame company was screwing them out of money.
 
Just because TNA isn't meeting goals in its TV ratings and attendance while being low on money for on the road support does not mean it's dying like ECW. That would mean videogame companies, PPV and Spike TV were screwing with them while TNA shows no desire to change. We all know that its not true.
Erm...... TNA has been unable to secure a contract for a new yearly addition to their video game franchise. Last year they cut down from 12 PPV's to 4, and briefly had their One Night Only specials pulled over a contract dispute.

Two out of three?

I'm also not entirely sure that TNA has this great front office staff of marketing professionals. It's 2013 and their website is a joke. Their biggest social media presence has gone from Dixie Carter saying there's a can't-miss surprise on Impact to people trolling Dixie Carter with #AskDixie. I haven't exactly seen any brilliant backstage business coups (ok, Bellator did get to use TNA to promote their first big PPV. I'm not counting International Marketing Deals that have this curious habit of not existing.) Besides that, does this great front office staff of professionals even matter? It didn't save WCW. There's no magic guy with a calculator backstage who can make everything right; sometimes, the guy with the calculator tells people to turn off the lights and visit the unemployment office.

You're right that TNA isn't failing like ECW, they're failing like TNA. People just have this horrid habit here of thinking that the WCW/ECW model is the only way a business can fail.
 
Erm...... TNA has been unable to secure a contract for a new yearly addition to their video game franchise. Last year they cut down from 12 PPV's to 4, and briefly had their One Night Only specials pulled over a contract dispute.

As opposed to being owed money and being able to do nothing about it?

I'm also not entirely sure that TNA has this great front office staff of marketing professionals. It's 2013 and their website is a joke. Their biggest social media presence has gone from Dixie Carter saying there's a can't-miss surprise on Impact to people trolling Dixie Carter with #AskDixie. I haven't exactly seen any brilliant backstage business coups (ok, Bellator did get to use TNA to promote their first big PPV. I'm not counting International Marketing Deals that have this curious habit of not existing.) Besides that, does this great front office staff of professionals even matter?
They aren't setting the world on fire, but you can't honestly say they're anywhere near as bad Paul Heyman was.

It didn't save WCW. There's no magic guy with a calculator backstage who can make everything right; sometimes, the guy with the calculator tells people to turn off the lights and visit the unemployment office.

Paul couldn't even do that.
You're right that TNA isn't failing like ECW, they're failing like TNA. People just have this horrid habit here of thinking that the WCW/ECW model is the only way a business can fail.

Or succeed. Everyone keeps talking about how they're doing the same mistakes WCW and ECW did when they clearly are not. TNA goes through a financial struggle and suddenly people assume it's dying like WCW and ECW did.

I realize TNA isn't in it's best shape. But it just bugs me how every move they make is seen as a sign of death for some reason. The fuck happened to all the optimism?
 
Quote wars is fun, but the point remains that TNA is going through two of your three signs of ECW's death. So the sign of a professional wrestling company turning things around is "not fucking up as bad as Killjoy thinks Paul Heyman did." Great.
I realize TNA isn't in it's best shape. But it just bugs me how every move they make is seen as a sign of death for some reason. The fuck happened to all the optimism?
The optimism started dying when TNA presented a storyline that the audience didn't engage with for a full year, then completely died when it turned out TNA couldn't pay their employees.

Something like that tends to take the piss out of your financial sails. People here really don't understand how unusual the professional wrestling industry is in that you can get away with shit like that. Killjoy, this is what happens when a company shows sign after sign within a few months of serious financial trouble. They're put on a death watch, because very frequently, bad news is followed by more bad news. The turnaround story is the exception, not the rule.

Rayne said:
(First Post) You're right that TNA isn't failing like ECW, they're failing like TNA. People just have this horrid habit here of thinking that the WCW/ECW model is the only way a business can fail.
Killjoy said:
(Response) Everyone keeps talking about how they're doing the same mistakes WCW and ECW did when they clearly are not. TNA goes through a financial struggle and suddenly people assume it's dying like WCW and ECW did.
Please don't make this harder than it has to be. I'm trying to explain a pretty simple concept here, that the ECW and WCW models aren't the only ones for poorly run professional wrestling businesses, and on these boards it's the horse that will not fucking drink at the very obvious stream.

I don't assume TNA is going to be sold to the first reasonable bidder, or broken up for saleable parts, because that's what happened to ECW and WCW. I assume that because they are a poorly run business with a large capital investor, and that's what usually happens to poorly run business with large capital investors. ECW and WCW were edge cases; the first, with almost no capital investment, the second, with a staggeringly high capital investment. There is a middle ground, WrestleZone.

To the next person who says "but OMG, this guy on the internet said once that TNA would fail like WCW and it didn't, so it never will", I will help you fit your dick into a toaster.
 
While Impact may be one of Spike's higher rated shows, that network doesn't exactly do it's part by advertising it much. They spend more time pimping stupid reality shows, or Bellator than Impact. Watch a few shows on there during the week, and maybe one commercial will be to tune into Impact on Thursday.
 
The ratings are what TNA mostly gets. TNA's ratings usually stay in the 0.8,0.9,1.1 range and have been for years. Pointless thread.

This, plus the Thursday Night Football factor also has to be taken into account (just as Monday Night Football has hit Raw viewership). As to the (ongoing) question of them going down - I'm pretty sure that if they were in as dire a situation as the IWC continues to state they are, the very last thing they would be doing is offering more money to Hulk Hogan than the WWe.

As already stated, Impact is one of Spike's top rated programs and it is easily Challenge TV's top rated program in the UK. I know little about how well it does in the other countries it plays in but I also know that TV stations don't like losing their highest rated shows (Impact has been that successful in the UK that Challenge has branched out to showing the original TNA shows 'Xplosion' and 'British Boot Camp' and the independent 'WrestleTalk'). ECW never had that support.
 
TNA won't collapse. Like the reports have been saying, it's much more likely that Dixie Carter would sell the promotion than have it go down altogether. Somebody would be there to buy it. Spike TV itself would probably help finance the takeover just to keep one of their best rated programs on the air. I know things look bad, from the ratings to the live attendance to the pay-per-view cuts to the budget cuts to the wrestler firings to rumors that Sting and Hogan might leave. But that's what happens when a company is struggling and they need to make changes. Hence why I want Hogan to leave and not re-sign with TNA.

It'll be sold to somebody else and restructured FAR before Dixie or Spike lets it just fold up and stop existing. There's too much revenue in a company that size to just stop existing one day. It's not like a regular TV show with a 10-person cast, five writers and a crew of stage hands and producers. We're talking hundreds of people and a show that's on TV every single week every week of the year.
 
TNA is the alternative to WWE obviously, it cannot compete with the WWE by any means. They tried when they moved it to Monday nights a few years ago, I think the key to keeping TNA around is to not try and compete with the WWE. Just be themselves and make their minds on a storyline without it getting lost in the shuffle with the various face/heel turns. I
 

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