Is Hulk Hogan The Last Ace In The Hole For TNA To Increase Ratings?

[Low_Ki]

MODERATOR'S NOTE:

THIS THREAD IS STRICTLY FOR HOGAN'S IMPACT ON TNA'S RATINGS. ANY OTHER HOGAN DISCUSSION HAS A PLACE FOR IT.


Now before people start bashing the thread allow me to explain.

I am from the UK and although I have to wait until Saturday for TNA iMPACT, I still really enjoy the TNA product. People in the past have put TNA's lack of ratings down to a lot of things. Many say its because Spike TV doesn't do enough to promote the organization, some say its bad bookings etc.

So with that in mind let me ask this. Christian went to TNA. No ratings change. Kurt Angle went to TNA, minor rating change. Booker, Sting, Scott Steiner followed suit. No ratings change.

Now that Hogan has signed, it seems as though merely his signing has increased TNA iMPACT's ratings by 0.1.

My question is, next to Ric Flair joining the ranks, is Hulk Hogan's signing the last ace in the hole for TNA to drastically increase their ratings? If not, what else could be done to help boost ratings?

 

[PEP3]

First of all, compared to the USA Network (home of RAW), SPIKE TV is a channel that many cable companies don't offer. That right there lets you know it's an uphill battle for TNA compared to the competition.

Still, there isn't a name in the 'sport' that's better known or more bankable than Hulk Hogan. Only Ric Flair can rival it from an historical point of view. I don't know where else TNA has to go from this point, unless they were able to sign either Stone Cold Steve Austin or The Rock. (Austin can't perform in the ring; The Rock isn't interested, at least to our knowledge.)

Short of pulling talent that is extremely critical to WWE's current product, which won't happen because people like HBK/Triple-H/Cena/Undertaker are under extended contracts and simply have no reason to make the switch, those are the only names which carry enough weight and viewer interest to compare.

 

[Freddy4190]

I think so. If Hogan doesn't draw, nothing will. I'm not that big of a fan of Hogan being in TNA at all really, but I have to admit that it has potential to draw. Nothing TNA does seems to make a shadow of a difference in their ratings. They've tried everything. Everytime they get to doing all the shit the fans want, they slap old man vs older man on TV and the interest dies. That's what I think Hogan's gonna do. The only thing they can really do is just push the younger, more athletic talent, give the fans the matches they want to see. I'm not talking Ultimate X's or Six Sides of Steel every week, but make the matches lengthy, make them look credible, make the fans want to tune in the next week to see if they can top what happened last week. You can only watch Kevin Nash or Steiner or Angle so many times before you go nuts.

 

[Smackdown!]

Personally even if Tna were to aquire Ric Flair and have hogan the ratings barely wouldn't change. Simply because everyone knows TNA goes for ex wwe superstars for some dumb reason. And by the time Tna gets them everyone already knows what they're capable of. So,yes The Hulkster is the last Ace in the whole if this stupid company wants to succeed because if Hogan doen not work out then the whole TNA Organization may as well call it quits.R.I.P TNA!

 

[johnbragg]

TNA has tried everything except focusing on their homegrown talent for more than 2-3 PPVs at a time with coherent storytelling. Even during the Jarrett-Hogan interregnum, when they were doing a lot of good stuff with TNA-branded talent, after Bound For Glory MEM just sort of vanished without a blow-off. Any heel group that was on top for so long would and should have tried to make "one last stand", further solidifying the guys who beat them. Instead, Booker left, Angle had a change of heart and that's about it. It would have been logical for Angle, Nash, Steiner and Joe to play out the end of the MEM. Styles-Daniels-Joe would always be there.

As for Spike TV being an inferior channel to USA, that didn't stop WWE from jumping to TNN in 2000, before TNN changed to Spike TV. Turned out not be a great deal for WWE long term, but there you are. It's not like USA has a dramatically better position than Spike. They're both basic cable channels in 95% of the US or so (numbers made up.)

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

Unless TNA can pull off bringing in Steve Austin or The Rock, I would have to say that "It's Now or Never" for them.

If they can't find a way to elevate themselves by taking advantage of Hogan being brought in, then it basically is a lost cause.

However, again, this is assuming that TNA truly wants to be #1 in the wrestling business. This may be what Dixie Carter says that she wants, but ultimately this is Panda's decision.

Often times I've toyed with Panda Energy simply using TNA profits simply as Cash Flow-- basically using the company as a cash register, with no real intention or aspiration of actually taking it to Vince McMahon or necessarily "being #1". Would be a plausible theory, since they seem to have taken no risks thus far, until bringing Hogan in.

 

[Henry Hill]

I don't really think a specific wrestler, is truly the answer to TNA's ratings slump. The casual wrestling fan who isn't on internet forums, or checking websites for insider news, really doesn't know TNA exists. To me it seems like a lack of exposure for the product. TNA puts on a pretty interesting and compelling show every thursday, and while not always perfectly booked, i'm not left dumfounded when i turn it off. TNA needs more advertising, which unfortunately means more money as well. So Hogan may be good for the short term as far as exposure, but it'll only work if he can draw money long term.

 

[BladeRunner]

I think that wrestling is just not that popular right now. Heck, the best RAW gets right now, the flagship of the WWE, is 3's right? And TNA gets 1's and 0.9's etc. For there to be any huge leap in ratings, the culture of America has to once again get back into wrestling like it was once or twice before for anything extreme in ratings to happen.

From what I see, only the diehards, the hardcore, watch wrestling and the only other people who do are ones who happen to be hanging out with the diehards. Not one person I'm friends with watches wrestling, but my best friend and my wife will watch it with me occasionally. And until you can get people like my friend and wife to WANT to watch it just as much as I do, ratings aren't going to change for any wrestling show.

 

[wrestlemaniac]

In my opinion, the hogan thing won't kick in until he actually makes an appearance at a ppv. Will he make a difference? I'd like to think so. The reality is, fans aren't what they use to be in the 90's and early 2000's

 

[Iamawesome]

You can't rely on hogan to bring in ratings! I have been watching hogan since he started to lose his hair.....
Hogan has control of the company now..... If he can refrain from trying to be Tna champion.... Him just being on tv will draw!
Who cares though!
I've been sick of hogan for a long, LONG, time!
The day Brock Lesnar wiped hogans blood on his chest was the day hulkamania died for me!

 

[I_Like_All_Wrestling]

Hogan is not a last resort. I don't think TNA was thinking that they get Hogan or they go out of business. With or without him TNA will continue to improve in ratings...they probably very slowly. Hogan is not going to drastically increase ratings. Why would he? Wrestling fans who care about wrestling are probably (or have already) seen TNA. He may bring in a few people who will watch to see him, but most likely he won't bring many new fans.

The problem is simple. Older fans want to see a mix of their superstars and new ones. I know people who watched TNA for Angle and will tune in if Hogan is on and will try again if Flair is on. But if TNA doesn't hook them then, they're going to leave. Younger fans want their stars, to them CM Punk is far superior to AJ Styles. Why? Because WWE is a billion dollar company and tells them so. They view WWE as the big time and TNA is for lackluster stars. TNA on TV has a terrible look. It looks like it's shot in someone's basement and that definitely is a turn off to todays fans.

The fact of the matter is that from a business standpoint is that TNA had to bring in Hogan. If he was willing and available you have to explore the possibilities. But you have to remember this isn't near prime Hogan switching over and wrestling. This is only money grabbing, major problems, reality show Hogan. I'm sure TNA management only expects so much.

 

[DarkAngel]

I don't believe Hogan is the last resort. The attempt in bringing in Hogan is to simply gain a more hardcore audience, and yes, the Hogan name can do that single handily. Once the viewers and maybe the old WCW and overall wrestling fans in general who quit on the genre back in '01 when Vince practically bought wrestling can see a product, with Hogan and the people he will bring in there, and that product can rise to a respectful level to compete with Vince, thus, taking TNA to a whole new level and going mainstream. It's bound to happen, and Hogan is the man that can still do it while he can.

 

[AnthonyM4]

Honestly I don't think Hogan will bring TNA's ratings signicantly up. People will look at it as just another ex-wwe guy coming there out of the many that were.

I think their product needs a complete overhaul and one man that can give them that is Paul Heyman. I think their last ace in the hole would be to bring him in and be the lead booker.

 

[DarkAngel]

That's the point everyone is missing. Hogan is not just an "ex WWE Wrestler" he is the real deal, the face and image that is wrestling. Arguably, he built wrestling core from the ground up, and remained on top and in power for most of his dominant career in the business. His face is known world wide and the things he has done in the business, people will surely take notice.

I think it's not necc Hogan anymore, but the wrestling product in itself. After the buyout from WCW, wrestling has squandered since then and never regained the strength that was 98-99 when the combined rating for each company were landing 12-13 point figures in the rating systems. It's up to the fan base to position themselves with the sport again, and maybe competition to Vince can jolt the wrestling business once more, and Hogan is that wrestler that will always be followed no matter where he goes!

As for Heyman, he doesn't get the credit he deserves. He had a tiny product that was ECW and couldn't compete on the market with the big guns of WCW and WWF/E. Matter of fact, it was WCW and the WWF/E at the time who stole Heyman's booking style and storyline's as a whole during that time period. Maybe your onto something in the near future.

 

[leroi]

Everyone is saying that Hogan will increase the ratings slightly or none whatsoever. Well as i see it this totally depends on what Hogan is thinking of doing in TNA. Just had a flashback and i remember when Ted Turner asked Eric Bischoff what he should do to compete with the WWF and the latter said GO LIVE, GIVE ME PRIMETIME MONDAY NIGHTS ON TNT!! Eric Bischoff is back with Hogan and beleive me when i say they will not do the same mistakes again. The bookings will change and i really think they should have a better or/and bigger set. Besides Matt Morgan and AJ styles there isnt much future star power in TNA. Even AJ Styles is not convincing enough on the mike. Matt Morgan has to be more serious during his promos. Sometimes only one person can change the face of wrestling as we have seen Hogan, Stone Cold do it. But without appropriate talent i cant see something "phenomenal" happening anytime soon. They really have to find that "chosen one" who will change the face of wrestling again. TNA has done absolutely everything in its power for 7 years to improve but the results are minimal. I really expect something special from the new "entities" of TNA but i really cant see anything happening anytime soon..

 

[Jack-Hammer]

If TNA is unable to draw consistently higher ratings after Hulk Hogan makes his debut with the company, then TNA is in trouble. TNA has gone the route of hiring well known names that are established in the minds of most pro wrestling fans in America and, for the most part, the strategy has been a failure.

Last week, there was some excitement going around about Impact's first 1.3 rating in a long time and that increase was speculated to be primarily about Hogan joining TNA. However, it turns out that the Hogan press conference segment of the show was the least watched part of Impact last week and I found that kind of surprising. Interest in Hogan joining TNA is already kind of starting to dry up so it's all just one big unknown at this point. I look for Hogan's debut to be the highest scoring Impact in history thus far. It'll be huge for TNA, but I don't think it'll be up in the stratosphere altogether. I won't be all that surprised to see Impact get close to a 2 for the first time with Hogan's debut, but the real test could well be the week after that when we'll see if the rating grew, stayed consistent or by how much it dropped.

 

[UFOcalling]

TNA needs to learn from the past. By that, I mean the way to compete with WWE is how WWE competed with WCW. Start exploiting the TV-14 rating! Hell, even get it bumped to TV-MA like Raw was ten years ago. Start focusing on the older demographic, the 18+ wrestling fans! That was when wrestling was popular, because there was competition and lewd storylines.

Will Hogan draw? Maybe for the first week or two. Bischoff had the right idea before: Prime Time on Monday nights, competing with Raw. This time, since they don't have the "star power", use what the WWE used to beat WCW. Develop younger stars into "super" stars, and start catering to a more adult audience. Hell, you've got the guy (Russo) who killed WCW in the ratings! I don't mean after he started working for WCW, I mean the guy who wrote storylines for WWE (WWF at the time) that were better and raunchier! With WWE's PG rating, they won't be able to counter-attack with the same tactic.

What I would do is clear a TV-MA rating for the episode of impact where Hogan debuts. That night, start some dirtier storylines. Storylines that WWE wouldn't DREAM of doing with their current PG rating. Hold Hogan's debut for the end of the night, and there you go. You have people tuning in to see Hogan come out, but you also have a bunch of new fans of the current TNA product. Give it a try, it couldn't hurt.

 

[The Gribbler]

I would think that this would be all there is for them. I mean sure if Hulk Hogan isn't a draw then they might be in some trouble, but I think that the right promoting and good booking could lead to a steady increase over time.

Here in Australia TNA is well known, I don't know a single WWE fan that doesn't watch TNA and most people who don't watch it (at least in Adelaide where I live) know that company exists. That being said they get at least as much advertising time, if not more than the WWE.

And from what I hear, the ratings here are actually comparable.

So it shows that if they advertise and put on a good show....well its never out of the question...

Just My Opinion

 

[CuddleBuns84]

Overall it's an okay move for now, not a a huge long term move at all. The whole reason is they haven't found that wrestling niche that worked for both WCW and WWE during the monday night wars. They haven't worked on that niche, they have just relied on decent names to bring in a draw. Plus during the wars, WCW had Flair and Sting which had huge fan devotion for the brand, and WWE had the Rock, and DX which brought fan devotion for their brand. AJ Styles isn't a Ric Flair type,and Somoa Joe isn't a Hulk Hogan for their company. They are good workers, and are over in the TNA area, but not main stream. TNA has tried everything that the WWE has done, which creates their own failures. It's someone else's niche, which isn't good to use. I think TNA needed nothing but it's own talent, sure they build those names instead of other names. Sure when the Monday Night Wars happen again, you would be shocked to see a Cena on TNA and Hernadaz on Raw. It was exciting because we never knew who was going to make the switch. Then on top of that, you don't have a wrestling promoter as the president, you had someone with a background not in wrestling. Her Parents promoted her. Other than that, TNA just won't be as big as the WWE. No niche, no fun

 

[Knockout]

wow, I really think that this may be good for TNA. Sting secretly announced that this may be his last year wrestiling in 2009. Think bout it, there can't be to many popular icons and stars at once right?? Well now that Sting could be leaving, and MEM aint there anymore... T.T I liked them and there heel. anyway, with sting gone, he will have a replacement with hogan. I think that with bobby lashley there, they may have a good fight. HOWEVER, when lashley signed to be a part of TNA, we all thought something big was gonna happen. now look at where he is! He is fighting steiner and dumb ppl like that!!! Maybe hogan will be the same... OR maybe he will go 4 the tna titles, and win.... whatever, I think that this may bbe a replacement to take stin'gs lose into a gain... LOL that is hard, stinger was the icon next to aj in tna...

 

[Brady12]

I believe there are various factors involved, but the short answer is no. Hogan is not the last ace in the hole. I believe TNA having going LIVE on Monday Nights will be the biggest thing they could ever hope to do to advance in the Wrestling world.

Here is why I believe this...

Even though I believe Raw will dominate TNA in the Monday Night ratings at first, I believe TNA could set some personal records by getting 2.0 ratings. Especially if they can accomplish going live. Heck, also going to a different venue for the premiere Monday Night Show would be great instead of the same old TNA arena in Orlando. I mean, I understand it helps reduce costs and it's smart, but TNA is ready to roll the dice and do different venues on a regular basis.

TNA could feed off the established WWE audience and those fans will switch back and forth. Obviously, Hogan and Bishoff's appearance and involvement will help, but so could the one hour jump start.

Also, I would believe that the new "Monday Night War" will pump up the roster which to me, is looking just as good as the WWE's talent.

So even though Hogan is a big piece of the puzzle to making TNA a worthy competitor to WWE, I believe Live Monday Night shows with great booking/story lines will ensure that TNA can make it to the big time...and later on...even without Hogan.

 

[Lancer]

Yes.

Because TNA has tried everything else, and nothing has simply given them that boost they needed to get over the 1-point-whatever hump. Yes, they put out one hell of a product, but having the same people watch the show every single week will not increase ratings.

Yes, they could put a show on Monday nights, but they will get murdered unless they do something to promote themselves. They are doing very well for being around only seven years, but they are still barely registering on the radar of the casual wrestling fan...most people view TNA as another WWE brand, and that's not good.

This is on TNA, not Spike. TNA's branding and promotional department needs to get out there and spend more money to make TNA visible. The old saying goes, "You need to spend money to make money." They need to promote themselves as being far different from the WWE, and use Hogan's name to its full advantage. Those are two very contrasting things, but they can do it. And someone tell Hogan to drop TNA's name everywhere he goes...where to catch them, what events they have, what channel, time, etc...not just "I'll see where it goes with TNA," etc.

Outside of signing John Cena or HBK or one of the big names in WWE, this is TNA's turning point (no pun intended), for better or worse. Dixie needs to put the pressure on the executives, not the wrestlers as we saw in her little speech at the beginning of Impact. Once they gain more exposure, and get bigger ratings, Spike will have enough confidence on them to give them more programming time.

 

[Brady12]

There is no doubt that WWE would beat TNA in the ratings in the beginning, but that shouldn't be TNA's goal in the first Monday Night program. The goal is to beat its personal ratings record by getting a jump start an hour early and sponging off the built in WWE audience.

If WWE beats TNA in the ratings the first year or so...big whoop. The real question mark is this...is TNA's ratings better than on Thursday Nights and will they keep steady or improve the Monday Night ratings in the long run?

If TNA cannot get even a slice of WWE's ratings and adding that to its own audience then they are in trouble. But if they can, then that's great strategy.

I mean...getting ratings to the likes of 2.0/2.5 vs. WWE's 3.0/3.5 the first year would be a victory, not a defeat for TNA.

 

[DDR_LEGEND]

i think hogan is the ace that TNA doesn't need. his ego, and greed ruins him. WCW is a example, he didn't want to drop the belt or lose his place in the company to the younger wrestlers.

 

[XgringolocoX]

I really don't see Hogan doing much in the long term for TNA as an on air talent. Granted Hogan's drawing power in the past...I just don't think he's relevant anymore. Or at least not to the extent that he'll be the "saving grace" TNA is looking for.
Unless Hogan truely takes on TNA for the good of TNA and not himself this will probably be a disaster. The man can't get it done in the ring anymore. He barely could before. I will not tune into TNA to see Hogan wag his finger, slowly punch a guy 3 time, lame big boot, lame leg drop.....BORING!!!!!
TNA needs to build off of Hogan's name and presence and not allow him to create bad internal politics which will drive the real talent away from the company.