Monday Night Wars - Will it still work?

[kerplin]

I agree that competition is good, it creates options, makes others work harder, etc. However will there even be a need for competition? A lot of things have changed over the past 10 + years, since WWE was actually in any danger, and another company was a threat at all. There are so many different variables of the reasons it could be amazing, but also that it could just be a failure. I'll list some of the reasons in my personal opinion.

With WWE being PG (assuming they don't drop the idea), and TNA essentially appealing to older audiences, they will both be going after two different demographics. So basically the audience is split in half. No company will have a clear advantage. Except for the possibility that WWE will still win in the ratings, because the people that would rather watch TNA, but have children who want to watch WWE will most likely watch WWE instead.

What about Vince's attitude? There's a chance that he could be cocky because he already won against WCW. I'm not saying that he's just going to overlook it and get his ass handed to him the entire time. Rather that he might just write them off, until TNA has used up too many resources to compete, and then step up his game. This would just create the same thing we have now, and no real competition.

Budgets will also play a factor. TNA is not where WCW was. They don't have the budget to compete with the production values at the moment. They're also not doing to well on house shows. Their PPV buys aren't anything to write home about either. They have a long way to go before they are in a position to compete financially.

Finally the last thing I'll add is their styles in general, if they don't start copying off of each other. I would imagine TNA going with more of a wrestling based, and WWE sticking with the entertainment based style. TNA could get more of the old fans that stopped watching when WWE starting going that way. While WWE would just stay there. If WWE were to change to a wrestling style as well, then that would run the risk of alienating the fans that have grown up with/prefer the entertainment style more. Then those fans are gone, and they're back to square one in it all.

This is far from an extensive list of the various possibilities. And the interesting thing is, each of these factors that could possibly create a dud, could also just as easily create something wonderful.

Let me know what you guys and gals think.

 

[gully side adidja]

hmm, well tna's style is more aggressive violent and attitude/in your face style, wwe is more mainstream catering to everyone, wwe are more flexible, if you like your wrestling just wrestling based with back and forth quick paced action? you watch smackdown, if you like your wrestling with a bit of an edge with more entertainment than wrestling based and more run ins and attacks, you watch raw and if you like watching the new up and coming youngsters along with a few familiar old faces you watch ecw, tna tries to do to much in one show which can be confusing and hard to follow , bottom line is,financially, until tna can get a HUGE backing, with a ridiculous amount of cash, then they won't be a threat to wwe, unfortunate isn't it.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I keep hearing that TNA appealing to older audiences but the ratings tend to show differently. In the male 18-49 demographic, the WWE is typically among the top drawers on cable in that particular demo, considerably more so than TNA. Now, the show that definitely has more overall older audience appeal would be UFC as it typically outdraws either WWE or TNA in that particular demographic.

As to the topic, there's a possibility that it can always work. It's probably just a matter of time before TNA moves to Monday nights on a permanent basis. I expect that it will depend upon how the next live edition of iMPACT does in the ratings and that show is expected to be held on either March 1st or March 8th. If TNA pulls in similar or greater numbers than they did on the 4th, then I'd say it's all but a guaranteed lock. In total, about 7.7 million people in the United States were watching professional wrestling on January 4th, 2010. That's the largest television wrestling audience to hit in a long time and those numbers could increase. The ratings of both shows could very well increase. So yeah, I think the Monday Night Wars can very much work again.

 

[ROCKNROLLA6]

I hate to say it, but with Hogan and Eric running TNA, there really isn't a point to try and compete. TNA has never needed to compete. They're a great company and have their own shit goin on. Lately all i see Hogan doing is turning TNA into another WCW and running it into the ground. He needs to quit bringin in all these out of shape hacks in just cuz they're friends. The Nasty Boys, Hall and Waltman are embarassing to watch. They need to keep bringing up new faces. How many more people with Hogan bring in that got canned from WWE? Its getting stupid

 

[Rated R Stustar]

As much as I like TNA, they will get owned if they keep going up against WWE, I admit they had their highest rated show on January 4th but how do they expect to win the ratings when they are stuck in the Impact zone in orlando, they really need to move to bigger arena's, and another thing, correct me if I'm wrong but the WWE shows RAW live in more than one place for example England and America but when TNA did their live show I'm not sure it was available in England until the weekend, so how can the few Americans that watch Impact live compare to the whole world watching RAW live.

 

[KM.]

I can't see anything but bad things happening if they do make any show on a Monday as WCW did this war thing and it ultimately killed them. I winced when Hogan mentioned Vinces name at Genesis as it brought the whole Bischoff thing back where he told everyone the ME results from WWE each week as it was taped.

 

[neildittmar]

With WWE being PG (assuming they don't drop the idea), and TNA essentially appealing to older audiences, they will both be going after two different demographics. So basically the audience is split in half. No company will have a clear advantage.

The so-called "Attitude Era" took a long time for Vince and Company to get to, comparatively speaking of course. WCW had been presenting an increasingly mature product for at least a year or more before the WWF jumped on board. ECW had been doing it for literally years before that. The only reason WWF got on that bandwagon in the first place was because that's where the audience and ratings were going. That's what sold.

WWE went PG because kids and families are the most profitable audience right now. If TNA catches and ultimately defeats WWE programming with a more mature product, you can bet Vince will change the company back in a heartbeat. It really is about whatever makes the most amount of money in a given time.

What about Vince's attitude? There's a chance that he could be cocky because he already won against WCW. I'm not saying that he's just going to overlook it and get his ass handed to him the entire time. Rather that he might just write them off, until TNA has used up too many resources to compete, and then step up his game. This would just create the same thing we have now, and no real competition.

You're absolutely correct. Until TNA is catching or beating WWE programming in the ratings, expect Vince to overlook TNA as nothing more than "another wrestling program." Vince has proved over time that his general opinion is "if it doesn't effect the bottom line, why should I care?" Again, it's all about putting out a product that consistently makes money.

Budgets will also play a factor. TNA is not where WCW was. They don't have the budget to compete with the production values at the moment. They're also not doing to well on house shows. Their PPV buys aren't anything to write home about either. They have a long way to go before they are in a position to compete financially.

With the exception of sheer amounts of cash, all of those points could be said about WCW right before the Monday Night War as well. WCW had "Turner Money", but for so many years the business was stagnating. PPV could not match the WWF's big 4 for the year and most of the talent was on a decidedly lower level. Production values were almost as low as ECW at times. As for TNA, they have "Panda Energy Money" which is almost as good... I mean, it got Hulk Hogan after all and I'm sure he didn't come cheap.

Where I think the game changer is between the previous Monday Night War and the potential for another is in "no-compete" contracts. A big part of the War was seeing a guy on WWF programming one week, and possibly seeing him on WCW programming only a short time later. The constant question of "who's jumping ship" is a big part of what kept the product fresh and interesting. That really can't happen anymore, with "no competes" being at least 90 days generally.

If TNA is insistent on attacking WWE in its programming, this is the angle I would certainly go in. "If WWE is so powerful and so dominant, why do they put a stranglehold on their talent?" Sure, nothing will change, but it'll create some controversey and get people talking.

Finally the last thing I'll add is their styles in general, if they don't start copying off of each other. I would imagine TNA going with more of a wrestling based, and WWE sticking with the entertainment based style.

Once again, Vince will do what makes money ultimately. Vince didn't have tables, chairs, and barbed wire prominently and extensively featured in matches until ECW was getting huge reactions. He also didn't have beer drinkers, womanizers, and pimps either but that's another matter entirely. DX might've been an "original creation", but the reason it prominently featured on TV was because fans wanted it... they wanted an edgier product... McMahon was happy to sell it to them.

To sum up, a Monday Night War will only work if TNA consistently puts out a product that a significant number of people will watch on a regular basis. This "significant number" is currently defined as the viewership on a typical episode of Monday Night Raw. As you say, they have a long way to go. If/When they get there, you better believe that Vince will pull out all the stops and do literally anything to compete.

 

[Bull_Dawgz]

I preferred TNA when they were an alternative to wrestling when they first started. Meaning that TNA was NEVER meant to compete with WWE, TNA was meant to focus more on action since the name is "Total Non-Stop ACTION" and less on "the next great storyline". TNA was never meant to be called "WWE 2.0." BUT if you must, having a Monday Night War means a lot of change and a lot of risk which would be damn near impossible for both TNA and WWE to guarantee success. Both companies will need new bookers, new staff, new fresh ideas instead of storyline rehashes, *cough* Montreal *cough.*

The original Monday Night Wars was during a time when professional wrestling was cool. So people bought into the storylines, the nWo the D-X and all that jazz and it was fun to watch both shows simultaneously. Now a days it would be hard to re-create that experience, especially now when you have MMA taking wrestling fans away.

 

[havens2010]

honesty i think in the ratings war between tna and the wwe will have to forfeit and give up.

the wwe dont stand a chance in the world. hulk hogan and eric bischoff teaming together seems to be the appropriate dynamic duo and bischoff with hogan will buy out the wwe stars and promise them more money lucrative contracts and bigger futures.

i look for the tna promotion to steal taking away wwe superstars and adding them to tna to reap the rewards and benefits. hulk and bischoff they're just hurting for big paychecks. now the one time i seen jeff hardy on the january 4th edition of impact when they went live to do battle with the wwe i'd of thought tna would go in syndication and belive monday nights but it just didnt happen that way.

if jeff hardy was on drugs beware b/c he'll do it again. the wwe has it's policies and drug screening tests but i look for mr hardy to return back to the wwe because he draws more crowds and more money and merchandise and it'll be a win win situation for jeff. he's 32 and has alot of pro wrestling years left to go if he decides to continue pursing pro wrestling as his dream and i hope he goes for it.

 

[Tastycles]

I don't think Monday night wars will work anywhere near as well, to be honest with you. What a lot of people don't realise is that the combined total ratings in the Monday Night Wars were inflated by people switiching between the two. Perhaps the most obvious indication is the fact that the Raw audience only increased by about 0.4 on average, which is a lot less than the Nitro audience.

Nowadays, people can record one show and watch the other on DVR or whatever it's called. This means that the ratings boost just won't be there, and it also means that the weekly figures won't mean as much. A bit of competition has got to be a good thing, but this will not be anything close to the dog eat dog all out battle we had in the late 90s.