Ring Ka King: TNA Did A Brand Extension

[ABMorales787]

Like a slap to the face. Lots of times coming in here, threads have arrived claiming "TNA should do a brand extension! This should be the roster *insert bad roster's list here*". I always said it was a dumb idea. Because in retrospects, it is. You alienate fan's by putting the X Division guys on one show and the Knockouts in another as well as certain wrestlers. It's not a good thing to do to a growing brand. It's also been proven to look silly because at the end of the day because they are still the same company.

But low and behold, TNA did it anyway. Yeah, I'm talking about Ring Ka King. Premiering this Saturday, the show features a major influx of TNA's current crop of TV talent while also some oldies but goodies like Sonjay Dutt, Daivari, Raisha Saaed, and Jimmy Rave. Even more, the likes of Chavo Guerrero, Chris Masters, Luke Gallows, DH Smith and OVW legend, Eugene/Nick Dinsmore are there. It's effectively a completely different roster for a completely different company in a completely different country that just happens to also be founded by the TNA guys and has some of it's roster and development field.

I don't want to bash WWE, but damn, TNA really pulled this off nicely. It's slated to have it's own set of title belts. The Ring Ka King World Championship and Ring Ka King Tag Team Championships. I'd assume that given some of the people in the roster, a Women's title and X Division/Cruiserweight (C-Division?) title may follow some time in the future. They've tapped into a totally new market and have made a new company that get's TV shows with somewhat larger crowds:

[YOUTUBE]vtoG5hLnCho[/YOUTUBE]

That must be why they call him Freakzilla.

And the best part is that unlike All-Wheels Wrestling, this one is actually debuting. And with markets in the U.S, U.K. and onward. I always wondered why TNA hasn't bothered much with a second show. Guess I know why now. They were too busy making a whole 'nother brand. Now it's Impact Wrestling here and Ring Ka King over there. They're both owned by Parent company "Total Non-Stop Action". Thoughts?

 

[IHW]

TNA is diffidently making all the right moves. Thats really all i can say about Ring Ka King. I wont be able to watch from America, but i would love to see the results on WZ each week.

 

[brighamosity]

Does anyone else think Great Khali might get involved in this? I mean, he'll get to stay in his home country and obviously the schedule will be much, much lighter than in WWE.

Honestly, I think this should be exciting to Indian wrestling fans. I mean, WWE may visit other countries every now and then, but at the end of the day, it's target country is America. And although this league has a lot of American wrestlers in it, I'm sure in a year it could potentially have developed its own homegrown Indian wrestlers. I mean, surely Indian wrestling fans would have slightly different tastes than America, so a wrestler that is popular in the states might not necessarily get over as well over there. And vice versa, there might be some guy who speaks both English and the other native languages, and he could potentially get over a lot more. I think the whole point of bringing in all the TNA names is just for the initial publicity, but I'm sure it will quickly evolve. Just like how WWECW had all the ECW people at first, but gradually rebranded.

 

[SavageTaker]

Definitely a smart move by TNA. Like you mentioned Killjoy, they're going into an untapped market which shows they continue to expand and grow. That's always a good thing. Who knows? Maybe their success over in India might translate into success in other parts around the world which I would love for them. I can be very critical of TNA at times but somewhere deep down I want them to be successful.

One last comment and as much as I hate to mention it, I think that now that they've expanded in to India it might be smart to sign a former WWE Wrestler. Yes, I'm talking about the Great Khali. He is super popular in India and I think bringing him in is a smart move business wise even if the matches with him would be terrible to passable at best.

 

[andrewp488]

ring ka king is a great move for tna i mean they have ovw for there talent that needs some ring work to be better but the ring ka king could be used as a way to tap into a market that hasnt been tapped into yet yes they will use iw stars to stat off with but they will bring in new guys like daivari khali who are indian and some others also to mix up with the iw guys who arent getting alot of time on iw all in all this is a major step towards being better if it works to the full potential they want it too then a step in the right direction is what they need to be a competitive force to wwe

 

[Joe's Gonna Kill You]

I'm very excited to see this Ring Ka King project debut this weekend. This was a very smart idea by TNA to go to such a untapped market like India where the people aren't as knowledgeable and it will make for interesting reactions like in Scott Steiner posted which is just fantastic it has a very old school feel to it with how they reacted. I also feel that it has a very talented roster as KJ pointed out with a good mix of current TNA guys like Morgan, Abyss, Steiner, Magnus, Zema Ion Mickie James Angelina Love, Former TNA members in Sonjay Dutt, Jimmy Rave, Davari Cheerleader Melissa who I would love to see brought back Former WWE guys In Chavo, Chris Masters, Joey Ryan who is extremely talented Indy Wrestler is also involved and there will also Indian talented in this as well. The actual arena and setup looks awesome and much better then the Impact Zone and it also holds more people. I think that this is a Great idea by TNA and I like I said I'm very excited to see this show

 

[Cats Pajamas]

Steiner had em all scattering! Go get em, bub!

I'm kinda interested to see how this goes too. I don't know if an untapped market is quite ready for the kind of "suspension of belief" that Scott Steiner vs The Great Khali would require. Maybe if it were a dark match (as in all the lights are turned off).

Its also nice seeing the likes of Chavo, Masters, and DH Smith heading out there rather than all trying to squeeze into the Impact Zone at once.

 

[MrHashasheen]

Does anyone else think Great Khali might get involved in this? I mean, he'll get to stay in his home country and obviously the schedule will be much, much lighter than in WWE.

I'm pretty sure that Khali lives in Texas.

@The Killjoy: I wouldn't call it a different brand. It's an interesting project to be sure, but it's only going to last as long as Colors wants it to, and it's being operated on a tight budget from the sounds of things. I can't imagine it being mentioned on Impact whatsoever, or 'cross-brand' action of any kind.

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

Do I dare give a regional POV here?

Ok, in India at the moment all the rage is reality TV and shit. There are shows like Big Boss (Big Brother rehash) and MTV Roadies and they get some of the highest ratings. Basically the more 'shooty' you are the more publicity you get.

That's what they've done here. Nobody In India except for little kids think wrestling is real, trust me. Do not harken the days of Sammartino when grown ass men still thought shit was real in the ring.

TNA has brought a great roster here, and Steiner is a unique looking guy who will now always be remembered as 'the wrestler who went apeshit', good marketing by the network.

And India isn't exactly untapped.

 

[Rayne]

I have little faith in just about any American business that wants to set up shop in India now, simply because it's the trendy thing to do. It's like China was fifteen years ago; someone smells money, and everyone runs after him because they figure he knows where money is.

That doesn't mean that an American business by default can't succeed in India; it means that a lot of people are sending money over there on very foolish projects that sound great to the people setting them up. If it's not that, it's that an American company starts an Indian business and operates it as if its workers, customers, and environment were American.

I think TNA/IW's overreaching here.

One positive is that this really isn't as expensive as it all might seem. There's no attempt to create a touring company yet in India, so they can fly in, shoot a season's worth of episodes, and fly out. This isn't the classic case of the business owner whose one failure brings down the rest of his holdings; if Ring Ka King bombs, TNA/IW can sever the cord neatly and quickly.

And that is one major positive I WILL give Ring Ka King- it's emblematic of a smarter approach to expansion from TNA/IW. Instead of attacking the big guy and hoping people notice, they're forming side projects which require little recurring investment but have the potential to be expanded quickly should they prove successful.

So in that sense, I do think that Ring Ka King couldonlybeagoodthingforTNA, as the expression goes, but not because I think it will be a raging success.

 

[Suq Madeeq]

Dang!!! I wished the Impact! Zone looked as big and nice as the Ra Ka King set. Plus with a more genuine wrestling crowd like India's instead the Universal Studio's "cast members", there is real emotion and excitement. I hope to find a video stream or torrent for each episode. The roster looks great. I hope we get to see some of them funnel down into TNA Impact!, as well. Seeing Sonjay Dutt again rocks!

 

[Zeven_Zion]

A whole thread full of people riding on TNA's dick and I haven't been a part of it? Time to rectify this situation ...

Personally, I'm not business expert unlike Rayne. I don't know if he's an expert per se, but he seems knowledgeable on the subject and I'll trust his judgement before mine or anyone else's on this board unless he has better credentials. So I'll speak as a fan.

First of all, FUCK does TNA need to hire the people who promote Ring Ka King. I mean freaking everyone who produced the hype videos and so on. It just looks awesome.

Second of all, TNA Y U MAKE RINKAKING BETTER LOOKIN'?

You can't tell me there's not a bigger sound stage out there. Anyway, this seems like a nice little project outside of the US, shows some promise and looks entertaining. Plus, there are no motorcycles. I'll be sure to stick it up to SOPA by downloading the episode using my trusty deck of torrent sites and see what's up. Looks great, let's hope it is.

 

[Rayne]

I wouldn't call myself a business expert, in the sense that I wouldn't give me a large pile of money with instructions to turn it into a larger sum of money by picking which companies will succeed and which will fail. I do know that India is consistently rated as one of the most corrupt industrialized countries in the world, and that I do know that everytime people rush into something, the majority of those people end up losers. It wasn't too long ago that everyone was saying the best possible investment was real estate, because it almost never drops in value. NOW is a great time to get into real estate if you've got money lying around that you won't need for several years.

I am terrified of getting involved with a bubble, and I think that's exactly what TNA/IW is doing. However, they haven't overextended themselves financially here. If Ring Ka King is a success, they'll start swapping out American stars for native ones. Much like the "WWE rejects" (or at least the theory), you use established stars to build the brand for the unestablished ones.

 

[TheIndianMessiah]

Just one word- Brilliant!!!
TNA did what WWE had never even thought of. One would think that since TAJ network/Ten sports the broadcaster of all wwe programming in India, pays the highest amount to the wwe for these overseas broadcast rights, they would consider bringing wwe to india, but no, all the wwe does is an individual tour by a wwe superstar once a year.
TNA definitely made the right move by bringing RING ka King, however I think I must tell that it's actually the brainchild of endemol and colors network, who had already done a show with a south african promotion, but still I doubt that TNA would have been their first choice, so I think it's a safe bet to say that TNA capitalised on a lapse on the part of the WWE.
Ring ka king is definitely going to be huge since the major players in the indian tv rating market are all reality shows(MTV Roadies holds the record for being the highest ranking gainer during the airing of all of its 9 seasons so far), this proves that it is going to be a big hit here in india.
Another rhing, TNA has nothing to lose in this deal, they are actually earning a pretty decent load of money via this deal, furthermore, there is zero investment on their part, all they spent is just manpower.the incredible set, venue, lighting and all other production related shit costs are covered by endemol and colors, so it's a win-win situation for TNA.
Also not to mention the fact the fan following they are gonna receive...being involved in the pro-wrestling scene in india, I can tell first hand that indians are crazy people when it comes to wrestling, and being able to connect with a wrestling brand as "their own" means a lot to them.
India is known to love their athletes and pouring loads of money on them(the indian premier league of cricket is the richest sports league in the world).
So final conclusion-
Ring ka king is gonna be a huge hit in India, no matter what, and TNA is going to get over the indian fanbase.


TRUST ME>>>>>>>>>>

 

[TheIndianMessiah]

I do know that India is consistently rated as one of the most corrupt industrialized countries in the world,.

And who are those people who do these ratings??? Certainly got to be your idiot nationals.


I AM AN INDIAN-
AND I AM PROUD OF IT.

 

[Rayne]

And who are those people who do these ratings??? Certainly got to be your idiot nationals.

Transparency International. Generally respected outside of China, Russia, and Venezuela. Your Indian officials' reaction to them on the international stage is "fuck, we know, we're trying to work on it."

 

[Zeven_Zion]

I wouldn't call myself a business expert, in the sense that I wouldn't give me a large pile of money with instructions to turn it into a larger sum of money by picking which companies will succeed and which will fail. I do know that India is consistently rated as one of the most corrupt industrialized countries in the world, and that I do know that everytime people rush into something, the majority of those people end up losers. It wasn't too long ago that everyone was saying the best possible investment was real estate, because it almost never drops in value. NOW is a great time to get into real estate if you've got money lying around that you won't need for several years.

I am terrified of getting involved with a bubble, and I think that's exactly what TNA/IW is doing. However, they haven't overextended themselves financially here. If Ring Ka King is a success, they'll start swapping out American stars for native ones. Much like the "WWE rejects" (or at least the theory), you use established stars to build the brand for the unestablished ones.

Good point. They don't seem to be pouring money into it, at least I hope they're not. Perhaps this case of rushing into something is somewhat similar to what WWE's doing with their Network. Even though they postponed it, the minute I heard of it I thought "man that's a bad idea". They bank too much on it and I'm not sure who told them that this will turn everything around and generate all the money back in the form of revenue.

 

[Rayne]

Good point. They don't seem to be pouring money into it, at least I hope they're not. Perhaps this case of rushing into something is somewhat similar to what WWE's doing with their Network. Even though they postponed it, the minute I heard of it I thought "man that's a bad idea". They bank too much on it and I'm not sure who told them that this will turn everything around and generate all the money back in the form of revenue.

I'd bet money that the WWE Network is going to be a loser within the company for at least two years.

Here's the common-sense progression. They launch with a lot of really, really good content. I wouldn't be surprised to see them schedule one-week free previews with cable/satellite companies. People already interested it or nearly off the fence on it sign up, and once you get someone to pay a recurring monthly fee, it's a lot easier to keep collecting it since they have to make the act of cancelling it instead of the act of paying for it.

After that, the average quality of the content will drop, but the WWE will start doing tie-ins to content only found on their network from their flagship shows, Raw and Smackdown. (Which will continue to lead the WWE company even if the WWE Network is a success.) They'll promote the complete package of the WWE, which includes the WWE Network. Don't be shocked to see the webpage totally revamped again either- these days the big trend in serial television entertainment isn't just to have people absorbed in the show, but the experience. The WWE is in a position to do it better than many, many television companies out there, as they have a large group of people preprogrammed to scream with adoration whenever they show a man in his early 30's on a big television screen.

In the long run? I actually think the WWE Network can succeed, provided people don't panic and pull the plug on it. But I think for the next year people will be talking about how the WWE Network appears to be bombing, and I'd be personally surprised if it doesn't look like a failure to start.

 

[Dizzy]

This will be airing on Direct TV's colors Network and available for UK viewers in the Sky asia package.

If anyone of you have it, you are in luck.

Seriously, this a great move by TNA. It has the potential to blow up into a HUGE earning for the company and a huge market that TNA can dominate now that they have the edge over WWE in the UK market.

This is also helpful when it comes to talent. If they have certain wrestlers that are not in their plans, they can send them down to India and work on Ring Ka King. They can hire certain talent and use them on Ring Ka King before bringing them into Impact.

Seems to me TNA has officially cemented it's name in the UK, India, Mexico and Japan.

 

[Trill Co$by]

Actually, Ring Ka King is an entirely different PROMOTION with its own World title and everything. It's as affiliated with TNA as much as that All Wheels Wrestling is (or whatever it's called). True, some of TNA's talent is there (a lot of it actually) but they're still not exactly "exclusive" to TNA and it's not exactly TNA either.

I would say, however, that one could consider it as another developmental company.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

The best thing about Ring Ka King will be the crowds. There will definately be an old school feel to the show with the crowd racously cheering the faces and booing the heels. It's not that people have never watched wrestling in this part of the world but I'm pretty sure most haven't cared to find out if it is real or scripted, even after Khali hit the WWE. Even those who know its fake have never bothered to find out more about it on the internet and nor have they stopped watching it until they have grown older. In a nutshell, smarkiness has not exactly hit India, which makes it a dream audience for any wrestling company. The crowds, I expect, will also be very large initially because the Indian public does gravitate towards something new very fast.

Now for the negatives. Like PaperGhost mentioned no one except kids really watch wrestling here and Ring Ka King is going to be telecast on an 8:00PM timeslot which is the time for the adults in the house to watch TV. Also wrestling, partly due to the impact of the attitude era and mostly just because of it's violent nature, has not been able to really make a good impression of itself. I know my parents used to be pissed off when I watched wrestling as a kid and I know the trend has continued. I think TNA should have gone in for a 4 or 5 PM timeslot because that's the time kids can watch it without much hindrance. Now, I know this may sound confusing to some of you when I say that the crowds will be large and the people watching on TV will be few but what I am trying to say here is that a different set of people will go to watch the show and a totally different audience will be viewing it on TV. The crowds may flock in to the stadiums just to have a good time but I doubt if many of them will embrace wrestling for what it is.

The other thing Ring ka King needs is an Indian Hulk Hogan. Khali seems to be the best bet here but I doubt if he will be willing to severe ties with WWE for TNA. Sonjay Dutt is a good wrestler and a funny guy but does not really have a larger than life vibe about him. Outrageous tatics like that of Steiner can make the audience tune in for a few weeks but they are bound to start feeling alienated due to the lack of an Indian guy at the main event level. We all know that using shock tactics every week is a recipe for disaster. If Ring ka King wants to succeed in India on a longterm basis, searching for an Indian Hulk Hogan should be their top priority.

 

[SD619]

The videos and photos of the set have made me somewhat excited to see the show. Rattlesnake did give a good inside analysis of a few of the pros and cons of the show.

The major reason why I would not consider Ring ka King as a brand extension is that it does mention TNA anywhere. Look at the logo:

It says Ring ka King, not TNA Ring ka King. Even the ads do not have any mention of TNA.

This is an area where TNA could have made a major impact on the Indian market. There is no doubt that WWE dominates the Indian wrestling market, with TNA coming a distant second. Having its name associated with a new concept, that too on primetime television would have given it a lot of brand recognition.

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

And who are those people who do these ratings??? Certainly got to be your idiot nationals.


I AM AN INDIAN-
AND I AM PROUD OF IT.

Bud, I'm as brown as a McD Brownie and you and I both know the corruption is nauseatingly rampant.

I have some hope with this but not so much. India as a country will either pick something up and pour millions into it or will fuck it and roll over. I wanna see the first show tomorrow then discuss.

 

[Dizzy]

Episode 1:

http://www.tellybizz.com/utube.php?url=Rp2WIB63iqk
http://www.tellybizz.com/utube.php?url=VHlmiZ2r9BY
http://www.tellybizz.com/utube.php?url=3ZwIA_Q2wSk
http://www.tellybizz.com/utube.php?url=JHQKQbmhnzY

Available in India, US (Direct TV only), UK sky sports package.

It's a pretty good show. It's certainly the proper way to slowly introduce wrestling to India. TNA can get away with so much shock value and twist and turns considering India will be in kayfabe more than the US probably ever was or is.

It's a great resource to sign guys or look at certain wrestlers to see if they would be a good fit on the Impact Wrestling roster as well.

Also, this goes to show that the Impact Zone would be fine if it was bigger and the fans were really into it because that arena is just a bigger version of the Impact Zone.

 

[MB1025]

The videos and photos of the set have made me somewhat excited to see the show. Rattlesnake did give a good inside analysis of a few of the pros and cons of the show.

The major reason why I would not consider Ring ka King as a brand extension is that it does mention TNA anywhere. Look at the logo:

It says Ring ka King, not TNA Ring ka King. Even the ads do not have any mention of TNA.

This is an area where TNA could have made a major impact on the Indian market. There is no doubt that WWE dominates the Indian wrestling market, with TNA coming a distant second. Having its name associated with a new concept, that too on primetime television would have given it a lot of brand recognition.

It is TNA run, but it isn't TNA presents. They are selling it as its own show and not a side project of TNA. So TNA produces and writes the show, but it is its own brand.

TNA will be making money off of this.