Should IMPACT Wrestling Have 3-Hour Special Editions?

[Ferreira]

As you might know one of the biggest complaints about TNA Wrestling is that they don't use their roster to it's full potential. You might not like Anderson or Rob Van Dam but TNA has a lot of midcarders/main-eventers who from time to time aren't used on their show.

It's all about who is hot at the moment. You have Roode/Storm, the TNA World Heavyweight Championship feud, Aces and Eights and other minor storylines running the show. So it's normal for some guys to don't make it to the show.

It also happens with WWE but they used those superstars on Superstars no pun intended. Yes, I know that TNA has another show on the UK but that isn't on the same level as Superstars is.

So, with that I find it strange that TNA Wrestling when they announce special editions of IMPACT Wrestling and they have done it in the past they were always 2 hours long. For example one show I know could have been three hours long (because they had so many guys debuting that needed air time) was TNA IMPACT from January 4th 2010, the day Hulk Hogan debuted.

Before Monday Night RAW became a 3 hour long show they used to do 3 hour shows from time to time, for example, the draft, the homecoming and many other thematic shows were 3 hours long. But I don't seem to recall one show from TNA Wrestling that was that lenght without it being a PPV.

Don't you find it strange that TNA Wrestling doesn't use their opportunities to make the show seem bigger with more talent exposed? You can throw 3 more matches to the show with one more hour. And you might need it now if you want to showcase the X-Division and also the new reigning TV Champion, Samoa Joe.

Also, another question, would you like for TNA to do special IMPACT Wrestling shows? As far as I can tell they usually do 3 special shows a year and it's in a period of one month and a half, I'm talking about Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. Would you like to see themed IMPACT Wrestling shows? Like RAW Roulette? Or you think that TNA show keep doing just IMPACT Wrestling?

 

[LegendKiller716]

Impact has had 3 hour shows, and I remember on one occasion they had a 4 hour show. TNA doesn't do this a lot, but when they do they air it like a free PPV.

One that comes to mind was called "The Whole F'N Show", another was Impact's Monday night debut.

As far as Themed shows go, they do like 3 a month. Championship Thursday, Open Fight Night, and Gut Check.

I'm not sure if you're wanting TNA to go to 3 hours permanently like Raw, but this thread wasn't very well thought out.

 

[Phil]

Someone feel free to correct me, I recall reading an article on Wrestlezone's main page a few months back stating Impact will be going to a 3 hour show before the end of the year? As many fans on here write, alot of B.S goes up on the WZ home page so I can't recall if I'm right or not.
I think maybe it's a little too early for TNA to make Impact a three hour show. On the other hand I think scrapping xplosion altogether and adding a new 2 hour televised b-show will do their product the world of good. That gives time to showcase more of the roster and establish feuds better.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

TNA has had, rarely, three hour specials. Having one every once in a while wouldn't hurt anything, especially with the show now being live for the rest of the year at least. The last 3 hour IW I can recall off the top of my head took place in 2010 I think and it featured the final match in the best of 5 series between Beer Money and the MCMGs and was headlined by RVD vs. Abyss for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.

I don't think TNA will be going to 3 hours permanently anytime in the near future. They've only now successfully negotiated being able to go live each week. As we're seeing with WWE right now, a third hour would probably only succeed in dragging TNA's ratings down. It can be hard watching a 3 hour show each week. There's almost no way to keep these 3 hour episodes from dragging at some points during the show no matter what you do.

 

[Lowdown]

If they go to 3 hours, cool, so long as they're just not throwing matches together for the sake of filling the time. Like if they do two or three Gut Check matches. It's not a bad idea to do a longer show once a month or every couple of months, especially if they're gonna cut back on the number of PPV's.

 

[Miakisaki]

Three hour shows? No, absolutely not. A better idea would be to throw together a taped show similar to WCW Saturday Night that would last an hour and air on Saturday. It would not advance storylines at all, but rather play on current ones should they exist for the competitors in the match. It would also allow the opportunity to showcase talent to where when they do appear in storylines on Impact that we actually know who they are and what they can do.

 

[Ferreira]

I think most of you didn't even read the title properly. I meant: should TNA do SPECIAL editions of IMPACT Wrestling with three hours? I know they have made a few in the past but so very few that I think we can count them in the palm of our hand. That's thanks to the fact that only five years ago they went from 1 hour to 2 hours, so it's normal.

I'm not defending that TNA IMPACT Wrestling should be ALWAYS 3 hours, I don't think they should, it's too long for a weekly show, I get bored watching RAW so the same thing would happend with TNA.

All I'm asking is that if they should do special editions of IMPACT, even themed editions of IMPACT with 3 hours.

 

[UFOcalling]

Don't you find it strange that TNA Wrestling doesn't use their opportunities to make the show seem bigger with more talent exposed?

Which specific opportunities are you speaking of? I'm not trying to be condescending here, I'm just asking. Has Spike TV been offering them more television time? Is there another channel offering them a time slot?

It's entirely possible that IW would like to do more programming (either another show, or "special" three hour editions of Impact), but Spike simply won't (or can't) give them the time they want.

I remember a few years back there were rumors of a "Knockouts only" show that never happened, and I think there could have been an X-Division exclusive show that was discussed (although I might be wrong about that one). Obviously neither show happened, and that might not have been the fault of TNA. It could have been that they weren't able to get the TV time, or maybe the sponsors didn't want to pay for those shows. The thing you need to realize is that just because TNA/IW wants to do something, it might not be possible because they're at the mercy of so many other outside parties. The WWE is able to get away with more of this, because they're a bigger company with more "opportunities" (like you spoke of earlier).

Also, another question, would you like for TNA to do special IMPACT Wrestling shows? As far as I can tell they usually do 3 special shows a year and it's in a period of one month and a half, I'm talking about Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years.

TNA has done three hour shows in the past? I apologize, but I don't remember that happening. I'm not saying that it's never been done (it's entirely possible that it has), I just don't remember. Holidays (Thanksgiving in particular) might be the absolute worst time to do a three hour episode of Impact. People are usually with their families on holidays, and they're less likely to watch television in general (unless you count football, or movies). Thanksgiving day (and the surrounding days, namely the Wednesday before through that Sunday) are also HUGE shopping days. It's possible that most of those people won't even be home to watch TV at all, let alone a wrestling program that isn't run by WWE. In fact, Thanksgiving weekend used to be (I don't know if it still is) a very busy time for movie theaters.

Christmas & New Year's aren't too different of a story. People don't want to sit and watch TV on Xmas, unless they're watching "A Christmas Story" or "It's a Wonderful Life". They'd also be busy watching new DVD/Blu-Ray discs they got as gifts. On New Year's, people like to watch "New Year's Rockin' Eve" and crap like that. There are plenty of other shows to watch besides wrestling, and pro wrestling is likely the furthest thing from people's minds on those days.

The other big thing is that these shows would have to be taped. There's no way that Impact could get their entire roster to show up on a holiday for a live show, let alone all three of the big Winter ones (Thanksgiving, Xmas & New Year's). Wrestling fans would just read spoilers of the shows, then possibly not watch at all. I doubt TNA is missing out on a big pay day with holiday specials.

Would you like to see themed IMPACT Wrestling shows? Like RAW Roulette? Or you think that TNA show keep doing just IMPACT Wrestling?

As another poster has already pointed out, TNA does three themed shows each month; they've been doing that since this Summer, I believe. A Raw Roulette type show wouldn't work for TNA, since they only have one "brand". Hell, they only have one show that airs in the US as well.

All in all, I think TNA would be better off trying to get another show on the air before they worry about trying to make Impact a three hour show (even for special events). It would be great if they got another one or two hour show and ran it like their version of the original Smackdown (when it was still "Raw Lite"). I don't think TNA should do a brand-split, or anything like that either. Their current roster isn't big enough to do so, unless they considered doing an all X-Division show (even then, I don't think they have enough XD wrestlers for even a one hour show right now). Also, that might conflict with their new concept of having the XD Champ compete for the WHC every year. If the XD wrestlers aren't on Impact, it's possible that Impact fans wouldn't know who they are.

 

[Cereal Killer]

3 hours is too much. Look at it this way, we want more IW time because the whole roster isn't getting used much, but 3 hrs is too long and will probably bore the crowd. Also, I don't think that they need to use that many wrestlers so that it takes up an extra hour of the show. Maybe an extra half hour but what are the chances of that happening?

IMO, make Xplosion bigger, promote it more and air it over in the States (I'm in UK) Xplosion is an hour long and sometimes has pointless parts to it like spin cycle. They should make it more wrestling based so that guys like Rob terry, The pope and all those other guys can wrestle more often. If they want something for things like spin cycle, make another show like WWE's bottom line but including segments too. Maybe the T.V title could help bring up the mid-carders though...

 

[EdReed]

Years ago WWE had three touring companies. One used the World Champion and contained feuds that surrounded main event wrestlers. The second group focused on the Intercontinental Championship. I believe there was a third show with lower card wrestlers. The question we have to answer is would SpikeTV or any other network pay for a show that focused on mid-card titles. I'm not saying a few 3 hour specials wouldn't be a good Idea. I think that a second show would be a better one. When the network looks a this they see that Smackdown has less viewers than Raw. They may not be willing to gamble on a midcard or B show from TNA.

 

[HBsam31]

I can't see how doing a three hour special Impact would hurt. Maybe do 4 a year. It always comes off as a special show when it happens only every so often. It's not like they don't have enough talent to do a 3 hour special. I like that they are keeping it going live, and a live 3 hour special would be good for them every so often.

 

[Dieter_Von_Cunth]

I would love to see 3 hours for the final Impacts leading into the following pay per views, Lockdown, Slammiversary, and Bound For Glory. It seems like these are the three biggest pay per views TNA has to offer during the year. It would put that much more importance to those pay per views. Other than that, I think Impact going 3 hours consistently would be a little too much for one night. On the other hand, another B type show another night in the week wouldn't be such a bad idea.

 

[Ovaltine]

What TNA needs is a second show, not a longer show. When Nitro was three hours it was terrible ( I haven't seen a three hour raw cause I couldn't even bring myself to watch a two hour raw) I have probably said this a million times TNA should get a Saturday show from 6 to 8 just like the NWA/WCW had.

 

[SpecialFNK]

I would love to see 3 hours for the final Impacts leading into the following pay per views, Lockdown, Slammiversary, and Bound For Glory. It seems like these are the three biggest pay per views TNA has to offer during the year. It would put that much more importance to those pay per views. Other than that, I think Impact going 3 hours consistently would be a little too much for one night. On the other hand, another B type show another night in the week wouldn't be such a bad idea.

I was thinking the opposite. rather than she show before a PPV, it should be a show after a PPV. the show before a PPV doesn't really have a whole lot. the matches are usually pretty set for who will face who at the PPV, so there really isn't anything surprising going to happen.
if something big happens at a PPV, more people could tune in for the next Impact following the PPV. or would it be better to keep that 2 hours rather then 3 as it would get a good/decent rating anyway and not need a 3 hour special?

if there's any episode that should get a 3 hour special it should be the one with Gut Check and Open Fight Night/Championship Thursday. more happens on these shows. it could be different now, but during the BFG series on Open Fight Night the same night they had Gut Check the show just seemed crammed together.

if they were to do an occasional 3 hour show they should promote it as being special, and maybe even have a celebrity showing up. it should be/feel different than your regular 2 hour show.