Should TNA try to compete with the WWE?

[gd]

Everytime someone talks about what TNA needs to improve, they say they need to do it to compete with the WWE someday. But, should TNA be concerned with competing with the WWE or should they just be content as a lesser wrestling promotion?

After all, TNA is actually making a profit and running a somewhat successful business. They are pulling in solid 1.1 or hihger ratings every week which is at least respectable. It may be too risky to try to compete with the WWE, just look at what happened to WCW.

However, despite the potential downside, I think TNA's ultimate goal should be to compete with and possibly surpass the WWE. Of course it would probably not be for another 10 or 15 years, but when the time comes where TNA's viewing audience is large enough I think they should go for the juggular. Move Impact to Monday nights and really give Vince a run for his money.

Maybe even have a show on Friday's to compete with Smackdown. If TNA keeps growing at it's current rate, it will be well equipped to at least make it a competition. Monday Night Wars Part Deux would benefit the wrestling company as a whole, causing both WWE and TNA to step up their game. As a wrestling fan who wasn't around for part one, I would love to see this happen and think it is a definite possiblity in the future.

So, what do you think? Should TNA try to compete with the WWE one day or should they be content the play second fiddle?

 

[SavageTaker]

To be honest, I don’t want for TNA to compete with WWE nor do I want WWE to compete with TNA. They both in my opinion offer something different and if one of them runs the other one out of business then that means there is one product I will enjoy. I like both of their products and I’m entertained by them so I would prefer it if they both stayed. There really isn’t a need for another “War” between two companies, because what exactly will it do? There are just going to be competing for ratings and one of them could end up going out of business. Besides a second “War” wouldn’t be as good as the first one was between WWF and WCW. It’s kind of how if the WWE tried to re-create the Attitude Era, it just wouldn’t be as good as the first one and it would just be a watered down version of the original one. I want both companies to stay because they offer something different that I enjoy. So if they try to compete one of them can end up going out of business and I don’t want that because I enjoy and I’m entertained by both companies.

If TNA wants to compete then they should compete within themselves. If they get a 1.3 rating one week then they should strive to get a 1.4 or higher rating the next week. They should worry about them being the best they can possibly be and putting the best product they possibly can. They don’t need to compete with WWE in order to achieve either one of those 2 goals. So like I said, if they want to compete then they should compete with themselves so that they can be the best they possibly can be. So no, I don’t want TNA to compete with WWE.

 

[Karnuj]

I think tna can compete with WWE differently than WcW did but i dont really expect them to. I think tna should stick to the high road and focus on building their brand not worrying what the other company is doing. I like wrestling period. with the entertainment part, without it doesnt matter to me. amazing matches is all i want.

 

[Ballistic83]

Hell naw TNA ain't the NEW WCW, nor can even think about competing with the WEE! Just think about! Sure they got the same formula by signing former WWF/E talent. And try to re-embelish those wrestlers if they were aren't in TNA go'in back to the recent "Legends" championship in TNA.

Are they or were any real legends in TNA? I know Piper was in TNA for a little bit with Harley Race. But since wrestlers came from over the WWE (and WCW & ECW at that) through the WWF/E, were there any REAL legends in TNA wrestling in there seven year history?

 

[yoshi_doce2006]

TNA is fundamentally different from any other company in history from their stance against men on women violence to the six sided ring I love so much. However as seen on these forums there are still too many closed minded wrestling fans that will not accept anything different than the norm as good. Well that will remedy itself with time, no one can change the mind of someone who does not want their minds changed. As storylines improve, which they should due to recent moves by Dixie Carter, more people will watch. That will help ratings and buy-rates on pay-per views. However I don't see any ways until TNA gets itself a developmental territory to train talent that it will be able to compete even if it tried.

I say keep TNA on Thursday Nights and doing it's own thing. Going head to head with the WWE right now or anytime soon would be product suicide.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

TNA is a company that should focus on itself, don't worry about what the WWE is doing. If TNA can take a lesson from WCW, it's just to try and grow and develop instead of trying to compete with the WWE.

Erich Bischoff himself states numerous times that he wanted to run Vince McMahon out of business and, by doing so, money was flushed down the toilet on ridiculous stunts instead of focusing on the product at hand. I think that if TNA does try to compete with the WWE, I think they're going to wind up like WCW in the end.

I rag on TNA a lot because I don't enjoy its product overall, but I don't want to see it go out of buisness. I'd like to see the company improve and stay around. What it's doing right now appeals to its audience and that's great for them. But, if they want to grow beyond what they are now, they've been heading in the wrong direction thus far.

 

[Dexter]

It depends on your definition of "compete". Should they move Impact to Monday nights? Absolutely not. There's no reason. There's a finite number of wrestling fans in the world, and if you're on at the same time, you're just screwing yourself over by dividing that number in half.

However, staying on Thursdays (or any other non-WWE night) isn't resigning yourself to being #2. TNA, just like any other business, should always be striving for a little more. More ratings, more merch sales, more ppv buys... more everything. If you're not trying to get better, you're stagnating, and that just hurts everyone.

So yeah, absolutely compete, but that doesn't mean shooting yourself in the foot in the process.

 

[TLC]

No way would i want them to go head to head with wwe, i enjoy both products alot and would hate for one of them 2 go. Both companies show me great things with some great matches and would hate if TNA went out of buisness and wouldnt be able to see ultimate x, monsters ball, king of the mountain and alot more.

 

[tcizthechamp]

no fn way. tna going head to head with wwe is a terrible idea. tna's first priority is making their wrestlers into stars. except for a bunch of old ass guys, they rlly dont have tht many stars beside samoa joe and aj. they need to get higher ratings and more fans before they go compete with raw. and if/when they do that, i think it would be smarter to compete with smackdown on fridays, so if tna does lose the ratings war, they can always move back to thursdays with out the embarressment of losing to raw. but watch out wen tna does get its decent roster and fan base, thers gonna be one hell of a war with wwe

 

[rayisawesomeness]

Absolutely. If you're running a wrestling company, it should always be your task to be #1 and ahead of the competition, no matter how bad, annoying, boring, ridiculous, and odd the show may seem.

 

[Harthan]

Right now, goodness no. They haven't got anywhere near the drawing power, talent, creative strength, or fan base to even considering competition with the WWE. They can't even beat WWE's third rate show in ratings, there's no way they could beat them in a head to head. Not to mention that TNA would have to diversify out to four shows to even think about it, and they've not got the roster to book two shows, let alone 4.

Take into account also that the WWE has the sheer power of name and history behind it. It's been around for what, going on 50 years now? It's the company everyone who's ever heard of wrestling automatically associates with it. You ask someone about wrestling, they'll say "You mean like the WWF?" (some people haven't gotten word of the name change, but nonetheless). TNA has a whopping seven years of history behind it, and it's only been on anything resembling a national level for about 4 of them. Some of the names have are big, but really, it's not enough to compete with names that are still on a household level in the WWE.

Aside from two or three really big ex WWE/WCW names, TNA is pretty much composed of indy talent, which won't get them anywhere right now. It will get them somewhere in 10 or more years, when (and if) they have built those names (names like AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Christopher Daniels, Jay Lethal, Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, etc., etc.) into company carrying talent, they'll have a diverse enough roster to compete with the WWE, who in ten years will have lost most of their huge names talent and will be relying on a similar sort of talent. This will give TNA a more even playing field, from which they might be able to try something. But that's a big "might".

Also take the fact that their network could barely care about them. Spike rarely promotes TNA, when it needs to be promoted like hell. But why should they, when they have the UFC to carry them? Not that they could cross promote TNA and the UFC or anything, that'd be silly. Le sigh. Hopefully TNA can get Impact moves to a better station that'd rely more heavily upon it, and thus promote it harder.

TNA is, realistically, still in its early years, but because it's the only other national company we have, it's thrust into inevitable comparisons to the WWE, when in fact, those are just impossible right now. Given 10 or 15 years, the playing field might level itself to the point where TNA could compete, but really, TNA still has to focus on expanding and growing itself, rather than competing in a "war" it could never hope to win.

 

[gd]

I certainly don't expect TNA to compete with the WWE now, or anytime in the near future. However, at some point in the next decade or two I think there will be a chance for TNA to really compete with the WWE. If they tried to do it now they would definetly be destoryed, no doubt about it. But maybe 10 years down the road they will be able to increase their ratings into the 2s or 3s.

If they build up their younger stars correctly there will always be WWE castoffs to sign. If they were able to get guys like Kennedy or Umaga they could actually be around for the long term. Obviously TNA isn't strong enough to compete with the WWE now, but if they are given a few years to develop I don't see any reason that they won't be able to compete with the WWE head to head.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Absolutely. If you're running a wrestling company, it should always be your task to be #1 and ahead of the competition, no matter how bad, annoying, boring, ridiculous, and odd the show may seem.

Wrong. If you're running a wrestling company, your task should always be to try to be a stable and financially successful organization. Let the fans debate to their heart's content as to who's better or to who's #1.

Regardless of who thinks which company is better or whatever, right now, the WWE = wrestling among the American consciousness. Tens of millions of people that don't watch wrestling knows about the WWE. And the majority of wrestling fans in the United States watch WWE programming. TNA has a LOT of growing to do before it could even be considered a serious competitor to the WWE, that's why the focus of the company should be to grow, improve their product and make money.

 

[Dexter]

Wrong. If you're running a wrestling company, your task should always be to try to be a stable and financially successful organization. Let the fans debate to their heart's content as to who's better or to who's #1.

Wrong. Striving to be better than anyone at what you do is just good business sense. Even putting aside the fact that people can watch both shows since they're on separate nights, you have to consider disposable incomes. People are only willing to spend so much of that disposable income on wrestling merchandise and ppvs, and if your product isn't clearly and demonstrably better than everyone else's, you can reasonably expect 7000 buy rates for your ppvs.

(BTW, that whole "Wrong." thing is exceedingly rude. I don't normally do it but I hoped maybe seeing it used on you like that might illustrate the point. Please don't do it. Make your points and let them stand for themselves.)

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Wrong. Striving to be better than anyone at what you do is just good business sense.

Not when there's no possible way you can pull that goal off at anytime in the forseeable future. TNA isn't exactly a company that has the near limitless funds that WCW enjoyed once upon a time. It's limited financial resources are a big reason why TNA tapes several weeks worth of shows in one night.

Even putting aside the fact that people can watch both shows since they're on separate nights, you have to consider disposable incomes.

But all those people DON'T watch both programs even though they're on seperate nights. TNA isn't nearly big enough to challenge World Wrestling Entertainment because the majority of America's wrestling audience doesn't give a damn about TNA. TNA has to grow and grow a lot before it can challenge the WWE and even hope of being #1.

(BTW, that whole "Wrong." thing is exceedingly rude. I don't normally do it but I hoped maybe seeing it used on you like that might illustrate the point. Please don't do it. Make your points and let them stand for themselves.)

Maybe your sensibilities are more fragile than mine, as I don't see anything wrong with it. I feel the guy is wrong and I said so. If there's a point to make, then make it. No point in pussyfooting around.

 

[Dexter]

Not when there's no possible way you can pull that goal off at anytime in the forseeable future.

That's just a sad way to go through life, dude. I'm really sorry you feel that way. I hope you change your mind about that someday. Ditto the "fragile sensibilities" thing. A little common human decency and politeness go a long way in life, even in an anonymous, consequence-free environment like an internet forum.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

That's just a sad way to go through life, dude. I'm really sorry you feel that way. I hope you change your mind about that someday. Ditto the "fragile sensibilities" thing. A little common human decency and politeness go a long way in life, even in an anonymous, consequence-free environment like an internet forum.

So, you lecture me about some percieved rudeness by attempting to be rude yourself in the first place? You consider the "wrong" thing to be rude and try to make some sort of point about it by doing the same thing to me even though I don't consider it rude in the least? I guess my point is, you basically torpedoed your own point, whatever in the hell it was supposed to be, by doing what you're lecturing me about. See, if you'd just told me I was rude and left it at that, your point of view might have some legitimate validity. Just indulging in the same "rudeness" yourself just makes you look hypocrite. Listen man, if you wanna preach morality and decency and all that, or at least your version of it, the net is full of numerous forums that would suit you just fine. If I think someone's wrong, if it's my opinion that he or she is mistaken about something, I'll tell them. Now, what I consider rude would be if I made some sort of comment about the intelligence of the person I disagreed with, maybe even made some hurtful remark about their mother or grandmother such as them being sisters and so on and so forth. Now that would be rude, but I'd never do that because I'm not a rude person. I speak my mind yes, but not rude.

 

[ProWrestling'sBrain]

After TNA retrieved Kurt Angle and Vince Russo in fall of 2006 they got cocky and assumed Kurt Angle and Russo would put TNA on the mat. Because of this they made a horrible attempt at competing against the WWE. It got to the point they mentioned the WWE after every other word on iMPACT! which got sickening. If that's not enough they even renamed The James Gang to VKM (Vince McMahon's initials) to antagonize Vince. They made mockeries of HHH and Shawn on iMPACT! which was a horrible rip off of DX imitating the Nation. If that wasn't enough, TNA sent VKM to "camp" out at the WWE HQ and they sent them to WWE house shows to antagonize the WWE in general and they failed miserably. In the end it made them look desperate by ripping off ideas from 8 years ago. It also was an embarrassment to TNA because they devoted so much time with the VKM crap and it accomplished absolutely nothing. It was a big deal when DX invaded WCW and it's something we still talk about to this day however aside from me mentioning it, no one ever talks about or acknowledges when VKM invaded the WWE simply because it was an embarrassment. TNA failed because much like now, TNA wasn't credible competition to the WWE. WCW was which was why their war meant something.

Fast forward 3 years later.... PPV buys are worse than ever and iMPACT! is still in the iMPACT! Zone with ratings still light years away from coming close to what the WWE's top 2 shows are drawing. It would be cool to see TNA compete however they will never get to the stage where they can be credible competition. If they try compete it will just make them look like some super-indy fed with nothing better to do but recycle ideas from 10 years ago trying to get some attention.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

If Russo gets on board as the Head Booker and gets some time to work his magic, I definitely think TNA should compete.

However, at this point, absolutely not. Vince would destroy them in the blink of an eye.

TNA really needs to get all its eggs in one basket until they are fully confident that they are ready to take Vince on, before they foolishly try to do so. Even Russo and company isn't that stupid, and Dixie Carter doesn't strike me as someone who likes taking risks, anyway.

If they start the ball rolling this year and start getting their asses in gear, then maybe in 2-3 more years depending on how quickly the progression occurs, they will be ready. But until then, they should stay as far away from Vince as possible.

The wrestling industry is just dying for competition at the moment. All someone needs to do is be ready and serious to step up to the plate.

 

[GameOver]

Hell naw TNA ain't the NEW WCW, nor can even think about competing with the WEE! Just think about! Sure they got the same formula by signing former WWF/E talent. And try to re-embelish those wrestlers if they were aren't in TNA go'in back to the recent "Legends" championship in TNA.

Are they or were any real legends in TNA? I know Piper was in TNA for a little bit with Harley Race. But since wrestlers came from over the WWE (and WCW & ECW at that) through the WWF/E, were there any REAL legends in TNA wrestling in there seven year history?

And have same bookers, management, part of the commentary, same old stars same philosophy of constantly advertising WWE. They've made a weak version of the NWO in the MEM and now another faction much like LWO to use an example, both heel factions claiming to take over TNA

Offering WWE guys/gals lots of money bringing em in to pump up there product and yet leaving ther eown guys behind in the shuffle

But na they arent WCW mark II