TNA brand extension?

[Carpathian Florist]

It seems that a lot of fan focus is on the role of older, established stars in TNA versus that of the homegrown TNA talent.
Could a brand extension work for TNA?
They have 2 shows, if I am not mistaken. iMPACT and Xplosion?
It seems they are trying to capitalise on nostalgia a lot of the time, could they not do this full out?
Have iMPACT for the TNA branded stars (if you will) such as AJ Styles, Desmond Wolfe, Beer Money etc etc and then have Xplosion for the older, more established stars. You could still keep a mouthpiece like Flair in with the younger crowd and have cross over storylines and such things, then have dual branded PPVs like the WWE used to and interpromotional matches so the younger stars can get the rub off the older talent.
That way they're still getting the benefit from having the "name" stars on their roster, without them alienating the fanbase who are mostly pro-TNA originals and anti-nostalgia.

Anyone have any thoughts/opinions on this as a viable idea?

 

[Geeker]

Personally, I think WWE's brand extension is a horrible idea. They have x amount of people on each show half of which we rarely see and some of which we never see. Some of the championships are being overlooked, others have been abolished all together.

When they first started using the extension there where the invasion angles being used where Smackdown guys would show up on Raw and visa versa. They had nothing to worry about as far as competition so they just compete against themselves. Which made sense in that perspective but now TNA is on the rise and it's only a matter of time that they get enough attention to really compete with WWE.

I don't watch Smackdown because there are very few people on the show that I like. And to be honest if I cared enough about an outcome of a match I can read the results/spoilers.

I don't want to see TNA do the same thing.

 

[hunterXhunter21]

I don't think TNA has enough big stars to have 2 brands. It works in WWE because they had the talent to split up. If anything TNA needs a second show. Maybe something like Superstars. They could have a main event with 2 tops guys on that show. But the undercard can be people we have not seen in awhile just going out and putting on good matches. With maybe a replay of a big story line toss in also.

But I just finished the Dixie Carter Youshoot and she was asked this question. She didn't seem to like the idea and was more worried about just getting a second show in the states.

 

[jeftcb]

I totally agree TNA needs to split their roster. Maybe not put older guys on one show and the younger guys on another mix and match the guys. Last time I counted I believe the roster had like 60+ people. They could hold a draft pick 2 guys to be GM's and have them pick names out of a hat and that person goes to each brand Impact! and Xplosion! TNA has enough titles that they can split amongst the brands have the TNA title be the main title on Impact and the Legends/Global/TV title or whatever its called now on Xplosion. This would help utilize all the talent TNA has and maybe help bring in more money to TNA.

 

[Dum Dum Dudley]

I don't think it would work at all. The only reason it worked for the WWE was because they had a huge amount of top guys to dispense equally, and then a good amount of mid-carders to share equally too. When Raw got the NWO, SD! got The Rock, Angle and Taker. Raw got Booker, SD! got Hogan. Then when it came to upper/mid-card, the same happened again. Raw got RVD, SD! got Edge. Raw got Kane and The Big Show, SD! got Benoit and Jericho.
As big of a fan of TNA as i am, the only wrestling talent i think are top, top guys are Angle and AJ; everyone else can easily flutter between the main event and mid-card. So theres your starting point; Angle to Impact, Styles to Xplosion. Well done, you've just single-handedly kept apart your two top guys who have great chemisty together when your battling for ratings. As for the rest of the ME, lets say RVD to Impact, Hardy to Xplosion. Is it really smart business to deny your fans a big draw like Angle v Hardy? Hold on though, lets look at the mid-card. Right, lets say Wolfe and Pope to Impact, Anderson and Morgan to Xplosion. Well for starters, by keeping two of your better talkers apart (Wolfe and Anderson) you've just lost out on a potentially good feud. And what about the tag titles? Are they brand-specific? Which is the A-show? If they are both equal, how long until one show becomes the home of the B-team?
At this moment in time, it would be in TNA's best interest to keep all their talent on one show and let the cream rise to the top. Many posters argue about an overcrowded roster but if you're good enough, you'll earn a good spot or feud. Lethal has recently been pushed, whats really stopping everyone else?

 

[Carpathian Florist]

Well I was envisioning it like this really:

iMPACT
The Brian Kendrick
D'Angelo Dinero
Desmond Wolfe
Douglas Williams
Eric Young
Hernandez
Homicide
Beer Money
Jay Lethal
Jesse Neal
Kazarian
Magnus
Matt Morgan
Mr. Anderson
Orlando Jordan
Rob Terry
Samoa Joe
Shannon Moore

Xplosion
Hogan
Jeff Hardy
Jeff Jarrett
Kevin Nash
Kurt Angle
Mick Foley
Raven
Rhino
Ric Flair
Rob Van Dam
Stevie Richards
Sting
Team 3D
Tomko
Tommy Dreamer
(+ anyone who is possibly left over from Hardcore Justice)

Definitely keep iMPACT as the "A show" and leave Xplosion as the "B show" for nostalgia purporses. They could have always used the legends title for the main title on that show, throw in a couple of older tag teams and have a legends tag title as well, then leave the main TNA based roster to stand on their own feet. They could always have feuds that crossover, so their stars get the rub and there is plenty of room in that to get around. People keep saying Reid Flair is supposed to be signed to the company, there's an excuse in itself to get older stars over to iMPACT with Flair's involvement.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Brand extension is the exact type of WWE nonsense I don't ever want to see applied in TNA –*it segregates the rosters and forces users to often choose between them as one show may not feature the wrestlers they may otherwise have tuned into a single show to see.

In the WWE, it also lead to the creation of more and more titles, which just diluted the value of the existing ones tremendously, so much so to the point they began unifying them lately.

No, thank you.

 

[Reddannihilation]

Brand Extension? Fuck off.

Seriously, what more do you need on that? Next TNA will have the TNA iMPACT World Title and the TNA Xplosion Heavyweight Championship of the Wolrd. And every PPV will have two fucking world title matches, they'll have the X-division and the Cruiserweight division, the TV title and the Closed Circuit title, the World Tag titles and the TNA tag titles. Pile of shit. Brand extensions are the sort of concept you come up with, when you're such a douche that you actually think splitting your roster over two shows will recreate the element of competition that existed when you had a rival company biting at your heels.

 

[Burnout]

Wow, TNA marks have so much pride they cant admit that something needs to be done. A brand could work in TNA. Alot of the original TNA stars are being shunted aside to make way for the new batch of Former WWE superstars. While i dont think moving huge stars to Xplosion would help because that wouldn't work as two world championships with only about 6 constant contenders isn't balanced.

If TNA did go ahead with a brand extension, i believe they should move all the X division wrestlers over to Xplosion, make the X title the main focus of the show, give all the X division wrestlers an hour to show off their skills, their in ring abilities. On IMPACT!, lets face it, they arn't getting much time at all, and the Xtitle is becoming simply a prop to the wrestlers. Remember when the Xtitle was huge in TNA, it brought viewers in. People wanted to see the X division matches, they were absolutely amazing. People have been saying for a long time that they want the X division to go back to the way it was, they were thinking of ways to revamp it, well the perfect way to do this is base a show around them, them and no-one else, give them exposure, let them show us what they got, and in time they can be moved back to IMPACT! and become real contenders for another title. And in the future maybe they could mmove the diva's over to Xplosion aswell, to try revamp that division too.

 

[Carpathian Florist]

i believe they should move all the X division wrestlers over to Xplosion, make the X title the main focus of the show, give all the X division wrestlers an hour to show off their skills, their in ring abilities.

Ok I must admit that this is probably a much more credible theory than what I come up with. Although I still kinda like the idea of keeping the older guys around, just not swamping iMPACT with them. I understand their value, I just can't figure out a way to get rid of them, without actually getting rid of them... as it were.

 

[Remy LaCroix]

"Brand" is a WWE term and we folk don't take too kindly to that or your ignorance as to why WWE even had a "brand extension" in the first place. A second show on the American market will be enough, not splitting the roster.

Mostly directed to Burnout.

 

[Reddannihilation]

Wow, TNA marks have so much pride they cant admit that something needs to be done. A brand could work in TNA.

Yes because so far the only brand extension in history has worked out swimmingly

Alot of the original TNA stars are being shunted aside to make way for the new batch of Former WWE superstars. While i dont think moving huge stars to Xplosion would help because that wouldn't work as two world championships with only about 6 constant contenders isn't balanced.

Hey look you're actually making a small amont of sense, were it not for 3 of the 4 male titles being held by TNA guys you'd almost have a full point.

If TNA did go ahead with a brand extension, i believe they should move all the X division wrestlers over to Xplosion, make the X title the main focus of the show, give all the X division wrestlers an hour to show off their skills, their in ring abilities.

Meaning that you'll either divide viewers who tune in for specific matches or force people to watch two shows for the full TNA experience. Bad idea.

On IMPACT!, lets face it, they arn't getting much time at all, and the Xtitle is becoming simply a prop to the wrestlers.

Doug Williams has taken the title from the shit heap it was in 08-09 and slowly fixed it over the past few months. He's set to feud with Jay Lethal over it, much better than the past years of guys like Amazing Red and Daivari.

Remember when the Xtitle was huge in TNA, it brought viewers in.

You mean in 2005/2006 when TNA was getting between 0.6-0.8 in the ratings? Yeah X-division was a massive draw.

People wanted to see the X division matches, they were absolutely amazing. People have been saying for a long time that they want the X division to go back to the way it was, they were thinking of ways to revamp it, well the perfect way to do this is base a show around them, them and no-one else, give them exposure, let them show us what they got, and in time they can be moved back to IMPACT! and become real contenders for another title. And in the future maybe they could mmove the diva's over to Xplosion aswell, to try revamp that division too.

Ugh, allow me to explain this, the TNA X-division was essentially TNA's way to take everything that happens in ROH and other indie feds and compact it into 1/3rd of their total programming. The feuds were almost always devoid of story and the matches whilst technical didn't mean anything other than being solid in ring competition. Styles vs. Daniels vs. Joe was a great match, but it rarely meant anything. Douglas Williams has made it mean something again, forcing all of the entire division to Xplosion would defeat the purpose of the division, you'd force people to never see them on iMPACT which would devalue the title as anyone who bought a PPV would get an X-division match that had no relevance if they'd only watched iMPACT. Moving the knockouts is pointless as well, you'd essentially have one show with tag, tv and world titles and another show with x and knockout. You would divide the entire fucking audience, it would ruin TNA.

 

[Carpathian Florist]

"Brand" is a WWE term and we folk don't take too kindly to that or your ignorance as to why WWE even had a "brand extension" in the first place.

Ok I will admit maybe using that term was wrong then, I just found it easier to phrase it that way. What WWE did and why wasn't really on my mind when I created this thread if I'm honest, I'd just read a post about the nostalgia factor of the Wolfpac and it got me thinking about having nostalgia around, which is always a nice thing in my mind, but being able to keep it from diluting the current product.

 

[Burnout]

Yes because so far the only brand extension in history has worked out swimmingly

Why does everyone have beef with Smackdown, it, as a second rate product outdraws IMPACT!. Smackdown is doing fine, do people really want 60 wrestlers on RAW? that would be horrible tbh!

Hey look you're actually making a small amont of sense, were it not for 3 of the 4 male titles being held by TNA guys you'd almost have a full point.

touche.

Meaning that you'll either divide viewers who tune in for specific matches or force people to watch two shows for the full TNA experience. Bad idea.

How would it divide the viewers, No-one really cares about the X-division, and this is a perfect way to garner some intrest back into it.

Doug Williams has taken the title from the shit heap it was in 08-09 and slowly fixed it over the past few months. He's set to feud with Jay Lethal over it, much better than the past years of guys like Amazing Red and Daivari.

While Doug has improved it abit, not many still give a shit about it, Doug dosen't really bring the high-flying aspect that everyone loves, and remembers.

You mean in 2005/2006 when TNA was getting between 0.6-0.8 in the ratings? Yeah X-division was a massive draw.

Fair point, but the X-division was far more popular back then, regaurdless of rating's.

Ugh, allow me to explain this, the TNA X-division was essentially TNA's way to take everything that happens in ROH and other indie feds and compact it into 1/3rd of their total programming. The feuds were almost always devoid of story and the matches whilst technical didn't mean anything other than being solid in ring competition. Styles vs. Daniels vs. Joe was a great match, but it rarely meant anything. Douglas Williams has made it mean something again, forcing all of the entire division to Xplosion would defeat the purpose of the division, you'd force people to never see them on iMPACT which would devalue the title as anyone who bought a PPV would get an X-division match that had no relevance if they'd only watched iMPACT. Moving the knockouts is pointless as well, you'd essentially have one show with tag, tv and world titles and another show with x and knockout. You would divide the entire fucking audience, it would ruin TNA.

Yes it does lack stories, but with an hour to itself it can improve that hugely, make it more intresting. It might devalue the title at first, but if the division would gain intrest, the title would be of relavence again regaudless o it being on IMPACT! or not. A true tna fan would watch all of tna's work. So it wouldn't divide the entire audience

 

[EffinSaySo]

Not sure if a brand extension would work. TNA needs to worry about building one brand up, iMPACT! before launching another one.

It worked in WCW with Thunder because Nitro was successful...when WWE launched SmackDown, it was because Raw became successful.

And looking at what those two companies got on their A-Show, is something that TNA must achieve before having a brand extension.

 

[One to Remember]

why does TNA need brands though? why doesn't it just treat Xplosion as an extension of iMPACT? Maybe make Xplosion 90 minutes then try to fit all the guys on there that havent been on tv in awile. The Global championship could be the usual tite defended there but more shows are better then brands which are more rigid in how the roster is divided.

 

[goodlay]

Hell no. That's one of my least favorite things about WWE. The brand extension fucked everything up. Yeah, Raw was pretty stacked from 02-04, but SD was atrocious besides guys like Angle and Taker. It dilutes the credibility of the titles too. Plus, if you don't win a midcard title, you're pretty much doomed for failure. I also feel like being world champion really isn't that big of a deal with two world titles.

Yeah, TNA is pretty stacked with talent, and not enough guys get to be champs, but that's the point. Championships are supposed to be rare. That's what makes them so important. Also if TNA had a brand extension, it'd end up with the same result as WWE. Both shows wouldn't have enough talent, and the titles would get diluted.

 

[I_Like_All_Wrestling]

Simply stated, no.

It dilutes the talent and creates a worse product.

I don't think there's anything else to say.

 

[DaleBryan]

iMPACT
The Brian Kendrick
D'Angelo Dinero
Desmond Wolfe
Douglas Williams
Eric Young
Hernandez
Homicide
Beer Money
Jay Lethal
Jesse Neal
Kazarian
Magnus
Matt Morgan
Mr. Anderson
Orlando Jordan
Rob Terry
Samoa Joe
Shannon Moore

Xplosion
Hogan
Jeff Hardy
Jeff Jarrett
Kevin Nash
Kurt Angle
Mick Foley
Raven
Rhino
Ric Flair
Rob Van Dam
Stevie Richards
Sting
Team 3D
Tomko
Tommy Dreamer
(+ anyone who is possibly left over from Hardcore Justice)

Definitely keep iMPACT as the "A show" and leave Xplosion as the "B show" for nostalgia purporses. They could have always used the legends title for the main title on that show, throw in a couple of older tag teams and have a legends tag title as well, then leave the main TNA based roster to stand on their own feet. They could always have feuds that crossover, so their stars get the rub and there is plenty of room in that to get around. People keep saying Reid Flair is supposed to be signed to the company, there's an excuse in itself to get older stars over to iMPACT with Flair's involvement.
__________________



........ so uh.... What show would AJ Styles or Abyss be on? I'm assuming you meant to type there names on the the "A-Show", I just cant really see how you could forget them.
anyways, no. Its a bad idea, WWE has done, yes its worked out pretty good for them, but I hate how its killed the mid card. the US/IC titles are major jokes now, and the tag team division was SOOOO good before the brand extension. They are just now devoted some time into developing young teams to build the tag division back up.

I, both, like and dislike what you think should be the A-show and B-show. I like that you think the guys on impact are young, tna originals (for the most part) And I think it would be a pretty good show. but if you're trying to draw in people who have never watched TNA or heard of it, and you're gonna use the names you have for the "A-Show" It wont be a happy ending.
If i was a wrestling fan, that had never watched tna but i was watching spike one night and a commercial came on and advertised impact with those names i wouldn't check it out. but if a commercial came on for Xplosion using the names you have down, Hogan, Sting, Jeff hardy, RVD, Kurt Angle, etc. I'd be like huh.. i may have to check that out.

so what i'm saying is you would need to balance out the shows in order for it to work even a little bit. but even then... no it still wouldn't. not yet anyways.
soo my long dragged out answer would be No. it wouldn't help TNA.
what would help TNA is some Roster cuts.

 

[Carpathian Florist]

........ so uh.... What show would AJ Styles or Abyss be on?

Ok that is odd, I hadn't even noticed that to be honest. Thanks.

I can understand all the criticism against my idea, although I never really envisioned it as an "A show" and a "B show" to be honest, just separating the old from the young. I just figured it could possibly appeal to two different markets with a bit of cross over, which could hopefully filter fans from the older stars over to the newer ones. If you eat pizza (Veterans) all the time, there's gonna be a time when you fancy a burger (TNA originals) and what if that burger is advertised all the time on your favourite pizza's box? You're more likely to go to that.
It wasn't so much an idea of splitting the brand of TNA in two, as in simply cutting it in half Raw/Smackdown style, but more of separating the differing elements into their own entities.

Perhaps a better example was a previous poster who suggested giving over one show to the Knockouts and the X Division.

 

[One to Remember]

are you people ******ed? Quit talking about brands already, get WWE off your brains. Thats why your going nowhere, even the TNA diehards have WWE on the brain. You keep talking about the World title being diluted in WWE but do any of you boneheads remember that WWE didn't create to titles, he title was deunified because lesnar became SD exclusive leading to a split in the lineage. Your implying you want TNA t create a new world title or world title caliber championship for one of the shows. Make sense. TNA'S prob is there isnt enough air time to go around, let Xplosion just take off from where the weeks Impact left off. That simple. Make a few titls band specific i guess, but do not partition the World title.