TNA Would Soon Turn Into WCW of 1996-97!?

[Shadow of Darkness]

Hell Yah!

Well with Vince Russo gone from TNA; the new TNA creative team looks much like the way WCW creative team format of 1996-97.

During that time WCW had Terry Taylor as the creative head (like Bruce Prichard for TNA), Kevin Sullivan and Paul Orndorff as head and assistance writers respectively (like Dave Lagana and Matt Conway in TNA) and the last man acting as the sole decision maker was Bischoff.

One thing that you all have to agree that Bischoff was one of the prime reason why WCW succeded. Currently while working for TNA - Bischoff and Russo often clashed in creative direction as they used to in WCW. Bischoff never got the full power in TNA like he used to get in WCW. Look the instances - during Hardcore Justice 2011 Bischoff and Hogan wanted Kurt Angle have clean win over Sting but Russo intended in making interference.

Again before you bash Hogan and Bischoff think with a clear mind ; look what are their ideas. After Russo was out of booking in October everybody appreciated TNA ; rise of James Storm and Bobby roode has been excelent ; the product is better than ever. its simple but edgy with little but good shock factors. But still you will always bash them, isn't it. .

Plenty of you say that Bischoff only pushes established stars, but then why? have you ever thought? its simple name recognition. Big Names more viewers. Now if u would say that this theory doesnt work for TNA (as their ratings are still around 1.1) its because they do not tour and does not even go live!

Look at WCW they brought Hogan , Randy but their rating only rose high when thy debuted on Nitro (which was Live and also toured).

Okay, let me give you a statistic after Hardy, Hogan, Anderson, RVD, Angle joined TNA the people searching for TNA spoilers in google has rose to a huge significant amount.

Give them freedom and time they can really Re-create the era they left in 1998.

Believe me i was also a firm Hater of them, but after i read a post in this forum only and searched for other evidences, it changed my mind.

Think before comment...

Hell Yah!

 

[dudedudedude]

Did you know if you look at the moon, on the 4th of every month, you can see a slight ratings change in TNA....


Um, ok, what....the hell are you babbling about???? I mean, I don't know even where to start...except to say, you're history is....slightly off....and your theories....are.....look, seriously, I don't know what else to say, but, friggen crazy man.

TNA has money behind them, oil tycoon money. They have national TV coverage. They have some of the bigger named stars of the last 30 years on their roster.....yet, they can't get above a 1.1 in the ratings, and their PPV market does that of a David hasslehoff concert. They even tried going to monday night, AND FAILED.

As for the whole Hogan/Bishoff partnership, it was their unleeshed business dealings in WCW that lead to the demise of the compay.....now...you're saying it is going to lead them to the promise land?

I hate to be 'that guy', but seriously....do some of you even think before you write?

One more thing....the whole google serach thing...one of the top searched things on google is 'why can't i sleep with my sister?'....so....I don't and wouldnt take much stock into google trends.....

 

[yoshi_doce2006]

While I was a huge WCW Fan under Bischoff even before the NWO, I dont want to see another NWO, it was a once in a lifetime thing. I believe that Bischoff and Hogan have a plan, remember it took Bischoff 3 years of only having WCW Saturday Night before he was able to gain enough power to get Ted Turner to sign off on NITRO.

Right now Bischoff is Executive Producer of TNA, the position he was in before he was able to gain enough steam to get Turner to work a live show. Soon after Nitro debuted Bischoff was PROMOTED to Executive Vice President of Turner Sports, in direct control of everything WCW. That promotion was 1996 if my memory serves. There was Harvey Schiller at the top, and Eric Bischoff right under him.

Now, Bischoff already has the show, so that part of the work is done, now all he needs is to gain enough influence as he once did at Turner Sports to get this thing live and on the road. TNA needs to establish something big before then, I think that is why they are pushing James Storm and Robert Roode, establishing new stars. Who says when this happens that there wont be a few ex-TNA guys show up like happened on Nitro?

I believe Bischoff could pull this type of Coup if given the time and resources.

 

[prush80]

But even the live impacts and the impacts that are done on the road do not get any higher ratings. Look at the London shows for instance, ratings still around the same, one was, I believe it said, was the lowest rating of the year. Most every tna fan is talking about how great Dave is and how much better tna will be...but then look at tna's past. Hogan, Sting, Hardy (both) Angle, Bischoff, Kennedy/Anderson, Hall, Nash, Christian, Lashly and did the rating go up? Not really. Hogan's first night got a 1.5 then it shot back down. WHen they went to Mondays it shot down to a 0.5 It is going to take a lot to bring tna out from its hole that it dug itself into.

 

[prush80]

One more thing, the reason why WCW worked is because Bischoff could offer top talent huge amounts (of someone else's) money. Plus now they have contracts where they can not just jump ship whenever. Didn't Dixie parents say they wanted to slow the expenses of tna to not lose money? I think I read that reporton this site somewhere not to long ago

 

[yoshi_doce2006]

But even the live impacts and the impacts that are done on the road do not get any higher ratings. Look at the London shows for instance, ratings still around the same, one was, I believe it said, was the lowest rating of the year. Most every tna fan is talking about how great Dave is and how much better tna will be...but then look at tna's past. Hogan, Sting, Hardy (both) Angle, Bischoff, Kennedy/Anderson, Hall, Nash, Christian, Lashly and did the rating go up? Not really. Hogan's first night got a 1.5 then it shot back down. WHen they went to Mondays it shot down to a 0.5 It is going to take a lot to bring tna out from its hole that it dug itself into.

Oh I agree, for TNA, or any company, it's not getting the ratings, it's keeping them. TNA has proven it can draw the crowds live, it has proven it can draw in fans, it just has not proven it can keep the television audience. That is what writers are for, they have to be able to make it compelling. That is the key to keeping the Television Audience, that is where TNA regularly fails.

 

[yoshi_doce2006]

One more thing, the reason why WCW worked is because Bischoff could offer top talent huge amounts (of someone else's) money. Plus now they have contracts where they can not just jump ship whenever. Didn't Dixie parents say they wanted to slow the expenses of tna to not lose money? I think I read that reporton this site somewhere not to long ago

That was because Dixie couldn't get results and was throwing money around to people who couldnt draw anymore (Hall, Nash, Nasty Boyz) and it was a mess. So they threatened to cut the chord. Notice how 3 of those 4 were cut.

 

[tbp82]

I'm not sure that there will ever be another WCW during that era. TNA *could* be like that era of WCW in one way and that would be to build up the X-Division and mid-card the same way WCW did with the cruiserweight division and their mid-card WCW was strong from top to bottom at that time. WWE had Austin and Michaels on top during that era and got destryoed by WCW in the ratings. TNA has decent talent on thier roster (and their ring ka king extension) as is plus thier is a ton of indy talent out their that they tap into.

I've always been a fan of TNA if for nothing more as they are an alternative for WWE. Their have been many times where I felt TNA had better shows than WWE. But, WWE seems to be in a stale period right now and TNA seems to be putting on better shows lately. I'd just like to see a few more fresh faces in TNA and they'd be in great shape.

 

[SuperJ]

I have always beleaved that TNA having Hogan and Bischoff is a good thing, look at Hogan the biggest name in wrestling an Bischoff look what he did with WCW yes it may take 2 or 3 years but TNA can be on top no sorry will be!!! lets face it TNA in the UK is bigger then WWE. TNA sold out Wembley when the WWE go to Butlins. And Roode and Storm is just bril. They are setting him up to be the bad gut and them some time down the line damm turn him good saving Storm bringing Beer money back giving him a huge place on the rost look at HHH (i know he was already big) how when DX came back making him one of the most loved person on the WWE rost. anyway im sure that Bischoff knows what he is doing at that he will be taking TNA the way they need to be going

 

[larlar]

TNA can't e WCW, because Smackdown has the WCW Title.

If you would count Raw and Smackdown as 2 seperate brands or companies, then TNA get worse ratings than Smackdown, I would be shocked to see TNA to beat Smackdown. Also if rumors are true that WWE is gonna get a show dedicated to just cruiserweights, that show will get better ratings than TNA.

People dont want to watch a roster full of 40 and 50 year olds, any success will be short lived, because they will get older.

 

[Headman]

I'm sorry, but I don't understand the original point at all. New creative team format? Terry Taylor = Bruce Prichard, Paul Orndorff = Lagana? WTF does that even mean? Had you said TNA could be like Smackdown from a few years back that would make some measure of sense considering the addition of former WWE writers, but you pull this strange WCW reference out of nowhere and just ramble on about Hogan and Bischoff. TNA shuffled their creative department. It happens all the time.

P.S. People google searching results is a bad thing. It means they don't want to be bothered with having to watch the show.

 

[larlar]

TNA doesnt exist, its Impact Wrestling.

Impact Wrestling can not even compete with Smackdown. Smackdown wins the ratings war every week.

Plus Smackdown has the WCW title and TNA doesn't

 

[Miakisaki]

The undisputed golden era of late 90s wrestling came to a screeching halt with the emergence of internet communities and the no-compete clause in wrestler contracts. Russo was only a piece of the complex puzzle of why TNA is unable to increase their ratings, though it may have something to do with it being taped and airing on a non-main show wrestling day. Because it is taped, reading the spoiler reports and only watching if something happened that they wanted to see has become the norm. I don't really count DVR, because people who DVR will do it regardless.

Most have also always equated main shows with Monday night ever since the Monday night wars. If they could get a Monday timeslot again EXCEPT two hours before RAW and go live they would have a fighting chance of a ratings boost. I would probably watch Impact much more often if Monday night was THE live wrestling night with between 4 and 5 hours of wrestling on that night. When RAW schedules a 3 hour show, Spike and TNA can do Impact one hour earlier to accommodate.

But bringing back the golden era? Not ever going to happen again.

 

[Headman]

The undisputed golden era of late 90s wrestling came to a screeching halt with the emergence of internet communities and the no-compete clause in wrestler contracts. Russo was only a piece of the complex puzzle of why TNA is unable to increase their ratings, though it may have something to do with it being taped and airing on a non-main show wrestling day. Because it is taped, reading the spoiler reports and only watching if something happened that they wanted to see has become the norm. I don't really count DVR, because people who DVR will do it regardless.

Most have also always equated main shows with Monday night ever since the Monday night wars. If they could get a Monday timeslot again EXCEPT two hours before RAW and go live they would have a fighting chance of a ratings boost. I would probably watch Impact much more often if Monday night was THE live wrestling night with between 4 and 5 hours of wrestling on that night. When RAW schedules a 3 hour show, Spike and TNA can do Impact one hour earlier to accommodate.

But bringing back the golden era? Not ever going to happen again.

The internet was around in the 90's and the wrestling community was just as vocal. Nothing has changed except the quality of the news. Back then there really were leaks and the dirt sheets didn't have to make stuff up and report tweets as news like they do today.