TNA's Biggest Blow?

[Hem]

Since it's inceptions, TNA has faced a tough road with many obstacles, most of which it ended up overcoming in the end. Has TNA learned from it's mistakes and wrong doings from the past? Nah, I don't feel so. I think there must be something that has been able to keep them afloat for so long. So what are some of the biggest blows TNA has faced?

This is my own personal list of TNA's biggest flops in no particular order:

1) Failure of Hulk Hogan: This was THE biggest signing TNA ever made and even he failed to generate enough steam for TNA so that they could increase buy rates or ratings for a long duration. He was on a big money deal according to reports, he was the highest paid guy on the roster with a lot of money being given to him per appearance

2) Mishandling Talents: The amount of great wrestlers to step foot in TNA, get misused and eventually just lose their luster is amazing, Samoa Joe, Jeff Hardy, Austin Aries, AJ Styles, Magnus, Eric Young and so many more can go on that list of "WTF Did They Do To You?" list.

3) Big Names Leaving: As soon as TNA felt like they'd found the next star or was running behind someone, they either couldn't afford them or couldn't get them to resign. AJ Styles, Sting, Samoa Joe, Kazarian, Christopher Daniels, Bully Ray, Jeff Jarrett are all awesome talents TNA had who recently left them.

4) TV Stations: From weekly PPVs to Fox to Webisodes to Spike to Destination America, TNA has never had a concrete long term home. The company has been on three different stations along with two different channels of getting their product out in about 15 years. That doesn't sound very good if you ask me. Had TNA been a cornerstone in the FOX station then I think we could've had a much bigger and better TNA.

5) Marketing: I know this can't be considered a blow as much as an act of being purely dumb but TNA has had a big lack of marketing. The focus for a developing company should be for it to make people know that they exist, right? You can only do that by two ways, by making people talk about you so much OR by taking the product to them. TNA has a few guys promoting the show orally every now and then but how many big advertisements have you ever seen for TNA? The best way to advertise something on a grand scale imo is at the superbowl, sure it costs A LOT but I think they may actually benefit if they try.

These are the biggest blows of TNA if you ask me, what do you guys think? Do you agree? Will TNA learn from their blows? Will it ever overcome its obstacles and become competition for the WWE?

 

[wwesux]

LOL Get real bro taking shots at TNA won t help yes they have their flaws as well as worst wrestling excrement! Hell WCW had their flaws as well

STING is returniing back to TNA once his awful wwe run comes to a halt after WM31
AJ Styles is in ROH and Samoa Joe is heading there as well so when TNA calls them they ll be returning back to TNA as they have done with other stars like Low Ki ,Angelina Love and Madison Rayne etc
Bully Ray is busy with his wrestling school Jeff Jarrett has his own promotion which won t go far

I disagree they are the smallest blows TNA has and wwe has went through obstacles as well since they let go of Rey Mysterio Jr, Alberto Del Rio, Great Khali, Drew Mc Intyre, , Brodus Clay , Jeff Hardy, MVP and soon brock Lesner

I am glad they got rid of Fart Hogan Old man hogged the spotlight
but TNA got back Awesome Kong and Kaval along with Great Khali and Drew Mc Intyre

Panda Energy financially backs them. They are a billion dollar business, so they are able to afford a great deal of things. Many of the top stars in TNA as well as those big stars from the past had their contracts through Panda just in case of TNA having issues. This was similar to what happened with WCW in that many had contracts through Turner and not WCW

 

[FromGlasgow]

I can't think of any other sport where some fans always seem to be so negative, It would be easy to list the top 5 worst moments of any company not just of TNA or wrestling related but any company, I read all the time in wrestling forums how bad TNA is and hope they go out of business soon etc which I can't understand does certain people only want WWE style wrestling and nothing else? I get the feeling any company who try to compete nowadays with WWE will just get constant abuse and negative comments no matter how good or what they do its kind of a no win situation for them.
I'm probably in the minority but personally I enjoy TNA and perhaps its not perfect but life is too short to dwell on every single thing they do wrong, Easier to if you don't like don't watch.

 

[The Samoan Heritage]

I may compare TNA and WWE a lot, only because its faster than me going into great detail.

1) The Hogan Failure was Hogan's fault. Hogan was the highest paid star and half-***ed it during his tenure in TNA. Compare Hogan's time in TNA to his return to Wwe, and you can tell that he wasn't much into when he was there. Also he hardly (if ever) promoted TNA during his interviews (similar to when Rock was Wwe champ).

2)TNA does a great job with their talents (ex: Bully Ray, Bram, EC3) true there's time that guys like Joe and Aries had nothing to do, but not everyone can be a focal point at the same time.

3) you make it sound like those guys were in TNA for 2-3 years and left. They're all veterans that felt like it was time for something different. You're going to have veterans that have a great career and after a while leave (Joe, Styles, Daniels: similar to wwe in Austin, Foley, Rock) then your going to have veterans (that seem like company die hards) that will continue with the company until the end (EY, Abyss, Storm, Roode: similar to Jericho, Show, Kane, and Henry) (just comparing them in longevitity)

4)No big deal. Raw and Smackdown has changed between many stations

5) I agree, TNA's needs to get their name out there. Wwe's constant need to be in the media may be annoying, but its something TNA needs to think about. Also get someone that has a great "wrestling and business mind", that would want the company to succeed. From a professional stand point getting rid of Jarrett was the right move, but Dixie needs him. She needs a guy that knows what he's doing and that will do most of the company negotiations.

 

[Rayne]

LOL Get real bro taking shots at TNA won t help yes they have their flaws as well as worst wrestling excrement! Hell WCW had their flaws as well

STING is returniing back to TNA once his awful wwe run comes to a halt after WM31
AJ Styles is in ROH and Samoa Joe is heading there as well so when TNA calls them they ll be returning back to TNA as they have done with other stars like Low Ki ,Angelina Love and Madison Rayne etc
Bully Ray is busy with his wrestling school Jeff Jarrett has his own promotion which won t go far

I disagree they are the smallest blows TNA has and wwe has went through obstacles as well since they let go of Rey Mysterio Jr, Alberto Del Rio, Great Khali, Drew Mc Intyre, , Brodus Clay , Jeff Hardy, MVP and soon brock Lesner

I am glad they got rid of Fart Hogan Old man hogged the spotlight
but TNA got back Awesome Kong and Kaval along with Great Khali and Drew Mc Intyre

Panda Energy financially backs them. They are a billion dollar business, so they are able to afford a great deal of things. Many of the top stars in TNA as well as those big stars from the past had their contracts through Panda just in case of TNA having issues. This was similar to what happened with WCW in that many had contracts through Turner and not WCW

While I'm always a fan of the unique insights which you provide, and your ability to accurately forecast the career plans for performers before they are aware of those plans themselves, I do have one issue. Do you have a source on claiming that TNA performers are signing their contracts with Panda Energy, as opposed to the TNA shell?

Because it seems absolutely insane that a company would operate another company as a shell to shield itself from liability should that smaller shell company fail (see: corporate personhood), and then tie that shell company's labor liabilities to the parent company. That would be one of the largest mistakes Time Warner/WCW made, and while it sounds like an absolute sweetheart deal for a performer, as someone who operates a company with the intention of realizing a profit from it, that sounds insane. If you're not big on economics, it's the equivalent of putting your hand on a lit stove burner so that you don't get burned.

 

[Hem]

Okay I think you guys have viewed this post in a completely different manner than I had intended it to be seen.

I am by no means a TNA hater, look at my name, I'm a fan of both TNA & WWE. The point I was bringing up was that of TNA's flops in the past which have constrained it from doing the best and most efficient business that they could possibly do.

It was a mere discussion about the things which have gone wrong in TNA's past, not a "F**K TNA I HATE THAT SHOW SO MUCH."

I will say that the topic I brought into discussion wasn't a positive one but not everything thats posted has to be positive right?

 

[mral82]

TNA's 2 Biggest Blows are the SO CALLED DIEHARD PRO WRESTLING FAN and VIACOM.
1)Viacom cause they plain out made TNA not the Flagship Show just like Viacom did w/ the WWF/E and ECW as they had the WWF shill the UFC while they were there and ECW never really got a chance cause Viacom can't handle 2 Companies at once. Don't believe me just go look at the 1st 3 Months TNA has been on DESTINATION AMERICA they've gave them 3 Shows so far w/ more to come while all Viacom did was only let them have one w/o replays and Xtra show only to have them constantly shill the MMA.

2)The SO CALLED DIEHARD PRO WRESTLING FANS as no wonder TNA get's only a lil love as they've constantly for the past decade as put on great shows just like the WWE as if fans decided to give them a shot an watch and DVR/TiVo their other shows to give TNA that Viewership they could become up where at least SD! is Ratings wise. So give TNA a fair chance that's all.

The are the 2 Biggest Blows TNA has ever.

 

[therock]

TNA's Biggest Blows are the following:

• The ring itself - the ring looks crap on tv (compare to 4 sides ring) and pro wrestling is normally done in square circle and last point - it makes it harder people used to watch other wrestling programs to watch tna because they not use to the style of ring.
• Tapings of tv shows weeks in advance - the problem with this, people will know the outcome of event before it airs on tv.
• Allowing fans to make business decisions for them - this does not work at all - for example asking fans if they wanted 4 sides or 6 sides ring, wwe does not ask their fans what they want and they're most successful wrestling business today.

 

[mlp420]

This topic again?

These things are over and done. Thankfully TNA is still around to learn from the mistakes they made unlike some other promotions.

I'll never understand how people who watch WWE through thick and thin no matter how bad it is just can't get past TNA's mistakes and keep going on and on about stuff that's long over with.