TNA still has some work to do if they want to get back to pulling the same numbers they were at this time last year. TNA used to draw a 1.3 rating on a regular basis with an audience of around 1.6 million or so and they're currently doing around a 1.0 and about 1.2 million. In the grand scheme of things, three tenths of a point might not sound like very much but it is when you're a show that's never drawn higher than a 1.5 rating with 2.2 million viewers. Compred to Raw or Smackdown, TNA has never drawn big numbers but what's hurt TNA is that they've lost a significant number of viewers in their attempt to go head to head against WWE Raw. Against Raw, there were episodes of iMPACT! drawing in the 0.5s and 0.6s with 700,000-750,000 viewers. Even before the move to Monday nights, the ratings for the show were steadily declining but they took a huge hit after the move.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking TNA for giving it a shot. While I do think they really tried to take on the WWE before they were ready, I give them props for taking a gamble. But, the fact of the matter is that the gamble didn't pay off.
As for the ratings going up with the whole "They are coming" scenario, it's far too early to tell. After all, we don't know for certain who "They" are yet. The most popular theory out there right now is that "They" are going to be an ECW faction of wrestlers comprising of at least Tommy Dreamer, Raven & Stevie Richards. If that's what "They" ultimately turn out to be, then I wouldn't expect TNA's numbers to do up by very much, if they were to go up at all. Dreamer, Raven & Richards have never been big draws in any company they've worked for and their best days overall were in ECW. Right now, TNA has got Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff, Kevin Nash, Sting, Jeff Jarrett, Jeff Hardy and Rob Van Dam, guys that are much bigger draws and stars than Dreamer Raven or Richards. Even though TNA is loaded with well known wrestlers, they've failed to produce big numbers for TNA or to help it reach a new level audience wise.
Now, this next bit is more of a personal opinion than anything else, but I don't believe "They" or Abyss becoming a monster again is going to increase the numbers. I might be wrong about "They", depending upon who "They" are. If it's a gaggle of old ECW wrestlers, then I'm not going to bet the farm on TNA's ratings increasing. Another influx of wrestlers in their 40s isn't going to deliver much in my view. As for Abyss, the guy's just not a draw and never has been. I think that he's a better and more interesting character now than from what we've seen of him the past few years, but he's still not a draw.
