What Was That About Brooke Hogan Being A Waste Of Space?

[ABMorales787]

he 1/17 episode of TNA Impact Wrestling drew a 1.15 cable television rating, with an average of 1.6 million viewers over two hours. This is up from last week's show, which produced a 1.02 cable rating, with a 1.3 million average. We will have a complete quarter-hour viewership breakdown when it becomes available, but more than likely the final segment featuring the wedding of Bully Ray and Brooke Hogan did well leading into Bellator MMA's live debut on Spike TV.

So despite the wedding being about Brooke Hogan and having a near obvious Ace's & 8's involvement, that didn't stop the segment from drawing a significantly larger number of viewership than anything else TNA's done in a good while? I guess that angle wasn't a waste of TV after all. But then again, we should know what the people want to see.

People have been nagging about the storyline for months. Self included. But I also said, I wasn't going to worry about it because it was filler holding out for something major. I'm guessing the marriage and Taz joining the bikers was that "bigger thing". But more to the point, It displayed a level of impatience from people here.

http://forums.wrestlezone.com/showthread.php?t=245051

Oh yeah. I'm pointin' fingers, brother. I'm lookin' right atcha, IDR. Whatcha gonna do now, brother? *stiffens upper lip*

This isn't a matter of shoving Hogan down our throats (OK, maybe just a little). It was a matter of an angle that was built up and well advertised. It nabbed a good amount of viewers (yeah, the numbers aren't stellar, but it's a boost on the TNA scale). Did Bellator's debut had anything to do with it? If it did, I doubt it was significant. You don't change the channel to watch an upcoming show 15 minutes in advance. You do it to see what's airing before that show starts. And it was Brooke Hogan and that fat dude in the tye dye who stuttered getting married. And Hogan sticking his lip up and looking like Woody Woodpecker on steroids. And an attack from a biker gang.

Will the interest stay up next week? One can only hope. I mean the main event is Jeff Hardy vs Chris Daniels in a World title match after all. And just like the wedding, it has gotten a good amount of time to invest in and promote.

 

[BigDaddyKewl]

They did a good job hyping up the wedding. You know when there's a wedding on wrestling there is going to be some kind of twist and some bodies going to crash it. I watched the segment with my family and we all laughed our asses off when Taz and Aces and 8 ruined everything. Looks like the Hogans still have some drawing power.

 

[prush80]

But what are they going to do next, I watched because it was a wrestling wedding, most people were. No matter who is getting married in wrestling, i'll watch it blow up and get crazy. You can't do a wedding every week and I believe most people won't watch the "fallout." Taz and A&8s is not a big deal, not enough for people to watch next week. They need to do something with A&8s, something big or end it. They have no main event caliber guy, they barely have a mid-card guy in Devon. And if D-lo is the leader, what is that going to do?

 

[kcoe24]

I'm glad it got a good rating cause it was a storyline that made sense and was developed well. I would of liked it more had it been a musical like Haiku Hogan wanted but i can live with what we got.

As for how this might affect future booking from TNA i hope they realize that the reason it did well was cause it was developed over months and hyped well and not just cause we love Brooke, and Hulk.

3 weeks ago i hated this storyline and wanted it to end but when Bully proposed to Brooke i became interested again as they did something they didn't keep siting in place where bully and brooke deny they are a couple and hulk doesn't believe them. They moved the story forward and i became interested last week they moved it forward and i'm even more interested. you don't need to move it forward every week you can stall a little every now and then but you can't run in place for weeks with the story.

The next step is obviously Bully joining the fight against A&8's and A&8's continues to harass Brooke like they have the last two weeks. once they finally beat them once and for all we finally get the happy ending and the real wedding (which should be a musical).

 

[dudedudedude]

It's a wedding in wrestling. It could be Perry Saturn and Mopie getting married and it would still pop a rating. HugetitsTrannyHogan had nothing to do with it. If you actually think she is the reason for the pop in ratings, I suggest you go back to watching someone a little more your style, like 16 and pregnant, or catfish.

 

[NotoriousMEAT]

I'm just gonna throw something out there. While watching Impact last week at my parents house, both my sister and mom would making their away around the house.. each individually hearing about the "Brooke Hogan wedding". At first I kayfabed them, and assured them it was real sarcastically before letting them know it was indeed part of the show. They would each walk away to keep doing their own thing. Surprising to me, they both came back to living room later to sit down and watch the entire segment. They were asking about Bully Ray, why Hulk didn't approve, and were even into the Aces & Eights attack. I don't think either one of them have ever heard of TNA, but they know what it is now.

Well done TNA.

 

[terrylee]

I'm just gonna throw something out there. While watching Impact last week at my parents house, both my sister and mom would making their away around the house.. each individually hearing about the "Brooke Hogan wedding". At first I kayfabed them, and assured them it was real sarcastically before letting them know it was indeed part of the show. They would each walk away to keep doing their own thing. Surprising to me, they both came back to living room later to sit down and watch the entire segment. They were asking about Bully Ray, why Hulk didn't approve, and were even into the Aces & Eights attack. I don't think either one of them have ever heard of TNA, but they know what it is now.

Well done TNA.

No one cares.

Anyways, I agree with you. This is like when people pay money to see movies like Epic Movie or whatnot in movie theaters - even if the content is horrific, it'll bring those kinds of viewers in. So even if people dislike Brooke Hogan, at least it's bringing in attention and discussion.

 

[Shadow of Darkness]

So despite the wedding being about Brooke Hogan and having a near obvious Ace's & 8's involvement, that didn't stop the segment from drawing a significantly larger number of viewership than anything else TNA's done in a good while? I guess that angle wasn't a waste of TV after all. But then again, we should know what the people want to see.

People have been nagging about the storyline for months. Self included. But I also said, I wasn't going to worry about it because it was filler holding out for something major. I'm guessing the marriage and Taz joining the bikers was that "bigger thing". But more to the point, It displayed a level of impatience from people here.

http://forums.wrestlezone.com/showthread.php?t=245051

Oh yeah. I'm pointin' fingers, brother. I'm lookin' right atcha, IDR. Whatcha gonna do now, brother? *stiffens upper lip*

This isn't a matter of shoving Hogan down our throats (OK, maybe just a little). It was a matter of an angle that was built up and well advertised. It nabbed a good amount of viewers (yeah, the numbers aren't stellar, but it's a boost on the TNA scale). Did Bellator's debut had anything to do with it? If it did, I doubt it was significant. You don't change the channel to watch an upcoming show 15 minutes in advance. You do it to see what's airing before that show starts. And it was Brooke Hogan and that fat dude in the tye dye who stuttered getting married. And Hogan sticking his lip up and looking like Woody Woodpecker on steroids. And an attack from a biker gang.

Will the interest stay up next week? One can only hope. I mean the main event is Jeff Hardy vs Chris Daniels in a World title match after all. And just like the wedding, it has gotten a good amount of time to invest in and promote.

Wooooaahhh... Killjoy breaks the fourth-wall of Wrestlezone. Anyways jokes apart, but the thing that Killjoy pointed out was absolutely correct. We know that all IWC people wanted the soap opera types of storylines to be out of TNA. Thats the reason they hated Russo, but history shows other facts. These storylines draws ratings. No matter who writes it - Russo or Prichard, these storylines have always been successful even considering the fact that large portion on IWC doesnt like these stuffs. Just 10 days ago I posted a thread about the annul ratings of TNA.
( http://forums.wrestlezone.com/showthread.php?t=247597 )
And what I focused was the fact how the so-called Confusing, lame and idiotic storylines of Russo (most of IWC used to say these words for him) drew much more ratins than the Prichard and Lagana Programming. The fact is simple to make the wrestling survive, TNA needs to take care of the general audience, not the IWC. These Internet marks (i am also a part of it though) will always see the show no matter what you give. These people will always criticize you no matter what product you give. So, dont tension about them. Think about casual viewers. Thats the reason Russo had great ratings in Attitude era. Thats the reason why TNA put 1.17 average ratings in 2011 (whereas just 1.01 in 2012). Check it.

 

[Mr Mikey Mike]

It was a wrestling wedding, of course that segment was going to be the highest rated segment of the show. This has nothing to do with Brooke Hogan. Bully Ray could've had a wedding with any other knockout and the rating would have been the same as the one with Brooke. Hell, I think Eric Young's and Odb's wedding was probably the highest rated segment of that show. Will this weeks impact rating match last weeks? No.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Oh come on man, that's bullshit and you know it. It's a fucking wedding angle and you've watched wrestling enough to know and you've got enough knowledge to know that wedding angles on wrestling television shows draw big interest. People always tune in to see what will be the big swerve that takes place. Wrestling weddings always pop a rating, whether the angle is great, completely sucks or is somewhere in the middle. I predicted in another thread that the wedding angle would generate the biggest ratings TNA has seen in years. The wedding segment itself generated a 1.34 Nielsen Rating, which is probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 million viewers or more. Those are numbers that TNA hasn't seen for any segment since about the early days of Hulk Hogan's start in TNA.

They could've have Bully Ray "marry" an AIDS riddled chimpanzee and it would've popped a strong rating for TNA, probably even more so for the sheer absurdity.

 

[ABMorales787]

Oh come on man, that's bullshit and you know it. It's a fucking wedding angle and you've watched wrestling enough to know and you've got enough knowledge to know that wedding angles on wrestling television shows draw big interest. People always tune in to see what will be the big swerve that takes place. Wrestling weddings always pop a rating, whether the angle is great, completely sucks or is somewhere in the middle. I predicted in another thread that the wedding angle would generate the biggest ratings TNA has seen in years. The wedding segment itself generated a 1.34 Nielsen Rating, which is probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 million viewers or more. Those are numbers that TNA hasn't seen for any segment since about the early days of Hulk Hogan's start in TNA.

They could've have Bully Ray "marry" an AIDS riddled chimpanzee and it would've popped a strong rating for TNA, probably even more so for the sheer absurdity.

What kind of excuse is that? People have done nothing but shit all over this storyline and then it whips out TNA's strongest rated segments ever. My point was that it clearly showed people were wrong. If weddings were such a guaranteed ratings boost, we'd see those type of angles more often.

 

[Rayne]

What kind of excuse is that? People have done nothing but shit all over this storyline and then it whips out TNA's strongest rated segments ever. My point was that it clearly showed people were wrong. If weddings were such a guaranteed ratings boost, we'd see those type of angles more often.

1.15 isn't even close to TNA's strongest segment ever. That was happening two years ago, when TNA was pulling in shows that would rate 1.6.

J-H is right; it's a wrestling wedding. You might as well scream "MAJOR PLOT ADVANCEMENT TONIGHT" in the program listings. They always draw, because something's going to happen. Is your argument "more people tune in to watch something when they are told in advance something will happen?" I absolutely agree. Dixie Carter barely uses Twitter anymore thanks to that.

The reason why we don't see the wrestling wedding "more often" is because we're already seeing it about as often as people can stomach while still being able to use it as a plot device in the future. It's not the wedding itself that's drawing people, it's what it means for the overall plot arc.

 

[fenderjapan]

Wrestling weddings almost always result in someone turning face or heel, people know that and that's why they watch.

TNA can't have a wrestling wedding every week so as much as it is a nice boost it is no sign of things to come nor is it guaranteed to be sustainable in any respect.

But well executed nontheless.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

The segment drew, as others have more eloquently illustrated before me, because it was a wrestling wedding, not because Bully Ray was going to wed a really butch tranny. That butch tranny could have been replaced with anyone else on the roster who we think might have a vagina, and it still would have been equally as effective. Well, maybe not equally as effective, since the angle was also done to rope in Hulk, but so long as you still managed to tie him in, it'd have worked.

I'm not crediting Brooke with much of anything here, other than managing to keep her nipples off live television after having both her tits come flopping out during the mayhem. Who wears a fuckin' strapless dress to a wrestling wedding — seriously?

 

[Papa Pillman]

The end of my Impact reaction post on the official review thread--->

I'm predicting that episode will see biggest rating TNA has done in quite awhile.

Patting myself on the back.

Yes Impact drew a 1.15, which edged the 1/3/13 episode to make it the highest rated overall show since August, but what's even bigger...

The entire second hour didn't draw a single quarter-hour below 1.19. And to the main point of the thread, the final quarter-hour of the show drew a massive 1.34 number.

Oh, and the lowest rated segment of the show? The second quarter-hour featuring the "biggest draw" Jeff Hardy brought in a 1.02.

 

[Rayne]

The end of my Impact reaction post on the official review thread--->


Patting myself on the back.

Yes Impact drew a 1.15, which edged the 1/3/13 episode to make it the highest rated overall show since August, but what's even bigger...

The entire second hour didn't draw a single quarter-hour below 1.19. And to the main point of the thread, the final quarter-hour of the show drew a massive 1.34 number.

Oh, and the lowest rated segment of the show? The second quarter-hour featuring the "biggest draw" Jeff Hardy brought in a 1.02.

I don't think anyone's arguing that the show wouldn't be a draw (although I've said that I personally had no interest in it), but they're arguing that Brooke Hogan isn't the reason for it, which is completely correct. The only way Brooke Hogan could draw is if TNA had promised people she'd show nipple. Missed opportunities, alas.

What really surprises me about this whole thing is Hulk not telling his daughter to move her arm so she could finally sell something when she told him her tit popped out.

 

[D-Man]

SOOO many factors play into Killjoy's opinions on what Brooke has done in TNA since her arrival. Just for a minute, let me play devil's advocate so we can view this from all angles.

First off all, when Brooke was brought in, her main purpose was to be the "Head of the Knockouts Division." This role has evolved into the current wedding storyline. Now, did TNA bring Brooke in with the intentions of using her in this angle since day one? If that were the case, then kudos to TNA because it worked. However, I highly doubt they thought this far ahead during the hiring process. If I'm right, that still makes her a waste of space; except now she's a waste of space who got a good angle written for her after everyone realized that she brought next to nothing to the table since her debut.

On the positive, this is a beam of light for TNA. However, it's going to be short-lived. Guys, just because they had a single spike in the ratings for the wedding segment, that doesn't mean they're digging themselves out of a ratings hole and Brooke is their messiah. Like it's already been stated in previous posts, wedding angles always tend to draw big numbers because they almost always bring some type of special twist that viewers wish to see. Plus, everyone likes to watch weddings; even non-wrestling fans.

But all this doesn't take away from the fact that they do more harm than good to their product. Their only consistency is that they have no consistency. Every now and again, really good moments and matches pop up in the sea of shit that they televise. Until they can balance things out, TNA fans need to stop fooling themselves into thinking that there's going to be a change in the guard just because one angle of one episode drew a positive review. Let's see if they follow up on it properly. I'm not holding my breath until they do.

 

[SinCityBlitz]

What kind of excuse is that? People have done nothing but shit all over this storyline and then it whips out TNA's strongest rated segments ever. My point was that it clearly showed people were wrong. If weddings were such a guaranteed ratings boost, we'd see those type of angles more often.

Unless the wedding segment carried over to the rest of the show and the next week/s it's a failure. It's the same with Vince bringing the Rock back. Once The Rock is gone the numbers are going right back to where they were. I am surprised that Hardy drew so low.

It's great that they got a ratings pop but those type of things never help long term. If I am wrong then congrats to TNA but it's going to take more than one or two shows to see if the pop was a success.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

What kind of excuse is that? People have done nothing but shit all over this storyline and then it whips out TNA's strongest rated segments ever. My point was that it clearly showed people were wrong. If weddings were such a guaranteed ratings boost, we'd see those type of angles more often.

Not an excuse, it's just the way it is. The thing about wedding angles is that they're novelties. Do you know why TNA stopped doing, eventually 3-4 minute gimmick matches almost on a weekly basis? Because they were devaluing the novelty of those matches. A "street fight" on free television every so often is a treat, something that doesn't happen all that often. It's unique. When you have street fights every other week or even once a month, the unique disappears and becomes part of the status quo. Same thing with wedding angles. They're only done very rarely and are usually done as part of a big storyline that the fans are behind, the company is behind or a combination of both. Wedding angles as a whole are generally cheesy and people tune in generally to see what the big reveal is going to be or whatever swerve is planned.

I give no credit to Brooke Hogan for this because people would have tuned in to see anybody in Brooke's spot to marry Bully Ray. They didn't tune in for Brooke, they tuned in to see what the big swerve was going to be. The show popped a good rating for TNA, one of the biggest they've had in a very long time. If they're able to somehow maintain momentum off this going forward, then I'd be willing to admit that I may have underestimated Brooke. If it's ultimately this that was to get TNA over the hump and draw more and new viewers on a regular basis, then that might be an indicator of something.

 

[waylon p]

They could've have Bully Ray "marry" an AIDS riddled chimpanzee and it would've popped a strong rating for TNA, probably even more so for the sheer absurdity.

Wait...was I watching the wrong show? Could have sworn that is what happened.

But seriously, folks...you all realize that it was BOTH, right. Wrestling wedding. Brooke Hogan. The two combined added 300,000 viewers. That is less than one American in a thousand. Are you telling me that one in over two thousand people have not heard of Brooke Hogan and would be willing to tune in to her wedding? Keep in mind that over half the population is female.

Just saying'.

 

[AzLunchbox]

I'll tell you why there was a ratings pop.

Last week I was at work, minding my own business, doing my thing, when suddenly they started talking about the wedding on the radio! Not a wrestling show or anything, but a regular radio show was talking about it! (And acting like it was real)

That is the first time I had EVER heard about "tna" or impact wrestling outside of the show and the internet. And i've been a follower of them since they got their first tv deal before spike.

They got the word out, they put their name in peoples mouths.

The reason for the ratings pop wasn't Brooke Hogan, It wasn't Hulk Hogan, It wasn't Bully Ray or Aces & 8s or anything like that.

It was one word......ADVERTISING!

I hope Impact wrestling learns from that.

 

[Wald]

I liked the wedding angle and I'm still hoping this turns out to be Brooke & Bully Ray behind Aces & 8s, I actually see money in them as a heel pairing

 

[MrAnderson123]

This may cause some heat or whatnot but I don't care.
Brooke being in TNA isn't a bad thing.
People think she's ugly as fuck, but I think she's pretty tidy.
The name value is big, as the ratings show.
Her being head of the KNockouts isn't bad either when you think of it.
Seriously guys. Lighten up.

 

[waylon p]

It was still a waste of space. Most of it had to be edited due to some botching.

Wait. TNA isn't live anymore? Bummer.

The wedding was kinda crap, but I have seen worse. Chuck and Billy spring to mind. My biggest problem with the whole thing was that dreamer and spike did not get involved once the attack started, on either side. They just kinda slipped away. Pick a side, guys.

 

[Papa Pillman]

First let's address this piece of pure ignorant idiocy...

It was still a waste of space. Most of it had to be edited due to some botching.

That episode was LIVE buddy. Those TNA "editors" really can work on the fly.

Now to the real point here...

I don't think anyone's arguing that the show wouldn't be a draw (although I've said that I personally had no interest in it), but they're arguing that Brooke Hogan isn't the reason for it, which is completely correct. The only way Brooke Hogan could draw is if TNA had promised people she'd show nipple. Missed opportunities, alas.

Okay it only drew because it was a wedding that had been pre-hyped. The talent involved or success of the segment had no bearing...

But what are they going to do next, I watched because it was a wrestling wedding, most people were. No matter who is getting married in wrestling, i'll watch it blow up and get crazy. You can't do a wedding every week and I believe most people won't watch the "fallout." Taz and A&8s is not a big deal, not enough for people to watch next week.

They tuned in for the wedding, no one cares about the fallout...

It's a wedding in wrestling. It could be Perry Saturn and Mopie getting married and it would still pop a rating. HugetitsTrannyHogan had nothing to do with it.

Seems like a mini-consensus, huh?

And to drive it home, the "piece de resistance"...

It was a wrestling wedding, of course that segment was going to be the highest rated segment of the show. This has nothing to do with Brooke Hogan. Bully Ray could've had a wedding with any other knockout and the rating would have been the same as the one with Brooke. Hell, I think Eric Young's and Odb's wedding was probably the highest rated segment of that show. Will this weeks impact rating match last weeks? No.

Last week's Impact drew a 1.15 rating. The best since August. And "it was all because of a wedding".

The wedding itself drew a 1.34. That's a huge number for TNA. But it is to be expected since they hyped a wedding, and people will tune in for that this week, but won't care next week. right?

Sounds logical.
Let's Fast Forward to this latest follow-up episode...

Impact drew a 1.17.

Wait, you mean there was no big pre-hyped gauranteed to draw wedding segment, but the rating went UP?

But what about the segment that opened the second hour? You know the same segment time slot that featured Bully/Brooke this week? It had to drop because this angle and especially Brooke could never be a draw unless there's an overhyped wedding to support it, right?

That segment drew a 1.36.

Wait, you mean that this week's Brooke Hogan non-wedding segment drew a BIGGER number than the wedding drew?

Now please tell me all about how the angle sucks. Tell me how no one cares to see Brooke. Tell me how people only tuned in to see a wedding. Tell me how no one will care about the aftermath. Tell me about how the ratings will instantly fall back the next week.

I can't wait to hear it.

TNA produced a very successful segment last week. Like it or not Brooke was a major part of why the segment was successful. This angle has worked and people cared enough to tune back in to watch it continue to progress.

It obviously now goes beyond a "wedding".

Will this weeks impact rating match last weeks? No.

No, huh?

Actually Yes.