What Would You Do to Save TNA?

[T2KFreeker]

Uhm . . . someone want to clarify what, exactly, are we saving TNA from? At the end of the day, the company is operating in the black, is the second wrestling promotion in the country, and puts on a decent show. Save TNA from the Internet Professors that think they know everything there is to know about wrestling. I know how you could save TNA from yourself: Sit back, watch the show, and enjoy what they are doing. Get pissed at what they are doing? Stop watching. It's that simple.

 

[Dizzy]

Like I said, every talent needs time and 2 hours isn't enough. The logic that "WWE guys" make the company shit is beyond stupid. TNA wasn't shit in 2004 because they have no household names.

They managed to make Beer Money and the Beautiful People legit house hold names and notable among wrestling fans and in history books. However, AJ Styles and Joe and guys like that are never going to be that good.

Atleast Beer Money are originals that managed to turn into draws. No, Sting, Angle, Hardy = little sponsorships. Nobody gives a shit about homegrown guys. If I approach a company like MLB and want to partner up, I cannot say "We are a wrestling company with AJ Styles, Samoa Joe" nobody knows who they are and they wouldn't be any better off in WWE either because nobody cares about them. Nobody cares about Daniel Bryan either for example.

So, again. FIXING time management is what TNA needs. Not some "save" bullshit that is a repetitive phrase for the last 6 years. Re organize the roster and divisions, fire some talent and sign some talent.

My plan for 2012 would be: 3 Hours of Thursday IMPACT WRESTLING 8pm - 11:02pm. The Network as the authority with either Bischoff, Jarrett or Dixie as their representative.

World Title Division: Booby Roode (face of division), James Storm, Mr. Anderson, Jeff Hardy (Eventually), Kurt Angle, Gunner, AJ Styles.

X-Division Title Division: Austin Aries (face of division), Jeese Sorensen (managed by Flair), Kid Kash, Brian Kendrick, Doug Williams, Zema Ion, Mark Haskins, Tony Nese, Robbie E.

Television Title Division: Bully Ray, Magnus, Mr. Pec-Tacular, Samoa Joe, Daniels, AJ Styles, RVD, Eric Young, Abyss, Murphy (Repackage him), Gunner, Jeff Jarrett.

Tag Team Title Division: Motor City Machine Guns (face of the division), The Reverend (Devon) & Pope, Crimson & Matt Morgan, Mexican America, Daniels & Jimmy Jacobs, Ink Inc (with Von Eerie).

Knockouts Division: Mickie James (face of division), Madison Rayne, Madison Eagle, Christina Von Eerie, Tara, Winter.

Knockouts Tag Team Division: Beautiful People (face of division), Winter & Tara, Traci & Ms. Tessmacher, Sarita & Rosita, ODB & Jackie, Gail Kim & Mia Yim.

1 hour Weekend (Saturday Night) XPLOSION 9pm - 10:02pm. 3 matches total. Divisions: Television Championship Division & Knockouts Tag Team Division.

Hire: Gail Kim, Christina Von Eerie, Jimmy Jacobs.
Vacation: Sting & Hogan.

There TNA is "fixed" with 4 hours of wrestling, new talent, 2 more hours of wrestling for all talent, the originals take up the main event including established main eventers. You're welcome.

 

[Brian in Austin]

I'm not sure there's anything that can be done to 'save' TNA that hasn't already been tried. From a business perspective, I don't see them ever being a big wrestling company unless somehow they land several huge superstars off the WWE roster, which, again, I don't ever see happening.

Here's the thing. What WWE has to offer that TNA doesn't is stability and a future. When you're a worker like say Randy Orton, or John Cena, you are all but guaranteed a future and an afterlife (life after WWE) if you will. Flair was offered a job post-retirement and turned it down. Nash was offered a legends contract, HHH is now front office, and even Steph is working the office and has for some time now. Point is, TNA can't offer their stars this kind of opportunity and stability. I see TNA as a stopping off point for older wrestlers transitioning toward retirement, and younger guys trying to get noticed by WWE and hopefully given an opportunity to make that jump when it's time.

I see TNA as the 'little engine that could' organization that, as long as the money lasts, will be around. Problem is, I don't see the money lasting so I think their years are numbered.

 

[WrestlingFanSinceThe80s]

How I would save TNA/IMPACT Wrestling? Here is how I would SAVE the company:

1) Work with Spike TV and do a business partnership with the Spike TV network so the company can be in business for another 5 years.

2) Continuing pushing the younger and new wrestlers in the company such as Matt Morgan, Bobby Roode, Austin Aries, The British Invasion.

3) Push the Knockouts Division AND X-Division.

4) Push the Television championship title.

5) Have pay per views outside of the IMPACT Zone. This is the only way the company can make money.

My TNA/IMPACT Wrestling PPV Calendar:

January 2012-Genesis held at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.

February 2012-Against All Odds held at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

March 2012-No Surrender held at the Extraco Events Center in Waco, Texas.

April 2012-Lockdown held at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

May 2012-Sacrifice held at the Family Arena in St. Louis, Missouri.

June 2012-Slammiversary held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

July 2012-Destination X held at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

August 2012-Hardcore Justice held at the McKenzie Arena in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

September 2012-Victory Road held at the 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore, Maryland.

October 2012-Bound For Glory held at the New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana.

November 2012-Turning Point held at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.

December 2012-Final Resolution held at M.S.G.

 

[Vintage]

Traci Brooks and Ms Tessmacher.. I like that idea. I wonder if they could get away with being called TNA

 

[Wwefan]

Most people on this thread are calling for hogan, flair, bischoff, and Russo to be fired. I say don't fire them. Number one reason why is that they're lucky that they have jobs in this economy. Second reason is that all four have done nothing to any of you people personally that would warrant a dismissal. Third reason: hogan, bischoff, and flair have only been on impact for a little over a year. Give them a chance before you say fire them.

Now I just find the actual topic of this thread funny. What exactly does Tna need saving from? They're making money, and theyre more well known than indie wrestling promotions.

This part of my post is for those that believe everything they read on the Internet. Unless you are a part of tna's financial department, please stop claiming that they have tons of sponsors, and have better viewership in other countries than wwe. I mean am I really supposed to believe people who sit on a computer and insult eachother, about whether or not Tna has sponsors? Come on.

Oh, and this has to be the best part, some people don't like Tna, and they get bashed. Some people like Tna, and they get bashed. For the love of all things holy and sacred to you people, we live in a world where most people don't give a fuck about your opinions. So stop bashing each other, grab a beer, and watch your wrestling shows.

And last but thank god it's not least, can the oh so smart iwc please stop and think for a moment that Wwe and Tna only care about the casual fan, and what that fan does for them, not a fan who thinks that because they're on the 'net, they're suddenly smarter than everybody else.

I'm probably gonna get bashed for this, but then I'm from new York, which means that I could just not give a shit about whatever the he'll the basher is going to say. Well, that's my post. Might be the only one in which I don't care what people say about it.

 

[WWEIsLife2]

Ok I will chime here,

Get rid of Hogan & Russo,keep Bischoff because he can do some good for a Wrestling Company.

Get out of the Impact Zone (especially for PPVs). I have stressed this enough time and again on other Forums. Yes I know they are taking Impact on the Road more but the PPVs need it more than TV.

Stop with the inconsistent Storylines. Such as Mr Anderson flip flopping back & forth every week & month. 2 Months ago he was Champion and was feuding with Sting now they are buddy buddy & hugging? As The Miz would say Really? Also what about Devon & Pope being taken out of the Tournament? Now they are magically back and going after the Tag Titles. Cmon TNA did you think nobody would catch that?

Stop the whole power struggle thing and appoint someone as the LONE person to run the Show. One week its Hogan,the next its Sting,and the next its the Network. If WWE can do it why can't they?

Continue pushing the young guys like Beer Money,Matt Morgan,and the like. Get AJ Styles out of the Mid-card and back into the Main Event. He should be the John Cena of TNA.

Fire Mike Tenay and get someone better to call the Matches. He was fine in WCW as the 3rd guy but as the Lead guy he is terrible.

Make the X-Divison like it was and not the joke they have turned it into.

Get Karen Jarrett off our TVs.

Get a secondary Show like Smackdown or even Superstars because TNA tries to cram so much into the 2 Hours they have its a little silly.

I could think of a bunch other stuff but thats good enough for now.

 

[BlueMeanie]

I love the new and interesting ways that people come up with to list the same tired complaints.

as for your points...
1. Bicsoff has been a great addition from a production standpoint, Hogan will be in a less commanding on screen role after BFG, and Russo has been doing a decent job getting the stories back on track(and he's done it despite a few curveballs mucking up the story structure).

2.Morgan is not championship material yet(not even close), and RVD young? really??

3.Anderson is an asshole- he'll do what's best for him at the time. Joining Immortal to "protect" his title interest made character sense from that perspective. Once the title was gone, so was his need for Immortal. And creating a "Joker Sting" is no different than creating a "Crow Sting", so he's done this before... and IMHO it's still worked this time around, and kept this run of Sting's from being stale.

4. I agree on this point, but the biggest problem that exists right now is the health of Chris Sabin, once he's back the division will likely follow. And the Dudley's spent alot of time in the tag-team division helping put over teams like Beer Money. Now they've moved onto another phase- one that Bubba has embraced and succeeded at, now you want him to take a step back??

5. The Angle/Jarrett fued says hello

Point is... there's a general complaint thread for this tired BS.

What would save TNA?

If all the mindless sheep with the same opinions on the internet, who won't stop saying the same things, despite the fact that the product has been moving in the right direction, would shut up and see what happens by the end of the year, or just stop watching- that would help "save' the company.

In Summation... Captain Kirk, this planet doesn't need your "saving". Go play Captain Save-a-Ho somewhere else.

Sorry for the post. Seems that new people aren't welcome on this board. Didn't know about any previous posts. I apologize. Didn't know I would offend so many. Just wanted to know others opinions about how you would make TNA better. If you have posted on a thread before, why come on and rip me apart? Shows your mentality. Sad state of affairs here.

 

[Defekt]

Really the only thing TNA needs is better writers.

They have plenty of talent and recognizable names to work with.

Bischoff and Hogan don't need to be fired, they just need to be booked differently. WWE used both very effectively a few years ago.

If TNA featured interesting, concise, believable storylines it would make a world of difference. The WWE keeps people on the edge, because the storylines are logical and have a payoff. Things tend to happen in TNA without much rhyme or reason so there's less reason to keep up with it.

 

[Fenris]

Would love to hear from the disgruntled TNA fans out there. How would you improve the product?

I have a few ideas.

1. Get rid of Bischoff, Hogan and Russo immediately. Didn't TNA realize that these three guys ran WCW into the ground? Don't get it.

2. Make the TNA championship mean something. How many different TNA champions have there been in the last few months? They need to get a steady younger guy and build around him (i.e. A.J.Styles, Matt Morgan, Robert Roode, RVD)

3. Storylines, storylines, storylines. Improve them. Don't confuse me with one moment Mr. Anderson is a rebel, then he is a member of the Immortal ass-kissing club, then he is a rebel and an asshole again. Not to mention making Sting the Joker...C'mon.

4. Strengthen the tag team division. TNA has two of the best tag team wrestlers in the history of tag team wresting in Bubba Ray and D-Von. Let them show these younger guys what tag team wrestling is all about. Make the tag team championship mean something again.

5. One on One feuds. Bring them back. What is it with the Immortal against Fortune or whatever gang they put together. One on One. Like the good old days of Dusty Rhodes and Ric Flair. Lets put a good feud together. AJ Styles against Chris Daniels. Make these feuds last and not for the sake of a pay per view.

Thats all I have for now. Would love to see what you guys think.

Awww how precious, another "s"mark with a bullet point post highlighting all the IWC talking points. You've been owned by almost everyone else but i'll hit #1 and #5 at the least, then i'll play this little game.

First on #1, care to show me where and when those three in any combination were appointed executives of Time Warner? You know Time Warner right? Surely you do since you seem to have all the answers. Come on now. Yeah, Time Warner, the execs that DID NOT WANT TO OWN A PRO WRESTLING PRODUCT. That Time Warner. The Time Warner that was going to unload WCW irregardless. The same Time Warner execs(Brad Siegel, Jamie Kellner) that, you know, were best friends with WWF COO Stuart Snyder and BLOCKED a $40 million dollar sale of WCW to Fusient(Bischoffs company) to unload the product to Vince for $3 million?

Yeah, the death of WCW were out of those three's hands kid, learn your history. Here's another history lesson for you: WCW was doing similar ratings to the WWE's current and better attendance numbers than the current WWE. When Bischoff was fired the ratings were still in the 4's and Attendance was still +10,000. When Russo was fired the first time the ratings were in the mid 3's and attendance was in the 6,000-9,000 area. If that's failure then what's that make the WWE currently?

Onto #5.... The 4 Horsemen, Varsity Club and others say hi. BTW, LMAO@ Bringing up Dusty Rhodes and good booking in the same post. You got jokes I see. Never heard of the Dusty finish, eh?

Alrighty, now onto your questions on how I would "save" a company that doesn't need saved.

1: Despite somehow coming into ownership of TNA in this scenario I am just a guy online that's never worked in the business so i'm hiring people to handle it for me. My first contract will be going to the guy who took a company in debt, nearly out of business and about as big as ROH before he turned it into the #1 promotion in the WORLD for years on end. I am of course talking about Eric Bischoff getting a contract extension and additional powers.

2nd contract goes to the guy that made the business what it is today, Hulk Hogan. Thankfully unlike Dixie I have balls and will tell Spike to fuck off so Hogan can mentor the youth and not have to wrestle.

The 3rd name i'm giving a contract to is the man who did Attitude Era nearly two decades before Vince. The man that McMahon and Paul Heyman ripped off for years. The creative genius that was cutting edge without having to have a single tit flashed or a curse word spouted. The man whose plan for turning WCW around was to rebuild the company around Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Goldberg, DDP and Sting as he built new talent. I am talking about Kevin Sullivan. See despite just being a guy on the 'Net I know his work and it is great, Hogan and Bischoff wanted to bring him in with them and get along great with the man and I can think of nobody better to head up Creative.

4th contract goes to Vince Russo. Partially to piss guys like you off but mostly because he knows more than your Gabe Sapolski's, your Dave Lagana's, your Jim Cornette's, your Paul Heyman's and your Jim Ross' put together. He's a creative guy, with creative concepts and good storylines. The only issue I can see with him is that he can't do it all and can't lay out the matches themselves. That's why he won't be alone, he'll have Sullivan to help layout his ideas and an equal partner to brainstorm with....

#5 contract, Raven. He's a creative guy with fresh eyes plus he and Sullivan work GREAT together and can bounce good ideas off one another on a whim as some have seen in various interviews.

I may be a guy on the 'Net that happened into owning TNA in your scenario but even I can see that that trio clicking on all cylinders is a dream team.

Other hires: Fit Finley to layout the Knockouts matches and i'd tell Eric to hire me some scouts to scout the Indy's and Foreign promotions as well as some creative guys to help layout the matches with Sullivan.

2: As part of my current career I have to look at various trends in the economy and industry. I've applied that to wrestling before and noticed a trend throughout the years without fail. Every promotion that has ever been a success invested 1-3 years worth of effort and money into expanding their promotion and using those years to set it up so everything that is working at the time comes together into a certain type of product, a successful product at the same time. This has not only continued their success but expanded it.

Number two is telling Bischoff that this is what I desire and having him formulate the plan to accomplish it. He already is to the best of his ability anyways.

3: I would open the check book. Bischoff is correct, TNA needs to hit the road often and IW/PPV's need to be taped on the road. I'm willing to invest in that as part of #2, any idiot can see you can't grow if you don't put the work in. But i'd also open the check books to get more talent, better talent and to lure young talent from the WWE.

4: I'd explain to those I put in charge I eventually want a 2nd show, help me get there.

5: I'd explain to those in charge I want off of SpikeTV as soon as possible, so let's do what we can to get the rating as high as possible on Spike over the next 18-24 months while we work on getting on a better network like FX for Impact and WGN or something for the 2nd show.

6: I would hand those in charge a list of talent, I want these guys replaced within the next few years with better talent. I won't name names but they aren't the names 99% of the IWC throw around. In fact most of them are IWC favorites that are holding TNA back.

7: I presume since I own the #2 Wrestling promotion I am a multi millionare so I would call up the NWA and make them an offer they can't refuse to buy the NWA. That done I would do away with Indy affiliates and rebrand TNA as NWA.

8: Aside from all that i'd get the hell outa the way of those that know how to run successful wrestling promotions and let them do their jobs.

 

[EastCoastFan]

Step one: get rid of Vince Russo. He's been wanting to step down anyway, so show him the door!

Step two: find someone who knows what they're doing to run the wrestling side of the business. The way I understood it, for the longest time, Dixie Carter was a "hands-off" kind of boss and let Jeff Jarrett run the wrestling aspects until the whole triangle with Jeff, Kurt and Karen became public knowledge. Paul Heyman would be nice, but since he's already said no, ...

Step three: put together a serious marketing strategy.

Step four: weed out the guys who are too old. Sting, Hogan, Flair, ... are past their prime. Let them head off into the sunset.

 

[Fenris]

Stop stealing talent from WWE, cheapens the brand and makes it look like a second place chump in a bigger companies shadow.

*Yawn* WWF circa 1996-2005:
Steve Austin(WCW)
The Undertaker(WCW)
Mick Foley(WCW)
Triple H(WCW)
Shawn Michaels(AWA)
Farooq(WCW)
Bradshaw(GWF)
Brian Pillman(WCW)
Golddust(WCW)
Kane(USWA)
Jeff Jarrett(USWA)
Southern Justice(WCW)
LOD2000(NWA)
Commissioner Slaughter(AWA)
The Dudley Boyz(ECW)
Big Show(WCW)
Big Boss Man(WCW)
Jim Cornette(WCW)
Jim Ross(WCW)
Jerry Lawler(USWA)
Chris Jericho(WCW)
Eddie Guerrero(WCW)
Goldberg(WCW)
nWo(WCW)
Scott Steiner(WCW)
Chris Benoit(WCW)
Hurricane Helms(WCW)
Eric Bischoff(WCW)
Theodore Long(WCW)
Chuck Palumbo(WCW)
Johnny The Bull(WCW)
Ric Flair(WCW)
Booker T(WCW)
Marlena(WCW)
Perry Saturn(WCW)
Dean Malenko(WCW)
Lita(ECW)
Tazz(ECW)
Torrie Wilson(WCW)
Billy Kidman(WCW)
Stacey Keibler(WCW)
Miss Jacqueline(WCW)
Molly Holly(WCW)
RVD(ECW)
Vader(WCW)
Dr. Death(Mid-South)
New Midnight Express(ripoff of Jim Crockett Promotions)
Al Snow(ECW)
Colonel Parker(WCW)
Debra(WCW)
Rhino(ECW)
Terry Funk(NWA)
Vic Grimes(ECW)
Lance Storm(ECW/WCW)
The Mexicools(WCW)

I could keep going and I know I missed some. I think the point is made and we could go on for multiple posts if we went from sayyy 1984-2011.

Well, I view things a bit differently. If WCW had the balls to drop (or, maybe a middle ground, make less used - cause I do see what you mean) some of the headliners that they overused to no end, maybe they still would of been around. Maybe they wouldn't have gone south. Maybe if they had the nuts to sack Nash/Hall/Steiner/Savage etc. - maybe they could of been in WWE's place, or at least still around, maybe Booker/Jericho/Rey/Eddie could of been the headliners competing with HHH/Stone Cold/The Rock.

You mean the same Rey that didn't draw a dime and killed ratings when WWE made him a top guy? Sorry, midgets don't draw big numbers. Btw, public enemy #1 Vince Russo DID make Booker T the guy. Eddie was being pushed as a top guy with Benoit, he chose to walk off and quit instead. Or rather despite Kevin Sullivan pushing those two and starting to prove himself Stuart Snyder's buddies decided to release them mid push despite their request being months old.

But back in the 80's WWE did a drastic overhauling of the business,

If by "overhauling the business" you mean ripping off Jim Crockett's ideas left and right while signing every piece of talent that you could that was built by someone else then yes, yes they did "overhaul the business" I guess.

If TNA did something of the same,

Minus ripping off Jim Crockett TNA IS doing the same, you're currently bitching about it.

(WCW was the greatest thing in the world in 98, and all of sudden 99 hits and you know how that went. Albeit, they were very different companies. But the names on the posters read very much the same...)

Higher gates and ratings than WWE over the last several years? Yep, we know how that went, Vince's stooges at Time Warner killed it off anyways despite it still doing good business(Now now, you can't disagree without in turn stating the WWE is and has been doing shitty business for years, choose carefully) and despite being offered $40 million dollars to buy it by Bischoff.

 

[AGEOFPUNK]

Ok ok 1. TNA realize that Hogan knows what it takes in this business i like him from a booking stand-point. Bischoff is doing an excellent job with the writing and 3 if they didnt have them in charge no one would watch which means no ratings. Also a 1.5 and is pretty damn good compared to 0.6. If they were gone TNA would b like wwe superstars barely getting any viewers. Also i would take the Hogan regime over Carter any day the reason for this is because it seemed she would have the booker who ever it was put the TNA title on whoever the flavour of the month was @ that moment. Also the tag team division seems to be in good hands with Mexican America, British Invasion AND Beer Money along with the new tag team of pope/devon. If it was up to me though i would get rid of th tv belt it just seems worthless to me i would replace it with the rumored us title or something.

 

[PocketJokers]

@Fenris, I love debates, but I can accept when I'm out of my league in terms of knowledge on a subject - so congrats.

 

[VinnieSunshine]

I love how some people put ALL the blame on Time Warner.

Yeah...cause their the ones who made matches featuring Jay Leno, or Karl Malone, or Dennis Rodman. Oh wait...weren't Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff the ones who gave David Arquette the WCW title? Didn't Bischoff turn viewers away when he "tried" to spoil Foley (as Mankind) winning the WWE title? Nevermind the mind-numbing movie called Ready to Rumble, based on WCWs product.

ALLLL those factors didn't influence Time Warner in any way. WCW was starting to sink at the time of the sale. Im sure, rather than letting it sink and then try to sell it off, they took what they could get for it.

 

[TheHitMark-SirJoseOle]

I love how some people put ALL the blame on Time Warner.

Yeah...cause their the ones who made matches featuring Jay Leno, or Karl Malone, or Dennis Rodman. Oh wait...weren't Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff the ones who gave David Arquette the WCW title? Didn't Bischoff turn viewers away when he "tried" to spoil Foley (as Mankind) winning the WWE title? Nevermind the mind-numbing movie called Ready to Rumble, based on WCWs product.

ALLLL those factors didn't influence Time Warner in any way. WCW was starting to sink at the time of the sale. Im sure, rather than letting it sink and then try to sell it off, they took what they could get for it.

There's no doubt that some of the booking decisions turned off many viewers, but at the end of the day AOL Time Warner decided they no longer wanted to have WCW on their air waves which killed its momentum in trying to rebound from their financial and viewership woes. Again, if the original sale they had planned went through they would have had a minority interest in the company (without the same financial burdens) and would have kept WCW programming on Turner networks. Their viewership despite the fact that the numbers were not what they once where were still respectable in fact the ratings from WCW's dying days are akin to RAW these days.

Anyway, here's my reasoning for believing that despite the damage done to WCW in the year 2000, there was still hope for the organization:

Fusient buys World Championship Wrestling from CNN Money

Jamie Kellner ended up nixing the deal because he didn't want wrestling on the programming schedule anymore since he became the president of that division. Again WCW would not have been principally owned by Time Warner anymore and they would have reaped the benefits of WCW's viewership which was still decent. Yes, I concede that WCW's management obviously let the ball drop somewhere, but had the Fusient deal gone through maybe just maybe things could have gotten better. Who really knows? I can't say for sure. However I am not going to blame Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff or even Vince Russo solely, especially since I never worked a day in my life for WCW to know what really went on behind the scenes in that company.

 

[VinnieSunshine]

There's no doubt that some of the booking decisions turned off many viewers, but at the end of the day AOL Time Warner decided they no longer wanted to have WCW on their air waves which killed its momentum in trying to rebound from their financial and viewership woes. Again, if the original sale they had planned went through they would have had a minority interest in the company (without the same financial burdens) and would have kept WCW programming on Turner networks. Their viewership despite the fact that the numbers were not what they once where were still respectable in fact the ratings from WCW's dying days are akin to RAW these days.

Anyway, here's my reasoning for believing that despite the damage done to WCW in the year 2000, there was still hope for the organization:

Fusient buys World Championship Wrestling from CNN Money

Jamie Kellner ended up nixing the deal because he didn't want wrestling on the programming schedule anymore since he became the president of that division. Again WCW would not have been principally owned by Time Warner anymore and they would have reaped the benefits of WCW's viewership which was still decent. Yes, I concede that WCW's management obviously let the ball drop somewhere, but had the Fusient deal gone through maybe just maybe things could have gotten better. Who really knows? I can't say for sure. However I am not going to blame Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff or even Vince Russo solely, especially since I never worked a day in my life for WCW to know what really went on behind the scenes in that company.

Thats what Im saying. As far as the ratings go, yeah the ratings may have been back then what RAW is now, but in THAT time that was pretty bad ratings. To hold the top spot for so long and then just drop like that, maybe Time Warner didn't have any faith.

CW dropped (they decided not to renew the contract for those that want to be technical) Smackdown when it went and changed its programming schedule. Maybe that was what happened with Time Warner. Look at their programming block (or lack there of) now and tell me where WCW, or ANY wrestling show would fit in.

WE dont know what went down behind the scenes, and stories from everyone that does dont match up. So for the IWC to jump all over the three amigos like they do, I think its unfair. Who knows where TNA would be right now if it hadn't been for them. Have they made mistakes...yes. But hasn't Vince McMahon?

Ill end with this...Paul Heyman said it best, and its my favorite quote.
"You cannot achieve success without the risk of failure...you cannot achieve success if you fear failure. If you're not afraid to fail, man you have a chance to succeed. But you're never gonna get there unless you risk it, all the way." ~reference "Rise and Fall of ECW" DVD

 

[Fenris]

I love how some people put ALL the blame on Time Warner.

Who else should I blame, exactly? They are the ones that canceled the programming, not the 3 Amigos. THEY are the ones that opted to sell WCW to Vince for $37 MILLION dollars less than Eric Bischoff's offer, an offer that would have kept WCW in business and relocated the product onto different networks.

ALLLL those factors didn't influence Time Warner in any way.

According to pretty much everyone throughout the years who WOULD know and WERE there it didn't. Time Warner did. not. want. to. own. WCW. Period. Nor did they want to own the Atlanta Braves. They wanted the TV Empire, not Ted Turner's side hobbies. Hence why both were unloaded as soon as possible.

WCW was starting to sink at the time of the sale. Im sure, rather than letting it sink and then try to sell it off, they took what they could get for it.

What they could get for it? Fusient had a standing offer on the table, $40 million dollars. Fusient initiated negotiations with Fox and ABC to transition WCW programming to their Networks. Jamie Kellner locked Fusient out of the negotiations and nixed the talks with those two networks, then nixed WCW's programming on TNT and TBS. Fusient went BACK to Fox and ABC and had gotten deals in place. They then went back to Time Warner with the $40 million dollar offer back on the table. Kellner made the cancellation of WCW Programming effective immediately and closed the sale to the WWE who at the time employed his best friend as their COO for $37 million dollars LESS than what Fusient and Bischoff were willing to pay.

Yeah that whole thing doesn't quite fly man. WCW could have remained in business and turned itself around. Jamie Kellner and Brad Siegel, the two guys in charge of the whole deal made sure that would never happen so why WOULDN'T they receive the blame? Like Kevin Sullivan said, some people(those two) made some fat cash off the books with that deal. Interesting enough the WWE terminated Stuart Snyder's employment shortly after buying WCW, where he then went to work for.... You guessed it, Time Warner next to best buddies Jamie Kellner and Brad Siegel.

Back to the product itself real quick. Noone is saying there weren't missteps here and there. Every wrestling product in history has had them, those in existence now and those that come into existence later will also have them. Every promotion will grow, every promotion will shrink. That's the business. But I want to bring up Time Warner's expectations in regards to keeping WCW going.

According to Eric Bischoff, Vince Russo, Kevin Nash, Jimmy Hart, Kevin Sullivan, Hulk Hogan, DDP and pretty much everyone else who worked in a backstage capacity at the time the baseline numbers to keep the company going(although few believed then or now the company wouldn't have been sold anyways) were better the numbers the WWF were producing. Not lower the gap between the two and simply BEAT the WWF, beat THEIR NUMBERS. Their numbers at the time were ratings in the 6.5-7.4 region, buyrates around the 1.90 mark and attendance in the 40,000-75,000 range.

Let's ponder that for a moment. For WCW to stay on TNT and TBS they would have had to pack 40,000 people into every event, not go below a 6.5 rating AND get 2 million+ PPV buys EVERY MONTH. What's more as we seen each guy hired to run it was given a 3 month window to go from a 2.4 rating baseline, 0.60 PPV baseline and an average attendance gate of 9,000 to those numbers. See why I blame Time Warner yet? Their demands were absolutely impossible to reach, hell it took the WWF FOUR YEARS of building to reach those numbers yet everyone hired by Jamie Kellner had 3 months to get it done. While being as PG as possible.

Another thing about the booking, a few key points the IWC talking points leave out...

1: Harvey Schiller fired Eric Bischoff on September 10th, 1999. Two weeks after he got the ratings back up from a 3.4 average back above the 4.0 mark. People can try to spin it but a 4.0 head to head with both Raw and Monday Night Football? It was still a good rating.

2: Between Bischoff being fired and Russo taking over the ratings tanked right back down to a 2.6. Vince Russo's booking, as bad as it supposedly was during his first tour helped bring the ratings back above the 3.0 mark. The rating was a 3.5 the week before he was fired, almost a 1.0 increase over the number when he took over.

3: The Kevin Sullivan factor. Sullivan had been booking and scripting out the show to be built around Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Bill Goldberg, DDP and Sting. Scott Steiner as well now that I recall. While they were the top guys his plan was to build and push Shane Douglas and Booker T to replace DDP and Sting. His first order of business apon taking over the book was to put the title on Chris Benoit and set Eddie up in a U.S. Title feud that would quickly elevate him to the Main Event. The next night after the plans were laid Brad Siegel terminated Chris Benoits, Eddie Guerrero's, Dean Malenko's and Perry Saturn's contracts while giving Shane Douglas time off.

After Chris Benoit, the WCW World Champion walked onto Smackdown 3 days later with Malenko, Guerrero and Saturn the ratings never recovered. Sullivan was quickly used as the scapegoat and fired as head booker. They blew HIS plan, a plan that would have turned WCW around and fired HIM for it.

4: Between September of 1999 and April of 2000 the person running WCW changed FIVE TIMES. In a seven month period WCW had 5 different heads, each trying to build the company in their own direction. Between 09/1999 and 10/2000 the head of WCW changed hands SIX times. 6 different leaders and 6 different directions in a year.

I bring up the last one because as a fan that kept tuning in until the end I was frustrated and could see why the numbers shrank. Every 2-3 months everything was scrapped for something new, or that something new walked out on live WWF Programming. Kinda hard to grow and rebound when 1/4 of the way into a new plan and new angles the booker is fired or the talent is future endeavored to the WWF. Both fall on the shoulders of Time Warner, not the writers.

 

[Shivan]

"Saving" TNA. I'll agree I see this topic at least once per week. It's old, tiring, and highly repetitive at this point.

Yet I noticed I've never (until now) replied to a thread about it.

I've ran a small indy federation myself and before I hear the trampoline backyard comments I had James Storm, Chase Stevens, Andy Douglas, Ryan Wilson, and several local talents working weekly at my shows. In this respect, I do have some "inside" knowledge as to what it takes at the small local level to run a profitable show. So I'm going to address the points made by BlueMeanie, and try explaining how each helps or hurts the promotion.

1st the common fire Bischoff, Hogan, & Russo line. The most common thing here is to do this and hire Paul. So your saying that Paul can improve the TV production above that of what Bischoff is doing, that Paul has some cred in the hollywood arena, and would be able to aquire employees of a higher skill set. Yet Paul is Known for NOT having high production vaules while running ECW. I can not see where Paul alone would be able to improve the actual area that Bischoff oversees in TNA/IW. In an on air character standpoint Paul does hold an edge as having a bigger fan base, and could possibly draw more.

That's where Hogan comes in. There is honestly no way that Paul would ever out draw Hogan in any public appearance that had a wrestling tie in. Hogan & Flair, no matter how much they have tarnished their own legends recently, are still the reason many wrestlers aged 25-40 are actually in the business now. Name any other wrestler from the 1984 - 1992 era that has as much draw power as Hogan or Flair that TNA/IW could sign.

Now extend that and add the other IWC top names as far as star power through the high ratings 90's period. Done? Ok now take out all those names that are working in some capacity for WWE. Then all those that are no longer with us. Who is left? Sting, Goldberg, Angle, Lesnar, Foley. TNA/IW has Sting & Angle. Lesnar is UFC period. Foley has came and left, and Goldberg is a risky mix to test waters with.

Paul could bring in ex ECW talent.... Oh wait EV2.... Nevermind....

So that leaves Russo, and honestly it's a 50/50 wash in this area IMO. There are so many hands in the pot when it comes to writing. Understand this guys, once in the ring the workers are the actors, and you really only got one take to film the scene correctly. If you do re-shoot look at how easily it gets out that you did a re-do. Russo gets to lay out the programs and write goals out, but what we see in the ring, and what goes on outside it can greatly change 6 months worth of a build at any time. Is it Russo's fault that every time he puts the title on anyone other than Sting or Anderson they have outside the ring issues? So is it Russo's fault that he ends up having to keep Anderson in a switchable heel/face role? Is he being smart or dumb in not switching up other programs that are progressing and building the future stars just to fill in the empty spots when there is an injury or arrest?

This also takes into #2 on his points. Making the world title have meaning. I see having a title change often as showing that there are several credible threats meaning more main event level talent. Also I see TNA/IW has having to deal with the arrests/injuries of the performers when they do get the title(s). This point can also explain the overly frequently turns of Mr.Anderson, and how Immortal is always helping the holder of the belt out so that it is not Sting. Note how this has played out with all the #1 Contenders/Champions over the last several months with Hardy/RVD/Anderson/Angle.

Now onto storylines, as stated earlier, you can only write out so much, and once in the ring it's up to the workers to perform to the story. If Jeff would not have pulled his stunt at VR, what would the storyline be? If not for the injuries who really was looking at winning BFG? Since Angle has now got ANOTHER pending DWI case, should he continue to hold the title, or should the company save face ASAP and get the belt off him?

That boils down to the bad part of taping TV as TNA/IW does currently. Sometimes they must wait until their next set of tapings to make changes. Othertimes they have a Victory Road oh crap we got to fix this NOW.

Short point being is, I see where the arguement about srotylines can be made, but I also can see TNA trying to develop as many as they can, and getting cut off in the process be it by injury or problems outside the company with talent.

#4 Ok so the whole Mexican America vs Pope & Devon match is not developing the tag division? Was there not a #1 contender's match before that with British Invasion? Beer Money is still on the card in the BFG series. How many more tag teams do you feel are needed right now? Cause that's 4 teams and MCMG and Ink Inc are there as well if needed to make 6. Looking back at the entire history of TNA I can not remember a time where 6 teams all were credible threats to become champions. To futher moot your point, look at who is in the tag title match yup Devon...

#5 Again let's just moot your point... RVD vs Lynn, AJ vs Daniels, Aries vs Kendrick, Kash vs Sorensen, Joe vs Morgan. I can make an entire card for BFG now before No Surrender takes place, using only the promised world title match, and no other talent on the No Surrender card. Watch :
Mr. Anderson (wins @ NS) vs Bully Ray for world title
RVD vs Jerry Lynn
AJ Styles vs Chris Daniels
Ink Inc. vs British Invasion
Velvet Sky vs Love vs Winter vs Mickie James KO title
ODB/Jackie vs Tara/Tess KO tag title
Eric Young vs Gunner TV title rematch
Then add one main event match with your top draws who were in NS
Sting and partner (Jeff Hardy) vs Angle and Hogan (who'd fake injury and be replaced by Abyss)
Holy crap.... 8 matches and only 4 workers are on both PPV's.....
Yet you wish to complain there is no storylines.....

 

[Terry Gyimah]

Get rid of Bischoff and Hogan because they are destroying the company single-handedly just like how they did by destroying WCW, because if TNA is not careful, they will go out of business too just like how WCW did.

Get rid of Immortal as a stable, break them all up and have them go their separate ways

Have Dixie Carter get back control of TNA and fire Vince Russo too

 

[TheHitMark-SirJoseOle]

Get rid of Bischoff and Hogan because they are destroying the company single-handedly just like how they did by destroying WCW, because if TNA is not careful, they will go out of business too just like how WCW did.

Get rid of Immortal as a stable, break them all up and have them go their separate ways

Have Dixie Carter get back control of TNA and fire Vince Russo too

This thread was doing fine without the troll infestation, go back into your little armchair expert fantasy world and stay away from threads that actually require true input and feedback. Your kind isn't welcome to a thread that's been doing pretty well with its arguments, all you're doing is just sounding like any other self professed expert on the wrestling business instead of just a fan.

Again like I tell every other moron on here that takes the same course you did, show me proof that you have worked for WCW during the years 1991-2001 starting from Bischoff's appointment as WCW's authority to Hogan's debut and of course to Russo's hiring. Again, if you know what went down behind the scenes and can prove that your theory about them being WCW's killers is true then I'll owe you a coke. But please shove the internet expertise your your tailpipe, no one cares to hear something that thousands of other ill informed people always bring up on a TNA thread.

Also please prove to me that you work for TNA to know what kind of shape they are in to determine if they will go out of business like WCW did. Again if you paid attention to actual facts you'd know that WCW wasn't originally going to be sold to WWF, Fusient Media Ventures was going to buy the company until AOL Time Warner changed their mind about keeping WCW on their station and remaining a minority business partner, so yes while there might have been some problems with the ego of certain wrestlers in that organization (and trust me if the reports are true Hulk Hogan was far from the only one you could lump into that category) and those who were running the company (i.e. Vince Russo and David Arquette's title wins or is that Hogan's fault too?) however in the end it was the failed sale of WCW to Fusient that truly destroyed WCW.

Again there's facts to back that up unlike your smarkish BS rantings...

The following websites back up everything I just said. So read it and weep...

Canoe Wrestling Covers WCW's Sale To Fusient Media Ventures

WCW.Com Archived Press Release Of WCW's Sale To Fusient

New York Times reports that Jamie Kellner Has Cancelled WCW's Programming On Turner Networks

So yes while there's no doubt that there had to be internal problems within WCW amongst its performers and those who were dictating policy...HOWEVER despite the loss of profits that AOL Time Warner was having with the company, WCW's programming still had solid ratings and AOL Time Warner was going to have nothing to lose when they were going to sell to Fusient, they'd have retained a small stake in the company while reaping the benefits of WCW's viewership (which was the strongest programming still at that point with the Networks, despite WCW's downward spirals) without having to facilitate the financial responsibilities of running the joint.

And who knows WCW might have survived this change, the company might have had to downsize back to a promotion resembling the Jim Crockett or Georgia Championship Wrestling days, but there still would have been a shot at extended life for WCW had Jamie Kellner not been so insistent to eliminate what was a staple on Turner Networks for decades.

So give us something a little better Terry..because the armchair expert act is tiresome. Troll.

 

[SPX]

. . . what I'd love to see is a thread created on "How To Save TNA From the Internet"...

I never sign in here and actually post anything because I'm not the wrestling fanatic that many of you guys are, but this made me LOL hard enough to actually mention it.

It's so true.

So there's my epic first post.

 

[SpecialFNK]

something that has to be remembered. TNA Impact Wrestling is a TV show.
while some of the older wrestlers who some might consider past their prime(Hogan/Sting/Flair/Steiner/RVD/ect) might not be getting TNA big ratings the way TNA has hoped/expected, drop them from TNA all together and I bet the ratings would either still be the same or less.
even someone like Steiner still has a place. he doesn't need to be a big factor in any championship runs, but he is still a big name that a lot of viewers know of. have Steiner in a feud with someone young and unknown, and when the younger unknown wrestler wins it helps him because he beat someone everybody knows.
Flair doesn't need to be a wrestler, but he's gold on the mic. he's God.

one of the things I think would help TNA, is to end Immortal. Hogan can go back to being the face and helping to run the company for the better. he doesn't need to be on TV every week. Bischoff I think is someone good to be running the show and making matches. he can still be a heel type boss.

I agree on tag team. I do think TNA will be losing Beer Money as a tag team, with Roode being singles. maybe Storm can find a new partner?
I assume it wont be long before Chris Sabin is back and MCMG are a team again.
where has Ink Ink been? haven't seen them lately.
I do like the team of Pope and Devon. thought they should have teamed from the beginning when they were getting involved.
Robbie E could be a team with his new buddy Rob Terry.

 

[wrestlingfanusa]

ok well my idea for tna is long but simple. I think tna needs more sponsors and stuff like that. They need a tna video game,t shirts, lunchboxes,etc. They basically need to get everything out there with a tna name on it in places like walmart. Also please oh please get the wrestlers some real music, im sure there are some up and coming bands down tehre in florida that need there big break. Also when i looked at impact in huntsville i saw not alot of light at all. They need the lights there, like for when hardy's music comes on. Another thing is they gotta do something bout the impact zone, they really need to tape more and more often out of there. It makes me feel weird watching it bc how small the crowd looks, its just like dang that place is small. I dont ever remember raw having that problem. Also tna obviously does hire models to sit in the front row like speculated, look though out there crowds i mean come on the same gurls r there every week for camera candy, its kinda pathetic. I do believe tna needs to promote a new gimmick match, and when i say gimmick match i don't mean lockdown. The one match i think they could bring would be like the rumble only differnce would be it would be survival, yes im talking bout the mode off of wwf no mercy game. Where i think one superstar starts out and they can elimate the competitor by pinfall, over the top elimation, or submission. I also think they could put that in a cage and modify it to elimation rules. Imagine a few match types. 1. would be a match inside a regualr steel cage elimation rules would be a fatal four way elimation match where 4 people are inside the cell when u get down to the final two people they can only win by escaping through the door or over the top.2 survival They could promote this like the royal rumble type match but claim that tna is a jungle, but in this match only the strong will survive u can eliminate ur opponent by submission,over the top, or pinfall.3 It would be a tlc type match table ladders chairs mixed in with ultimate x and 3 stages of hell it would be tag team rules or single, the first fall would be u would have to put ur opponent through a table so whoever got put through the table would be gone then down to 3 teams where u would have to pin the next team in order to remove them from the match then the final two teams would climb the giant x in order to grab a contract,money, or the titles. This match could be tag team rules or a fatal four way type. Those matches would make ppl come see the ppv.

 

[New Hot Fed]

With their contract up in the fall there would be no idea to fire Hogan and Bischoff, the thing would take care of himself. That being said, I have the feeling that Eric would work better if Hogan is not there? He produced ReAction a while back and it was a good concept. He's not a bad concept guy, he just need a more solid wrestling guy to take care of the rest. Production has gotten better since he joined and there's no doubt he was behind changes like the Impact Wrestling name. That wrestling mind supporting him could be someone like Al Snow that already works in TNA as an agent. Then have someone else than Russo write the scripts.

The changes would be simple ones, the sort that have been discussed times and times again over the whole net. Push all the Fourtune members, push Joe, Pope, Morgan, push the MCMG and British Invasion. Build a great X Division. And something else I would do would be to create a great tag team division too, better than it is now. God knows there are good wrestlers all over TNA and the rest of the World too. Hire a few and come up with tag teams for them. Finaly strangely I would not be opposed to give a place to the bigger guys, it could be a super heavy division with guys wrestling a strong brawling style.

With the exception of that 2 matchs per PPV one involving the super heavy weights and one for the legends, all the match in the PPVs would involve great wrestlers to make sure all the matchs are great. So that when someone buys a Impact Wrestling(cause that would be the official name now) PPV they would have their money's worth. That's how you build a trust with the fans and consumers.

Before making sure a selected few homegrown recieve the push they deserve, I would make sure all their characters would be greater defined to maximize their chance for success. We're not only making wrestlers, but futur icons, guys that will be remembered for ages. Make them stand out other than AJ saying "we built this company!" enough of that.

Of course several old guys would go. And those that would be kept on contract would be used as special attractions only seen on PPV, not being involved in big storylines on tv.

That's it for the time being.