When it's all said and done...

J

jmt225

Global Moderator
... TNA's decision to make Bully Ray a top singles star and long-term World Champion could very well go down as one of the worst moves a pro wrestling company has ever made.

I'm not one to harp on ratings, but facts are facts.... they've been DREADFUL since Bully Ray became champ. And then you have the rumor that TNA is 2 months behind on payments, which looks to hold merit now with the sudden releases. Gee, I wonder why they started having financial problems all of the sudden?

If TNA folded anytime soon, people would blame Hogan. And while that's not completely unfair, the real reason is because of their stubbornness in keeping Bully Ray World Champ all this time when it's been abundantly clear right from the get-go that that wasn't the route to go.

Bottom line, Bully Ray sucks. Aces and Eights sucks. TNA sucks with those clowns playing a major part on every Impact episode. Why they don't just take the loss and abruptly end the fiasco, I'll never know.
 
Well they just dumped Pritchard, so there's no telling what might happen. One of my biggest gripes with TNA for the longest time has been their focus on older talent. When I discovered TNA it was a cool, unique alternative to WWE; over the course of the Hogan/Bischoff regime it's become a pale imitation of WWE's bygone days.

I like the Bully Ray character, but the former Bubba Dudley is not a talent you build a company around.
 
I tuned out because of the Aces & Eights stuff. I actually like Bully though. And the notion that Bully has more to do with TNA's financial problems than the decision to hit the road is something that doesn't ring true to me.

Sounds like you're just looking to pile on a guy you dislike, jmt. No worries. I like doing that too.
 
I do believe the payment issues were attributed to Panda Energy directly and talent releases to Prichard being dumb and to accommodate the road schedule. Though, I think the notion of Ray being a bad champion is more A's & 8's fault than his for just plain sucking as a group.
 
Bully Ray's run is gonna end soon. Hopefully to AJ Styles who i think deserves it.

i like bully ray. But what you said about ratings beind down since he became TNA's main event guy is sadly true.

WHat i think TNA should do is just go back to being the smaller company and rely on young indy wrestlers. Thats what got them famous in the first place. It wasnt Hulk Hogan who put them on the map, it was Styles, Joe, Daniels, Raven, JJ, and such.

EDIT: Also TNA should bring the 6 sided ring back. PPL say that 6 sides dosent matter but to me it does. its not just the look. But how the ring is used such as when they irish whip or run. tag matches and also theres a big space in the middle which puts focus on the wrestlers.
 
Well to be fair they're also way behind on money because they don't have regular monthly PPV revenue coming in which could be upwards of $100,000 a month out of their pockets. The cost cutting could help offset these problems a lot but yeah there's little excuse for that.

As for Ray.....yeah he's a problem. Here's the problem at the end of the day: TNA's main story for the last six months has been the Dudley Boys vs. Sting and Hulk Hogan with some love story involving the most annoying non-celebrity on the planet in Brooke Hogan on the side. It took eight months to get to the point of Aces and 8's and now it's just a glory trip for the Dudleys with D-Von barely being able to beat a lawyer. That's not going to draw in any casual fans other than a nostalgia trip, which doesn't work long term at all.

At the end of the day, TNA isn't going to draw a crowd with the Dudleys and their WWE castoffs vs. Sting as TNA's white knight for the 87th time.
 
I don't think heel champions in 2013 should be put on the hook for ratings.

But I stick to my opinion that if Hogan is going to have one last match, Bully Ray is not the guy. So I support his bashing.
 
Pistol-Pete said:
WHat i think TNA should do is just go back to being the smaller company and rely on young indy wrestlers. Thats what got them famous in the first place. It wasnt Hulk Hogan who put them on the map, it was Styles, Joe, Daniels, Raven, JJ, and such.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately guys like Styles and Joe have been growing older and not gaining anything in terms of exposure. What used to be TNA's younger, more exciting talent is now a crop of guys who never got properly pushed or marketed, and whose primes are getting near to a close, if not already over for some.

Now WWE is snapping up a lot of the top independent talent. I don't question TNA's sustainability as is, but I preferred it as you described it- a small company reliant on young talent. Either way I do hope things work out; guys need a place to work and fans need choices.
 
Coco said:
And the notion that Bully has more to do with TNA's financial problems than the decision to hit the road is something that doesn't ring true to me.
Click to expand...

That's a fair assessment. However, the quality of programming being what it is certainly doesn't help matters, and that all rest on Bully Ray and Aces and Eights shoulders since they've been the main focal point of the show for months now.

Sounds like you're just looking to pile on a guy you dislike, jmt. No worries. I like doing that too.
Click to expand...

I of course was actually once a big time fan of the Dudleys. And when Bully Ray first broke off into singles in TNA, I thought he did a good job and made a very solid mid-card heel. But THE guy? Ugh... he's been absolutely intolerable in this position.
 
It isn't a huge drop but TNA never hits a 1.2 or higher anymore. A 1.0 is pretty much their ceiling and has been for months now.
 
jmt225 said:
They've been averaging around 0.8 the past month or so.

Aces and Zero Point Eights.
Click to expand...

Let's be honest here;

is it really any worse than when RVD was champ, and Impact did below a .5?

And I love RVD.
 
I know they did a .7 on the recent July 4th episode and I remember reading that's as low as it's been since being on primetime.

But despite the ratings, Bully Ray just sucks. And I'm not too high on AJ Styles (who I agree they're working towards making champion) and his stupid ass hair cut right now either. His whole isolation thing could have been golden and worth the Aces and Eights crap, but they really fucked that up too if you ask me.
 
That 0.5 is a bit of an anomaly, it happened when the made the dumb decision to go up against Raw before they were anywhere near ready. Hell they still aren't ready for that kind of leap. Their ratings have never dipped that low in their regular timeslot.
 
All I'm saying is that it could be far, far worse. RVD was a champ, and couldn't do much to help bolster anything.

TNA is beyond the point of a champion raising the ratings. It's going to be what it's going to be, and at the end of the day, even having John Cena come in wouldn't do very much to help the rating.
 
I wouldn't really consider July 4th's ratings as an issue. It was July 4th after all. However, the massive dips they took during the Stanley Cup and & NBA Playoff's and Finals is something they need to work on. It was around .8 all that time.
 
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