When WILL iMPACT Be Ready to Compete Against RAW??

[TCBT]

There's been a lot of criticism from wrestling fans concerning TNA's move to Mondays and whether it was too soon. I personally think it is.

But when will iMPACT be ready for the inevitable move? I have a few theories as to why they've failed so far and why they should've waited a bit longer to make the transition:

1. Not ready until they move from Orlando: I've been patient about this one but really, how can iMPACT successfully compete with RAW inside a rinky-dink arena that has half the studio tarped off?!

If you haven't seen a live taping, I'll tell you what you'll see: literallly, half the studio needs to be tarped off due to all the equipment needed to film. Then, someone comes out (as they pass out posters for you to hold, mind you) telling you to be as loud as you can. Why? Because the loudest fans get to go backstage and meet your favorite wrestlers. Which leads me to my next point...

2. Not until they stop telling fans to cheer: In all honesty, I foresee this being the biggest problem of all. It sounds very harmless to want to get the fans cheering and screaming and supporting TNA so it looks good on TV, but what they are really doing is muffling the truth of how the fans watching really feel. I don't know ONE person who has said they've enjoyed the Abyss/Hogan program, but when you watch it on TV, the fans are "loving it." The writers will never get a good understanding of what fans want if they make them love everything they see.

3. Not until they establish themselves: By watching huge plot holes, wrestlers changing gimmicks and random unexpained turns, I can only give an educated guess that the writers are - at best - going through a transitional period or - at worst - have absolutely no talent at what they do. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. But the transitional period is far from over, so moving to Mondays now is like moving into a new house that's not yet completed.

4. Not until they prove themselves: Shows are expected to get higher ratings when something dramatically changes on that program. TNA getting their highest rating ever on that 3 hour Monday show really isn't much of a surprise. I personally thought they should've done a bit better considering how much advertising they did, but they still did well nonetheless. Now, if they waited a bit longer to gather more of a stable fanbase, the lead-in to the move to Mondays could've been better. But basically, it was wayy to soon for them to decide competing with RAW was a good idea.

Do you guys agree?? Disgree? Am I a TNA basher/hater/know-it-all smart ass mark ?

 

[MisterRob]

Never. It's as simple as that. TNA will never compete with the WWE. When should they start trying to compete? When they have a fan base that is far, far larger then the abysmall one they have right now. When their ratings are somehow in the same league as the WWE. Neither of these are going to happen, sorry to inform the TNA fans. TNA's been around for long enough that their product should have found a direction that works and they should be moving on to focus on other things, not still fumbling along trying to grasp at a direction at all. TNA's been around long enough that they should have a bigger fan base then they do, and they've got the roster and the stars that they should be bringing in better ratings then they are. For all the reasons they can't draw in a new audience, they're spiralling downhill in the ratings, and they're barely growing at all when it comes to things that bring in a profit, are the very reasons they don't have a chance of competing with WWE ever in the state they're in right now. Never.

 

[philbrooks]

Seriously would take a major change in ownership/management/creative for it to be a remote possibility. TNA has a failure culture as a result of being formed and staffed by a lot of former WCW employess for its entire lifespan. In addition TNA as a company that rarely learns from it's mistakes. What will be really sad about TNA when people look back and see it had enough resources and lucky breaks to be a success.

 

[Mr_Wrestling_Number_7]

They put all their eggs into the Hogan basket. And deep down I wanted TNA to prosper. But he is ruining this opportunity for them.

1. He can't talk on the mic..at all. He sounds like someone who has a solid 4th grade education. I was hoping they would do this with style, and only give you very very small minute segments showing Hogan while allowing everyone to understand he is mainly working behind the scenes period. Think about it, when Vince takes a 3 month hiatus, everyone is jacked to seem him come out again..EWWW its the Big Scary Boss!! They should have sold Hogan the same way.

2. I TOTALLY AGREE TCBT's Number 3 statement. It seems like everyone there in creative is lazy. You got a wrestler getting totally pummeled by his fueding adversary only to show up 5 minutes later cutting a promo with Hogan about settling the score....WITH SOME OTHER GUY?!! HUH?!!!

3. I could almost understand the Abyss thing if they would have turned up the voltage on him and turned to a more darker serious tone. But as someone said earlier..he's acting like Man-Eugene-Kind. Hate it.

4. They need to hit the road. This is has been explained by others to death.

5. They need better production packages. They made headway changing their show's intro music. But they need to start adding better and more original entrances for their talent. Everything is generic as can be and reminds me of right when WCW went under. Get some cheap contracts with some bands that havent quite made it yet but are almost there.

6. They can't live on taped shows every other week. I can see it if it was a second-tier show (Thursday Night Thunder anyone?). But this is suppose to be your flagship show. You got to be live every week for this. Until then you seem like a scared little girl afraid to dip their toe in the pool because its too cold.

Just a few off the top of my head.

 

[FutureChamp328]

They will never ever EVER beat Raw plain and simple. These days wrestling is not the in thing like it was in the 80's and 90's and ratings for Raw hardly ever get above a 4.0. When people think wrestling today they think of John Cena. He is really the only cross pver to popular culture in the whole WWE. It's not like when everybody knew about Hogan and Andre and The Rock and other brands like WCW could compete because the signed one or two well known stars.
TNA will nevermanke a "New Monday Night War" no matter how much Dixie or Hogan would like to for several reasons:
1: Publicity - Keep in mind WCW was one of the oldest promotions in the country before Ted Turner picked it up and it already had a fairly large following, TNA is only about 7 years old and it is not nearly as publicized as WCW was.
2: Roster - John Cena is it these days, its not like when you had Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Goldberg, and all of these other stars people know about. Today the only wrestler any non-fan knows is Cena. TNA has the major flaw of having both unknown talent and outdated talent. I mean come on THE NASTY BOYS I know they're gone now but come on!!! I never want to see Knobbs or Saggs in a ring again.
3: Arena - It's the Impact Zone and thats it unless they go on a short tour or for a PPV and let's face as long as they are there they are dead in the water thanks to the cripple crew.
All in all what I'm trying to say is: Dixie, Hulk go back to Thursdays before yo manage to go lower in ratings if that's possible.

 

[Rammsteinerteen]

first of all, get rid of abyssmania, also, get respectful wrestling fans who don't bash another company in every show. WCW wasn't that stupid. Also, stop highering new people, thats there way of getting higher ratings. Also, make proper strory lines we could keep up with. And no plot holes either. Also, gimmicks should rarely change, not everyweek, same with the face to heel or heel to face turn. TNA has a lot of bugs, same with WWE, but WWE's story telling is 5x better then TNAs. Same with WWE's drama, TNA lacks emotion in most storylines.

 

[koolaidx]

TNA is not going to compete with the WWE anytime soon. They are trying to mock the WWE with a lot of segments and it makes them look second rate, which at the moment they are. They are bringing back a lot of guys that did well when WCW was beating WWE back in the 90's. That doesn't help you today as the younger crowd does not know half of these people. Somebody who hasn't been watching wrestling for a long period of time don't understand who Hall and Waltman are, don't know the talent that RVD had in his prime.

Jeff Hardy is the only good acquisition they have gotten since Hogan came in. And let us not forget his legal troubles which is the only reason they got him because at the moment WWE won't take that chance on him and once those troubles are over don't be surprised if he jumps ship back to WWE. If they could bring in the big stars, and I mean big stars, they could start making a dent in the ratings. But they would need people who are relevant. This list might include Orton (I believe just inked a new deal with WWE so no), Cena (not gonna happen), Batista (not sure what his deal with WWE is or when it's coming up but mostly likely not happening), Edge, Jericho, CM Punk, Mysterio, HHH (if he were ever to divorce Stephanie and they have a HUGE falling out maybe, but don't count on it in this lifetime), HBK (if he decides to come out of retirement and WWE can't think of anything for him maybe), Undertaker (again not happening), Austin in any capacity (seems like only movies for him), Kane, and Big Show.

Now I'm not saying those are the only relevant people in the WWE but those are guys who might start a trend of changing the channel if they could manage to throw enough money at 2 to 5 of the above to get them to "Cross the Line".

 

[Dropkicked]

Its been pretty summed up but they can't and will never compete. I LIKED TNA and wanted good things from them, but the last 1-2 years have been rough. Too many things agains them that they aren't fixing.

People forget WCW was a round a long time and if it wasn't for once chance program called New World Order, that company would have never been anything more than an after thought that last longer than it should have. Actually they were very similar as TNA in talen, but they at least had the mindset to better themselves.

TNA is like a stale version of what Saturday Morning WCW used to be when it filmed in the same building. 10 years ago it may have stood a chance - but not anymore. Its only a mttaer of time before they go belly up. And for all the fan boys who swear otherwise simply look at this fact - WCW, a company that was on top for a few years and ran behind WWE for even more, eventually closed the doors because they couldn't keep the money machine running. Your in a market where money is what matters to the young talent - not championships.

TNA doesn't stand a chance. Its not because I hate them, as I said I like a lot of what they have telentwise, they just cannot run with the big boys. If you take the talent out of the equation, they are no more than a glorified indy fed. Seriously. Someone name me 5 reasons why TNA can't be compared to ROH (and dont include talent because ROH has damn good wrestlers - most of which end up in TNA or WWE).

 

[sTyLnK]

They need a bigger arena, much better production, try and get bigger arenas when they go on the road etc. But, it all costs money. Something they are reluctant to spend or don't have.

 

[Dropkicked]

TNA is not going to compete with the WWE anytime soon. They are trying to mock the WWE with a lot of segments and it makes them look second rate, which at the moment they are. They are bringing back a lot of guys that did well when WCW was beating WWE back in the 90's. That doesn't help you today as the younger crowd does not know half of these people. Somebody who hasn't been watching wrestling for a long period of time don't understand who Hall and Waltman are, don't know the talent that RVD had in his prime.

Jeff Hardy is the only good acquisition they have gotten since Hogan came in. And let us not forget his legal troubles which is the only reason they got him because at the moment WWE won't take that chance on him and once those troubles are over don't be surprised if he jumps ship back to WWE. If they could bring in the big stars, and I mean big stars, they could start making a dent in the ratings. But they would need people who are relevant. This list might include Orton (I believe just inked a new deal with WWE so no), Cena (not gonna happen), Batista (not sure what his deal with WWE is or when it's coming up but mostly likely not happening), Edge, Jericho, CM Punk, Mysterio, HHH (if he were ever to divorce Stephanie and they have a HUGE falling out maybe, but don't count on it in this lifetime), HBK (if he decides to come out of retirement and WWE can't think of anything for him maybe), Undertaker (again not happening), Austin in any capacity (seems like only movies for him), Kane, and Big Show.

Now I'm not saying those are the only relevant people in the WWE but those are guys who might start a trend of changing the channel if they could manage to throw enough money at 2 to 5 of the above to get them to "Cross the Line".

And this is what I mean when I said its about money not championships. Wrestling is like any other sport now - its a money game. The prestige and glory about winning championships are second to earning the dollars.

All the pople mentioned as key factors that could help TNA would never go because its about the paycheck. They are your marquee players (think Lebron, A-Rod, Kobe, Peyton, etc). TNA doesn't have that money to pay them...and if they did, it woudl leave them no money to grow where they need (production, territory, marketing, etc).

 

[HBK89Bill]

You know when people say, "Never say never". I am saying never. TNA will never compete with WWE. WWE is a huge fire breathing dragon. WWE is extremely badass. They are about to launch a cable network for godsakes.

TNA has some talent, but no one that is known in the public eye. No one outside of the wrestling world as ever heard of AJ Styles. WCW had solid ground to stand on along with the money and stars. TNA has all the same stars that were huge almost fifteen years ago. Anything that they were going to do to compete, they have already done. Seriously, how many more rabbits are in the hat?

Unless they can create something much different and fresh that clicks with the audience of today, they will never compete with WWE.

 

[Ryan420]

Wow if what you say is true about handing out signs, telling them to cheer etc. then that is just strait up PATHETIC! Dont get me wrong I want TNA to succeed so bad! but this stuff they are putting out is just terrible. Yes WWE has its issues as well, but i have to say, IMO, WWE is at least consistant with their storylines, and pushes. 1.TNA to me, always seems like its just bouncing around doing a bunch of crap every week. 2. Their taped show is never as good as their Live show. How are u gonna compete with RAW with a taped show every week? WWE can just see what they did on their show and say Hmmm... now we'll make a better show cuz they cant change theirs. 3. Stop with this Abyssamaina crap, cant they come up with somthing original? and AJ, i dont mind the Flair type character, but why do they have him entering with a feathered robe?? Please come up with your own things. 4. Uh, the whole Sting heel turn was cool, but we havent heard anything about it since. 5. Yes, they do need to get out of the Impact Zone, but how are they gonna do that if they cant even fill up small arenas for PPV's let alone Impact. That place doesnt make them look ligit, and the ramp is ridiculous. (I personally think its like that cuz hogan cant walk down a ramp and then up into the ring, but thats just my opinion.) If what u say is true about them telling the fans how to act, the need to stop NOW. Let them be how they want, cuz like u said they'll never know what the fans really react to that way.

TNA has no original storylines. Pretty much all of their stuff is spin offs of past things. They are never consistant with pushing any talent, or storylines.

 

[VintageWWE]

TNA will never be able to compete with WWE. The only way I see TNA raising their ratings is if they sign someone huge and I'm not talking about people over 50 years old. The fact is no main eventer in the WWE would ever move to TNA during their prime. Without top WWE level main eventers TNA will never grow in their audience base. All TNA has is utterly unknowns to nonwrestling fans and the people they do know are people who were popular like twenty years ago. No WWE fan would ever miss Raw for Impact and no nonwrestling fan would ever watch Impact because they have never even heard of it. TNA's ratings won't increase, can can't take WWE's viewers and hey can't attract new ones.

 

[philbrooks]

TNA will never be able to compete with WWE. The only way I see TNA raising their ratings is if they sign someone huge and I'm not talking about people over 50 years old.

One of the big problems TNA has had historically is how badly they manage the momentum of debuting talent. Remember when Jeff Hardy and RVD debuted the pop they got? By their second week they are just another TNA wrestler. They squander talent acquistions like no ones business.

 

[Travaje]

I'd like to add something. A large amount of the audience that used to watch wrestling, now has moved on to the UFC. Now, the UFC is on the same channel as TNA. Spike runs a lot of TNA commercials during UFC shows. That is a major advantage that TNA could have in their favor. And somehow, TNA has not been able to get any of that former wrestling fan turned UFC fan audience to tune in to their product. One would think it would be more likely someone who's watched before would be more likely to check out TNA than someone who's never watched wrestling. And TNA can't even draw them.

Again, it's my opinion the reason why that is, is because UFC fan has "grown up" from wrestling. I really think TNA knows this, and it's a big, big reason why they're trying to draw WWE's audience and not the UFC's audience, even if Spike might be. There are simply NOT ENOUGH disgruntled 20 and 30 something wrestling fans out there yearning for the old days, even though a large percentage of people here are. If TNA were to cater to every one of your wishes, they still would not draw enough to make enough money. They'd draw ROH numbers. They're going to try to continue to draw an audience that is not you. You're going to get more disappointed as the weeks go by. But hey, keep the faith.

To OP, I'd say the same thing to you as I would to TNA. Temper your expectations. If you don't like WWE, you're probably going to eventually stop watching wrestling too.

 

[hatehabsforever]

Never. imPACT will never ever be able to compete with RAW head to head on Monday Nights. Ever.

Because they have no idea whatsoever how do go about doing it. If you don't believe me, watch them try to compete tonight using Tommy Dreamer as someone to lure WWE fans away. Yes, that old, fat, out of shape has been Tommy Dreamer. If this is how TNA intends to compete with the WWE, who will counter with a youth movement of new and exciting superstars, they're dead.

Look for another approx. 3.5 from RAW tonight, with about 0.8 in response from iMPACT.

 

[TCBT]

Wow. I thought we would've gotten at least one TNA desciple in this thead!

I agree with most, if not all, of you guys. Remember though, this thread isn't about TNA beating WWE. It's about WHEN will TNA's flagship show be able to compete with RAW without pulling .8 ratings each week and running straight into a brick wall.

I'd like to add something. A large amount of the audience that used to watch wrestling, now has moved on to the UFC. Now, the UFC is on the same channel as TNA. Spike runs a lot of TNA commercials during UFC shows. That is a major advantage that TNA could have in their favor. And somehow, TNA has not been able to get any of that former wrestling fan turned UFC fan audience to tune in to their product. One would think it would be more likely someone who's watched before would be more likely to check out TNA than someone who's never watched wrestling. And TNA can't even draw them.

That's a very good point. Do you think TNA would benefit from UFC by making it more reality based?? In a previous thread, I wrote about TNA being more edgy to compete with WWE's PG rating, but now they've taken it to the other extreme by making the fans feel uncomfortable watching Orlando Jordan, Sting basically physically abusing a woman, among other things. They can be edgier by using reality and incorporate more shoot and mat-based wrestling..