When Will TNA Be Ready to Compete With the WWE?

[HBsam31]

I agree with the poster that said they are competing now. Just because they aren't on at the same day and same time doesn't mean they are not. On the other hand it just doesn't seem like TNA is catching on with the masses. Its been on like 10 years, and I imagine a lot of fans don't even know what it is. I imagine the wrestling market as a whole is not where it should be right now though. Past eras have brought in a lot of casual fans, and I don' think that is happening right now. Wrestling definitely isn't "cool" right now so that is a factor to. I am hoping Brock can bring some causal fans in again, but I just don't think that is going to happen right now.

 

[WolfNyte]

I owe the world a service by responding to this idiocy.

First, Panda Energy is a private company. I find it very interesting that you know how high their stock price is, because that information isn't available publicly.

Second, you are comparing net worth, not cash on hand. If Panda Energy chose to completely divest themselves from the power industry, then yes, they would have a lot more money to compete with the WWE. However, their business M.O. is the construction and maintenance of power plants. This TNA/IW bit is a side venture.

Third, the end goal for TNA/IW is not to be the best professional wrestling organization in the world. Their goal is to make money. You don't make money simply by spending a shitload of it and saying "oh, well now that I've spent it, it has to come back!" (That's what happened to WCW. It turns out that the money doesn't come back if you don't spend it wisely.)

The facts are, TNA/IW is not a four billion dollar company. They would only be a four billion dollar company if Panda Energy chose to get out of the lifeblood of their business in order to focus on something that's pretty much a lark for the owner's daughter.

They actually do put a bit of money in and they put even more into it in the past hence why Dixie's mom now controls the flow of money in Panda Energy's tax write off called TNA and not Dixie.

Think business wise would you sink a million dollars into a TV show that is not good in the raitings no matter what you do. No its bad for business if you do hell the last 3 years of WCW they were in the Red and they had a larger viewership than TNA.

Yes the 18-29 year olds Love TNA. Just like they did ECW. But you didnt bring the major demographic that spend the money to it and that as the E knows is kids. Mommie daddy buy me buy me thats whay TNA needs to hear. Not young adults going to see a free show at Universal Studios.

I would love to see TNA succeed but there are so many issues that need to be repaired. Throwing money at it is not the answer its a bandaid.

They need to mainstream their product and yes I watch TNA so I do have basis. After the first 5 min of the wedding thing I got bored and many in the audience as well looked bored only when the stipping started did peole cheer. I shook my head and changed the channel like I did with the old Edge Lita segments back in the day. I thought TNA was all about wrestling not BS like the E puts on half the time.

They need to re evaluate and make a better product and get a better chanel than Spike to be on. Spike is not the highest watched chanel USA however is. Then leave the Impact Zone and make some money. To make money you have to spend money....WISELY...that is the key word.

That was my point they have the money but they just have a terrible way of spending it. Investing in the wrong things so why would PEI drop more in unless they starting spening smarter.

 

[xavyer]

What TNA needs to do to compete with the WWE, they need to stop worrying about the WWE and worry about themselves firts, find a way to make their product better, see what works and what doesn't work, Dixie need to stop trying to make Hogan, Bischoff and Flair happy, start inflicting some discipline into the stars, because, let's face it, in TNA the inmates run the assylum, and that's definitly not good, if they keep this up, ring of honor will catch up to them, or even push them aside.

What Dixie needs to do, like many people said, stop trying to get WWE rejects, or hasbeens from the 80's and 90's just to get on the map and pay them basicly what they want, the WWE rejects should be there to help push the homegrown talent, they need to get real writters or real creative people, people that have cutting edge ideas, someone like Paul Heyman, or somebody with that passion and intensity, good marketing always helps, and most importantly, build your own talent and go from there, and like many people said, go on tour every once in a wild, make the PPVs somewere else, and i don't know what else, i don't work in wrestling, but everyone knows what needs to be done for a bussiness to succeed, and yes, put a little more money into the product, not on Hogan, Bischoff or Flair.

Let's face it, that has always beem the problem with TNA, they are always either trying to beat the WWE in ratings or concentrating on what they are doing instead of concentrating on themselves first........

 

[Rayne]

They actually do put a bit of money in and they put even more into it in the past hence why Dixie's mom now controls the flow of money in Panda Energy's tax write off called TNA and not Dixie.

Think business wise would you sink a million dollars into a TV show that is not good in the raitings no matter what you do. No its bad for business if you do hell the last 3 years of WCW they were in the Red and they had a larger viewership than TNA.

Don't worry about me thinking businesswise. I do that pretty regularly, and the degree to which I talk businesswise on these boards pisses a lot of people off. I understand the concepts of investment and overgrowth. Success is money plus application. You can't just throw money at a problem to solve it, but if you have the money and the people that know how to use it, that's most of the work right there.

Bringing up the net worth of Panda Energy is entirely irrelevant, because they aren't about to start firing engineers and tearing down power plants (pardon the pun) to pay for an advertising budget.

A million dollars for a television show is chump change, by the way.

Yes the 18-29 year olds Love TNA. Just like they did ECW. But you didnt bring the major demographic that spend the money to it and that as the E knows is kids. Mommie daddy buy me buy me thats whay TNA needs to hear. Not young adults going to see a free show at Universal Studios.

Hi. I ran an advertising company for the past four years. The major demographic people chase is not youths, but- in ascending order of importance- adults 18-49, men 18-49, men 18-29. Men 18-29 have the most discretionary spending and are also the easiest to sell to. The WWE had a product which was viewed as corny by men in the 18-29 bracket, while they had competition from the UFC, which has been trouncing them there. The WWE didn't say "kids' parents will spend more money then men 18-29", it was "kids' parents will give us more money then men 18-29".

Adults with children tend to have other expenses, such as mortgage, car, heat, children, and so forth. They have the least discretionary income besides the elderly poor. The WWE can focus on youths 10-18, while still pulling in healthy numbers from adults.

They need to re evaluate and make a better product and get a better chanel than Spike to be on. Spike is not the highest watched chanel USA however is. Then leave the Impact Zone and make some money. To make money you have to spend money....WISELY...that is the key word.

That was my point they have the money but they just have a terrible way of spending it. Investing in the wrong things so why would PEI drop more in unless they starting spening smarter.

Cool thought. Now, who else would want TNA/IW? You don't make a TV show and then choose the network you want to put it on. You have to sell your product to that network, convincing them to give you money to create and produce it. TNA/IW's on Spike because that's their best option. There isn't much desire for TV shows that have to be produced weekly with large camera crews that pull in 1.0's. For reference, the WWE's experiment on network TV bombed horribly. Remember the reincarnation of "Saturday Night Main Event"? It pulled in worse ratings than Raw, a cable show, was pulled, and now NBC Universal is fulfilling their contractural obligation to the WWE by airing reruns of Wrestlemania in the old SNME slot. You won't see another deal where the WWE gets onto network television anytime soon.

Why would Panda Energy start spending more? I don't know, you brought up their net worth as if it was relevant to the discussion. The issue has never been "they don't have the money", it's always been "they'd have to be insane to invest the kind of money certain fans expect of them based on their current results". That's the way every company is. The issue is never the funding; the issue is convincing other people to give you the funding. I see what you were trying to say, but you took a roundabout way of getting there.

 

[The Marauder]

So Panda are going to invest millions into a company that is ALREADY losing money just in order to 'try' and beat Mcmahon and WWE?

TNA need to walk before they can run and they aint even doing that yet after 10 years. If TNA continues to lose money then it will be closed down, plain and simple.

That's very funny, did your head hurt when you thought of that crack? Staying up till 3am can be hard for you. LOL.

In any event, TNA/IMPACT Wrestling doesn't need to compete with WWE, because they are competing with themselves already. And 'we' the fans have been spoon fed this stuff for years.

The real reason is not money, but advertising the product. All the time, every time. Question is, will the high and mighty Panda Energy will shell out the money for that? I'm proud to say that TNA is doing their own thing differently. I'm still watching the the product for the past 10 years and it's still going strong.

Plus I believe these type of post always come around before and after WrestleMania. The ONLY TIME WHEN WRESTLING IS HOT!

 

[Steamboat Ricky]

This comes to mind:

I always said that TNA might have a chance if it was able to lure John Cena, but TNA is no threat to compete with WWE any time soon. TNA has no cultural relevance, it has a less than desirable cable television broadcaster, its star power doesn't wrestle full-time, there's no *IT* factor, it has questionable management...I could go on.

 

[The Marauder]

This comes to mind:

I always said that TNA might have a chance if it was able to lure John Cena, but TNA is no threat to compete with WWE any time soon. TNA has no cultural relevance, it has a less than desirable cable television broadcaster, its star power doesn't wrestle full-time, there's no *IT* factor, it has questionable management...I could go on.

Please do go on...I'm getting bored with your post already. Questionable management and odd booking, then yes. But all this "IT" factor and nonsense doesn't hold much water.

As long as TNA/IMPACT WRESTLING get daily viewers, wrestlers that want to wrestle and staying on a decent cable network. They will do fine. They've been on the around for 10 years. So, hey that's something tip your hat off to. No threat to WWE, yes. For now. WWE is watching them every Thursday night if possible.

 

[Steamboat Ricky]

Please do go on...I'm getting bored with your post already. Questionable management and odd booking, then yes. But all this "IT" factor and nonsense doesn't hold much water.

As long as TNA/IMPACT WRESTLING get daily viewers, wrestlers that want to wrestle and staying on a decent cable network. They will do fine. They've been on the around for 10 years. So, hey that's something tip your hat off to. No threat to WWE, yes. For now. WWE is watching them every Thursday night if possible.

Are you kidding me? How in the hell did the Ultimate Warrior rise to the top of WWE and give Hogan his first clean loss in WWE? Nothing but *IT* factor. It's that intangible thing that made kids want to be him and gave him credibility despite little to no in-ring ability. It's the same reason he was able to come back in 96 and then in WCW in 98 with quite a boom. Don't tell me that *IT* holds no water. That's what drives pop-culture.

There is no lure and no energy coming from TNA that is enticing me, nor most fans of wrestling to watch its product. WCW had the same God-awfully shitty management that TNA has, but a shit-load of people watched Nitro because it had IT-factor. They gave me a reason to watch every week. Nobody gave a shit about D-Von as a singles wrestler in WWE...they sure as hell aren't going to care about him as a singles competitor in TNA.

Bring your lunchbox, kid.

 

[itssoeasy123]

See, I don't think they can. I understand TNA may think they can, and they tried and failed miserably time and time again, but I don't see why. They should be investing in the future.

But, here's the kicker. Even giving the belt to a young guy in Bobby Roode still doesn't gain TNA viewers or higher ratings. They got a 0.9 rating this past week, as the go home show to their PPV. To be honest, I don't know what TNA can do to become competition to WWE. They give the belt to old talents from WWE, rating's slump. They give it to a young star, the ratings slump. A this point I don't think John Cena would get them over a 2.0 rating.

TNA should just continue to be the number 2 company. WWE is to big of a company to try to compete with, they had too many viewers and fans, a whole lot of publicity and exposure, and they have over half the viewers TNA has for RAW every week.

 

[The Marauder]

Are you kidding me? How in the hell did the Ultimate Warrior rise to the top of WWE and give Hogan his first clean loss in WWE? Nothing but *IT* factor. It's that intangible thing that made kids want to be him and gave him credibility despite little to no in-ring ability. It's the same reason he was able to come back in 96 and then in WCW in 98 with quite a boom. Don't tell me that *IT* holds no water. That's what drives pop-culture.

There is no lure and no energy coming from TNA that is enticing me, nor most fans of wrestling to watch its product. WCW had the same God-awfully shitty management that TNA has, but a shit-load of people watched Nitro because it had IT-factor. They gave me a reason to watch every week. Nobody gave a shit about D-Von as a singles wrestler in WWE...they sure as hell aren't going to care about him as a singles competitor in TNA.

Bring your lunchbox, kid.

Sorry DUDE, I don't have lunchbox. But I did bring something you may not like...... The Noise.

Let's see, I can agree that you want that so call "magic" back to wrestling. Now, Carter and Co. have guys like Hogan, Flair, and Bischoff in their back pockets. That seems to bug you like housefly. Though if they went back to the WWE, you and like many others would be so happy, you would do a goddamn back flip. Lol.

How did Warrior rise to popularity you ask? Well, much like Batista 'roids, kissing ass and taking names. And much like the stars of the World Wide Entertainment, would love to be in their shoes.

Now TNA/IMPACT WRESTLING on the other hand, are trying to look the other way, which is somehow working by the way. (Not as well as it should). TNA Wrestling are doing their damnest entertaining you, me, and everyone else. On a crappy budget. Yet, you want to keep bringing up the past like you need Doc Brown and the Delorean. Hey, it's cool. I was watching also. But don't come on here saying "I hate the product cause......" or "TNA needs to go away......", if you think that way I hope the WWE, ROH, or all of them goes away also. It's not perfect but it's better what WWE been producing for the last 5 years.

Now where's your noise?

TNA presents: LOCKDOWN LIVE IN NASHVILLE, TN

 

[The Marauder]

See, I don't think they can. I understand TNA may think they can, and they tried and failed miserably time and time again, but I don't see why. They should be investing in the future.

But, here's the kicker. Even giving the belt to a young guy in Bobby Roode still doesn't gain TNA viewers or higher ratings. They got a 0.9 rating this past week, as the go home show to their PPV. To be honest, I don't know what TNA can do to become competition to WWE. They give the belt to old talents from WWE, rating's slump. They give it to a young star, the ratings slump. A this point I don't think John Cena would get them over a 2.0 rating.

TNA should just continue to be the number 2 company. WWE is to big of a company to try to compete with, they had too many viewers and fans, a whole lot of publicity and exposure, and they have over half the viewers TNA has for RAW every week.

Well, I'll make it "easy" for you. I read the rating also. Such a shame though, it was good show last night.

The problem still remains though for three reasons...
1) IMPACT ZONE
2) Live shows.
3) Venturing out to advertise the product.

Now onto this so call tirade, I've been reading this guy's crap for almost year now and its the same crap. TNA can't do this, TNA can't do that. The ratings slump been affecting BOTH companies. Not just in TNA. Only thing the wrestling industry can do is move on. Don't let the rating's affect your judgement, Carter and Co.

It seems "Itssoeasy" have a lack of understanding about either product. WWE has it one way, TNA has it another. There's no silver bullet to make TNA some kind of "competitor" to the WWE. When it comes to money and production, then yes WWE wins. But when it comes to actual pro-wrestling and southern values, then yes TNA wins. TNA is steering in the right direction with creating new stars, pushing up production and better storytelling.

The wrestling industry as a whole is in a slump. For years. So we "the fans" have to make the best of it.





TNA presents: LOCKDOWN LIVE IN NASHVILLE, TN

 

[Steamboat Ricky]

Sorry DUDE, I don't have lunchbox. But I did bring something you may not like...... The Noise.

[YOUTUBE]c4ibhiuPioE[/YOUTUBE]

Let's see, I can agree that you want that so call "magic" back to wrestling.

You can agree that I want something? That statement is incomprehensible.

Now, Carter and Co. have guys like Hogan, Flair, and Bischoff in their back pockets. That seems to bug you like housefly.

Not really, considering I don't watch TNA. Nor did I mention Bischoff, Flair, or Hogan in any of my previous posts.

Though if they went back to the WWE, you and like many others would be so happy, you would do a goddamn back flip. Lol.

Why would I be happy to have guys who are producing a really poor television program right now come back to WWE? I would mark-out for a Flair return, but I couldn't give two shits what Hogan and Bischoff do.

How did Warrior rise to popularity you ask? Well, much like Batista 'roids, kissing ass and taking names.

Or because he had *It* factor. Do you really think Warrior was an ass-kisser? He was the worst backstage guy in the history of wrestling. The only reason Vince put up with him is because he put asses in the seats.

Do you know ANYTHING about wrestling? Do you know how many wrestlers took steroids in the 80s, 90s, and 2000s?

[QUOTEThe Marauder;3844064]And much like the stars of the World Wide Entertainment, would love to be in their shoes. [/QUOTE]

Now TNA/IMPACT WRESTLING on the other hand, are trying to look the other way, which is somehow working by the way. (Not as well as it should).

"Working" is a very subjective term (not that I expect you to understand what that means), but if you are referring to this company putting out an entertaining product, most of the world is going to disagree with you.

TNA Wrestling are doing their damnest entertaining you, me, and everyone else.

Definitely not me and definitely not "everyone" else as is indicated by TNA's PPV buyrates and television ratings.

On a crappy budget.

Of course. If they had a better product they would be making more money.

Yet, you want to keep bringing up the past like you need Doc Brown and the Delorean. Hey, it's cool. I was watching also. But don't come on here saying "I hate the product cause......" or "TNA needs to go away......",

What the HELL are you talking about? Did you even read my post? This is a damn message board where the purpose is to come in and bitch about wrestling. Once again, I'm baffled.

if you think that way I hope the WWE, ROH, or all of them goes away also. It's not perfect but it's better what WWE been producing for the last 5 years.

I couldn't care less what happens to TNA. That doesn't change the fact that it is a terrible wrestling organization in comparison to WWE.

Now where's your noise?

[YOUTUBE]4HAUzVJPM2g[/YOUTUBE]

TNA presents: LOCKDOWN LIVE IN NASHVILLE, TN

Which might get approximately 3,500 in attendance.

 

[ABMorales787]

Seriously. Who the fuck cares? The product is there. If you like it, great. If you don't... I don't know. Rub yourself a WWE Ice Cream Bar or something, I don't care. Why is it a requirement for TNA to be "Competition" to WWE? By definition it already is, but I'll spare the weakminded from the explanation.

For some reason it's not enough for people to have another product for their enjoyment available on a high platform, it has to be just as high on production value and prestige as 50+ old Titan from Stamford. Since, I'm realistic and not some off-the-wall "I think it can be true competition if it did this, this and this. Why? Because I know how it works cause read shit" kind of guy, I'll settle with how the product is today. Thank you oh so much.

 

[The Marauder]

The TNA product is fine. The ratings goes up and down time to time. The wrestling community is going to complain and moan about everything, So there is no silver bullet to make it better or compete with the guys up north.

So I say this, keep watching both products and make it last as long as we can.

 

[Steamboat Ricky]

Dude, if you are going to try to respond point by point, try to figure out how to properly use the quote system.

Through that mess of a post, I was able to decipher that you still didn't refute any of my points, other than that you seem to think that there is a big conspiracy on the internet about TNA's actual PPV buyrates and television ratings...and that you think that 3,500 fans is somehow a comparable success compared to 70,000 fans.

You might consider posting in the Prison for awhile.

 

[The Marauder]

Dude, if you are going to try to respond point by point, try to figure out how to properly use the quote system.

Through that mess of a post, I was able to decipher that you still didn't refute any of my points, other than that you seem to think that there is a big conspiracy on the internet about TNA's actual PPV buyrates and television ratings...and that you think that 3,500 fans is somehow a comparable success compared to 70,000 fans.

You might consider posting in the Prison for awhile.

Nah, it's easier piss you off. Yes it was a mess. Yet it doesn't change subject at hand. We can go on with this tirade all night how which product is better but the fact remains that the wrestling community is divided and we just don't agree. I don't watch WWE, you don't watch TNA. It's already out there. It can be million fans in some football stadium, but it's not enough to make me tune in.

I said this once before, there's a complaints thread. Knock yourself out.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Another one of these? While it's been a while since I've seen this particular thread, the answer is still the same: there's no real way to tell.

Generations of fans have grown up watching WWE programming just like WCW. Before it became WCW, Jim Crockett Promotions had been around for a very long time and had literally built up generations of fans. When Turner bought the company out and renamed it WCW, the audience was already there and had been there for many, many years.

WWE is a brand that even people who don't watch wrestling automatically think WWE whenever they hear the word "wrestling". Even wrestling fans who might despise WWE know this and many of them do the same thing. It's been that way, I'd say, for the better part of 30 years. TNA simply doesn't have that right now and I personally don't think they will for a very, very long time if ever. TNA has been around for a decade and can no longer rely on the argument that people might not simply know about them. They've brought in some of the biggest names in pro wrestling history, they've had many of those mega stars go on television or the radio or the internet to promote TNA, they've taken their programming & gone head to head with WWE Monday Night Raw, and have had their tv show on the line up of a big, well known cable company for about 6.5 years.

I think it can happen at some point, but it won't be anytime soon. It won't be next year, or the year after. It probably won't even be 10 years from now. TNA will just have to keep doing its thing and hope that they'll be able to make generations of new fans just as WWE has done.

 

[Terry Gyimah]

In the future TNA can be as big of a competition than WWE is, TNA can be as big as WCW was way back in the day and be even better, but if only if they lured John Cena away

 

[itssoeasy123]

In the future TNA can be as big of a competition than WWE is, TNA can be as big as WCW was way back in the day and be even better, but if only if they lured John Cena away

I don't see any top WWE star leaving WWE for TNA in the future. Not Triple H, not John Cena, not Randy Orton, not CM Punk.

The only reason why Eric Bischoff was able to sign Hogan, Randy Savage, Lex Luger and Kevin Nash to contracts is simple: he had Ted Turner's money.

I highly doubt TNA has the money to sign John Cena.

TNA just has to market to the kids. How else do you think Vince McMahon beat WCW in the last 90's. He didn't continue to have the same product he had while they were in a rating's slump, he had to change to compete with WCW. What did he do, he went "Attitude." WWE was edging, cutting edge, crazy, somewhat of a gimmick of itself, but it worked. Now, TNA is like WWE was in the mid 90's, the company with lower ratings struggling to find a way. TNA have to think about what their doing wrong, why their ratings are so low, and how to change it.

Marketing to the next generation is working for the WWE. TNA needs to do the same. TNA needs a top face, the ultimate good guy. ECW didn't have a top face, WCW didn't have a top face. What happened with both of those companies? Their in Vince McMahon's video library. They need to market to the future of the fans and the young teens. Marketing to the older demographic can only get you so far; see ECW for an example.

 

[whoopin' ass]

they never will. i said it somewhere else, times have changed and unless wwe screws up bigtime, no one will ever get close to them. that is not to say they can't be competition but they will never be another wcw for so many reasons. they need to focus on being the wrestling alternative for fans and not worry about wwe. people will follow if there is a product that they like but they need to focus on that product and get it out there for others to see. they have got a great talent pool right now, there is no reason why they can't be seen as a great place to watch wrestling but there is no way they will ever beat out wwe in the general public. people need to accept that. and i am a tna fan so don't say i am some diehard wwe fan just bashing the company. but they more they try and be wwe, the worse it makes them look.

 

[dillanp370]

don't really know much about stocks, but why don't TNA just sell shares in the company?

I suppose yes, Dixie Carter/Her Parents and Jeff Jarrett will loose some money initially, but if the ''Impact Fans Matter' so much then they won't be bothered..

But if they do sell shares, they'll gain lots of money.. quickly which is what TNA need.. to get out of the Impact Zone and get on the road on a regular basis...

As I said, don't know much about stock/shares.. but from my basic knowledge, wouldn't in be a good idea?