I have been a WWE fan for a long time now, and since after Wrestlemania 25, I have become so dissatisfied with the product. I know people still complained about it in the few years previous to that but I always enjoyed it. But like most people, I think it has become so stale in this "PG era" so I thought I'd give TNA a try seeing as they are going for the more Attitude type stuff
Personally, I think that the overall product has improved quite a bit since WM 25. You're reading far too much into the PG rating I think. When you look at the overall audience demographics for Raw, for instance, about two thirds of the audience is male with about 62% being 18-49 and somewhere around 25% being age 12-18. TNA itself draws similar percentages in the same demographics. So, while you've probably heard all sorts of rhetoric about the WWE catering to the kiddies, it's not exactly true.
I
have tried numerous times over the years to try get into TNA, but even more in the past year because I'm so sick of WWE. But it just seems they are attempting to do more Attitude type stuff, and can't pull it off (anyone get what i mean?). I think their ideas are fantastic, it really feels like they are trying their best and they are coming up with these big storylines. But when I watch it, it doesn't look nearly as good as it sounds on paper.
I think a major problem with TNA is that many viewers see them as simply trying to copy what WCW and the WWF did back in the 90s. To some, it's a turn off because maybe that no longer appeals to them while others may view it as just being too lazy to come up with something on their own. When the WWF was pulling some of these stunts during the Attitude Era, it was revolutionary. They were doing things that hadn't been seen by the vast, vast majority of pro wrestling fans in America. Personally, I think that one reason why it's not really catching on with a lot of viewers is because TNA itself doesn't really have that many stars that can pull it off. For instance, on tonight's iMPACT!, Orlando Jordan is doing his talk show segment again and he's having Rob Terry on as his guest. Now, Orlando Jordan is openly bisexual and TNA has been kinda sorta trying to do something with that, it just hasn't really gone well with most of the audience or even other TNA wrestlers. I can almost guarantee you that TNA will play some sort of angle where Jordan hits on Terry, Terry will be disgusted as any "real man" would be and he'll respond appropriately by maybe just beating Jordan up. You know, the old fashioned "beat up the nasty queer" angle that you sometimes see in movies or on tv. Personally, I don't really think using outdated stereotypes is all that innovative or interesting. It just strikes me as kind of juvenile.
I want them to do well, to show WWE that aiming the programming at adults works. But I'm just wondering, is WWE the only one that can pull that type of stuff off? I've seen other people in threads saying the same thing, that TNA's version of adult programming isn't as good as WWE's was. And I would like to know what you think about it?
Well, as has been said, it was revolutionary when the WWF was doing it and, many times, it looks as though TNA is just trying to pull off a cheap copy. In order for TNA to have the type of success the WWF garnered during the Attitude Era, I think TNA will have to be willing to go further than the WWF did. The problem, however, is that you really can't go further than that on television. For instance, if TNA wanted to truly label themselves as "adult", then have Lacey Von Erich do an actual striptease. Actually have her get butt ass nekkid right in the center of the ring on a live iMPACT!. It would be a stunt, most definitely, but there'd be no denying the "adult content". However, that won't happen because Spike will have the FCC so far up its ass that you wouldn't be able to tell where Spike started off and the FCC ended. Having women run around in skimpy outfits, let a few sexual innuendoes fly once in a while and an occassional blood letting in a match just simply isn't going to get it done. The WWF did all that stuff 12 years ago. I personally think that TNA should worry about trying to be TNA instead of lamely trying to copy what the WWF was doing when AJ Styles was in high school.
