Why you should record Raw and watch Impact live...

[Hulkamaniac]

This isn't intended for everybody, but it probably applies to most of the IWC. The WWE is the top dog in wrestling by a wide margin. That's obvious. But many of the IWC have consistently complained about the quality of product put out by the WWE. However, their main competitor in the USA, TNA, has yet to go head-to-head with WWE...until now.

Vince realizes there's a danger when someone as recognizable as Hogan, and someone as talented as Bischoff, are involved. There's a reason the Bret Hart negotiations suddenly un-stalemated after Hogan started appearing on Larry King and the like. It's not for the casual fans. Most of them don't have a clue who Bret Hart is. It's for you, the IWC. It's a bread crumb. Bret Hart is a cult hero in the IWC. Don't fall for it.

Yes Bret Hart coming back is a big deal. Yes, it's likely to be fascinating TV. But it's a temporary fix. An effort by Vince to cripple any traction TNA might gain. As long as Vince feels threatened, he will continue to do things like this, things that are legitimately interesting. Once he feels unthreatened, he'll go right back to the PG stuff that most of you profess to loathe. The only thing he cares about is maintaining marketshare and getting ratings.

If you like the current WWE product, that's perfectly fine. Watch Raw live, and go with it.

But if you don't.. go for it. If you truly don't like what the WWE has been giving you, don't go running back like a lapdog for this temporary solution. Force Vince to up his game on a more permanent basis. Hit him where it hurts. Watch TNA live. Record Raw. You can still enjoy the temporary fix of Bret Hart, without giving Vince the victory he wants to maintain the current status quo.

 

[El Gato]

Unless you have a Neilson Box, I don't think it matters which show you watch, no? Or is that not how ratings are calculated anymore?

I will be watching TNA but I do plan on doing the channel flipping thing. If something is really boring, or the show is on commercial, I'll definitely see what is going on on the other channel. TNA does have the advantage in that they have an entire hour to try to grab (and hold) my attention. Meanwhile the only thing I care about on RAW is Bret Hart and he's going to be doing crap with HBK & Vince, which honestly I don't really care about as it happened twelve years ago and I never thought it was that big of a deal in the first place.

 

[Tyrath]

I plan to watch the first hour of TNA because I have never seen the show, and since they'll be on Monday for a change I'll give them a shot. However, once it hits 9 I will be switching to WWE. Bret Hart is one of my very first "favorites" as far as wrestling goes. There is no chance in hell I'll be missing his return. I've never been a Hogan fan, hes way before my time, I don't really care what he has to offer.

While Raw hasn't been the best recently, Vince already showed us last week that he can indeed up his game when he needs to. I don't think he needs a hit in ratings to give us a good show.

 

[Rip]

You know I was wondering about this concept.

If you record something, that means your cable box (or whatever) is on that channel and recording, whether it's on your TV or not. Doesn't that count as watching it? As in, for example, my cable box has DVR that record two show simultaneously. So if I record both, which I will, doesn't that mean that, in terms of ratings, that both shows were watched from my household. I think in this day and age of TiVos and DVRs, the ratings in this war will be interesting, because instead of having to choose one or the other, a wrestling fan can watch one, record the other and watch it later and the ratings are the same either way.

How do you guys think this could play out? I mean theoretically, if one of the promotions started lacking, that doesn't necessarily mean people will stop watching it, they'll just stop watching it LIVE. Their ratings won't suffer. Weird.

 

[X]

You know I was wondering about this concept.

If you record something, that means your cable box (or whatever) is on that channel and recording, whether it's on your TV or not. Doesn't that count as watching it? As in, for example, my cable box has DVR that record two show simultaneously. So if I record both, which I will, doesn't that mean that, in terms of ratings, that both shows were watched from my household. I think in this day and age of TiVos and DVRs, the ratings in this war will be interesting, because instead of having to choose one or the other, a wrestling fan can watch one, record the other and watch it later and the ratings are the same either way.

How do you guys think this could play out? I mean theoretically, if one of the promotions started lacking, that doesn't necessarily mean people will stop watching it, they'll just stop watching it LIVE. Their ratings won't suffer. Weird.

Rip is actually quite right here guys, the Nielsen ratings recently began to take into account DVR recordings, as they should because most people use their DVRs to watch shows at a later point these days anyways. So yes, if you do record one of these shows, you are in fact contributing to their ratings guys, remember that.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

I have said it many times, but if fans of the wrestling/sports entertainment have a true desire to see the state of wrestling improve, they have to put this feeling of loyalty towards the WWE off to the side, and should support TNA by watching it live that night, and placing Raw on DVR.

If you are not happy or are apathetic to the WWE of today, putting down TNA is not going to do a thing to rectify the situation and things will simply continue as they are.

WWE has been proven in the past to be at its absolute best when it has competition. Fans that try to prevent this competition from forming are truly only slitting themselves on the wrists. Vince isn't going to give you the product you want to see if he doesn't have to. You don't like Hornswoggle and corny humor from DX? Prepare to see more of it because the envelope won't be pushed and creative juices will not flow if Vince doesn't feel pressure from the competition.

In order for there to be competition, there needs to be support.

Making TNA your priority for this night and giving them the support they need to become competition, by making this your primary show for this Monday, will help towards making that a reality in the future.

Nobody expects TNA to win the ratings war that night. WCW didn't do it overnight, and nor will TNA. It takes time to grow. And it will grow IF you support it.

So the mentality that "I have to be loyalty to WWE and watch WWE first" is unfortunately not very well thought-out, if you don't enjoy the WWE product as much as you did in the past.

Even if you don't have a Nielson box, and it doesn't figure in to the actual ratings, that is besides the point ... because your energy from watching the show will eventually carry over and spread to those that do have a box and it will give TNA a momentum boost.

We've had WWE on top running unopposed for almost a decade. Isn't it time for someone else to rise to give WWE a little competition and in turn, produce a better product for everyone?

 

[VKO]

Most people are going to watch both shows thats a give in. The ratings will be there for both shows if you do this. However if you are a WWE fan even if you don't like TNA I encourage you to at least record TNA Impact this Monday if you are frustrated with the current direction of the product you watch every week. You don't have to be a TNA fan just know competition is what made the Monday Night Wars so enjoyable in the late 1990's.

 

[El Gato]

WCW didn't do it overnight, and nor will TNA. It takes time to grow. And it will grow IF you support it.

True, but when WCW "went to war" with WWE, their ratings were quite comparable (unlike TNA). In a worse timeslot on Saturday from 6-8, WCW Saturday Night was doing low 2s. Clash of the Champions did low to mid 3s before Nitro debuted. At the same time, Raw was doing low to mid 2s.

Whereas compared to TNA, they get a low 1. Usually between .8-1.2 WWE always gets around a 3.5 nowadays.

 

[jazzua]

I have said it many times, but if fans of the wrestling/sports entertainment have a true desire to see the state of wrestling improve, they have to put this feeling of loyalty towards the WWE off to the side, and should support TNA by watching it live that night, and placing Raw on DVR.

If you are not happy or are apathetic to the WWE of today, putting down TNA is not going to do a thing to rectify the situation and things will simply continue as they are.

WWE has been proven in the past to be at its absolute best when it has competition. Fans that try to prevent this competition from forming are truly only slitting themselves on the wrists. Vince isn't going to give you the product you want to see if he doesn't have to. You don't like Hornswoggle and corny humor from DX? Prepare to see more of it because the envelope won't be pushed and creative juices will not flow if Vince doesn't feel pressure from the competition.

In order for there to be competition, there needs to be support.

Making TNA your priority for this night and giving them the support they need to become competition, by making this your primary show for this Monday, will help towards making that a reality in the future.

Nobody expects TNA to win the ratings war that night. WCW didn't do it overnight, and nor will TNA. It takes time to grow. And it will grow IF you support it.

So the mentality that "I have to be loyalty to WWE and watch WWE first" is unfortunately not very well thought-out, if you don't enjoy the WWE product as much as you did in the past.

Even if you don't have a Nielson box, and it doesn't figure in to the actual ratings, that is besides the point ... because your energy from watching the show will eventually carry over and spread to those that do have a box and it will give TNA a momentum boost.

We've had WWE on top running unopposed for almost a decade. Isn't it time for someone else to rise to give WWE a little competition and in turn, produce a better product for everyone?

It's the perfect arguement right here. For anyone who isn't happy with what they get from WWE it is the perfect chance to stand up and announce it. For me, I don't enjoy TNA, I'll be watching Raw. I will, however, throw TNA on my DVR.

Hogan, to me, isn't a draw. I'm probably one of the few who can say that Hogan hasn't interested me since about 91'. I could care less that he's there. To me, I would be just as interested without Hogain in what Tna expects to do on their first night against Raw. To be honest, I'm way more excited to see what's happening with Waltman. I love how the guy works when he's not all cracked up from Chyna or whatever else. I hope it's good. For all of us.

 

[The Doctor]

Well, I will be at RAW live. That said, I will definitely be recording TNA. It looks to be a huge episode, and the few times I have been able to watch TNA I have highly enjoyed it. I am very interested in how this will work out.

In fact, I think I will start recording TNA from now on, just to help it in the ratings. Even if I never get the chance to watch it, I'm trying to do my part, even if it's something small.