Will GFW or any other be able to get a tv

[Robert Roode Fan]

I fear with spike getting rid of tna and tna probably going away, that the market will shrink and wrestlers be out of a job. Worse yet I don't see any company getting a tv deal here in the states, other than wwe. It looks like a good amount of great talent will never be able to get into a bigger company that acually deserve it. I hope people that wanted tna gone are happy, this is what they got, when some of your favorite indy wrestlers get a huge pay cut due to there being no tna, and they can't make ends meet even though they are talented , they will retire and go get a job, and your going to be bitching about it.

Dragon Saga I hope you are right, about anothor company getting that spot, I would love to ROH get that spot or even GFW, but with people's attuides about wrestling that won't ever come to be.

 

[three count bout]

Spike TV seems to enjoy having wrestling content as part of their lineup, and they might be willing to give another Federation a chance. There is still the chance TNA get's the contract renewed, possibly with a cheaper deal than their previous one.

I assume Jarrett has some TV connects so GFW has a chance of getting on TV whether it's on Spike or elsewhere.

Styles, Hero, and Bad Influence have all gone on record stating you can make money on the independent circuit. Talented people will find work, although I'm still hoping TNA stays afloat.

 

[BringThePain834]

It's definitely going to take them a while, if at all, to get a TV deal. Here's the thing. Pro wrestling is in a dead spin right now for anyone not named John Cena, Vince McMahon, Paul Levesque, Shawn Michaels, Stone Cold, The Rock, The Undertaker or Brock Lesnar. Upward mobility is virtually nonexistent in terms of who is able to or allowed to make money. WWE, well they're WWE, and TNA, they have basically resigned itself to throwing darts at the wall and hoping something will stick.

The scandals from the 90s and Chris Benoit's actions over the last 3 days of his life are still affecting the business in ways that no one wants to admit. People still think its "fake" but without the innocence, now its a fake sport with steroid using freaks who have the capacity to go on a murderous rampage at the drop of a hat. And the movement to tone down the characters and storylines they act out has only made the sport look ridiculous.

I wouldn't be surprised if, 30 years from now, wrestling is once again limited to small arenas and territorial fan bases.

 

[Robert Roode Fan]

It's definitely going to take them a while, if at all, to get a TV deal. Here's the thing. Pro wrestling is in a dead spin right now for anyone not named John Cena, Vince McMahon, Paul Levesque, Shawn Michaels, Stone Cold, The Rock, The Undertaker or Brock Lesnar. Upward mobility is virtually nonexistent in terms of who is able to or allowed to make money. WWE, well they're WWE, and TNA, they have basically resigned itself to throwing darts at the wall and hoping something will stick.

The scandals from the 90s and Chris Benoit's actions over the last 3 days of his life are still affecting the business in ways that no one wants to admit. People still think its "fake" but without the innocence, now its a fake sport with steroid using freaks who have the capacity to go on a murderous rampage at the drop of a hat. And the movement to tone down the characters and storylines they act out has only made the sport look ridiculous.

I wouldn't be surprised if, 30 years from now, wrestling is once again limited to small arenas and territorial fan bases.

That is really terrible yet tna dying is going to help the business, these people only care about their ego's being feed, the least these people can do is ADMIT they don't give a shit about the welfare of the business.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

It's difficult to speculate about anything when it comes to GFW because we know virtually nothing about it aside from whispered rumors and rumors about other rumors. For instance, there's talk that Toby Keith is financially backing Jeff Jarrett's Global Force Wrestling and that they're talking to CMT about a TV deal and there's talk that neither of those are true. According to celebritynetworth.com, Toby Keith's net worth is $320 million while an article in Forbes Magazine came out this time last year putting his net worth at $500 million, so he definitely has the cash to back Jarrett's company. However, in the days where social media is the new religion and television is overly saturated with mediocre reality TV shows, pro wrestling companies starting out have an uphill battle. Jarrett could have Bill Gates backing the company but no matter how much money gets pumped into a GFW, that's no guarantee that Jarrett can get people interested in watching what they have to offer and numbers are what the TV people want.

As far as Ring of Honor goes, I don't know the details of their TV deal beyond the fact that it's syndicated. It's unlikely that they'll have a network television deal anytime in the near future because, frankly, they're not WWE and Vince McMahon has spent the past 30+ years doing everything he can to make sure that his company is synonymous with professional wrestling in the minds of American fans. WWE has a decades long history of bringing big ratings to cable networks and that's what TV executives care about at the end of the day.

 

[The Dragon Saga]

Wrestling is a business. It's not a profitable business however, unless you're WWE, and right now an outside venture has cost WWE to stop making money. You have to spend money to get more eyes on you. You need to spend, to make. TNA spent, nobody watched. Spike TV invested money so they could spend, nobody watched. Eventually it comes to a point where Spike TV has to ask, "maybe this product is just tarnished?"

It may be that Spike TV doesn't want wrestling on its network, but it may also be they just don't want TNA Wrestling on their network. Once TNA is cancelled there will be one promotion on national TV, WWE. Which means there is a gap open, if the right network can take advantage of it. The days of anyone being competition to WWE is over.

Nobody will ever compete with WWE again. Nobody. Nobody. Nobody. It's no longer about money, its now a thing of brand recognition. WWE has oversaturated the market to the point where nobody can compete because nobody can bring as much content to the table as they can. WWE now produces more original content a week by themselves than WWE, WCW and ECW were on national TV in 1999. What people should be trying to do is be an alternative, what networks will eventually realize is, "at some point people will get sick of whatever WWE is doing, and they'll look for something different. The easier we make a wrestling product accessible, the more eyes that will turn to it." Then what they need a good, solid product, something TNA hasn't been in years because its consistency is all over the place because they are constantly swapping who has power.

Somebody will pick up a wrestling product. It might be someone picks up Ring of Honor Wrestling from Sinclair, it could be that someone sees Billy Corgan's Resistance Pro on CMT when they do their reality show and pick that up. It could be Championship Wrestling from Hollywood, it could be Jeff Jarrett's invisible GFW, it could be anyone - who it is, isn't the point. Someone will get onto national TV because there is a gap there to be filled once TNA drops. Spike focused too much on trying to make TNA competition to WWE instead of trying to provide an alternative product for people to watch.

 

[Robert Roode Fan]

It's difficult to speculate about anything when it comes to GFW because we know virtually nothing about it aside from whispered rumors and rumors about other rumors. For instance, there's talk that Toby Keith is financially backing Jeff Jarrett's Global Force Wrestling and that they're talking to CMT about a TV deal and there's talk that neither of those are true. According to celebritynetworth.com, Toby Keith's net worth is $320 million while an article in Forbes Magazine came out this time last year putting his net worth at $500 million, so he definitely has the cash to back Jarrett's company. However, in the days where social media is the new religion and television is overly saturated with mediocre reality TV shows, pro wrestling companies starting out have an uphill battle. Jarrett could have Bill Gates backing the company but no matter how much money gets pumped into a GFW, that's no guarantee that Jarrett can get people interested in watching what they have to offer and numbers are what the TV people want.

As far as Ring of Honor goes, I don't know the details of their TV deal beyond the fact that it's syndicated. It's unlikely that they'll have a network television deal anytime in the near future because, frankly, they're not WWE and Vince McMahon has spent the past 30+ years doing everything he can to make sure that his company is synonymous with professional wrestling in the minds of American fans. WWE has a decades long history of bringing big ratings to cable networks and that's what TV executives care about at the end of the day.

Yet even more and more proff that the industry is not better off without tna, they may think it is a joke, but clearly this is not good. No tv means less money going into the business, less money for the wrestlers. Honestly it is just fanboys using that as an honest to god excuse for being a fanboy and getting what they want to see.

 

[The Dragon Saga]

Yet even more and more proff that the industry is not better off without tna, they may think it is a joke, but clearly this is not good. No tv means less money going into the business, less money for the wrestlers. Honestly it is just fanboys using that as an honest to god excuse for being a fanboy and getting what they want to see.

I've not seen one person, between here, two other forums I post on, Twitter where I am in contact with a few hundred wrestling fans, and the biggest wrestling community on the Internet Reddit say or even try to suggest that TNA closing is good for the business, it's not, and as I said to you in another thread I think you're reading your own shit because I haven't seen anyone on here say it either unless it's in passing or a joke. The person who has came nearest to saying such a thing is actually myself, but I have a different perspective on it.

TNA going out of business wouldn't be good for it, but it would be good for my favored wrestling company, Ring of Honor. It would bring great potential for who they could sign, such as the return of Samoa Joe or even Eddie Edwards. It would also make ROH the default number two in a year where many have said in jest, "well if ROH has higher attendances and are obviously doing better, they're the number two anyways, right?", which TNA fans respond to with, "wheres your national TV deal on Spike TV?" So if TNA lose the deal at the least and are no longer on national TV, I'm happy as an ROH fan that I can finally reply to that, "I don't know, where is your national TV deal on Spike? Oh wait, that's right, you got dropped".

But It'll never be good for the business. However it also won't effect the business that much. TNA isn't WCW, it doesn't employ a ton of people. It employs a couple hundred at the most. It doesn't have a great PPV deal, its PPV's underachieve actually which is why they were pulled back to four live ones and the rest being taped. The biggest people hit will be the certain wrestlers who WWE won't be interested in, ROH won't be interested in, NJPW won't be interested in and who won't get a ton of bookings on the indies because before going to TNA they weren't very known on them.

And if they do go out of business and wrestlers do lose their jobs, which aren't financially very lucrative to begin with, like how AJ Styles, Daniels and Kaz have all said and as Scott D'Amore told Dave Meltzer yesterday, they'll probably make more money outside TNA given it's the right guy. Kevin Steen was said to be making as much if not more money then guys signed to TNA contracts like Bobby Roode, Magnus and James Storm. They're losing a place to work and exposure, after that TNA's loss to the wrestling business would be simply the fact they're the most known brand after WWE going right now, but in business brands die all the time and new ones replace them.

 

[ABMorales787]

I'd be quite concerned if GFW couldn't afford a TV. I mean I got my 24' flat screen for 125 dollars at Micro Center. Is that snassy logo just not cutting it for Jarrett?


Oh, you meant TV deal. ROH already has one and I'm pretty sure if ratings increase they'll simply be moved to better time slots and given a second hour. God knows they need one. AAA got a TV deal already with El Rey Network, whether there's follow up on that is unknown though. GFW? Well, first that thing needs to actually exist.

 

[Alastor]

The issue with wrestling in general is many of the decision makers are stuck in old school mentality. We have people that still believe to this day wrestling should be like in the 80s. Then there are those that believe the 90s with the Monday Night Wars is the way to go to make money. All these ideas are beyond dated. The media landscape has changed drastically since both of those period and to rely on people that still believe those are the holy grail is ultimately what prevented TNA from capitalizing on their huge potential 7 years ago. For example TNA's obsession with going live due to being stuck with 90's mentality when tape delay were enough was an unneeded expense.

Sure some idea are timeless but not all of them are. Until that next person/group that can leverage new media to profitability pro-wrestling as a entertainment product is stuck in limbo. Any wrestling promotion wanting a national tv deal will just be lowballed and can't get a deal done.

 

[GODSON]

TV networks and advertisers do not think wrestling is profitable. Wrestling always done great numbers but the advertisers dollars always look at wrestling as a joke. TNA right now gets an average of .5 rating in the main 18-49 demo and Cops gets a .4 rating but Cops is wayyyyyyy cheaper than TNA. TV companies wants ownership to invest in wrestling ala ROH/Sinclair and AAA US/El Rey.

I do agree that wrestling is outdated, I think running 52 new episodes per year is an outdated format. The reason why TNA could never build momentum because certain periods of their product is HORRIBLE tv and just lazy booking. I wonder how much better the product would be if they take 2-3 months off per year. I also think a weekly two hour show is too much, if you going to do a weekly show its need to be 60 minutes. It would eliminate the filler and make fans want more of the product. TNA did their best numbers on ppvs when Impact was only 1 hour.

Let's look at the top 5-6 non WWE/TNA promotions.

1. AAA US on the El Rey network. This will be an English version of the AAA promotion based out of LA. It will debut on October 8th on the new El Rey Network. Dr. Lucha said the show might be pushed back again but as of right now the plan is to debut October 8th. Ricky Reyes announced he signed a contract and tapings are in September. Its still unclear if the show will be a seasonal show or weekly show, either way it will be a hour long. There's also plans of airing future specials. Unlike ROH,GFW and TNA, AAA has a long history of being a successful brand. Their last tour of the US in 2009 average 5000 fans without tv. Their main show triplemania will probably sell 18-20k tickets on August 17th. This show will be produced and written by Mark Burnett and his team, also former WWE writer Chris Dejoseph is a writer. Its unclear on how the show will be film but they said its going to be different and something new. The situation with this promotion is that mostly Latino wrestlers will be hired because that's the El Rey Network fanbase. This is a wait and see project. The good thing about AAA is that this project can fail and they will still do huge business in Mexico and will be around forever. They have nothing to lose unlike the others. There is a lot of major players behind this project. Oh yeah, rumor has it they might do a Spanish version of this show for Univision, that would be HUGE if true.

2. Global Force Wrestling, we really don't know nothing about this project. They can't negotiate with Spike until Fall of 2015. The only thing we know is that David Broome is a part of this promotion and that's a great thing if you trying to get a tv deal.

3. ROH, Jason Powell reported ROH was one of the two promotions that had a meeting with Spike tv. ROH actually have a strong fanbase. According to Sinclair, they average 300,000 viewers in 2013. Great number considering the timeslot and the fact only 1 of the top 20 major tv markets carry the show. My problem with ROH is the potential. They will eventually hit a glass ceiling like TNA. Plus, all their top guys eventually go to the WWE. ROH over the years accept their position as the farm system for the WWE.

4. New Japan, besides the language barrier which can be fix with commentary. The problem with NJPW is episodic tv. How can you make New Japan into an episodic tv show? You really can't.

5. CMLL is on Azteca America every Saturday 5pm eastern time. Its in Spanish but easy to follow. Its sad the internet wrestling community does not follow this show. Its a true alternative with good wrestling.

6. Of course you have indies like Booker T ROW with small tv deals on small networks but no one really care.

I would love too see Zuffa,Golden Boy,TMT,HBO or Showtime invest in a wrestling promotion one day.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Wrestling itself can be very profitable, when it is done for its own sake and not as part of an entertainment portfolio.

Vince has made almighty profits over the years with the way he has presented pro-wrestling but when he has lost money it has been because he has tried to make it more than it actually is or make his company more than a wrestling one. WBF,XFL, WWE Films, even the Network are all costly errors based from the fundamental "shame" of "just being a wrestling company" rather than embracing it.

From a TV perspective Wrestling can be a boon, look how TNA has fared on Challenge in the UK.. a small but free channel for much of the population so very easy to watch, it brings in viewers of demographics your other programming might not get and the wrestling company pays most of the overhead like talent costs. USA may pony up a bit of cash or negotiate directly here and there, say for a Hugh Jackman cameo or for one of their new show stars on RAW but in the main the costs to a network are lower than their own produced shows.

The best "chance" right now is the least likely but one that given 2 years could reignite things.

Vince should buy, keep but rebrand TNA as WCW... with Sting about to debut nostalgia has never been higher for the old WCW brand, many feel that the company should have been kept open in 2001 and run seperately and here they pretty much get another shot, but using that valuable IP of WCW rather than the tarnished TNA brand.

From Vince's perspective it's can't lose... his core business is flagging due to lack of competition, he has one last shot to create his own and let it run. The only real "connection" should be that if they can't get a TV deal then it airs on the network.

Talentwise you have the perfect introduction in Sting... he has his Mania match but then he, Dusty, Arn perhaps Heyman head over to WCW and start running it as that seperate entity for the next 2 years or so... build it back up with it's own identity.

Yes this will cost money in the short term and in a company making cuts that may not be seen a a good move at first. But the reality is without this, WWE is in real danger of going under... something needs to change in the wrestling business, the conglomerate approach hasn't worked. So... does Vince do as he did in 97 and take the gamble, throw what he knows out the window or fiddle as Rome burns?

TNA can't lose... the Carters get out with a relative amount of credit for doing "the right thing for the wrestling business", as long as Dixie isn't part of the package then Vince will be respectful and cordial. Their talent get to keep their jobs a while till they get down to the performance centre and get evaluated and WWE has somewhere to send those guys who can't quite make it there... a Wade Barrett or a Cody Rhodes for example... 3 years from now, they could be "back" as part of a WCW invasion that pops the biggest Mania number ever.

This only works if Vince does it not to "build WWE" but to rebuild the wrestling business... and that means admitting he is a wrestling promoter... will he do it? He might have to cos as it stands it's all in danger of going...

 

[Alastor]

You are knocking Vince for trying to start new businesses with money his company made? Sure all were costly mistakes but the Network was a pre-emptive move to move away from totally depending on declining PPV buys as a source of revenue. In this age of content overload, Vince is probably moving towards the network so WWE can more in depth into the consumer data collecting business. Days of 12+ $40-$50 PPV buys per year isn't realistic in the years ahead. Why should Vince buy TNA to rebrand it into WCW when he can't even sell his own shows at his preferred price? All the criticism on Vince seem to be that he is a businessman first, a wrestling promoter second as if that is a bad thing.

It is fans like us that keep wrestling stuck in the stone ages demanding things to be similar to where they were 20 years ago. The fact that fans still want Heyman or Sting and boo Cena and Orton is what is wrong with wrestling.