TNABaddboi

411wrestling says that according to PWI, the replay scored .5 again this week. The good news keeps coming for TNA ratings wise. Also, FYI, the UFC show that ran against the 2nd hour of RAW got a 0.9 rating.

WO had this today: We obviously knew about the gauntlet, but I am pretty sure I've seen the tag title match. I'm guess that'll main event the 2nd show. I gotta say I'm surprised they aren't saving that for the PPV. I guess they'll shoot an angle to set it up in hour 1 and then do the obligatory rematch at the PPV after the title change.

The best thing about your idea, IMO, is that it gives Truth the heel turn he desperately needs. Although he's shown he can get over as a top-shelf face or heel, his current face run is beyond stale because he's been doing the exact same thing (read: absolutely nothing) for about 2 years. And because they give all the mic time to Konnan and James to pop the marks.

This Jarrett/Raven shit reminds me of Hart and HBK in 97, where what they did backstage was just as (if not more) interesting than what they did on the show. (Although there's no proof that they don't like each other, but that's not the point I'm making). If Raven misses BFG, that means they will have each missed one of TNA biggest shows for pissing off management.

Although I want this angle over as much as the next guy, TNA has clearly established that right now they are booking with the new audience in mind. Which makes sense IMO: I mean, there's somewhere between 400,000 and 700,000 people who never saw the 6 months of build. Half of it it took place during the FSN era, when Impact was averaging about a .2 and the other half took place during the internet era, when Impact was viewed by about 100,000 people a week (I'm pretty sure TNA claimed that number anyway). So it makes sense to build slow even though they were already building slow. I think they were aware of that and that's why they gave it about a month long break. just my two cents though...

Here's more info, from PWI:

The fact that the ratings held steady is great news for TNA. I'd expected they drop off to about a .5. I guess that a testament to the fact that the first show was well received and that they delivered the Duds in ring debut (which is probably as big a TV draw as they could deliver right now without a hotshot title change). It'll be interesting to see A) how the replay did this week and B) how next week does with the X-Division positioned as the draw for the first time. They are promoting Daniels' Gauntlet as the ME, so methinks this will be the first litmus test for the X-D. Either way, a second straight .8 is great news for TNA.

I know there was a preview thread last, but since we're a couple of hours from show time now, here's the OAO thread. Post yer thoughts right here. I've been looking forward to this show all week (I've watched the first show about 10 times this week) and I've managed to avoid the spoilers for a second week. It'll be interesting to see how they get out of delivering a real AMW/3D show down and I'm definitely looking forward to the X division 3 way. I haven't seen Bentley in a while (and I was starting to miss Traci, and by extension, him) and Daniels is great, so I have high hopes there. What are you looking forward to? Are you as excited as you were last week? Why or why not? Discuss...

I agree that the 3 spots will be likely to go to guys who haven't appeared yet. I think it may be Sonjay (if he's back), Primetime and either Joe or Jerry Lynn. They way they can put over Dutt's trip, Skipper's history with Daniels and either Joe's undefeated streak or Lynn founding the X Division. I'd like to see Joe there, but it might make hiim look weak to be Daniels after Daniels goes through to other guys.

That was my first thought when that promo aired. I think AJ's guys will be Sonjay (if he's back), Skipper (so they can play up how well they know each other) and then Joe, who will promptly decimate Daniels. That way Daniels is protected by having gone through 2 guys and Joe is put over by being awesome.

Well I thought this week's was a decent show. I wasn't quite as blown away as last week, but I was still entertained and IMO this was still better than almost anything they showed on FSN ('cept maybe the first and last 2 episodes). Here are my thoughts on the matches: Team Canada/3LK: This was a good way to get these guys out there and let them pop the fans with the catchphrases and shoe tosses. I wish we could have seen some more of Team Canada heeling it up, because Eric Young is probably the most underated heel on the roster when it comes to turning the crowd. And man, was this about the hottest TNA crowd ever? I laughed out loud when they sung the star spangled banner. That was priceless. Daniels/Bentley/Aries: This was my first time seeing Aries and he held his on in there, and Daniels and Bentley are 2 of my TNA favs, so I was into this. I knew that either Sabin was going to distract Bentley or Styles was going to distract Daniels, so the finish was kinda predictable, but both guys came out looking good. Abyss/Siaki: We've seen this match a few times and I always enjoy them. I'd actually like to see what these guys could do with 10 mins or so. Some people will probably say that Siaki got too much offense in after the video put him over as a monster (which is an argument i can totally see), but I don't think they should totally job Siaki. The guy's got some personality and I really think he could get back over as a solid mid-card/tag team heel. Jarrett/Nash/Ortiz segment: This really slowed the show down for me. After last week's hot segment, this just came off flat to me. The brawl between Nash and Jarrett was beyond lame. They didn't come over as hating each other at all. And Ortiz's promo was horribly clipped. 3D/AMW: While I don't think they did a good enough job explaining to new fans why this was a dream match (where was the AMW video), for this long time viewer, this felt like a big match the likes of which TNA doesn't normally give away on free tv. I knew the non-finish was coming, but this match made me look forward to the inevitable PPv rematch. The angle after the match was ok for what it was, but if it's used as an excuse for 3D to miss the rest of the month, fans may shit on it. It just didn't look that severe. And the camera work for Kim was terrible. Tenay said "that's Gail Kim!" like four times before they showed her face. All in all, like I said I thought it was a decent show. Not bad, not great. They set up an interesting angle/match with the Daniels and AJ for next week, so I'm looking forward to that. BTW, TNA has already announced a line-up for next week, despite the show not being taped yet. Here it is: credit: TNAWrestling.com Thoughts?

Well...the Observer posted Saturdays ratings and it looks like TNA beat expectations for Impact's debut. Here's the info: Still no what on the replay yet, but you got think Spike and TNA have to be in heaven after that. Didn't they say they expected a 0.5? Does anyone know what Velocity averaged over its run? And how much of that audience did you expect to come back for week 2?

I came across this on 411wrestling.com. But this is an interview Jarrett did with a British newspaper. Warning: Jarrett does kayfabe some of this, but it's an interesting read otherwise. Thoughts?

I agree Laz. I honestly think that if Monty doesn't break out like TNA seems to be banking on, Truth is there best shot at it. In TNA's three short years, he has managed to get over enough to be the top heel and the top face (based more on crowd reactions than TNA's plans for him, since they never seem to have any), only to have his balls cut off by Jarrett. TNA needs to push Truth to the title level and keep him there. He's not "homegrown," but he's pretty dayum close. And if they can just pushing Rhino to the top by his Heat appearances, they can justify pushing Truth to the top by his Raw cameos.

That's all I was saying. You could make a better case for UFC/HC, but even UFC's pretty substantial push paled in comparasion to the HC marketing. WWE and USA went all out for that show, in a way that they almost never do. So they popped a good rating and more power to them. TNA got more advertising than it ever has and good a higher rating than it ever has. So basically, it was a win/win. I really don't see how anyone can be down about anything that transpired in wrestling television this weekend (from a business prospective of course).

I didn't say they'd go head-to-head with Raw. The current rumor is that if Spike continues to be happy with the ratings, they'll let TNA tape the show on early on Monday (early 7 ish) and air it from 11-12. That's certainly more feasible than head to head at this point. My only question with that is whether they could edit it in time. I know they taped it on Thursday nights when they started on FSN, but this turn around would basically be two hours. I was talking about USA Today the newspaper Mike. And they had ads on Yahoo, for instance. In short, while I have no qualms with the way Spike marketed TNA personally, it's asinine to compare the marketing push to Homecoming. Homecoming was marketed to the ever elusive "casual fan," Impact was marketed to the more concentrated "Raw is shitty" crowd. I think in the interim, both approaches where on the money, which is why both networks were happy with they drew. In one or two of the many Spike reaction posts that popped on the major news site, they said Spike was looking at the total viewership for the weekend. That total viewership was 1.3. I'll bet MORE than half watched it. And neither of us knows for sure. Hell, Spike doesn't even know for sure. It didn't get any advertising. It got cover by the IWC. The FSN run determined that at this juncture TNA's core audience isn't very big. That's why there's such a push for expanded visibility. So sending a press release to PWI hardly counts as advertising the replay. Even if it had gotten a little plug after the commercials they ran, they you could say it was advertised. But it didn't. If you are someone who saw a commercial but missed the show, and didn't frequent the IWC, how would you have known it was on unless you channel surfed pass it or saw it on a programming listing. The typical response of a person in the situation I described would be, "i'll catch it next week." I work with a guy who said he'd intended to watch but forgot/was out/whatever. On Tues we had this convo, and I said, "well you know they replayed it last nite" and he was shocked. That's the point I'm making. TNA drew that .5 strictly on word of mouth and buzz from the debut. I think that's impressive, not disappointing. I'm sure none at Spike expecting the replay to draw better than the first run episode. That's just silly, even if Monday is "Wrestling Night."

No, I saw every commercial and I was quite pleased with the way that Spike pushed TNA. It was much better than anything they've gotten before. I'm just saying Homecoming got ads in USA today. So they didn't get the same push, which I think the person who brought that up was alluding to. Considering the push and the slot, I think the rating was a great start. I know that, but I think it's a pretty safe bet that Spike will use that number in selling ads, saying something like the first weekend of TNA had over a million viewers. And like someone else said, it's highly doubtful that more than half the initial audience watched the replay. Hell, I loved the debut, taped it and have watched it at least twice. I said I was gonna watch the replay, but I must have watched the first three minutes and then switched to ESPN. I wouldn't say so because none of those teasers you talked about mentioned the replay AT ALL. The bulk of that .5 is probably people who heard good feedback from the show and decided to check it out or people who stumbled across it. Drawing a .5 after midnight on a work night with no advertising is very good, IMHO. In fact, I think that's more of testament to the product TNA put out than Saturday's rating, which is more indicative of the effectiveness of the advertising.

The Torch compared Impact to Velocity. Here's what they posted: That means a combined 1.3. I believe I saw that the UFC special drew a 1.2 and Spike was happy with that. If true that the viewership would basically be interchangeable, then I think we could see TNA on Monday nights soon enough because it'd be easier to produce TNA every week than UFC. Either that or they gave them 2 hours on another night. Anyway, I'd say that it was a good weekend for everyone involved (Raw drew a 4.4, so WWE is thrilled too).

This is very true. Jarrett, Hardy, Rhino, etc will stick around near the top of the card for the foreseeable future. I take that slight bump to indicate that some channel flippers saw some familar guys and stuck around. Hopefully that segment was hot enough to get them to come back, and this kind of does validate the star power argument. The thing that makes this segment different than anything TNA has done before is that homegrown talent stands to get a real rub. With a slick video package hyping AMW and their dominance, they'll get a serious rub from being presented as being on 3D's level. In fact, I think that match would have drawn better if they'd done a package on how AMW was super faces with great success and turned just recently, so that new fans see that they are a serious team and not JJ's new Southern Justice. As it stands, they just kinda expected new viewers to take their word for it being a "dream match." But that's neither here nor there at this point. Ideally, the same rub will happen when Monty is presented on Jarrett's level, and not as a "one move wonder" which JJ "brilliantly" harped on last time.

Take this for what it's worth, but the torch says that Spike was hoping for a 1.0, so they might be a little disappointed. Thoughts?

IMO, you have to consider where they are coming from. Wasn't the highest FSN rating something like .25 or .3? I'd say doubling your audience is a pretty good deal. And though it was their most hyped show ever, it still didn't get the promotion of, say the homecoming. So I'm sure with those factors in mind, but companies are happy with that. Especially since it is in the range of what WWE was drawing in the same slot. If TNA can consistently do that (stay in the range of what WWE drew), TNA could logically ask for a primetime slot at some point. Whether or not that'd be Mondays remains to be seen, but I think that's TNA's goal with this. I don't think they'll draw anything close to the 3.0 plus even with a 2 hour primetime slot, but i think a low 2.0 would be a feasible goal for them. But, I know that's getting ahead of things. I agree that the key will be how much of that initial audience is still there after a month or even next week. The XFL taught us that the first show's number is based on the hype preceding it, and the next show's number is based on the impression the viewers took away from the first show. Either way, I don't see how anyone can be down on that number for week 1 in that timeslot. Could be just me though.

Here's the new column, which was posted today: Thoughts?

I saw this in Larry Csonka's column on 411wrestling.com: I don't know how credible this is, but I thought it'd be interesting to discuss. That'd be a great step up for TNA to be able to have the first run episode air on "wrestling night" and having it taped and air in the same day is a good way to avoid the spoiler effect without having to go live just yet (at least during the taping week). And having them run in a big "Clash of the Champions" type special on the days RAW is pre-empted for tennis and the dog show would be great, because people looking for wrestling might stumble across it. Thoughts?

The Impact debut is a couple of days away, but TNA has sent out a preview for Saturday's show, so I thought I'd go ahead and start the OAO thread. I'm sure they'll be a spoilers thread tomorrow, but this is for everyone who's trying to avoid the spoilers (at least for one week ) Here's the preview... Credit: TNAWrestling.com I think TNA should do previews like this every week and announce a match or two each week. It might cut down on people reading spoilers. But about this show...that's about a good a non-XD main event they can deliver without putting the title up. They obviously want to capitalize on the "name" value of both guys (Hardy more so than Rhino), and I can't blame them for that logic in their first time in front of so many eyeballs. And they will clearly be showcasing the X-Division on the show, which is also a great move. That 3 way should be a great match and I'm sure Bentley will be around to put some heat on Ultimate X. What do you think? The matches to your liking? What "surprises" do you expect? Oh..my predictions are Styles and Williams to get their unique finishers over, and a DQ in the ME. Williams will probably land the Canadian destroyer after Bentley superkicks Sabin. How bout yours?

I'd love to be included in TSM's TNA coverage, but I wouldn't be able to do PPVs, because I just have basic cable now with no PPV access. I've been relying on DVDs to get my TNA PPV fix, so I'm a few months behind (I have seen everything up to Slammiversary). But I watch Impact every week, only missed a episode or two when I was in DC and Comcast fucked us over and the last two months of the dark period when I had to go back to using dial-up. Also, I've never really been a recap kind of guy. The writing I did for TNA was a tribute to BPS's old PPV Previews, which broke down what happened the week before, with his opinions of it and what he thought would happen next using the previews supplied by TNA. That and the diatribe were required Wednesday and Thursday morning reading for me when I stumbled across TSM for the first time. I could see myself doing that for Impact as long as TNA keeps posting real previews. During the FSN era, I always read the spoilers, but I didn't last week and enjoyed the show much more so I'm trying it again this week. If the preview came back, I'd just avoid them like the plague, though if TNA doesn't announce matches, I could have someone send me a match listing. So my vote would be for a return of either the Diatribe or the Lazarush (or BOTH~) return with the preview coming back done by either BPS or me. Just a thought...