"TNA Wrestling" News

[Hektik 0]

Excerpts from the 5/24 Wrestling Observer Newsletter

 

The deal with FSN is that even though the network dosen't have staggered feeds, the show will air at 3 p.m. every Friday starting on 6/4 on every timezone, so it will be at 3 p.m. Central, Mountain, and West Coast FSN affiliates. Company officials had to be scared to death when word got out that Max Kellerman's heavily pushed debut of his new show on FSN at 6 p.m. on 5/10 drew a 0.08 national rating. Wrestlers and all performers were told that they will get the same pay for television as they got for PPV.

 

TV is being shot at Universal Studios in Orlando every Thursday night starting at 7 p.m., which seems to make everyone happy and enthusiastic, as it is clear Panda is right now willing to spend money. they will tape several dark matches, which will air either for DVD releases or the Xplosion show (which will be continued), before shooting a one-hour live to tape show.

 

As things stand, the big wigs like Jarrett, Russo, Mantel, etc. will fly on a small charter on Wednesday night and start preparing for the show. The wrestlers will fly out commercial the first thing Thursday morning so they can get in late Thursday morning.

 

Company officials were trying to sell people on the horrid time slot with the idea that FSN network officials have such low expectations that this is just a way on and soon, if the ratings are strong, they'll get on prime time. The problem with prime time on FSN is that it means it's always pre-empted by local sports. Even if they get the improved Sunday morning slot. the WWE on Sunday Mornings on a mid level network is only doing a 0.5-0.7, so what can TNA do on a network with far less viwership? Even if the argument is that Experience is a "B" show for WWE as opposed to the only show, the fact was, ECW, far more popular than TNA, never in any week ever outrated even the lowest rated "C" show for WWF or WCW. Even if it does a 0.3 (which would be about 240,000 homes), and FSN officials should be thrilled, what will it mean for PPV growth? ECW averaged 0.9 at a time when wrestling was far hotter, and they ended up having an overall revenue decline over the course of the year from the previous year, when they had no national outlet (this isn't that TV hurt them, but that they lost key pieces of talent during that year). The whole key for TV is to get buys up to 25,000 per week so it can be profitable. Then again, 25,000 is not such a ridiculous number that if they present a good product they may mot be able to get it. But with a bad product, it has no chance, since WCW was down around 55,000 buys at the end of monthly shows when they had four hours of prime time wrestlind that hit 2 million homes twice a week.

 

They look to be phasing out the NWA name, because they don't own it. They have set up a new tnawrestling website domain name and on their current nwatna.com website, all the NWA references are gone except for a small NWA logo and the belts being called NWA world heavyweight and NWA world tag team, but references to the product are now called "TNA Wrestling."

 

Jimmy Hart, who is now affiliated with the group, was on a radio show hinting about Hulk Hogan, which is probably the second worst thing they could do. They were also hinting about Ultimate Warrior coming in, which is the worst thing they could do. There is no point in bringing up any names unless they have signed commitments, because the company has been burned so many times by verbal commitments from guys out of the past, that push come to shove, really don't want to be associated with what is, in their mind, a minor league product. They were even hinting Austin's name, and while you never say never, Austin never has anything good to say about Jeff or Jerry Jarrett and I'd be more shocked to see Austin come in here than to see Bruno Sammartino wrestle Bret Hart in the main event of next year's Wrestlemania.

 

Jeff Jarret was on the Best Damn Sorts Show, and instead of putting over the talent he had, showed clips of Brian Urlacher (okay,I'd have brought that clip), the Tennessee Titans (that was two years ago) and talked about Hogan. As long as you talk about guys you don't have as bigger stars than the guys you do have, the guys you do have will never be stars, which is key to the company getting over.

 

The company is also said to be making new ring outfits for everyone. The wrestlers were also told to dress up coming to the building for shows from this point forward. There is a mentality that old timers have, and there may be some truth to it, and that is people won't pay to see people like themselves, so to be a star, you have to dress like a star and stay away from being buddies with the fans. You should be nice to the fans, but idea of drinking beer with them after the show in the parking lot isn't a good idea.

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

Road Dogg's gotta be pissed that he can't dress like a homeless bum anymore.

[David Blazenwing 0]

Road Dogg's gotta be pissed that he can't dress like a homeless bum anymore.

No, they're SUPPOSED to wear their ring gear.

 

Come on man, pay attention.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Road Dogg's gotta be pissed that he can't dress like a homeless bum anymore.

No, they're SUPPOSED to wear their ring gear.

 

Come on man, pay attention.

The vibe I got was that they had to dress UP, as in wear nice clothes, even suits maybe, so that they'd be distinguished from the fans.

[Guest TDinDC1112]

So RED can't wear a garbage bag in the ring anymore?

[BoboBrazil 0]

So RED can't wear a garbage bag in the ring anymore?

[Silence 0]

So RED can't wear a garbage bag in the ring anymore?

Jeremy Borash doing a wrestler introduction for a match:"This is the AMAZZZINNNNGGGG......Redsuit!"

 

I guess Raven will have to stop wearing skirts, too.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

Yep. TNA becomes worse and worse than WWE every week, it seems.

 

Hey, remember when we all said TNA was going to be huge because they were putting out a product that, overall, was the best in the nation? Yeah. I remember those days too. I miss those days.

[Guest MikeSC]

I'd make a snide comment about all of this --- but

1) People think I'm too anti-TNA and

2) No amount of mockery by me can beat the self-mockery of this company right now.

-=Mike

[Mecha Mummy 0]

You should be nice to the fans, but idea of drinking beer with them after the show in the parking lot isn't a good idea.

 

... *Raises an eyebrow.* How does that affect ANYTHING? Yeah. People won't pay to see wrestlers because the wrestlers HANG OUT WITH THEM! OF COURSE! BRILLIANT!

[Guest JacK]

Yeah . . . that bit seems a tad dodgy . . . I mean I can sort of understand heels like JJJ not doing that, but faces Like AJ, Harris and all them, what's the harm in that? If anything, it'd get them a bigger reaction, I mean if I'd met someone, talked to them, and they were good people; I'd cheer them.

 

Maybe that's the problem . . . maybe all the faces have really bad social skills.

[Silence 0]

Sounds like TNA's becoming too strict and corporate to me.

[syxx2001 0]

My basketball coaches are the same way. On game days we had to wear a shirt and tie during school and on our way to the game.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

...a little different, since you weren't contractually bound to play basketball, and I'm also betting not a lot of people came to see you play, right? I've never seen more than, say, 20 people show up for a high school basketball game in my life.

 

But the question is: why is Jarrett (be it Jeff or Jerry, whoever actually runs the show now) being such a douchebag lately?

[Guest MikeSC]

...a little different, since you weren't contractually bound to play basketball, and I'm also betting not a lot of people came to see you play, right? I've never seen more than, say, 20 people show up for a high school basketball game in my life.

 

But the question is: why is Jarrett (be it Jeff or Jerry, whoever actually runs the show now) being such a douchebag lately?

Perhaps Panda is giving them heat over the constant loss of money...

-=Mike

...Just a theory

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

Then they should start producing a good product again instead of the mediocre one we've been getting since Russo returned to level off Dutch's shittiness, eh?

 

Step 1: Get rid of Dutch.

 

Step 2: ???

 

Step 3: Profit.

[Guest MikeSC]

Then they should start producing a good product again instead of the mediocre one we've been getting since Russo returned to level off Dutch's shittiness, eh?

 

Step 1: Get rid of Dutch.

 

Step 2: ???

 

Step 3: Profit.

They've combined Mantel's tedious booking style with Russo's illogical booking style to generate the FIRST-EVER tediously illogical booking style ever seen.

 

Shockingly enough, it doesn't seem to click with most fans.

-=Mike

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

See, the problem with that is that Russo's booking while in TNA (until he left) was surprisingly very solid. He booked with Jerry Jarrett, and wrote most of the programming, and it was a great show. I willingly forked over money to see it, and now I wonder if I'm making the right choice. I shouldn't be wondering this, and TNA shouldn't make me wonder this.

 

And again, I put the blame on Dutch, since he can't book for fucking shit.

[Guest MikeSC]

See, the problem with that is that Russo's booking while in TNA (until he left) was surprisingly very solid. He booked with Jerry Jarrett, and wrote most of the programming, and it was a great show. I willingly forked over money to see it, and now I wonder if I'm making the right choice. I shouldn't be wondering this, and TNA shouldn't make me wonder this.

 

And again, I put the blame on Dutch, since he can't book for fucking shit.

Honestly, for me, the early Russo era was simply the talent overcoming shoddy booking. Nothing stands out as great booking --- but they had a steady influx of new talent coming in to make you say "Ooooh".

 

When TNA decided to cement a roster and limit the "open door" policy --- the flaws became more obvious.

-=Mike

[BoboBrazil 0]

Raven was also involved in booking when TNA had it's most momentum as well back in those first few months of 2003. Too bad he quit because of the pressure. I'd like to see Raven, Russo, and I guess Shane Douglas as the booking committee. The Jarretts and Mantel should not be involved.

[Guest Dynamite Kido]

You should be nice to the fans, but idea of drinking beer with them after the show in the parking lot isn't a good idea.

 

Hey, they are just trying to save some cash due to TNA's Indy booking fees......

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

Re: no hanging out with fans.

 

Didn't ECW do this all of the time? Their workers would go out and mingle with the crowd? And if Paul E. had hired an accountant and he hadn't tried to push ECW too far so soon, they'd still be in business today (yes, I'm a Mutant at heart). So...why does TNA hate the fact that the wrestlers are hanging out with the people paying (in some cases, haha) to see them?

 

Oh, right. That whole "we're TNA, and we hate the idea of actually making money" thing they've got down pat.

[Guest Dynamite Kido]

Oh, right. That whole "we're TNA, and we hate the idea of actually making money" thing they've got down pat.

But they had Killings beat AJ for the title last week........oh you said hate making money......nevermind.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

See, if TNA actually had smart businessmen in the company, they'd realize that having, say, two shows a month where two weeks worth of PPV are taped each would save money (and have it be on the weekend, so then more people would probably come), and when word got out that the shows were quality (assuming they were), people would order the PPV or the replay.

 

Also...TNA needs to get their DVDs in stores. I think they signed a deal to start doing that, but I haven't heard any news on it since the initial "signing" (if it even happened, or maybe I'm just imagining things). The DVDs are the best product they've ever produced (even though the flaw of the pop-up screen with one of the match contestants talking about how they laid out the match is GH3¥), and passers-by that browse the wrestling DVD section would probably notice a few names they've seen on TV (Raven, Scott Hall, Jeff Jarrett, D'Lo Brown, Elix Skipper, Kid Kash, BG James, Konnan), a few names they remember reading about (AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, The Truth, LowKi), and a few legends (Dusty Rhodes, Sting), and might pick it up. I know I picked up a couple XPW tapes just by word-of-mouth that they were extremely hardcore (boy, talk about a huge disappointment), and didn't mind them too much (namely Go Funk Yourself and Baptized In Blood, and those are only because of the matches involving Messiah and Johnny Webb), so why not?

 

TNA had the chance a while ago to completely differentiate themselves from WWE by allowing their workers to do what they want in the ring (as long as they don't use another wrestler's finisher as a transition spot, which I do believe was made clear to them), and provide some SE for the fans that WWE lost in 2001 and 2002, all the while making it clear that they were more about the fans than other companies were...but then they decided to become huge fucking tools by limiting their workers, booking crap, and driving away a larger percentage of the paying fanbase than WWE has ever done.

[Guest Dynamite Kido]

See, if TNA actually had smart businessmen in the company, they'd realize that having, say, two shows a month where two weeks worth of PPV are taped each would save money (and have it be on the weekend, so then more people would probably come), and when word got out that the shows were quality (assuming they were), people would order the PPV or the replay.

I agree and I have been wondering why they haven't been doing this for a while. It certainly wouldn't hurt the product any.

 

Also...TNA needs to get their DVDs in stores. I think they signed a deal to start doing that, but I haven't heard any news on it since the initial "signing" (if it even happened, or maybe I'm just imagining things). The DVDs are the best product they've ever produced (even though the flaw of the pop-up screen with one of the match contestants talking about how they laid out the match is GH3¥), and passers-by that browse the wrestling DVD section would probably notice a few names they've seen on TV (Raven, Scott Hall, Jeff Jarrett, D'Lo Brown, Elix Skipper, Kid Kash, BG James, Konnan), a few names they remember reading about (AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, The Truth, LowKi), and a few legends (Dusty Rhodes, Sting), and might pick it up. I know I picked up a couple XPW tapes just by word-of-mouth that they were extremely hardcore (boy, talk about a huge disappointment), and didn't mind them too much (namely Go Funk Yourself and Baptized In Blood, and those are only because of the matches involving Messiah and Johnny Webb), so why not?

This is the MAJOR problem here. They aren't marketing themselves at all. If a two bit minor league promotion(XPW) can do this with their DVD's then there is no excuse for TNA. I understand that there are a lot of parties involved out there in this besides TNA, but then maybe TNA chose to deal with the wrong people. They need to get on this stat because I don't think the company realizes how big they are losing out on revenue for themselves.

 

 

TNA had the chance a while ago to completely differentiate themselves from WWE by allowing their workers to do what they want in the ring (as long as they don't use another wrestler's finisher as a transition spot, which I do believe was made clear to them), and provide some SE for the fans that WWE lost in 2001 and 2002, all the while making it clear that they were more about the fans than other companies were...but then they decided to become huge fucking tools by limiting their workers, booking crap, and driving away a larger percentage of the paying fanbase than WWE has ever done.

 

My main problem with TNA screwing themselves is that they are constantly doing screwy stuff behind the workers backs. Now don't get me wrong, the wrestlers shouldn't have signed the contracts if they were so bad.....Low Ki didn't. Nonetheless though, it WILL upset the workers, and possibly even make for a terrible backstage area. SO DON't DO STUFF LIKE THAT. Period. They were legally able to do what they did, but it was a shitty thing to do and I wouldn't be surprised if it bit them on the ass the next time contracts need signed.

[Guest Donners]

Why do companies even bother to employ business professionals and people who have been in the wrestling industry for decades? All you need to do is put the issues up on an Internet forum, and immediately get an answer that solves all the problems.

 

 

At any rate, has anyone else heard reports that Terry Taylor has quit? I saw that in a news recap and assumed it came from the Observer, but don't see it mentioned here.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

Why do companies even bother to employ business professionals and people who have been in the wrestling industry for decades? All you need to do is put the issues up on an Internet forum, and immediately get an answer that solves all the problems.

The problem is that their "business professionals" are not familiar with the wrestling industry, and the veterans that have been in the business for decades aren't familiar with how its changed.

 

Dutch books for old-school fans. TNA's target audience is NOT old-school fans, as they're either still watching or stopped watching a long time ago. The old-school fans are still around, but they're not as big an audience as younger fans.

 

And running things different would save money and help get word out about the product. As it is, TNA goes live with their PPVs each week, aside from the X-Cup shows. If the reports are true, the X-Cup shows get higher buys than the normal ones, and I'm willing to bet that it's because fans know the quality of the show they'll be getting in advance.

[Guest MikeSC]

Why do companies even bother to employ business professionals and people who have been in the wrestling industry for decades? All you need to do is put the issues up on an Internet forum, and immediately get an answer that solves all the problems.

Seeing as how TNA is still pursuing their first profitable week --- it'd be a better idea than what they're doing right now.

-=Mike

...And Corey's idea of pre-taping more shows is sound. TNA's track record is not good enough to think that the possibility of surprises actually does anything good for buyrates

[Guest Donners]

Well, they're already going to be pre-taping their TV shows, so perhaps PPVs will be used more for the surprises. Not back to the extent of "guest of the week", but enough to have an element of uncertainty that is an influence when deciding whether to order.

 

TBH, I'm not entirely sold on the idea of having more than one show taped at a single event. Judging from the reports I've seen posted here, the X Cup matches taped after the regular show were greeted with apathy and a half-empty arena despite their apparent quality. If that's what happens with perhaps an extra hour of presumably quite exciting matches, I'd hate to think what would happen if they tacked on a whole other PPV. It'd also make a bit of a mess of things for those following spoilers, with the events of the upcoming TV show given away by the second PPV taping (assuming the two are linked in a storyline sense).

 

Without official buy rates and knowing the financial effect of taping PPVs, I don't think it's truly possible to predict the success of any changes with certainty.

 

I'd be particularly interested to know the buy rates for the Team UK PPV. With negative spoilers out long before that screened, I'd bet they'd have dropped a long way. Taped shows are all well and good if you keep producing quality shows, but I've yet to see a promotion that's 100% successful in that regard. TNA has a habit of having turning good cards into average shows, and having those pre-taped would probably cost quite a few buys. Besides, isn't the ability to order PPVs on a replay or off their site (as I do) a sufficient way of ensuring that they make enough money from shows with positive responses? I can't see how having them pre-taped would be substantially different to that.

[Guest MikeSC]

TBH, I'm not entirely sold on the idea of having more than one show taped at a single event. Judging from the reports I've seen posted here, the X Cup matches taped after the regular show were greeted with apathy and a half-empty arena despite their apparent quality. If that's what happens with perhaps an extra hour of presumably quite exciting matches, I'd hate to think what would happen if they tacked on a whole other PPV. It'd also make a bit of a mess of things for those following spoilers, with the events of the upcoming TV show given away by the second PPV taping (assuming the two are linked in a storyline sense).

At the risk of being mean --- EVERYTHING TNA does tends to be met with apathy and silence by the crowd. It isn't just the X Cup --- and them going to Universal Studios --- where the crowds had even LESS interest (if one goes by WCW Worldwide tapings) --- certainly won't alleviate that problem.

Without official buy rates and knowing the financial effect of taping PPVs, I don't think it's truly possible to predict the success of any changes with certainty

As I said on another board --- if the rates were decent, TNA would trumpet them. According to Meltz, they average about 7,500 per week. That is not good.