WWE Reaction To TNA Commercials, Smackdown, more

[Guest stringerbell]

The McMahons and other key company people were not at all happy to see the TNA advertisements during Raw last night. They know Spike did it because USA is already running WWE commercials, but feel that Spike is trying to take away part of their audience.

 

WWE talent on the other hand was happy to see the commercials because if TNA is successful it gives them a viable option to go to as well as builds much needed competition.

 

Smackdown will continue to air on Thursdays in Canada.

 

Shawn Daivari is currently at home in Minnesota after spending several weeks in the Deep South Developmental territory to stay in shape.

 

Credit: PWInsider.com

[2GOLD]

Hearing this news makes me want to play a violin for the poor, innocent McMahon family.

[humongous2002]

Hearing this news makes me want to play a violin for the poor, innocent McMahon family.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well Mr. Pink said it best " This is the smallest violin playing for the Mc Mahons."

[Rendclaw]

It couldn;t happen to a nicer group of people.

 

I just hope that TNA blows the E out of the water for at least a month straight. That more than anything else will show Vince and Co. that they cannot force feed us shit sandwiches anymore.

[Dangerous A]

I couldn't have said it better 2GOLD.

 

The McMahons will be playing the "it's unfair, we're victims" card if, and that's a big if still, TNA were to gain an audience of any kind from these spots.

[Zack Malibu]

I'd say the commercial had it's desired effects. I had RAW on last night at the coffee shop I hang out at/help run, and people who were watching RAW weren't all that impressed, but when the TNA commercial hit, I heard a few people quip something along the lines of "Now THAT looked cool!"

[Guest Brian]

WWE Chairman Vince McMahon was furious when he saw the UFC commercial during his own TV show, WWE Raw, saying that pro wrestling is not "real," according to a report in the Wrestling Observer. The commercial, which is still running on Spike TV programs other than WWE Raw, features an announcer saying, "What's real? Pro wrestling? No! Boxing? Not anymore! The UFC is real!" I'd love for the UFC to explain specifically how boxing "is not real anymore," but as you might have guessed, that wasn't the part of the interview that sent Vince McMahon over the edge.

 

With WWE set to leave Spike TV at the end of September, and with Spike TV now relying on the UFC as its number one provider of original programming, the Observer reports that the relationship between WWE and Spike TV has "turned very cold."

 

The Observer adds, "Among the specifics was Vince McMahon apparently going nuts about the UFC commercial that implies pro wrestling is not real, that was being played so often on WWE programming. Spike TV made a new version of the commercial that only implies boxing isn't real anymore, and makes no mention of pro wrestling. This is hilarious because WWE has spent the last several years insisting that pro wrestling isn't real, and now they get all worked up when someone else says it. The UFC and Spike are still airing the commercial saying that pro wrestling isn't real on all shows other than WWE, but they cut a new version of the commercial just for WWE programming."

 

As the Observer report alluded to, the irony in Vince McMahon's rage about the UFC commercial is that when WWE was recently faced with perhaps its biggest media scandal ever due to its extremely tasteless terrorism storyline (which aired on the same day as the real-life London terrorist bombings), the company's defense consisted largely of, "Pro wrestling isn't real! It's just entertainment!" In general, whenever the media or a Wall Street analyst questions something that WWE does, the response is always that it's not real and it's just entertainment.

 

Credit: Ivan Trembow and Dave Meltzer

 

 

 

I found this to be much more funny.

[Guest Arnold_OldSchool]

TNA is on Velocity's old time.... I can't see more than a 1.0 rating

 

horrible timeslot for the target demographic

[Creepy Crawl]

Boop fucking Hoo Vince . You're cool and all , but damn man give it up you go plenty of dough .

[dubq]

I think what UFC was trying to say by boxing not being real anymore is that it has quite the stigma of being a fixed sport these days with fighters taking dives and whatnot.

[Hogan Made Wrestling]

I think what UFC was trying to say by boxing not being real anymore is that it has quite the stigma of being a fixed sport these days with fighters taking dives and whatnot.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Of course, one could say the exact same thing about MMA with regards to all of the fights involving Inoki's "fighters" in Japan.

[Guest Coffey]

I just assumed that they meant no one cared about boxing anymore. Without an Ali, Tyson or even a Lewis running around, who is there to get behind? No one is selling PPV's anymore. Hell, I don't even know who the current heavyweight champion is. That's a big tell.

[snuffbox]

Erik Morales/Marco Antonio Barrera/Jose Castillo/Diego Corralles > UFC

 

Pink Eye > Vince McMahon

[Dobbs 3K]

Well, if USA is already running spots for RAW (which they are), then turn about is fair play.

[nl5xsk1]

Erik Morales/Marco Antonio Barrera/Jose Castillo/Diego Corralles > UFC

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

snuffbox, other than die-hard boxing fans, most Americans only like heavyweights. And Don King has ruined the heavyweight division with his heavy-handed controling and determining who's the #1 contender (it's hard to care when the two guys fighting have the same promotor).

 

Non-Heavyweight boxing > UFC > Heavyweight

 

And Vince should realize that you can't close Pandora's Box ... he already made it well documented that wrestling's not real. You can't all of a sudden claim the opposite.

[Guest wildpegasus]

You know I'm all for TNA being a contender to the WWE on one hand but on the other hand I'm not. I don't want to see that weird ring gain any momentum in the wrestling world.

[dubq]

Oh no! Something different!

[Jericholic82]

I saw Raw commericals on both USA and NBC so far. They paly Cenas music and show Cena, HHH, Torrie Wilson (?) among others

 

anyhow I can see why theyd be a bit upset (the commercial implies TNA is different and/or better than WWE) but its not like TNA will steal their fans or take away their ratings as TNA will be on Saturday nights (bad slot yea, well not for me cuz I never go out , but people who want to see it will tape or tivo it if necessary)

[Black Lushus]

TNA is on Velocity's old time.... I can't see more than a 1.0 rating

 

horrible timeslot for the target demographic

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

this is about the most intelligent post I've read in this particular thread...not sure why Vince is so worried about competition at this point...

[Gary Floyd]

Jesus Christ, Vince has the biggest victim complex of anyone I've ever seen. He honestly seems to believe that everyone is out to ruin his buisiness. Wake up Vince, not everyone is out to ruin your life.

[Dangerous A]

not sure why Vince is so worried about competition at this point...

 

 

Cause he's Vince. Any threat, even if remote and small, to his monopoly of the industry is viewed as very bad. Can't have options you know. It's either you're in WWE and your prosperous (and worked like a dog) or it's off to the indies working for peanuts. God forbid the wrestlers have options in this day and age. I'm not against WWE. Wrestlers should have the chance to show their skills with the biggest pro wrestling company in the world. They should also have a chance at getting paid to do so. I'm more of a guy that likes options and alternatives for both my viewing of wrestling and the wrestlers themselves. As Konnan said in 101 Reasons not to be a Pro Wrestler, it's a promoter's (Vince) market right now and that is good for one thing-WWE. The industry as a whole is suffering for it.

[Dangerous A]

This was from the Observer...

 

Bad news for WWE, which the company has been aware of for some time, but not only does the debut of Smackdown on Friday nights on 9/9 get delayed in Boston due to Baseball, but WWOR has Friday night Yankees broadcasts every Friday night in September. There are numerous other big market preemptions as well. The first show on WWOR airs 9/10 at 8 p.m. (thanks to Mike Omansky and Jeff Sheridan)

 

 

Looks like TNA might be going head to head with WWE without even moving. (at least in certain big markets)

[Black Lushus]

ah well, Vince needs some competition right now, maybe we'll finally start getting some good product...

[Ravenbomb]

Spike (The Network for meN) advertising the new wrestling show they're bringing in before the one that they're about to quit showing leaves? Wow, that's never happened before...

[justcoz]

I wish the commercials were of a better production quality. I also think they should focus on certain talent and big spots and try to capitalize on the fact that TNA will offer high impact action and less soap opera storylines and scripted mic work. Now that would piss them off.

 

I think Spike is missing out big time if they don't repeat Impact on Monday nights at 11:05, especially the week of the final RAW, they should have a Best of TNA type show on immediately afterwards. There could be a Saturday night audience but they need to know whether or not it's worth the extra effort to catch.

[MillenniumMan831]

You know I'm all for TNA being a contender to the WWE on one hand but on the other hand I'm not. I don't want to see that weird ring gain any momentum in the wrestling world.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I do agree that the ring looks weird. I have no problem w/ the 6 sides. However, it just looks too small for the "big time". Every time I saw it on FSN, it struck me as too much like WCW Worldwide w/ the dinky ring.

[Guest clockworkraven]

They know Spike did it because USA is already running WWE commercials, but feel that Spike is trying to take away part of their audience.

 

Which means they know their product is crap and are afraid of any other promotion showing them up. A company as large as the E shouldn't have anything to fear from TNA, but they do and they know it.

 

 

I'm a fan of the six-sided ring, if only because it means less awkward positioning when it comes to turnbuckle moves. You can hit pretty much any move and as long as they land face-up they're in position.

[Rendclaw]

I actually like the six-sided ring, and I thought I would hate it when they started using it. Its a minimal impact upon my enjoyment of the TNA product.

 

I have said it before on these message boards, and I will say it again. Competition breeds prosperity in the wrestling world. DA said it best. Vince has had a choke hold on the industry for too long, and wrestling lost what small amount of mainstream popularity it had. Its either work 300 days a year or starve working the indies. There needs to be another alternative.

[daileyxplanet]

For some reason, I got excited when I saw the commercial... Even though it wasn't something I hadn't already seen, I think it's the potential.

[Guest Brian]

Erik Morales/Marco Antonio Barrera/Jose Castillo/Diego Corralles > UFC

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

snuffbox, other than die-hard boxing fans, most Americans only like heavyweights. And Don King has ruined the heavyweight division with his heavy-handed controling and determining who's the #1 contender (it's hard to care when the two guys fighting have the same promotor).

 

Non-Heavyweight boxing > UFC > Heavyweight

 

And Vince should realize that you can't close Pandora's Box ... he already made it well documented that wrestling's not real. You can't all of a sudden claim the opposite.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I think more what they're advertising is that boxing is just one-skill set and the boxing fighters are one-dimensional in comparison to guys in the UFC. I think by real they mean relevant. But that's a big argument I don't want to be involved in.