Spike giving TNA it's first Prime Time Special

[Dangerous A 0]

Spike gives TNA its first prime time special

 

 

 

by Dave Meltzer

 

[email protected]

 

Due to Spike TV preempting Impact on 11/5 for the live Ultimate Fighter special, the show had been moved to Thursday, 11/3 several weeks back. At first it was scheduled as a regular episode of Impact.

 

However, with ratings well above projections on Saturday nights, Spike has given TNA its first prime time special, a two-hour taped show from 9-11 p.m. on 11/3. No details are available but it will be more like a Clash of Champions special than a regular episode of Impact. The show will be taped on either 10/25 or 10/26, more likely the latter.

 

 

Let me just say, fuck yeah.

[Adam 0]

Wow, that's awesome. They could put on a hell of a show in two hours. They already blow away Raw in one.

[Dangerous A 0]

Just thought of this, but with Vince in a war like mode, will he counter program like he did with Crockett in the 80's? Will UPN or USA let him do it?

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Just thought of this, but with Vince in a war like mode, will he counter program like he did with Crockett in the 80's? Will UPN or USA let him do it?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Vince would like to, but I don't see USA letting him try anything, and I for sure don't see UPN letting him try anything.

 

This is great news for TNA, and is a real vote of confidence.

[Guest xSarahx]

Very cool. I'm sure they'll do a good job, I can't wait.

[Fökai 0]

Long explanation cut short, no. The logistics of creating a show, live or taped, isn't worth the trouble of taping a second RAW or Smackdown, pulling the roster off of their regular touring dates (RAW: Friday-Monday; SD: Saturday-Tuesday). Although, the ticket advance on house shows are doing terrible anyway, so he might just scrap a house show or two and do a double taping on either night.

 

I think USA would give him the timeslot; they're currently airing Law & Order reruns and The Jackal in that timeslot on 11/3.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

What could be interesting is if TNA try to pull a hotshot angle or match of some kind to try and give the special a boost via word of mouth. Maybe a title change or debut of some kind.

[Dangerous A 0]

Another thing to ponder...

 

Liger is supposed to be sticking around for the tapings after BFG. If they can stretch that out a few more days and land Liger for the Prime Time special vs either Daniels or Styles, you've got yourself a dandy good time and me in front of the TV!

 

I also agree that they should try to go for at least one or two things to get a buzz going such as starting a hot angle or title change.

[David Blazenwing 0]

Monty Brown turns face and will win the NWA title from Jarrett on 11/3.

 

Calling it now.

[2GOLD 0]

Two hour special?

RAVEN gets his rematch.

and Team 3D returns to help him take it from Jarrett.

 

Liger vs the loser of Daniels/Styles

winner of Styles/Daniels vs the winner of Ultimate X

 

Put in AMW, Monty and Joe and you have two hours of god damn fun action.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Monty Brown turns face and will win the NWA title from Jarrett on 11/3.

 

Calling it now. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If Jeff drops the belt on the special he'll get it back before the end of the year, which would be totally counterproductive.

[Adam 0]

Why would he get it back before the end of the year? Have TNA got anything special coming up in the next few months?

[Guest cdub112]

If Vince decided to put on a show against the TNA Special it will be something taped because Taboo Tuesday is two days before the TNA Special, so its highly unlikely.

[Astro101 0]

Very nice. Shows that Spike has some confidence in TNA letting them do this.

[Scroby 0]

Diffently great news for TNA. If they can keep Liger around for the show, I would maybe suggest having Liger vs whoever the X divison champion is. That'd draw more of a intrest than just having Liger face someone who isn't the champion. Not that i'm saying that Liger facing someone else wouldn't draw some intrest I just think Liger vs the X divison champion would be better.

[Adam 0]

So if you were TNA booker, what would be the perfect card for this special? Here's a few plausible matches that could happen:

 

Jarrett-Raven for the World Title

Styles-Williams for the X Title (Winner of Ultimate X)

AMW-3D for the Tag Titles

Daniels-Liger

Monty-Rhino

Joe-Aries

Nash-Hoyt (because come on, you all want to see it)

Abyss-Hardy

Naturals-Team Canada/Diamonds in the Rough

The usual 3LK-Kip James angle/match

 

Those are just some preliminary ideas, after Joe-Aries it gets a bit hairy, hard to say who will still be involved in angles in a month's time. But the first six matches there, pencil them in I say.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

A win all around for TNA.

 

No bad can come from this.

 

Seriously.

[Placebo Effect 0]

Awesome.

[King Cucaracha 0]

As it's not a PPV, I'd be more inclined to expect a 6 Man Tag (Jarrett/AMW vs. ?, ? and ?) than a World Title Match.

 

Personally, I think it'd be good if they used part of the time to give more exposure to the midcarders who are being used as fodder because of time restraints, as much as give away PPV level/length matches on free TV. Instead of Aries and Strong losing to the bigger names, have Aries vs. Strong and give one of them a win. It could be a good tester for possible future plans too. They can put together 'big' matches without month-long storylines and see who clicks, like maybe AJ vs. Rhyno.

[BUTT 0]

Nash-Hoyt (because come on, you all want to see it)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

No.

[TNABaddboi 0]

I knew that they were going to be on that Thursday because they were pre-empted on Saturday, but I honestly did not think that they would get a primetime chance until the dog show pre-empts Raw in February. In their 3 weeks, TNA has shown they have an audience, and this will be their first real chance to expand (hot angle to draw them back to the next Saturday). I hope Spike pimps the hell out this special like they did with the UFC special against homecoming (which I can totally see them doin gat this point). As far as what to expect, I'm sure we'll get at least one title match (AMW/3D or Jarrett/Raven). I'm inclined to believe that we'll get Jarrett/Raven because they already had AMW/3D on TV and because they seem to be saving Jarrett/Monty. That's a tricky match though, because you can't have Raven lose 3 times in a row to Jarrett or you kill that match dead, and having Jarrett drop it only regain it at Genesis would probably only do more harm than good. But should TNA choose to deliver that match, I could TNA doing just that, with Brown turning face in the process by helping Raven since Jarrett failed to deliver his title shot. But I don't think they should do a six man tag if they want to build this show up as bigger than the normal Impact. In fact, they shouldn't even call it Impact. They should name the special (like Clash of the Champions or Saturday Night Main Event) so they create a brand that when they throw out a special, people know this is can't miss. And then the whole show, they can pimping watching our regular show Impact, blah, blah.

 

Either way, it'll be interesting to watch that show take place as they can't just solely build to that with a PPV 10 days later, but they have enough time to set up some important developments. But I'd like to see Larry give Raven his match on 11/3 on the first show after BFG. They can build it up as a big deal because he's given his "last" chance on national TV in prime time and since TNA hasn't deliver a World Title match on TV in almost a year, it will automatically signal this show as being Impact. I just hope they don't break out UX, but I gotta say I wouldn't be surprised if we get AMW/3D in a cage now. Before they was no way they'd give that away, but you know they're going to want to show off their signature gimmicks (think: FSN specials) and they can't possibly have 2 UX matches in a week and a half, can they? Anyway, that's just food for thought. Here's hoping they pop a big enough rating for Spike to consider giving them the slot permanently. I know that's a long shot, but c'mon, who among us thought that 3 weeks into them debut in a late Saturday slot that we'd be discussing TNA producing a 2 hour prime time show that was not pure fancy? Fun times, fun times....

[TNABaddboi 0]

Personally, I think it'd be good if they used part of the time to give more exposure to the midcarders who are being used as fodder because of time restraints, as much as give away PPV level/length matches on free TV. Instead of Aries and Strong losing to the bigger names, have Aries vs. Strong and give one of them a win. It could be a good tester for possible future plans too. They can put together 'big' matches without month-long storylines and see who clicks, like maybe AJ vs. Rhyno.

 

I see your point, but I'd like to offer the flipside if I may. Since the primary goal of TNA for this special (other than drawing enough for Spike to move them) is to get people to tune in on Saturday or Monday night, IMO featuring guys who aren't going to be heavily featured week after week is counterproductive, though the matches will be great. Through the first 3 weeks, TNA has been establishing their main players, and those are the people that I think they should spotlight on this special because those are the people new viewers have to care enough about to come back to watch again. I think they have to deliver a least a little bit of the ~OMG WORKRATE that the internet era featured, but they have to mix it in with the balance they've been establishing here on Spike.

 

Also, I fully expect one to two PPV level matches (like I said above) to go with Liger's first TV match in forever (if they can work out his schedule). That should be enough to spark interest, and then they can supplement that with a few longer matches for guys that wouldn't normally get the time.

 

BTW, PWInsider is saying that they will tape the post BFG Impact and the special on Tuesday and then tape the rest of the build for Genesis the next night, so as not to mess up the storyline progression. Since originally Liger was working BFG and the Tues taping, it's not out of the realm of possibility to see him and Daniels get 10-15 mins, or they may even do a Styles/Liger v Daniels/Joe thing. I'd say that's the way to go if they want to do something with those four, so they can feature the other X's guys in another segment. Here's the type of lineup I can see them doing:

 

Jarrett/Raven

AMW & TC vs 3D & The Naturals

Styles/Liger vs Daniels/Joe

Hardy/Sabu vs Abyss/Rhino (unless this is on next week's show...haven't read the spoilers yet)

Dutt vs Williams vs Bentley vs Primetime

3LK vs Gunn/Brown (or some combo of this feud)

 

It's not quite a PPV, but I'd think that be a darn good 2 hours of TV. I did 6 matches because they used to run about that many on the Wed PPVs (some of which would have been really great in this slot even though they weren't amazing PPVs). Anyway, if they open the show with a 10-15 min four way and put the the X-D tag in the "first hour ME" slot with 15-20 mins, and they'd be in business. And deliver a finish of some sort in the title match, even if it's controversial, to also distinguish this from a normal Impact. So that's my 2 cents/fantasy booking....

[RedJed 0]

Very good news here, this will be the first time I think TNA has ever done a 2 hour cable TV show production. They had those couple Best Damn Sports Show tie-in shows, but I think they were both 90 minutes plus not exactly a TNA show since it was also a vehicle for the people of the BDSSP as well, in fact I know they even helped booked those shows. So this will be VERY interesting to check out to say the least. Considering how strong these hour shows have been, this is exactly what they need to show Spike and the general audience that if they would/could get a 2 hour clearance every week, there might be some serious magic here.

 

My guess is since it will come so close to after BFG and they should still use this as a vehicle to promote their next ppv but yet have strong matches, the main event will likely be Jarrett/AMW v. Dudleys/Raven, which would ideally lead to Raven/Jarrett and AMW/Duds at the next ppv after BFG. You could put Monte Brown in Raven's spot (and it might be likely if Raven is really in the doghouse) but I think that needs to be built up much more before they really start a Jarrett/Brown run.

 

Then again if Raven is really in the doghouse, they could just go ahead and do Raven/Jarrett at this show, possibly. Who knows...

[TNABaddboi 0]

Something I also wonder if this means Spike is re-evaluating their priorities with regard to the UFC and TNA. TNA's ratings haven't been to far from what UFC is drawing IIRC, in a much worse slots. If they aren't reconsidering that yet, I think a strong showing by TNA would start that discussion. Thoughts?

[Fro 0]

This show definitely needs to be the calibur of a good weekly PPV from back in the day, with a couple "big matches".

 

This is essentially a test run for a Primetime TNA show, so they can't blow it.

 

I like their chances to deliver in a huge way, especially with Liger being there.

[Guest JMA]

This is the perfect night for TNA to make a star. It could be just like Sting vs. Flair at the first Clash of the Champions.

[Guest OSIcon]

TNA shouldn't go over board on throwing out big matches for the special. No sense in stiffling your future booking plans and future shows for one special. Plus I don't think a big title change would make all that much of a difference. If the idea is to hook in new viewers, a title change wouldn't necesarily mean all that much to someone just checking out TNA. It is more important to give them something they will remember or something that comes across as a big deal. There are a lot of other options then the title change.

 

I'd go with a Dudleys/Raven vs. AMW/Jarrett six man in the main event with a well thought out angle post match. A title change means so much more if there is a good match that has an 'epic feel' proceeding the change and I tend to doubt Raven and Jarrett could pull that off. If you run a big six man like that with names people are really familiar with (Dudleys), guys some people are familiar with (Jarrett and Raven), and two fresher faces (AMW), you kind of cover all your basis. A six man is also guarenteed to be a better match than a Raven/Jarrett singles. If you tack on a good angle post-match (and not just another beat down with Mike Tenay shrieking), it could be a real strong closer.

 

Throw in a few strong X-Division matches for the undercard and that is a pretty strong show, regardless of what other mid card stuff is used to round it out. I hope Joe gets a prominent match because he is the one wrestler they have that is nearly a guarentee for pulling out a good match when you need it. If Liger isn't around, I'd do Daniels vs. Joe for a future title shot and Styles vs. Ultimate X winner. If Liger is around, do Styles vs. Liger and Joe vs. Daniels, while holding off on the Ultimate X winner until the PPV.

[TNABaddboi 0]

A title change means so much more if there is a good match that has an 'epic feel' proceeding the change and I tend to doubt Raven and Jarrett could pull that off.

 

Shitty finish aside, Raven and Jarrett's first match at Destiny definitely had an epic feel and didn't see it until they released the 'Best of the Title Matches' DVD about a year later. I can only imagine what it felt like watching it live. I remember Dames' putting over the atmosphere in the diatribe though. Although that match had the advantage of being live, considering this match has almost 4 months of build (going back to Jarrett being throw out of KotM) and then declaring TNA wasn't big enough for the both of them a month later, I think they'd could build some drama. And even what's happened so far on Spike, eventually they are going to depend on Jarrett/Raven to headline a big show. Before I read about the special, I'd assumed that was going to be Genesis, after they'd whored Nash to get casual fans. In thinking about it this morning, I think they could get away with doing it at both the special and the PPV since unlike say, Jarrett and Styles, TNA has only broadcasted just 1 one-on-one Raven/Jarrett match (and about 20 secs of clips from the 2nd) and a large part of their fanbase has been clamoring for a rematch.

 

Ordinarily, I'd think the six man would be fine, if they weren't headlining this week's Impact with a similiar. They need a match that screams this isn't a normal Impact, so that someone who is aware of the product, who say usually looks at the spoilers or the line-up for Impact and decides it's not worth their time, will tune in, combined with the 750,000 regular Impact viewers. So I don't think they should throw away existing storylines (and there's no way they could have already had a plan for this show since it didn't exist 24 hrs ago), they can incorporation them into a "Clash of the Champions" type of show instead of an Impact on a different day show. If they were just broadcasting that week's show in the slot, I'd say go with the regular "save everything for the PPV" Impact, but IMO, since this is clearly a test for a future primetime slot, they need to make it special. The best matches they have that can do, IMO, are Jarrett/Raven, AMW/3D, and some combo of Daniels/Styles/Liger/Joe. I just suggested Jarrett/Raven because they've already put AMW/3D on TV once and at some point they have to make people for it. And I think if they do a tag match with the X-D 3 (plus one in this case), they can wow enough people that when they do say Styles/Joe II, people will go out of their way to see it.

[Rendclaw 0]

If they do it Clash of the Champions-style, they do need to have at least two big matches on it every time.

 

I also think that this is a test run to possibly move Impact up to two hours on a regular basis, hopefully sometime in 06.

 

If that happens, I will be downright giddy.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

A title change means so much more if there is a good match that has an 'epic feel' proceeding the change and I tend to doubt Raven and Jarrett could pull that off.

 

Shitty finish aside, Raven and Jarrett's first match at Destiny definitely had an epic feel and didn't see it until they released the 'Best of the Title Matches' DVD about a year later. I can only imagine what it felt like watching it live. I remember Dames' putting over the atmosphere in the diatribe though. Although that match had the advantage of being live, considering this match has almost 4 months of build (going back to Jarrett being throw out of KotM) and then declaring TNA wasn't big enough for the both of them a month later, I think they'd could build some drama. And even what's happened so far on Spike, eventually they are going to depend on Jarrett/Raven to headline a big show. Before I read about the special, I'd assumed that was going to be Genesis, after they'd whored Nash to get casual fans. In thinking about it this morning, I think they could get away with doing it at both the special and the PPV since unlike say, Jarrett and Styles, TNA has only broadcasted just 1 one-on-one Raven/Jarrett match (and about 20 secs of clips from the 2nd) and a large part of their fanbase has been clamoring for a rematch.

 

Ordinarily, I'd think the six man would be fine, if they weren't headlining this week's Impact with a similiar. They need a match that screams this isn't a normal Impact, so that someone who is aware of the product, who say usually looks at the spoilers or the line-up for Impact and decides it's not worth their time, will tune in, combined with the 750,000 regular Impact viewers. So I don't think they should throw away existing storylines (and there's no way they could have already had a plan for this show since it didn't exist 24 hrs ago), they can incorporation them into a "Clash of the Champions" type of show instead of an Impact on a different day show. If they were just broadcasting that week's show in the slot, I'd say go with the regular "save everything for the PPV" Impact, but IMO, since this is clearly a test for a future primetime slot, they need to make it special. The best matches they have that can do, IMO, are Jarrett/Raven, AMW/3D, and some combo of Daniels/Styles/Liger/Joe. I just suggested Jarrett/Raven because they've already put AMW/3D on TV once and at some point they have to make people for it. And I think if they do a tag match with the X-D 3 (plus one in this case), they can wow enough people that when they do say Styles/Joe II, people will go out of their way to see it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

The atmosphere for the match is really why TNA took a step backwards when Raven didn't win.

 

It's the only time TNA has hit that level of interest. And they did it without free TV.

 

Man they really dropped that ball.