CTDWAT: TNA Edition

[Obi Chris Kenobi 0]

That would be epic, I'd watch.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

From the Observer, Tomko has been suspended for a few weeks. It stems from Tomko booking himself to appear on the IGF show on 4/14, with TNA seemingly not happy that he didn't make the booking through Bill Behrens, which is how it's normally done.

 

Also, Cornette's tirade on Impact about the women complaining was a 'half shoot' message from the higher ups, presumably because they've been complaining for real. Accordingly, the plan for the hair shaving match at the PPV is to actually go through with it and shave a woman 'almost completely bald'.

 

The Tomko one doesn't make sense on the surface, unless TNA really are big on control. As for the hair shaving, I wonder if they would have gone through with the shaving if they weren't upset with the behavior of the women.

[Matt Young 0]

So... What's the deal with Tomko? 411Mania has conflicting reports (one that goes along with what HTQ posted, and one that doesn't):

 

http://www.411mania.com/wrestling/news/742...Live-Events.htm

 

- TNA was upset with Tomko over the fact that he missed a Fan Interaction event but that wasn't the reason why the Tag Team Titles were taken off of him and AJ Styles. The Deuces Wild Tournament was planned before Lockdown. Tomko hasn't been suspended and is still being figured in to future plans.

 

http://www.411mania.com/wrestling/news/740...ed-and-More.htm

 

- Unless things change Tomko will not be around until after the Sacrifice PPV. He has reportedly been suspended from the company due to working the IGF show the day of the Lockdown Fan Fest. Bill Behrens usually books the Japan dates for TNA talent, but Tomko was booking his dates on his own, since he got a deal with New Japan on his own. This is why AJ and Tomko dropped the tag team titles on Impact after the Lockdown PPV. Tomko was announced for Impact as part of the tag team tournament last week.

[Scroby 0]

From the Observer, Tomko has been suspended for a few weeks. It stems from Tomko booking himself to appear on the IGF show on 4/14, with TNA seemingly not happy that he didn't make the booking through Bill Behrens, which is how it's normally done.

 

Also, Cornette's tirade on Impact about the women complaining was a 'half shoot' message from the higher ups, presumably because they've been complaining for real. Accordingly, the plan for the hair shaving match at the PPV is to actually go through with it and shave a woman 'almost completely bald'.

 

The Tomko one doesn't make sense on the surface, unless TNA really are big on control.

 

It does make sense since Tomko has a contract with TNA. TNA just like WWE, has control over where their wrestlers work and what dates they are free to work. So all the contracted TNA wrestlers have to go through TNA to work indy or Japan shows. So if IGF wanted to use Tomko, IGF was suppose to go through TNA and not Tomko and instead of Tomko either talking to TNA about or having IGF contact TNA to work out the details, Tomko booked the date on his own and probably either broke the rules or screwed something up with something TNA wanted him to do.

[RedJed 0]

Paul Heyman wrote an editorial on the Joe/Angle match at the ppv (from the UK tabloid website, The Sun), and his reasoning why it hasnt increased any additional viewership to the product yet. Just like I've been saying time and time again, it all comes down to marketing the product/matches/characters/etc better, which is and will always be TNA's extremely weak point of running the business as a whole.

 

By PAUL HEYMAN

 

Published: Today

 

ON April 13, Samoa Joe captured the TNA World Title from Kurt Angle in an MMA-style cage match.

 

Their "Lockdown" main event, heralded by some as the "style of the future," was a stiffly-worked textbook example of the sacrifice top-tier personalities are willing to make to present a contemporary, compelling match as the feature presentation of a pay per view event.

 

Just a week and a half later, with all the hype, praise, and stellar reviews backing it up, the rematch was presented on free TV.

 

TNA's weekly two-hour cablecast on America's Spike TV featured the rematch between defending champion Samoa Joe and the former title holder, Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle.

 

And when the ratings came in, the stiff, cold, hard slap of reality cracked TNA right upside the head. The show drew TNA's predictable 1.0, with the Samoa Joe v Angle match peaking at a 1.1 household rating. In a nutshell, that sucks.

 

It sucks because Samoa Joe and Kurt Angle deserve better. They've worked their tails off, and the style they're presenting does indeed take its toll on them.

 

In an attempt to differentiate themselves from WWE main eventers, Samoa Joe and Angle have made the conscious decision to wrestle a more taxing style because few in the industry can work that type of match.

 

And yet, the much-ballyhooed rematch didn't pick up any new viewers for Samoa Joe, any new viewers for Kurt Angle, any new viewers for TNA Wrestling.

 

That sucks, too.

 

It sucks because bluntly, TNA Wrestling deserves better. And yet, when TNA looks around, trying to figure out why the ratings didn't increase...why the company is stuck in the same stagnant ratings pattern every week...why even giving away on free television the rematch of their most heavily hyped and most praised main event in the company's history didn't even record a blip in the ratings radar...TNA has no one to blame but themselves.

 

This is not a criticism of Samoa Joe or Kurt Angle. Nor does it have anything to do with the lack of week-to-week storytelling the TNA audience suffers through every episode of the television show.

 

TNA's biggest problem can be found in the fact the company continues to fail to brand itself, and that's a function of the key word in World Wrestling Entertainment's global dominance and 90-something percent market share...MARKETING!

 

For all there is to say about Vince McMahon - and I've said a lot, and will say a lot more in the future, I'm sure - you can't knock his unparalleled ability to market the WWE product.

 

Why is Ric Flair, universally regarded as "the greatest wrestler of all time," living in an upper middle class suburb of Charlotte, North Carolina, while Hulk Hogan is arguing over tens of millions of dollars in his divorce case?

 

Is it because Hogan was a better wrestler? A better performer? Or is it because Hogan was marketed by the McMahon Promotional Juggernaut, and therefore drew far more money, and sold way more merchandise, than "the greatest wrestler of all time?"

 

Isn't it a tell-tale sign that Flair didn't make nearly as much in his career as Steve Austin, or The Undertaker? There's a reason for that. Flair was in some great programs that drew solid money, but Austin and Undertaker had the marketing machine behind them, while Flair was the beneficiary of the urban myth of the stylin' and profilin' Nature Boy. Which do you think was the more powerful promotional tool?

 

TNA Wrestling took a huge gamble with the MMA-style title match in which they crowned Samoa Joe the new champion. And it's a gamble that most of the paying audience seem to agree with.

 

The live crowd, for the most part, loved the match. Customer satisfaction with the TNA product probably reached an all time high with this match. And yet, NOTHING CHANGED!

 

Why?

 

Because TNA had no marketing campaign behind their new champion. "Crossing the Line" was done by ECW in 1994. David Sahadi is a genius whose videos deserve massive praise, but the theme is the same as what he did for WWE a half decade ago.

 

What public relations firm was hired to make Samoa Joe "the IT guy" in today's pop culture? What marketing firm was retained to get the TNA name out there? Who was hired for the specific purpose of getting Samoa Joe on Jay Leno, or David Letterman, or Jimmy Kimmel, or Regis and Kelly? Why is TNA so content with Bubba The Love Sponge, Mancow, and shows that already feature the TNA performers? Where's the expansion? Where's the reach-out for the new audience? Where's the strategy to blast past the 1.0 ratings and target a 1.5, dare I say a "2.0" rating?

 

Until TNA addresses this issue, the company is going to be stuck in the same holding pattern for the foreseeable future. Instead of waiting for WWE to make wrestling more acceptable to the mainstream, it's time for TNA to take the necessary step to design, develop, and implement a marketing strategy and campaign that makes the general public understand "THAT'S TNA!!!"

[FroGG_NeaL 0]

Heyman really needs to have the book in tna, with somebody to help control his ideas.

 

If Heyman and Cornette could get along, I think they could get tna to the level it should have been at years ago.

[2GOLD 0]

 

While booking is important, TNA needs to learn promotion cause they royally suck at it still. That is becoming their broken record, they don't know how to promote their name in any way, shape or form.

 

 

[FroGG_NeaL 0]

Right. But Heyman covered that in his column up there.

 

What public relations firm was hired to make Samoa Joe "the IT guy" in today's pop culture? What marketing firm was retained to get the TNA name out there? Who was hired for the specific purpose of getting Samoa Joe on Jay Leno, or David Letterman, or Jimmy Kimmel, or Regis and Kelly? Why is TNA so content with Bubba The Love Sponge, Mancow, and shows that already feature the TNA performers? Where's the expansion? Where's the reach-out for the new audience? Where's the strategy to blast past the 1.0 ratings and target a 1.5, dare I say a "2.0" rating?

 

Until TNA addresses this issue, the company is going to be stuck in the same holding pattern for the foreseeable future. Instead of waiting for WWE to make wrestling more acceptable to the mainstream, it's time for TNA to take the necessary step to design, develop, and implement a marketing strategy and campaign that makes the general public understand "THAT'S TNA!!!"

[Epic Reine 0]

What the hell happened to Abyss?

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

What the hell happened to Abyss?

Via PWI:

 

From what I understand, he's backstage at all the PPVs and TV tapings and is ready to go when asked, but until then is learning the backstage aspects of working for the company as he's seen as a valuable hand with a long-term future behind the scenes.

 

Plus he's healing up from all the stupid stunts he's done.

 

Also:

 

[LivingLegendGaryColeman 0]

Rhyno and Cage in the clouds are interesting. I guess it would make sense if they win the tag belts at Sacrifice, having the champs. Otherwise seems kinda random.

 

Also, the listing on my DVR for this week's Impact says "Cornette introduces the Egotistical 8". Is that what they are calling the random partners for Sacrifice?

[Vigo 0]

So I caught an episode of Impact for the first time in a long time and man it was quite weird seeing Angle without the roids. Also, he needs to lose those goofy looking white sneakers.

[Just call me Dan 0]

Oh, you missed the gym socks and lack of knee pads for a couple months...

[DangerousDamon 0]

So I caught an episode of Impact for the first time in a long time and man it was quite weird seeing Angle without the roids. Also, he needs to lose those goofy looking white sneakers.

 

I thought the sneakers were just white Asic wrestling shoes.

[Celtic Guardian 0]

Right. But Heyman covered that in his column up there.

 

What public relations firm was hired to make Samoa Joe "the IT guy" in today's pop culture? What marketing firm was retained to get the TNA name out there? Who was hired for the specific purpose of getting Samoa Joe on Jay Leno, or David Letterman, or Jimmy Kimmel, or Regis and Kelly?

 

Aside from perhaps Kimmel, none of those shows would have on Samoa Joe no matter what marketing firm TNA hired. The other named programs draw from a higher level of celebrity that only a select few WWE wrestlers, never mind TNA ones, could hope to reach.

[Nate 0]

just to brag here's a press release on the TNA House show in Bloomington Illinois:

 

http://www.uscellularcoliseum.com/generali...?article_id=249

 

The superstars of Spike TV’s hit show TNA “iMPACT!” will take over the U.S. Cellular Coliseum in Bloomington, Illinois!

 

(May 8, 2008) - The superstars of Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling will bring TNA Live! to Bloomington for an unforgettable night of action at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum on Friday, June 20.

 

Appearing live and in person will be Kurt Angle, Booker T, “The Phenomenal” A.J. Styles, Scott Steiner, X Division Champion “Maple Leaf Muscle” Petey Williams, The Rock N’ Rave Infection, Curry Man, Kaz, “Cowboy” James Storm, Eric Young, Consequences Creed, Black Reign, Shark Boy, Angelina Love, “The Guru” Sonjay Dutt, Roxxi Laveaux, Velvet Sky and more!

 

Tickets go on sale Friday, May 16 at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum and all Ticketmaster locations including www.ticketmaster.com . For more information, visit www.tnawrestling.com .

 

Cross The Line to TNA Wrestling, the most innovative experience in professional wrestling today. Join TNA World Heavyweight Champion Samoa Joe, Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle, “The Icon” Sting, Booker T, Christian Cage, A.J. Styles and the no-limits X-Division inside the six-sided ring of “TNA iMPACT!” every Thursday at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Spike TV.

 

TNA Entertainment, LLC is a privately held company headquartered in Nashville, Tenn.

Spike TV is available in over 96 m illion homes and is a division of Viacom International Inc. ( NYSE: VIA, VIA.B).

[Silence 0]

Appearing live and in person will be Kurt Angle, Booker T, “The Phenomenal” A.J. Styles, Scott Steiner, X Division Champion “Maple Leaf Muscle” Petey Williams, The Rock N’ Rave Infection, Curry Man, Kaz, “Cowboy” James Storm, Eric Young, Consequences Creed, Black Reign, Shark Boy, Angelina Love, “The Guru” Sonjay Dutt, Roxxi Laveaux, Velvet Sky and more!

 

I thought TNA wrestlers not under contract didn't work house shows? Just TV shows and PPVs right?

 

[Nate 0]

Appearing live and in person will be Kurt Angle, Booker T, “The Phenomenal” A.J. Styles, Scott Steiner, X Division Champion “Maple Leaf Muscle” Petey Williams, The Rock N’ Rave Infection, Curry Man, Kaz, “Cowboy” James Storm, Eric Young, Consequences Creed, Black Reign, Shark Boy, Angelina Love, “The Guru” Sonjay Dutt, Roxxi Laveaux, Velvet Sky and more!

 

I thought TNA wrestlers not under contract didn't work house shows? Just TV shows and PPVs right?

 

I dont know, but as the old saying goes CARD SUBJECT TO CHANGE, its a bit strange no Samoa Joe or LAX on the house show list though

[Nate 0]

EDIT: double post

[cabbageboy 0]

What frustrates me is that initially there was a June 22 house show in Louisville but for whatever reason it was changed to Cincy. I figure this could mean one of three things:

 

1. TNA is basically screwing us and isn't going to make up that date anytime soon.

2. They will reschedule a house show a bit later.

3. Best case scenario, Louisville gets a PPV. I noticed on their website that neither Hard Justice or Victory Road have an announced location.

[jjis 0]

Right. But Heyman covered that in his column up there.

 

What public relations firm was hired to make Samoa Joe "the IT guy" in today's pop culture? What marketing firm was retained to get the TNA name out there? Who was hired for the specific purpose of getting Samoa Joe on Jay Leno, or David Letterman, or Jimmy Kimmel, or Regis and Kelly?

 

Aside from perhaps Kimmel, none of those shows would have on Samoa Joe no matter what marketing firm TNA hired. The other named programs draw from a higher level of celebrity that only a select few WWE wrestlers, never mind TNA ones, could hope to reach.

 

Letterman doesn't have wrestlers on. Hogan is the only one who does Leno. Conan would be a choice, but with the NBC/WWE deal a TNA guy being on might not happen.

[FroGG_NeaL 0]

Jimmy Kimmel, Regis and Kelly, the British dude from the Drew Carey show, Ellen, Carson Daley, MTV, Nickelodeon, there are tons of shows that would have them on.

[dubq 0]

 

Looks about as fake as that Sacrifice poster that was linked last month.

[dubq 0]

While booking is important, TNA needs to learn promotion cause they royally suck at it still. That is becoming their broken record, they don't know how to promote their name in any way, shape or form.

 

So true, and I honestly doubt that Heyman would even take the book in TNA unless they got their marketing and promotions sorted out. Everything Heyman writes in that article is 100% truth. Marketing should be something that your company lives and breathes, day in and day out, it should be on EVERY employees list of directives - and it clearly isn't in TNA.

[Hasbeen2 0]

Spike should run more marketing like the little things in the corner USA network has. If they really wanted to help the shows out they could run 30 second spots from time to time on CBS.

[cd213 0]

From wrestleview.com by way of PWInsiders:

 

It is also being reported by PWInsider that Roxxie Laveaux was already open to the idea of having her head shaved at the Sacrifice PPV when the idea was presented to her. This was reportedly due to the fact that the hair dye she used for her "voodoo" character had stripped her hair and she was looking to cut it anyway.

[Jingus 0]

Why am I not surprised that TNA employee Bob Ryder's website printed an article saying "no, it's okay, Roxxi wanted to shave her head anyway".

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

Bob Ryder is 1wrestling.

 

Dave Sherer is PWinsider.

[Jingus 0]

D'oh. I forgot which one was Bob and which one was the one that split away because they couldn't stand working with him anymore.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

Your point is still valid though. It took as long as the next news day for the story to come out about Roxxi being all about getting the shave.

 

It could be true, of course, as I seem to recall her having to grow her hair out in the first place...but still...it didn't take long for the information to try and take heat off of TNA.