No thread yet on the new "Monday Night War"?

[Warner2BruceTD]

TNA Impact goes live on Monday 1/4, 3 hour show. This is the Hogan debut that he plugged very badly on the TUF Finale.

If the rating does well, TNA will move to Monday night and go live, head to head with McMahon, every week.

Thoughts?

(Think twice before you bury TNA. Everyone thought WCW was nuts in 1995 when they did the same thing, and they shocked the world and beat RAW the first night, and ultimately changed wrestling forverer)

 

[BazookaJoe5]

I'll bet Vince tries like hell to get Rock to host Raw that night, and if he can, they are going to kill TNA in the ratings.

It'll be interesting to see what happens. I can just see that show having heavy doses of Hogan, Nash, Hogan's cronies, etc, when what they should be doing is showcasing guys like AJ and Matt Morgan and Daniels and Joe and the X-Division and World Elite. Don't put the boring, stale stiffs out there, if people want that, they'll watch Hunter and Batista and Orton...unfortunately, I think that is what TNA is going to do.

 

[EmpireWF]

There is no reason to think the TNA special will do any substantial rating.

Thanksgiving Impact averaged a 1.17 rating and did a 1.04 in the final quarter hour.

The Monday night special, if anything, will do lower than average because the first hour almost always does lower than usual numbers. Even when RAW goes 3 hours, the first hour is low because 'wrestling fans are morons.'


With that said, I hope they put their best foot forward (meaning, not Beefcake, Nastys, etc.) if they should have a larger audience.

 

[BazookaJoe5]

TNA needs the load the show...they can't really care alot about the rating for that one night but how it impacts viewership the following weeks. They need to have an Ultimate X match. They need to have a match between Angle and Wolfe. Have a match between AJ and Daniels. Show off the talent they have on the roster. They can't hold back, this should be looked at as their big chance to impress viewers and get new fans for the future...not about this one night and what the rating will be. That's how I really feel about it. They need to mix in the Hogan's and the Nash's and the Foleys and the Dudleys of the roster but not overdo it, they can't have people feeling that this is where WWE rejects and old guys go to finish their careers.

 

[Sharkweather]

Late 90s WCW was the best wrestling ever. Hasn't been the same since.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

A) Its gotta be live.
B) You need to give people a reason to tune in...ie: good storylines and characters they want to see.

WCW in the 90's did so...however, the wrestling landscape was at the point in which you could surprise people still and wrestling could captivate audiences three times the size they are at now. Plus, WCW had faithful followers that the WWF lost when they ate up local promotions...WCW was the national NWA and had a lot of those faithful followers...TNA doesn't quite have that...

I think if TNA really wants to compete, they need to rethink things and go about how they do business a little different...especially from a booking standpoint...

Maybe they will with Hogan and Co...but something tells me what Hogan and Co has in mind isn't what wrestling viewers in 2010 want to see...

we shall see, I guess.

Hogan is the name that brings the initial pop in ratings...but its Eric Bischoff the key guy...

 

[Bigpapa42]

Anything is possible. But I'm not sure how TNA really draw enough viewers away from the WWE - or draw new ones - to make this work. Just hope they don't sink themselves by doing it.

 

[BookerT316]

When they let me go that was the end of TNA. How in the hell can a 5 time, 5 time, 5time, 5 time, 5 time champ be let go?

 

[Bigpapa42]

When they let me go that was the end of TNA. How in the hell can a 5 time, 5 time, 5time, 5 time, 5 time champ be let go?

When said 5 time, 5 time, 5 time, 5 time champ is 44 years old and unwilling to put over the young talent...?

 

[Liquidrob]

 

[Bigpapa42]

I honestly could not believe that the UFC put that on the TUF Finale. I know its just TUF and it was likely at the request of Spike, but still...

Also, its interesting that TNA seems to be trying to ignite another wrestling war at a time when MMA seems to having some problems. Not that the UFC is in trouble or anything, but it sure looks like the current issues have them hitting a wall at the moment.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

ROFLcopter at Joe Rogan.

 

[EmpireWF]

F4W newsletter had an interesting take on how this has almost nothing in common with the original MNW.

WCW had almost an infinite amount of money behind them (Turner w/ actual power) and they could and did bring in almost anyone they wanted.

TNA has a limited amount of money behind them and they cannot compete with WWE as far as bringing in big time talent. If a big name (a young, in their prime big name) is considering either place, they will take the money and go up north.

It's almost impossible for TNA to directly compete with WWE and benefit in any way from it.


Plus, Alvarez loathes Vince Russo and he has not been fired yet so there is no reason to believe creative will get much better.

But people can pray I guess.

 

[Bigpapa42]

No, TNA cannot compete financially. Nowhere near. The best thing they can offer a worker right now that the WWE doesn't is a lighter work schedule. Fewer dates to work per year.

Even if TNA could offer better finances, who could they steal from the WWE who would make a notably impact? Not sure to the regular fans, but to the casual and to the WWE fans? I look over the WWE roster, and I just don't see anyone...

Triple H - yeah, he would be huge for TNA. But he's WWE royalty at this point and the heir apparent to Vince (or at least his wife is).

The Undertaker & Shawn Michaels - both guys are pretty names, though not outside of wrestling, and both have been loyal to the E. They already get lighter schedules, so where is the appeal to leave?

John Cena - WWE to the core. The E is even trying to make him a movie star.

Randy Orton - one of the few possibilities...

CM Punk - he seems to annoy WWE management every so often, but just doesn't seem likely...

Batista - interesting thought, but how much does he offer TNA?

Chris Jericho, Big Show, Rey Mysterio - well, Jericho and Mysterio would be a big blow to the E in-ring product, but I don't know that any of the three are identified with the WWE quite enough to really be a big blow in the eyes of most fans. Would having one of the three show up on TNA resound that much more than having, say, Jeff Hardy show up?

Who else could TNA even try to pull away from the WWE which would hurt the WWE and make fans take notice? Just don't see who...?

 

[EmpireWF]

Nobody. That's the point.

This is barring any unforeseen happenings like what went down with Lashley.

 

[dave]

Comparing TNA to WCW is ridiculous.

WCW was established.

WCW had the NWA title.

TNA a solid development company and a good place to retire - nothing more.

 

[Derrville]

Its gonna be closer than people think.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Comparing TNA to WCW is ridiculous.

WCW was established.

WCW had the NWA title.

TNA a solid development company and a good place to retire - nothing more.

Not really. WCW pre-Nitro wasnt all that much different than TNA today.

-WCW was losing money pre-Nitro. TNA is (slightly) profitable in 2009.

-WCW had very strong tv exposure and tons of support from Turner. TNA has good tv exposure, and tons of support from Spike.

-WCW had a very talented roster, that most felt was more talented than the 1995 WWF roster. TNA has a very talented roster, that many feel is better than the WWE roster.

-WCW aquired Hulk Hogan, TNA aquired Hulk Hogan.

The only real difference between the two, is WCW had a very loyal and decades long established fan base of southern wrestling fans. TNA has the same couple of million people who watch Impact every week, and the same couple thousand people who buy the PPV's. So they are working with a much, much smaller base audience.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

F4W newsletter had an interesting take on how this has almost nothing in common with the original MNW.

WCW had almost an infinite amount of money behind them (Turner w/ actual power) and they could and did bring in almost anyone they wanted.

TNA has a limited amount of money behind them and they cannot compete with WWE as far as bringing in big time talent. If a big name (a young, in their prime big name) is considering either place, they will take the money and go up north.

It's almost impossible for TNA to directly compete with WWE and benefit in any way from it.

Pretty much.

WCW had just an infinite amount of cash + an already in place, never going anywhere TV deal, plus a much more established fan base.

WCW had brought in some of the hottest names in wrestling at the time...took some of the WWE's young stars in Nash and Hall after a while on Mondays...it is just a much different and much more slanted playing field...

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Here are the two main points working against TNA that no one has touched on:

-In 1995, WCW offered something with Nitro that wrestling fans werent getting on free TV--stars vs. stars. This made the product different than what WWF was offering at the time, and completely changed the business. TNA is basically a cheap looking WWE knockoff, and they offer nothing different, new, or exciting.

-Nobody knows TNA exists, not even wrestling fans. Christian said in an interview that when he was with TNA (main eventing, no less) that fans would approch him in airports and ask him why he "retired". Hulk Hogan has noted that at book signings, he tells people to catch him on TNA Impact, and many people have to ask him what it is and where can they see it.

Unless TNA can offer fans something NEW & DIFFERENT, it wont matter what day of the week they air. My feeling is they will get an artificial/curiousity ratings/PPV pop when Hogan debuts, then fall back to around the level they are at now. People are growing tired of the bad WWE product, so nobody want to watch a second rate version of something thats already not very entertaining. That story wont change.

Bad booking + stale names + copycat TV format = same old story.