We all remember the prime years of the wrestling business. From 1995-2000, the WWF and WCW competed for the eyes of millions of passionate wrestling fans (don’t forget ECW though!). We all know who won that war, and since 2001, the WWE has remained the main product to watch.
Today, there are a few companies who have risen to moderate financial success. Ring of Honor is an independent promotion that prides itself on showcasing the best wrestling in the United States. Xtreme Pro Wrestling, or XPW, is an underground company that takes the extreme from ECW and takes it to a higher level. The biggest challenger to the WWE is a promotion owned by Panda Energy called Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, or TNA.
TNA has risen from weekly pay-per-views to a primetime time slot on Spike every Thursday. There are reports that for the first time ever, TNA will turn a profit this year. Lately they have been stuck around a 1.1 rating, but this is not relevant to my point of discussion.
No matter what TNA does or what they put on television, there will always be something that holds them back. The WWE, many still refer to it as the WWF, has been around since the 1950s, and it has been mainstream since the early 1980s.
Their victory over WCW and the length that the company has been in business has allowed Vince McMahon’s company to become a worldwide financial success. The wrestling business has periods of ups and downs, and even with large changes to their product, WWE has still set profit and attendance records. Tommy Dreamer recently commented on the extravagance of Wrestlemania and the success of WWE.
“Again, it's huge business. Me coming from the original ECW and trying to compete. I remember last year when we were doing WrestleMania, and we had a three-bus police escort from our hotel to downtown Detroit. They closed every highway. I sat back and turned to my wife, and I was like, `ECW could never have made this. Look at this. They're closing a highway for us just to get to a show.' That's a testament to how hard the guys work. There's so many office people who don't get enough credit. This is a huge, huge publicly traded, multi-conglomerate company, and when WWE is behind something, they go full-throttle.” (from the Miami Herald: click here for full article)
Dreamer goes on to mention how Wrestlemania has become a spectacle. So here lies the problem for TNA: WWE is ingrained in the minds of people around our country, and even around the world. Back in 1997, WCW was booming and people began to think of the letters WCW whenever they thought of wrestling. This did not last very long, and the WWF used Austin vs. McMahon to knock King Turner off of his throne.
During its period called "The New Generation", the WWF was not having economic success and it was vulnerable to a company that was willing to provide a fresh product. WCW was able to do this with its cruiserweight wrestlers and nWo main events. Now the WWE has a stranglehold on the business and is still making large profits. The company has become a marketing giant, while TNA does not have the skill or ability to get their superstars noticed by the public (credit to Paul Heyman for that note).
TNA cannot touch the WWE right now, no matter how much better the wrestling or storylines are. They need to stick to providing an alternative to the WWE product, and they are not ready to take on Vince McMahon like Eric Bischoff did.
3 comments Last one added 8 months ago — Leave a Comment
Nathan Moyer 9 months ago
WCW was undeniably a powerhouse and saviour to the wrestling world. But I do not think that TNA has a good chance to become exactly what WCW was, because the past 6+ years since WCW went down, wrestling has been little more than a glorified orgasm for women and a mark-show for the few WCW generation fans still watching, and a watered-down wrestling experience for new fans whom never got the chance to feel what wrestling was, and just assume that today's crap is as good as it ever was. TNA needs to do certain things before it can start to compete with WWF's stranglehold on the wrestling industry (YES, WWF! I refuse to call it WWE). If they do those certain things, they may be the next big thing next to sliced "Thunder Bread"! (Compared to wrestling's current majority minority fanbase, us original "Oldheads" will get the joke)
I think, in my humble and storied opinion, that these are the "steps" that they should take in order to reach they're pinnacle:
1. They need to start making they're own stars and QUICK! They need not be afraid to make they're own stars because they think that their fans won't accept the new guys! Wrestling fans LOVE new stars, when they are pushed right.
2. Get rid of the damn has-beens and rejects from the WWF that Vince didn't want! IF WE DIDN'T WANT TO SEE THEM ON RAW, WHY THE HELL WOULD WE WANT TO SEE THEM AGAIN, REPACKAGED, ON IMPACT??
3. Stop being so bloated when it comes to storylines, we don't need sixteen different storylines in one show! Make a good one or two, and stick to those, most wrestling fans like it when they can get to know a character, and a story and fully get behind it..Good example is the NWO! Look how well that worked, it went on for like 2+ years before anyone got tired of it..It would be an absolute MISTAKE to re-create the NWO in fashion or form, but still, it's an example of how to truly get the "Mileage" out of a storyline and it's stars.
4. Start doing more live shows and phase out the taped shows. This would entail possibly paying stars more, and having slightly heavier work schedules, but the only ones whom might bitch would be the ones I said to get rid of, the old guys. Now don't start flaming me for saying that, because I LOVED Nash and hall and Hogan in they're heyday, but that is long gone. They can be helpful, but who them hell likes Christian or angle more now than when they were in WWF? I doubt anyone does.
5. Don't' worry about Vince for the moment. They're on a different night, Different channel. Between TNA and WWF, there is NOT direct competition, Since fans can watch BOTH shows, it's not like the old days of having to flip back and forth, choose Nitro or Raw, or use (Another old head term) PIP, if your TV had it.
Well, this list is very incomplete! I must get ready for bed to get to work on time tomorrow..Wrestling fan's rejoice! We still have our old WCW pay-per-views and Nitro's on VHS to watch! (To you youngin's, that's what we used before DVD's came out..Yes, DVDs didn't always exist.)
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Morgan Carter 8 months ago
Great comments man, I would love for them to do all of these things. I don't think that they have the financial capabilities to run a lot of live iMPACTs though, those cost a lot more than taped shows. They could consider charging a slight amount of money to attend the Orlando shows.
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Nathan Moyer 9 months ago
I wanted to edit my previous comment to insert something at the end I forgot to put in, but there is no Edit button so I will have to enter it here and hope you read it, too:
This is a replacement for #5:
Don't' worry about Vince for the moment. They're on a different night, Different channel. Take the time to build your own stars and your audience will filter out the bad ones. Because of the fact that RAW is on a different channel and a different time, there will be a 100% focus on your product at that time of the week and time by any wrestling fans looking for action since Smackdown! is no longer on Thursdays. Between TNA and WWF, there is NOT direct competition, Since fans can watch BOTH shows, it's not like the old days of having to flip back and forth, choose Nitro or Raw, or use (Another old head term) PIP, if your TV had it.
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