TNA Impact! Wrestling Preview: The Importance of Thursday's Edition

For the month of June, TNA has produced consecutive high-quality shows that has wrestling fans talking. TNA hopes to end this month of June on a high note in both show quality and ratings.

Despite praise from fans that TNA looks like a stronger show when live, ratings have not equaled that. For the past four weeks since going live, Impact! has struggled to shrug off its 2012 slide in the ratings department. 

Why is this Thursday's Impact! Wrestling an important show for TNA?

First, if TNA produces another quality show for fans, it recaps a terrific month of television. TNA has become a different product as of late. The "Wrestling Matters" slogan TNA uses has been just as advertised. Impact! has featured more quality matches to watch. It has also taken cameras backstage where wrestling fans normally do not see in a show. In a way, it has taken a page out of the WCW book when its flagship show, Nitro, began to gain steam.

Secondly, the NBA Finals have officially concluded. For the past month, Impact! has had to go head to head with the NBA Finals. That itself brings viewers to a halt. The NBA Finals drew much more people to watch their program, while shows like Impact! suffered. TNA has hovered around the 1.0 ratings mark since going live. Such levels were seen back in 2010, when the company tried their luck against the WWE on Monday nights.

With the NBA Finals over, Impact! Wrestling will get a real good look on where exactly they are. Thursday's edition is extremely important because of what is on the line. It is to finish up a solid month of quality episodes and see whether going live has made an impact, especially with the NBA Finals gone from the picture.

TNA Impact! Wrestling Summer Bash Series Predictions

TNA Wrestling has fans talking about their recent product, and it is not overly negative. As a matter of fact, more positive reviews have come in about TNA since going live. The question remains if the company can break out of its recent ratings funk. 

I have come to the conclusion that I think it will. There is nothing like going live. There is also nothing like putting on a product that has people talking. With the NBA Finals over, I think this is TNA's chance to grow in the ratings department.

For the rest of the Summer Bash Series, I think Impact! will begin to see averages between 1.5-1.8 million viewers each week and a ratings number between 1.2 and 1.4. DVR viewing also can bring in around 200,000 additional viewers.

As a writer, I am high on TNA Wrestling to grow. If they stick to their current product and keep giving fans something to talk about, they will see their show grow each week.