This has been heavily rumored all day. Anyone who even knew a guy who knew a guy who knew a guy had heard the rumblings. Spike will not be renewing Impact. This means TNA is done.
This has been heavily rumored all day. Anyone who even knew a guy who knew a guy who knew a guy had heard the rumblings. Spike will not be renewing Impact. This means TNA is done.
Not if there is another network that is willing to be a taker. They still get a decent rating for cable programing. I'm not the biggest fan of TNA, but I don't want to see it die.
Meltzer just said on the Law that a lot of this is about the Russo stuff.
they really like shooting themselves in the foot
He could be right, but TNA brings in the magical 18-35 male demographic. A demographic that many networks would probably be more than willing to look at. Regardless of Russo, money talks.
Spike hates Russo
I mean on TNA look at the lack of interest in WWE programming. If no one wanted that who wants TNA?
All day the rumors started when the reports of the emergency meeting by Dixie had happened. Dave says that TNA's line is gonna be they didn't want to be on Spike anyway because of lack of network promotion. That is the face saving measure.
Oh well. It's funny how truly little I ever cared about TNA. I could count the full episodes of Impact I watched on one hand. I think the number is three. So what are the details here? When is their last episode? And what was the deal with Russo?
Vince Russo was secretly working for TNA. It was a secret because Spike hates Vince Russo. Vince Russo emailed Mike Johnson at PWInsider by accident instead of Mike Tenay with script stuff for Impact. Spike found out TNA was lying to them. Spike was already annoyed with TNA about a lot of things, including Sting leaving after Spike paid the freight on his contract, but that seems to be the old final straw.Originally Posted by Tainted Eclipse
And now for the real questions: Will Bobby Lashley be the last TNA world champion? And if so, when is the Bobby Lashley vs. Rhyno dream match to unify the dead TNA and ECW world titles?
They won't. The rating is irrelevant. Cable shows are now competing head to head with network programming and the old assumptions about ratings are pretty much moot. What counts now is advertising dollars and marketability and TNA has essentially zero earning potential there. NBC Universal and it's networks wont have them, as they have WWE, and Viacom is obviously not interested. That basically leaves Fox, who have cockteased wrestling promotions for decades with no actual result.
Sounds like something Muto would book. Main event of Zombie Bound for Glory everyone!
I'm sure that I am not they only one here who found out about this hours ago, but I just found out how the information came down for one guy to another until it got to the knows a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy people like me. Apparently the TNA office was telling indie promoters to hold off booking TNA guys so after the news came down they could lowball them.
It's sad for the people who try to make a living in the world of professional wrestling. Part of me thinks TNA might hold on and end up somewhere like WGN (which almost happened in 2005) or back to Fox Sports.
Then again, didn't TNA just spend a boat load of money to run shows in the NYC market to impress Spike? Money well spent...
WGN is making a play to be a bigger network. They just launched a couple of original TV shows. One of which did half way decent.
Yeah they also cut ties with the Cubs after this year... Sad.
So you know the TV channel that keeps you afloat hates someone because they find his writing distasteful and even banned you from airing male-on-female violence, you know your deal with them is set to expire and you want to remain partners with them, so you secretly hire this person that they hate while angles and swerves that are his hallmarks land all over your programming WHILE lying to your wrestlers as well and tell them he's not working for you, while their morale is already low and expect to still get a TV deal and stay in business?
Many a conspiracy theory that the accidental email was not so accidental.
However, TNA has always been a comedy of errors sadly: http://taimapedia.org/index.php?title=LOLTNA_History
TNA would be way better if it was made using ancient alien technology.
I love how this story is bookended. First we hear of it is that Wrestle-1 can't get a straight answer out of TNA about Russo so they call Dave Meltzer asking him about it. Then it ends with an email to PWInsider.
Real talk Tajiri is the only wrestler I would watch TNA for.
Like the bit from Austin Powers, this company can't seem to die so I'm not gonna completely write them off yet. Their only real move is to throw everything against the wall and go down in a blaze of glory with the possibility that someone like a WGN saves them.
I dunno about ratings but I miss G4. They would've been a good fit.
Random general thought. Doesn't have to be TNA but what's stopping any promotion with a good traction and/or the overhead for production costs to pursue a deal with Netflix or Amazon? I'm gonna abstain Hulu
Last edited by JRSlim21; July 28th, 2014 at 2:02 AM.
Awesome tweet
https://twitter.com/voiceswrestling/...35563992264705
I'd bust a nut on my TV.
Hmmmmmmm, I'm pretty sure someone will snap them up. I mean they are on a tv station that only shows repeats of game shows over here.
Speaking of game shows, maybe Spike will replace TNA with this theme song looped during Impact's current time spot.
Netflix would require them to film the entire run of the show in gigantic blocks all at once, which would be a disaster and a huge money sink with an uncertain payout. Hulu is used by WWE, and Lucha Libre USA, but it isn't ideal because it has a limited consumer base.
If they are done I'll be actually quite relieved. A bit like when a struggling relative finally passes away.
Awful news for lots of people and the business in general if it does go under.
I'm strangely more optimistic than most that they will be able to find a new home. Numbers and demos are healthy enough to warrant a chance. See this going to Fox.
If they went under though, those wrestlers could make as much (or more, if you're AJ Styles) on the indie circuit... so ... it could be a blessing.
Plus, ya know... Jeff Jarrett... Again.
Mr. Murdoch is a wrestling fan.....
See the thing about "competition is positive" is that things can die rather than stay on life support for enternity. Pull the plug.
What if they find a way to fuck up fucking up?
I don't understand why Vince Russo still gets work...
Magic, seriously.
People can say Russo is inept, but he has the magical ability to get work. Russo was supposedly making around $350K per year when he made the jump to WCW in 1999 for over $500K per year. When WCW folded, he went to work with WWA but pulled out officially (I am sure he made some money from that). In 2002, he briefly returned to WWE before McMahon removed him from the creative team full time and offered him a consultant salary of $125K per year. Instead, Russo jumped to TNA.
Now, Russo was in and out of TNA since the beginning -- some say during the conceptualization phase even before his brief stint at WWE in 2002. When he wasn't in TNA, he was managing a CD Warehouse in Georgia, starting his own organization called Ring of Glory which put on a couple of shows, writing books, and doing shoot interviews. Again, he's brought back to TNA a couple of times as an on-air talent, head writer, writer, promo producer and consultant always making at least around $100K. WWE also interviewed him for an NWO DVD in 2012, which he appears briefly on -- I'm sure he at least received a steak dinner and likely some compensation. Most recently, he's being paid to work remotely from his home in Colorado as an consultant even if mum is the word while also opening up his own website, which will have a subscription service. WWE still takes shots at him on-air occasionally.
He's obviously a warlock.
Last edited by BIGFEETS; July 28th, 2014 at 5:42 AM.
One of the most fun parts of the "General Wrestling" Forum has been predicting when TNA was finally going to die.
At least now we can find some new game to play here.
Give up trying and TNA just propels itself to the top.
It sucks. It just means WWE is going to get lazier. I expect they might pick a few talents and WWE fans will say who great they are even though they thought they sucked in TNA. See Jeff Hardy and Booker T as an example. However, it will be to the determinate to people like Ziggler, Ambrose and Barrett. We also have to wonder how much money WWE can actually throw at these guys when we get the updated numbers from the Network on Thursday. If anything, I think Jarrett just hit the jackpot.
Russo, Jesus, he has to watch his back for the rest of his life.
Implying that WWE's behavior and creativity ever depended on TNA. For goodness' sake on the night of the supposed "head-to-head" between Impact and RAW WWE put on one of their worst shows ever and people still tuned in to see that over Impact. Hell, I think Impact LOST viewers while WWE gained them.
I hope they can get a deal on another cable station here in the US. It's a lot more convenient to be able to see people I enjoy like Roode, Kenny King, and Gail Kim once a week on TV than having to seek out matches on the internet.
They brought back Bret Hart, no matter how bad the show was, it still had that moment. They also brought Bret back to fucking Dayton, OH. TNA pushed them that night, there is no question about ti.
That RAW was so bad they were literally daring people to change the channel, and not only did they not, but Impact (the main event of which featured both Hogan AND Flair) was so bad people were changing theirs. That is not "being pushed", that is, "laughing hysterically while you skip to the bank".
Don't forget, WWE isn't doing too hot either. It's just a lull in the business. Same as early 90s.
You are under the impression, people care about the wrestling quality. WWE brought back Bret Hart which is all anyone cared about on that show. You can't tell me WWE just happened to book Bret Hart coming back the same night TNA went head to head. That is just naive.
That RAW was so bad they were literally daring people to change the channel, and not only did they not, but Impact (the main event of which featured both Hogan AND Flair) was so bad people were changing theirs. That is not "being pushed", that is, "laughing hysterically while you skip to the bank".
Damn what a blow. Personally I think they'll be able to find another channel. They have the consistency in viewership, and there are a lot of channels who might want to mix it up instead of having 4 hour blocks of replays that get half the ratings. If this all has to do with Russo then they get what they deserve in terms of Dixie Carter and whoever else was involved in his return. He's not good enough to risk your company and they literally risked it all and for what? The fans and employees are the ones who will ultimately suffer if they go under because of this.
I hate this "lull in the business" and "wrestling is cyclical" bullshit speak.
It's a business. And when business is down, that ain't good. You need to offer a better product or you will not survive. Even the E knows it, because they have a Board of Directors that I'm sure is telling them they need to step shit up.
The E created a ton of buzz with the network, and have a ton of revenue streams that keep it alive and kicking. But eventually those will run out.
Wrestling is a carny-rooted thing. It grew as a con, and eventually the con was not only seen through, but completely exposed. Now the veneer isn't as shiny as it once was, and the mystique is gone. WWE is fortunate in that they have taken some well measured risks so they don't lose their hides completely when something fails. But eventually if they can't renew themselves and make something original, it, too, will fail.
Nothing, in terms of business, is "cyclical." There are trends, sure. But eventually all businesses fail. It's called a business life cycle. It's Macroeconomics 101, chapter 1.
Pro wrestling over the last 100+ years has been up and down. One minute they're one of the most entertaining things out there, the next nobody cares about it.
The point being, ND, is that one provider of entertainment can't stay in business forever.
Take a look at the circus. There are still actively touring circuses, yes. But there's a reason Ringling Bros./Barnum & Bailey doesn't have a show on any given network. It's a passe experience. Which pro wrestling is slowly transforming into.
Right, but my point is that pro wrestling has a proven track record that just because one era is suffering doesn't mean that it can't bounce back.
You're right about the genre as a whole. But no one individual company is going to survive perpetually.
That's my point.
When do you think WWE will go out of business, WizoOzz? Next ten years? 50 years? I've always wondered myself when it would go out.
Possibly not in my lifetime specifically. But once Vince is gone, shit will be dicey.
Primarily due to the Cubs renegotiating the deal. WGN didn't want to pay 500k per game. Comcast showed about half of the games anyways with wgn getting a lot of the ship games.
they are also no longer going to be on won't am station as the Cubs went elsewhere.
most mlb teams will most likely be setting get up their own cable channel like the Dodgers did anyways.
If they are done I can't say I will be shedding any tears either. The only people I will feel for is the Wrestlers but hopefully WWE,ROH,and even Jarrett will snatch a few up.
Dixie and the rest of that circus who runs that place can go fly a kite for all I care. Isn't funny that in essence that Russo caused the demise of another Wrestling Promotion? Not saying he was the main cause of WCW going out but he was one of the leading factors in it.
Like some people have said outside of these boards, maybe it'll be a good thing for TNA to get away from Spike becasue the one thing that's true is that the marketing of TNA has sucked forever. You rarely if at all see anything hyping up the show on that channel, they'll hype the fuck out of Bar Rescue but you won't hear a peep about TNA Impact. It wasn't always like that, there were times here and there where it seemed like Spike cared but not too often. Almost the same treatment ECW got, and a little with WWE. Pro Wrestling on TNN/Spike has been used as the lead in to something else that channel wanted to get out there. Whether it was roller derby or MMA, they used the pro wrestling audience to get eyes on these other forms of entertainment. That's why I always chuckle at people who think that pro wrestling and MMA are not connected, because why would Spike use the WWE and TNA as a way to bring eyes to TUF and Bellator?
Idk, TNA doesn't have the greatest people running the ship and the whole Russo situation is a prime example of how idiotic the company truly has been.
Not saying they aren't related, but how much of a benefit has Bellator garnered having Impact as a lead-in?
That is true, but it doesn't much matter. Getting no support, but prime time airtime on a significant cable network is much better than anything they're going to get from anywhere else.
I hope TNA finds a new network, even if that means going back to Fox Sports in an afternoon time slot.
Recently I really started to enjoy Impact again. Taping in New York, the deal with Wrestle-1, and the returning six-sided ring all felt like right moves. Thankfully the Spike TV deal doesn't expire until October giving the company a few months to regroup and find a new TV deal.
Lashley vs. Ezekiel Jackson to unify the TNA and WWECW Titles.
The only thing keeping TNA afloat was that they had a TV deal, so this has to be the end. I suppose it's possible the Carters are just going to keep throwing money at it, but without their TV deal they have no revenue stream at all.
It seemed like they were actually taking some positive steps in the last few months, so this is a bit unfortunate. Then again, in a just world this company would have died years ago. They'll stagger on for a few months doing house shows and seeing if they can find some TV (even just syndicated) and then "suspend operations," never to be heard from again. WWE will eventually buy the tape library for the X Division, Kurt Angle, and Sting matches.
Who from TNA do you want to see in WWE? Is there anyone? I'd love to see MVP back, but I don't think he's interested.
No clue.
Somewhat true.
Yep Yep!
Can we stop putting Wrestling on Spike TV? Its obvious that they only use it for leads ins into their other crappy TV Shows. They did it to ECW,did it to the WWE,and are doing it to TNA. Honestly when's the last time they promoted Impact outside of saying hey look everyone TNA is coming on next?
I think the blame on product awareness lies on both TNA and Spike. I always think of an interview Kevin Nash did shortly after returning to the WWE when he powerbombed CM Punk and he said that he was walking through the airport and a fan stopped him and said "Nash, are you still even wrestling?" And he had been in TNA for like 3 years lol. Or think of fans chanting "you still got it" to RVD a mere couple months after leaving TNA where he was the World champion....But that can't all be on Spike because TNA should've known they weren't getting the promotion out of Spike so they should have went above and beyond. That and not hire Russo, I mean seriously how fucking dumb do you have to be?
Yeah I remember the interview Nash did when he came back to WWE 3 years ago and the RVD you still got it chants. That I agree is on TNA for not promoting themselves better and relying on Spike to do it for them. The Russo thing just boggles my mind because they knew Spike doesn't like him and yet brought him back anyway in the middle of trying to re-sign the TV Deal. I just don't get how anyone can be that stupid.
I think part of the issue lies with TNA's being oblivious to what it was shoving on-screen while attempting to use social media to promote the show. You can't push shit out to the carnivorous internet wrestling circle and not expect little, if any, positive response. If you go back to the "#AskDixie" fiasco, and look at Twitter with "#TNAGOTCANCELLEDBECAUSE" today you can see exactly what I mean.
That they evidently have brightened up now by booking in heavily concentrated "wrestling friendly" areas, while too little too late, is a glimmer of hope that someone at least learned a fucking lesson on how to run a wrestling company. But this obviously won't bode well for the current roster, who on top of having to travel to these arenas that have only been fractionally filled, now have had decent houses show in NYC only for this news to be thrown on top of them. It's got to feel like swimming upstream in a river of bricks.
Yeah, TNA should have done something as it pertained to getting their name out there more. But they didn't. They thought bringing in these huge names from the past would help them out. But it didn't.
And I'm sure that they think that they'll get picked up by another network.
. . .
TNA seems so lazy about promoting that they expect everyone else to do it for them. They sign big names in hopes that their name value will create a huge buzz within the wrestling community and people who haven't watched in awhile will tune in, but you can't just rely on Facebook, Twitter, etc. Spike did seem to want to help them but maybe they saw the writing on the wall way before us fans did because obviously they know more about what's going on than we do. They might've seen TNA's lack of drive even before Hogan came along and thought you know what, if that's how they want to roll, then let's see what happens.
Everything you just said, 100% agree with.
Have they announced that they've got a huge announcement yet?
Wait, RVD was in TNA?
Dixie and Bob Ryder via the twitter machine are apparently saying negotiations are still in progress, with Ryder going as far to say that the rumors going around are "untrue." It's hard to believe them, I WANT to believe them, but it's virtually impossible.
The rumors may be true, they may not be true. till spike comes out with official news on it, we're all just waxing poetic on the subject.
Personally I hope it's not true. I don't watch wrestling near as often as I used to, but most of the wrestlers I actually care to watch are in TNA/Impact. More importantly there are a lot of people's lives that will be impacted very negatively with losing their jobs that help provide for their families. Some folks seem to be happy with this possibility here. If you don't like the product that's fine, but at least have the decency to give respect to those that are busting their asses off both in ring and behind the scenes to try and entertain folks.
I wouldn't believe anything coming out of the TNA management camp. They're trying to save face and keep the fans and performers from panicking.
When's the funeral?
It'll do them a favour. Instead of working in a thankless existence where your boss is an idiot and you're being paid with literally her pocket money to keep her off the streets, except the production crew were having problems getting paid, and their wrestlers had to work second jobs to get by despite doing high risk work on TV. They'll go on to better things, just about any other job would be a better place than staying in the nightmare coma that is TNA.
Otherwise you might as well complain that a war is over and now the hospitals won't need as many staff.
I have a hard time buying anything Dixie is selling.
TNA do tapings next week which will take them up to virtually BFG in Japan. They have a few house shows booked until end of September, then they have a UK tour early next year. They might try to carry on to the UK Tour as a fair few tickets have been sold but with no US TV deal the company cannot really continue.
JB has joked about moving the company to London but few US wrestlers would want to locate surely.
I could see there being a fire sale between Global and WWE, Jarrett if he can get a TV deal might look to pick up some of the lesser talent deals and maybe the rings, stages etc. The WWE would probably be interested in the tape library and may pick up a few former stars contracts if they haven't expired. The Dudleys could be given one last run and would be good trainers, Jeff Hardy would shift a bit of merchandise and could do a Jericho/RVD type role. Angle would get a legends deal and if he passed the physical could have a few big matches. Of the other talent, I'd assume that WWE would be very interested in Magnus, he is still only 27 years old and with the right packaging could be a good fit on the WWE roster. MVP may well go back to Japan as he worked over there for several years between WWE and TNA.
Of course Dixie and management are going to insist negotiations are still going on. It's all about keeping face right now.
With that said, I find the TNA death posts premature. The company has at least three months to line up a new deal. I actually explore their options a little in a blog post today. WGN seems the most promising, like somebody mentioned earlier in this thread.
I'm also curious to see if AMC might be interested in buying into the company. I ponder that given the unlikely WWE-AMC merger rumors from earlier this year.
I wouldn't write TNA's eulogy quite yet. A lot can happen over the next few months, including Spike TV changing their minds. Time will tell TNA's fate.
Trailer Park Boys went Netflix-exclusive around season 7 or so. They seem to be on an original programming kick now. TNA should join up with them. They can really spin that as a progressive move by a wrestling company.
As others have said, that would require whole blocks of shows filmed in advance which I'm not sure would work in 2014.
And they can't go to Hulu because WWE is there.
I wonder how many months of programming filmed at once we are talking about. After all TNA already films how much at one time? TNA to NetFlix might actually work.
Netflix has a lot of the WWE DVD's though I don't think they would want to air programs from asecondthird rate company
TNA has been taping at least 2 months worth of shows at a time. In theory it could work. Do 3 months at a time even. Or, cut the episodes down to 1 hour shows. I hope they think outside the box to save face.
This is like what would've been if Jeff Katz actually got his shit together and went through with WRP
lol
Ho hooo, what a bastard!
This. Both sides have been terrible/nonexistant.
I think TNA finds a new home on another network.
Hire Spud
If they want to survive, they need a complete overhaul. New name, fresh faces. TNA is a terrible name, even worse than a Global Force Wrestling.
Well, on the one hand, we know that once they stop booking tapings that it's a done deal. So, we'll know TNA has finally breathed its last breath two months in advance.
So that's nice.
Would ROH's parent company Sinclair Communications have any interest in TNA or at least some of it's talent I wonder.
Organisations do exist without TV deals but the wrestlers are largely freelancers who will work wherever the money is.
The top TNA guys have probably seen the money that AJ is supposed to have made this year so could follow that route if they wanted.
WCW taped several months ahead in 1993 I recall and guys were coming out wearing belts prior to PPV's for future programmes so everyone knew who'd win the PPV matches effectively. If TNA did go to a Netflix type company, they could tape ahead as they do now virtually and get it down to maybe 5 or 6 weeks of taping a year.
I remember when they were briefly airing their show on their website, that might work out for them for the short term but they would definitely need to find a station that is willing to take a chance. Netflix would be cool, I think they could pull it off especially like we've said, they pre-tape a good month or so of programming as it is...but how much money would they be bringing in? This isn't the Asylum days, there are guys with some decent contracts that Idk if Panda is going to want to keep shelling out money. Who knows.
If they did do that, the guys could make a shit ton by working lots more indie dates on top of TNA.
Last edited by Jay Carter; July 29th, 2014 at 9:23 AM.
Wondered about this as well. But to be honest, Sinclair - from what I've seen - isn't really willing to put any money into Ring of Honor; why would they want to put money into TNA as well?
Also, once TNA goes under whatever top talent is stuck in the indies is going to take a bite out of whatever money's flowing through the scene. AJ's extremely talented and was, for the most part, the face of TNA. I don't think anyone there can be considered that at this juncture.
Without television, I don't think Panda reasonably has any reason to continue pumping money into TNA. My understanding, and it's relatively loose mind you, is that the only thing making money for TNA is being on television. Everything else is a loss. Now, there won't even be that one source of revenue coming in. Unless Panda wants to keep it as a hemorrhaging tax break, I don't see TNA sticking around unless they can get t.v. somewhere. Which, to be honest, I don't see happening. It's been said a ton here and elsewhere - if the E struggled to get what they got to stay with NBC/Universal/Comcast, there's no goddamned way TNA is going to get anything remotely like they had with Spike. And that doesn't bode well for TNA. Not at all.
Last edited by WizoOzz; July 29th, 2014 at 9:32 AM.
Sinclair doesn't seem to want to really elevate Ring of Honor at all. I think Jim Cornette talked about this recently, about how when he was there he had this vision of where he wanted RoH to be within a year and it was like Sinclair gave not 1 fuck about Ring of Honor elevating. You can kind of tell just by watching the show how really nothing has changed since they got on Sinclair, their video package at the beginning is super outdated, it just looks like a local promotion imho. Seriously, the camera work, the shit sound, it looks like a promotion here called 3XW who air at like 230am on the CW affiliate lol.
I agree Wiz, no tv, no money. Did the WWE struggle to get what they got or did they just not get what they THOUGHT they were going to get? I think they still ended up getting more money out of the deal but not close to what they were predicting a few months prior to it finalizing, which I think hurt them getting a BETTER deal. TNA SHOULD be at a level where if they were leaving Spike, a few networks would be jumping at the chance.
They SHOULD be, but they aren't. Especially when you take into consideration the stupid mistakes they've made and their lack of overall growth. Sure, one could say it's an easy million or so viewers on Spike - but it's the same company who brought in a guy Spike absolutely wanted no connection with and tried to keep it their little secret. They brought in Hogan and Bischoff, two names identified with the killing off of WCW, either rightly or injudiciously so. I mean, mistake after mistake after mistake cost them growth in general. Any network worth its salt would look at this pattern of behavior and balk.
The E thought they were going to double their television revenue, if I'm correctly remembering, based on amounts by which other sports related brands had increased theirs. Whatever the increase WWE got was de minimus, and one could argue that the reason why is twofold - (a) WWE isn't a legitimate sport, which it continuously hammers home to its audience, and (b) WWE is consistently on the air 52 weeks a year, several times a week, which kills off any special attraction feel.
Truth be told, one can always tell the state of "the business" just by looking at the WWE. And right now, that just ain't so hot. If wrestling programming were so in demand, you'd see more wrestling programming on television, period. There's not been a solidly reported story on GFW doing anything apart from Youtube videos and "partnering" deals. And yeah, there's the rumored Billy Corgan thing, but from everything I've read that's less a wrestling show and more a wrestling related reality show which is only in development at this point. Right now, in terms of wrestling, WWE fills the niche, fills it up heavily, and apparently tv land is satisfied with that.
Last edited by WizoOzz; July 29th, 2014 at 10:28 AM.
I will say this though, as far back as I can remember I've always had the same amount of wrestling promotions available on t.v. It was NWA/WCW and WWF, and then depending on what year ESPN had AWA here and there and some Georgia wrasslin here and there. In the 90's we had the first 2, and then ECW finally got on TNN in what, 99? 2000? So here we are today and we've got the WWE, TNA, and Ring of Honor. I'm sure in certain areas some smaller promotions have t.v. deals on a local level like ECW back in the day or USWA. But yeah, even when wrestling was at it's mega heights of the 80's and 90's, we never had like 10 different promotions with national television deals.
But I do get what you are saying, I just wanted to point that while it's not as in demand as it was during certain periods of time, I personally have never seen more than 2 or 3 wrestling companies available at a time. Again like I said, some smaller promotions probably have deals but nothing like the WWE or TNA or even Ring of Honor.
My understanding is that territories had their own television deals within their territory through local television stations. Crockett was one of the first to go national with the onset of cable with The Superstation TBS, which, in turn, eventually led to more and more companies wanting national exposure. Followed in suit by WWF, and Mid-South Championship Wrestling which eventually swapped over to UWF, and AWA. UWF was eventually purchased by JCP, which led to the "big three" of its time. WWF continued gobbling up territories, failing with a television deal with Turner after acquisition of Georgia Championship Wrestling. Crockett had the early edge being on TBS, WWF eventually catching on with the USA deal (see: Prime Time Wrestling). AWA dies, you eventually get the purchase of JCP by Turner, and history leads you to the point where ECW appears as essentially an anomaly and would eventually luck into a shitty deal. I could, of course, be completely wrong with this. I'm going by basically memory, am not a historian, and am discounting WCCW and the like by boiling them into just territories.
You don't really get to a "big two" or "big three" company mindset until Vince Jr. acquired WWF after he bought his dad out in 1982, and even then movement didn't really start until the botched TBS/Georgia Championship Wrestling deal in 1984.
Kayfabe and Apter mags gave a perception of a "Big Two" or "Big Three" but in reality it wasn't until Turner's acquisition of JCP that it was a reality. For the most part, looking at the entire history of "professional wrestling" the idea of a "Big Two" or "Big Three" is a relatively recent one, since for a bulk of the time, it was territories who more worked in sync for the greater good than competed.
Yes, I'm sure there are smaller wrestling companies with some level of television locally still, but realistically they are probably paying to be on the air, rather than the other way around. ROH has a distinct advantage in that they are literally owned by a broadcasting company, but said broadcasting company seems to have little interest in exposing ROH any greater.
yeah I honestly have no idea how it worked for territories, if they paid to get air time or vice versa, that's why I tried to steer clear of that and just focus on promotions that pretty much anyone with cable could've watched on channels like ESPN, USA, TBS, TNT, etc.
I can believe that, which is one of so many reasons I'm not bothered about TNA crumbling under the weight of their own spite and ineptitude.
I completely agree. Unfortunately people seem to have taken it into their heads that the wrestling business is some kind of perpetual motion machine and a boom will definitely happen again because it happened twice before. I'm going to invest in tulips, they're bound to come back some day!
That's not really true, though. Pro-wrestling has been a very different thing in different settings with different audiences over the course of that 100 years. A crowd coming to see grapplers like Gotch would be nothing like families coming to see John Cena and the Bella Twins, and early pro-wrestling didn't have Youtube, Angry Birds and television to contend with. The modern theatrical performance of wrestling has boomed twice, during times when the economy in general was booming, and only one company survived any of this by eating everyone else. There's no guarantee the wheel will turn once more, and what's the big fish supposed to eat anyway?
EDIT: To get back to TNA, I don't see why something like Netflix or Amazon Prime is out of the question. There's no rule that says they must tape blocks of shows months in advance. They could add shows weekly or monthly, it's not as if it's against Netflix's religion to upload a series more than once a year. It could even be a way for them to branch out and attempt to cover live events as Youtube has done, though TNA itself is likely not even close to worth that kind of effort.
Last edited by The_Mike; July 29th, 2014 at 4:47 PM.
I think you could go back to AT LEAST the 1950's and go from there and see how wrestling's popularity has fluxuated. It wasn't just TWICE that a big boom period happened. I'm optimistic because there were longer gaps where pro wrestling struggled than what we've dealt with. And every era has had various forms of entertainment that wrestling had to contend with or economic situations that made it tough as well.
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