It's A New Day
"If one does not evolve, then the expectations are that failure is imminent."
Ladies and Gentlemen,
This is not the TNA that you grew to love many years ago. That TNA is gone and dead. Its concepts have gone to the wind and in its place lay the ashes of its presence. In the place of the old TNA is a new TNA; IMPACT Wrestling.
Nearly one year ago, Dixie Carter decided that the success or failure of her company would sit on the shoulders of Bruce Pritchard and his vision. This is why she appointed him as the Senior VP of Programming and Talent Relations. Dixie Carter and Jeff Jarrett gave a somewhat similar opportunity to Vince Russo 5 years before and Russo ran with the ball.
Russo was successful in increasing TNA's audience. Russo was responsible for increasing the IMPACT Wrestling viewership to above 1.5 million viewers on a weekly basis. Nearing the end of his run, getting below that 1.5 million number was a rare occasion.
But here is the thing about Russo. While I am an advocate to his creativity, that is all he did for the product. He popped the rating! At the detriment of the roster, the storylines, the PPVs, the titles and the brand, Vince Russo grew the audience.
Russo's product catered only to that casual viewer. It was through title changes, alignment changes, spectacles and many other things that Vince Russo was able to pull in hundreds of thousands more people than are watching the product today.
It is safe to say that Bruce Pritchard and company have a product that caters more to their diehard wrestling fans (Austin Aries as World Champion). While their audience is smaller, they are the ones who are passionate about the product. They are the ones who likely order most if not all of their PPVs or buy merchandise from ShopTNA. It is in this case that Pritchard and company don't take their loyal audience's time for granted. They understand that you watch IMPACT Wrestling every Thursday not just because it has the word "wrestling" in it but because you enjoy it.
It's a new day in TNA! This isn't the same TNA from 2002, 2005 or even from last year. It has a different vision and a different plan. It has a different focus group and because of that a different product. While it is clear that TNA's ratings have taken a hit, is it not fair to say that the timeslot change, the DirecTV fiasco, the Democratic National Convention and the fact that the NFL is now competing head to head with TNA are perfectly good reasons for some of the drop in ratings?
At the beginning of the year, the product had an average audience between 1.5 and 1.675 million. Following the departure of Russo, the audience dropped to the 1.3-1.5 range, losing about 200,000 fans in the process. TNA took another hit by switching timeslots at the urging of Spike TV to give them between 1.2 and 1.45 million viewers a week on average. So between the time Russo left and the show we get today, TNA has lost about 200,000-300,000 viewers.
It's A New Day...
The X Division of the early days of TNA is dead. Creative found the concept of the X Division as being too general and somewhat confusing. In its place is a modern day cruiserweight division. It is secondary to the main feuds but can be used to elevate a wrestler. The X Division Title will be increasingly important around July of next year when the champion has the option of trading in the title for a World Title shot at Destination X.
The Knockouts Division isn't about diversity anymore. TNA Creative has decided that focusing on a smaller cast of girls that they like would be a better fit for their division. Their are six active Knockouts in the division and one referee. It isn't as much about match quality anymore than having the look, which means names like Sarita, Winter and others will fall by the wayside for names like Brooke Tessmacher, Brooke Hogan and Taryn Terrell.
Tag Team Wrestling is more interesting when two singles wrestlers form a partnership to chase the champions. This is why Matt Morgan and Crimson, Pope and Devon, Samoa Joe and Magnus, Kurt Angle and AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels and Kazarian and other teams are the focal point of the division. The tag team division can be a tool to fuel singles rivalries and storylines.
If a wrestler is not part of the vision, then he/she probably won't be part of the show. While TNA booked the show around the roster in the past, they now book the roster around the show. If you (the wrestler) aren't in the vision then you won't be used and therefore should look for opportunities elsewhere. Unfortunately, many great talents will be leaving TNA. The good news is that they will continue doing what they love instead of sitting on the sidelines.
The Six Sided Ring, Feast or Fired, Steel Asylum and King of the Mountain are gone. In its place is Open Fight Night, Gutcheck, Championship Thursday and the Bound For Glory Series. The old concepts were said to be confusing or just stupid while the new concepts will help brand TNA and structure it from month to month.
The Creative Team believes in nuance, subtlety and anticipation for their storylines. This means that storylines will progress very slowly. They will stand out more because they are in smaller quantity but they will still be there. Fear not, over-the-top storylines will remain (ex. Claire Lynch).
Pay Per Views Matter Again! As evident by recent PPVs, they are no longer just extensions of the product that can be skipped. If you skip PPVs, you will miss great matches, moments and even storyline development. Not only that but shows such as Lockdown, Slammiversary and even Bound For Glory have the proper buildup.
Wrestling takes precedent. If you were a fan of incredibly short matches with alot of creative influence in the finish, you may be disappointed. While the extra curricular activities do remain in the product, the focus is on letting the wrestlers go out to the ring, tell a story and give the fans their money's worth.
IMPACT Wrestling is catering to you but isn't abandoning casual fans. There are still storylines that will hook them. The main difference between today and a few years ago is that as opposed to catering to the casual fans and taking your loyalty for granted, TNA is catering to you hoping to hook the casuals in the process.
This is not the TNA that you grew to love many years ago. That TNA is gone and dead. Its concepts have gone to the wind and in its place lay the ashes of its presence. In the place of the old TNA is a new TNA; IMPACT Wrestling.
Nearly one year ago, Dixie Carter decided that the success or failure of her company would sit on the shoulders of Bruce Pritchard and his vision. This is why she appointed him as the Senior VP of Programming and Talent Relations. Dixie Carter and Jeff Jarrett gave a somewhat similar opportunity to Vince Russo 5 years before and Russo ran with the ball.
Russo was successful in increasing TNA's audience. Russo was responsible for increasing the IMPACT Wrestling viewership to above 1.5 million viewers on a weekly basis. Nearing the end of his run, getting below that 1.5 million number was a rare occasion.
But here is the thing about Russo. While I am an advocate to his creativity, that is all he did for the product. He popped the rating! At the detriment of the roster, the storylines, the PPVs, the titles and the brand, Vince Russo grew the audience.
Russo's product catered only to that casual viewer. It was through title changes, alignment changes, spectacles and many other things that Vince Russo was able to pull in hundreds of thousands more people than are watching the product today.
It is safe to say that Bruce Pritchard and company have a product that caters more to their diehard wrestling fans (Austin Aries as World Champion). While their audience is smaller, they are the ones who are passionate about the product. They are the ones who likely order most if not all of their PPVs or buy merchandise from ShopTNA. It is in this case that Pritchard and company don't take their loyal audience's time for granted. They understand that you watch IMPACT Wrestling every Thursday not just because it has the word "wrestling" in it but because you enjoy it.
It's a new day in TNA! This isn't the same TNA from 2002, 2005 or even from last year. It has a different vision and a different plan. It has a different focus group and because of that a different product. While it is clear that TNA's ratings have taken a hit, is it not fair to say that the timeslot change, the DirecTV fiasco, the Democratic National Convention and the fact that the NFL is now competing head to head with TNA are perfectly good reasons for some of the drop in ratings?
At the beginning of the year, the product had an average audience between 1.5 and 1.675 million. Following the departure of Russo, the audience dropped to the 1.3-1.5 range, losing about 200,000 fans in the process. TNA took another hit by switching timeslots at the urging of Spike TV to give them between 1.2 and 1.45 million viewers a week on average. So between the time Russo left and the show we get today, TNA has lost about 200,000-300,000 viewers.
It's A New Day...
The X Division of the early days of TNA is dead. Creative found the concept of the X Division as being too general and somewhat confusing. In its place is a modern day cruiserweight division. It is secondary to the main feuds but can be used to elevate a wrestler. The X Division Title will be increasingly important around July of next year when the champion has the option of trading in the title for a World Title shot at Destination X.
The Knockouts Division isn't about diversity anymore. TNA Creative has decided that focusing on a smaller cast of girls that they like would be a better fit for their division. Their are six active Knockouts in the division and one referee. It isn't as much about match quality anymore than having the look, which means names like Sarita, Winter and others will fall by the wayside for names like Brooke Tessmacher, Brooke Hogan and Taryn Terrell.
Tag Team Wrestling is more interesting when two singles wrestlers form a partnership to chase the champions. This is why Matt Morgan and Crimson, Pope and Devon, Samoa Joe and Magnus, Kurt Angle and AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels and Kazarian and other teams are the focal point of the division. The tag team division can be a tool to fuel singles rivalries and storylines.
If a wrestler is not part of the vision, then he/she probably won't be part of the show. While TNA booked the show around the roster in the past, they now book the roster around the show. If you (the wrestler) aren't in the vision then you won't be used and therefore should look for opportunities elsewhere. Unfortunately, many great talents will be leaving TNA. The good news is that they will continue doing what they love instead of sitting on the sidelines.
The Six Sided Ring, Feast or Fired, Steel Asylum and King of the Mountain are gone. In its place is Open Fight Night, Gutcheck, Championship Thursday and the Bound For Glory Series. The old concepts were said to be confusing or just stupid while the new concepts will help brand TNA and structure it from month to month.
The Creative Team believes in nuance, subtlety and anticipation for their storylines. This means that storylines will progress very slowly. They will stand out more because they are in smaller quantity but they will still be there. Fear not, over-the-top storylines will remain (ex. Claire Lynch).
Pay Per Views Matter Again! As evident by recent PPVs, they are no longer just extensions of the product that can be skipped. If you skip PPVs, you will miss great matches, moments and even storyline development. Not only that but shows such as Lockdown, Slammiversary and even Bound For Glory have the proper buildup.
Wrestling takes precedent. If you were a fan of incredibly short matches with alot of creative influence in the finish, you may be disappointed. While the extra curricular activities do remain in the product, the focus is on letting the wrestlers go out to the ring, tell a story and give the fans their money's worth.
IMPACT Wrestling is catering to you but isn't abandoning casual fans. There are still storylines that will hook them. The main difference between today and a few years ago is that as opposed to catering to the casual fans and taking your loyalty for granted, TNA is catering to you hoping to hook the casuals in the process.
Don't focus on what used to be but rather what now is. Alot of good has come from the change while alot of bad has been eliminated. While I don't agree with some of the new direction I feel the product of today is one to be proud of. Hey, if you like the old product but not the new one...there is still TNAOnDemand.
