TNA Bound For Glory PPV - 20th October 2013 (San Diego)

[Omega 354]

I don't think it's necessarily that Ciaran, at some point TNA have to try and bridge the gap between biggest of the small fry and serious contender to WWE, especially given that they have a good TV coverage. Being stuck in one place, on a soundstage in a theme park is just going to hold them back because it localises the fanbase somewhat. At some point they'd have to take Impact on the road, they gambled and as it turns out the lost because the product just isn't good enough to be drawing in casual fans.

 

I don't doubt that they could have not done it but unless they decide they are going to revolutionise the product and cut all the ridiculously high paid talent and go back to being the springboard from the Indie they have to do something to justify paying the salaries they do. They already piss all over the PPV model by caring more about TV so they aren't making money there so they have to grow the company in other ways and taking the show to the people makes the most sense out of anything.

 

Really I think I would have said to do one outside taping per month and a PPV and try and make the tapings special or alternatively made an outside taping a live TV show and the rest taped so that fans feel like they also get the chance to be on live TV if they go to a TNA taping in their area.

[Guest Ciaran The King]

TNA took the leap but unfortunately it didn't pay off, they just need to go back to the drawing board and fix it. They have a loyal following and many other fans want them to succeed. There is a place for them

[Omega 354]

Sure, there's a place for CZW but it isn't in the realm of WWE. As I said, TNA could easily go back to being the springboard for the indies and incur so much less cost in terms of talent without losing the fanbase. I mean, if Jeff Hardy or Mr Anderson are your reason for watching wrestling you need to go die somewhere quietly.

[ViciousPrism 177]

TNA took the leap but unfortunately it didn't pay off, they just need to go back to the drawing board and fix it. They have a loyal following and many other fans want them to succeed. There is a place for them

 

Loyal following? That's why their ratings are in the toilet, house show attendance is in the toilet and PPV/Impact taping attendance is... you guessed it, in the toilet.

 

The only place where TNA has any semblance of a loyal following is over here, and they're only over here once a year. This isn't 2004-2008 where TNA was considered a bright prospect, this is 2013 where TNA has pissed everything away with bad business decisions. The only thing left to do, realistically is to put it out of it's misery. TNA is a joke and I highly doubt any amount of good business they do will change that.

[Guest Ciaran The King]

I would still assume there are people who tune in every week

[ViciousPrism 177]

What use are people tuning in if they're not getting PPV buys and putting an ass every 18 inches? TNA paper the hell out of their shows, and can't even get them filled half way (Yes, even for Impact tapings).

[Omega 354]

Cut costs, reduce expenditure on people who clearly aren't value for money, attempt to go back to the model that got them at least some praise from most fans. They need to become the independent NXT and try and grab some talent before it inevitably goes to the WWE.

[ViciousPrism 177]

TNA should have stopped going to the well with the signing the latest "big name" WWE release to pop a rating after Kurt Angle. After Angle, the major announcements and "defections" just died on their arses.

 

Jeff Hardy came back and climbed a cage, painted a picture and left. Then the whole getting f*cked up on a PPV he was main eventing, forcing Sting to shoot pin him in 1:45 and then having him disappear to rehab for a year.

 

Ric Flair did something stupid like putting up his WWE Hall of Fame ring against Abyss.

 

RVD came in, beat Sting in 45 seconds, then got beaten up by Sting for 10 minutes because Hogan missed his cue. Then won the TNA World Title and lost it because TNA had to write him out because his allotted dates were used up.

 

Booker T went batshit crazy (But hell of an entertaining thing too. Bring Black Snow to the WWE Commentary team please.).

 

Matt Hardy came in, stunk the place up and got fired for driving drunk and crashing his car into a tree (also, got suspended for missing shows/turning up late and actively encouraging fans on twitter to get their money back because their saviour Matt Hardy wasn't there)

 

TNA have no idea how to use the talents they have. How about ditching Dave Lagana (The I Want Wrestling guy, who successfully hoodwinked everyone into thinking he was the ideal candidate to bring wrestling back. Psht.) and bringing in someone worth a damn. How about getting a decent VP of Talent Relations because Bruce Pritchard did jack shit. Or even better, just a full scale renovation from top to bottom. Take a couple of months off, get Spike to run Best of tapes (from when TNA was actually good) and then come back with a clean slate.

 

I'm not saying that it'd make TNA any less of a joke, but it might just help them get in the right direction. But what do I know, I'm just a person who thinks TNA right now is up shit creek without a paddle.

[Guest Ciaran The King]

They need to go back and see what got them to the dance. People used to tune in because it was different from WWE, WCW but now it's slowly becoming WCW. TNA need to scale back down and stick with the homegrown young talent they have

[Omega 354]

TNA should have stopped going to the well with the signing the latest "big name" WWE release to pop a rating after Kurt Angle. After Angle, the major announcements and "defections" just died on their arses.

 

Jeff Hardy came back and climbed a cage, painted a picture and left. Then the whole getting f*cked up on a PPV he was main eventing, forcing Sting to shoot pin him in 1:45 and then having him disappear to rehab for a year.

 

Ric Flair did something stupid like putting up his WWE Hall of Fame ring against Abyss.

 

RVD came in, beat Sting in 45 seconds, then got beaten up by Sting for 10 minutes because Hogan missed his cue. Then won the TNA World Title and lost it because TNA had to write him out because his allotted dates were used up.

 

Booker T went batshit crazy (But hell of an entertaining thing too. Bring Black Snow to the WWE Commentary team please.).

 

Matt Hardy came in, stunk the place up and got fired for driving drunk and crashing his car into a tree (also, got suspended for missing shows/turning up late and actively encouraging fans on twitter to get their money back because their saviour Matt Hardy wasn't there)

 

TNA have no idea how to use the talents they have. How about ditching Dave Lagana (The I Want Wrestling guy, who successfully hoodwinked everyone into thinking he was the ideal candidate to bring wrestling back. Psht.) and bringing in someone worth a damn. How about getting a decent VP of Talent Relations because Bruce Pritchard did jack shit. Or even better, just a full scale renovation from top to bottom. Take a couple of months off, get Spike to run Best of tapes (from when TNA was actually good) and then come back with a clean slate.

 

I'm not saying that it'd make TNA any less of a joke, but it might just help them get in the right direction. But what do I know, I'm just a person who thinks TNA right now is up shit creek without a paddle.

 

Oh indeed, agree with pretty much all of that but I just think TNA can be salvaged to some degree if they change the business model and expectations. I suspect you'd get a better product if you could offer indy guys reasonable salaries whilst taking care of some of the expense of being a wrestler and looking after them. Just make TNA a place where indy talent wants to go because it's good but not insane money and the company looks after you and then the talent will have a reason to go there over the ruthless machine of WWE.

 

Then if people want to leave the WWE for a lighter schedule etc you can still offer them that but without the expectation you'll pay them a near WWE salary. No guaranteed contracts or at the very least minimum contracts that TNA could afford to pay if they don't actively use the talent every week. There are alternative enticements to a big salary for a lot of people and for those who only want a big salary then they can beg Uncle Vince or accept that they work in the best environment at a lower wage than kill themselves 350 days a year for the WWE pay cheque.

[Guest Ciaran The King]

They need to downscale absolutely and go with a more affordable product, there is no doubt that the acquisition of talent like Hogan (father & daughter), Bischoff, Sting, the Bellafore guys and a few others drained the funds and TV time

[Omega 354]

Well, there's an argument that some outlay is worthwhile. I don't think having Hogan on the show in some capacity is totally worthless but it should always have been a manageable amount compared to the total saturation they went with. Sting to some extent as well since he did actually work the ring side of things wasn't a total loss. The guys I'm thinking of are the Mr Anderson's or Matt Hardy's who probably came in on massive salaries and do junk for TNA.

 

Paying one of Hogan, Bischoff, Flair, Booker etc makes sense in a marquee kind of way but they relied on them being a long term investment as a full package. I'd say having Bischoff about to do some backstage stuff and be an on screen face of authority would justify his inclusion on a repackaged TNA because you get more than just the performer. Having a Hogan appear now and again is good for a pop.

 

They really though need to hire someone who can book a solid wrestling show week in and week out. Heyman is busy, Dutch is busy so really I think the person you'd say has the background and is "available" would be Cornette in my eyes plus you'd have his experience as a trainer as well to help bring on talent.

[ViciousPrism 177]

Cornette won't go back for love nor money. Not since he worked with Russo, then after he had been fired made a comment about legit wanting to kill Russo, which Terry Taylor forwarded to the TNA higher ups who sent the emails to the authorities and they considered the threat "terroristic". Not even kidding. Edited October 22, 2013 by ViciousPrism

[Guest Ciaran The King]

Did bringing in both Hogan and Bischoff raise awareness of TNA at all???

[Omega 354]

I believe that Hogan did spike ratings on his debut as you'd expect but obviously they haven't kept that audience so long terms it's a failure. Look, wrestling fans did a bit of nostalgia, it's why we all discuss meaningless HoF nominations every year. Having a legitimate megastar of wrestling past on the show is a coup but only if you use the heat that person generates correctly.

 

It's not the call itself that' the problem itls how long you allow that call to go bad without doing something about it. It's not Hogan at fault, he's paid, he turns up, does the best job he can, makes the decisions he thinks is best when he's asked to make them. Whether his ego does blind him to the fact he can;t simply turn up and draw for any promotion is debatable but really it's for the actual management to manage that situation correctly and they didn't.

[Guest Ciaran The King]

It was Hogan overkill to begin with and that's what I think ruined it, he should have been used sparingly to enhance feuds and talent. I think TNA made massive mistakes in bringing in Foley and Flair as well. TNA should have allowed to grown organically not rushed

[ViciousPrism 177]

I believe that Hogan did spike ratings on his debut as you'd expect but obviously they haven't kept that audience so long terms it's a failure. Look, wrestling fans did a bit of nostalgia, it's why we all discuss meaningless HoF nominations every year. Having a legitimate megastar of wrestling past on the show is a coup but only if you use the heat that person generates correctly.

 

It's not the call itself that' the problem itls how long you allow that call to go bad without doing something about it. It's not Hogan at fault, he's paid, he turns up, does the best job he can, makes the decisions he thinks is best when he's asked to make them. Whether his ego does blind him to the fact he can;t simply turn up and draw for any promotion is debatable but really it's for the actual management to manage that situation correctly and they didn't.

 

It didn't really spike ratings, simply because of the fact that at the time it was going head to head with Raw (in a dumb as a box of hammers Monday Night... uhmm.... Blip in the armor? Not even.) plus WWE that night had Bret and Shawn having an "awkward off".

[Omega 354]

It didn't really spike ratings, simply because of the fact that at the time it was going head to head with Raw (in a dumb as a box of hammers Monday Night... uhmm.... Blip in the armor? Not even.) plus WWE that night had Bret and Shawn having an "awkward off".

 

Hogan's debut is still their best ever rating I believe so I'm not sure that's strictly true, plus they didn't go head to head permanently on Hogan's debut, it was a t least a few weeks later when they got absolutely creamed by comparison. I know they'd floated in the lower 1.2-1.3 type region most of that time. Last thursday's Impact did 1.08 by comparison.

 

So my overall point was that it was probably worth getting Hogan in but he needed to be managed better to get the best use out of him.

[Guest Ciaran The King]

Hogan's debut was a good show for TNA but I think the writing was on the wall already, many were annoyed at the Hogan Bischoff alliance and signing

[GENE 86]

TNA had there best shows when D'amore had the book along with Tenay and Borash which was back in 2005/2006 if I'm not mistaking? Why not give those guys a chance again? At least Borash and D'amore are youngish with fresh ideas compared to Russo,Bischoff and Pritchard who are well past there sell by date. TNA was also at its best when it had an x-division full of young guys who were going out there having great matches and trying to make a name for themselves, they also had a good tag team division full of proper tag teams why not go back to that? Instead of trying to copy the WWE, it would be a start at least?

[Dead Crow 370]

GDPR Edited November 16, 2018 by DraVen

[ViciousPrism 177]

TNA had there best shows when D'amore had the book along with Tenay and Borash which was back in 2005/2006 if I'm not mistaking? Why not give those guys a chance again? At least Borash and D'amore are youngish with fresh ideas compared to Russo,Bischoff and Pritchard who are well past there sell by date. TNA was also at its best when it had an x-division full of young guys who were going out there having great matches and trying to make a name for themselves, they also had a good tag team division full of proper tag teams why not go back to that? Instead of trying to copy the WWE, it would be a start at least?

 

Wait... Tenay had the book at one point? Jesus Christ...

 

Anyway, on the subject of Pritchard and Russo, it was widely reported that the feeling of most was that "Russo is a man with bad ideas, Pritchard is a man with no ideas."

[GENE 86]

I'm sure Tenay was in the booking committee back then or am I wrong? Or was that some sort of insider joke that went over my head?

[ViciousPrism 177]

Just had a look and yeah, he was. Jesus wept...

[Guest Ciaran The King]

I forgot about that