My personal hunch, and it is just a hunch, is that the move away from PPV was for the same reason as WWE are moving away from it - the ease of piracy and provider fees, so the medium simply doesn't make enough money anymore. With TNA, I think it was also an attempt to bolster the TV viewership and save the Spike deal. TNA had promised 2 million weekly viewers. They'd tried Hogan & Bischoff, live Impacts, going on the road, Open Fight Night, none of it had worked. So someone somewhere thought: What's the point putting all our best matches on monthly PPV where only the hardcore fans (and pirates) will see them? Let's put our 'B' "PPVs" on TV, so the mainstream fans will actually see them, and we may pop a few high ratings in the process. As we know, it didn't work. TNA have a loyal but small audience which stubbornly refuses to grow.

The company has been in massive flux with the Spike non-renewal and the move to DA. I'm sure they want to be on PPV and we'll see them try this year. I think taped Impact from the IZ (which actually looks a million times better now with the new set) and live, on the road PPVs, is a creatively satisfying model. Will it work out economically, though? I personally think TNA would be wise to revive their online PPV service and on-demand library. That's the future. I still believe traditional PPV is on its way out.

More or less because they weren't making money, I've heard reports that they actually made substantial losses. When TNA made the hair brained choice to go on the road fulltime they had no choice but to heavily cull PPV to help absorb some of the financial expenditure of going on the road, of course that resulted in many roster cuts and restructuring of a lot of talent contracts because the road experiment was a disaster resulting in crippling losses.
Since TNA have made the smart choice of block advanced tapings at select locations as this is the most financially viable way of taping tv for them. I also heard they are now allowing contracted talent to take more outside bookings that may even include iPPV and televised stuff because with all the block tapings they cant expect talent to sit out not earning a living for months waiting for the next tapings. This may work to their favour as more talent may be willing to sign up now they have more freedom for outside bookings as well as working for TNA.

As for PPV its a shame its died a death but its smart business as it was hurting them financially, they do need to find a alternative though so fans still get to see the big pay offs to feuds on something other than a episode of Impact. Perhaps they could run extended Impact tapings every so often as in a 3 hour episode with a PPV style theme and format, the episode could perhaps be live on occasion as well.

As for the One Night Only shows I will be glad when these stop as they are pointless and uninteresting but as mentioned TNA have to run them to fulfil International contractual obligations with tv networks that were guaranteed monthly PPV's, this is TNA's way of keeping up with these obligations as cheaply as possible.

TNA's budget cutting was purely a result of Bob Carter no longer bankrolling the company. That's a matter of public record. It wasn't a result of TNA going on the road, except in the indirect sense that the shows on the road proved that the market for a number two promotion just wasn't there, and the whole "make TNA into WCW mark 2" project was flawed.

TNA haven't given up on PPV because they have two planned for this year. But ultimately they'll probably find the same thing WWE have - wrestling in 2015 is a niche product better suited to an online subscription model.

I realise the Carters pulled the plug on the bottomless pit of cash they had been providing but I also think the reason in part for this was because of frustration due to another Hogan inspired idea of going on the road which once again had resulted in collosal losses. The first couple of road shows produced decent crowds due to the idea being a novelty but just a few weeks in crowds had plummeted to as small as less than 2'000 and with overheads for each road taping said to be between $500'000-700'000 there was no way ticket and merchandise sales and TV and ad revenue was even close to covering those costs.

What TNA have done now is basically go back to basics, they've trimmed the roster off-loading expensive dead wood like Hogan and Sting and refusing to give in to expensive demands of guys like AJ Styles and Samoa Joe, they've recruited new talent within budget and restructured contracts of guys willing to stick around for less pay. They've very sensible binned the idea of being a touring TV show and now instead run block tapings at select venues which normally guarantee lively crowds and more importantly keep costs down due to being able to run multiple tapings covering a few months of TV.

They are now making expansion plans with more international tours in place and this is smart as TNA have a much larger following overseas. Another smart move would be perhaps to run a PPV or extended TV taping with PPV theme over here in the UK because even if it doesn't produce huge buy-rates it should guarantee a very large crowd, possibly record setting.
As far as the roster goes it's obvious they have limited funds for this which is why we've seen the introduction of talent like the two new Rising guys, one of whom I've never even heard of. Hopefully in time we can see guys like Morrison and Del Rio come in, would be cool if they could run a cross-promotion with Lucha Underground allowing those two to come in as well as maybe a few more. They could possibly even strike a deal with ROH now they're more relaxed about talent working elsewhere. Would love to see Bully Ray, Bad Influence, Motor City Machineguns and AJ return down the line as well.

Conflicting reports or not it was abundantly clear that the monthly Pay-Per-View model was doing more harm than good.


It hasn't stubbornly refused to grow TNA simply haven't grown or nurtured it.

The problem TNA has always had (to date) is that they don't want to put the leg work in. They've never really spent the time and energy necessary to build their own identity and brand. The company has been in existence for more than a decade at this point and I'd struggle to really define their product or articulate what the company is in any meaningful or distinct way. TNA fans might point toward something like the X Division but in truth WWE's booking of the X Division over the past decade has been so wildly inconsistent that its hard to really view that as a distinctive aspect of the product. The same is true for their treatment of the women's division. In theory these should be defining aspects of their product that would at least set them apart from WWE to some degree but the whole thing has been so wildly inconsistent and at times viewed with such contempt that its never gained the traction that it should. Lucha Underground highlights the general failings of TNA on this front to an even greater degree. They've been around for less than a year and have already crafted a distinctive style and identity of their own that sets them apart.

If TNA wanted and indeed wants to grow an audience then it needs to be more than WWE-lite or a poor riff on WCW (or worse ECW). It desperately needs an identity of its own and they've never quite worked out how to do that. In large part I'd contend this is because they've put far too much faith in creative teams consisting of the likes of Vince Russo, Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan who all seem more obsessed with recreating and reliving their glory days than actually moving the industry forward in any meaningful way. They need a new voice in creative and always have. Although I understand and acknowledge that this is much easier to say than it is to actually do.

Matt Hardy got 5 paydays in one day today. A lucky day for Hardy! https://twitter.com/MATTHARDYBRAND/s...34938965147648

Taz is officially gone.

http://411mania.com/wrestling/taz-of...done-with-tna/

Meltzer said today that Destination America know nothing about wrestling but are putting pressure on TNA to push the people DA want pushed.

Also said that in February 15, Impact only had 30.2% of the viewers it had in Feb 14, despite DA being in 61.7% of the homes Spike is in, and the ratings are considered disappointing despite it being the highest rated show on the channel.

I suspect tnamecca.com will not react well to this.

Thanks for relaying this. Although in my opinion Meltzer has become a parody of himself when it comes to TNA. If TNA got a million PPV buys Meltzer would write about "low morale backstage"

To me, comparing Spike ratings and DA ratings so simplistically is completely meaningless and a new low for Meltzer. Although I think the fact DA have cut back their TNA programming suggests they may indeed be disappointed with the ratings.

Perhaps DA got into this with unrealistic expectations? The ratings have certainly been higher than most internet commentators predicted, even the optimistic ones. The shows have also been higher quality than I expected. The second Wembley Impact was the best TV wrestling episode I've seen in years.

There are a lot of mixed messages about morale, I think that extends across to WWE to though. I think the basic rule is when you want to know something, go to the dirtsheets, they know everything yet they'll all tell you a different reason for a situation lol.

The ratings have been ok, nothing especially great but none especially bad either (and I thought the same of TNA's ratings on Spike) they are generally static. It seems that DA have lost confidence to pull Greatest Matches and also ive read they've moved Unlocked (is that the name of the Tenay show?) into a dead slot.

But the worst part, and God knows if it's true, TNA are said to be allowing DA to call the shots when it comes to certain things and it just doesn't work. It didn't work with Spike either. I hope the reports are untrue because I think generally Impact has been a decent show overall.

Yeah I completely agree. I think networks interfering in shows is very common in the US though. It's so well known it's even become a kind of ongoing joke in a lot of shows. I actually liked that period when TNA referred to "The network" onscreen as a kind of authority figure.

I don't mind 'The Network' being on-screen as such, I think if it's done well is a good idea. I just think it's another lesson not learned (and I'm sure you will disagree). It's said DA really pushed for Angle to be champion, whether that's true who knows, but why? It's TNA (and WWE do it too so not a dig at TNA as such) relying on big names of the past rather than the stars of the future.

And Dixie made a big point of saying DA was chosen at least partially because the were happy to push non-IMPACT programming and four months in, one is cancelled and one is graveyard.

On a completely separate note, I am a bit sad to see Taz go. He hasn't been the best this year but I still think he did an ok job and I don't think I will like Al Snow in that role.

Wonder if Taz(z) will go back to WWE I could see him in a trainer type role.

Actually I agree that having Angle as figurehead of the company is a bad call, especially at this late stage in his career. Personally, I'd always have kept a home grown star as the top guy. They did that well with Joe to begin with. When I was a kid, it was all about WWF = Hulk Hogan and WCW = Sting. If your promotion's top guy is someone who made their name in another promotion, what does that say about your promotion?

However, I don't think it's a case of TNA not learning this lesson; I think it's more likely they have no choice. I imagine what the network wants, the network gets.

I thought Taz used to be rubbish, then got better recently. I don't know how I'll feel about him being gone until a few shows in. I've never heard Al Snow on commentary. Personally I liked that Todd Keneley. Borash I also think is good.

Well the problem is probably their homegrown stars aren't well known enough because of years of dependency, and again I must stress (because I know you think I'm anti-TNA) that WWE are as guilty of not growing stars. I completely agree about what it says about your promotion, it either says we don't believe in our home grown stars or we simply haven't got enough.

Where I disagree is they don't have a choice. From little reading, USA don't really get involved with WWE from a storyline perspective (in terms of saying "We want XXX to be the champion, the face of WWE), you never really hear about it but a recurring theme in TNA is networks dictating to them. I think in the case of Spike it was down to them paying contracts, with DA there seems to be no reasoning for it other than being able to do it.

There was a one night only on in the week on Challenge, was that a one taped from yonks ago ?

Flat Scans!

TNA going on about how the Knockouts are real womens wresting and taking a dig at WWE.

Once that was more than true but that was years ago look at their Champion who a report admits she is champ based on her looks.

WWE is better at the moment but not the best in the world.

I think DA will have some say in what they do in their programming.


The fact of the matter is this, wrestling is not something networks will be fighting over. It's not popular at all. Any network with a passing interest will take one look at WWE, look at what WWE's numbers were 15 years ago, look at what they are today and draw a line through it.


The only way I could see any TV network throwing money at wrestling again is if the person running it was a huge wrestling fan or whoever was in charge of content was a big fan and they really pushed for wrestling but again...........when it comes to talking about money and how much it really costs to make a difference in the world of wrestling. Any smart business person is going to look at what WWE USED to do and what they DO NOW. And right now they are getting around half of what they used to at their peak and year on year they are declining, the audience is gradually going away from WWE and they are meant to be the big number 1 promotion.

There will never be another boom in wrestling. There will never be competition between promotions. Wrestling peaked 20 years ago. It's like The X Files, Only Fools and Horses, Jerry Springer, it's something that came onto TV, got an audience, peaked and then people moved on. People just remember the good parts, not the long dragged out parts after they peaked. Wrestling is the same way. It's always going to be remembered for it's huge boom in the 90's and it will never return to that again. Nothing can ever top it.

I wonder who will replace Tazz on commentary. Any chance they could bring Don West back?

Apparently they tried out Al Snow which led to an argument between Taz and Mathews. Taz asked Mathews if they had been trying Al Snow out for colour, Mathews said no when it was common knowledge they had.

I wonder if Tazz was already unhappy with TNA for replacing Tenay with Matthews.

Anyone who has absolutely no knowledge whatsoever might do this year.


Yeah because its not like wrestling had a huge boom a decade before the Attitude Era or anything. Nor was it a staple of the television landscape well before the 90s.


Thus confirming that TNA's mission in life is to make WWE look good by comparison.

That has been said by dirtsheets but Taz has denied it and said despite the argument, he didn't have an issue working with Josh.

The general (potentially unfounded) belief seems to be that he got a better offer from another company since he asked to be let out of his contract early rather than work the last couple of months of it.

Al Snow is presumably where they'll land on a replacement. He's probably not a bad shout either. From memory he did a pretty good job alongside Coachman on Heat way back when. In fact didn't the two of them end up calling Raw for a couple of weeks at one point? I vaguely remember some weird Raw vs. Heat announce team feud.

Ooh that's interesting. Isn't the GFW debut coming up?