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TNA for Sale


EN090

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Serious question: It's obvious that TNA will not get any bigger in its current form. Can they grow under new ownership and what must be done to make it happen?

 

If there's any chance, they need to have a month or so long dark period and then come back as an entirely new company.

Well like you say, they'd need a total reboot: new name, new announcers/referees, largely new roster, everything would have to change. I think one of the problems is that the TNA/Impact brands are either unrecognizable (to the average person/casual fan) or has a strongly negative connotation associated with it (to the internet wrestling fan). The new company really couldn't resemble anything like the one it'd be replacing. I'd also try to move out of the Thursday time slot (if possible) to avoid conflicts with Thursday Night Football.

 

In a dream world, it'd be either a 60 or 90 minute program that resembled old school wrestling TV shows (pre-Monday Night Wars). Have one main match involving two or four (in the case of tag teams) wrestlers with squash matches and angles/storyline development filling out the rest of the show. I'd be more inclined to watch that than a poor version of WWE.

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Whenever people make their lists of TNA MATCHES THAT WERE ACTUALLY GOOD, I don't see a hell of a lot that I actually want to watch on them. There are probably a couple of more southern style tags with AMW or whoever that I might want to see, maybe a main event style match with Christian or Sting or someone, but it's few and far between. Most of the stuff people mention, on paper, goes way against my tastes. 

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Serious question: It's obvious that TNA will not get any bigger in its current form. Can they grow under new ownership and what must be done to make it happen?

 

If there's any chance, they need to have a month or so long dark period and then come back as an entirely new company.

 

The biggest problem for a new ownership is that TNA's risen and fallen based on whatever was trendy on the indy scene at the time. When TNA began, the cruiserweight/workrate style was trendy, so the X-Division made TNA instantly popular with fans. Later in the 2000s, when SHIMMER made women's wrestling trendy, the Knockouts ended up being popular for TNA. 

 

By contrast, this year...there isn't really one distinct style you can point to on the independent scene and say "THIS is the trend right now" that can lead to a niche that TNA can build around. The only thing TNA could have is building to the people who want the Attitude Era back- and we've seen over the last 11 years that no, TNA can't do that right, even if they DID do it right people want the "wrestlers" more than the style anyway [so they'd STILL be unhappy with it], and as a result it'd fail with their attempt.

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I have a feeling when prospective corporate buyers go through the books TNA is going to be a tough sell.  According to Meltzer they made a modest profit for a few years, but overall have been in the red, with Panda and Spike propping them up.  They've never drawn any great live gates.  Nobody buys their PPVs.  I don't know how well their DVDs and merch sells but it seems like it always ends up in clearance bins or they dump their back inventory with those brown bag specials.  And now after their live Impact plan failed, they don't even have a regular home.  It sounds like they're going to end up back at Universal, but in a worse venue than the Impact Zone.

 

The biggest value to the company is the tv deal with Spike, and their international TV network, which is something they spent years building up and might be their most impressive accomplishment.  Those two things I can see having appeal to a buyer.

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If hope Vince buys it, just so we can finally get an invasion angle where no one bitches about the invaders getting completely squashed.

 

 

Michael Cole: "My God, Pat Patterson is just DESTROYING AJ Styles here.  With one arm tied behind his back, no less."

 

JBL: "Styles had better watch out here, if Patterson gets him in a rear mount, it'll be AJ's worst nightmare come true."

 

Jerry Lawler: "Look! Here comes Titus Young with a kendo stick!"

 

Michael Cole: "AJ Styles is just getting destroyed by every openly gay employee in the WWE."

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I'm not saying he's a perfect choice or anything but given the options, I'd go with him. Just my two cents.

 

 

Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy is an option.

 

I'm sure I don't need to remind any of you of the following "highlights" from TNA's long and storied history:

 

- Midgets jerking off in trash cans

 

- Providing continued employment to (alleged) White Supremacists Ron & Don Harris (and also Brian Lee if you believe those rumors)

 

- The guys who would become "Gymini" as wrestling dildos.

 

- Preventing ROH from doing a hair match between Raven & CM Punk.

 

- Jimmy Yang as a Flying Elvis

 

- Giving a three year push to Sonny Siaki

 

- Vince Russo's S.E.X. stable

 

- Booker T with an "African" accent

 

- Jenna Morasca: Pro Wrestler

 

- Everything involving Karen Angle's on-camera role

 

- Brooke Hogan as an on-screen character

 

- Sting vs. a drugged out Jeff Hardy in a 30 second PPV main event

 

- The "epic" and "enthralling" Main Event Mafia vs. TNA Front Line feud

 

- Cheerleader Melissa as a Middle Eastern terrorist

 

- Samoa Joe: Overweight midcarder

 

- Sonjay Dutt and "Black Machismo" Jay Lethal feuding over So Cal Val

 

- Jeff Jarrett constantly pushing himself as World Champion even though he openly acknowledged that the fans were sick of him on top and wanted anyone else as the company's "ace"

 

- The Six Sided ring

 

 

------------------

 

There is nothing to save.  Let TNA die and join XPW and Herb Abram's UWF in the annals of shitty companies that need to be laughed at.

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Whenever people make their lists of TNA MATCHES THAT WERE ACTUALLY GOOD, I don't see a hell of a lot that I actually want to watch on them. There are probably a couple of more southern style tags with AMW or whoever that I might want to see, maybe a main event style match with Christian or Sting or someone, but it's few and far between. Most of the stuff people mention, on paper, goes way against my tastes. 

I'm probably gonna get roasted for this, but I'd put James Storm vs. Bobby Roode at Bound for Glory 2012 up there with the truly great WWE matches. Their Wrestlemania was a one-match show, but that one match made it worth it.

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Im going to go against the grain and say that Vince buying it would be the best thing for everyone. WWE contracts are not the death sentence for indy/opposition wrestlers anymore and at worst they would just work NXT tapings instead of TNA ones.

 

I cant ever see anyone becomeing a viable, legit number 2 in the mould of the Monday Night War era so keep the indies going but absorb the best of it all into the prime time.At least if Vince buys it everyone will get paid...

I don't know how the contract situation in TNA works, but I'd imagine a lot of those contracts are pay-per-appearance and how many of those guys would really get signed by WWE?

 

 

Joe, Aries, Roode, Storm, and Magnus.

 

Not a ton, but I think they'd take shots on all 5.

 

 

They already turned down Aries, Roode and Storm are way too old, Magnus wouldn't get an offer because he already wrestles there as Wade Barrett. Joe might get an offer but then again, he may be better off in Japan where his tubbiness doesn't matter.

 

Also, Vince would have to buy TWO libraries. Spike owns Impact, and TNA owns everything else. 

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I love the idea that Bischoff can somehow turn things around. Um...he's the reason they're in the mess they are now. The idea that things are going to change if he gets 100% control is ludicrous. 

 

He STILL thinks you can build a promotion around Hulk Hogan in 2013, for God's sake.

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Serious question: It's obvious that TNA will not get any bigger in its current form. Can they grow under new ownership and what must be done to make it happen?If there's any chance, they need to have a month or so long dark period and then come back as an entirely new company.

The biggest problem for a new ownership is that TNA's risen and fallen based on whatever was trendy on the indy scene at the time. When TNA began, the cruiserweight/workrate style was trendy, so the X-Division made TNA instantly popular with fans. Later in the 2000s, when SHIMMER made women's wrestling trendy, the Knockouts ended up being popular for TNA. By contrast, this year...there isn't really one distinct style you can point to on the independent scene and say "THIS is the trend right now" that can lead to a niche that TNA can build around. The only thing TNA could have is building to the people who want the Attitude Era back- and we've seen over the last 11 years that no, TNA can't do that right, even if they DID do it right people want the "wrestlers" more than the style anyway [so they'd STILL be unhappy with it], and as a result it'd fail with their attempt.
What is the current trend on the Indies?
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