Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling announced that it will move its TNA Impact program to Monday nights, competing head-to-head with WWE’s Monday Night Raw show. TNA Impact will air from 9PM to 11PM, but only every other episode will be live. In today’s press release, TNA personality and creative consultant Hulk Hogan said:
Monday nights are now officially the best night of the week to be a fan of professional wrestling. My mantra has been ‘change is coming’ since partnering with Dixie Carter and TNA Wrestling. This change is great for the business and all fans of professional wrestling will benefit because of it.
The Monday night wars are back! While TNA did a good job and snagged strong ratings when it went up against Monday Night Raw on January 4, 2010, it still got trounced by WWE. While the organization has a ton of talent, its writing and production seem minor league compared to its chief competitor’s. Will TNA improve its writing and spend more on production? (Perhaps TNA should hire some of the writing talent behind the excellent WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010.)
What do you think of the return of the Monday night wars? Do you think it will push both companies to improve? Is TNA biting off more than it can chew? Do you see yourself flipping between both shows similar to the WWF vs. WCW days?
i think this will help RAW get better. i've found myself watching Smackdown more and more lately. TNA definitely will need to bring it's A+ game to lure WWE RAW watchers. I tend to have my Monday shows and have my routine down. It's going to take more than Old School guys to keep me watching. Maybe they should hire that great writing team behind SvR 2010, too bad one of them is down 67% in popularity on IMDB.
Is TNA Impact the one where Hulk Hogan is running the show? For give my ignorance. I've been out of touch with the wrestling scene lately, but I've heard a few things through the grapevine.
-M
@iceman Yes, Hogan and Bischoff were hired as creatives by TNA.
While I hope to see this push both companies to make them better, but unfortunately I get the feeling that this will show the MAJOR difference in quality between TNA and WWE.
@Arguello TNA should do what Paul Heyman did in classic ECW — accentuate the positives and hide the negatives. There's no way TNA's production can compete with WWE's, but the company can put on better matches if it emphasizes the right guys.
This is a bad move for TNA. They should have learned from WCW's decision to do this. I predict TNA to get stale after the Hogan/NWO stuff dies down and fall into financial trouble and Vince buys TNA like he bought WCW and ECW.
@RRODisHere I'm not sure why Vince would by TNA.
Tuned into Raw last night for the first time in ages just in time to see the stupid Jerry Springer/Jerry Lawler/Mae Young bit. Was reminded of why I stopped watching wrestling and quickly changed the channel to something else.
TNA is really showing the rut that wrestling is in. Instead of forging ahead with new talent, they are trying to pull a WCW all over again. They fail to see that WCW invariably failed because there were two many "old" hands in the creative pot. The move to Monday isn't a bad one, and I think competition will do both companies a load of good, but hiring Hogan and Bischoff, and trying to rekindle more nostalgia is simply the wrong way to go. Bring up new talent and attach your fan base to them. Build it and they will come… but if you try to inherit it, it's only going to bring them before they find out they are just buying into the same old thing.
@Raymond Padilla
For the same reason he bought WCW and ECW, because he can.
@RRODisHere Those purchases made a lot more sense. In both cases, he acquired talent that he needed. He doesn't really need TNA talent. In WCW's case, he acquired a huge library of classic footage which is now used for WWE DVDs. I don't see any reason WWE should buy TNA. Vince is also limited in "because he can" actions because WWE is a publicly traded company and he has shareholders to answer to.
@Raymond Padilla
Good points. TNA may not have any great history to capitalize on but Vince could used some of there talent.
@Ray
They could buy TNA to boost EPS if they lose some revenue due to being in direct competition with them. Otherwise I'm pretty sure WWE owns everything valuable that TNA could possibly offer.
Then again when you examine the comment made by Larcenous..Perhaps TNA is hoping that they can shave a few % off of EPS by mimicking WCW. That way Vince will be forced to purchase them in order to boost EPS. Shareholders love money, and most vote proxy anyway.
@RRODisHere I agree that TNA has some great talent, but I don't see many that are "Vince" types. AJ and Daniels are too small. Joe is too fat. Nigel (I refuse to call him Desmond) would work, but between Sheamus, Finley, McIntyre, and Regal, he already has a bunch of people with various UK accents. Maybe he'd take a chance on Matt Morgan again. *shrug*
I like The Pope D'Angelo Dinero.
Dude cracks me up.
@N8R
I like the Pope as well but I really love his entrance music.
@ RROD
I'm such a sucker for 70's funk.
I think his promos a re some of the best in TNA.
@Raymond Padilla
If they gave the world title to CM Punk, Jeff Hardy, and Rey Mysterio then I don’t see Styles and Daniels as “too small”. If they gave Umaga the push that he deserved then I can see them giving the same push the Samoa Joe who is just as fat. Most importantly, Kurt Angle will be back were he belongs.