When WWE broke new ground by debuting, "WWE RAW" in 1993 on a Monday night and delivered great ratings to USA Network that year (its best being 3.4), Monday night quickly became established in the minds of pro-wrestling fans as, "Wrestling Night". WCW followed suit in 1995 with, "WCW Monday Nitro" when Eric Bischoff (as Executive Vice President) suggested to Ted Turner that WCW needed a prime time show in order to be competitive with Vince McMahon and WWE. In 2010, TNA did the same when they temporarily moved, "IMPACT WRESTLING" from its regular Thursday night slot to Monday night. As Hulk Hogan explained regarding TNA's move, "From a wrestler's point of view, if you want to prove you are the best and you want to get in the fight, you have to let the fans make the choice and put out the best product you possibly can. I want to go head-to-head with the competition."
Even though going head-to-head is definitely the most effective way to gain fans from the competition, sometimes an attack from the side can be just as effective as an attack head on. Other than for PPV events, Sunday nights are devoid of wrestling. In fact, other than Tuesday nights, Sunday is the only night that doesn't feature wrestling programming. However, Sunday night is a great opportunity for the pro-wrestling industry. Most people are at home, watching television as they mentally prepare for their work week to start, while many students are watching television as they rush through homework that they procrastinated on all weekend.
A Sunday night, prime time slot would be beneficial to a promotion new to the TV landscape and looking to make waves, and it would be profitable for TNA as they continue to strive to make gains against WWE. Also, it would be advantageous to both WWE and TNA in the PPV department. In the past, WWE and WCW had Sunday evening shows ("Sunday Night Heat" and "Main Event", respectively) that would be used as live pre-shows, airing right before a PPV. It would help promote the PPV, encouraging a fan who didn't plan on ordering it to do otherwise.
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
TNA Turning Point 2012 Reaction
Last night's TNA PPV was a great event, which has been routine for almost three years now. TNA's talent roster has always been impressive, but the booking and creative direction now makes intelligent use of that talent, and in a very entertaining fashion. On a side note, although TNA does not report their PPV numbers (nor does any other private company), both "TNA" and "TurningPoint" were trending on Twitter last night, which serves as an indication that many viewers were watching the event.
A smart company gives it's customers what they want, and TNA is doing exactly that by having the TNA World Heavyweight Championship on Jeff Hardy, their most popular talent. Although he successfully defended the title last night in his, "Ladder" match with Austin Aries, the match put over both wrestlers. Many times throughout the match, it appeared that Aries was going to win. In fact, even though Aries is no longer champion, he has been put in a very good position this year. TNA saw main event potential in Aries, and they gave him the opportunity to live up to it by putting the championship on him in July. Aries didn't let TNA down, and even though he dropped the title in October, he remains a part of the main event scene, and most likely will continue to do so as we go into 2013.
One big topic emerging from TNA Turning Point has been the turning point for AJ Styles. The most popular TNA original on the roster, he was pinned in a, "3-Way" match that carried the stipulation that the wrestler who was pinned would not be eligible for a TNA World Heavyweight Championship title shot until after Bound for Glory 2013. Many fans feel that this match has hurt Styles' immediate future in TNA, but I think what everyone must keep in mind is that other than TNA management(and perhaps Styles), basically no one knows what TNA has planned for him. One year ago fans were calling for Samoa Joe to leave TNA due to lack of success he was seeing in 2011, yet as 2012 comes to a close, Joe accomplished becoming a TNA World Tag Team Champion, TNA Television Champion, and became the third Grand Slam Champion in TNA history. The key to success in the pro-wrestling business is patience, which has been proven many times in TNA as of late.
A smart company gives it's customers what they want, and TNA is doing exactly that by having the TNA World Heavyweight Championship on Jeff Hardy, their most popular talent. Although he successfully defended the title last night in his, "Ladder" match with Austin Aries, the match put over both wrestlers. Many times throughout the match, it appeared that Aries was going to win. In fact, even though Aries is no longer champion, he has been put in a very good position this year. TNA saw main event potential in Aries, and they gave him the opportunity to live up to it by putting the championship on him in July. Aries didn't let TNA down, and even though he dropped the title in October, he remains a part of the main event scene, and most likely will continue to do so as we go into 2013.
One big topic emerging from TNA Turning Point has been the turning point for AJ Styles. The most popular TNA original on the roster, he was pinned in a, "3-Way" match that carried the stipulation that the wrestler who was pinned would not be eligible for a TNA World Heavyweight Championship title shot until after Bound for Glory 2013. Many fans feel that this match has hurt Styles' immediate future in TNA, but I think what everyone must keep in mind is that other than TNA management(and perhaps Styles), basically no one knows what TNA has planned for him. One year ago fans were calling for Samoa Joe to leave TNA due to lack of success he was seeing in 2011, yet as 2012 comes to a close, Joe accomplished becoming a TNA World Tag Team Champion, TNA Television Champion, and became the third Grand Slam Champion in TNA history. The key to success in the pro-wrestling business is patience, which has been proven many times in TNA as of late.
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