Welcome to the buy one, get one free edition of Headlines of Scrutiny. One per customer. Let’s get to the news of the week in NWA: TNA.
I still haven’t heard confirmation of Hogan’s signing but I do believe it has been completed. With Beyond the Glory in only a few weeks, TNA doesn’t have much time to build up to a successful PPV, and since they are trying to do so only with XPlosion and the weekly PPV, they have another thing working against them.
The important thing not to lose sight of here is that, while this is supposed to be a huge PPV extravaganza, the only reason for this PPV is Hogan, and the only reason for Hogan (who won’t directly be worth what he’s being paid, but may be indirectly over the long run) is to create a better package to potential national cable networks, who are, at this point, not very interested in wrestling programming.
So, Hogan or no Hogan, who is going to pay ten bucks a week to see the build up to a larger PPV. In the past, I have done columns on the receptiveness of people to buying B-shows, and historically, the bottom line is, they are not, even if they are priced accordingly. But purchasing build to a PPV is akin to buying RAW for 4 weeks, and then paying for the RAW brand show. The programming would have to be tremendous, and the best time to get people hooked would have been during the one-cent show and in the weeks after, but the shows that followed were lackluster.
Now the two biggest questions in the coming weeks will be, will the people already watching be willing to commit each week to TNA and then to a $30 PPV ($70 for one month). Even being committed to this site, and on-and-off a fan of this promotion, I’m wary of having my cable bill be that high in addition to buying WWE and whatever else comes up. The second question is new viewers. WWE gets approximately 6 to 7% retention from TV broadcasts to PPVs. Let’s say TNA gets 50% just because of the nature of they’re pay product, and that’s a generous estimate, at most that’s 5000 buys, and with a larger arena and new talent and whatever other investments TNA is making for Bound for Glory, they won’t come close to breaking even. After splitting about 50/50 with PPV providers, TNA ends up making a humongous large term investment, courtesy Panda pocketbooks. So what about new viewers? How do you hook new viewers when they have to pay to see the build? Mainstream advertising is the first way, but that doesn’t come close to answering the business problems that this PPV causes.
Hogan returns to the limelight after splitting with WWE for the umpteenth time over a financial and creative dispute. Several people within TNA arguing the pro side of this issue say that Hogan could do for TNA what he did for WCW. About 7 years ago, Bischoff cut one of the most risky business deals ever at the time with Hogan, a has-been wrestler at this point of time. Hogan was cut a larger version of what TNA is giving him now, a significant percentage of PPV revenue (Bischoff agreed to 25%), in addition to a large contract, and creative control. Hogan’s incorporation helped increase all streams of revenue greatly, helped give WCW a new mainstream appeal (instead of the old southern rasslers appearance), and a legitimate competitor to the WWF. Unchecked, this would eventually help kill the company. The only main difference between WCW and TNA is the era, the people involved, and that WCW was a subsidiary to Turner, inherently entertainment-oriented, while TNA is a subsidiary of Panda Energy, doing a long-term side entertainment project. The comparisons, when you think about them, are uncanny. But let’s also not forget about that main difference: this era. WCW had TV. TNA doesn’t. Networks don’t need programming and wrestling is passe.
Another issue is the core fanbase of TNA, those who watch almost weekly on TV or go live to the shows, and whether they feel insulted by what may appear to be selling them out. Leaving the original arena, and perhaps city, to go do a big PPV with Hogan. Groups of TNA fans in the past have been known for being outspoken, and they may or may not, as what could be called “smarks” (rude term for fan who thinks or does know the inner working of the business), be “marks” for Hogan.
The TNA PPV on 11/30 will mark the first wrestling PPV to be marked at a price within 5 dollars of WWE, who despite being in a down cycle, is the major wrestling product on Pay Per View by far. Boxing still has it’s big fights and Mixed Martial Arts, after taking a big hit a few years ago, through veteran UFC and Japanese promotion Pride, are bouncing back, this time with legitimacy and a high price tag. Video on Demand is just around the corner and WWE, with the largest wrestling tape library in the world, has that ready to be capitalized upon. Whether this PPV will help TNA become a major player in the industry is not known, but it should add some more depth, if not an abysmal failure, to the image of this extremely small esoteric southern promotion that runs weekly on PPV.
Another sacrifice that may come with Hogan, although not officially at this point, is the end of Vince Russo as head booker which has also already happened unofficially. Dutch Mantel has already usurped, I believe completely, the role of writing the first draft (with others), which is then edited by Jeff Jarrett (with others). Russo has been with the company since he left WWE.
But here’s the bottom line. If TNA is going to succeed, it can’t both compete with WWE, calling itself a national promotion and be a niche wrestling product for afficionados.
News: An angle to set up the Hogan/Jarrett match on 11/30 began on the Sunday before last in Japan. At a post-match press conference in Japan, where he had just defeated Masahiro Chono, Hogan said that he had unaccomplished things in America including getting the NWA Championship. Jarrett came in, challenged him, and attacked him. Hogan juiced. I guess that means he signed…
Last weekend, TNA held it’s 55th annual board meeting at a Holiday Inn 30 miles outside of Dallas. The promotion, who’s lineage stretches back to Jesus Christ at approximately 0 AD, announced that their new board president is Bill Behrens, promoter of Wildside. One of the main goals of the board this year is, of course, the TNA product, since that is their biggest investment at this point. NWA sold the NWA Heavyweight championship to TNA last year and it’s the biggest thing they have going on since it’s aired nationally on PPV on a weekly basis. The other segments are small regional promotions. NWA this year also faces some strong competition on the indy level and TNA is becoming more bullish when it comes to WWE. In the press release touting this, Ernie Todd, co-vice president and title co-ordinator, is excited about “helping the NWA build a strong, worldwide brand name and in the long term success of the TNA relationship.” The release says that Ed Chuman, director of merchandising and “TNA Point Person” (now a position), well his “extensive experience with the production and merchandising aspects of live music concerts will serve him well during the coming year as the NWA and TNA take giant leaps forward in the branding and merchandising of (their) names and live events.” And I also learned something new today because, supposedly, the NWA is “The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), the oldest and largest sanctioning body in professional wrestling with members in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Japan, defines a collection of wrestling promoters and promotions whose collective goal is to entertain and provide an alternative for today’s professional wrestling fan through cooperation among its members and history rich in tradition.” We all can pretend… Roddy Piper guest starred on the struggling Mullets program last week. WWE refused to allow ads for the show to be aired on their program because of Piper, despite the show having wrestling themes… NWA Florida also put out a press release this week touting the appearance of “Mr. 630” Jerelle Clark and Danny Doring, the latter who appeared on TNA August 6 of this year when he lost in a four-corner #1 contender match for the X-Division title… This week, the Best of NWA:TNA title matches DVD comes out. These are the things on the DVD, from TNA: Gauntlet for the Gold 6/19/02; Ron “The Truth” Killings vs Jeff Jarrett 11/20/02; Jeff Jarrett vs AJ Styles 2/19/03; Jeff Jarrett vs Raven 4/30/03; Jeff Jarrett vs AJ Styles 6/11/03; AJ Styles vs D-LO Brown 7/23/03; New Church vs America’s Most Wanted 1/8/03; America’s Most Wanted vs Triple X 1/22/03; Triple X vs Jerry Lynn & Amazing Red 4/16/03; Triple X vs AJ Styles & D-LO Brown 5/14/03; Triple X vs America’s Most Wanted (Steel Cage Match) 6/25/03; Bonus Footage: three-part Sting interview and comments from AJ Styles, Jeff Jarrett, and America’s Most Wanted. Before the end of the year, the bloodiest and the best of the X-Division come out… TNA posted their condolences on the passing of Stu Hart this week: “TNA joins the rest of the wrestling world in mourning the passing of the legendary Stu Hart. We send our condolences to the entire Hart family. Our thoughts and prayers are with them.”..
Borash and a few others are saying that the TNA sales for the new DVDs that they put out are going well… Bound for Glory airs in multiple countries… Tiger Mask is coming in for Bound for Glory. They are trying to get a lot of people but we aren’t hearing anything because nothing is set in stone. As of last Tuesday, Hogan hadn’t even signed with the company yet… TNA is planning a fan convention on the Saturday before Bound for Glory. The idea is that it will be a kind of WWE Fan Axxess thing. Is it just me, or is TNA doing a lot at once?
Matchmaker: Trevor Hunnicutt
trevor@thebalrogslair.com
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