TNA seriously considering removing weekly PPV format in favor of more traditional monthly format
As reported in the TNA news summary section of the edition of Headlines and Scrutiny published earlier, TNA is seriously considering getting rid of the weekly PPV and squash TV format in favor of TV shows building up to supercards on a monthly basis, in a move supported by most TNA wrestlers and analysts.
Eddie T., who writes News & Analysis for TBL, says that the move is a good one, overall, but TNA will still face challenges. “They need a very strong TV product for this to work,” he said yesterday from Los Angeles. “The PPV is the ‘grand finale’ of the work that happens on the show… TNA can’t get by right now, but it’s the right direction for the company. They need to establish themselves as the ‘second major company’ out there, not an indy, but at the same time distance themselves from WWE as much as possible.”
The move is likely mainly precipitated by financial incentive as twice weekly tapings on Wednesday in Nashville and Thursday in Orlando costs an undisclosed, but tremendous amount of money per week. Like UFC, the company is running greatly in the red on a weekly basis, but is funded by the deep pockets of Panda Energy, who purchased majority interest in the promotion last December.
“It will mean absolutely nothing at all at first, and that’s a serious issue,” argued Eddie, but saying that it’s a necessary sacrifice. “This format they have right now is simply not working. With the right Internet coverage, and more free TV, they allow more viewers to get interested. The time slot of Impact now comes into play. I don’t think it will be that big of a problem in a world where VHS, DVR, and TiVo is a common name. A strong TV show = a strong PPV. That’s the formula for success.”
The company has also considered running a limited set of house shows but due to the initial capital involved, it’s unlikely that they will make such a move at this stage.
“They’ve been give a golden opportunity. Now they need to prove if they’re a serious company or not…. Smart booking and a bit of luck will help them.”
There will be more on this story this weekend.
ROH in Philadelphia (8/7)
The Ring of Honor promotion returned to a consistent market in Philadelphia this past weekend, drawing between 450 and 500. Previous shows in Philadelphia, May 22 and June 24, did 400 and 300 respectively. The show was highlighted by an extensively wild brawl and an almost 75-minute match between Austin Aries and Christopher Daniels. Again, most who went thought the show was good. Christopher Daniels of TNA, who was doing a shoot interview for the new ROH video retailer, and Joel Gertner of ECW were both at the show.
1. John Walters over Nigel McGuiness in 8:02 for the #1 contendership to the Pure title. Apparently the lights went out briefly during the match, but it was still good. It was pegged as **1/2, with a lot of mat and chain wrestling. McGuiness attempted to apply a submission but was rolled up into a small package by Walters to obtain the pin.
2. Roderick Strong over Izzy (Special K) in 6:31. Said to be a strong match at *** with a lot of sports. Eventually, after a sequence of spots, Strong took control of Izzy with stiff punches. Strong won by pin after a cross-arm spinal shock. Special K attacked Strong after the win.
Allison Danger, still selling the bump she took from Homicide, did a promo about Maff and Whitmer turning on her. The Carnage Crew came out and called her a bitch. Whatever happened to filthy, dirty, disgusting, brutal, bottom-feeding, trashbag ho?
3. Carnage Crew over Dan Maff and B.J. Whitmer in 9:17. This was said to be solid enough. They worked a brawling style. The finish was Maff attempting to do a move from the top rope before Allison Danger interfered. Carnage Crew did a spike piledriver to get the pin.
4. Alex Shelley over Jay Lethal, Ace Steel, and Too Cold Scorpio in 18:09 of a four-way match. Alex Shelley is starting to get over with his push, but I don’t know if ROH fans respect what role the heel is actually supposed to play. Scorpio received a big pop. Shelley cut a promo and made fun of the old Flash Funk character Scorpio played how many years ago? The promo was said to be good, which should start comparisons between how ROH is pushing Shelley and how TNA is pushing him. He offered Jay Lethal a spot in Generation Next, which he did not accept, and so the match began. They made sure that Scorpio did his spots. Shelley ended up giving Lethal his Wave of the Future to win. This was said to be another solid match at ***. Shelley did a promo talking about beating Lethal “in front of his parents,” who were actually in the crowd. He also called out Mick Foley, who if you forgot, is coming in on 9/11. Scorpio did a routine to entertain the crowd and danced with Lethal.
Gary Michael Cappetta, the announcer who wrote Bodyslams: Memoirs of a Wrestling Pitchman and works in a mysterious capacity here, announced that ROH would be bringing back all of Midnight Express with Jim Cornette at the 10/2 show.
5. Jay and Mark Briscoe over Homicide and Low Ki in 12:44. The really good heels in this company get cheered, and it was half-and-half here with Low-Ki. Another good match, said to be ***1/2, but all of these matches were cut short due to the lengthy of the main event. Some of the most well rounded wrestling of the night. Low-Ki actually did the job, when Jay Briscoe rolled him up. After the match, Ring of Honor did what it did best, and that’s take an unrealistic environment and transform people into almost another world captivating their attention with a huge brawl. Low-Ki, after losing, stiffly kicked Jay Briscoe in the head and he and Homicide beat up the Briscoes before the faces ran out. Everyone basically came out and fought forever. Low-Ki ended up throwing a chair for no reason which hit referee Paul Turner, who was knocked out cold legitimately. The fight ended up going into the parking lot with a huge brawl. So they went to intermission at that point.
6. Rockin Rebel over Cloudy (Special K) in 1:41. Short and not great.
7. The Havana Pitbulls (Rocky Romero and Ricky Reyes) over C.M. Punk and Colt Cabana in 19:09 to win the ROH Tag Team Championship. In honor of Rick James, who died Friday, Cabana came out dancing to “Superfreak.” Stiff match said to be very good. Romero went for a small package on Cabana but it was blocked by Punk. Reyes responded by giving him a hard clothesline allowing Romero to get the pin and a title change.
8. Samoa Joe over Trent Acid in 8:04 to retain the ROH World Heavyweight Championship. The main build that ROH gave Acid before this match was that Joe was injured so that may increase his chances, so the result predictable. Acid slapped Joe and Joe kicked him in the midsection. Said to be **3/4. The big story of the match was Trent Acid spraining his ankle and bruising his heel bone and he was in a ton of pain after the match. He was taken to the hospital and will be out until September, according to ROHWrestling.com.
9. Austin Aries over “The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson in a two out of three falls match with a 60:00 limit per fall, in 74:12 and three falls. The ring announcer, before the match, said that wrestlers wouldn’t be offended if you got up and wondered around during the match because of the length. Aries won the first fall with a move Danielson does called cattle mutilation in 42:12. Mostly mat wrestling, submissions, and pacing for the first 20 minutes, similar to the style WWE has switched to with chinlocks, armbars, and headlocks for psychology’s sake, but well paced enough to save it as a contest people would actually want to watch. Aries did a crucifix takedown and Rings of Saturn, followed by the cattle mutilation to win by submission. They did have a rest period of 30 seconds between the falls. Danielson took the second fall in 20:29 with the cattle mutilation followed by a pinfall. The story was Danielson working on the leg of Aries after some back and forth. With Aries on the outside, Danielson attempted a tope but got caught on the ropes and sold it for quite a bit of time. Aries manages a few near falls. Danielson works on the arm and applies the cattle mutilation and then pinning him. Aries took the third fall to win with a 450 splash and several brainbusters in 11:54. He sold his leg and arm going in. They worked hard for the final ten minutes and it was competitive. Aries did a brainbuster from the top rope followed by two rolling brainbusters and a top-rope 450 followed by the pin. Both got standing ovations followed by individual ovations. Said to be ****.
– Feedback in regards to the above article may be emailed to THunnicutt@aol.com. With the amount of time each author puts into an article, your responses are appreciated.
