TNA!! TNA!! TNA!! Those letters are shouted at every Total Nonstop Action Wrestling show as well as, I’m sure, some of the rowdier strip joints & Girls Gone Wild shoots. Unless you’re a closeted wrestling fan, I’m sure we’ve all had that discussion with any non-fan family members or friend about what exactly TNA is. To hear Mike Tenay pushing loudly “Come see TNA when it rolls through your town!” can get you labeled as a wrestling fan or a perv, depending on how educated the others in the room are of the product.
No doubt in the beginning, the TNA in the original company name of NWA: TNA was probably meant to grab your attention. Just like the Vince Russo-led group of S.E.X. which stood for Sports Entertainment Xtreme for those unfamiliar with early TNA history. The company had a 3-point plan to grab attention. Be more athletic, be more real, be more outragous. With a group called S.E.X., masturbating midgets, and cage dancers near the entrance, the letters TNA certainly fit.
Then TNA split from the NWA and I was actually hoping for a total name change. Now I don’t hate the TNA name, I just don’t think it makes much sense. Call me crazy but I like the word “wrestling” to be in a wrestling companys name. National Wrestling Alliance, World Wrestling Entertainment, World Championship Wrestling, Extreme Championship Wrestling, ect. I’m sure many of us are use to the TNA name by now, but it just doesn’t make sense anymore, and when you’re friends with WWE fanboys, it makes it that much harder to defend a company that stands for Total Nonstop Action yet has 10 minutes of in-ring action per 2-hour episode. And no doubt the company has/will have trouble with advertising and lining up sponsers.
TNA has been in a state of re-invention for most of 2010. They ditched their signature 6-sided ring, they slightly changed their logo, they brought in a new crop of stars, and they brought in new management in the form of Hulk Hogan & Eric Bischoff. Is a more marketable and sensible name change in the cards too? Some online dirtsheets have reported that Eric Bischoff was never too keen on the name, but he also loves the taboo and edgy. And TNA has been around for almost a decade, so it has name recognition. WWE didn’t suffer too much when their name changed, I think only their pride was hurt as fanboys laughed at Vince being beat by the Panda.
So what could some possible name changes be? I’m honestly drawing blanks. Although I’m admittedly a TNA mark, I think the company name is probably the last thing that needs a change. What’s in a name? Alot actually when advertising dollars come into play.
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Hey Dillon – thought-provoking column! I’ve thought about what a new name for TNA might be, too. I figure that Bischoff and Hogan would want something that “sticks” in the mind as easy as “TNA,” yet something that actually relates to wrestling.
I also get the impression that Bischoff is sold on the “nWo” as a sticky type of name and I wouldn’t put it past Bischoff or Hogan to choose a name very close to WWE or WCW. I wonder what the other readers think these guys might rename the promotion if they are given the chance. Doesn’t Hogan or Jimmy Hart own the XWF call letters?
Maybe an “Xtreme Wrestling Federation” might be in TNA’s future???