Is TNA the worst wrestling promotion in history?

[The Thread Killer]

You know, I would have thought she was implying Vince Russo, and Lord knows that would have made sense if she had been...but sadly she has given interviews - even recently - where she sings Russo's praises, defends him, and even goes so far as to say she won't rule out working with him again. So I don't think that is who she was talking about. I think she might have actually clued into the fact that Hogan and Bischoff came in promising her the world, took her for a ton of money, and contributed only two things to TNA...jack and shit.

[tim]

Decided to watch that main event of Impact tonight and holy shit it was amazing. I wouldn't argue with someone who called it the US MOTY.

[hammerva]

Whoa whoa whoa calm down people. I really liked that match as well and loved the post match stuff but to say it was better than Cena vs Brock vs Rollins is just a major overreaction. The interference in the match was terrible as expected from guys like Tyrus and Kennedy involved and I just couldn't get over the fact that it sounded like Josh Matthews and Taz weren't even in the same country much less room watching this match together.

 

They really did push the envelope on this show with the blood and the Magnus/Bram angle. I didn't really work when they tried in New York City but anything is worth the effort.

[goc]

God damn it, now I'm gonna have to watch TNA just so I can weigh in on whether or not it's better than the Royal Rumble Triple Threat. Personally, if THAT'S the high mark of the year so far I don't think it's impossible that ECIII vs. Spud is better because a large portion of that triple threat is just Cena & Rollins doing a million false finishes that you don't buy at all because you're still waiting for Brock to get back in it.

[Tim Evans]

I wouldn't say it was better than the Brock match but the match was really good. Even Anderson and shitty commentary couldn't ruin it. Spud is amazing. He's in that Sami Zayn catagory of sympathetic wrestlers. It also pains me to say but TNA has been better than WWE lately.

[Dylan Waco]

The opener with Roode and EY was really good too, though not on the level of Spud v. ECIII which was a tremendous match worked with Spud basically doing a Lawler tribute act. That whole feud has really delivered and from that perspective I can absolutely see an argument for it over the Triple Threat. But it's not the U.S. MOTY because it took place in the UK (which added to the match because the crowd was really into Spud).

[artDDP]

Looks like I finally have some (non-NJPW) wrestling to look forward to on my DVR.

[Stiva]

I'll co-sign the love for Spud/EC3 and thought Spud was blowaway great. The selling, the timing, the desperate kicks looked great and I thought both men came out of it way better than before. It feels like Spud has got to be given a decent push off the back of this because, from what I've seen of this feud, he's been excellent at just about everything for a short while now.

[Dylan Waco]

Agree on that. Spud literally looked like one of the top wrestlers in the world in that match. I watched the match on replay and it absolutely holds up. It's especially good if you watch it with the pre and post match, and if you've been following the feud, but even as a stand alone it's great. Totally unique by modern standards as well.

[goc]

Young/Roode was pretty good but Eric Young had some very goofy selling after he was piledriven on a chair that I really didn't like.

 

I almost want to see Kurt Angle vs. Bobby Lashley for next week but I don't know why. I also know I really DO want to see Low Ki vs. Galloway. Just because of how pissed Low Ki looks in all their interactions after he got cut with that pipe. Skipped through most of that segment with him and the BDC club though. Skipped the Magnus/Bram match but I kind of dug the "kiss my boot" angle.

 

Dug all the promos and hype videos for Spud/ECIII. Thought the match lived up to the hype actually. Incredible performance by Spud, I'd put it ahead of any of the 3 guys in the Rumble triple threat. ECIII has a good look and is very good at the character stuff but he doesn't really impress me in the ring. I dug him in the post match stuff though.

 

EDIT: I forgot to mention Robbie E. I might have to check out some BroMans stuff to see if they are usually that entertaining.

[shoe]

The main event was pretty damn good. I see Dylan's Lawler comparison and raise him a Ricky Morton. It had A Ricky Morton vs. Nikita feel. This was a throwback match based on story telling. Even the run ins had kind of a Memphis feel to it. It had a nice punch base beginning . The blood came and it was about Spud's selling. He really carried it. EC3 has a good look, but his offense is pretty pedestrian, but the way Spud sold made the match. 4 1/4*

[The Thread Killer]

So it has been officially confirmed by Spike themselves that Ring Of Honor is in (very) preliminary talks with Spike TV.

 

I find this interesting, but not because I care if ROH ends up on Spike.

 

What I find interesting is that Spike are having talks with ANY pro wrestling company at ANY level. It shows that they are at least willing to consider the idea of being in the pro wrestling business again. TNA can no longer claim the reason they left Spike is only because Spike had NO interest in being in the wrestling business. The fact they are talking and admitted it proves that Spike are willing to at least talk to a pro wrestling compnay about doing business - as long as it's not TNA, who they were more than happy to get rid of, despite of the fact that TNA was bringing them high ratings (relatively speaking, for Spike TV.)

 

Does this lend any credence to the theory that one of the main reasons Spike dumped TNA is because of their reluctance to get rid of Russo, and then lying about the fact they did?

[goodhelmet]

Where there is smoke, there is fire.

[shoe]

To me ROH is a way better fit for Spike than TNA ever was. The way ROH presents its wrestling is a way better fit for a network that is a big proponent of MMA.

[Indikator]

Even some German media site wrote how Spike wants to to change their image (can't remember if they mentioned the "lose wrestling for women" aspect) so this wouldn't make too much sense. But tv doesn't have to make sense. Also I guess RoH ownership and their track record would pretty much guarantee Spike that they'd not be utterly stupid like TNA and Dixie. So there is hope.

[concrete1992]

Can't wait until Cheick Kongo is in Cedric Alexander's corner and Ken Shamrock is in Kyle O'Reilly's corner for the ROH championship. BIG FIGHT FEEL!

[ButchReedMark]

PURE SPORTS BUILD!!!

[The Thread Killer]

 

From 411 today:

 

The Wrestling Observer has more details on TNA’s recent issues with pay. There is said to be a lot of issues behind-the-scenes, as morale hit a new low due to many wrestlers and employees being behind on payment.

 

TNA’s top stars have contracts which state that they are paid a salary on the first of every month. The other talent work on per-show deals. Several of the biggest names were behind on pay, which is said to be growing into a major issue. Some of the wrestlers were over 30 days behind while others haven’t been paid for longer.

 

When Matt Hardy tweeted photos showing that he received five checks from TNA at once, it’s believed that it showed he was one of the performers who were owed quite a bit of money. Even if his intent may have been to show that TNA workers are being paid, it shows that he was behind on getting his money.

 

Taz announced that he left TNA and thanked them for his time there. He was reportedly “way behind” on pay and refused to fly to Nashville to do post-production commentary due to his issues with the company.

 

TNA recently moved the payroll office from Nashville to Panda Energy’s home city of Dallas. Some people have used this as an excuse for the payment situation. However, TNA has actually been sending checks out of Dallas for a while now.

 

Meanwhile, word is that “the honeymoon is pretty much over” in regards to TNA’s relationship with Destination America. Discovery signed TNA as “an experiment”, hoping to add to DA’s lineup. TNA is easily the highest-rated show for Destination America, but Discovery isn’t happy that TNA can’t generate ad revenue. They were also expecting a larger amount of TNA’s audience from Spike TV to follow it during the movie. Destination America is available in 61.7% of the homes that Spike TV is in, but the new episodes of Impact are only getting 30.2% of the audience that Impact had last year. Even with the replay, it’s still bringing in less than half the viewers it had on Spike TV at this time last year.

 

It must have been pretty bad for Taz to walk away, since he just re-signed with TNA last year, no?

 

I am also surprised they are getting that far behind on pay, since the talent aren't working half as much as they used to.

[goc]

I think everyone seriously underestimated just how much Spike TV's money was propping them up.

[Cox]

History has shown that once a company starts falling behind on pay, the end is usually in sight. For all of TNA's faults, their checks usually cleared and were sent on time. Now with that no longer happening, I have to think this might finally really be the end.

[goc]

That's not actually true, I remember there being stories about TNA being behind on pay in the past with the big caveat "it includes EVERYONE and yes that means Hogan" I believe this is after they bled all that money trying to recreate the Monday Night Wars and run live against Raw.

[The Chief]

If TNA comes out of this, then I'm dead serious, they will outlast WWE. When the world ends nothing will be left except the cock roaches and TNA. It's crazy how many near death experiences this company has had.

[cm funk]

Even with all the budget cuts and scaled back roster and paying a lot of talent peanuts, younger guys who are ok making no money because it's an opportunity, it's a platform, it's exposure.......is anyone surprised that TNA is still bleeding money and can't pay their talent?

 

there were stories during that lame duck period between the Spike contract running out and them trying to find a new TV deal that half the roster was way behind on pay, and the production people and behind the scenes workers weren't getting paid either. Dixie had to have a 'rally the troops' meeting to try and convince people that things would get better soon

 

It really is amazing that TNA is still around. They've been bleeding money for years, and even at their best they broke even. If it wasn't for Panda and Spike pumping money into the company they'd already be dead. It's just not a profitable operation. Their PPV business is completely dead, merch and DVDs have been a loser for years, house show business is dead, and even running in NYC or over in the UK where they get some decent crowds, they end up losing money on the deal. They don't generate ad revenue. Think about all the bullshit sponsor deals they had over the years? What was Destination America expecting? It's a bullshit cable channel that nobody watches. TNA is their highest rated show but they're already looking to dump them. Says it all

[The Thread Killer]

There was another article today on 411 saying that they are still really behind on paying their production staff, and that when the staff call to find out the status of their pay, they get the runaround with a bunch of BS excuses.

 

This is pretty pathetic. I find it sad that they can't pay their employees but still expect them to show up for work. Who can blame Taz for not going to Nashville to do his voiceovers and quitting instead. Looks like Joe knew what he was doing when he jumped ship, it sounds like working for TNA is not really a realistic option for anybody - not if you actually want to get paid for your work.

 

I know people have been predicting the death of this company since almost Day 1, but after all this time there might actually be smoke to that fire. When you have a loser of a TV contract, your ratings are crap, you can't sell PPV's or DVD's, one of your biggest stars (Joe) walks away, your color commentator quits because he isn't getting paid, your production staff aren't being paid and bitch about it to the dirt sheets, and there is really nothing bright on the horizon that might turn this around - maybe TNA really is good and screwed and it is time to pull the plug on this mess.

 

I was never one of those people who wanted TNA to fail. I was hoping they would succeed. Hell, I am one of the only fans I know who actually paid for pretty much all of their weekly PPV's back in the day. But it seems like since Dixie Carter got involved, it has been one stupid decision after another. I hate to see TNA go under because I like to see wrestlers who can't get a chance in WWE work somewhere else, but I don't think Dixie Carter has the ability to run a successful wrestling company - there is too much evidence to the contrary.

[Bix]

There was another article today on 411 saying

 

It's 2015, why are you reading a site that buries the credit for the source of a news item at the very end where most people will miss it while going out of its way not to mention the source in the text?