How would you save TNA?

[CATCH_US IS the Conversation]

1. I'd strip the company down barebones. I'd cut my production costs down in order to operate with a minimalist set and cheaper (but still professional quality) camera and lighting. I'd hold shows in smaller venues like armories and the oft mocked high school gyms.
2. I'd change the event schedule. I'd still tour, but only within a small region, like the Southeast. I'd get rid of the block TV tapings and instead tape one episode of Impact each week. Additionally there will be only one house show each week (the day before the Impact taping), with the wrestlers being free to go home, or wrestle indy dates (including those with TV and iPPV) for the rest of the week.
3. No more pandering to WWE/WCW legends. They're the ones who want to stay relevant, so they play by my rules if they want to be here, and will be paid as much as I want to pay them and featured in the way I want them to be featured.

I'd stop trying to compete with WWE and just focus on being the best TNA/Impact Wrestling we can be.

[Bram wants to 'urt you]

I'd have them do THIS - sports.vice.com/article/the-true-story-behind-the-craziest-pro-wrestling-stunt-ever

Using the downtime to secure a new regular venue, negotiate a TV deal and completely repackage the product - new announce team, vacate all the titles, a complete and absolute reboot, with the relaunch show being a literal "Day One" for the company, acknowledging its prior history, including champions/championship reigns but starting afresh.

[Rave]

Oct 3, 2014 4:50:40 GMT -5 Bram wants to 'urt you said:

I'd have them do THIS - sports.vice.com/article/the-true-story-behind-the-craziest-pro-wrestling-stunt-ever

Using the downtime to secure a new regular venue, negotiate a TV deal and completely repackage the product - new announce team, vacate all the titles, a complete and absolute reboot, with the relaunch show being a literal "Day One" for the company, acknowledging its prior history, including champions/championship reigns but starting afresh.

Serious questions, though: could they pull that off, and would anyone care if they tried?

As for my gameplan...

1. Rebrand and reboot. The TNA brand is damaged beyond repair in pretty much all aspects. Make it Impact Wrestling, or some other name. Vacate all the titles and start over.
2. Conduct a mass firing and get the dead weight out of the company. The front office staff are obviously incompetent, and I can think of several onscreen talent off the top of my head who need to go.
3. Give Scott D'Amore a call and beg him to book. TNA's golden age was with him at the helm.
4. Go over to the Gut Check website. Look through the Gut Check website and re-evaluate passed over talent, this time with someone who can actually discern talent. See who's available, then cherry pick. Only hire a few people, don't go overboard.
5. Smaller venues. Booking corners of larger venues, especially with all the empty seats in the background, makes the company look bush league. Build up to the larger venues.
6. Find the region in the US that Impact plays best in, and focus efforts on there. Consolidate a fanbase before branching out.
7. Partner with a network in the US that's willing to work with everyone. Genuine crosspromotion with other shows on said network, not just TNA promoting something without any return promotion from that something. If it happens to be Spike TV again, Bellator would need to promote TNA with video packages and pretaped interviews in return for TNA doing the same for Bellator, and either brand would provide guest commentators for the other. If a straight plug needs to happen, it would not happen during a match, as that devalues what's happening and disrespects the talent. And for the love of little kittens, no storylines for either's guests, it just doesn't work.
8. Until that US TV deal is secure, stop pursuing TV deals in other countries. Who cares if TNA's airing in Malaysia and Singapore? TNA is not based in either country and those deals aren't gonna do a damn thing if they can't get Impact on in the US.
9. Stop competing, start mutual backscratching. Foster deals and alliances with indie promotions. Allow contracted talent to book their own indie dates with no restrictions on TV/DVD/iPPV, as long as those dates don't conflict with their TNA commitments (and, obviously, they're not WWE dates). Book talent from other promotions to come in and compete in showcase matches (DO NOT SQUASH THEM) and promote their home promotions. With time, TNA could be the biggest platform for fans to see and learn about the indie stars of the present and future, which will up the fanbase of every promotion involved, and therefore up the quality of professional wrestling as a whole.
10. The golden rule: Anyone who wants to be/stay employed would need to play by my rules, and be prepared to work to keep their spots. This means no more creative control clauses or overblown contracts to do very little. If people just want to pad their pensions or be "rock stars" coasting on past popularity, they can do so elsewhere, and I'll find people to replace them. Hard work would be rewarded with pay raises and increased importance on the card, with the inverse happening to aforementioned pension padders, rock star coasters, and those who phone it in on a regular basis. Basically: they work with me, I'm a benevolent dictator with their best interests in mind. They refuse to play ball, I make their professional lives a living hell for as long as they're employed with TNA, unless they change their tunes.

[Viking Hall]

My thinking would be that the casual fans have long since gone, if they want Sports Entertainment they can get that on however many different broadcasts the WWE produce every week. That means that there's realistically only hardcore Pro-Wrestling fans left and what do hardcore Pro-Wrestling fans want? That's right, Pro-Wrestling. So, with that in mind, I would make the main focus the actual wrestling. Storylines would be replaced with competitive rivalries and win/loss records would start to mean something. Title Defences would become a big deal and happen perhaps only three or four times a year once a challenger has genuinely proved their worth throughout the year. Title holders would compete in non-title matches, but would obviously be booked to rarely, if ever lose to add to their reputation as a champion and also to make it a bigger deal when the title changes hands. Gimmick matches would be gone and if possible I would perhaps think about adhering to weight classes similar to how they do in Japan.

Roster-wise it's simple, anyone that can't go in the ring is cut and told they can work elsewhere, anyone that can work a good match can stay. Comical and faddy gimmicks would be trashed in favour of more serious and mature ones. That's not to say that everyone would have to be all intense and moody, but simply more realistic and believable as a wrestler. In terms of signings I would avoid anyone that has worked for TNA before or that is recognised as a WWE worker. This means plenty of fresh younger talent who are raring to go in the ring. I would also try not to stick to one style of wrestler to bring about a lot of hybrid matches and perhaps present it similarly to how early UFC matches were with their styles announced in the build up.

Whether it would work or not I don't know. But it's certainly more unique than trying to compete or be similar to the WWE. It would cater for the hardcore fans a lot better and may start to bring in a lot of former wrestling fans that ended up watching MMA when the soap style storylines of WWE began to drive them away. Present something as serious and competitive and you're going to cater for a much bigger audience than presenting yourself as a soap opera with some fighting as an added bonus.

[ededdneddy]

Sept 25, 2014 16:03:51 GMT -5 OVO 40 hunched over like he 80 said:

Ok, let me start by saying, that TNA can't be saved

Well, no point in even trying

[Deleted]

On a Logic3 PS1 memory card.

[Deleted]

An injection of cash from a very wealthy wrestling fan.

Beyond that I'd just get some young dudes on the scene to book the show. People outside of the normal names thrown around. Just put feelers out to guys who show aptitude for booking and have them pitch rough outlines of a quarter's worth of programming. Nothing detailed, just general, non-specific ideas to carry the company through 3 months and then pick the best two or three to write the show.

Then just have matches and a few in-ring promos from the guys who can actually deliver on that front. Guys who can get over and make for good youtube clip type moments.

Production wise, the focus should be on making the in-ring presentation feel fun and authentic to a live experience. All the "backstage" stuff should be pre-taped background vignettes/sit-down interviews that allow for proper editing. None of the peekaboo cam or floating camera stuff.

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

I think I would also focus on WGN or Velocity top markets, like where are the cities that have the most viewers and focus my shows there. I would also use focus groups to see what works.

[Gerard Gerard]

They're now in the position they always should have been in order to grow organically. Sadly it's just come at a time where it's difficult to plan towards anything beyond the middle-term. Their current iMpact run has been some of the wrestling highlights of the last year, aside from a lot of the Dixie business, but the product is showing some wheeziness from not having anything clear to build towards.

Won't even pretend I know anything about how business is done, but they've had the iMpact Wrestling name established long enough that they can finally jettison the one thing that should have never been, and that is their very name: TNA. Hell, even go for iMpact Wrestling Company and trademark the initials 'IWC' so they simultaneously troll us smarktons and ironically win our respect by the sheer cleverness of it all. Yeah....probably not.

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

Oct 3, 2014 12:06:45 GMT -5 Gerard Gerard said:

They're now in the position they always should have been in order to grow organically. Sadly it's just come at a time where it's difficult to plan towards anything beyond the middle-term. Their current iMpact run has been some of the wrestling highlights of the last year, aside from a lot of the Dixie business, but the product is showing some wheeziness from not having anything clear to build towards.

Won't even pretend I know anything about how business is done, but they've had the iMpact Wrestling name established long enough that they can finally jettison the one thing that should have never been, and that is their very name: TNA. Hell, even go for iMpact Wrestling Company and trademark the initials 'IWC' so they simultaneously troll us smarktons and ironically win our respect by the sheer cleverness of it all. Yeah....probably not.

The IWC initials are brilliant, yeah they should cater to the Smart demographic before they can go to the casuals. Like the Fallen Angel said, TNA doesn't have casual fans, just the internet dudes.

[CATCH_US IS the Conversation]

Oct 3, 2014 10:25:07 GMT -5 Viking Hall said:

My thinking would be that the casual fans have long since gone, if they want Sports Entertainment they can get that on however many different broadcasts the WWE produce every week. That means that there's realistically only hardcore Pro-Wrestling fans left and what do hardcore Pro-Wrestling fans want? That's right, Pro-Wrestling. So, with that in mind, I would make the main focus the actual wrestling. Storylines would be replaced with competitive rivalries and win/loss records would start to mean something. Title Defences would become a big deal and happen perhaps only three or four times a year once a challenger has genuinely proved their worth throughout the year. Title holders would compete in non-title matches, but would obviously be booked to rarely, if ever lose to add to their reputation as a champion and also to make it a bigger deal when the title changes hands. Gimmick matches would be gone and if possible I would perhaps think about adhering to weight classes similar to how they do in Japan.

Roster-wise it's simple, anyone that can't go in the ring is cut and told they can work elsewhere, anyone that can work a good match can stay. Comical and faddy gimmicks would be trashed in favour of more serious and mature ones. That's not to say that everyone would have to be all intense and moody, but simply more realistic and believable as a wrestler. In terms of signings I would avoid anyone that has worked for TNA before or that is recognised as a WWE worker. This means plenty of fresh younger talent who are raring to go in the ring. I would also try not to stick to one style of wrestler to bring about a lot of hybrid matches and perhaps present it similarly to how early UFC matches were with their styles announced in the build up.

Whether it would work or not I don't know. But it's certainly more unique than trying to compete or be similar to the WWE. It would cater for the hardcore fans a lot better and may start to bring in a lot of former wrestling fans that ended up watching MMA when the soap style storylines of WWE began to drive them away. Present something as serious and competitive and you're going to cater for a much bigger audience than presenting yourself as a soap opera with some fighting as an added bonus.

I like this idea, but I don't think I would completely disregard former WWE and TNA talents. WWE has their tendency to not use a talent to their full potential, and I don't think it would be right to punish those guys by essentially blackballing them from competing in front of a respectably sized audience (and in a promotion that people are actually aware of) again. A rebranded TNA (especially a more wrestling oriented model) is essentially a lifeline for these guys to prove that they're actually "good wrestlers".

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

Oct 3, 2014 14:32:42 GMT -5 CATCH_US IS the Conversation said:

Oct 3, 2014 10:25:07 GMT -5 Viking Hall said:

My thinking would be that the casual fans have long since gone, if they want Sports Entertainment they can get that on however many different broadcasts the WWE produce every week. That means that there's realistically only hardcore Pro-Wrestling fans left and what do hardcore Pro-Wrestling fans want? That's right, Pro-Wrestling. So, with that in mind, I would make the main focus the actual wrestling. Storylines would be replaced with competitive rivalries and win/loss records would start to mean something. Title Defences would become a big deal and happen perhaps only three or four times a year once a challenger has genuinely proved their worth throughout the year. Title holders would compete in non-title matches, but would obviously be booked to rarely, if ever lose to add to their reputation as a champion and also to make it a bigger deal when the title changes hands. Gimmick matches would be gone and if possible I would perhaps think about adhering to weight classes similar to how they do in Japan.

Roster-wise it's simple, anyone that can't go in the ring is cut and told they can work elsewhere, anyone that can work a good match can stay. Comical and faddy gimmicks would be trashed in favour of more serious and mature ones. That's not to say that everyone would have to be all intense and moody, but simply more realistic and believable as a wrestler. In terms of signings I would avoid anyone that has worked for TNA before or that is recognised as a WWE worker. This means plenty of fresh younger talent who are raring to go in the ring. I would also try not to stick to one style of wrestler to bring about a lot of hybrid matches and perhaps present it similarly to how early UFC matches were with their styles announced in the build up.

Whether it would work or not I don't know. But it's certainly more unique than trying to compete or be similar to the WWE. It would cater for the hardcore fans a lot better and may start to bring in a lot of former wrestling fans that ended up watching MMA when the soap style storylines of WWE began to drive them away. Present something as serious and competitive and you're going to cater for a much bigger audience than presenting yourself as a soap opera with some fighting as an added bonus.

I like this idea, but I don't think I would completely disregard former WWE and TNA talents. WWE has their tendency to not use a talent to their full potential, and I don't think it would be right to punish those guys by essentially blackballing them from competing in front of a respectably sized audience (and in a promotion that people are actually aware of) again. A rebranded TNA (especially a more wrestling oriented model) is essentially a lifeline for these guys to prove that they're actually "good wrestlers".

I agree to use talent that weren't given a fair shot, but I don't think TNA on velocity could afford them. Hell they can't even afford Austin Aries allegedly.

[CATCH_US IS the Conversation]

Oct 3, 2014 14:35:38 GMT -5 OVO 40 hunched over like he 80 said:

Oct 3, 2014 14:32:42 GMT -5 CATCH_US IS the Conversation said:

I like this idea, but I don't think I would completely disregard former WWE and TNA talents. WWE has their tendency to not use a talent to their full potential, and I don't think it would be right to punish those guys by essentially blackballing them from competing in front of a respectably sized audience (and in a promotion that people are actually aware of) again. A rebranded TNA (especially a more wrestling oriented model) is essentially a lifeline for these guys to prove that they're actually "good wrestlers".

I agree to use talent that weren't given a fair shot, but I don't think TNA on velocity could afford them. Hell they can't even afford Austin Aries allegedly.

A small part of me believes that certain former (and even current) WWE talents would keep their ego in check and take a paycut if it means getting the opportunity to step up, prove themselves and earn the fans' admiration.

If they can't sign anyone to a contract, they could at least try getting them on a per appearance basis.

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

It's tough to find loyal workers, like in the old ECW, one thing we know for certain, is that Kenny King wouldn't be on that group lol.

[Reflecto]

1. Get rid of the TNA house show circuit, in favor of a franchise model similar to the NWA.

The house show market for TNA is a money pit. It's probably going to BE a money pit for a long time, and it won't give any benefits at this moment. There's no good reason to go on the road for anything except TV tapings, if that.

Instead, I go with the NWA's franchise model for TNA shows. Smaller indies would be eligible to buy into the TNA family, running TNA's house shows in their specific market. In exchange, these indies would receive a TV taping for their area every so often, a few guaranteed TNA superstar appearances/matches, as well as giving TNA brass the chance to scout their local talent quickly. In addition, in order to make it really beneficial for the franchisee- for every year that a promotion is a TNA franchisee, they will receive one "Put" in- where the franchisee can pick one worker and place them under a one-year contract with TNA, even if TNA does not want them. (If the guy or girl sucks...well, we'll need cheap jobbers, too.)

TNA wrestlers would be allowed to work where they want, but every TNA contracted wrestler would be required to work at least one franchisee's house show every two months, whenever it is (if they run the show the same time as a TV taping...we'll manage not having them for a week or two).


2. GIMMICKS, GIMMICKS, GIMMICKS.

Go in the exact opposite direction from "gritty, street, real". The fact is- gritty and "real" does NOT work in the modern wrestling era. No matter how gritty and real people's gimmicks are- you can sell people as badasses, sell people as LEGIT wrestlers what wrestle- but it won't help, because these things put your opponents not as WWE, but as UFC or Bellator...and those are battles a wrestling promotion just can't win because at the end of the day, they're REAL, you're FAKE- and nothing short of going to shootfighting will make it possible to win that battle.

Instead, I welcome more gimmicks and keep them holy. NXT is a good example of this- they have a lot of legitimate wrestling talent- but more importantly, they've become able to get a buzz for in-house wrestling talent as well, in large part due to being willing to give the in-house talent weird, unique gimmicks to make them instantly get noticed. With that in mind- I emulate that form for the in-house and new talent we get in: Gimmick them all up. If they don't have one, give them one.