Recently Grantland posted an article about TNA. In the article Dixie Carter stated flat out "We will die a slow death on the vine if we just stay as one two-hour show in the U.S." She also mentions how TNA isn't set up to challenge WWE, it's set up as alternative. Dixie is very well aware of TNA's struggles but maintains that they're no where near as bad as the dirt sheets claim. TNA is not one bad show away from going out of business as it is "reported" once a week. The article closes with a quote from Dixie Carter that follows."All these people say, ‘I hope you go out of business’ — why would you ever want that? You don’t think we make wrestling better just by exposing more people and giving people more options? It’s the most ludicrous, shortsighted thing — the sheer absurdity and stupidity of it blows my mind, I feel sorry for the wrestling business if we’re not around." - Dixie Carter
Dixie is right, without TNA the wrestling business will be far worse. Not just WWE but wrestling overall. To some that statement may sound ridiculous but let's look at her statement objectively, point by point for a second.
"You don’t think we make wrestling better just by
exposing more people and giving people more options?"
Let's be honest in most countries around the world WWE reigns supreme. That fact can't be debated. But let's look at the united states. To most people WWE is synonymous with wrestling. That is until TNA made it to prime time television. TNA is marketed at a completely different crowd than WWE. TNA is aimed at older people, it's more violent, faster and not necessarily family friendly. It airs later at night. Originally airing at midnight. Impact spends more time on actual matches than stories unlike WWE. Impact is a show aimed at the mature wrestling fan.
TNA also cross promotes with other sports. WWE occasionally brings in athletes from other sports for a quick spot but that's it. The current TNA Champion is Bobby Lashley. Besides being a decorated amature and professional wrestler he's also an active fighter for Bellator MMA with a record of 11-2. Lashley isn't the only MMA fighter that makes appearances for TNA. Rampage Jackson recently had a wrestling ring installed in his home to begin training and King Mo makes sporadic appearances. Before that it was country singer Toby Keith making frequent appearances. Recently two of TNA's wrestlers appeared on the television show Amazing Race.
While WWE brings out celebrities for a quick boost to ratings, TNA goes the extra mile to make themselves noticeable. Currently TNA is the only other wrestling company in the United States that airs in all 50 states. It's also the only other wrestling company based in the United States with television deals in other countries. In some countries such as India and Japan, where WWE has long ignored TNA is actually more popular.
Without TNA, WWE doesn't have to work hard to maintain it's spot at the top. While some would argue WWE doesn't acknowledge TNA and doesn't need to, they're wrong. When TNA briefly moved to Monday nights WWE would rearrange episodes of Raw on the fly to keep people from switching channels. Hulk Hogan is possibly the biggest name in wrestling and was going to be on Impact, WWE counters by bringing Brett Hart and Shawn Michaels together. When TNA was on Monday WWE was forced to put on a good show.
"I feel sorry for the wrestling business if
we’re not around."
There it is, that's the key right there. That's the key. The wrestling bushiness was once hard to get into. WWE had a virtual monopoly. If they passed on you as a wrestler it was best to go out and get a 9-5 like everyone else because that was it. Now there's countless promotions striving. TNA is the obvious number two and Ring of Honor is the obvious number three. But then there's PWG, CZW, Chikara, Shimmer, etc.
That isn't TNA's fault, but TNA is what keeps those companies going like it or not. Unlike WWE, TNA is willing to reach out and work out with other companies. Matt Hardy is currently working for both Ring of Honor and TNA. This isn't the first time it's happened. Currently Sanada is signed to Wrestle-1 and TNA. Tigre Uno is signed to TNA and AAA. On top of those international contracts, TNA stars are free to work for independent promotions like PWG. WWE doesn't allow this. TNA being the second largest company in the country means that the roster has some star power and can sell out shows. TNA allowing it's stars to work these independent shows means that they can keep pulling in fans. Once there fans are exposed to independent wrestlers they most likely never heard of.
That's not all. In the past if WWE passed on a wrestler it was most likely a wrap on their career. TNA provides an alternative for them. TNA features a roster that is heavy on young talent just making a name for themselves, mixed with seasoned veterans that can give advice. WWE has this now with the development of NXT but for years TNA was the place to go if you wanted to get your feet wet with a national product. TNA also gives talents a chance to truly develop. TNA has made stars out of people that WWE passed on such as AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Bobby Roode, and most recently EC3.But TNA isn't full of "WWE Rejects" like some people would have you believe. WWE has a fair amount of talent that honed their skills in TNA. Although he's currently enjoying life outside of wrestling CM Punk spent plenty of time in TNA. Enough for TNA to release a 4 hour DVD with only a portion of his matches. R-Truth was once fired by WWE and appeared in TNA. There he became a NWA Champion. R-Truth still used the same theme in WWE that he used for years in TNA. Xavier Woods also spent time in TNA as Consequences Creed before making the jump to WWE. It goes both ways.
2013 was the first year that TNA didn't average more than a million viewers for the year and reports were flying about TNA going out of business. WWE became stale because they assumed the competition was done. Fast forward to now. TNA is back to doing more than a million viewers per episode and Raw has it's lowest ratings in the last decade because it has once again become stale. Even if you enjoy WWE more than TNA, you need TNA to keep WWE fresh.
You can hear Darrell on the CP Time and Powerbomb Jutsu podcasts. He's also playing Pokemon Liquid Crystal on YouTube
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