Impact wrestling thread - It's a Don West tribute thread now!

[The Dart]

Pretty good show in London tonight.  Much better than the wank they put on last year.

[WyattSheepMask]

 

Angle has won the World title from Lashley.

So Spud winning the X title means that has changed hands 3 times this year already, and the world title has changed hands twice and it's only the first day of the second sodding month

 

[Doog]

 

Tbf, the show wont air till March at the earliest so it'll be 3 months since the last World Title change by the time we see it.

 

 

Encouraging to hear the shows came off well for people attending live. Though in fairness, whenever TNA come over here they generally put on brilliant shows, everyone loves it and gets carried away that it's a turning point, then they come back to the US and it all goes to shit again. Shame. Though i do look forward to watching all this unfold on Challenge.

[PunkStep]

Would it be fair to say that TNA have a stronger following over here than back home? They never did well on the road but they've always seemed to have sold well in the UK. They always seem to have fan conventions, signings etc that are popular here too.

[Carbomb]

I'd say that's true, but I'd also venture to say that perhaps it's that the UK scene is more "starved" (for want of a better word) of mainstream-looking, televised wrestling than the US is. People who go to TNA shows perhaps aren't necessarily drawn to TNA, just to the "big-time" experience of seeing wrestling in a big arena; I reckon the same people also go to WWE when they come around.

[PunkStep]

I did think that, but then again we get Raw, Smackdown, WWE live shows, TNA Impact and TNA live shows just as often as most US States, don't we? Maybe we just have more wrestling fans (or more hardcore fans) pro rata than in the States.

[Psygnosis]

TNA are doing a special televised show in Italy tonight with EPW so they could be expanding into other european countries.

[ClassicsGuy]

I'd say that's true, but I'd also venture to say that perhaps it's that the UK scene is more "starved" (for want of a better word) of mainstream-looking, televised wrestling than the US is. People who go to TNA shows perhaps aren't necessarily drawn to TNA, just to the "big-time" experience of seeing wrestling in a big arena; I reckon the same people also go to WWE when they come around.

 

I'd say that was true a few years ago, but not so much now. TNA comes once a year, and they only go to 3 cities, so people make the effort to go. I don't think people are starved. They're just wrestling fans wanting to see more wrestling and can't get enough. TNA may have been in a big arena, but they curtain off 80%+ of the capacity these days.

 

I'd also really dispute the claim that TNA is 'the big time'. TNA's crowds for the New York tapings at the start of January were abysmal - 500, 325 and 1100. The 1110 attendance for the third show was the only one that sold out, and that was only because they advertised a Lethal Lockdown cage match was being taped on that show.

 

The U.K. has indy promotions like PCW that hold monthly shows that draw more than TNA does in the U.S. on a regular basis. TNA have essentially killed their U.S. market - their U.S. house draws don't draw and are money losers, which is why they stopped doing them. Same reason they no longer do U.S. ppvs.

 

Look at ICW - sells out the 1600 capacity Barrowlands for a second time in 5 months, 2 months in advance, with only one match advertised - featuring 2 Brits, Lionheart vs Jackie Polo. No imports announced. There's video of the Grado vs Al Snow post match from Glasgow online. No spoilers, but the crowd are chanting 'ICW' and 'Jack Jester'.

 

In Manchester, they highlighted Kris Travis was there and played his PCW theme music. The crowd popped and there was a brief PCW chant.

 

I really don't think the U.K. is starved at all. The scene is vibrant, there's more wrestling available than ever before. U.K.-based wrestlers were all over the 3 Impact tv tapings in matches - and not just there to make up the numbers, the crowds were really reacting to them like stars.  

 

WWE is big time. TNA is slightly bigger than the top U.K. indies, but the gap is shrinking all the time. 

 

Give it 12-18 months and ICW will be running the Hydro in Glasgow, drawing a similar or possibly bigger crowd than TNA did there.

 

Also worth mentioning for what its' worth that TNA's ratings in the U.K. have really took a big downturn over the past year.

 

The November 30th IMPACT only drew 94,000 viewers, the lowest TNA rating on Challenge in more than 2 years. For the first time in 2 years, the show didn't even make the top 10 most watched shows for the week on Challenge during the entire month of December.

 

The average weekly rating in the U.K. for the show has dropped, from 209,000 viewers in 2013, to 159,000 viewers in 2014, a drop of 24%. In 2013 there were 8 weeks when the show wasn't the no.1 most watched show on Challenge that week. In 2014, there were 33 weeks when they weren't the most watched show on Challenge.

 

Also interesting to note, that the final episode of British Bootcamp 2 on November 30th was watched by more people (104,000) than Impact was (94,000), despite Impact airing immediately after it. 10,000 wrestling fans actively changed the channel rather than watch the main TNA show. 

Edited February 1, 2015 by ClassicsGuy

[Your Fight Site]

 

In 2013 there were 8 weeks when the show wasn't the no.1 most watched show on Challenge that week. In 2014, there were 33 weeks when they weren't the most watched show on Challenge.

 

Isn’t that an improvement, based on there being 52 weeks in a year? If there were 33 weeks in 2014 where they weren’t the most watched show on Challenge, then that leaves 19 weeks, which is more than double the 8 weeks in 2013.

[King Pitcos]

You've read it wrong.

[Psygnosis]

but they curtain off 80%+ of the capacity these days.

 

 

Exaggeration to say the least, the Manchester and London shows only a quarter was curtained off, people are going to go to TNA if they have an offer. Here is a pic from Manchester from Sanada.

 

 

There's video of the Grado vs Al Snow post match from Glasgow online. No spoilers, but the crowd are chanting 'ICW' and 'Jack Jester'.

 

 

Borash encouraged the ICW chants as they will likely get a namedrop on commentary when Grado features, Jack Jester was in attendance. ICW should be thankful for the promotion in the stateside.

 

In Manchester, they highlighted Kris Travis was there and played his PCW theme music. The crowd popped and there was a brief PCW chant.

 

 

Travis used that song throughout the indies not just PCW

 

I wish people would follow the wrestlers instead of this company loyalty bollocks. If any UK feds are confident they can get those kind of crowds then go do it.

Edited February 1, 2015 by Psygnosis

[Undefeated Steak]

I wish people would follow the wrestlers instead of this company loyalty bollocks. If any UK feds are confident they can get those kind of crowds then go do it.

 

Rubbish. Just because my favourite striker moves club doesn't mean I'm going to start following that team too. Hardcore company loyalty is crucial in a niche market like British wrestling. Unless you're talking about Brock Lesnar, I'm way more likely to watch my favourite promotion run a show without my favourite wrestler, than watch my favourite wrestler on a show I don't care about.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

I wish people would follow the wrestlers instead of this company loyalty bollocks.

An amazing post coming from you.

[Chris B]

 

Also interesting to note, that the final episode of British Bootcamp 2 on November 30th was watched by more people (104,000) than Impact was (94,000), despite Impact airing immediately after it. 10,000 wrestling fans actively changed the channel rather than watch the main TNA show. 

 

 

I think that was in large part due to how terribly Dixie Carter came across. The ending of the show left a bad taste.

[Fozzie4388]

I watched the whole British Bootcamp 2 but I never watched Impact as it usually bores me to tears.