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

[unfitfinlay]

 

Might be worth it for a few early matches with CM Punk (if they both give each other a big kiss and make up), but that's about it.

 

ADDED: You just know that they'd want that bit where Christian turned up in a TNA ring when he was employed by the WWE too.

 

 

I don't know. Punk's TNA matches meant nothing to his career. His ROH and IWA matches are far more important and WWE seems to have easy enough access to them.

 

Realistically the only reason I can see for WWE to buy TNA's library is to stop someone else getting it. It's useless to WWE but it would be massive for GFW.

[UK Kat Von D]

I'd rather GFW spent the money picking up the some of the better talent left over from TNA than tapes of them wrestling.

 

It's not useless to WWE, it's filler for the network which I imagine would be cheap enough for them to get. There won't be a rise and fall doc, but I could see a best of the X-Division doing well enough.

[Carbomb]

Well, he was walking on eggshells wasn't he. Couldn't be seen to be endorsing TNA or he'd be in trouble. Think he ended up mumbling something about TNA fans being great or something, and that was that.

Had a good run down there though. 

 

Oh, I know that - it was just amusing how much he seemed to want to get it over, done with and out of the state, let alone the arena.

[unfitfinlay]

I'd rather GFW spent the money picking up the some of the better talent left over from TNA than tapes of them wrestling.

 

It's not useless to WWE, it's filler for the network which I imagine would be cheap enough for them to get. There won't be a rise and fall doc, but I could see a best of the X-Division doing well enough.

 

GFW having TNA's footage would allow them to sell DVDs and make some money, which is the most important thing. Having footage of folk like Hogan, Savage, Flair etc, might even help them get a TV slot, similar to Destination America, where they can get paid for showing "Classic Footage". At the very least having 13 years of TV and PPV would make them seem a lot more legit than their current state.

 

WWE already has a ridiculous amount of footage that'll never be shown on the network. Why show TNA? What does Impact offer Network viewers that WWE doesn't already have access to?

[PunkStep]

Why show TNA? What does Impact offer Network viewers that WWE doesn't already have access to?

Sonny Siaki.

[UK Kat Von D]

 

 

I'd rather GFW spent the money picking up the some of the better talent left over from TNA than tapes of them wrestling.

 

It's not useless to WWE, it's filler for the network which I imagine would be cheap enough for them to get. There won't be a rise and fall doc, but I could see a best of the X-Division doing well enough.

GFW having TNA's footage would allow them to sell DVDs and make some money, which is the most important thing. Having footage of folk like Hogan, Savage, Flair etc, might even help them get a TV slot, similar to Destination America, where they can get paid for showing "Classic Footage". At the very least having 13 years of TV and PPV would make them seem a lot more legit than their current state.

 

WWE already has a ridiculous amount of footage that'll never be shown on the network. Why show TNA? What does Impact offer Network viewers that WWE doesn't already have access to?

That's the dumbest thing ever. How would having footage of people who don't work for them and never did get them a slot on a station? How would they make money selling TNA DVDs when TNA couldn't sell TNA DVDs? How would them owning the tape library of a dead company make them seem more legit? Every single one of your points is mental

TNA decent production values compared to most stuff not on the network and is also a lot more current

[iammarkingout]

Its in a really tough situation.

 

The days of Panda throwing money at it to make it work are certainly over, the network they are on doesn't even want them ALREADY and in their existence they have failed to create a brand that has the real ability to tour except for some dates in the UK!

 

Where do you go from here?

 

How much is TNA really worth? Whilst the library is extensive what financial return could you get on it?

 

I can't see WWE buying the library, Jeff surely is too far down the line with GFW to think about buying it back so who does it leave?

[WyattSheepMask]

How much is TNA really worth? Whilst the library is extensive what financial return could you get on it?

If it has lost TV, we could probably have a whip round ourselves and buy a majority share of it as a UKFF collective. It's like WWE have shown from that 2003 interview with Eric Bischoff ("OK, you can have the tape library the logos etc but we're not going to give the TV time. Without the TVtime, WCW wasn't worth $20"), it's the situation for TNA, or anyone else, if you lose distribution of your product.

I watched Good Morning Vietnam last night, one of my absolute favourite films and considered a classic by critics, but if you haven't got away of bringing that to people it's not worth anything to anybody no matter the quality

Edited May 24, 2015 by WyattSheepMask

[King Pitcos]

Its in a really tough situation.

 

The days of Panda throwing money at it to make it work are certainly over, the network they are on doesn't even want them ALREADY and in their existence they have failed to create a brand that has the real ability to tour except for some dates in the UK!

 

Where do you go from here?

 

How much is TNA really worth? Whilst the library is extensive what financial return could you get on it?

 

By WWE-viewing standards, everything in TNA is shit, looks shit, and makes everyone involved look shit. So WWE releasing TNA stuff is never going to make anyone look like a bigger star than not releasing that stuff would. There's no "we won the war" satisfaction to basing shows around humiliating shitty TNA, either, because there was never a war. For them, it'd maybe be worth throwing the odd thing on a "Hulk Hogan: The Lost Matches #7" Bluray or a "Best of Samoa Joe" 3-discer if he becomes a big star. But with the network being what it is, is there much of a market for that stuff going forward?

 

WWE aside, the only real use I can think of for the TNA library for anyone else is for Poundland DVDs that are unbranded that could call themselves the best of Hulk Hogan/Sting/Jeff Hardy/Mick Foley/Ric Flair etc. A few others with "EXTREME wrestling matches"/"ladies of wrestling"/"wrestling's high flyers" type themes. The way that in the attitude era, you'd get DVDs of Steve Austin or Cactus Jack popping up that were just footage from WCCW or USWA or whatever. Again, though, it comes down to being able to acquire the library cheap enough to make a profit by doing that shit.

Edited May 24, 2015 by King Pitcos

[garynysmon]

It'd be amiss to say TNA don't have an audience because they were drawling around a 1.0 rating on Spike (sometimes higher) which is pretty much a third of what Raw gets.

So yeah, it probably comes down to price as there's plenty of stuff they could put up on the Network. As a bonus, a good chunk has also been digitised so wouldn't need converting like they've had to do with all their older footage.

[unfitfinlay]

 

That's the dumbest thing ever. How would having footage of people who don't work for them and never did get them a slot on a station? How would they make money selling TNA DVDs when TNA couldn't sell TNA DVDs? How would them owning the tape library of a dead company make them seem more legit? Every single one of your points is mental

TNA decent production values compared to most stuff not on the network and is also a lot more current

 

 

What's mental about it? I'm not suggesting that having access to TNA's library would magically make GFW a profitable company, but it would at least give them a potential source of income that they don't currently have. What are GFW right now? They've got a name, a crap logo and a few deals with other promotions. If they don't find a money mark or a network then they aren't going to survive. Having TNA's back catalogue might not help them find TV but being able to show their top star(s) against recognisable names would put them in a far better position than they currently are. At the very least you'd think they'd be able to sell the "classic" footage to stations like Challenge.

 

It might have decent production values, but again, it's worthless to WWE. What moments in TNA would be relevant to WWE fans? WCW, ECW, AWA and Memphis footage all has nostalgia value. TNA isn't. The vast majority of it isn't even good television. From a WWE point of view, it's footage of either total unknowns or ex-WWE stars slumming it. If they did buy it, I still think it'd be primarily to stop anyone else from having it.

 

Incidentally, I could be wrong but weren't TNA house shows profitable at one point, despite being poorly advertised, solely because of how good Don West was at shifting merchandise?

Edited May 24, 2015 by unfitfinlay

[SpursRiot2012]

The people who watch TNA on free TV don't buy anything from TNA, that's the problem. If TNA can't even monetise themselves, what is anybody else going to do with their material?

[unfitfinlay]

The people who watch TNA on free TV don't buy anything from TNA, that's the problem. If TNA can't even monetise themselves, what is anybody else going to do with their material?

 

Surely a huge part of that is because TNA is run by complete morons?

[UK Kat Von D]

GFW aren't going to be able to do anything with the tape library to make money. Signing Jeff Hardy to ten dates would be more useful for the company at this stage than owning the entire tape library of a dead company with nothing but bad will attached. If they have money, it shouldn't be wasted on something as stupid as a tape library.

 

WWE have plenty of cash along with (limited) ways to utilise the material. In all fairness I imagine it will all just depend what mood Vince is in that day. Trying to guess what Vince will do is pointless most of the time

[HeavyT]

I honestly believe GFW could do much better than TNA at this point with it's current roster and maybe Angle and Hardy sprinkled on top. TNA looks like a failure to its long term fans, and looks way too second rate to everyone else. Back with the opposing entrance chutes and ticker in the corner on FSN looked better than the latest episode I'm watching on Challenge... (maybe not but from memory it certainly does)