Looking at TNA’s Last Dance

Where there is smoke, there’s fire.

I am 40-years old, and I work in the import/export business. Most of my time over the last few years has been spent making deals overseas. It’s a labor of love because you wheel, you deal, you kiss ass and you try to make it work. There is much bullshit involved, but I love it. There are times when you get locked in and you know when the deal is on, when it is a success. But there is competition, there have been times over the years where I felt a deal was locked up and then I heard rumors. When you’re young and inexperienced, you tend to ignore these things. But when you’re older and wiser and realize the magnitude of your business, you pay attention to everything you hear….

Where there is smoke, there’s fire.

Back in July of 2014, TMZ reported that TNA and Spike TV’s relationship was done and I wrote about that harsh reality. For years there were always tons of rumors regarding TNA’s financial stability, but the one thing we could all agree on was that the Spike TV deal huge. Yes they have international TV deals that make them money, but the Spike TV deal was more than just a substantial piece of the financial pie. Spike TV for years had helped TNA on several levels. They made them a two-hour show, they moved them to Thursdays and then tried to move them to Mondays; unfortunately that failed for them and they headed back to Thursdays. Over the years they helped to pay for top tier talent, they have helped to pay for major TV tapings, especially when the company tried to go live. Spike TV invested into the company to try and help them succeed, but it literally never paid off. The company constantly lived in the 0.9 to 1.4 range for the ratings, and while that is a big mark for Spike TV, reruns of Cops did similar ratings, for a lower cost and higher ad rate. It’s all about the money. But Spike TV never did anything for TNA was the narrative when the news broke…

Where there is smoke, there’s fire.

The news was kept quiet so that TNA wouldn’t be completely boned when negotiating a new TV deal. TNA took the lesser deal (financially and in terms of viewers reached) with Destination America. The good news was that they were staying alive, and would have a chance to rebuild. As a wrestling fan I was pleased. Fans shouted from the rooftops that Destination America was going to be so much better, that they were the savior, that they were offering additional programming and replays and unicorns and everything was going to be fine. But there were issues. The shoulder programming was slowly taken away due to low numbers, reports of pay issues with wrestlers and production staff came to light (Eric Bischoff recently sued them) and the ratings of the show failed to grow…

As you can see, the numbers started off well enough (especially for Destination America) but haven’t grown as the company had hoped.. Now while the show is one of the highest rated on the channel, the issue is that advertisers have specifically expressed a desire not to advertise on Impact. This is bad news, because at the end of the day it is about the almighty dollar. If it doesn’t make dollars, it doesn’t make sense; that’s what I’ve always been told. And now that the news is out there that the deal is reportedly done, that TNA is cancelled and will finish up in September (Destination America reportedly had an out clause in September), those same people that praised leaving Spike and praised Destination America have tuned on them. Destination America is now the enemy, they never did anything for TNA, they are wrong and they are at fault. As a business, TNA has been poorly run for years, making bad choice after bad choice, and eventually it catches up to you.

The Worst Part

For me the worst part about this is that since January, TNA has put on some REALLY good programming. I won’t lie and call it perfect, but I enjoyed the weekly TNA product way more than the WWE TV product that’s for damn sure. They were putting on some great matches, to little fanfare and I hated to see that. The shows have been easy to watch, they embraced being a TV product, killed the live events and PPV and were turning things around. I got excited for Friday nights. Eric Young has been doing some of his best work, Kurt Angle somehow, someway has been busting ass and delivering. Lashley has been good, there have been good stories, the show WAS GOOD. Unfortunately, it feels like this has been too little and too late. When the advertisers decide that they want no part in the show, that is a worst-case scenario. But even worse than that is the fact that if this all comes to pass, and it looks that way, a lot of people are losing jobs and as fans, we’re losing choices. There are no winners here, this is not a good thing. Anyone who thinks I take joy is discussing this is horribly wrong. I thought that they were on the right track, but this is a business, and sometimes businesses fail.

WHAT THE HELL DO THEY DO NEXT?

– Now the thing is that they will have to look for a new deal, but what can they do? With the word out there about the lack of advertiser interest and that they are done on the network, they are over a barrel. At this time, I feel the same that I did back in July and I think it breaks down like this as far as their options may go.

Fox Sports 1 or 2: Fox Sports 1 or 2 would be a viable option to pursue, simply for the fact that they need programming that could possibly draw any form of rating that would register. Outside of UFC, baseball and racing, the programming on Fox Sports 1 and 2 does horrible ratings. Sure they are new and growing networks, but the ratings information is almost impossible to find for those channels if it isn’t UFC, baseball and racing.

Online Streaming Services Like Netflix or Yahoo: Online streaming services are the new hotness. Look around, iPad, Kindle, phones; people are spending more time watching streaming content on those devices than ever before and it will only increase due to the way our society is. Online streaming services are also getting into original programming. Arrested Development returned through Netflix, Marvel has a series of shows set to air via the platform and Daredevil has been a hit for them, Yahoo resurrected Community, Hulu gave The Mindy Project new life. It’s not entirely out of the question that this is something that they could look into. I just don’t know the level of interest or what kind of deal is out there.

Go International: This is an idea that in July I though had the least chance of happening, but with only international deals alive and kicking here, it may be more of a reality than ever. Possibly considering a temporary relocation to the UK could work for them.

What To Do Next?

After much consideration, I have finally come to this conclusion and this is where people will really dislike me, and that is ok…

“Burn it down, gentlemen. Burn it down and salt the earth…”

During my lifetime I have watched the territories and many a small promotion die. I watched the NWA change into nothingness over the years, I saw the AWA die because they made bad choices and never evolved. I saw World Class be something special, I lived the tragedies of the performers and the death of that promotion. WCW and ECW battling with the WWF was an amazing time, but then WCW and ECW died and the WWE was all that was left in the US. PWG, CHIKARA and ROH have all done well to various degrees over the years, but TNA was the one that got all the shots and were #2. They had chances. They had the Carter family money, they got the TV deals, they signed the stars of the 90s at the expense of the stars that they were developing, they had HULK HOGAN and made bad choice after bad choice; constantly teasing me that they had straightened themselves out. They lost tons of potential stars, and had all of the chances that they needed over the years, but they never ever created an identity. They mostly felt like WWE-lite, and even if this recent run of programming was very good, there is such a thing as too little and too late. They had the talent, they had the in ring product, and the at times had the stories; they had chances on almost every day of the week but it kept failing. I know that people will hate to read that, but they did.

“Burn it down, gentlemen. Burn it down and salt the earth…”

It is time to close it down, burn it down and let someone start new. I hate to say that because I do not want people to lose their jobs. I hate to say that because I want options. I hate to say that because I love a lot of the TNA roster. But there comes a time when enough is enough.

Where there is smoke, there’s fire; and it may finally be TNA’s time to burn…

Jack McGee is an aspiring investigative journalist with interests covering TV, Movies, Wrestling, MMA and Sports. When not hunting the Incredible Hulk, Jack works on his surfing, his Johnny Utah like throwing motion and origami.