wrestling / Columns

TNA & Destination America: What’s In a Channel?

May 9, 2015 | Posted by Dino Zee

What’s in a channel? No, seriously. These last few months, I’ve noticed some sort of channel snobbery permeating through some of the fans here at 411- and, to be fair, through people I know in real life- and quite frankly, it puzzles me. Luckily, I have a space where I can go and ask questions while trying to work it all out.

ECW landing on TNN (The Nashville Network for you youngsters, which then became The National Network, which ultimately ended up as Spike) was one of the first examples I can recall in my lifetime where this channel snobbery started. However, this was balanced by the fact that ECW was finally on national tv! Those of us who hadn’t been able to watch it on TV were finally going to get that chance! Still, it was not uncommon to hear the cracks about how TNN was a joke, and wasn’t going to do anything to help ECW. On top of that, of course, is that we were still in an era of “War” between the wrestling companies, and ratings points were treated as the end-all by guys like Bischoff and Russo, which tricked us into believing the same thing. So, of course, being on TNN drove the Ratings Marks crazy.

I still remained on the “Yay, ECW!” side of things, not giving one lick about the where, and only caring about the what. Wrestling! On TV! Always (in my opinion) a good thing.

When TNN eventually let ECW go after a pretty public falling out and instead brought the WWF’s Monday Night Raw on board from the USA Network, the same things were said about the WWF. TNN had just proven that they had no idea what to do with wrestling, right? They blew it with ECW! No rebranding (bringing WWF on board led to the aforementioned name changes for the channel) was going to change that this was a crummy channel that had no business airing wrestling.

Again, all I could think at the time was a simple “Who cares? At least we have a place to watch Monday Night Raw still!”

There was also the time that WWE resurrected ECW and put it on the Sci Fi network. Again, the channel snobbery came out. “What does Sci Fi know about wrestling? Why is wrestling on this channel?” And again, my only thought could be “Hey, more wrestling on TV! I’ll watch!” This was again repeated when Smackdown left its UPN home and went to the now-named SyFy channel. And again, I was just happy to have a place to watch Smackdown.

The point is, this isn’t anything new. I’m not going to go all Vince McMahon and claim this is some “millennial thing” or anything like that. It’s definitely happened before. However, two events in the last 9 months have brought this line of thinking to the forefront again, making it relevant once more.

The first, of course, was the announcement that starting in January of this year, TNA would be taking its act from Spike over to Destination America, a channel known for shows like Ghost Asylum, Hillybilly Blood. Immediately, people jumped. Some of this was probably due to simply looking for any angle to make fun of TNA, while others were simply attacking the new home of TNA with no real reason.

Some people freaked that there would be huge changes (much like they did when Raw jumped to TNN, or when ECW debuted on Sci Fi), while others simply took potshots at the little channel that no one knows. Because, you know, it’s impossible to enjoy a program on Destination America the way you did when it was on Spike? I’m honestly asking, because I’m really confused.

Outside of ECW’s Zombie, I can’t really recall a wrestling program completely changing what they were doing upon landing at a new channel. Even with TNA’s recent jump, there hasn’t been much that’s changed, for better or worse. Sure, they ramped up the backstage segments and “reality tv” touch to those segments, but they were doing the same thing on Spike already. TNA’s hidden cameramen have been one of my biggest source of mockery, so I’m hardly going to put that on Destination America.

From where I sit, the change from Spike to Destination America hasn’t really changed the overall product much at all. Commentary being called from a trailer, and DA reportedly (but who knows how legit the reports are) making the call for Kurt Angle and Taryn Terrell to hold TNA championship gold are the only real examples I can think of, but it’s not like TNA needed a network to say “Hey, give Kurt Angle a belt!”

The other recent event, of course, is the addition of Lucha Underground to our weekly wrestling schedule, courtesy of the El Rey Network, run by Robert Rodriguez.

The amount of times I’ve heard a friend sarcastically mention how they’d love to watch Lucha Underground, but they don’t have the 956 channel package necessary to get El Rey, as if that makes the show bad, is astounding. Literally, I’ve heard people express the idea that they have no interest in the show, ONLY because the network they’re on isn’t some ESPN-level channel.

That match? That match right there, that told an amazing story, and was built up over weeks, and helped three super lowcard acts suddenly rise up and get the entire Temple behind them? That amazing piece of storytelling? That amazing display of athletic ability? That fucking fantastic professional wrestling that we got to see a couple of weeks ago? Yeah, that happened on that silly little channel. That happened on El Rey.

Look, I know that there are fans out there who absolutely love the business side. I’ve often cited former 411 writer Jake Chambers’ column about “business marks” (or “barks”), and I’ve also stated that I don’t really see eye to eye with these fans. Not that they’re wrong; I just don’t agree with the way they choose to take it all in. Just like there are plenty who don’t agree with me. It’s okay. My point in mentioning these fans is that I can absolutely see where they’re coming from. A smaller channel brings in less people, and less people means an easier way to cut a program that is struggling to draw viewers.

That’s all well and good, but it’s just too worrisome for me. I don’t want to watch wrestling while constantly worrying about numbers. The Monday Night War is dead, and no one is “winning” with their ratings each week. Raw doesn’t run against Impact, which doesn’t run against Lucha Underground. To that end, who gives a crap what the ratings are? Just enjoy the show (IF you already enjoy it, that is).

There’s also a third recent event that, for some reason, leads me to believe that this channel snobbery is just a cheap way of taking a shot at a promotion.

New Japan Wrestling secured a deal with AXS TV to air 13 episodes starting January 16, 2015. This was, as far as I personally can recall (and yes, I freely admit not having spoken with every single fan on the planet), universally well-received. No jokes about AXS TV being impossible to find on the dial. No jokes about how New Japan doesn’t belong on a channel that usually focuses on MMA. We all just sat back and enjoyed the New Japan.

Now, far be it from me to ever suggest that wrestling fans always let things slide when it comes to Japanese wrestling, but… wrestling fans really seem to let things slide when it comes to Japanese wrestling.

But that’s only a symptom of my point. The point is, since New Japan is beloved, no one gave them any shit for the deal. No one gave their fans any shit for the deal. People were excited to watch New Japan, and those who wanted to, did. Simple.

So, I present the question to you, the reader. Why does the channel matter? Does it even really matter? Can you (if it is applicable to you, of course) admit to busting out the ridiculous rips on Destination America or El Rey simply because you’re either not a fan or not interested in either TNA or Lucha Underground? That you couldn’t think of any actual gripes with either show, so you had to attack the place broadcasting the action?

I’m actually asking, because I, for the life of me, don’t understand this. And don’t counter with “No one does what you’re saying they do.” My very friends do it. My very coworkers do it. Maybe you haven’t seen it, and that’s fine, but don’t tell me I’m just making this up. Rips on Destination America and El Rey are real, and they don’t make sense to me. The channel doesn’t make the product, it only brings it to you.

I try to back up my talk about being down to watch whatever wrestling I can find on my dial, and I’m no channel discriminator. Hell, if Food Network ended up being home to Smackdown, then that’s where I’d set the dial on Friday nights to either watch or record it. Because of ALL the things to make fun of TNA, or Lucha Underground, or WWE, or any wrestling league, of ALL the legitimate reasons to go after any group, the channel they’re on seems like the absolute dumbest one on which to latch.


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article topics :

Destination America, TNA, Dino Zee