Written by: Mike The Mark - October 17th, 2008

Keeping Things In Context
by Michael "Mike The Mark" Barton

It's been quite a long time since I have written anything pro wrestling related, but there is finally a story I felt compelled to put out there. This is about the Total Nonstop Action (TNA) wrestling company, and the things many people are forgetting about the history of professional wrestling, and keeping things in context when it comes to this specific company.
For those who do not know any of the back story, allow me to share the pertinent details to get you up to speed. This is a quick synopsis of the company:

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
(Taken from Wikipedia)

Formation of the Company

The concept of TNA Wrestling started on a fishing trip between Bob Ryder, Jeff Jarrett, and Jerry Jarrett, where they were contemplating their futures in the business of wrestling. World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) was the only wrestling product on television (following WWE's March 2001 purchase of World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy that same year), which Ryder felt led many stations to believe that wrestling was bad for business. Ryder suggested a company that does not need television, but rather just goes straight to pay-per-view.

Jeff Jarrett was the only one of the three who took the discussion seriously (the other two thought of it as "just fishing talk"), and began formulating the business plan in his head 24/7. His first goal was to get former World Championship Wrestling people, such as Jeremy Borash, into the project. In the DVD The History of TNA: Year 1, Borash described the early company as "a skeleton crew, and there wasn't any specific job titles. It was 'Who's gonna cover this? Who's gonna cover this? Who's gonna cover this,' and we all just kind of slid into our roles."

Jeff Jarrett argues in The History of TNA: Year 1 that the hardest part of formulating the company was finding financial backing. In his own words, "You're asking people to invest... um... not small change... a substantial investment into an idea... into a theory, versus something that's tangible, that's up and running. That's how the normal course of business goes. This was a completely different sell."

Almost just as difficult was selling the weekly pay-per-view concept to the pay-per-view companies. In his own words, "That was something that In Demand, DirecTV had never even considered, a weekly pay-per-view wrestling series for ten dollars every Wednesday night! That in and of itself was a gigantic mountain to overcome, selling it to the pay-per-view companies."

The Jarretts found the help they needed, however, and the company had its first show on June 19, 2002. This night, however, they needed help in a different manner, because in a dark match just before they went on the air, a 450 lb. wrestler named Cheex hit the ropes with so much force that one of them broke. The estimated repair time was 30-60 minutes, which they did not have because they were about to go live in a few minutes, whether the ring was ready or not. Backstage, the producers shuffled the schedule so that some non-wrestling segments went first to give the ring crew some more time, but they did not have many of them. Fortunately, the ring crew came up with a creative way to fix the rope, and everyone went live hoping for the best.

Weekly pay-per-view shows

The original TNA business model was different from that employed by WWE in several key ways. By not touring like other major federations have done, TNA was able to keep costs down. Until the introduction of the syndicated show, TNA Xplosion, in late 2002, TNA's weekly show was provided over pay-per-view to act as their main source of revenue, in place of monthly pay-per-view events used by other promotions.[3] These shows started on June 19, 2002 and were held mostly at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds in Nashville to lower production costs.[4] After 27 months, TNA felt that they had a fanbase that would support three-hour pay-per-views and ceased their weekly shows on September 8, 2004.[5] TNA held its first three-hour monthly pay-per-view, Victory Road, on November 7, 2004.

TNA Impact!

The Impact! Zone, where TNA currently holds most of its televised shows
The Impact! Zone, where TNA currently holds most of its televised shows

TNA began airing TNA Impact! on June 4, 2004 on Fox Sports Net and it soon replaced the weekly pay-per-views as their primary broadcast while the monthly events became the main source of revenue.[6] The contract was not renewed one year later with the show getting consistent low ratings. This left TNA with no television deal other than the monthly pay-per-views, so on July 1, 2005, TNA turned to broadcasting iMPACT! from their official website, while seeking a new television outlet.[7][8] TNA would finally secure a deal with Spike TV and air its first episode on October 1, 2005.[9] Since the move, Impact! achieved considerably higher ratings and was moved twice, now having a primetime slot on Thursdays. IMPACT! expanded to a two-hour format on October 4, 2007.[10]

In the UK, Impact! is shown on Bravo on Saturday nights at 9 p.m.

Expansion

Apart from their weekly shows, TNA started running house shows on March 17, 2006[11] and in October, TNA started holding some of their monthly pay-per-views outside of their central filming location. TNA has also expanded into other areas with the development of a video game with Midway Games, titled TNA Impact!, released in 2008.[12] In April 2006, TNA announced a partnership with YouTube that would see TNA supply YouTube with exclusive video content in exchange for hosting, leading to the production of internet shows. In January 2007, TNA's mobile content deal with New Motion, Inc. led to the introduction of TNA Mobile and mobile fan voting.[13] TNA has also launched the TNA U program to help promote the brand and has started airing podcasts through YouTube which they call TNA U TV,[14] as well as the TNA Addicts Show, which consists of promotions for the upcoming Impact as well as Q&A sessions from the fans to the hosts.

In August 2007, live events coordinator Craig Jenkins stated that TNA intended to stage eight pay-per-views and 96 house shows outside Orlando, Florida in 2008.[15]
Now, for those who knock TNA and everything they do, you have to have a deeper understanding of the history of professional wrestling (as well as an open mind). Never has a company done do much in so little time as this company.
This is a promotion that has done more in 6 years than any other in the entire history of this business. Love them or hate them, that is a simple fact that cannot be debated.
While I will agree with anyone who points out mistakes, as there have been many, this is a company that has an average viewership of over 1 million people each week on Spike TV. If you told any promoter who owns his own company that within 6 years of starting up his promotion he would have one million people watching the show weekly, I think you would find them all extremely happy people. But, for the naysayers out there, let's go into some of the problems the company currently faces:

1 - House shows - The TNA house show business is absolutely horrid for a company with a prime time slot on a major cable newtork. Northeast Wrestling (a company for which I once worked for) outdraws them on a consistent basis, without the benefit of television and a company run entirely different than TNA.

2 - The booking department - Before I go any further, there is a major issue that needs to be clarified. Vince Russo is not the only person in charge of making decision within this company, and while I cannot agree with anything he has done after his time spent in the WWF (Now WWE) he is not the sole person to place blame on for many of the decisions the company has made. Currently, there are three people for certain who take part in this process in Jeff Jarrett, Dutch Mantell and Russo - and a few wrestlers may have minor roles in this process as well, but that is uncertain at this time. In my most recent feedback report to Dave Meltzer and The Wrestling Observer website, I even made a few references to Russo "being locked away", as the booking for Bound for Glory IV was mostly absent of the interference that has plagued the company throughout their PPV shows in the past. But this is at least a three person effort, if not more, and that needs to be remembered.

3 - Veterans vs. youth - While this has been made into an angle on television, I think it has a real life, behind the scenes story to it as well. As TNA continues to grow as a promotion, more people are being brought into the fold. Over the past few years, Christian Cage, Kurt Angle, Sting, The Dudley Boyz (Team 3-D) and Mick Foley (among others) have been brought into the company in an effort to increase ratings. Each time someone else with a higher reputation when it comes to drawing power comes in, another worker loses television time, and loses steam. This is a very tough spot for everyone in the company to be in because Kurt Angle is a headliner, but that also pushes someone else on the roster down lower. And that could have been the someone who could have risen to superstardom (Unlikely, yes - but it is always a possibility in the "never say never" world of pro wrestling). But, when these "big name" wrestlers are being paid the sums of money they are receiving, they have to be in prominent positions within the company to justify the pay. You wouldn't hire Donald Trump - for example - to run the deep fryer in your kitchen, would you? Exactly.
So, there, for all the TNA "haters", and there are many out there, I am reporting this from both sides. We all know TNA has its problems. But, doesn't Vince McMahon and his company have problems as well? If either company was perfect, we wouldn't have anything to debate or discuss.
TNA wrestling, in short, has done more than any other company in its short time in existance in the history of pro wrestling. I am neither TNA pro or con. I am simply hoping that at some point in the future, and certainly not within the next year or two without some amazing event happening that would make Halley's comet seem like a daily occurence, I am hoping that TNA can become a competitor on the big stage. Why? It's simple. The best time for most of us was during "The Monday Night Wars", and it also happened to be a time when wrestling was creative and fun to watch. I see glimpses of it from time to time from both companies, but I realize that it is still far away. Well, this journalist is one person would like to see Vince McMahon challeneged one more time. Because, win or lose, the fans become the ones who always come out on top. We would actually get creative programming again. I can dream, cant I?

MTM
gogosox@ymail.com