TNA Wrestling’s 200th Impact Is Nothing To Celebrate
TNA Wrestling will air its 200th episode of Impact tonight. TNA has sent out press releases announcing their 200th and will embrace the event on Spike TV tonight. The 200th Impact reveals the brutal truth about TNA Wrestling and that is nothing that should be celebrated.
TNA Impact has been on the air for over five years if you count the Fox Sports era. The show moved to Spike TV on October 1, 2005. The move was heralded as a big game changer at the time. Unfortunately not much has changed for TNA Wrestling in the last four years.
A lot was expected by the move. Take a look at the history of TNA Impact to WWE RAW to put this into some perspective. Five years after the debut, the WWE blew up. Buyrates doubled and business was booming. There were a lot of intangibles behind this, but the bottom line is WWE Raw looked entirely different 200 episodes later.
The pay-per-view stats are downright laughable. The Wrestling Observer reported in February that TNA’s PPV buyrates are at an all time low, to the point that they were selling more units when on Fox Sports Net. Their shows were averaging less than 20,000 buys, with Against All Odds projected as being below 14,000.
I can barely get through an episode of TNA Impact. The storylines are incredibly hard to follow at times. I find myself getting bored easily. Some of the interviews are just outright dumb. Like WWE, you have the same cycle of guys that are constantly in the main-events. The only thing entertaining about the show is Kurt Angle and lord knows they didn’t create him.
TNA Wrestling had and has a great opportunity. TNA has a ton of very talented wrestlers on their roster. However, they continues to ignore the talent in favor of the over 40 club. I think TNA could be very successful if they transitioned into providing a younger and more athletic alternative to the WWE. They already have the talent and the television platform to accomplish this. I won’t hold my breath.
Sadly, I couldn’t name you or recognize any TNA stars other than the Main Event Mafia and a few guys that I knew from my days on the independents. The company has done a terrible job in establishing anyone in 200 episodes. I don’t know if this is a reflection on me as a bad wrestling writer or TNA. I am far from the biggest WWE fan these days, but I can definitely name and recognize most of their stars from top to bottom.
So instead of sending press releases out boasting about 200 Impacts, Dixie Carter should be asking questions and holding meetings. Tonight’s show signifies millions of blows dollars and lost opportunities. TNA Wrestling should not be celebrating 200 episodes of Impact. TNA Wrestling should be embarrassed about it.
Congratulations! I can’t wait to see how things have changed in another 200 episodes. I am going to guess, not much.
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