Death in Small Doses: TNA's demise can be its greatest legacy

Originally published at www.pwtorch.com

News has come through in the past week that TNA Impact's future on Spike TV has been secured until the end of 2014. While only a temporary reprieve, I have a feeling that a long-term deal will eventually be struck, whether with Spike or somebody else. However, in my opinion, if TNA does go out of business it would be a good thing for the wrestling industry, and the fate the promotion has deserved for most of its existence.

The continued survival of TNA has provided a lesson that is wholly damaging; that you can consistently run a company poorly - doing almost everything wrong on a creative level - and yet stay in business.

I will not take any pleasure from seeing any of TNA's employees lose their jobs. Well, maybe a couple of people, but certainly not the wrestlers who work so hard to entertain their audience, or the people like Jeremy Borash who live and breathe TNA and have given everything to help it succeed. Thankfully, the wrestling industry always has a place for people with talent; the independent scene can be lucrative, while companies like Ring of Honor and Dragon Gate USA certainly welcome good workers.

My feelings about TNA are in no way based on any personal prejudice against the promotion itself; there are a lot of things that TNA should be praised for as a company. Sadly, their wrestling product is not, and rarely has been, one of those things. The promotion is absolutely rotten, and it has been absolutely rotten for years. I've said it before: TNA is wrestling done wrong. Not only done wrong, but done wrong over and over and over again.

Wrong to be preoccupied with everything other than putting on a coherent wrestling product that showcased, accentuated and celebrated the strengths of the wrestlers on the roster in a way that would get viewers invested in their matches emotionally and financially. Dixie Carter's huge announcements that always under-delivered; changing every X Division match to a triple threat for no apparent reason, and then changing back again; the top ten list of contenders that was voted for by fans until it was quietly scrapped when they voted for the wrong wrestler; the Wrestling Matters campaign and half-hearted attempts to rename the company Impact Wrestling; changing the number of sides in the ring, then back again, then back again, then back again; all in lieu of presenting wrestling the way that every successful wrestling promotion has been presented.

The wrong people have been employed in key positions, repeatedly. Vince Russo, Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan may be famous names, but what contemporary value do they have? Russo and Bischoff revolutionised the industry in the 1990s, but neither has shown an ability or willingness to succeed beyond one idea that worked in one particular time and place; as a result, their contribution to wrestling in the 21st century is miniscule. Hogan is one of the biggest stars the genre has ever seen, but his value was as the centrepiece act of a promotion during his physical prime. That moment has gone. Basic research into Hogan's track record should have told you that he is not capable of being anything other than the focus of everybody's attention, which in turn was bound to damage the active wrestling roster. Unfortunately, it has been a theme of TNA's existence that egos and politics and selfish motivations come ahead of putting on the best quality wrestling product, and usually those egos are the same ones that put WCW out of business.

When Kurt Angle was released by WWE due to his drug addiction, TNA instantly signed him up and put him in pay-per-view main events. Make no mistake, it was common knowledge within TNA and the industry as a whole that Angle had not kicked his addiction; the company only did something about it when he was publicly exposed. Jeff Hardy, another drug addict who was indulged by TNA to bring star power to its roster at any cost, was not only also featured in pay-per-view main events but it was during one of these matches that the extent of his chemical dependency was revealed. Clearly, TNA was happy to profit from these wrestlers while their addictions remained a secret from the majority of the audience, in spite of the toll their respective wrestling styles took on their bodies, so the show of support and understanding once those addictions became public knowledge was nothing beyond an entirely hollow and transparent public relations exercise.

It would be bad enough that TNA would exploit drug addicts for their star power at any human cost, but they could not even manage that properly. Angle and Hardy, like Hogan, Sting, Ric Flair, Mick Foley and others, added no star power to the product. Every big-name signing was instead dragged down to TNA's level. This is a wrestling promotion that could take a Jesus Christ vs Adolf Hitler dream match and make it feel no more prestigious than Cody Deaner vs Shark Boy.

And look at the wrestlers TNA could have employed for a fraction of the cost of former WCW names, who were obviously destined to be stars well before WWE "discovered" them. One look at the work of Daniel Bryan, CM Punk, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins or Cesaro on the independent scene would have proved their potential as featured stars of a national promotion. Punk, arguably the most impressive all-rounder of his generation, was in fact employed by TNA during its early years. His role? A lackey for Raven, whose best work had come in the mid-90s.

In fact, TNA has never gone all-out in trying to create its own stars. Even AJ Styles - the closest thing to a home-grown main event star - was never truly cast as a franchise player until his contract was expiring! Bizarrely, this is a mistake TNA has made on numerous occasions, leading to situations where wrestlers were getting the biggest push of their tenures just as their deals were due to expire, leaving the company with an embarrassing dilemma of either losing a major star before their story had played out, or paying over the odds to retain them.

It is not like TNA never had the opportunity to create stars and truly get behind them, but it seems that the desire was always to present an ensemble cast of main eventers rather than getting behind one undisputed top act. While honourable, this is not an approach that has a history of success in the wrestling industry. On the two occasions one star was billed above all others, both were company executives; Jeff Jarrett and Hulk Hogan, one who had proven time and time again in an otherwise perfectly credible career that he clearly lacked the skills to be a leading man, and the other whose body was so decrepid that TNA had to invest in a rampway to the ring so he would not have to climb the ring steps.

The opportunity was there to capitalise on the marketability of home-grown acts. Samoa Joe, early in his TNA run, showed signs of being as good an option to headline a wrestling promotion that the entire industry offered, before his role was muddied by the creative department. James Storm and Bobby Roode were both primed to break out as stars as they entered world title matches on pay-per-view, but the promotion could not bring itself to give the fans the satisfaction of seeing a new babyface champion crowned. When Austin Aries won the world title to give those fans a rare moment of satisfaction, he was then billed as a fluke champion, and turned heel against the audience's wishes. When fans demanded Desmond Wolfe be given a world title shot by overwhelmingly voting him to the summit of the top ten rankings system, he was jobbed out to "prove" that they were wrong.

Then again, when did TNA give its fans any satisfaction? Major storylines often ended before the heels had received their comeuppance, with the notable exception of the recent Dixie Carter table bump. Look at the amount of television time that was invested in the Main Event Mafia, The Band and Aces & Eights, three failed attempts to recreate the New World Order, whose main likeness to that faction was that they were never soundly beaten by the good guys.

One of the TNA creative department's proudest moments was the way it managed to explain Bully Ray's heel turn as the leader of Aces & Eights retrospectively. While a noble effort, this still was not without its flaws, because it was TNA's own booking that forced them to put the explanation together retrospectively. In truth, watching the story unfold in real time, it was incoherent and full of holes; if the turn had been planned out meticulously ahead of time and the details covered while it was unfolding, there would have been no need for an explanation afterwards!

TNA has never had any idea of its own direction or identity, or any fresh ideas as to how it could provide an alternative to WWE. Constantly rehashing dated concepts - from the NWO to worked shoots to garbage matches to overbooked finishes to stuntfests where the aim was to garner "holy s**t" and "this is awesome" chants that never put a dime in anybody's pocket - whether they worked the first time around or not, and with no understanding of the importance of context, is a fundamental lack of judgment that can not possibly lead to success. As for fostering brand loyalty amongst its audience, TNA did for that too, by turning Dixie Carter heel, and having popular babyfaces Hulk Hogan and AJ Styles cut on-air farewell promos announcing that they were quitting the company because it disgusted them so much.

If TNA's latest television deal serves only as a postponement of its downfall, the summer of 2014 will serve as a fitting epitaph to the promotion. Filming in the huge and lucrative New York City market for the first time, unable to sell more than a few hundred tickets, dedicating precious primetime television minutes to celebrating a completely separate promotion that went out of business thirteen years ago, whose intellectual property is owned by TNA's biggest rival, with the central storyline of a middle-aged female non-wrestler deservedly suffering a broken back at the hands of a heroic babyface named Bully.

This is a wrestling promotion that does not deserve to stay in business. It has struggled from the start, been kept alive by Panda Energy and a sweetheart deal from Spike TV, squandered said money and sweetheart deal, and even when the creative and marketing approach was obviously failing, no changes were made. I want TNA to disappear from the industry not for my own pleasure, but because I want future wrestling promoters to learn from its mistakes. TNA's demise could be its greatest legacy; the only way anything positive can come out of its contribution to the industry is for wrestling's future leaders to learn why it failed.

Very good article and sums up the issues with TNA perfectly, They've always seemed on the brink of something half decent and then ultimately mess it up.

We all thought the death of WCW would be viewed as a "how not to run a wrestling organization" and lessons would be learned but apparently not. TNA's early years were full of promise, and then something happened and it all started to go downhill. Im not entirely 100% on the history of TNA, but I recall on the old 606 it was never respected as much as it maybe should have been, even before Hogan and Bischoff arrived on the scene.

Off the top of my head I cant think of any other promotions that are anywhere near the state of ruin that TNA is currently in. I think you hit the nail on the head with Angle and Hardy, instead of bringing the promotion up, they brought the stars down, and that will be, for my money, TNA's biggest failing.

TNA isn't perfect, it never has been but the way so many TNA critics go on they make the wrestling industry sound like a video game, when it goes badly just reset and start again with a new company! People talk about GFW being potentially the next alternative to WWE if TNA goes, but let's face it it is another Jeff Jerrett promotion; if he can leave and abandon ship on his first promotion then why not do it again in a few years time if it doesn't succeed the way he wants it to? I don't want that to be the precedent for the business in the 21st century.

Why do so many wrestling fans wish the death of a company that has tried over and over again to fill a void left by WCW? Surely TNA's example is evidence that it is a lot easier said than done, why do these same people think another promotion will have more success? Direct competition with the WWE drove WCW out of business. Any wrestling promotion needs to come to terms with the fact that WWE will always have the lion's share in the business.

I don't want TNA to die not because I'm some TNA fanboy or mark but because I don't want the wrestling industry to become so self-destructive. There's many things I would change about TNA (I posted a thread on the very subject just recently) but I would rather have an imperfect TNA than no TNA at all.

talkingpoint wrote:TNA isn't perfect, it never has been but the way so many TNA critics go on they make the wrestling industry sound like a video game, when it goes badly just reset and start again with a new company! People talk about GFW being potentially the next alternative to WWE if TNA goes, but let's face it it is another Jeff Jerrett promotion; if he can leave and abandon ship on his first promotion then why not do it again in a few years time if it doesn't succeed the way he wants it to? I don't want that to be the precedent for the business in the 21st century.

Why do so many wrestling fans wish the death of a company that has tried over and over again to fill a void left by WCW? Surely TNA's example is evidence that it is a lot easier said than done, why do these same people think another promotion will have more success? Direct competition with the WWE drove WCW out of business. Any wrestling promotion needs to come to terms with the fact that WWE will always have the lion's share in the business.

I don't want TNA to die not because I'm some TNA fanboy or mark but because I don't want the wrestling industry to become so self-destructive. There's many things I would change about TNA (I posted a thread on the very subject just recently) but I would rather have an imperfect TNA than no TNA at all.

I don't think TNA needs to fail to benefit the wrestling industry...though it might serve as a wake-up call to the incompetent incumbents, currently overseeing things.

All they really need to do is assemble a creative team who have a clue how to use the talent at their disposal, write decent storylines that build and end in a fitting manner.

Agree with CT in a big way about the stars being dragged down, instead of elevating (and raising TNA with them). The frequent lack of structure to shows, with many hastily-contrived matches, the chopping and changing of formats and premature binning of storylines has done no-one any favours and has often killed entire shows, with the Impact Zone quite often resembling a library.

Bit of a sad indictment when the biggest / noisiest crowds have been in NY and London.

Again though, this could be sorted with some decent creative direction and maybe a few head honchos sacrificing their egos on the altar of survival / increased success.

They need to stop operating on the principle of organised chaos, draw up a long-term plan and stick to it.

Following on from GAvs article, here is a more pro TNA perspective of the future.

http://www.tnasylum.com/2014/08/spin-cycle-august-edition.html?m=1

The problem with the wrestling industry of the 21st century is that it is still living in the shadows of the industry from the '90s. That's why TNA feature hardcore reunion shows and allow fans to chant "ECDub" because they think that by association with ECW they will gain its cult status amongst fans. But what TNA doesn't realise is that ECW was a unique phenomenon that is irreplaceable. Lightening doesn't strike twice in the wrestling industry and TNA need to forge their own identity.

The WWE are also guilty of this error, many fans believe its current PG era is second rate compared to the Attitude era. Vince doesn't seem to trust his current roster with drawing the numbers at WrestleMania with the exception of Cena. That's why guys like the Rock and Batista are given the main event spot and why Lesnar was the one to take the Streak and not someone like Roman Reigns. No, instead your biggest marquee matches are made up of returning stars who only work a part time schedule. The WWE are desperate to hold onto the Rock for WM because the Rock has now transcended wrestling and is the flavour of the month in Hollywood. The Rock doesn't need the WWE to further his career in Hollywood but the WWE sure needs him for buyrates.

So I don't think this is something that TNA can be wholly blamed for but I do think it is something TNA need to let go of and move on.