The Katz Files
Monday War Journal

The Kingfish Arnie Katz delivers his report and analysis of the 3/8 episodes of RAW and iMPACT.

When countries or companies go to war, the outcome of early battles often comes as a surprise to one or both of the combatants.

Residents of Washington, DC, turned out for the Battle of Bull Run/First Manassas like it was a lawn party, but the confrontation became a bloody rout that put quite a few spectators behind enemy lines by the time it ended. Soldiers in early World War I battles got an even more unpleasant, and deadlier, surprise when they tried to cross open terrain in the face of automatic weapons fire.

I don’t know about everyone else, but I wasn’t expecting both sides to lose nor did I anticipate the scope and degree of the collator damage. Neither RAW nor iMPACT pulled off the blockbuster show that might’ve lead to a more decisive outcome.

iMPACT drew approximately a 1.0 rating, which is in the ballpark for a typical Thursday iMPACT. Meanwhile, RAW’s rating eroded still further. That means TNA probably gained some of RAW’s usual audience, but that only balanced the loss of fans who didn’t make the switch from Thursday night.

Spike claims to be happy with this performance. I sort of believe them, because they are evidently happy with other shows that wouldn’t put smiles on the faces of many other broadcasting executives. Still, Spike didn’t move iMPACT to Monday so it could get the same, if not a little lower, rating than it would have scored by staying put.

Both shows pinned their hopes on hotshot main events, Mr. McMahon vs. John Cena and Hogan/Abyss vs. Flair/Styles. The tag team match went better than the Gauntlet match, but neither proved an outstanding success. They did all right, but not nearly well enough to justify the tremendous waste of time spent on building up attractions that weren’t, well, all that attractive.

The stalemate favors WWE. The company has much deeper pockets than TNA and will win a war of attrition. TNA has to break through in short order and it is unlikely that continued emphasis on grandfatherly ting legends will be the tool that dislodges WWE.

Both companies need to step up. WWE is heading to WrestleMania, which is an automatic edge, but that TNA roster is loaded with talent that could burst forth with good booking.

Hopefully, TNA and WWE ill be ready for the 3/15 renewal of their competition. If not, then fans will take more collateral damage for a war that neither side seems to know how to fight.

A Personal Note from the Kingfish
I apologize for my silence since Monday. Without boring everyone with the details, let’s just say that several problems disrupted the usual flow of words emanating from Las Vegas.

I’ll be back on the weekend with another column in an effort to release all my pent-up observations and opinions.

– Arnie Katz
Executive Editor
Crossfire4@cox.net
(3/12/10)