The Katz Files
The War Is Not Over

The Kingfish Arnie Katz believes that the battle between TNA and WWE is not over. He takes advantage of what he terms “a pause” to reflect on the struggle so far and where it could go next.

Pro wrestling journalists, including my esteemed colleague Jay Shannon right here at Online World of Wrestling, have written columns about the end of the war between WWE and TNA.

I understand the thinking, but I reject it. The war between WWE ad TNA will not end until either Bischoff and Hogan drink Vince McMahon’s blood in a victory toast at WWE headquarters or Vince gets the chance to bungle both the ”TNA Invasion” and “Promotion Unification” angles.

This is merely the pause between engagements. Despite the spin Dixie Carter gave it on the 5/3 iMPACT. YNA has crawled back to the safe haven of Thursday night, 9-11 PM like a whipped dog with its head hung low and its tail between its legs.

On the wings of laughable over-confidence and egomania, TNA’s new management took iMPACT to Monday Night, where RAW handed them their head on a platter.

Though the total rating for the first and repeat showings of TNA’s two-hour TV show add up to a slight improvement over TNA’s old Thursday night. Still, an original ‘cast on Thursday and a repeat on any other night except Monday might do as well or even better.

TNA’s pay per view buy-rate is just plain awful. I don’t think WWE will worry much as long as TNA sells 30,000 subscriptions to each pay per view and half-fills small auditoriums with its house shows.

TNA had no business – and “business” is the key word – going head-to-head with WWE on Monday at this stage. It seems like Bischoff and Hogan bought into their own myth that fans were just waiting for them and their aging cronies to appear for the opportunity to desert WWE.

So they assumedeverything was working and that fans would check out iMPACT and become regular viewers/ Empirical evidence says that didn’t happen. Good sense says there was no basis for expecting it to happen.

Hogan and Bischoff have done some good things. If they can cut back on the mistakes, the inconsistencies, the illogical angles and the creaky oldsters, they could blend TNA’s pre-existing strengths with the positive aspects of what they bring to the situation and, in time, develop a promotion that could actually go head to head with RAW on Monday night.

The Next Battle

TNA isn’t dead, just a little scorched around the edges as a result of the premature head-to-head with RAW. The promotion, reunited with its ore Thursday audience, can solidify, improve and rebuild. Perhaps TNA will even be able to prepare for another challenge to RAW’s Monday night supremacy.

TNA doesn’t need to start from zero, but the people running it are going to have to put aside some of their ego crap and start running TNA like a business.

The current slipshod, seat-of-the-pants management is not working. The complete misread about TNA’s readiness to go to Monday night is damning evidence of a basic failure to treat TNA as something more than a customized media stage for two of its managers, Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff.

I’m not shouting, “Throw the rascals out!” That’s not realistic and it’s not necessary. Hogan and Bischoff can make valuable contributions both in front of and behind the cameras. But only if they recognize that the show is not about them.

Here are some suggestions for TNA, going forward:

Listen to the Fans
What management thinks fans want is much less important than tracking what the fans like and what they don’t. TNA doesn’t respond to the fans, even when adverse reaction runs for weeks.

I’m not saying to kill anything that doesn’t get a monster pop the first night. But when the fans consistently don’t like something, forcing it down their throats accomplishes nothing.

Build to the PPVs
TNA has done a terrible job of hyping its pay per views. Under Bischoff and Hogan, it has done even worse. The build-up either starts too late or reaches its peak much too early.

TNA should not be booked like an indie doing a one-show date in a town it won’t visit for six months. Matches should have motivation, which should derive from the characters. Instant feuds simply don’t generate the same level of fan enthusiasm.

Hire a Writer
TNA desperately needs help in plotting and dialogue. That Hogan-Sting segment on 5/3 made that all too clear. They don’t cost much, considering the show-wide improvement they can make.

Conversations don’t have to be scripted, but every performer with a mic should have something to say. What’s said on the microphone must lead to something that will happen in the ring. The purpose of talk segments is to build up the plots that support matches, not build up the egos of guys with the power to give themselves the stick.

Stop Overki8ll
Because of its more lenient rating, TNA can do things on its shows that WWE can’t duplicate without endangering its “PG.” Just because TNA can do something is not a reason for TNA to do it over and over until it kills its advantage through over-use.

Bloody matches should be special, shocking, not something you see two or three times a show Any gimmick used too often grows dull.

Cut Back on Cluster Schmazzes
TNA has quite a few good-to-excellent wrestlers, which makes it hard to resist the temptation to throw a bunch of them into the ring and let them go wild. They arena fans chant, “TNA!” after every eye-popping spot and that might make the match seem like a success.

TNA needs to create stars and the cream can’t rise to the top if its trapped in unmotivated six- and eight-person matches, battle royals and other contests that do little more than fill up time.

Establish Consistent Booking
Inconsistent booking is actually worse than flat-out bad booking. Characters shouldn’t change very two weeks; think out the characters better and stick with them.

TNA can come back. Whether it will depends on whether the promotion continues to flail aimlessly or buckles down to the demands of a big-time pro wrestling promotion.

I’ll be back on Friday with another installment of the Internet’s fastest-rising pro wrestling column. I hope you’ll join me then and, please, bring your friends.

– Arnie Katz
Executive Editor
Crossfire4@cox.net
(5/12/10)