The Monday night war turned into an annihilation. The WWE flexed its muscles and pushed TNA off of Monday nights rather easily. All it took was some scared executives and “Wrestlemania” season. The WWE decided to make its draft special, a three-hour show which put it up directly against TNA for two hours. The numbers were staggering, in how TNA got dropped to a 0.5 rating.
This rating was the lowest in “Impact” history. TNA decided to drag its tail between its legs and head back to Thursday nights. That’s why they decided to leave Mondays, but let’s dive into this a little more. TNA first moves to Monday, but Spike sees that the Thursday night replay was still doing a good rating.
So instead of pulling the plug on the Thursday show, forcing viewers to watch on Monday, Spike insists that TNA keep the Thursday replay. That was the first big mistake. You cannot give the audience a choice; of course they would keep watching Thursday instead of splitting time between “Raw” and “Impact.”
The next big mistake was tinkering with the timeslot on Monday. First, they decide to go head to head, 9 to 11 p.m. That was a joke from the start. They were never going to put a dent in those ratings for at least six-months to one-year. Then they move “Impact” from 8 to 10 p.m., which made more sense.
But does it take a rocket scientist to understand that the best way for TNA to have built a Monday audience was for them to be on 7 to 9 p.m.? You keep that schedule for about six months, and then evaluate what you see. If the numbers are good and you think it’s time to go 8 to 10 p.m., then do so. The problem is, when it comes to TV, sadly executives have no clue.
So now, TNA is on 9 to 11 p.m. on Thursday nights. It follows a new wrap-up show called “TNA Reaction” (which by the way is awesome…check out this new refreshing approach to a wrestling show). What does this all mean for the long run? Not much. TNA can survive on Thursday nights. If the ratings come back to the usual 1.2 range, Spike will have no problem holding special shows on Monday nights here and there.
Where TNA needs to go from here is pretty simple. Try to go out and get some PPVs on Saturday night. Mix it up, get people to watch on a night they can hang out with the boys and kick back with a few brewskies. This is your audience TNA, wake up. As for the WWE, they win again, but not the way they wanted to.
The WWE was secretly hoping that this new Monday night war would eventually get them more viewers. It did not. They lost viewers. Last week’s show was down to a 3.1. The WWE likes to be in the 3.4 to 3.6 range. But the WWE machine will continue to roll on Mondays because it is now iconic. There’s “Monday Night Football” and “Monday Night Raw.”
It looks like former WWE superstar Hurricane Shane Helms is about to sign with TNA wrestling. Reportedly, he has verbally agreed to a deal. TNA is also in talks with former WWE diva Maria, but they have hit a snag when it comes to money. To sign all of this new talent, some old talent has to go. Tara is no longer with TNA as of this past Sunday. She is looking to get back to the WWE, but that does not look to be in the cards right now.
The WWE has let Shelton Benjamin go. There has been no word on where he will end up. Not everyone can sign on to TNA. Especially with the full roster TNA has right now. The most likely scenario is that he gets used on a pay-per-play deal in TNA, where he gets paid a fixed amount per appearance. This helps keep the cost down for TNA, but the drawback is the WWE can swoop in at any moment and sign these stars.
There is a possibility that Batista will be walking away from the WWE in the near future. The Animal is supposedly irate over losing a lead role in an upcoming WWE movie. So much so, he has threatened to give his notice. Somehow, the Sixshooter thinks they will work things out.
Do not look for the “old” John Cena to return. Cena was asked on his official twitter last week about if he thought his character was too watered down. Cena thought that in today’s market, he could no longer do his “rapping” routine that brought him fame. It is sad that Cena actually believes this. The WWE has watered down its entire product, and the show has dramatically been affected.
That is all for this month Sixshooter-a-holics. Like the great Scott Hall always says, “Another win…for the good guys!” Make sure to check me out on the web daily over at http://www.garden-state-of-mind.com or over at twitter at http://www.twitter.com/matthew_guerra.