As officially announced yesterday, TNA will be moving Impact to a Monday night timeslot on SpikeTV, going head to head with WWE Raw on the USA Network. The initial plan is for Impact to be broadcast live every other week, with a taped episode on the alternating week, going up against the always live Raw. Ever since Hulk Hogan came to TNA, it has been said repeatedly that his goal was to bring TNA to Monday night, and in less than three months, it has come to pass. The question now becomes, is TNA ready for this challenge?
Looking at both shows, and the timing of this decision, several factors immediately jump out.
- TNA will be "moving in" during WWE's peak period. Wrestlemania will only be a few weeks away when March 8th rolls in, and traditionally WWE has had their strongest Raw broadcasts, both from a storyline and action standpoint, in the weeks leading to their biggest event of the year. This means TNA Impact will be competing with the "best stuff" WWE has to offer, which could make it difficult to pull viewers away from USA Network. At the same time, WWE's audience will never be greater, meaning there will be a lot more "channel surfers" during commercial breaks that could potentially stop to check out the "other" wrestling show.
- TV-PG vs. TV-14. WWE has toned down the racier aspects of their programming, and whether it is because of Linda McMahon's political aspirations, the new toy deal with Mattel, or a combination of both, it is very obvious that there is a lot less "attitude" than there once was. Sure, there is the occasional innuendo or joke tossed about, but the days of Diva lingerie magazines, swimsuit DVDs, blatant sexual content, extreme violence and bloodshed is over (for now). Over on SpikeTV (a channel that seems to love innuendo and sexual content in their shows), you literally have women pointing at their rear ends while straddling the middle rope so the camera man can get behind them and zoom in for a crotch shot. While the audience is asked to refrain from cursing, you'll hear a steady stream of bleeps coming from their performers. Blood, barbed wire, tables? You got it. There is an obvious philosophical difference in how the two products are being presented at this point, and that could benefit (or hurt) TNA, depending on your preferences.
- The only person to ever beat Vince McMahon is working for TNA. Love him or hate him, the simple fact is that Eric Bischoff is the only person to ever present a wrestling product head-to-head with WWE and win. Yes, he had "Ted Turner's money" to back him up, but people don't tune into a show because of who writes the checks. Bischoff led WCW to their most successful period ever, and that should not be discounted just because of the mistakes that were made with the company later on. TNA has national television exposure, a network that is willing to go into battle on Monday nights, and apparently the financial resources to bring in (and hopefully keep) a large roster of talent. These are the same tools that Bischoff started with in WCW.
- TNA has six months to win over that coveted male demographic before cable's biggest monster returns. It can't be denied that when it comes to grabbing men from the age of 15 to 85, the one cable program that can't be beat is Monday Night Football. Even boring games do monster ratings when compared to other cable fare. We've also seen in the past how wrestling can sometimes take a beating as men gravitate away from wrestling for a few months during football season. By moving to Mondays now, TNA has a chance to win over as much of the audience as possible before there is a third option being presented to their viewers.
- Time waits for no man, brother. How much "juice" does Hulk Hogan have left? With every year that passes, the generation that remembers Hulk Hogan as a wrestling superstar, as opposed to a reality TV mainstay, gets a little older, and the audience gets a little smaller. The same holds true for those that remember Ric Flair when he was wrestling for World Championships, not talking about how many he held. The longer TNA waits to use their remaining popularity to create a foothold on Monday nights, the more it diminishes. To get the biggest return on these investments, they need to be capitalized on immediately.
- WWE is at a crossroads with their "superstars" at the top. Rock and Austin are gone. Undertaker and Shawn Michaels are nearing the end of their storied careers. Triple H will be the only remaining headliner from the "Attitude" era, and Chris Jericho seems to be the only wrestler interested in truly making new stars. When it comes to young headliners, there is John Cena and... well, that's it. Edge, Batista and Rey Mysterio, for all their popularity, have all missed large chunks of time with injuries, forcing WWE to survive without them. However, there is a lot of talent bubbling under the surface at the moment. Randy Orton looks to finally be fulfilling his potential and there is a slew of young talent like Sheamus, CM Punk, Ted DiBiase, Kofi Kingston and others who, with the right storylines, could be seen as permanent main eventers. It is in TNA's best interest to strike now, before WWE finally utilizes the younger members of their roster.
- Numbers don't lie. The highest rating TNA has ever garnered for SpikeTV was on Monday night, going against Raw. None of the Thursday broadcasts have done as well as that show. That, more than anything else, should be reason enough to make the permanent move now.
Looking at both shows, and the timing of this decision, several factors immediately jump out.
- TNA will be "moving in" during WWE's peak period. Wrestlemania will only be a few weeks away when March 8th rolls in, and traditionally WWE has had their strongest Raw broadcasts, both from a storyline and action standpoint, in the weeks leading to their biggest event of the year. This means TNA Impact will be competing with the "best stuff" WWE has to offer, which could make it difficult to pull viewers away from USA Network. At the same time, WWE's audience will never be greater, meaning there will be a lot more "channel surfers" during commercial breaks that could potentially stop to check out the "other" wrestling show.
- TV-PG vs. TV-14. WWE has toned down the racier aspects of their programming, and whether it is because of Linda McMahon's political aspirations, the new toy deal with Mattel, or a combination of both, it is very obvious that there is a lot less "attitude" than there once was. Sure, there is the occasional innuendo or joke tossed about, but the days of Diva lingerie magazines, swimsuit DVDs, blatant sexual content, extreme violence and bloodshed is over (for now). Over on SpikeTV (a channel that seems to love innuendo and sexual content in their shows), you literally have women pointing at their rear ends while straddling the middle rope so the camera man can get behind them and zoom in for a crotch shot. While the audience is asked to refrain from cursing, you'll hear a steady stream of bleeps coming from their performers. Blood, barbed wire, tables? You got it. There is an obvious philosophical difference in how the two products are being presented at this point, and that could benefit (or hurt) TNA, depending on your preferences.
- The only person to ever beat Vince McMahon is working for TNA. Love him or hate him, the simple fact is that Eric Bischoff is the only person to ever present a wrestling product head-to-head with WWE and win. Yes, he had "Ted Turner's money" to back him up, but people don't tune into a show because of who writes the checks. Bischoff led WCW to their most successful period ever, and that should not be discounted just because of the mistakes that were made with the company later on. TNA has national television exposure, a network that is willing to go into battle on Monday nights, and apparently the financial resources to bring in (and hopefully keep) a large roster of talent. These are the same tools that Bischoff started with in WCW.
- TNA has six months to win over that coveted male demographic before cable's biggest monster returns. It can't be denied that when it comes to grabbing men from the age of 15 to 85, the one cable program that can't be beat is Monday Night Football. Even boring games do monster ratings when compared to other cable fare. We've also seen in the past how wrestling can sometimes take a beating as men gravitate away from wrestling for a few months during football season. By moving to Mondays now, TNA has a chance to win over as much of the audience as possible before there is a third option being presented to their viewers.
- Time waits for no man, brother. How much "juice" does Hulk Hogan have left? With every year that passes, the generation that remembers Hulk Hogan as a wrestling superstar, as opposed to a reality TV mainstay, gets a little older, and the audience gets a little smaller. The same holds true for those that remember Ric Flair when he was wrestling for World Championships, not talking about how many he held. The longer TNA waits to use their remaining popularity to create a foothold on Monday nights, the more it diminishes. To get the biggest return on these investments, they need to be capitalized on immediately.
- WWE is at a crossroads with their "superstars" at the top. Rock and Austin are gone. Undertaker and Shawn Michaels are nearing the end of their storied careers. Triple H will be the only remaining headliner from the "Attitude" era, and Chris Jericho seems to be the only wrestler interested in truly making new stars. When it comes to young headliners, there is John Cena and... well, that's it. Edge, Batista and Rey Mysterio, for all their popularity, have all missed large chunks of time with injuries, forcing WWE to survive without them. However, there is a lot of talent bubbling under the surface at the moment. Randy Orton looks to finally be fulfilling his potential and there is a slew of young talent like Sheamus, CM Punk, Ted DiBiase, Kofi Kingston and others who, with the right storylines, could be seen as permanent main eventers. It is in TNA's best interest to strike now, before WWE finally utilizes the younger members of their roster.
- Numbers don't lie. The highest rating TNA has ever garnered for SpikeTV was on Monday night, going against Raw. None of the Thursday broadcasts have done as well as that show. That, more than anything else, should be reason enough to make the permanent move now.