The offical TNA thread - News, Spoilers and the rest...

takamichinoku

Dare_2_defy wrote: »

TNA and Hulk Hogan have agreed to terms on a new deal reports Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com. Hogan's current deal with TNA was set to expire this Monday, leading many to draw the conclusion that Bound for Glory could have been his final appearance with the company.

Christ, how could they let him into a contract that gives him that much leverage for negotiations.

Machismo Fan

takamichinoku wrote: »

Christ, how could they let him into a contract that gives him that much leverage for negotiations.

I'd imagine they had every intent to resign him anyway.

Machismo Fan

Based on the last three weeks of TV I had an idea that this was the case:
http://http://www.prowrestling.net/artman/publish/TNA/article10021150.shtml

Vince Russo is no longer the TNA creative team head writer. He has been replaced by Bruce Prichard, who also heads the talent relations division. Russo is now considered essentially a senior writer and continues to write the actual shows along with Matt Conway once the direction has been mapped out by Prichard, who also signs off on the scripts.

rovert

Very bad news in the long run. No way Bruce will be able to deal with responsibly.

Machismo Fan

Gotta start somewhere.

jaykhunter

I can't believe you're negative about this Rovert - Pritchard can hardly do a worse job than the shít-stained shows Russo has been heading for the last few years. ANY change has to be considered a great step - Russo being in charge has proven to be just SO awful. I won't write Pritchard off yet. If this is true and Russo's finally been demoted, there's a lot more light at the end of the tunnel for TNA.

Maybe in the long run, he can and will deal with responsibility. If it's true, this is a HUGE step forward for TNA.

rovert

Pritchard is worse than Russo. He was universally despised in WWE by everyone for being a yes man and doing **** all backstage. All he brought to TNA is the more modern WWE format sheets. According to reports he is also despised by the TNA locker room too. Also from a responsibility POV going by career track record he is liable to fall into a big pile of cocaine and check into rehab every once in a while too.

Yes a chimp could write more logically than Russo but Bruce is a prize asshole by all accounts and very bad for morale.

gnfnrhead

The problem was never Russo. It's those ahead of him who get the final say on what goes out. For most of his time in TNA it's been Jeff Jarrett but the last two odd years have been Hogan and/or Bischoff. Their was a short spell in between that saw Russo on his own and it was the best TNA had been in years. From a little before Wolfe debuted up to Hogan and Bischoff came in properly, he did by himself. You can not argue that that time frame, albeit short, was in any way bad.

Machismo Fan

gnfnrhead wrote: »

The problem was never Russo. It's those ahead of him who get the final say on what goes out. For most of his time in TNA it's been Jeff Jarrett but the last two odd years have been Hogan and/or Bischoff. Their was a short spell in between that saw Russo on his own and it was the best TNA had been in years. From a little before Wolfe debuted up to Hogan and Bischoff came in properly, he did by himself. You can not argue that that time frame, albeit short, was in any way bad.

I'd argue that late '09 was pandering to the internet as a politicking ploy with Hogan and Bischoff coming in. And while the matches were good the booking still left an awful lot to be desired. And since Jarrett was ousted in mid 2009 Russo has had the final say regarding the vast majority of everything you see on iMPACT!. He still set the direction and wrote the shows.

jaykhunter

I don't believe Hogan and Bischoff actually have storyline final say. It's Russo that signs off on the episodes, writes the shows etc. The production values went up (i'd credit Bischoff for that 'reaction style' shooting etc), but in general we still got the same garbage we've gotten since Russo came in about 5 years ago.

TNA still had booking problems pre-russo but never of the shítstorm magnitude we've seen since he arrived. He's literally the worst thing to happen to TNA.

That few months of pre-Hogan in 2009 were an anomaly, i agree with Machismo Fan. The idea that this guy "suddenly" gets wrestling is more than suspicious.

gnfnrhead

Machismo Fan wrote: »

I'd argue that late '09 was pandering to the internet as a politicking ploy with Hogan and Bischoff coming in. And while the matches were good the booking still left an awful lot to be desired. And since Jarrett was ousted in mid 2009 Russo has had the final say regarding the vast majority of everything you see on iMPACT!. He still set the direction and wrote the shows.

The internet fanbase is TNA's main audiance. Most "casual" wrestling fans watch WWE with only a small number of them watching TNA. It makes sense to cater to your main audiance rather than the audiance that isnt even watching, like they currently do.

jaykhunter

It's so odd that Russo's shoot/internet smarky show is directly aimed at the internet fans - the "10%ers" as Bischoff would say; but it's proven that a heavy smarky/backstage crap show is not what internet fans (and casual fans) want.

Machismo Fan

gnfnrhead wrote: »

The internet fanbase is TNA's main audiance. Most "casual" wrestling fans watch WWE with only a small number of them watching TNA. It makes sense to cater to your main audiance rather than the audiance that isnt even watching, like they currently do.

A small percentage of TNA's weekly 1.5 million are internet fans. The vast, vast majority of them are casual fans.

jaykhunter wrote: »

It's so odd that Russo's shoot/internet smarky show is directly aimed at the internet fans - the "10%ers" as Bischoff would say; but it's proven that a heavy smarky/backstage crap show is not what internet fans (and casual fans) want.

Just for the record when Bischoff says 10%ers he means the ten percent of the internet fans that make the most noise. Not all internet fans.

jaykhunter

aha. I know that there are millions of wrestling fans on facebook/twitter (see Cena's FB page) but I would count them as casuals. imo IWC = dirt-sheet reading/consciously discussing wrestling folk. Which'd be much less than 10% of the wrestling fans who are on the internet imo! 1% i reckon.

GTR63

http://www.prowrestling.net/artman/publish/TNA/article10021145.shtml
Dixie Carter is 47 today old, add her to Sigourney Weaver & Marisa Tomei to mature ladies as the oldest women I would.

rovert

jaykhunter wrote: »

I don't believe Hogan and Bischoff actually have storyline final say. It's Russo that signs off on the episodes, writes the shows etc. The production values went up (i'd credit Bischoff for that 'reaction style' shooting etc), but in general we still got the same garbage we've gotten since Russo came in about 5 years ago.

The way Ive always read it was Eric and Hullk cant be arsed writing copy so they keep Russo on to do the grut work and draft up scripts.

jaykhunter

randomly enough, was listening to this Brian Fritz/Mike Johnson (21st Sept) podcast (Prior to Pritchard being announced as head writer for TNA). Fritz asks Mike Johnson (PWInsider) about the TNA Creative hierarchy :

Russo - lead writer
Conway/Pritchard under him
Dixie has a lot of influence/creative direction (filtered thru her)
Bischoff - liason to spike TV/TV producer
Hogan - no real say/just gives feedback (Russo wouldn't have a job if he was in power); there for the paycheque.

So take that fwiw

rovert

For the record I like Mike Johnson a lot he is only second to Meltzer when it comes to wrestling journalist and probably first when it comes to scoopz. Too bad he is employed by Dave Scherer. :eek:

jaykhunter

i'm not familiar with specific reporters (beyond Meltzer/Fritz and the LAW)...what's the story with Dave Sherer?

rovert

jaykhunter wrote: »

i'm not familiar with specific reporters (beyond Meltzer/Fritz and the LAW)...what's the story with Dave Sherer?

He is just a nut case. He owns PWInsider. I get random unsolicited emails from him and everything.

He has a very 90s view of the Wrestling world. If Meltzer or Keller breaks a story he never acknowledges it as they are COMPETITION. He had a meltdown last summer when posters on the PWInsider forum were (mildly by this site and other sites standards) critical of Tommy Dreamers thank you Dixie promo that lead into Hardcore Justice. He threatened to shutdown the forum because of it. Tommy Dreamer is a big time source and TNA is an advertiser there.

Great shame Mike Johnson & Dave Meltzer dont have a site together IMO. Mike is way better and works harder than Bryan Alverez.

rovert

More on Bruce Prichard after remembering what was written in Ring of Hell and elsewhere.

Bruce Prichard was one of the guys who traded racist banter with Michael Hayes as a common occurrence. Another reason why he is a weird hire. Given the Konnan, Killings and Kong's accusations of racism.

Also described as a common occurrence was Prichard shaking as he walked around Titan Towers asking his coworkers if they had any painkillers, as well as randomly crying during creative meetings and taking leaves of absences for "personal issues."

GTR63

rovert wrote: »

randomly crying during creative meetings

That made me laugh so much.

rovert

GTR63 wrote: »

That made me laugh so much.

Modern day WWE creative meetings would probably have the same effect on most posters here.

rovert

Oh yeah I forgot Bruce put up a resume online. Some porkies here:

Managed production of live domestic and international television programs weekly. Responsible for all creative content, production, and programming of WWE's multiple televison series. Managed all content from inception to execution of six hours of original programming weekly. Managed all talent, office staff, and 150+ independent contractors. Managed daily operation of event touring coordinating talent, travel, and production. WWE, a publicly traded company (NYSE: WWE), is an integrated media organization and recognized leader in global entertainment. WWE programming is broadcast in more than 145 countries and 30 languages and reaches more than 500 million homes worldwide.

Wrote and produced over six hours of original programming on a weekly basis for 22 years. Programming was consistently rated in the top ten year round while occupying the number one slot for basic cable programming 90% of the year.

Worked with top executives Kaye Koplovitz and Bonnie Hammer at USA NETWORK, Dick Ebersol, President of NBC SPORTS to produce Saturday Night's Main Event and The Slammies on NBC and FOX. Worked briefly with Les Monsvees while providing programming for VIACOM on over 50 programs. Worked with producers at UNIVISION to create a telenovela wrestling show. Upon returning to the USA NETWORK once again worked with Bonnie Hamme and Jeff Zucker with Universal.

Along with Shane McMahon, Simon Cowell and Simon Fuller Bruce helped to create an entertainment vehicle for unknown singers called "American Idol". The story is documented in Mr. Cowells biography.

Restructured independent contractors pay basis to a performance based pay system. The contract system was revolutionary, and provided the opportunity for the talent to realize more income while significantly increasing the bottom line. This contribution enabled the company to go from losing money, to going public in a few years and being valued over $5B.

Created "Encore Pay Per View" events that enabled viewers to watch event programming at their leisure. This allowed the company to utilize its marketing and promotion for one live event to be extended to promote how great the event was versus how great it will be. This increased revenue 30-50%, by giving viewers the opportunity to view the events on their schedule if unable to view live.

rovert

This isnt a lol TNA post given how good the show was I am very disappointed

TNA News: Impact Wrestling ratings are in for Thursday's show - lowest rating of the year

Oct 7, 2011 - 6:06:34 PM

By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor


TNA Impact Wrestling on Thursday, October 6 scored a 1.01 rating, the lowest of the year and down from a 1.14 rating last week, for an episode marketed around Hulk Hogan's retirement tease.

Impact averaged 1.38 million viewers, which was the second-lowest audience of the year, just ahead of 1.36 million viewers on September 8.

-- On cable TV Thursday night, Impact ranked #21 overall, #13 among males 18-34, and #8 among males 18-49. There was plenty of tough cable TV competition including Tigers-Yankees playoff baseball (9.70 million viewers), Jersey Shore, and college football.

Despite an 11 percent decline in the overall rating, the key male demographic ratings were very similar to last week, although Impact has been trending below the yearly average the past few weeks.

As we've noted in recent ratings reports, a significant portion of the Impact audience appears to be older than 49-years-old. Baseball also skews toward an older audience, which is likely why TNA's overall rating dropped 11 percent and key male demos (18-34 and 18-49) were virtually even.

Competition will likely be viewed as the key reason for Impact drawing its lowest rating of the year, but Impact was topped by lesser competition. Comedy Central's Gabriel Iglesisas half-hour special and Tosh.0 beat Impact in total viewers and adult male demos during the second hour. In overall viewers, Impact was topped by a Lifetime special, "After the Runway."

-- One year ago this week leading into the 10-10-10 Bound for Glory PPV, Spike TV presented a live Impact special that scored a 1.33 rating and averaged 1.70 million viewers. Two years ago this week, Impact's audience was nearly identical - 1.01 rating and an average of 1.30 million viewers.

Looking at the demographics, the year-to-year comparison also captures TNA skewing toward an older audience and losing younger viewers. One year ago, Impact scored a 1.31 rating among teen males 12-17. This week's Impact scored a 0.33 rating in the demo, which is a 75 percent decline.

gnfnrhead

In general a good show doesnt reflect the ratings that week. It's next week's you should be looking at. Basically, the rating for this week is based on how well they sold it last week.

I do wonder how Bischoff would try and spin this though. It was based around the biggest name in wrestling announcing his "retirement". The arguement I used wouldnt really be enough to explain it and would pretty much be admitting that the previous week's show was crap if it resulted in a lower rating.

rovert

gnfnrhead wrote: »

In general a good show doesnt reflect the ratings that week. It's next week's you should be looking at. Basically, the rating for this week is based on how well they sold it last week.

Defo. It is a lag indicated, but still it sucks.

jaykhunter

My worry is that they pin this on Roode as opposed to Hogan. That said they built up Hogan's retirement as a work so maybe people got annoyed at it. Or maybe the 1% of TNA fans read the spoilers and didn't bother.

In any case this is a hell of a time to get a dip in their ratings (this close to their WrestleMania)

GTR63

It went head to head with Baseball but it is dissapointing that now the show is slightly improving the ratings dip. Like jayk I hope Rhoode doesn't get blamed I don't want anything to effect him vs Angle.

rovert

TNA News: Former WWE writer joins the TNA creative staff
Oct 14, 2011 - 03:12 PM

Former WWE creative team member Dave Lagana has joined the TNA creative division as the Director of Creative Writing. "I leave Ring of Honor Wrestling to tackle new challenges," Lagana wrote on his website. "I’ve accepted a position as Director of Creative Writing with TNA Wrestling.

"My duties will be to focus solely on the development of new wrestling shows beyond the Impact Wrestling show. I’m excited to see what the future holds and thank everyone for the support over not only the last nine months of this site but through my entire career." To read the full blog, visitIWantWrestling.com.

Powell's POV: Lagana was with WWE from 2002 to 2008. Paul Heyman wanted to bring Lagana and Gabe Sapolsky with him to TNA when he was negotiating with Dixie Carter. TNA would also be wise to use Lagana for his social media knowledge. It's worth noting that Lagana worked under Bruce Prichard while both men were in WWE.

I guess the #iwantwrestling hashtag migrates to TNF'NA :eek: