PWP’s John “JCD” Dimiceli talks about the debut episode of TNA Impact Wrestling on POPTV.
We are officially on the road to the TNA Impact Wrestling debut on PopTV. There are many things TNA must address before the Tuesday, January 5th kickoff episode.
This article will take a look at what TNA must do going forward to be successful in possibly their final chance on television.
Expect a Changing Fan Base: There will be an audience shift for starters and they will lose some audience based off of POP TV not being carried by every cable provider, but on the flip side they can gain a new audience from people who watch programming on POP TV already. TNA were smart and aired recaps of 2015 before the first new episode airs.
No More House Shows: TNA house shows to be blunt draw nothing. How many times have there been reports of 150, 200, barely 500 fans? You won’t make money like that, obviously you would lose money; the other problem is when half the roster does not go on the road. I would say wait at least 6 months to a year before revisiting this part of the business.
Tape Less; Go Live More: 6 episodes in a week followed by what seems to be another 4 episodes the next week is just too much to tape at once. There is too much to leave to chance with injuries, contracts coming up and new signings that would have to wait to debut. While I understand the savings in taping this way, hopefully this new deal will allow TNA the ability to stretch out their taping schedule and adjust the format of how TV is produced.
Character and Roster Stability: Too many times TNA has flip-flopped characters without and explanation or reason at the drop of a dime. You’re a heel this week, a face next week and vise versa. They need to stop “Big Showing” their characters. This will help the story lines to develop as well as allow the audience to become invested in characters for more than a few weeks. It also will allow talent to develop their personas over the long haul instead of the quick shot for the moment.
Finding Stars in Secondary Divisions: Not necessarily the champion, but the person and persons that the X-Division, Knockouts and Tag divisions will center around. Face or heel it must be someone both audiences home and live are invested it. A heel that people will want to see get his, but always slither away. A face who people want to see make it to the top but always has something thrown in the way.
First Impressions Matter: Booking the debut episode on Pop should be very easy. TNA has the same 2 hour block so I would book the following:
Opening Matches: Semi-Finals for the TNA World Championship Finals
Bobby Lashley vs. Ethan Carter III
Matt Hardy vs. Eric Young
A few quick features reintroducing the stars of the company to the new audience through out the show.
Debuting Michael Bennett and Maria Kanellis
Drew Galloway vs. Eli Drake
TNA Knockouts Championship Match: Gail Kim (c) vs. Taryn Terrell
TNA World Tag Team Championship Match: The Wolves issue an open challenge
Finals for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship: Ethan Carter III vs. Matt Hardy
If TNA Impact Wrestling can do these things and keep their fans happy, I think they can be successful on a new network. What do you think? Leave a comment.
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