Opinion by S_D

I must say, as skeptical I was of this TNA venture on FOX Sports Net, they really knocked a home run—nay; a grand slam today in their very first show on national television.

Granted, TNA has a lot of factors working against them in this situation. 3:00pm on Friday afternoons isn’t the best timeslot in the world. They are paying out of their own pocket for the time. Dave Meltzer says they are paying approximately $15,000 a week for the timeslot. Add that in to the weekly live PPV costs, about $50,000 a week, and it seems like this has a great chance to drown TNA in a bottomless sea of red ink. However, after watching their debut show this afternoon (and I skipped class to do so, since my Friday afternoon college class ends at 2:50pm), they have a lot of things going for them. But more on that later.

What I would like to examine right now is the talk and speculation that this TV deal, if it fails, could sink TNA to the professional wrestling promotion graveyard alongside the rotting corpses of WCW, ECW, the AWA, the WWA, SMW, MLW, UWF, and so many more. I would like to give John Collins’ Main Event Championship Wrestling (don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten about that debacle from July 2001 already; no not THAT debacle) its own sentence just because of how much of a supreme failure it was. But one of those companies found itself in a somewhat similar situation a few years ago. That company was the renegade Philadelphia, PA promotion that every hardcore wrestling fan will forever keep in their heart known as Extreme Championship Wrestling.

Extreme Championship Wrestling and Total Nonstop Action are two very similar promotions in very similar situations a few years apart.

While some regarded ECW as the “Rebel without a Cause,” it’s quite obvious that wasn’t the case. They had a cause. The cause was to shake up the at-the-time walking dead world of wrestling and create a viable, serious alternative to the campy, cartoon wrestling promotions of the WWF and WCW. In fact, they could have been labeled the “Rebel without a Home.” However, in July of 1999, the rebel found its home in The Nashville Network. On Friday, August 27th, 1999, ECW presented their first ever nationally televised wrestling show. Many thought this would be the thing that would save ECW from financial oblivion, finally bring Paul Heyman’s business back in the black, and would finally make them a viable contender in the world of American wrestling. Had you suggested at the time that this TV deal would be the biggest proponent in their death, you probably would have been put through a flaming table.

But that’s ultimately what happened. TNN raped ECW of what it was and stripped it down to make it look nothing more than a bush league promotion. And on TNN, that’s exactly what it was. And less than two years later, ECW (as we knew it) was but a distant memory.

ECW had a lot of things running against it. Friday night at 8:00pm is a death slot, as Lance Storm has said many times in his website commentary. They got no promotion whatsoever from TNN. In the year-plus that ECW was on TNN, I probably saw one ECW commercial the entire time on television on a channel not named TNN. ECW’s first show was essentially a recap show, highlighting and providing detail on all their current champions. That proved to be a huge error. Their ECW Champion at the time was Taz, so they basically built the show around him. What was the problem? He signed with the WWF about three weeks later. Although he didn’t leave until December, it was a mistake to bank their first show around a man whom ultimately would have barely any presence on the show after the first month.

Now that we have the luxury of a precedent being set, we now can logically make arguments that a bad television deal could potentially spell the end of a fledgling promotion such as TNA. We know what happened to ECW. TNN wanted the violence toned down. ECW became infamous because of their bloody brawls. Sure, unmatched technical wrestling became a huge part of ECW in their later years, but it was always the chair-smashing, table-breaking, blood-letting brawls that were their main events. When you took away the violence, you took away the very thing that made ECW what it was. Extreme. In the end, TNN jerked over ECW financially and kicked them out to the corner for the WWF, whom they completely made over the network for, complete with a new channel name. Less than three months after their cancellation from TNN, ECW had run its last show. Paul Heyman’s hiring by the WWF officially signified that ECW was dead.

Now we fast forward to June 2004. It’s a different world now since ECW started making their mark in 1995. WCW is dead. ECW is dead. The WWF is now WWE. Vince McMahon is the supreme overlord of North American wrestling. Eric Bischoff and Paul Heyman both work for Vince McMahon. The presence of only one promotion has led to accused staleness. The brand extension was supposed to cure this and create different products, and it has, but for all the wrong reasons. Both one show is good and the other is bad. During the brand extension era, you’ve never been able to say, “These two brands are awesome in their own unique ways.” And plus, everyone still regards it as WWE anyways. In June 2002, the Jarretts decided they wanted to create a new alternative. Most wrestling pundits, including myself, didn’t give them two months to live. And in fact, they almost didn’t make it by the first month. But, thanks to Jerry Jarrett being the quick thinker he is (and not being Paul Heyman helped as well), here we are in June 2004, and TNA is still alive and well. And, oh yeah, they’re on national television now.

Basically, whatever ECW had going against them is not going against TNA. While Friday afternoons at 3:00pm isn’t exactly the best timeslot for wrestling, it’s a hell of a lot better than 8:00pm.

It seemed ECW had to downgrade for television while TNA has extremely (no pun intended) upgraded. Their production for Impact is, quite frankly, top notch. It looks fantastic. A lot of big stars, Kevin Nash specifically, remarked that they lost interest in working with TNA because it looked so minor league. This TV show does not look minor league in the slightest. Separate entrance aisles for babyfaces and heels are a great touch. While the pyro, theme music, and screen videos leave a lot to be desired, this will improve over time.

Another very impressive thing I noticed was the very precise explanation of what’s going on in TNA, via the announcers and the TV screen. Mike Tenay did an exceptional job getting over the fact that this isn’t the usual wrestling experience and explaining what makes them unique. He clearly defined the time limit workings for each match. 10 minutes for non-title matches and 30 minutes for title matches. Little details like that have gotten lost in today’s world of wrestling. Also, the very bold move of titles changing via count out and disqualification is a splendid touch to make it seem more legitimate. As Mike Tenay said, “Even if you lose by count out or disqualification, you lose your title. in TNA, a loss is a loss.” In the way of the television screen helping out, I thought it was extremely professional that they have a descending time clock on top of the screen showing you how much time is left in the match. Also, the bar beside it telling you who is wrestling is a fantastic touch and will enable the newer fans to learn the names faster. The news ticker at the bottom of the screen basically hypes what you’re going to see on the PPV this week. Overall, it just has an all-around professional feel to it. I would even take it so far as to say it makes it look like TNA is the legitimate promotion for pro wrestling, if you can think of it like that.

TNA also has a brand-new novelty going for it: the six-sided ring. Though it’ll take more time for people such as me to get used to, it adds yet another one of those unique touches that separates it apart from WWE. It also adds more things that can be done in the ring, specifically with the X Division, which brings me to my next point.

TNA knows that it can’t compete with WWE doing the same things they do. That’s basically what WCW 2000 (WWF Lite as it was accurately referred to by Dave Scherer) was and it proved to be what the iceberg was to the Titanic. They had to be different. They can't base their promotion around soap opera storylines. The Jarretts know that to stay in the same game with Vince McMahon, they have to be a completely different animal. ECW’s violence was what set it apart from the WWF and WCW, but TNN told them, “No extreme violence.” FSN is not holding back what TNA will (and should) build their television around, and that is the X Division. When people see the X Division and the things that are done inside of it, people are going to notice. I saw stuff today on that show that you’re never going to see in WWE’s supremely watered-down cruiserweight division. Plus, the X Division isn’t even really a cruiserweight division. As Mike Tenay so wonderfully explained on today’s show, “The X Division isn’t about weight limits, it’s about NO limits.” Putting A.J. Styles back as the crown jewel of the X Division is perhaps going to bring the best out of all these guys we’ve ever seen. It will also lend some credibility. A.J. Styles, the former two-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, *wants* to be in the X Division. The X Division is what I believe can bring TNA to prominence and get them noticed as the one and only viable alternative.

Despite paying money for the slot, TNA has more going for it than ECW did. Jerry Jarrett has a willing Panda Energy bank account to use willingly (and more importantly, wisely). Paul Heyman had a shoestring budget that he had to overcompensate for to keep his talent from flocking to New York or Atlanta. TNA doesn’t have to worry about its stars leaving, because they are locked up in contracts. Anyone who doesn’t have a contract won’t be on the show. It’s as simple as that. I truly believe the Jarretts have their mind set on making this work and have learned from the mistakes of the ECWs before them.

Before, I was really gloomy thinking about this TV deal and what it could do to TNA. After watching the first show, I’m damn excited about TNA’s chances.

Here’s to a new promotion actually making Vince motivated again.

Last Edited: Saturday, June 5th, 2004 - 06:25 am EDT