Note: The Following Contains TNA *Spoilers*
TNA – What the Hell is Going On!?
I'll be honest, I haven't watched this week's Impact Wrestling yet. I was at a funeral while it was live, and haven't had the time to catch up since. So much WWE Network, so little time. Besides, I've known the results for a month now.
TNA did a title switch at a live event last week. They then did another switch at a Japan event that won't air for two months. I'm sure there's a way to make it all come together for TV, but when you're taping shows several months in advance, and so much of your audience is on the internet constantly, you can't convolute the product to this extent.
Switch a title at a live show, switch it back the next day and never mention it. That's fine – they did it all the time 30 years ago.
Their ratings have tanked the last two weeks. First it was because of major competition from the Olympics and the NBA. This week, it might have been the NXT debut, but that's something they have to figure out.
The problem is that it doesn't matter how TNA plays these title changes off on TV. A huge portion of their fans go online, read results, and are confused. Things seem needlessly complicated because THEY ARE. Dropping titles at live events doesn't increase my interest in the product. As if all wrestling fans are now going to run right out and but tickets for TNA house shows. They need to focus on television. Keep it simple. How often do complicated angles work out well in wrestling? Right now I have no idea who is actually holding two of their titles. Do live events count? Do PPV shows that won't air for two months?
Maybe TNA thinks that fans will have these questions and tune in to Impact on Thursday to find out. The wrestling market is so over-saturated, and is now even worse with the WWE Network on 24/7 with access to pretty much everything ever, at the tips of our fingers. The industry is now all about instant gratification. Everything has to fit in a two minute YouTube clip and make sense. It's a different world, and TNA is stuck in the 90s. That's not being "different" – it's being archaic.
