The Good
New TV Timeslot
iMPACT! moved from Saturday nights to Thursday nights. This change to their TV schedule has made the product much more accessible to potential fans. In addition to the timeslot, it appears that they have some better sponsors for the show. A few weeks ago the show was sponsored by X-Men 3. This is much more impressive than the Morphoplex ads that used to be on the ring.
House Shows
For the first time in the company’s history, they had their first house shows. This is a necessary step in the right direction for a company that wants to compete with the WWE. The next step is to finally have a PPV event outside of Universal Studios. Currently, the company makes no money for attendance at their shows because they film inside of Universal Studios and the fans don’t have to pay to enter the iMPACT! zone.
Samoa Joe in the Main Event
In the past year, TNA has recruited many ex-WCW and WWE starts and thrust them into the main event. For the most part they have been used in the main event and put other TNA stars careers on the backburner. This has led to many people think that the company is just a B-Grade WWE imitator and not a true alternative. Samoa Joe is now a main eventer thanks to the rub that he has received from some of these free agents.
Changing Up the TV Product
A few months ago, TNA changes the show to feature three instead of four matches. That adjustment has led to a much better TV show.
Impressive Video Packages
While I am critical of certain aspects of their production process, the way that their promo videos are edited come across as really good TV. The promo package highlighting The Samoa Joe vs Scott Steiner match made me want to spend money to see these men fight.
The Bad
Don’t Recreate Others…Create Your Own History
In recent weeks, TNA has recreated the D-X spoof of the Nation of Domination, The Montreal Screwjob, and the ECW chair throwing incident. I ask a very important question, after four years in business, what is the defining moment in TNA history? What are the moments that fans can look back on after several years? After four years in business, everything has blurred into relatively forgettable moments. TNA needs to change that now.
TNA Starts Their New Era With Jeff Jarrett as Champion yet Again
There are two types of heat in wrestling. There is the “I want this guy to get beaten up and will pay to see it because I hate him” heat. Jeff Jarrett now has the other type of heat, the please get this guy off my TV because I’m sick of seeing him in every main event heat. When people that don’t even pay to see the events start throwing garbage into the ring, this should be a clue to TNA management that they are doing something wrong. It appears that they are trying to copy WCW circa 2000 with their title situation. Can anyone explain the logic of Jarrett being punished by having to fight a man that will be tired from having to go through three other men earlier that night?
Push…Off TV…Main Event…No TV Time
One of the problems TNA has is that they seem to push and then stop pushing wrestlers at weird time intervals. The most notable example of this is Ron Killings. They make a music video of him and then he is not on the next PPV. He is then in the main event at the next PPV but then is not on iMPACT! for a month and is not on the next PPV. The following month he is in a main event title match on the PPV.
DVD’s
While it is good that TNA DVD’s are starting to hit stores on a national basis they have already had distribution problems with Best Buy. The worst thing is that their DVD’s are much more expensive than WWE DVD’s. If the average person has to choose between a cheaper priced WWE DVD or a more expensive TNA DVD with wrestlers they are not as familiar with, the WWE will win out almost every time.
Bad Looking and Sounding Production
The music of the wrestlers comes off as horribly generic. When they do any backstage segments, they usually look very poor. Amazingly, ECW promos that were filmed in someone’s laundry room look much more professional than TNA filming at a TV studio. They really need to change their sets (especially the one with the brick wall).
