The Official TNA Discussion Thread

[WHolla09]

Love that TNA’s momentum keeps rising, but they will have a huge problem coming up in 2026. Joe Hendry and Santana’s contract are going to be ending sometime around the end of this year. I don’t see any one that is going to be that huge Babyface star if they both leave. Unless they score a good free agent or maybe they get some semi-permanent NXT people, I don’t know who they can lean on. Luickily they have Jeff Hardy to lean on if things become real bad. The women’s division needs new blood. Masha isn’t really over, Tessa is a racist and the rest of them are just there. NXT should definitely loan them some of their women that’s not really being used . Pretty much treat TNA like they did ECW back in the day. Hopefully they will score some decent free agents before the end of the year to keep the momentum going in 2026

 

[Cattle Mutilation]

TNA has Momentum on Heels of Unprecedented WWE/NXT Partnership, Seeks New Rights Partner

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They are not doing 100,000 household viewers, and AEW also doesn't come anywhere close to drawing 500,000 households in its most viewed weeks, much less it's least viewed weeks. Nielsen doesn't even measure households, they measure viewers. If they measured households, the #s would be far lower because everyone in the house would only be counted as one view. If AEW was doing 500,000 households, then they'd likely be drawing 1 million+ viewers on cable alone.

 

[AStrangeName]

Love that TNA’s momentum keeps rising, but they will have a huge problem coming up in 2026. Joe Hendry and Santana’s contract are going to be ending sometime around the end of this year. I don’t see any one that is going to be that huge Babyface star if they both leave. Unless they score a good free agent or maybe they get some semi-permanent NXT people, I don’t know who they can lean on. Luickily they have Jeff Hardy to lean on if things become real bad. The women’s division needs new blood. Masha isn’t really over, Tessa is a racist and the rest of them are just there. NXT should definitely loan them some of their women that’s not really being used . Pretty much treat TNA like they did ECW back in the day. Hopefully they will score some decent free agents before the end of the year to keep the momentum going in 2026

The management change that the company went through last year didn't really start having an effect on them till after January this year as they pretty much had things planned out for the previous year. Them leaning more on NXT this year than they did last year is starting to turn off the fanbase despite getting more to attend their shows, for the fans they want the company to be the primary focus and the partnership be secondary, not the other way around. TNA is signing people again, but more of a slower pace than they did a few years ago.

They are not doing 100,000 household viewers, and AEW also doesn't come anywhere close to drawing 500,000 households in its most viewed weeks, much less it's least viewed weeks. Nielsen doesn't even measure households, they measure viewers. If they measured households, the #s would be far lower because everyone in the house would only be counted as one view. If AEW was doing 500,000 households, then they'd likely be drawing 1 million+ viewers on cable alone.

Wait, I thought Nielsen doesn't matter anymore
Alright back to being serious. For the most case, people have been saying for the past few years that TNA needs to leave AXS TV due to the channel's presence on cable and satellite has been dropping rapidly. So most people are either watching the show on watchwrestling or TNA+. The TV landscape for sports on cable as a whole is a mess where, if you're don't got a OTA deal and/or streaming deal, you're in for a world of hurt. Since AEW is brought up I'll use them for example, when they renewed their deal with WBD, they was able to get the HBO Max streaming deal on top of it which covers their bases even more. Meaning they don't got to worry too much about cable like that as they've been maintaing their views expectations for TBS and TNT.

At the end of the day, they need to get the fukk off of AXS TV if they want to grow their TV presence back here in the states and get a deal in the U.K. and Australia to get more cash flow in the company and built their presence back in those countries.

 

[Cattle Mutilation]

The management change that the company went through last year didn't really start having an effect on them till after January this year as they pretty much had things planned out for the previous year. Them leaning more on NXT this year than they did last year is starting to turn off the fanbase despite getting more to attend their shows, for the fans they want the company to be the primary focus and the partnership be secondary, not the other way around. TNA is signing people again, but more of a slower pace than they did a few years ago.

Wait, I thought Nielsen doesn't matter anymore
Alright back to being serious. For the most case, people have been saying for the past few years that TNA needs to leave AXS TV due to the channel's presence on cable and satellite has been dropping rapidly. So most people are either watching the show on watchwrestling or TNA+. The TV landscape for sports on cable as a whole is a mess where, if you're don't got a OTA deal and/or streaming deal, you're in for a world of hurt. Since AEW is brought up I'll use them for example, when they renewed their deal with WBD, they was able to get the HBO Max streaming deal on top of it which covers their bases even more. Meaning they don't got to worry too much about cable like that as they've been maintaing their views expectations for TBS and TNT.

At the end of the day, they need to get the fukk off of AXS TV if they want to grow their TV presence back here in the states and get a deal in the U.K. and Australia to get more cash flow in the company and built their presence back in those countries.

I don’t disagree and have said that myself about getting off AXS. But I’m just saying that it’s insanity to say that AEW or TNA are doing that level of HOUSEHOLD viewership though. If AEW was being watched in that many households their media rights deal likely would have been for a fukk ton more money.

 

[AStrangeName]

Forgot to post this tweet when it was talked about back in May



There's been apparently heavy TV talk since last year. So when there's smoke, there's fire.

 

[AStrangeName]

I don’t disagree and have said that myself about getting off AXS. But I’m just saying that it’s insanity to say that AEW or TNA are doing that level of HOUSEHOLD viewership though. If AEW was being watched in that many households their media rights deal likely would have been for a fukk ton more money.

Nah I get what you're saying. Folks got to understand that while pro wrestling is still sports, it's more of a niche within sports. Household numbers doesn't equal to crazy views as people want to make it seem to be. But wrestling fans have a hard time understanding that as oppose to NBA fans for example, guess due to nuance is damn near foreign.

 

[Reality Check]

Slammiversary ended with a gut punch, and it makes TNA look pathetic in their relationship with WWE.

The queasiness started when NXT’s Jacy Jayne beat Masha Slamovich to win the Knockouts Championship. That makes Jayne a double champion with the NXT Women’s Championship too.

In and of itself, that’s not a terrible decision. It does look odd to TNA fans that all of Slamovich’s momentum was fed to Jayne when it could have benefit their own roster to build a new star or reheat a current star. To make it sting more, the finish was clean (even though Fatal Influence interfered often). Aside from Ash by Elegance (aka Dana Brooke) as #1 contender, there aren’t really any fresh heels waiting in the wings, so it kind of makes sense for Jayne to pass the torch to a rising babyface, like Indi Hartwell.

Surely Jayne’s title win meant Trick Williams would be losing the TNA World Championship to either Joe Hendry or Mike Santana in the main event, right? Wrong.

Trick Willy faked an injury to steal the pin on Hendry after Santana did the work. Williams remains TNA world champion.

This was a case of not giving the people what they want. Hendry is still a hot commodity among the TNA faithful, and the New York crowd was hyped for Santana to get crowned. Rather than capitalize on the moment in favor of Santana, TNA burned through their top two singles babyfaces. Hendry and Santana have had multiple chances to beat Williams, and they’ve failed to get the job done. The momentum is gone in this story for them to be the heroes of TNA. The sour finish may have been more palatable had AJ Styles been presented as the next man up, but that didn’t happen.

The combination of NXT outsiders holding TNA’s top singles championships makes them look pathetic.

It would be different if these were compelling storylines. They are not. Williams has felt like a placeholder in the story of Hendry or Santana. He hasn’t been presented as the top guy on TNA television. Nor has Williams been disrespectful enough to the TNA legacy to draw bloodthirsty heat from the fans. From the TNA side on TV, Williams is a generic heel who wins by cheating or circumstance. Jayne’s reign has just started, but her past matches in the Impact Zone were typical heel fodder with the numbers advantage.

Make no mistake. This is not an invasion angle either. The TNA locker room isn’t even cohesive in their goal. For example, First Class screwed Santana to help Williams win in a previous title challenge, and Frankie Kazarian screwed Hendry’s chance to pin Williams at Slammiversary.

Taking a step back to look at the bigger picture, TNA has been the loser in the majority of these big-time matches. Jordynne Grace was the Knockouts champion and lost to Roxanne Perez when challenging for the NXT women’s title. Joe Hendry losing to Randy Orton gets a pass, because that was about the WrestleMania moment more than the match. Still though, the TNA world champ at that time was beaten in under 4 minutes. X-Division champ Moose lost to Oba Femi when challenging for the NXT title. And we have Williams and Jayne as current TNA champions.

The trade-offs have been the Hardys retaining the TNA tag titles over Fraxiom (who were NXT tag champs at that time), various wins over NXT mid-card talent, and Santino Marella having security throw Robert Stone out of the Impact Zone.

That’s hardly an even trade, and the results make TNA look like losers. So, why would TNA be on board with this? The answer is exposure.

Slammiversary broke an attendance record. 7,623 is the largest crowd for a TNA show in North America in the company’s history. It’s unclear how much the WWE rub played a role in that number.

I’m laughing to myself at TNA posting this message expecting happy faces.

To be clear, this isn’t doom and gloom that TNA is dying. There were plenty of bright spots from Slammiversary, such as the return of AJ Styles, Leon Slater winning the X-Division Championship, the Hardys becoming four-time TNA tag champs to set up one last match against Team 3D, and more.

It’s just the direction for the top of the card looks pathetic in this relationship with WWE.

TNA looks pathetic in WWE relationship

Let's talk about this, since this "partnership" has been one-sided to the point that it's widely assumed TNA is going to be purchased by WWE within the next 12 months.

 

[Cattle Mutilation]

Let's talk about this, since this "partnership" has been one-sided to the point that it's widely assumed TNA is going to be purchased by WWE within the next 12 months.

The fact that one of the few bright spots the writer pointed out is washed Hardys vs. washed Dudleys on the horizon is just sad.

 

[Cattle Mutilation]

Somehow Joe Hendry has just two singles/non-tag multiman match win in NXTNA since March.

 

[Mordy4Life]

I wonder what this means

 

[CBoz]

I wonder what this means

People in the comments think it's a documentary.

 

[Mordy4Life]

 

[Flex Luger]

It’s Meltz so take it with a grain of salt

 

[AStrangeName]

It’s Meltz so take it with a grain of salt

Yeah when I read that, it didn't really make much sense based of his speculation. TNA going head to head with AEW on a Wednesday would hurt TNA more than it hurt them going head to head with SmackDown back in 2015 and Raw in 2010, plus majority of people are accustomed to watching Impact on Thursday for 2 decades, moving back to Wednesday would be pointless.

Meltzer mentioned that LFG has been under performing, however, moving Impact on a Sunday and air it before LFG on A&E to help boost the latter numbers won't work as the last time a network tried that, Destination America did that last decade with TNA and ROH and it didn't work then. Also, TNA started doing their PPVs on a Sunday again since January with Genesis which everyone was happy with the change, so having Impact on a Sunday won't work at all.

We got to keep in mind that they apparently have 5 potential TV offers and we're only hearing two so far. We don't know who are the other three networks.

 

[Flex Luger]