Fantabulous Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 TNA losing Spike would very likely be the end for them. Wrestling isn't exactly hot right now and it's not an attractive vehicle for networks as it is; it gets decent/strong numbers in young men, but few other demographics, the fans of wrestling very rarely stick around for other shows, and advertisers are legendary for their dim view of wrestling fans as a whole, so wrestling is a tough sell at the best of times. When you've got a national promotion that barely qualifies for that distinction that, if it is turning a profit it's only because of the money it gets for rights fees, taking away what is probably their biggest source of income, the money from Spike, is a virtual death sentence because there probably is not going to be another network willing to offer them the kind of money Spike would. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stratusfaction Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 I really don't think Spike will be getting rid of them anytime soon. Impact is their highest rated show even when Impact's rating is low. I bet they will cut back on the money they are pumping into TNA but I doubt they will cancel them completely. I understand they are wanting to rebrand their channel and that is all good however, Impact only airs 2 hours each week so there is still many hours that they can cater to their new demographic. I wonder what will happen when WWE gets their own cable wrestling station. I could see them charging smaller promotions like ROH alot for tv time on their new network. Who knows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwt13 Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 It's the highest rated show on Spike so I doubt they get cut. However if it did get cut it wouldn't be the end of TNA, remember Bischoff has ties with other networks and this isn't a WCW/Turner like situation. They could go to, Tru TV, TBS (Doubtfull), MTV (Which owns Spike), MTV 2, or ESPN 2 I heard some were that ESPN was looking for a wrestling show ala the AWA in the 90's so this could be it. TNA getting cut by Spike is a very very slim chance so they most likely dont need to worry about these channels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fantabulous Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 Yeah, Spike cancelling TNA is unlikely because they do so well, but all it takes is one guy in power to take a look at the programming and decide that professional wrestling doesn't fit into their plans to rebrand the network. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Final Countdown Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 Yeah, Spike cancelling TNA is unlikely because they do so well, but all it takes is one guy in power to take a look at the programming and decide that professional wrestling doesn't fit into their plans to rebrand the network. Exactly. And if they really are looking to rebrand, that one guy might already be in place. I hope this doesn't happen though. Losing their deal with Spike would probably kill TNA, and I've actually been enjoying Imapct lately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angeldelayette Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 So who won the RVD/Gunner match? I'm sure it's done now. My power blinked and that killed the satellite, which means I have to go through 5-10 minutes of everything getting reprogrammed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaysin Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 So who won the RVD/Gunner match? I'm sure it's done now. My power blinked and that killed the satellite, which means I have to go through 5-10 minutes of everything getting reprogrammed. RVD won. Sting is golden again this week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angeldelayette Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 RVD won. Sting is golden again this week. Appreciate it! And Sting is definitely golden so far. Hilarious how he shows up in the Immortal office. Kind of reminds me of when The Hurricane appeared in The Rock's locker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaysin Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 Bully Ray playing Angry Birds? YES!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaysin Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 Sting lied about being the Network Executive. I'm loving Sting even more than usual this week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angeldelayette Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 Sting lied about being the Network Executive. I'm loving Sting even more than usual this week. That was brilliant! He was probably the reason that Eric couldn't get through to the network as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike b Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 Exactly. And if they really are looking to rebrand, that one guy might already be in place. I hope this doesn't happen though. Losing their deal with Spike would probably kill TNA, and I've actually been enjoying Imapct lately. Yupp look what happened along time ago to Gilligan's island It was a top ten show with good ratings they had just signed on for another season butttttt the guy on top loved one of the westerns they had which had been pumped off for some reason or another. So guess what show got the axe to make room for that western. Lets hope the guy on top loves TNA cause with no TV market they are dead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hive Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 Maybe Vince will buy TNA and do an invasion storyline properly this time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike b Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 Maybe Vince will buy TNA and do an invasion storyline properly this time. Tell me you jest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hive Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 Tell me you jest I jest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
20LEgend Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 Going to do my thoughts as I go through again Angle was decent, thought Hogan was really good (other than his poor maths skills Kurt "pooping in diapers" when he was 16 ) Didn't watch Gunner vs. RVD but I may go back later if I read it was good. Immortal were good and Hulk again, someone I really dislike, was good.Apart from the facial expressions Sting was good, I can't believe I'm saying it but he wasn't as annoying and I actually enjoyed him in this segmment. But why would Spik hire a psycho. Aries, Shelley, BK was good only because I can't wait for the matches. A Double was good, and then Abyss did his thing. Sound like it'll be a good match. Damn Matt Morgan I wanted him to win. Eww, Angry birds (yawn) Bully you're not going to win Crimson winning was obvious but so it should be Winter match was short so not much to say. X Div match was good, not DX level but still, nice ending! EY no opinion okay skit I suppose. No interest in ODB and Jackie. Traci was good. ODB was okay Velvet wasn't bad but I don't know if it's true. She a bit of an over actor. Wonder what the six man is Anderson, Ray, Abyss or Gunner? I don't like random cage matches. Nice twist to the network thing, although it shows how dumb Immortal are. I questioned it earlier. Sting was too OTT for me in this, but it wasn't as bad a previous weeks. The point abouthe suit was good. The bird was weird. I liked sneaky Bully Ray. Ending leaves questions. What was the point in the blackout? MUCH better than last week although not great, with the storylines not particularly gripping me. Edit after reading other posts: Sting lied about being the Network Executive. I'm loving Sting even more than usual this week. That probably why I hate it less Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eisen-verse Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 So, let me preface this by saying that I haven't watched TNA in a bout 2 months as I haven't had TV for that time frame, BUT I'm loving the Joker-rip-off off for Sting. Is it original? No. Is he entertaining at it? Totally. Kudos to someone of Sting's stature for going 'outside the box' a little and not playing the same 'Legend' persona that everyone does at the end of their career (seeming like they can beat 20-somethings as if they were super-human). I have much respect for Sting for doing this. Also, I was loving me some Sting/Bischoff segments from this past episode. I really don't like Immortal, really at all, but the segment came over well. Cheers. E-V Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwt13 Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 I miss Jeff Hardy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hashasheen Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 I miss Jeff Hardy Never gotten the love and fanbase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remianen Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 Yeah, Spike cancelling TNA is unlikely because they do so well, but all it takes is one guy in power to take a look at the programming and decide that professional wrestling doesn't fit into their plans to rebrand the network. That guy is not Kevin Kay. Since the restructuring after Judy was forc...err, resigned, pretty much everyone's been on pins and needles. Everyone's under review, just about (even the VMAs are going to be scaled down somewhat this year). They're not "cutting ties" with UFC at all either. The rebranding is a contingency plan because it's expected that Comcast/NBC Universal is going to overpay (MAJORLY) for UFC when their contract comes due. They see it as the lynchpin in their rebranding of VERSUS (to 'NBC Sports') and Spike can't compete with them (in size or $$$). I don't see Kevin dumping TNA, even with the imminent loss of UFC. I could definitely be wrong but I don't think so. Kevin Kay is not Jamie Kellner. Jamie Kellner would not have greenlighted 'Coal' or 'MANswers' or 'The Deadliest Warrior' or even Blue Mountain State. And Afro Samurai wasn't ghetto enough to appeal to Kellner (and it's animated and everyone knows animated shows are for children, RIGHT?!? ). The only way I could see them dumping TNA is if the network switches to a format that competes with Lifetime (in other words, a complete 180). That's not likely to happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigtplaystew Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 I'm completely uncomfortable watching Sting do bad heath ledger impressions every week. It's to the point that I've been a loyal TNA watcher for years and can't watch it to the end anymore. He literally makes me turn off the show it's so bad. But I have to say as an intelligent man that even though I don't care for it, fans are eating this gimmick up, man. Sting never had problems getting over but he's more over now than he's been in a good while. I want to see TNA succeed because I feel like they have some amazing talent. So if this gimmick that I hate happens to help the company, I'm for it. As crazy as that is. I half kiddingly hope someone else does it though with another company. Just to see the reaction. Like if some young WWE guy just starts ripping off the Joker, can TNA fans complain that he's "Stealing" a gimmick that's already stolen? LOL. I know this won't happen it's just a funny thought to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eisen-verse Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 I'm completely uncomfortable watching Sting do bad heath ledger impressions every week. It's to the point that I've been a loyal TNA watcher for years and can't watch it to the end anymore. He literally makes me turn off the show it's so bad. But I have to say as an intelligent man that even though I don't care for it, fans are eating this gimmick up, man. Sting never had problems getting over but he's more over now than he's been in a good while. I want to see TNA succeed because I feel like they have some amazing talent. So if this gimmick that I hate happens to help the company, I'm for it. As crazy as that is. I half kiddingly hope someone else does it though with another company. Just to see the reaction. Like if some young WWE guy just starts ripping off the Joker, can TNA fans complain that he's "Stealing" a gimmick that's already stolen? LOL. I know this won't happen it's just a funny thought to me. I agree that it's a blatant Joker rip-off; however, I don't think it's anything like the Heath Ledger portrayal. Heaths' version was far more psychotic, more serial killer-esque, more darker in nature. Sting's version feels like a traditional Joker feel. The face paint is a definite rip-off but I don't think the character is (at least as it pertains to Ledger's approach)... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tristram Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 Its either a Heath Ledger rip off or a Jack the Ripper victim with added paint rip off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Self Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 Based on what little I've seen, it almost seems like Jack Nicholson's Joker in terms of personality, with Heath Ledger's Joker's look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigtplaystew Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 While he's not just simply doing exactly as Ledger did, he's doing some of Heath's mannerisms. The look and the attitude are there. My girlfriend, who knows nothing about wrestling, looked at the TV for one of his promos: it was the really bad one where 'Hulk Hogan' - or someone that really looked like him from behind anyway lol... really weird there... beat him with a bat and Sting just took the beating and cracked jokes for no reason whatsoever. Apparently someone forgot that one of Batman joker's character points is he's physically underwhelming and allowed Batman to beat him to draw out the darkness inside his nemesis, to prove a point and break his will to keep fighting crime - in a few words. Whereas Sting can fight and Hogan is a straight bad guy... so him beating Sting with a bat showed and displayed absolutely nothing except bad writing... ANYWAY She looked at the promo and said, "wow... he's doing a bad heath ledger impression. Why do you watch this crap?" To be fair to TNA she says this about all wrestling. Point is, she imediately picked up on it and I think it's fairly obvious that while not copying heath directly, he's clearly using his version of the Joker as the main character basis. It's instantly recognizable that Sting is ripping off Heath LEdger's joker, if not 100% of his character than at least all of the recognizable parts. If another movie not titles Batman had this Joker Sting -the way he's been on TV- as a a main character, they would be called out for thievery and most likely sued. If you are trying to give him credit for also stealing some of Jack Nicholson's joker, I wouldn't disagree but I don't see how that's a plus for the character. LEt's steal everything about the Joker except the good acting and dynamic character traits Now obviously Sting's not murdering people lol... figured I wouldn't have to clear that up but you never know on message boards i guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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