Want more wrestling news, rumors, and results? Be sure to visit PWInsider.com and PWInsiderXtra.com.
With the announcement that TNA will be moving to Destination America this January, what has not be spoken about is that now, more than ever, WWE will forever be on top of the professional wrestling world.
A generation ago, it was WWF and WCW fighting it out for Monday Night Ratings while ECW nipped at their heels by forcing the industry to evolve, with a bark that was admittedly larger than it's actual bite.
Before that, WWF was the industry leader while WCW still held it's own with ratings and a great talent base - but the difference is that while WWF was the leader, WCW (and the NWA before it) held the hearts and souls of diehard wrestling fans hoping that the athletics of that company and the seriousness of the product (well, most of the time) would one day overtake the theatrics and caricatures that were presented by Vince McMahon.
Well, that day did eventually come to pass (see the aforementioned Monday Night Wars) but strategic mistakes, bad timing and corporate bloat eventually killed off the company. We can debate who was responsible for the death of WCW all we want, but the easy answer is, "Everyone involved."
When WCW went down in 2001 and ECW quickly followed, we were left with a vacuum that saw millions of fans turn off the business, talents find themselves outsourced of their own industry due to over-saturation and the independent scene become this incredible destination for new talents.
But no one was going to challenge the might of WWE.
Except, of course, the possibility of TNA. Dixie Carter, for all the negatives (true or not) said about her, was able to convince SpikeTV to give Impact Wrestling a timeslot during a period where Spike, having dealt with ECW and WWF, were planning to wipe their hands clean of pro wrestling altogether.
In many ways, that was Carter's greatest feat as it allowed the perception that perhaps one day there would be a new WCW, someone to stand up to the all-powerful might of World Wrestling Entertainment and maybe, just like WCW, challenge them and captivate the wrestling fans who wanted something more - or even the fans who had lapsed in their love of pro wrestling.
The reality is that no one was ever really going to challenge WWE for the 99% of the wrestling pie they own. No one has the capabilities or the reach that WWE has today. If WWE needs the city of San Francisco to shut down their streets this March so the company can bus in, under police escort, their entire roster and crew to Wrestlemania, it's going to happen.
I know. I once witnessed that exact scenario happen in Detroit a few years ago.
No one is ever going to knock WWE off their pedestal, but with the SpikeTV timeslot, TNA at least had the appearance of being on the same playing field.
However, much like WCW, bad timing, bad strategic decisions and perhaps even bloat caused problems and TNA, even when they made decisions that on paper seemed glorious (bringing in Hulk Hogan), the momentum never really sparked. There was some good and even great wrestling and at times, some entertaining shows, but was TNA ever really, truly a threat to WWE? No, but for many, there was the perception that they could be.
They were important enough to Spike that at some point, Spike did look into attempting to purchase the company, which obviously, did not pan out, but as financials changed, the Spike-TNA marriage ended, quietly, a few weeks ago as they agreed to stop negotiating.
With that end, also came the end of the notion that some fans (an ever decreasing amount to be sure) held onto - that perhaps one day TNA would be the second coming of WCW and one day, the power that WWE wielded would be a little more balanced across the board.
The day to stop holding onto that notion is today.
Still, with the move to Destination America, TNA did accomplish the one thing that WCW was unable to do when Turner Broadcasting pulled up stakes: Remain on cable TV in a national timeslot and remain alive.
That in itself is a pretty impressive maneuver and there was legitimate celebration in Nashville at TNA headquarters this week. They should be celebrating because had they not found an outlet, it was just a matter of time before the inevitable happened - whether that inevitable was two years, five years or five months.
But with the move comes a new realization that the dream of TNA being number two or anyone being a number two against WWE, has to be seen as over.
Sure, there will be professional wrestling and some of it will be great - Ring of Honor, TNA and Lucha Underground are all producing some great wrestling right now, but that doesn't mean it's ever going to challenge Triple H and Stephanie McMahon as they begin to steer WWE into the future. WWE is too mighty and no one else comes close.
The reality as we march into 2015 is that no one is ever going to challenge WWE, unless somehow they find themselves entrancing a Rupert Murdoch type to be the 21st century version of Ted Turner and the chances of finding life of Mars are probably higher.
This is the new reality. There's WWE and everyone else. There will never be a new number two. Let that dream go. It's over. No one is ever going to change that.
But, recognize, there's no shame in being number three, either, which is really what all the other players are now striving to be - the best number three. That's what 2015 is looking like - the race to see who is truly number three, because WWE has locked in the top two slots by default.
That doesn't mean these companies cannot be successful within their own realm going forward. The name of business is to make sure you are in the black and making money. They can go forward and make money, but part of the process of doing so is realizing where things stand going into the future.
TNA, even with what is believed to be a reduced rights fee for their programming, has to give up the ghost and any notion of being the new "number one." They shouldn't even try to prove they are "number two" anymore. They need to just be TNA, which truth be told, are three initials which still has yet to be truly defined. Don't worry about live events or flexing your muscles to show us how you are still "in the game", just build the best TNA you can have in 2015 and hopefully, things will one day turn around - but it's not going to happen in a week, or a month or perhaps even a year. Work on being in the black, whatever that entails financially in 2015, and at making that new reality work for the company.
Ring of Honor, owned by Sinclair Broadcasting, has received criticism of late for not allowing some of their talents to work the independent scene as extensively as they had been. I actually applaud ROH for it. It makes their product more unique as they continue to venture into PPV and hopefully, as the year goes on, the company finds more of the TV markets they have been seeking out and there's more dates and more work and a higher profile for everyone involved. But again, there's work to be done and it's underway.
Lucha Underground is just four weeks into their El Rey TV series and while they are only announced for 39 episodes so far, they have done a hell of a job creating something special with wrestling that feels cutting edge, a unique Telenovela presentation and something that by the end each week, makes me want to watch the following week. But, they aren't running live events. They are a damn entertaining TV show, but just a TV show....for now.
Then there are others out there, who have a name within the wrestling world (Eric Bischoff, Jeff Jarrett, Tommy Dreamer, Kevin Sullivan) and even those who names outside of the wrestling bubble (Billy Corgan) who have made noises about wanting to do more or are believed to have shown interest in doing so. Perhaps there are even some who will come out of left-field with a big attempt to court a cable network home. Some, perhaps all of these players, will land on a much grander playing field beyond the independent level in 2015 (maybe Spike isn't done with wrestling after all, who knows?) but again, does anyone believe anyone is going to raid WWE and go for the throat? Not likely.
As 2014 closes, there's lot of good wrestling from all of these companies and lots of great talent working for them, but let's not ignore the truth of this week: WWE won the battle, once and for all, and they didn't even have to fight. They just had to produce all the content they already produce, and in doing so, satiate their audience enough so that the fans who were still hungry enough to seek out TNA or another entity, weren't enough to do damage.
After all, The Love Boat isn't going to sink an aircraft carrier.
In 2015, the new battle will be the race to see who is number three, not in financials, but in who has the most entertaining product as they try to build their companies, because that's the reality life has dealt the pro wrestling industry.
Welcome to the new normal.
Mike Johnson can be reached at MikeJohnsonPWInsider@gmail.com.
If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!
Bang On Casino
