This past Sunday night TNA Impact wrestling presented it’s annual pay-per-view event “Bound For Glory”. This year was different, we saw what is typically refereed to as the company’s biggest pay-per-view of the year take place overseas in Tokyo Japan. The event had no connection to any current storylines being seen on Impact Wrestling weekly broadcasts and was not live.
While so many people want to focus on the negatives regarding “Bound For Glory” I want to point out that the wrestling seen on this event was fantastic. While the crowd in attendance was small by previous standards they were possibly more passionate and invested in the matches then larger crowds. The cross-promotion with Wrestle-1 offered a nice opportunity to see some great international wrestling along with TNA favorites.
I will be the first person to admit that Impact Wrestling is in a bad place right now. At the time of this post writing there has not been any news regarding the future of Impact Wrestling and television. The live crowds in the U.S. have not been great and it shows. However the in-ring product itself has been phenomenal for several weeks.
The truth is there are two different types of fans watching right now. You have the “Sports-entertainment” fan and then you have the pure “Wrestling” fan. While the WWE has done a good job over the years at growing the popularity of wrestling in general there has been a downside. The WWE is no longer wrestling, It is an entertainment company. The truth is if you want just wrestling you haven’t found it in the WWE.
The WWE doesn’t even use the word “wrestling during it’s broadcasts anymore. In fact the last person to do so was Daniel Bryan. What we watch on Monday nights is strictly “Sports Entertainment” while what you see from promotions like Ring Of Honor, NJPW and even TNA is more of a traditional pro wrestling product.
The WWE goes out of it’s way to let you know that they are ENTERTAINMENT. They want to make movies and cartoon series. The wrestling showcased on their programming is just a tool used to get the attention of fans. The fact that the WWE has gone so far to refer to Raw as an “episodic series” and even had a “season premiere” even though the show is broadcast all year are just a couple examples of how the WWE looks at the product they are putting out as an ENTERTAINMENT company.
If someone considered themselves a fan strictly of the WWE I suggest that you refer to yourselves as “Sports entertainment fans” rather then a “professional wrestling fan”. In my opinion, to be a fan of pro wrestling a person has to respect the history and traditions. They must also appreciate what is happening in the ring regardless of lack of a storyline. While a good build up is always preferred of course, the truth is we should appreciate the story being told in the ring between the wrestlers.
While Impact Wrestling is falling short when it comes to getting good crowds and it’s future being up in the air as far as television, they still manage to draw over one million consistent viewers and are considered the favorite of viewers in the United Kingdom versus the WWE product.
Dixie Carter and Impact Wrestling can and MUST succeed. The WWE has done a horrible job at preserving the legacy of professional wrestling not to mention they treat the word “wrestling” itself like a course word. My hope is that Impact Wrestling can re-brand themselves and drop the “TNA” and “Impact” names and start fresh. The WWE marks have made it impossible to be successful with the current branding.
Here’s to a bright future for pro wrestling and the preservation of tradition for those that want an alternative to sports entertainment. I am not against the WWE product but want people to see there is a difference between what they offer versus others companies.
Trevor
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