My thoughts on Impact Wrestling going on the road

Photo: TNA Wrestling

The news this afternoon that TNA is to take IMPACT Wrestling on the road every second week is not a shock to many, it’s been on the horizon for some time. The majority of the Internet Wrestling Community seems to have pegged the “IMPACT Wrestling Zone” as the source of all of TNA’s woes and have it atop their “TNA MUST DO” lists.

Surely I can’t be the only one to harbour some scepticism towards this plan to take IMPACT Wrestling on the road? Personally i think this has the potential to be a bad move from TNA. They aren’t exactly in a position to draw good houses on the road at the big arenas. Add to that the added expenditure of promoting the events as well as flying the talent, crew and equipment to these venues. For a company that posted a loss last year and is beginning to thin the talent roster as a cost cutting measure, surely this is a case of one step forward, two steps back?

The question also remains, how will this affect the current schedule? Looking at the live event schedule I find it hard to believe that they are going to the run those small arenas they have lined up for house shows. Does this mean at least two added TV taping dates every month? Right now the IMPACT Zone provides a single, purpose built venue to tape shows and in a location that is on the doorstep for most of the talents, has a guaranteed crowd every week with no promotion required and is surrounded with potential co-branding opportunities. If anything the IMPACT Zone gives TNA an ADVANTAGE!

Don’t believe me? Talk to the talent. One of, if not THEE single biggest draw for ex-WWE talent who jump ship is the schedule, I personally feel that this move may have the potential to lower morale of talent with extended travel and not to mention the impact it may in turn have on their house show business. I mean if your in town X, why go to the house show when you can simply wait for them to roll IMPACT Wrestling into town?

Universal Studios is NOT the problem, it’s not the reason their not growing at the rate they desire – TNA’s current product is. They need to be patient, build new stars, focus on their own product and stop worrying about trying to compete with WWE. Personally I think the next step should have been to go LIVE every week – to me thats a much more important element for any TV show than the venue.

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVED the Fayettville, NC episode, I recognise that the crowd responses add something to the feel of the show, but i can’t help but feel its only a small part of the whole package and at this stage, a move which is not necessarily worth the potential risks involved. TNA has at least taken to dipping the toe into the water before jumping, going for a road taping every second week initially – I just hope that Spike foots some of the bill for this added expenditure and I sincerely hope TNA aren’t shooting themselves in the foot on this one.

Until next time, thanks for reading.

Ray