What it Will Take to Make TNA Wrestling Serious Competition for WWE

The landscape of professional wrestling changed forever when on March 23, 2001 Vince McMahon bought what remained of the assets of World Championship Wrestling. Wrestling fans had to wonder, would another group rise and pose a serious threat to McMahon and WWE?

Six years later, we are still waiting.

Not that TNA Wrestling which airs its Impact! show on Thursday nights on Spike TV hasn't given it a try. It has come a long way since its debut in May of 2002. TNA had what was once a unique business model: air a weekly pay-per-view show at $9.95 per show. Interesting but not something the average fan could continue to afford. TNA abandoned this concept in September of 2004 and began airing three hour monthly pay-per-views however, these pay-per-views much like the previous weekly offering continued to suffer from low buy rates.

Securing a television contract for Impact! met with similar difficulty. TNA secured a deal with Fox Sports Net to air its show but TNA had to pay the network for that time. By not being placed in a regular time slot, the show failed to gather a foothold and wallowed in low ratings. Enter Spike TV. WWE had just left Spike for the USA network and Spike stepped in a scooped up Impact! on October 1, 2005.

TNA is owned by Panda Energy International Inc. which has a 72% stake in TNA and has controlling interest. One has to wonder if oil executives know anything about wrestling and really have the desire to compete with McMahon. TNA did make many strides in 2006, landing stars such as Sting, Scott Steiner and Kurt Angle to the TNA roster. However, Impact! continues to draw a little over a million views each week, it's pay-per-views draw considerably less buys than WWE's do and there is very little touring by TNA outside of the Orlando, Florida area. What can TNA do to really become a viable alternative to WWE and compete with them on a national and even and international basis?

1. Open up the purse strings and give WWE a fight!

One thing that TNA has going for it is a successful business plan to follow and also the ability to learn from the mistakes of WCW. One need only look at the WCW of 1996-1998 to see what that company did to compete with McMahon. Not saying that TNA should overpay with guaranteed contracts like WCW did, but it could put a little more money behind TNA. Ted Turner HATED Vince McMahon as was willing to spend whatever it took to overtake WWE. Dixie Carter, TNA President, would have to show the same fire and open up the pocketbook if TNA really wants to gain an edge on WWE. I might even suggest taking things a step further and suggest TNA purchase a small arena and film it's shows there rather than depends on Universal Studios. TNA looks like it's filmed on a sound stage and not at an arena which in my opinion makes the show look second rate.

2. Lock up a mainstream superstar by any means necessary

This would go along with number one of course but to really start competing with WWE, WCW went out and signed Hulk Hogan. There are many stars in wrestling but there are few MEGA stars. Hogan was a MEGA star. Signing guys like Sting and Kurt Angle are fine but you need a guy that transcends the sport and the mainstream knows. At this point there are very few people like this but there are a few: Bill Goldberg, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Hogan himself. Hogan is over 50 and has very few good matches in him but he would stir interest. Plus a highly rated reality show keeps him in the public eye. Can you imagine Hogan walking into TNA with perhaps daughter Brooke? One small problem, Hogan looked to be TNA bound in 2003 but then was lured away for bigger money and a spot in the WWE Hall of Fame by McMahon. Hogan also hates Vince Russo whom he has heat with since their days in WCW and Russo is on TNA's creative team. Bill Goldberg is an enigma. He would want a HUGE contract, the likes that TNA has never offered before plus he doesn't has gone on record stating he doesn't have a passion for pro wrestling. He would be a risk but the rewards might be worth it. Could you imagine TNA pulling the Rock away from the lure of Hollywood and away from McMahon? He crossed over into the mainstream like no other star save for Steve Austin whom Vince has safely signed away. My point in all of this speculation is you need SOMEBODY that captures the attention of the average person, not just the average wrestling fan.

3. Expand Impact! to Two Hours

This would take some cooperation from Spike TV but I think it would be a gamble worth taking. It's very hard for an hour wrestling show to compete with a two wrestling show. With two hours TNA could once again adapt a successful WCW formula of highlighting its excellent X division in most of the first hour while highlighting its main eventers in the second hour. Many more wrestlers would get much needed exposure and the chance to make new stars would be better with the extra time.

4. Improve the writing

A big problem I have with TNA that despite calling itself Total Nonstop Action, sometimes it's anything but. Too much time is dedicated to backstage vignettes which number one really don't advance any storylines and number two often contain so many people that no one wrestler can stand out! Give us action! Even with a backstage vignette you can show someone being attacked not just two guys talking. Get rid of WWE-like storylines like Abyss shooting his dad. This smacks of Russo, personally I would get rid of him altogether. Bring back some realism, don't write your show like a TV drama like WWE does. Study old tapes. Look at what WCW did right, look at what ECW did right. Forget WWE. Be the alternative to WWE!

The bottom line is that any of the changes I've suggested will realistically take time and more importantly MONEY. TNA is going to have to spend more money to compete with WWE. Panda Energy will ultimately have to decide if the investment they have in TNA is worth the effort and if it is than they will have to be as tireless and dedicated as McMahon is to WWE. TNA doesn't have to beat WWE into submission but for the sake and future of pro wrestling, it needs to level the playing field.