Tim's Take 09.30.08: TNA and the Economy

Posted by Tim Livingston on 09.30.2008

Like yesterday's failed bailout plan, TNA is running on a short-term fix for a long-term problem. Why can't they figure out how to become better?

On Monday, the U.S. House of Representatives denied the proposed bailout of the investment banks and other corporate moneymakers, sending shockwaves through the country. The idea behind the bailout was a short-term solution to what ends up being a long-term problem; simply borrowing money from taxpayers isn't going to fix a problem that runs much deeper than that.

Right now, TNA is running itself as if it were running on that bailout.

For the longest time, TNA had some of the best young talent in wrestling, with most it being shared in Ring of Honor. AJ Styles, Paul London, Low Ki, CM Punk...all of these wrestlers became part of TNA's credo of establishing the young stars, giving them somewhere to go and prove that they can hang with the big boys. The problem with that thinking is that if you don't actually capitalize on the young talent you have at your disposal, you end up shooting yourself in the foot.

Right now, TNA's short-sightedness is costing them a chance to build for the long-term, and it's going to cost them.

The way companies become successful is that they are smart enough to go with what's their best asset or assets, as this allows the business to keep making money and stay successful. What makes businesses falter is when things like pride and ego get in the way of what makes the business successful in the first place, and that step down that road leads to circumstances that aren't in the best interest in that company.

For instance, when Jeff Jarrett was first starting out TNA, he had a vision of establishing the X-Division as the building block for TNA's future, much like WCW did when the influx of luchadors and other internationally renown light-heavyweights force the hand of the company to use them because they were such a good thing for business. I won't talk about how WCW mishandled that after the establishment of their Cruiserweight division (that's been done to death) but when TNA decided that they would focus more on watered-down rejects like Jarrett, Kevin Nash, Rhyno and the like, it brought them down a road that really hurt their credibility.

One of the main problems that WCW had in its time was egos. TNA right now has two big egos in the top positions in the company, and while TNA has seen itself as an alternative to WWE, the egos have not allowed TNA to grow at all, regressing to the mean that Vince Russo always set himself up with: Russo thinks he's groundbreaking and original, but the fans see through it and realize that it's all been done before.

Unfortunately for the fans, I'm not sure they'll get their wish of a true alternative, although I will give props to Kurt Angle for his recent comments berating TNA officials for watering down specialty matches to the point where they don't matter anymore. There is a true lack of storytelling, and as someone who just started watching Memphis wrestling from the 1980s, I can tell you right now that a lot can be told in the ring; you just have to have the patience to do so.

When Mick Foley finally shows his face, it will be a welcome sight, mainly because he can have those matches with two people that could be instant draws: Angle and Samoa Joe. While Angle/Jarrett is penciled in for Bound for Glory, it wouldn't surprise me if they put Foley in that match instead, not just as an outside enforcer, but as a participant, substituting for Jarrett. It also wouldn't surprise me if Jarrett turned on Foley in the end because, let's be honest here: Jarrett as a face just doesn't cut it in his mind.

I wrote months ago after Joe won the TNA Championship that in order for TNA to really take that step in the right direction, they have to show that they ARE a true alternative, much like Ring of Honor is trying to do. I'm not saying have 30-minute matches that are near-fall after near-fall and such, but what Ring of Honor does better than any other company out there (even better than WWE in some instances) is that they get the best out of their wrestlers. TNA hasn't been able to say that about anyone yet, and that's with Samoa Joe as their champion.

And while it's a welcome sight that Foley will be finally on TNA TV, people need to realize that this is a short-term fix; TNA is basically benefiting from WWE's misuse of Foley, and instead of pushing how they'll use him, they'll push how WWE DIDN'T use him. There's an old axiom in business that states in order to get ahead, put your best assets first, regardless of competition. Unfortunately for TNA, you've seen that they always mention the other companies that their wrestlers have been a part of, which never bodes well for what they're trying to do: make TNA a name, don't make TNA's name off someone else's name.

The short-term blip doesn't not fare well for TNA's future, and unless TNA can effectively let their young talent loose at ANY POINT, I reiterate, ANY POINT in the future, they have no chance at making a run at being a true "alternative." The lack of foresight in the front office of the company still boggles the mind...until you realize who's a part of it.

It's time for TNA to stop living in the past and let their present dictate their future.