TNA Impact moving to Monday Nights Jan 4th

Professey Chin

Didnt see this anywhere but Hulk just announced on The Ultimate Fighter Finale that TNA got the green light and will be moving head to head with RAW from Jan 4th. Still on Spike TV.

Mods move if its somewhere else

Sirsok

Takin from ewrestlingnews.com

As noted earlier here on the website, it was just announced on the UFC TUF 10 finale on SpikeTV that TNA will be running a live Monday night special on January 4th. I now have some more exclusive information on this.

I'm told that the show will be a three hour special on January 4th, 2010 from the Impact Zone. It is a one-time deal to "test the waters".

TNA sources have confirmed the timeslot for the special will be 8 PM Eastern. That means the show will run from 8-11EST on January 4th, 2010.

I'm also told that Dixie Carter, Eric Bischoff, Hulk Hogan, and several SpikeTV executives all met in Las Vegas and attended the UFC show. They all discussed the future of TNA Wrestling as well as the plans for Hogan.

I'm told that Hulk Hogan's entourage (Jimmy Hart, Brutus Beefcake, etc) were all in Vegas with Hogan. Dixie Carter, Eric Bischoff, and Hulk Hogan were the only three that appeared on camera during the UFC show.

Machismo Fan

The biggest name in professional wrestling history, Hulk Hogan, will make his first live appearance on Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling’s “TNA iMPACT!” in a live 3-hour special on Spike TV Monday, January 4, 2010 at 8:00PM ET/PT. Hogan and TNA President Dixie Carter attended “The Ultimate Fighter Heavyweights” Finale in Las Vegas where Hogan made the announcement in an interview with Joe Rogan.

“TNA iMPACT!” will be going against “WWE Monday Raw” on USA Network, the first time two wrestling companies have broadcast live head-to-head since the “Monday Night Wars” in the late 1990’s between WWE and WCW. This “iMPACT!” special will broadcast live from the TNA iMPACT! Zone at Universal Studios in Orlando, Fl.

Hogan’s first appearance inside the six-sided ring of TNA Wrestling will follow weeks of speculation after Hogan and Carter announced their partnership on October 27 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Hogan has hinted in various media interviews that he’ll have multiple surprises in store for TNA Wrestling fans.

“I knew when I signed with TNA, that it would be important to make a statement with the first episode. Going head-to-head on January 4th, makes the statement loud and clear: Game on!” Hogan said.

“TNA is kicking off 2010 in the biggest way possible with the biggest name in the history of our sport. Hulk Hogan is a pop culture icon, and his arrival will change not only TNA, but the entire professional wrestling landscape. We’re firing that first shot,” Carter said.

Joining Hogan for the three-hour live “iMPACT!” will be TNA World Heavyweight Champion “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles, Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle, Mick Foley, Kevin Nash, “The Samoan Submission Machine” Samoa Joe, “The Boss” Bobby Lashley and “The Blueprint” Matt Morgan.

“TNA iMPACT!” will resume its normal timeslot on Thursday, January 7th at 9:00 PM ET/PT with an encore viewing of the live “iMPACT!” special.

It's a one night only deal. I wonder if WWE will go three hours aswell, plus they'd want to pull out one hell of a guest host.

Tricity Bendix

I've got a bad feeling this isn't going to work out as well as Hogan thinks.

waltersobchak

Machismo Fan wrote: »

It's a one night only deal. I wonder if WWE will go three hours aswell, plus they'd want to pull out one hell of a guest host.

January 4th was one of the rumoured nights for The Rock to guest host, and if it is, theres no way TNA would have a chance against that

TheCandystripes

Hogan draws. Just you wait and see.

The future is TNA.

gimmick

I thought the Australian tour proved that Hogan is no longer the draw he once was?

EdK

gimmick wrote: »

I thought the Australian tour proved that Hogan is no longer the draw he once was?

He's not a live draw (well in Australia anyway) it remains to be seen if he's still a tv draw (when he makes an actual appearance)

davrho

TheCandystripes wrote: »

Hogan draws. Just you wait and see.

The future is TNA.

If it increases the quality of wrestling shows and forces wwe to raise the bar then we are all on a winner.

To suggest that Hogans appearance is going to take down the corporate structure of wwe would be naive. WWE has contracts in place for years of tv time so they are hardly going to collapse and die. The wwe is a different beast than the time of the Monday Night Wars and I hope TNA have a well thought out strategy and plenty of financial backers. If not it is doomed.

dlofnep

TNA has a good show, but they really need to get bigger audiences. They don't have the same atmosphere as WWE and it's kinda annoying, because they have so many great wrestlers and the potential to be the next dare I say it WCW (when the times were good).

chordtype

Apparently the Rock won't be able to host in January because of promo commitments for his new film. The E will probably try though and if they get him it aint looking too good for TNA.

They need to really advertise the hell out of this show. Big time. WWE will probably do 3 hours also and if they announce a big match for the show again it doesn't look good.

TNA needs to bring in a few more big names (and by big I don't be Ed Leslie or the Nasty Boys - if they do I'm never watching again) and they need to have some great matches on the show, to try and attract the fans who wan't to see great matches every week.

Diabhal Beag

I can see TNA just about getting a 1.8 against RAW that night. Hogan will make **** all difference IMO

Machismo Fan

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

I can see TNA just about getting a 1.8 against RAW that night. Hogan will make **** all difference IMO

I think the dent TNA puts in Raw will be just as interesting as what iMPACT! itself draws.

chordtype wrote: »

TNA needs to bring in a few more big names (and by big I don't be Ed Leslie or the Nasty Boys - if they do I'm never watching again) and they need to have some great matches on the show, to try and attract the fans who wan't to see great matches every week.

What match could WWE feasibly offer on Raw that would be a big draw without being as short-sighted to waste a potential WrestleMania match? TNA needs to more or less offer a PPV, and I can see AJ vs. Lashley main eventing as Lashley has a title shot due and I don't see him getting it on PPV. Hopefully Bischoff and Hogan will throw out the usual Russo format of 100 segments an hour and offer some compelling angles and good long wrestling matches.

flahavaj

Impact was decimated in the ratings last time they went head to head with WWE.

They'll draw a decent number for a couple of weeks due to Hogan curiousity factor, then they'll be decimated in the ratings in a matter of months. If anything all they'll do is annoy Vince into putting a little more effort into his TV.

This is gonna be awesome, but for none of the reasons TNA hope it will.:pac:

Machismo Fan

flahavaj wrote: »

Impact was decimated in the ratings last time they went head to head with WWE.

They'll draw a decent number for a couple of weeks due to Hogan curiousity factor, then they'll be decimated in the ratings in a matter of months. If anything all they'll do is annoy Vince into putting a little more effort into his TV.

This is gonna be awesome, but for none of the reasons TNA hope it will.:pac:

When was the last time they went head to head with WWE? And if this does lead to WWE putting more effort into Raw, I'll be happy. Wrestling desperately needs competition these days.

chordtype

iMPACT! was decimated in the rating running unopposed by WWE on a Monday night last time.

I'm all for a new Monday night war but the problem this time is that TNA had nowhere near the money that WCW had to sustain itself while losing millions. Yes, competition is good and benefits everybody but I'm sure Vince doesn't agree.

Machismo Fan

Difference is TNA makes a profit. Wasn't that the This is TNA best of special? And if I remember right it drew about what TNA were getting anyway so they were hardly decimated by drawing their normal rating for a best of show.

Vince135792003

Let the fun and games begin.

waltersobchak

forget Hogan if TNA resigned Jeff Hardy, i wonder how that would spike their ratings especially with how over he was in his last WWE run

jaykhunter

TheCandystripes wrote: »

Hogan draws. Just you wait and see.

The future is TNA.

Hogan (even in WWE) can only draw attention for a few months. I really hope TNA double their ratings consistently next year, but I honestly think they'll get like 1.5 for a few weeks, then back to 1.1 I hope i'm wrong!

TNA need to drastically change the way iMPACT is presented (pace, storyline progression etc) but I really hope TNA sort it all out in 2010

Machismo Fan wrote: »

Difference is TNA makes a profit.

TNA made a HUGE LOSS this year with a really, really bad PPV revenue year. I reckon the savings they made with roster cuts were ruined when they hired Lashley, Foley and Tazz....I imagine that only maybe 3 PPVs this year made a profit, the rest were huge losses. That said, it was nowhere along the lines of the distasterous 10s of millions/year WCW was losing in 2000 and 2001.

I'm not that big on RAW at the moment (i only tune in if it's an ex-wrestler hosting) so I'll definitely be watching Hogan on iMPACT, brother! It's a shame we in Ireland can't see it live (unless by illegal means)

TOPDAWG

Im still a huge Hogan mark for my sins! (i just cant let go!! )

But im really worried about the possible negative effect he could have on TNA, fingers crossed it wont be WCW/NWO Pt 2.

p.s. He has a book out!! (inside joke)

Machismo Fan

jaykhunter wrote: »

TNA made a HUGE LOSS this year with a really, really bad PPV revenue year. I reckon the savings they made with roster cuts were ruined when they hired Lashley, Foley and Tazz....I imagine that only maybe 3 PPVs this year made a profit, the rest were huge losses. That said, it was nowhere along the lines of the distasterous 10s of millions/year WCW was losing in 2000 and 2001.

TNA make nothing on PPV's regardless. Most of TNA's money comes from TV deals of which they struck a new one this year with Spike along with expanding into France. Before Hogan came in TNA were turning a profit, the amount they're paying Hogan and others Hogan brings in may tilt it towards the red though.

jaykhunter

I reckon it's a toss up between how much they got for iMPACT showing in France vs PPV losses, but they have to make at least 20,000 buys per PPV to break even. Last year they averaged about 26,000, with two PPVs really picking up the slack (LockDown, B4G 2008)...They've failed to do that several times this year so I imagine that they've made a loss overall. I hear last year they broke even. I imagine that Hogan'd get a lot more every time he's used on TV rather than a flat-fee (I hope!)

D.Q

I doubt vince is PARTICULARLY worried. For now, TNA are nothing to him, barely a blip on his radar.

That said, its pretty exciting. I agree with everyone who has said wrestling needs competition. They should get Heyman on board. Keep him as far away from the financial side of things (and bischoff) as possible. That man can book.

Hogan will keep people interested in the short term, but they should concentrate on the further development of their current stars. Establish some sort of sustainable development.

If they really want to go against WWE, they are really going to have to up the ante in relation to their TV production quality. TNA simply does not look as good as WWE. Its like pepsi and coke, coke undeniably looks the better of the two, cant put my finger on why, but it does.

EdK

I'm actually of the opinion that WWE goes overboard production wise, it's too polished and clean like a hollywood movie, The wrestling business is still about people beating each other up it needs to be gritty and realistic

WWE announces a match and they have a graphic up 2 seconds later its almost like its all done in advance;)

Machismo Fan

jaykhunter wrote: »

I reckon it's a toss up between how much they got for iMPACT showing in France vs PPV losses, but they have to make at least 20,000 buys per PPV to break even. Last year they averaged about 26,000, with two PPVs really picking up the slack (LockDown, B4G 2008)...They've failed to do that several times this year so I imagine that they've made a loss overall. I hear last year they broke even. I imagine that Hogan'd get a lot more every time he's used on TV rather than a flat-fee (I hope!)

But I wouldn't think they're making huge losses on those PPV's plus I'd imagine they're getting more off Spike since they renegotiated recently and are adding programming. So I'd still guess that they're just about profitable before Hogan came in. Add that to them further expanding into Australia with Xplosion and a very successful UK tour in January.

Paulegend

does anyone have any idea what TNS's contract with bravo and virgin is like???

just wondering if we might get it live at some stage:rolleyes:

lords of pain where saying last week that it looks like the rock will have to wait until march for wwe. they wanted him for the jan 4th but he has his commitments in january as posted above and at the end of feb he is working on a new "amazing blockbuster":D

wwe has said they are running the 3 hour show aswell on jan 4th so itll be directly head to head.

i can see tna getting alot of numbers because lets be honest if we where part of "those" numbers we would all be tuning in to see whats new.

id like to see tna sign up jeff hardy RVD and ken kennedy. could you imagine them under tna managment CLASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

also hardy and RDV in the X division!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Paulegend

http://www.lordsofpain.net/news/tna/5209.html

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

- The long-term idea to run with once Hulk Hogan comes in is to go with two separate teams, one that Hogan would lead and the other being led by Mick Foley.

i wonder if the plan is something like Hogan up against foley in a brand warfare all building up to an eventual fight between hogan and foley. they did say hogan wouldnt fight right away. the last thing the wanna do is use up all the "Hulkamania heat" too soon.

waltersobchak

Paulegend wrote: »

http://www.lordsofpain.net/news/tna/5209.html

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

- The long-term idea to run with once Hulk Hogan comes in is to go with two separate teams, one that Hogan would lead and the other being led by Mick Foley.

i wonder if the plan is something like Hogan up against foley in a brand warfare all building up to an eventual fight between hogan and foley. they did say hogan wouldnt fight right away. the last thing the wanna do is use up all the "Hulkamania heat" too soon.

wow what does that sound like?????????

Paulegend

waltersobchak wrote: »

wow what does that sound like?????????

you mocking me:D

o you

waltersobchak

Paulegend wrote: »

you mocking me:D

o you

no no im promise;) im mocking tnas lack of originality. brothherrrrr

Paulegend

waltersobchak wrote: »

no no im promise;) im mocking tnas lack of originality. brothherrrrr

lol:)

even nash was mentioning NWO on tna:(

hopefully they will just look for original stories. they are getting a huge build up right now so i hope they dont disapoint. alot of "wwe" fans are willing to jump to TNA if its done right

waltersobchak

Paulegend wrote: »

lol:)

even nash was mentioning NWO on tna:(

hopefully they will just look for original stories. they are getting a huge build up right now so i hope they dont disapoint. alot of "wwe" fans are willing to jump to TNA if its done right

at the end of the day theres no point for TNA trying to recreate something from the past that they had nothing to do with, although it may spike ratings,thats until people get bored of it.. #cough ECW #cough..

DM_7

What real "impact" would head to head really make?

Most people who want to see both would just record one show and watch the other live.

Paulegend

DM-ICE wrote: »

What real "impact" would head to head really make?

Most people who want to see both would just record one show and watch the other live.

yea but in the states the "figures" reperesent people watching at the time of air. i dont think it includes people recording. the only real "impact" i guess would be advertisers would prefer to advertise on the network with the most viewers.

spongeman

I d'ont think its a good idea going head to head with Raw.

And how long will Hogan be around for ? Not a long time methinks. And what happens after he leaves ?

Vince gobbles up the opposition. Again.

flahavaj

What would be a good number for TNA to draw on 4th Jan?

davrho

flahavaj wrote: »

What would be a good number for TNA to draw on 4th Jan?

I think its more important they put on a good show than actual viewing figures. They need something to build on.

The last thing they need a is a huge audience with a poor product. Many might not come back.

Gonzo

TNA are going to really regret getting Hogan, he is a crippled one move wonder who doesnt even draw anymore who also refuses to put anyone over. He will most likely damage TNA and as a fan of TNA im fearing the worst.

What TNA needed to do is to have much better marketing, the TNA brand needs to become more known to the general public, their events need to be held in suitable areans, not 10,000 seater arenas with 800 people coming through the door. TNA needs to improve their marketing in towns and cities that host house shows and ppvs. The last TNA event in Dublin was barely marketed and most parts of Dublin saw no TNA posters at all. Same for Bound for Glory in LA, there was feck all local marketing, and recently there was a house show in america where 600 showed up to a 10,000 seater arena.

TNA also need their 2nd TV deal with more air time on the american networks.
Hogan to TNA is not the solution to bigger buyrates and a huge increase fans...Get the marketing good and more airtime on tv before we start looking at other stars and more fancy arenas.

flahavaj

davrho wrote: »

I think its more important they put on a good show than actual viewing figures. They need something to build on.

The last thing they need a is a huge audience with a poor product. Many might not come back.

I agree to an extent with this. Problem is, putting on a good show would be quite the departure from the stuff they have produced on a weekly basis for the last few years.

Why will they suddenly up their game now just because they're on Monday Nights? Is Hogan that good of a booker?

Machismo Fan

flahavaj wrote: »

What would be a good number for TNA to draw on 4th Jan?

I'd imagine at the very least they'd want to break their ratings record. As I said earlier, I think the dent TNA might put in the Raw rating is just as interesting. I'd imagine there's a fair number of cross over fans between Raw and iMPACT! that'd watch both each week, it'll be interesting to see how that'll effect the ratings. But first and foremost is a good show and it'll be interesting to see how Hogan in control will affect that. It's an interesting time to be a wrestling fan.

flahavaj

Machismo Fan wrote: »

I'd imagine at the very least they'd want to break their ratings record. As I said earlier, I think the dent TNA might put in the Raw rating is just as interesting. I'd imagine there's a fair number of cross over fans between Raw and iMPACT! that'd watch both each week, it'll be interesting to see how that'll effect the ratings. But first and foremost is a good show and it'll be interesting to see how Hogan in control. It's an interesting time to be a wrestling fan.

Definitely. I might come across as cynical and doubtful as to how this'll work out but at the end of the day, competition can only be a good thing and if it even makes Vince buck up his ideas a little bit it'll have been worth it.

Machismo Fan

DieselQueen wrote: »

I doubt vince is PARTICULARLY worried. For now, TNA are nothing to him, barely a blip on his radar.

I don't know, for another company to go directly head to head with Vince with the hook of Hogan's debut thrown in would have me worried. Vince would be foolish to completely ignore this.

davrho

flahavaj wrote: »

I agree to an extent with this. Problem is, putting on a good show would be quite the departure from the stuff they have produced on a weekly basis for the last few years.

Why will they suddenly up their game now just because they're on Monday Nights? Is Hogan that good of a booker?

Thats the big question. Can they up their game? We can only wait and see.
I would agree with you that their recent history gives little optimism that they can turn it around.

Fozzy

Unless WWE have Austin or Rock guest host Raw that week, TNA likely will get a big boost in ratings. They won't beat Raw though

After that Raw will be back to normal and TNA might experience a short ratings increase, but it's unlikely that it will last many weeks

jaykhunter

Even though Russo's been doing better as a booker over the last few months, I think he's hit his peak. The things needed for TNA to up it's game (better pacing, simple/effective storylines) Russo can't do. I imagine that Hogan/Bischoff can do a better job. They could hardly overbook!

Even if TNA get beaten into the ground booking-wise with Knobbs and Heidenreich being world champion (:mad::D), in a year's time, when Hogan has gone, TNA will be higher on the totem pole. TNA have just gotta use Hogan and their talent have to "suck it up" for the good of the company. At some point soon Hogan will just work backstage, his cronies will have been fired, and there's no reason why TNA can't be great.

If Jan 4th TNA gets 1.5 or higher, it'll be considered a success. Anything less than 1.1 is a failure. Obviously, I'd hope that TNA get a 2.0+

Machismo Fan

It is about time TNA took a risk, anything is better than more Russo incompetence.

Fozzy

jaykhunter wrote: »

If Jan 4th TNA gets 1.5 or higher, it'll be considered a success. Anything less than 1.1 is a failure. Obviously, I'd hope that TNA get a 2.0+

It can only be considered a success if they keep a hold of the increased audience. If Impact goes back to doing 1.1s every week after that then a 2.0 rating on Monday means nothing

jaykhunter

that's true!

I imagine that there's a really rough patch ahead (in terms of ratings) whenever iMPACT moves to monday nights. But it'll be good for TNA in the long-run

JP Liz

I think at the start when Hogan debuts on Impact TNA will get the viewers

kaiser soza

What is the chances of someone picking this up such as ESPN or even Bravo,would be great to have a choice of the two shows live.