A couple of weeks ago, it was reported that newly-signed talents were told that they would be taping in Orlando, FL soon. As TNA lovers and haters alike know, Orlando, FL means The Impact Zone. And now, it looks as though TNA is following last year’s formula. If you remember last year, when they debuted on Destination America, they did this same thing. They put on some excellent shows in the Manhattan Center in NYC, followed by an always successful Maximum Impact Tour in the UK. But then they headed down to the Impact Zone and, as always, they settled in. They lost momentum. The quality of the show declined. The ratings declined. So the point of this article is to spread the message of Just Say No…To The Impact Zone.
For some mind-numbing reason, Dixie Carter and TNA are in love with the Impact Zone. It’s a terrible venue. For anyone reading this that isn’t all that familiar with TNA, the Impact Zone is a small sound stage venue that holds about 700 or 800 people. It’s a venue where TNA cannot charge an admission, and the crowd is about half wrestling fans, and half vacationers from the Universal theme park who, after spending boat loads of money all day, are looking for something free to do to kill time on vacation. The Impact Zone is just a lifeless, energy-draining destination that has been devaluing the quality of TNA year in and year out. Now I have some out of this world ideas that could serve as a successful alternative to TNA doing business as usual, and hunkering down in that black hole…and I would hope that there’s at least someone in TNA (ahem, Billy Corgan, ahem) that is thinking the same thing.
To Grow An Audience, You Have Expand Your Horizon
This concept pretty much speaks for itself. I attended the POP TV debut of TNA and it was the first time I’ve attended any TNA event. In fact, it was the first live wrestling show I’ve attended since Chris Benoit won the Royal Rumble. It was a great time. The show was very enjoyable. When you take the show on the road, you expose your brand to new audiences. If you go and watch some TNA moments from 2012 and 2013, see what happened when Hogan took them on the road. Everyone wants to rip them for the Hogan/Bischoff ordeal but go check out the crowd when Chris Sabin beat Bully Ray for the title. Go watch highlights from Lockdown in the Alamo Dome, where they pulled in close to 8,000 fans. Sure the Alamo Dome can hold like 70,000, but it’s still a testament for them to pull in a larger audience than normal. We are six weeks in, and TNA is having a very good 2016, with good stories, great talent, and great wrestling. Keep your show on the road and let people see the great things you’re doing. There are many areas with intermediate-sized venues that TNA would fit nicely in. They can return to Bethlehem or the Manhattan Center. They can hit that Mid-Hudson Civic Center where House of Hardcore likes to go. They can head out west and hit the Reno Event Center, or Cal Santa Barbara just to name a few. There are mid-sized events centers all over the place. They don’t need to relegate themselves to a Universal Studios sound stage. The Duluth Entertainment Center, The Special Events Center in Greensboro, The Reno Events Center. All of these venues are perfect for TNA to branch out and grow their audience. But whatever they do, they need to Just Say No…To The Impact Zone.
Capitalize On Other Popular Events
It was reported recently that TNA reached out to Lucha Underground to do a combined show in the Dallas, TX area during WrestleMania week. Now whether this report is true or not, who knows? But it brings up an interesting point. Why isn’t TNA, who has a great presence in the Dallas area, running a show during that week? There are other wrestling events taking place. They should be in the area, running a live Impact that Tuesday, and probably a One Night Only Live PPV that Friday. There are so many viable, smaller venues for them to perform in, it’s silly. They can go to the College Park Center on the campus of UT Arlington, or the Allen Event Center in Allen, TX which is like 20 minutes from Dallas/Ft. Worth. The area is going to be flooded with rabid wrestling fans. The fact that there are no plans for TNA to put on a show during that week is a flat out sin.
But it’s not just WrestleMania week that they can capitalize on. The UK Tour will finish airing 4 weeks from now. They taped 5 episodes last weekend and the first one aired last night. That leaves four more weeks which means March 15th is the next open date for a new episode. It’s also prime time for Spring Break in Daytona Beach. So they should bypass Orlando and shoot out an hour east to Daytona Beach and put on shows at the Ocean Center. Daytona Beach is going to be a mad house and according to the the Ocean Center calendar of events as of this writing, March 15-18 are open. That’s four days of television events that they can capitalize on in an area that will have major crowds for the about a 3 week span. It doesn’t take a Master’s Degree to have a little creative thinking with your marketing approach. TNA needs to do the Ocean Center and Just Say No…To The Impact Zone.
There is one more I want to touch on. And the reason is, there are two options available for this one. I remember last year, I was saying that TNA should capitalize on Saturday, May 2nd. Why then? Because in 2015, it was probably the biggest weekend in many years in terms of things going on. Aside from the NBA and NHL Playoffs, it was the NFL Draft from Thursday to Saturday, The Avengers opened in theaters that weekend with the debut of the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer, the Kentucky Derby, and the Pacquiao/Mayweather fight. That’s a pretty big weekend by normal standards.
Last year’s Kentucky Derby housed over 170,000 people to watch American Pharoah take his first step toward breaking the 37 year Triple Crown drought. But it’s not just Saturday. People are there all week for the media events, the horse workouts, the post position drawing, etc. So why didn’t TNA run a show at Freedom Hall? Then there’s the Mayweather/Pacquiao fight. The fight everyone has wanted for 8 years was finally happening. Las Vegas was swarmed with fans from everywhere, much moreso than WrestleMania week. So again, where’s the creative thinking that should have driven TNA to run a show at the Thomas & Mack Center, or the Orleans Arena. Impact was still airing on Fridays at the time. That would’ve been a perfect opportunity for them to capitalize on one of two major events, and they failed to do so. This year, Canelo fights Amir Khan on Kentucky Derby night. Nowhere near as big of a fight as last year’s, but still a big fight on Cinco De Mayo weekend. And even if the Kentucky Derby doesn’t pull in a 170K crowd, they typically pull in 140K, even on a down year where no horse really stands out. Will TNA do the right thing?
It’s Time For The Fans To Speak Out
The last part of this is kind of a play on the unfortunate retirement of Daniel Bryan from this past Monday. Think back to the events that led up to WrestleMania 30. Think about the crowd hijack of the Royal Rumble, the whole YES movement, and the fans letting the WWE know who they wanted. That’s what TNA fans need to do now. There have been no announcements for TNA’s next set of TV tapings. So the opportunity is still there. What TNA fans need to do, and in a very respectful way, is flood Dixie’s Twitter and voice our unhappiness with the prospect of returning to the Impact Zone. They can’t do it anymore. The Impact Zone sucks the life and soul out of the TNA product and it has done that constantly for the past 3 or more years now. We, as fans, need to take a stand and tweet Dixie Carter over and over and over again and say, Just Say No…To The Impact Zone.
Thank you for reading everyone. I hope everyone has a great rest of the week. Enjoy Valentine’s Day and remember, if you join me in flooding Dixie Carter’s Twitter to voice our displeasure with the Impact Zone, please be respectful. Be Safe Everyone!
