There have been significant changes in the organizational structure of TNA Wrestling, particularly marked by the departure of several key personnel.
Despite the internal restructuring, the collaboration between TNA Wrestling and WWE is progressing positively.
In a recent interview with Essentially Sports, Anthem Sports Group’s Chief Revenue Officer Rob Kligman discussed TNA’s efforts to secure a better distribution deal.
Leveraging his extensive experience at WWE, where he was Vice President of Global Digital & Integrated Sponsorship Sales, Kligman emphasized that distribution is the primary distinguishing factor between WWE and TNA. He said,
”We both (WWE & TNA) have historical realms behind each brand. The brands both can speak for themselves and stand for themselves. Right now, the difference really is the distribution mechanism that WWE uses to push their content out versus what TNA does. Right now, we’re focusing on getting that distribution even larger than it is for TNA. But that’s the big differentiation point. The production is the same quality and the content is the same quality. The difference is the distribution. So that’s one of the big reasons why I came on board was to help the distribution, work with our team internally at TNA and lock in an opportunity for the fans to see it worldwide and that’s our ultimate goal but right now, that’s where we see the differentiation point between World Wrestling Entertainment and TNA. It’s simply distribution, because when you look at the content, the production — like I said earlier — is spot-on and the content and the characters are spot-on so, once we get that distribution deal, I think you’re gonna see a little bit more of an even keel between both organizations.”
When asked about the potential for WWE and TNA Wrestling to collaborate over WrestleMania weekend, Kligman mentioned that while he had yet to receive concrete information, he found the idea intriguing.
Kligman also envisaged a future where TNA Wrestling and WWE events could be held concurrently during the same weekend, providing fans with increased opportunities to engage with both promotions. He stated,
”That I don’t know yet (if TNA & WWE will collaborate over WrestleMania weekend). I think, again, the way I look at the organization and how I look at building a business is it’s crawl, walk, run. It’s taking those small steps and doing them really right the first time and then mature and get to the second step and get to the next step. That’s an ultimate goal and that would be amazing. I think there’s an opportunity for potentially maybe doing events in the same weekend. Finding a way to do something where we parallel the opportunity for fans to gather around and see content where they wanna see it at their time and that could be an event weekend that parallels TNA and WWE at some point. You just never know. But, obviously, WrestleMania is the ultimate. There is no such thing that’s even bigger than that but, I think the opportunity that could exist to be part of WrestleMania would be an ultimate goal.”
