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GUEST EDITORIAL
By Darvio Morrow of Cleveland, Ohio, Torch reader

For the past several years, there has been growing debate over the direction of TNA Wrestling. Fans, journalists, and even fellow wrestlers weigh in and the debate is usually centered around the question of "veterans or new stars." Today's prevailing wisdom is that TNA needs to move in the direction of promoting new stars. TNA has shown some willingness to move in that direction as well. While promoting new stars and giving them the top spot may be admirable, my prediction is that it will barely move the ratings and pay-per-view buyrates for the company. TNA can promote as many young stars as they want and it will not fix the real problem that TNA has; the problem that has left the company stagnant for the past couple of years. The real problems that needs to be addressed is TNA's brand recognition and image.

In an interview with another wrestling site, Kevin Nash told a story about how he had a run-in with a fan from the old WCW days. As he was receiving an autograph, he asked Nash about the last time he wrestled, obviously thinking that Kevin hadn't done much since his relatively short stint in the WWE. When Kevin responded, "last Thursday," the fan was stunned. The point of that story was to show that Nash and wrestlers like him still had fans, but their fans did not know how to watch them. In other words, there are still many wrestling fans who do not know that TNA even exists.

That is the issue of brand recognition, and until TNA addresses that, it will not matter who the champion is. The dial will never move past the 1.2-1.3 range. The veterans get, in my view, a bad rap for failing to deliver on their "name recognition," but I contend that TNA management failed to effectively use those talents with name value in a way that could increase the recognition of the TNA brand and thus, by extension, making new talent like A.J. Styles, Daniels, and Hernandez relevant in the eye of the casual wrestling fan.

To rectify this situation, TNA should embark on a national advertising campaign targeting former wrestling hotbed cities. These commercials should feature Kurt Angle, Kevin Nash, Team 3D, and other name brand talent alongside new wrestlers such as A.J. Styles, Samoa Joe, and Matt Morgan. The commercial should direct the fans to a TNA Impact sub-website that features video clips of some of the best Impact moments, interviews with TNA stars, and a schedule listing the channel and time that Impact airs. WWE used a similar tactic in the late 1990s in promotion of its "WWF Attitude" campaign featuring a commercial with top wrestlers fighting at the corporate offices in Stamford, Conn.

On the creative side, TNA should not dissolve the Main Event Mafia. They should turn the group into babyfaces and develop a war between them and four members of the World Elite. This would use the Mafia as a tool to keep casual fans who were brought in by TNA's advertising campaign. The storyline will also raise the stock of the World Elite, elevating them to the level of being equals to the Main Event Mafia in the eyes of the casual fan. It will also give TNA a strong upper-mid card feud, leaving the main event spot for TNA's "youth movement" stars. This could also lead to a Mafia/Sting reunion, should he decide to return to TNA.

The babyface Mafia also has potential to positively impact TNA's bottom line with Mafia merchandise, group action figures, and a two-disc Mafia DVD set increasing the company's sales revenue. Combined with the advertising campaign, the Main Event Mafia could be one of the contributing factors to an "Impact" ratings increase, as the Mafia has already increased TNA's ratings 21 percent in the 18-34 demographic during their heel run. Read the recent Ratings Report.

TNA must address its image. When the casual fan watches TNA programming, the design of the set looks amateurish. The presentation of TNA television needs to change. If possible, TNA should redesign the Universal Studios soundstage to mimic an actual arena with an entrance area and "tron" similar to the ones that they use for their pay-per-views outside of Florida. They should switch from bleacher seats to arena style seats and move the audience farther away from the ring. TNA should also go to assigned-by-ticket seating in order to break up impromptu groups of "the usual fans" who say things to mess up the show. (Some of that stuff does make it to television.) TNA needs to use the old television trick of moving the audience closer to each other in order to give the impression of a full house. TNA should put better mics in the audience to give a "real crowd" effect that translates well on television. TNA needs to get rid of the show titles. It just highlights the fact that the show is not live.

Finally, TNA must give their wrestlers real music videos similar to the ones that WWE has. It is incredibly independent wrestling-ish to have a famous wrestler like Sting or Kurt Angle walk down to the ring with only his name flashing on the screen behind him. Add video highlights of their matches and promos. Some of these things may seem unimportant, but they are vital if TNA wants to be looked at as WWE's equal and not as its little brother.

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