wrestling / Columns
If I Can Be Serious For A Moment 08.25.09: TNEh? Part 2 – Help! We Need Somebody
Greetings, humanity! Welcome back to If I Could Be Serious for a Moment, your weekly dose of intelligent wrestling discourse with me, Chris Lansdell. You know, the best thing about writing about sports, entertainment or sports entertainment is that there’s rarely too long of a stretch of time without someone doing something remarkable or remarkably stupid. Controversy abounds. This week’s column was half-written when the Angle Saga broke on Saturday, and I had to address it. We’re going to take a look at your comments from that in a little while, along with updating my position in light of new information. Then we’ll get to this week’s look at TNA’s “new approach”. Of course before that can happen, we’re going to need a…
BANNER!
Serious Feedback
“It’s not that I think ratings have no place in wrestling analysis, but it does rather presuppose that one’s opinion carries a lot of weight. For people on established sites who have built a reputation, perhaps it does. For the bloggers on their own sites rating matches or for people commenting, it’s really just something to fight about.”
OHHHH, now I get it. If you write a column for 411, you get to rate matches. If not, get the fuck away from this totally rockin’ bad ass who does. I see. Well it works both ways, because…
“Innocent until proven guilty is still an important part of the justice system, and as of right now we don’t know if he’s anything more than a guy with some poor judgement.”
As someone who has never come within a cunt hair of a law school (and someone who can’t even spell JUDGMENT properly), I don’t give a good god damn what you think about the legal system. Unless you’ve taken the bar exam, you’re really just a blogger on a site trying to find something to fight about and sound smart. Right?
You know I really haven’t cared for this fat piece of arrogant shit for a long time now. Feels good to be validated for that opinion.
Posted By: The REAL MP (Guest) on August 18, 2009 at 12:54 AM
I won’t bother to address the parts over which others have already called you to task, but I will ask you a question: what is the point of rating a wrestling match? Most people will tell you a rating is a statement about the match’s quality, and that it is subjective. I don’t like rating matches, but when I don’t do it I am asked to do it. This means that people want to hear my opinion on the match. Very few people on forums and blogs are being asked to provide ratings, so why are they doing it? In general, and I don’t by any means intend this to say “all the time”, these people have such an inflated sense of their own self-worth that they think their rating is the definitive statement on the match. I’m no Csonka, Dunn or Meltzer, but apparently some people want to know what I thought of a match. So I tell them. Oh, and I spent a year in law school.
So if this is Part I – what is Part II?
Since wrestlers don’t have a union and organizations are reluctant to monitor their contracted personnel until AFTER an event, we will have more horror stories over the course of time. I don’t know if Angle is at Benoit level (high/low) but he certainly seems at Austin or Steiner brother level.
If you read any of my work (that would make 5 readers for me), then you know my background growing up in wrestling circles in the 70s and 80s. There were plenty of guys just like Angle as far as “light-switch” moods during that time. The fact was it was far less reported at the time. I am very positive that many of these performers were on the recreational drugs of choice during that time period. Couple this was lack of sleep, stress, injuries and you have the same type of cocktail Mr. Angle is cooking up and allowed to exhibit this weekend.
What bothers me about the piece is the comparison to Benoit. While I don’t want to diminish your concern or make your warning signs look invalid, I just don’t see the true connection here or even the similarities. Benoit’s actions were stealth in comparison to Angle’s. It would appear that he lived in his own private hell up to the time he decided to deal with it. One of my good friends is a road agent for the WWE (and a former active worker) and he has told me countless times that he never saw it coming. He was with Benoit and the boys often and his years of experience in the business would suggest that he is far more of an expert than I on the signs.
They weren’t there – especially in regards to the actions he took.
Angle IMO is just a typical hothead. A hothead that likes control. I do believe his penchant for control mixed with his daily cocktail might not be the best for him. However, I do wonder how many guys that we see are taking a cocktail that mellows them out in the process. We might never know because the mellow people don’t get noticed and don’t make the headlines. They don’t get to be the center of columns though, they just live their lives without the out-of-the-ring public issues.
In summary, I believe Kurt is just an asshole. An asshole that is gifted athletic and very driven as a performer. Don’t allow the talent in the ring to mirage the real image that he continues to show on a monthly basis.
Posted By: thegunisgood2009 (Registered) on August 18, 2009 at 12:21 PM
While I would agree that Benoit’s actions were completely out of character and without warning, that was kind of my point. We’re getting a warning (maybe) here with Angle that we didn’t get with Benoit. Even if Kurt did nothing more than yell at the woman, we still need to be aware of everything he has put (and continues to put) in his body in order to continue entertaining us. If it can happen to someone as seemingly fine as Benoit was…
Unless I see the supposed pics of a busted up Rhaka Khan, I will just wait and see what happens with these charges. If he is acquitted of these charges, will you apologize for jumping to all these conclusions? This articlae(and all like them) is nothing but a piece of reactionary bullshit.
Posted By: Jay Smith (Guest) on August 20, 2009 at 11:44 PM
I’m fairly sure I spent most of the article agreeing with you. He hasn’t been convicted of anything, but his license being suspended is fact, and he was driving on it. The PFA is fact, and he violated it (albeit unwillingly, but I have no idea what Pennsylvania state law is on that). And given that the BlackBerry found in angle’s car DID belong to Rhaka Khan…you have to wonder why he had it. Not saying there was anything sinister happening, but it certainly looks bad.
Since I wrote the column on Monday night, Angle has broken his silence and protested his complete innocence. How he can claim he is not guilty of driving with a suspended license is a little beyond me, but the charges of abuse are what everyone is worried about. Of course even if he were guilty Angle would deny having done anything wrong, so we can’t automatically assume that just because he says “I didn’t do it”, he’s innocent. Seeing his backers jump on the wagon behind this denial and instantly brand Rhaka Khan as trouble (or worse…) is a pretty overt form of sexism. Really, the bottom line is that we have very few facts and until we do, nobody should be doing anything rash.
Save_us.fans
About a month ago, TNA started airing short clips during Impact in which they said they knew they weren’t doing enough, and they had to change. They asked for the fans’ help in doing so and promised a better TNA product to come. The first time I saw this clip I wondered if TNA management hadn’t finally lost their minds. Did they really just go on air and admit that they’re not putting out a good product, they know it, and they’re not trying hard enough to change it? And then they asked THE FANS how to fix it?
Then I thought for a minute. GM, who have failed far more spectacularly to keep up with the times, recently ran a similar ad campaign where they admitted they were sucking, they knew what they had to do about it and they had listened to the consumer. Your level of disdain for a giant auto manufacturer might be greater or lesser than a wrestling promotion that has made some questionable decisions, but one thing is for sure: GM’s marketing budget us a heck of a lot bigger. OK, let’s run with it. A couple of weeks later, TNA made another big move: they asked fans to fill out a survey which would help them get better. So how can TNA use this approach to improve? What are the pitfalls? And just how useful is that survey? Let’s have a look.
Fans – a breath of fresh air, or a device for shit to hit?
It may seem like a truism, but the fans make your product. To paraphrase, if you perform the actions of great wrestling but have not fans, you are become like a cymbal, making undue noise. So obviously if you give the fans any sort of input regarding your product, you would do well to at least listen. On average, TNA pulls in about 1.3 million viewers a week in the United States. Of course that doesn’t take into account Canada and the UK, where TNA consistently draws strong house show numbers. If they poll their audience for ideas and only 10 per cent respond, that’s over 150,000 opinions on the pessimistic side. If only 10 per cent of those are usable…you’re still doing damn well. There are a couple of keys here. The first is that if you’re going to poll your fans for ideas (which they haven’t yet done…), then USE THEM. Not all of them, or even most of them, but use some and make it clear that you are using some. The other important thing is that the fans are not being asked to write storylines or book feuds. You have to ask the right questions and phrase things the correct way in order to make the fans believe they are having an effect on the product without, you know, actually letting them affect the product.
The problem with this idea is that you can’t reach the people you need to reach: the disenfranchised fan. The ones who turned you off, or who won’t turn you on. If you’re convinced that you have done things wrong and have annoyed your viewers, yet they still watch…these people are not going to go anywhere. Certainly their opinion matters, but they can’t tell you what turned them off or why they won’t give you a chance. The other glaring issue is that if you’re writing bad stories now, why are you going to let the people who wrote/green-lit those bad stories choose the new ones? TNA fans are by and large more “smarky” than WWE fans are, and as such they tend to think they know more about wrestling than the people paid to do this stuff for a living. Kind of like wrestling journalists. However, listening the wrong ideas from such a group is a ticket to ride in the wrong direction. And that ignores the likelihood of 85 per cent of your replies from ex-TNA fans containing some combination of the words “Fire”, “Russo”, “cannon” and “old guys”.
You know what though? TNA knows that. They’re perfectly aware that they can’t trust fans with creative control. If anyone knows how dangerous creative control is, it’s Russo. He’s not going to give away any sort of power to anyone if he can avoid it, but I’m sure he wants to know what the fans like. So TNA came up with a long, detailed survey, clearly written by a marketing team, to do exactly what they needed to do: poll the fans without actually giving them any power. Let’s look at the survey and break down exactly how much genius it is.
Survey says? One more for marketing guys
The majority of this survey is marketing genius, but there are some parts that were badly done and stink of this being a rush job. In effect I think TNA has been spooked by both the drop in ratings and the (reportedly) alarming crash in pay per view buys, and decided they needed to make big changes, and quickly.
Possibly the most valuable piece of information on the entire survey. Collections of email addresses sell for thousands upon thousands of dollars for a reason: they’re like gold. With email addresses for everyone who responds to this survey, TNA not only has a ready-made list for promotional emails, but they also have the ability to contact any one of the respondents for more information or suggestions.
* Gender:
* Age Group
Know your audience. If most of your fans are men over 30, then you know where to focus your marketing efforts and also where you need to look for advertising. TNA can look at this two ways: they can either say “Most of our fans are in bracket X, so we should aim for more in that group”, or they can try and diversify and attract viewers in brackets Y and Z. Smart business is to build your foundation before expanding on it, but if the majority is big enough then they may already have that foundation. Any marketing person (and I checked with a couple) will tell you that this information is the most important thing you can know about your market.
* Do you watch TNA iMPACT?
Always
Sometimes
Seldom
Well this is pretty self-explanatory. I’d be surprised if many people answered other than “Always” simply because any other group would be less likely to take the survey. However, anyone who did answer “Seldom” or “Sometimes” will have particular attention paid to their answers. I answered “Always” here, of course. Interesting that they did not include a “Never” option, as those answers would have been VERY important to me. It would also have been a good indicator of how much buzz the survey was getting outside of TNA fans.
* Who is your favorite TNA Superstar?
AJ Styles, Kurt Angle, Jeff Jarrett, Mick Foley, Sting, Samoa Joe, Kevin Nash, Team 3D, Beer Money, Beautiful People, Awesome Kong, Tara, Booker T, Scott Steiner, Motor City Machineguns, British Invasion, Abyss, Suicide, Matt Morgan,
ODB, Shark Boy, Sheik Abdul Bashir, Rhino, Eric Young, Daniels, Amazing Red, Alissa Flash, Bobby Lashley, Christy Hemme, Consequences Creed, Cody Deaner, Daffney, Dr. Stevie, Jenna Morasco, Jesse Neal, Sarita, Sharmell, Sojo Bolt,
Taz, Traci Brooks, Kip James, Homicide, Hernandez, Jay Lethal, Kiyoshi, Taylor Wilde
You might be wondering why I included the whole list of options. That’s because of the order in which they were listed. AJ Styles being first does not surprise me, but look where Hernandez is. And Shark Boy, who hasn’t even had a TV match in forever, is ahead of such key players as Eric Young, Daniels and Bobby Lashley. The listing is not alphabetical, by title holder, by division or by seniority. 3 of the top 10 listed would be considered young talent, and Team 3D is listed ahead of Beer Money AND the British Invasion. This tells me that TNA is expecting most people to pick the first few names, but then why are they pushing Hernandez? Maybe someone who knows more about marketing than I do can explain the logic here.
* What Is Your Occupation?
Student K-12, College, Between Jobs, Hourly Position, Accounting/Finance, Executive, Managerial, Sales/Marketing,
Homemaker, Retired
More knowing your market, but this time in terms of income levels. Knowing how much money your audience makes is a valuable tool when it comes to things like choosing merchandise lines and “limited edition” products. It also gives an indication of lifestyle and things like free time and likely times to be in front of a TV.
* What Radio Format Do You Listen To?
This is an advertising question and not much more.
* Please check all the Professional Wrestling programs that you watch regularly (more than twice per month):
TNA iMPACT!, ECW, WWE Raw, WWE Smackdown, WWE Superstars
Again, the order here is interesting. They know they’re closest to ECW so putting that as the first choice makes sense. Raw next is probably because TNA sees that as the ultimate target. The question as a whole helps TNA understand if their fans are also WWE fans, which is a huge piece of information. If it turns out that they are not sharing fans, then the need to sign every ex-WWE guy they can grows greater. Obviously the lack of WWE fans watching TNA would mean that they have no interest in so doing, and the best way to do that is to put people on the show that they would recognise.
* How many TNA Pay per views do you purchase per year?
0-3, 4-6, 7+
* What determines decision to buy PPV?
Matches / Lineup, Favorite star, My Finances, X Division, # of title matches
So with the other data, they can determine with these 2 questions not only the age of the PPV buyers, but also the profession (is income a factor?), the motivating factors for each age and gender group, and perhaps most important: where they are failing with PPVs. If people buy PPVs based on the matches, and are buying less than 4 a year…guess what? Your cards suck. Of course the finances option will also tell them if they need to drop the prices, either permanently of for a few events a year. I was a little cheesed off that “Because I have to” wasn’t an option here.
* How do you keep current with TNA Events?
TNAwrestling.com, Other wrestling websites, By watching iMPACT!, Wrestling Magazines
This is partly another advertising question, but the inclusion of “Other wrestling websites” and “Wrestling Magazines” is a suggestion that maybe TNA is going to open up a little bit to the wrestling media. It is actually easier to deal with both RoH and WWE in terms of media access and interviews than it is to deal with TNA. They already know exactly how many people use their website, but what they don’t know is if the people who do use it are watching the show as well. Now they will. They’ll also know who is using it.
* Which of the following sports do you watch on television or attend live (check all that apply)
Auto racing, Monster Trucks, Baseball, Basketball, Boxing, MMA, Extreme Sports, Football, Golf, Hockey, Soccer, Tennis
* Which of the following TV shows or cable networks do you watch regularly?
* Networks that your regularly watch: (check all that apply)
Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, ESPN, G4, Disney, TBS, TNT, Comedy Central, Discovery, ABC Family, MTV, The N,
SyFy, History
I snipped the list of TV shows because it was LONG. Suffice it to say it contained everything from iCarly and Hannah Montana to UFC and Manswers. This is partly an advertising question, but it also gives TNA an insight into the character of their viewers. With whom are they competing for the entertainment dollar? The ratings point? Is there potential for more baseball and MMA tie-ins? Are their viewers tech nerds or rednecks? As a side note, I love the first two options under sports.
* Which region on the country do you live in?
Leaving aside the rather sad spelling error, they’re basically looking to see where they should be touring and where they should hold PPVs or external Impact tapings. People have said for a while that they need to freshen the audience for Impact, and moving it to a hotspot of TNA fans from time to time would do just that.
* Please check all gaming systems you own:
PlayStation 3, Wii, XBOX 360, PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, Sony PSP, iPhone/iPod Touch
Obviously they want to know where to put there next game, provided they can ever find someone to buy it from Midway. This question cheesed off quite a few people, as there was no way to submit the survey without picking one of these options. An example of the rushed feeling I mentioned earlier.
* What type of internet connection do you have?
High Speed
Dial Up
People still have dial-up? I guess they’re testing here to see if things like the new TNA Video Vault are worth continuing. If most of their fans are on dial-up, I’d bet my paycheque they won’t be using it.
* Did you purchase the TNA Video Game?
They’re looking to find out if the people who bought it were mostly fans. This gives them insight then into how much brand appeal they have, and whether or not a game can draw in new fans. If non-viewers are buying it, might they be tempted to watch?
* How often do you visit TNA wrestling.com
* How did you hear about TNAwrestling.com
A company’s web presence is tremendously important these days. Very often the first exposure a consumer will have to a product is through their website, especially for companies like TNA with a limited reach. They need to know what brings people to the site, and if they are coming back.
* Have you ever purchased anything on ShopTNA.com?
* If TNA had a merchandise catalog, would you use it?
* Do you regularly purchase products online?
The second question is just flat-out asking, but the other two here are dedicated to learning about who buys from them. Is it the families or the guys with money? The ones who watch Impact and not PPVs? All very interesting info.
* Have you ever purchased a TNA Home Video DVD?
* If yes, where did you buy it at?
More of the same.
* Are you familiar with the TNA Video Vault?
* If yes, have you ever purchased a video or subscription on the TNA Video Vault?
No point launching a new service is nobody is using it, right? Also gives them an idea who knows about it, who’s using it and where they need to pimp it more.
* Which of these websites do you regularly visit or use?
IGN.com, UGO.com,Facebook.com, MySpace.com, Twitter.com, ESPN.com, CNN.com, Fantasy Sports sites, Wrestling News sites
And they end on another advertising note, this time about web ads. Again they include wrestling news sites, something that can be seen as good news for the web wrestling writers. If TNA sees that their fans come here, maybe they will stop treating us like we’re the enemy.
Whew! That took longer than I expected, or wanted. Fan reaction to the survey was to almost universally trash it. Those who didn’t complain about the video game question were pissed that there was no freeform comments section. They were also concerned that none of the questions could possibly help TNA do anything to improve.
A freeform comments section would have been useless. The only people who would have used it would be the vocal minority who already post copious complaints on message boards, wrestling sites and blogs. A look at the comments section on this site from the day the news was posted revealed a ton of “Fire Russo” comments, almost as many “Get rid of the old guys” and “Push the young guys” comments and a surprising number of people clamouring for Paul Heyman to get the book in tandem with Jim Cornette. Leaving aside the fact that I’d pay just to see those booking meetings, TNA has heard all of this before.
Firing Russo does little to no good. It’s far better to reign him in with a savvy wrestling mind. They already have one on payroll in Jim Cornette. Channelled Russo is genius. Unfettered Russo is dangerous. If they fire all the old guys, just who is going to put the young guys over? Gone are the days of weekly pay per views when TNA was catering only to an audience who cared about workrate and such. A national promotion that wants to be successful cannot rely on guys getting over based on their movesets, unless they are exceptional (AJ Styles, for example). The few original and useful freeform comments they would have received would not have been worth the effort of weeding through the dross.
A large number of people just didn’t get this survey, which is why I felt it necessary to write this column. I’m not above slagging off TNA when it’s warranted, but this was a smart and timely move to understand their fans better, which in the long run is a better way to improve your product than the knee-jerk reactions that WWE has been using. Our problem now is deciding whether or not TNA have listened, and I don’t believe we’ll see the results of that until Bound for Glory. Hey, I’ve given them the benefit of the doubt for this long. I can wait another month and a half.
Moment over. Twitter Break!
Lansdell on Twitter, for great justice!
http://www.twitter.com/411mania
http://www.twitter.com/411wrestling
http://www.twitter.com/411moviestv
http://www.twitter.com/411music
http://www.twitter.com/411games
http://www.twitter.com/411mma
As it is way past my bedtime, I’m calling it a night. Next week I’m hoping to take a nice long look at the Knockouts and where they’re headed. Stay Cool, Rock Hard.
Lansdellicious – Out.
