Although I've avoided spoilers concerning TNA's recent spate of shows in New York, which will be edited to produce their programming through the late summer, the impression I get is that these were successes. The company genuinely achieved sell-outs in a 1,200 capacity arena according to reports. While it's true that the UK (still the company's principal market) supplies much bigger crowds, this is a significant advance on the company's domestic house shows, which sometimes have dipped as low as 400 paying customers. What may be of more significance is the nature of those audiences.
Now, firstly, let me say that one of the things that drew me to TNA in the first place was that the Orlando soundstage that became the Impact Zone was pleasingly intimate. Whereas the WWE juggernaut travelled to faceless corporate enormodomes, this felt like a pleasant low-key contrast. However, after a couple of months, the drawbacks of the Florida theme park became obvious. Crowd response was, at best, unreliable. Crowds, consisting of curious holiday-makers who, having paid to enter the park, could claim free tickets to the tapings, often behaved as if they were at the library. During the Hogan years, a silent crowd would often only come to life when the Hulkster nursed his bruised body to the ring, simply because he was the only person there who most people actually recognised. Some weeks it was better, but you couldn't depend on the location to deliver the kind of constant crowd response that a wrestling show needs. Realising a change was needed, TNA took to the road and got better responses across the USA. Unfortunately, they were losing money so fast that they had to return to Orlando temporarily to face more flat crowds. Now they've found what seems to be a reasonable compromise. During their British tour of early 2014, they embarked on an ambitious taping schedule. Over just four nights, they shot six regular editions of Impact in Glasgow, Manchester and London, plus a One Night Only special in Birmingham. This was a good way of squeezing maximum value out of their travels, although it meant punters sat through extremely long shows. I can testify from experience that, in London, a show which kicked off at 7pm with a dark match only packed up after 11pm. Both myself and my companion missed our last trains home as a result.
So, this is the new strategy. TNA will travel across America, staying in one place long enough to get a month or more's worth of programming before moving on. The obvious flaw with this approach is that there's such a delay between the shows being filmed and actually airing that fans need to be vigilant to avoid spoilers. But this does seem to ensure that TNA can tour on a more economically-sound basis. However, I feel the company needs to choose its venues carefully. At the moment, we're getting a run of shows filmed in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (no, me neither) and frankly they suffer from the same problem they had in Orlando. The crowd occasionally wakes up (the other week they responded strongly to Dixie Carter's heel promo) but also remains inactive for lengthy periods of time. It cannot be overstressed how important audiences are. Not only do they create the show's atmosphere, a vibrant crowd will psychologically encourage the wrestlers to put on more of a show. All TNA wrestlers say how much they enjoy coming to the UK, and I believe they mean it; they get large, loud crowds on this island, so of course they'll look forward to that.
Meanwhile, on a recent PPV taping in Dallas, they had a terrific crowd who showed appropriate enthusiasm. The lesson here is a little brutal. While I appreciate them going out to small towns like Bethlehem, you will only get small town reactions there, and the promotion will look small. Appearances matter, so TNA needs to be shooting its programming in large cities with big wrestling cultures. And this is where New York comes in, as maybe only Chicago can supply wilder crowds than the Big Apple. Looking at photos taken during the tapings, the venue certainly looks very handsome, so there's a good chance that these shows will at least have the right feel. Also, with the return of the six-sided ring and some familiar names, TNA seems to be reaching out to its hardcore fanbase who perhaps became disillusioned when Hogan tried turning the company into WWE-lite. TNA says it's pressing the reset button in NYC; worryingly that's the second time they've made a claim like this this year, but this time it may have more substance. Whatever, I can't wait to see the New York shows.
However, even more exciting news involves the second city alluded to in the piece's title is addressed. A big announcement out of the blue has boldly stated that Bound For Glory will take place in Tokyo this year. This is exciting on many levels. The first thing it confirms is that the relationship between TNA and the Great Muta's fledgling promotion Wrestle-1 is taken very seriously by both parties. It also suggests that, after a year of making cuts to manage its costs, TNA is starting to expand its ambitions again. Presumably, by presenting the show as a joint promotion with a third party, costs become more manageable. The logistics of this will have to be worked out carefully, but I think this is a great move.
Most importantly, it makes a statement about TNA's direction. As I've stated earlier, a big problem was that TNA became too much like WWE under Hogan's watch. This is a mistake, as TNA will never be as big as Vince's company, and needs instead to build a distinctive niche for itself. At the moment, a lot of adult wrestling fans are uneasy about where WWE is going, with its recent poor decision-making, including misogynist toilet humour and yet another Cena title run, adding to the dismay. A company offering a fresh approach could mop up some of that disillusioned fanbase.
Some of the comments already made say that TNA will need to alter its product radically to suit Japanese tastes, and this should also affect the build-up. Basically, this means fewer gimmicks, fewer screwy finishes and a greater emphasis on in-ring action. All of this will benefit TNA, as the problem this year is that the show has moved too fast and has frequently over-booked important matches. Take, for example, last winter's "Dixie-land" title match, a convoluted mix of a cage match and a ladder match that offered ample scope for outside interference. Shenanigans like that won't work in Japan. Meanwhile, the show is currently continuing a dizzying and confusing set of multiple turns. This week, Brittany turned heel on Madison Rayne after her affections were spurned, while Samuel Shaw has apparently turned face, under the psychological supervision of Gunner. Oh, and Rhino reappeared to make a babyface save for Bully Ray, only to immediately swerve and attack the former Dudley Boy. It's all too much, and I hope that in New York the storytelling slows down and they build existing characters without further swerves.
The interesting thing is that, in the quieter corners of Impact Wrestling, this may have begun to happen. One real benefit TNA has already reaped is the loan signing of 26-year-old Seaya Sanada, whose road to stardom is being carefully mapped out by Wrestle-1. Sanada is a brilliantly smooth and confident ring worker, who can use the limited timespan of a TV match for optimum effect; he can always fit in a series of memorable spots. So far, Sanada has spent time in an impressive program with Mexican luchador Tigre Uno. This is a very simply-managed rivalry, an unusual face-on-face battle underpinned by mutual respect. This feels far closer to what you'd expect to see in a Japanese ring, and not just because one of the competitors is Japanese. Reports suggest that the loan spell, due to run out this summer, may be extended as the American experience has been beneficial for Sanada's development.
There is also an echo of this kind of booking in the Knockouts too. Last year, the division's highspot was a pair of scintillating, hard-hitting contests between Gail Kim (then playing the heel role) and Taryn Terrell. This rivalry was cut short due to Taryn taking maternity leave, but one year on she's back in the company. On her return she was welcomed back by Gail, now a face again due to TNA's massive deluge of turns, who paid tribute to her former opponent, thus laying a trail that should lead to a third bout in the series, this time a face-on-face encounter again based on mutual respect. So far, the pair have either teamed as tag partners or been kept apart, which again suggests the kind of patient booking that TNA needs to do more of. The longer they are kept separate (while their match is still hyped up), the more special it should appear when the match happens.
Meanwhile, a taster for the big Tokyo show is aired on Challenge this Wednesday (9th July) at 10pm, as there is a special broadcast of a show taped this year, where TNA talent faced up to Wrestle-1's roster.
One final point is that some of my compatriots have been a little put out that Japan gets a major PPV ahead of a loyal British fanbase that has helped the company stay afloat. There is some justification here, but I don't think we're being forgotten. Next weekend, Jeremy Borash will be taking a group of TNA stars to appear at a comic con in London, and he promises a big announcement about the UK will be made there. Surely he will announce that one of the 2015 PPVs will happen over here? And anyway, this perhaps misses the bigger picture. TNA need to focus in the short term on their partnership with Wrestle-1, which is only just starting to get established itself. In the immediate future, New York and Tokyo are the cities that will determine the company's destiny.
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