Wrestling.net.au

It's All in a Name by Greg Prowse

Ever since Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff debuted for TNA on the January 4 Impact, there has been a thousand columns giving their viewpoint on whether TNA can really topple WWE. Most of these commentaries have unfortunately for TNA, been negative in their opinions. Many reasons have been given as to why this is so:- bad booking, too many gimmick matches, too much Hogan taking TV time, Russo is still on the booking team, etc. These are all very valid arguments. Yes, the booking has been convuluted, and yes, the overuse of gimmick matches to catch the eye of the channel-flicking viewer is a real distraction for those of us already watching the product. Hogan has returned to doing endless promos telling us he's the man in TNA, and Russo...yeah we know the drill with that guy. But I think there's one area that many people dont focus in on as much, and that is the concept of brand recognition. It's this brand recognition that causes companies to spend millions of dollars on advertising. They want to drum the concept into our heads that it is THEIR product we want, not the "other guys."

A five second jingle at the end of an advertisment can mean the difference between us forgetting about that company, or going to that company for whatever product they are flogging. Brand recognition is extremely important, but very few companies are able to achieve it. Not every fast food restaurant can boast the ability of McDonalds to come to our minds when we think hamburgers and fries. KFC for many people are our go-to-guys for chicken, as opposed to say, Red Rooster. In an example a little closer to this topic, UFC has accomplished this in the MMA world. Often times, I have been asked if I'm a wrestling fan. I will reply, "yes." The other person will then ask me what I thought of RAW or Smackdown, or what I thought of a title changing on a recent pay per view. When I explain that I rarely watch much WWE these days, I get a look as if I have just grown a second head. For many fans, WWE IS wrestling. Vince McMahon has spent many years and alot of money to convince us that WWE is all we need. When the then-WWF made references to WCW in the mid-90s, it was a unique time. Dating back to the origins of professional wrestling and the territorial days, promotions rarely acknowledged the competition.

If Vince hadnt ravaged the competition so much, and if the various promoters were happier to work together, then Verne Gagne's Superclash concept - which brought together a variety of territories including World Class and CWA - might have been more revolutionary. Professional wrestling is like any other industry though - the more you talk about the competition, the more free advertising you are giving them. And so, TNA propaganda has suggested they now want to be number one. They have trying for a long time to convince viewers to switch over to Spike TV and support their product. They have their aforementioned problems, which is doing them no good in their quest to fulfill their lofty goals. However, TNA has a problem that might be bigger then bad booking, or Vince Russo. They dont seem to have much in the way of brand recognition. Vince McMahon Jnr is a third generation promoter. His grandfather Jess McMahon promoted boxing and wrestling, and along with partner Tex Rickard, promoted the first boxing match held in New York's Madison Square Garden in 1925. In the early 1930's along with Jack Curley, Jess began promoting wrestling. In 1952, after being an understudy to his father, Vincent J McMahon started up Capitol Wrestling Corporation (later to be renamed the World Wide Wrestling Federation with Toots Mondt, the father of modern pro wrestling). McMahon Snr became the penultimate wrestling promoter in New York, and had sole ownership over wrestling events at the Garden. In 1984, his son Vince Jnr - previously an understudy and TV announcer - bought out the promotion, dropping a "W" and naming it the World Wrestling Federation. To say Vince Jnr changed the landscape of wrestling is an understatement.

After taking control of the company, he immediately switched gears by having perennial champ Bob Backlund lose to The Iron Shiek, who a month later dropped it to Hulk Hogan. He brought in celebrities, most notably singer Cyndi Lauper and actor Mr T. The Rock N Wrestling connection made the WWF mainstream, making other companies like the AWA look primitive in comparison. It was Vince's alliance with MTV - itself a revolutionary concept in the music world - as well as the embracing of a new technology called cable television, celebrities and of course Wrestlemania, that enabled the WWF to transcend wrestling. It gave them the brand recognition they needed to take over the national wrestling scene in the United States. So far, I havent spoken about the in-ring work of the WWF during that time period. For many wrestlers in other territories, the WWF in-ring product was seen to be a joke. Lumbering three hundred pounders roamed the WWF's peaks and valleys, and their matches were traditionally shorter compared to other territories. The WWF seemed to rely heavily on characters and soap opera storylines then in-ring wrestling. On an episode of WWE's Legends of Wrestling programme, panelist Michael Hayes spoke about the Randy Savage/Ricky Steamboat match from Wrestlemania III. Hayes stated that when he was working in other companies and he saw and heard about the epic encounter, he lamented that now WWF had it all. Previously, the WWF was known as a circus act, and the Savage/Steamboat clash was a rare occasion to see a truely athletic match presented by the Federation.

The point is this - much like in any industry, the quality of the product isnt always what gets you over the line. I dont know that McDonalds are renowned for having the tastiest food in the world. But because of their many stores, advertising, jingles and history, they are the standard bearer of their industry. The same way that WWE hasn't always presented solid in-ring matches, yet they are now a global entity, selling out arenas around the world. ------ Total Nonstop Action (TNA) was founded by former promoter and booker Jerry Jarrett, and his son, Jeff in 2002. Originally aligned with the NWA, TNA began as a pay-per-view entity only, holding weekly events. The company was condemned by many critics, but they managed to strike a deal with Fox Sports Net in 2003, and later with Spike. Early on in the piece, Jerry sold his interests to Bob Carter, head of Panda Energy, who in turn made his daughter Dixie the head of TNA. Jerry's main reason seemed to be his conflicts with Vince Russo, who he referred in an RF Video shoot interview as a "zero in every category." In the time TNA has been operating, they received two universal plaudits - the X-Division and their Women's division (both these areas have been phased down considerably).

The six sided ring, which many people including myself admittedly thought wouldnt cut it in a major wrestling company, became a part of TNA culture - until Hogan and Bischoff got rid of it in favour of a more traditional four sided ring. As we can see, the three areas that I can indentify that were unique to TNA, and could have and was used to recognise them as a brand name, are now gone. At time of writing, the X-Division champion - which was formally a haven for smaller wrestlers, thus recapturing some of the magic of WCW's old Cruiserweight division - is a man who is very much a heavyweight in Doug Williams. The women's division, which was graced with such talent as Gail Kim and Amazing Kong, are now gone from the company. Whilst its not as dire as the X-Divison has been, it's still not as competitive and beloved as before (this is probably due to the fact that Scott D'amore, who booked the Women's division, left months ago). And then as mentioned, Bisch and Hulk did away with the six-sided ring. Another piece of evidence to suggest that TNA's brand recognition is not strong, is the constant stream of ex-WWE talent being signed.

Many of these talents have unfortunately been labeled "rejects" by many fans. Again, this is in part because of weak booking. However, even if the booking was solid, would the impact of a Jeff Hardy hitting TNA still be considered a major shift, or would people still consider it a step down? In ECW, which was a smaller company in comparison to TNA, seemed to be strengthened whenever they brought in a Mick Foley or a Steve Austin. Again, this is in part because of good booking, but also because ECW established brand recognition, something that people looked at and recognised that something special could happen, because it was ECW. In TNA, many of these talents appear to lose their stock the moment they hit TNA, thus the booking of their characters becomes a non-factor, since the booking hasnt even began in some cases, or hasnt scratched the surface before fans begin lamenting that wrestler's career move. ------ I dont want people to read this and see it as another TNA bashing session, which seems to be the norm.

TNA has its problems, there's no questions about that, and their plans to go up against WWE will probably be futile due to the sheer size of WWE's sphere of influence. But any company, even if they had more financial backing then TNA does, would struggle. When the then-WWF was "only" a national entity, many of the once powerful territories fell by the wayside because WWF was seen as A-grade and first class. For a company that was founded barely ten years ago, with a brand name that many wrestling fans still aren't aware (and if they are aware, many of them see them as watered down WWE), it is an up-hill struggle for them to achieve the number one spot. In my opinion, TNA should have tried to create their own market by being an alternative to WWE. Garner your own fanbase, enough to be profitable and viable, and surely that is enough. Unfortunately in pro wrestling, that logic is rarely taken on board.

A number of companies have fallen by the wayside in their haste to fill the void of WCW and ECW - companies like MLW spring to mind. TNA are taking on a force that is more then just an in-ring product. They are taking on a company who's roots can be traced back to 1925; a company who became the epicentre of pro wrestling throughout the 80s in large part because of their aggressive marketing strategy, and a company that is now seen as a global enterprise. Unfortunately with the current direction, TNA are going down a well beaten path that has devoured many a soul, with no desire to learn from past history. But if TNA were to concede their place as an alternative product, which was Jerry Jarrett's main aim when he started the company in 2002, they at least have a chance of survival. To go the other route, that are facing a wall of history and brand recognition that is impenetrable and too vast to work around.

Comments: