AS I SEE IT
Bob Magee
Pro Wrestling Between the Sheets
PWBTS.com
TNA Wrestling set a brand-new North American attendance
record last night at Slammiversary, announcing 7,623 tickets
distributed at the UBS Arena in Long Island, beating the
former company record, held by TNA Lockdown 2013 pay-per-
view in San Antonio, TX, where 7,200 fans were present.
“This company has worked tirelessly since last December
when it was announced that Slammiversary would be held at
the UBS Arena,” TNA Wrestling President Carlos Silva
said in a press release. “To see a record-setting crowd
at the UBS Arena was a milestone moment for TNA Wrestling
that no one will ever forget.”
That was the best that could be said about July 20 and
Slammiversary. Well...that and the appearance of AJ Styles,
which likely drove a sizable number of last-minute ticket
sales. There was a great match with Leon Slater winning the
X Division title from Moose in an excellent match, and
Styles putting him over in his in-ring speech.
Facts are inconvenient things, though. First, that 7,623 was
tickets DISTRIBUTED. As some WWE partisans take great pains
to mention any time AEW lists such numbers, that included
comps. Second, it also included a buy one get one free deal
(as reported by PWinsider). So, we'll likely have to wait
for a NY State Athletic Commision report to know the paid
crowd. Then there was the disaster of a finish in the main
event TNA Men's World Championship match between Trick
Williams vs. Joe Hendry vs. Mike Santana that sent those
7,623 fans unhappy.
Despite weeks of buildup of Mike Santana potentially winning
in his hometown, including an inspirational voice message
from his late father... the main event of this record
setting PPV saw a mind-blowingly stupid booking decision, as
the otherwise good to excellent three-way match saw Trick
Williams faking an injury outside the ring. This killed the
Long Island crowd who smelled that something was up...then
went on to the finish that saw Trick Williams suddenly
jumped into the ring, shoved Mike Santana aside and pinned
Joe Hendry to retain the TNA title. Even Mike Santana
himself described the reaction as "the air draining right
out of the room"
TNA made its promotion look third-rate by booking its talent
to lose to the developmental brand of WWE, throwing away all
measure of fan service to their fanbase and the New York
market. It was the kind of promotional malpractice that a
vocal minority of AEW fans feared would happen with the Jon
Moxley-Hangman Adam Page finish at ALL IN. The difference in
the finishes shows the difference of TNA from any promotion
that believed in providing fan service.
Imagine what would have happened on July 12 had Tony Khan
not pulled the trigger and booked Hangman Adam Page to
finish the story and win the AEW title, and instead had Jon
Moxley go over yet again as the result of Deathriders
shenanigans to wait for Darby Allin or someone else. I don't
want to think about the resulting firestorm had that
happened. But Tony Khan knew better. Delirious and Carlos
Silva didn't.
So.... what did Carlos Silva, the head of TNA think of fan
and commentary criticism of the finish? "To the fans,
I’d say this: I’m glad they’re talking about it."
Guess he was glad then when Undertaker chokeslammed the WWE
developmental talent who has his TNA World Title, you know,
the one who beat his two top babyfaces 48 hours before...
Silva was fine watching him getting put on his ass by a 60-
year-old man. How's that partnership working out, Carlos?
Even better, the TNA talent coming to last Tuesday's NXT to
first challenge for the TNA title...is Santino Marella.
Director of Authority and comedy character Santino Marella.
Nothing like building credibility for your company with a
50ish comedy character.
The rationale is apparently TNA enlisting WWE help to get a
new TV deal, and essentially having eat shit in the process.
There are two problems with that mindset:
1) If that TV deal is based around WWE/NXT talent that won't
be there in 6-12 months after the deal...it won't be TNA. It
won't be the TNA with AJ Styles, Samoa Joe and Christopher
Daniels, and the six-sided ring, and yes, even with Dixie
Carter, and yes, the TNA that was the weekly shows out of
Nashville. If this continues, for all intents and purposes
it'll be NXTNA, much like WWECW...the WWE-owned so-called
"ECW"
2) In doing all this, TNA will run off a lot of their ride
or die fanbase in the process.
Maybe TNA will do a one-on-one match with Trick Santana and
put the belt on Mike Santana at Bound for Glory in Lowell,
MA...a show that's traditionally been their Wrestlemania or
ALL IN. But they'll have missed an opportunity to make a
moment before a record crowd in Santana's hometown, New York
before what will likely be the largest crowd they'll do
anytime in the foreseeable future.
HBO MAX added many of the remaining AEW PPVs to the AEW
library on July 25th:
* Forbidden Door 2023 (Danielson-Okada, Ospreay-Omega)
* All Out 2023 (Omega- Takeshita)
* WrestleDream 2023
* Full Gear 2023
* World's End 2023
* Forbidden Door 2024 (Strickland-Ospreay)
* All Out 2024 (Strickland-Page Steel Cage Match)
* WrestleDream 2024
* Full Gear 2024
* World's End 2024
Finally, in proof that hate doesn't sell everywhere, Dave
Meltzer reported Friday that Ticketmaster has listed WWE
Late Night Featuring Tony Hinchcliffe as being canceled,with
refunds being issued. The event was set to take place next
weekend on August 2 following the night 1 of SummerSlam.
PWInsider reported that the event was canceled by WWE due to
poor ticket sales.
Guess hate doesn't sell everywhere.
If you'd like to contact me, you can do so at my
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