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TNA News
TNA Impact Ratings: Women's match once again highest rated of show, Machismo-So Cal Val segment bombs (w/Keller Reax) Jun 3, 2008 - 1:21:04 PM
TNA Impact on May 29 drew a 0.94 rating overall, with an average viewership of 1.3 million. It drew a 0.70 among M18-34. The UFC Unleashed show two nights later on Spike, by comparison, drew a 1.2 rating overall with a 1.14 among M18-34 and 1.6 million viewers.
The quarter hour pattern for the show wasn't as alarming as usual, although the main event did draw a lower rating than the start of the second hour. The biggest drop came for Q3 which followed the Black Machismo & Sonjay Dutt vs. Rock 'n' Rave Infection match and the skit afterward where Machismo and So Val Cal made wedding plans and then a music video aired by Ace Young that included racy clips of Machismo and So Cal Val getting undressed and into bed together.
The women's match in Q5 drew a better rating (1.0) than the Rhino vs. James Storm KOTM qualifying match in Q6 (0.90). The show rebounded to a 0.99 for Q8 which featured the end of Christian Cage vs. Tomko in a KOTM qualifier plus A.J. Styles's statement to Karen Angle leading to a big brawl.
KELLER'S ANALYSIS: The women's match once again was the highest rated match of the show and the second-highest rated segment of the show (behind the always highest rated Q1). One thing the Machismo-So Cal Val ratings bomb backs up is the pattern of fans not wanting to watch, under any circumstances, wrestlers who aren't portrayed as tough, serious acts. Rock 'n' Rave Infection have been treated as jobbers. Machismo and Dutt have been portrayed as less than top level fighters, but more so as buffoonish characters. The same applied to when Shark Boy doing the Stone Cold spoof led to consistent, distinct ratings drops. Fans want to see primarily wrestlers portrayed as tough and serious with appealing, distinctive personalities getting into fights where the outcome has meaning. It's about that simple.
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