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VIP - RADICAN: DVD Review - "The History of TNA: Year 1" is propoganda, revised history, half-truths (PWTorch Newsletter #1000) Nov 26, 2007 - 9:18:27 AM
"It was the only option at the time, and it proved, really, to be the smartest move ever"
- TNA broadcaster Mike Tenay, wearing an expression on his face as if he's being asked to explain the meaning of life, on TNA trying to launch a wrestling promotion based on drawing revenue from running weekly PPVs.
"The History of TNA: Year 1" is touted by TNA as being their biggest DVD release of 2007, but when all is said and done, this release was just a piece of propaganda. It's sad that TNA couldn't tell the true story of how the company survived beyond its initial months. Instead, TNA chose to take the low road and tout their first year as an overwhelming success that proved the critics wrong.
A more appropriate title for this drivel would have been "The History of TNA: Year 1 (Lies and Bulls---.)"
Jeff Jarrett [artist Grant Gould (c) PWTorch]
The first half-hour of the documentary lasts seemingly forever, as the origins of TNA are discussed in false detail. Jeff Jarrett and Bob Ryder talk about coming up with the concept of running a weekly PPV while on a fishing trip together. They kind of decide to mention that Jeff's father, Jerry, was also there, but Ryder and Jarrett end up slipping in Jerry Jarrett's name when discussing the origins of TNA like they were trying to reenact Kevin Nealon's Mr. Subliminal bit from Saturday Night Live.
The problem is that Jerry Jarrett and Jeff Jarrett launched TNA on weekly PPV because Jerry felt that the start up costs of running a national promotion on network television were too high. The cost of running episodic weekly PPVs was much lower. So it didn't happen exactly the way Ryder tells it.
"So what we decided was that the next logical evolution in the television industry is for original weekly programming. Instead of going to a network, to go to the pay-per-view format, we played around with some numbers and instead of a $50 million start-up (expense) to go into the professional wrestling business (via network television), we came out with a much lower number, much easier to handle, one that Jeff and I could handle with our limited resources. We pitched the idea to InDemand and they bought it" --Jerry Jarrett on why TNA went with the PPV format in his Torch Talk from, Torch #705.
Ryder and Jarrett tell a different version of TNA's move to PPV. They barely discuss Jerry Jarrett's involvement. Ryder says TNA went straight to PPV because no network wanted wrestling, but it was more of a case of Jarrett not wanting to have to endure the difficulty of running a national cable televised wrestling promotion. Ryder said once TV was ready, they would go to TV, which is another contradition to previous information. The plan all along was to make enough money on the weekly PPVs to remain in business and profitable while not having to endure the high cost of being a national wrestling promotion with a network deal.
Jarrett also makes a big deal of how difficult it was to get Indemand to bit on the weekly PPV proposal, but Jerry Jarrett has always told a different story.
Unfortunately the truth of how TNA got clearance on InDemand doesn't fit the "we showed them" attitude displayed throughout this release.
After talking in exhausting detail of how tragic it was when a 400 pound wrestler on the pre-show broke the ring before TNA was set to go live on PPV for the first time, it's finally time to focus more on how TNA proved the critics wrong. It is never specifically mentioned exactly how TNA nearly had to shut its doors after just a handful of shows on PPV. Some of the details are mentioned, but the narrative is so disjointed that viewers will have a hard time keeping track of the details given. Instead, TNA begins the story of how they lasted through the first year by having several talking heads pat themselves on the back.
Ryder talks about TNA proving the critics wrong by lasting more than 5-6 weeks. Jarrett talks about outworking people and proving them wrong. Tenay hilarious says the heavyweight and X divisions were solid, but the tag division was a bit week (take his statement however you like). Jeremy Borash (wearing a sports coat over a Christian Cage t-shirt) talks about TNA overcoming "obstacles," but doesn't mention exactly what those obstacles were. A.J. Styles also appears and talks about "the debacle" that took place during the early stages of TNA's run on weekly PPV.
So what exactly happened?
The "obstacles" and "the debacle" were actually the Jarretts getting screwed over by the man in charge of marketing, Jay Hassman, who lead the Jarretts to believe they were drawing around 80,000 buys per week during their initial run of shows. The truth was they weren't even drawing 20,000 buys. In fact, TNA needed to draw around 50,000 buys just to make money and stay in business. The Jarretts had gotten screwed and were running shows based on the belief that more money than originally thought was coming in due to high buyrates.
Hassman was also working for a company directly affiliated with WWE at the time, which the Jarretts did not know. None of this information is directly mentioned here. In fact, while the Jarretts......
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AND NEW FOR 2009! Monthly "Vintage Audio Torch Talks." We are releasing for the first time ever audio versions of our text Torch Talk updates, the historical first series of insider interviews ever. Wade Keller's newsmaking in-depth interviews with wrestling's biggest names are now being made available exclusively to VIP members. But you must be a member each month, as these are not archived, so they are replaced with a new one each month! This debuted in January 2009 with a 68 minute interview with the late "British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith. Who's next? Hulk Hogan? Eric Bischoff? The Rock? Goldberg? Jeff Hardy?
