By Richard Gardner, Torch specialist

TNA succumbed to WWE this week, moving Impact off Monday nights after a string of disappointing ratings.

When the special edition of Impact on January 4 drew a 1.5 rating, it seemed worthwhile to give a permanent move a try. TNA was faced with a Raw that featured Bret Hart's first live WWE TV appearance in over 12 years, and produced an exciting show that encouraged viewers to give TNA a chance. Four months later, Impact is being moved back to its traditional Thursday night slot after ratings slumped to an embarrassing level.

So what went wrong? How did the optimism created by the January 4 show turn sour? Firstly, this debacle reflects poorly on both Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff. Heralded as big stars with the experience to take TNA to the next level, their involvement has resulted in a massive outlay on talent expenses and arguably not making any progress taking the company forward.

In Rob Van Dam and Jeff Hardy, TNA signed the two hottest free agents WWE would love to have on their roster, and credit needs to be given to Hogan and Bischoff for making those deals happen. However, other acquisitions have been hit and miss. The Nasty Boys have nothing to contribute to a national wrestling promotion in 2010, and this was illustrated by their appalling feud with Team 3D. The circumstances surrounding Bubba the Love Sponge's firing ask the question of why he was even considered as a television personality in the first place. Hulk Hogan talked a lot about doing what was right to aid the development of TNA, which he may have believed, but not before getting jobs for his friends.

Ric Flair still has a lot to contribute to wrestling, and securing his services was another coup for TNA. But not enough has been done to protect his legendary status. While Flair has been a featured performer, his wrestling should be limited to occasional Pay-Per-View appearances or risk him appearing as just another wrestler. Indeed, you could question the entire focus of TNA shows, which have been built largely around the antics of Hogan and Flair.

Still, the 0.5 rating on April 25 opposite the WWE Draft was a shock and a clear indication that TNA is not close to challenging WWE at this time. This is not ROH going head-to-head with WWE in a situation where the promotion needs to introduce all of its talent to casual wrestling fans. TNA had star power staring on March 8: Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Kurt Angle, Mick Foley, Jeff Hardy, and Rob Van Dam are all internationally-known household names.

Yet it may be ultimately the use of talent that has been TNA's downfall. Big matches were given away for free with little or no build. Jeff Hardy was arguably the biggest star in wrestling during 2009, but has not been put in a position to be a big star for TNA. The big stars TNA does have on their roster have been booked in a way that makes them look ordinary without putting over any younger stars in the process.

TNA was unfortunate in that when they moved to Monday nights, WWE began producing some of its best television in recent years in the run-up to WrestleMania 26 after a period of resting on their laurels creatively. Still, aside from the show when Rob Van Dam won the World Title, TNA has done little to encourage wrestling fans to make Impact their show of choice.

The move to Monday nights seemed like a reasonable long-term aspiration for TNA, but it appears that they should have made a greater effort to build their audience on Thursdays before doing so. Getting beaten so comprehensively then disappearing from Mondays has done nothing but reaffirm the image of TNA as a far inferior promotion in comparison to WWE. It will be a long time before TNA can convince Spike to let them back on Monday nights again.

The truth is that TNA's move to Monday nights was poorly executed. TNA needs to take a look in the mirror to find out why the move to Mondays was such a colossal failure. WWE are far from producing a popular product, but TNA never presented a credible alternative.

TNA, with a roster of star names, tried to profit from a built-in audience of wrestling fans on Monday, but did severe damage to the TNA brand in the process. Competing with WWE was always going to be a tall order, but the ratings failure that Impact on Monday nights should be confirmation that TNA's way of presenting pro wrestling just isn't working.

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