By Richard Gardner, Torch specialist

Are you looking forward to Hardcore Justice? It's the first nationally-promoted ECW reunion since Vince McMahon resurrected the promotion for the "One Night Stand" Pay-Per-Views and then slowly burned its legacy to the ground. TNA has the opportunity to draw a half-decent buyrate tonight by offering the unique selling point of an ECW reunion, but booking mistakes have been made that have the potential to soften the impact of the show.

In theory, the Hardcore Justice concept is worth a try. The company runs 12 PPVs per year that trying something different as a one-off could draw a higher buyrate than usual. The most compelling reason to buy this Sunday's PPV is that ECW fans will be able to watch the stars of yesteryear in hardcore-style matches for one-night only. The problem is that the value of that unique selling point has been eroded significantly.

Tommy Dreamer had a hardcore match with Abyss on Impact this week. Maybe this match was booked with the belief that such a match would draw a good rating on the back of all the ECW hype. But, airing Tommy Dreamer's first match with the company on free television days before an ECW reunion PPV is indicative of the short-termism that plagues TNA's booking. The first time match of Samoa Joe vs. Jeff Hardy being thrown away on Impact highlights this misguided quest for television ratings.

The Monday Night Wars left the wrestling industry obsessed with television ratings. When the WWF and WCW were in direct competition with each other, the television ratings of Raw and Nitro were the yardstick used to determine which company was winning the battle for the Monday night audience. In the present day, ratings are useful for monitoring trends and year-on-year popularity of wrestling shows. But, without direct competition in play, they are not the be all, end all measure.

Despite the acquisitions that TNA has made, ratings have remained flat. This has been the case historically, as the signing of Kurt Angle did not stop Impact languishing in the low 1.0 ratings. What has changed, however, is the proportion of Impact viewers who actually buy TNA's PPVs has diminished to alarmingly low levels. Reports from the Wrestling Observer that recent TNA PPVs drew 8,000 viewers each emphasizes how woeful conversion rates have become. Raising television ratings is a reasonable aspiration for any booker, but if the people watching the shows are not buying the PPVs, it's an indication the booker isn't doing his job properly.

Further undermining the promotion for tonight's PPV is the fact that TNA is already pushing the next edition of Impact. Fans that choose to skip Hardcore Justice will be treated to a PPV quality lineup on Thursday night for free, including a ladder match involving Rob Van Dam. In fact, there have been more matches announced for Thursday night than there has been for tonight’s PPV. TNA could draw an all-time high rating on Thursday night, yet it would not make any difference to their plight attempting to translate viewers to buyers.

Television ratings are a rough indicator of the popularity of a promotion, but paid attendance numbers, merchandise sales, and PPV buyrates determine success. TNA needs to do more to exploit these revenue streams, but the booking suggests that ratings are the most important measure of success to management, which is akin to Amazon.com using website hits to judge their success while ignoring revenue from products sales.

Hardcore Justice may be an enjoyable show, particularly for fans who have longed to see an ECW-style PPV since WWE's "One Night Stand" PPVs. Unfortunately, TNA has already given fans plenty of reasons to save their money tonight.

[Torch art credit Joe Borzotta (c) PWTorch.com]

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