By Gerry Pee
***The opinions in this post are that of Gerry and not of WrestlingRambles.com, its staff or its affiliates.***
I am extremely interested to know how many of you agree with me when I say today the best wrestling company in the world is in fact TNA. I guess a lot of you will probably think “No, WWE is so much better!” and I understand completely why you would say that. In the hearts of all wrestling fans WWE will always mean a lot and that is because WWE has been around and gave us so much entertainment over the years but honestly since around 2009 WWE have gave us relatively nothing. By now most have you have probably left but those of you who either agree with me or want to see where I am going with this I thank you because you will understand what I mean by WWE being 2nd.
Obviously the Attitude Era was never going to be forever and we can’t just live in the glory days saying “This is never as good as the attitude era.” Actually I would be the first person to agree and say “Yea, this can never live up to the Attitude era.” Despite being a massive fan of those times I have come to terms with the fact that WWE has moved on, they have changed. Although their was still fantastic television being produced for many years after the Attitude Era. For me it was around 2009, the later half, where WWE had really began to lose my interest a little.
The first move that was bad by WWE was putting the cruiserweight title on Hornswoggle, this was such an awful move as Hornswoggle totally diminished the prestige of the title. Sure the cruiserweight title was never the main event attraction but it was something which fans loved, everyone loves to see flips and dives from guys who are travelling 100 miles an hour. I would even go as far too say it was the backbone of WWE as it produced some of the very best talent around and some of the greatest matches WWE has ever seen. Especially seeing the success of the X-Division title, it is really unfortunate WWE ruined such a great thing. Many new talents can join the cruiserweight division and it is a title which gives lesser seen wrestler a chance to shine, build up their fan base and eventually go onto bigger and better things. Even now there is many wrestlers who have relatively no TV time or opportunity to show their skills which is a true miss as so many have a lot of talent. For example there is; JTG, Tyson Kidd, Trent Barretta, Curt Hawkins, Justin Gabriel even Hunico and Sin Cara who struggle to get any chance. These guys would all be perfect candidates for the cruiserweight title plus it would give them a chance to hold some gold for a while. Just think of how exciting it would be to see these guys open the show at any event doing flips and stuff, definitely something I would love to see. WWE has become so premeditative, almost every match is the same with the same kind of guys, this could give them some diversity that they really need.
However the cruiserweight division is not the only one to diminish in recent years. Just have a look at the divas, none of them have any chance to perform more than 5 minutes each week. I do feel there are only to really good divas in WWE just now and that would be Beth Phoenix and Natalya. Releasing Melina, Gail Kim Mickie James and Victoria have all been huge mistakes by WWE as they were 4 of the best divas around, although this is another plus for TNA as 3 of the 4 mentioned are now in TNA showing how well they really can perform. We all know the problems of the divas division so it is no surprise I have mentioned it. The tag team division has also fallen apart, when you look back at the teams they have had even as recent as a few years ago it is shocking how bad the current tag team division is. Teams like MNM, The Hardys, The Dudleys, Edge and Christian, The Miz and John Morrison, DX, Jerishow, Legacy, Paul London and Brian Kendrick even the Nexus were just some of the great teams lately then you look at the current champions Kofi Kingston and someone (anyone). Don’t get me wrong Kofi is probably my favourite WWE wrestler but partnering him with another random superstar just won’t work. I would love for Kofi to be given a push into the world title picture which he so easily deserves. I don’t understand why the Usos are not the tag champions and for them to be the only legit team in WWE and not even be in the title picture is horrible. Again this has came down to mistakes of WWE. Breaking up The Heart Foundation – Mistake! Splitting up Cryme Tyme – Mistake! It’s mistake after mistake with things they see as less important.
Another loss for WWE is there real firepower. Over the last 2 or years there tops stars have rapidly gone. Shawn Michaels, Jeff Hardy, Edge, Batista, Triple H as well as The Undertaker and Rey Mysterio basically gone. All of them were world champions and some of the biggest names the WWE will ever know. This left WWE with Cena and Orton, on occasion Jericho. All huge stars but can’t run it on their own, I don’t like Cena but that is a story for another time. Orton I feel works horribly as a face, he needs to be a heel it works so much better with his personality and I’d much rather see him turn heel. Obviously the launch of CM Punk did help majorly and a couple more guys have came through but no one huge who is a true great. Whereas you have a look over at TNA and I’m not saying they have bigger stars but there are at least 10 if not more wrestlers who could be World champion. So maybe for variety of top stars I think TNA edge it. Although I do believe CM Punk is probably one of the biggest stars in recent years, I believe he will be seen as one the greatest of all time.
What WWE do have over TNA is worldwide recognition and an illustrious history which is important, very important. I do have to applaud WWE as over the last months the have been pushing to make it more surprising but there is a lot of work still to do. If TNA can keep growing and make the right moves, getting Hogan, Flair and Bischoff off TV and then keep moving in the right direction I believe the will take over. This may be extreme but to a certain extent I would say WWE turned on their fans by doing stuff like not allowing blood seen on TV, taking away Head chair shots and turning PG. They have had a disregard for the fans who made them and thought they’d have a bigger business by aiming it young kids. The move has backfired which has left WWE in such a mess and for me to tune in and watch a show that seems so childish is a little weird. Wrestling is guys beating the crap out of each other so let them. I personally feel they have to be a bit more hardcore and entirely forget about the PG stuff. PG is killing WWE, for proof look at the last half of last year, WWE lost over 100 million dollars which is massive.
Ever week I can watch TNA through the full show and despite some pieces being predictable the shows are very entertaining. WWE goes on an ad break every 10 minutes, and has no real fire or passion to it. There are qualities to both but right now I firmly believe that TNA has the better wrestling, which after all is what is important. A lot of you will probably disagree and I expect that most of you will probably be angry but this is what I think.
Ringsidehustle.com 
I see where you’re going with the cruiserweight thing. They got a lot of great cruiserweights now. I wouldn’t mind seeing the title being brought back.
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It will not really do anything but please show you support of bringing back the cruiserweight title by signing this twitition.
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TNA isn’t bad but I really disagree with you…based on my rant column, I am so frustrated with TNA right now. You made some good points though especially about cruiserweights.
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Oh mah goodness! Give me some time to get my refutal rant together.
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TNA will be better off when Hogan/Bischoff are gone and WWE will be better off once Vince McMahon is dead.
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Yeah agreed. WWE for the fans will probably be better but WWE themselves probably wouldn’t make as much money.
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no
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I would like to respond with a few things, but like to first disagree on all parts as I feel one of the best companies presently is CHIKARA in terms of wrestling, entertainment, and value.
With this in mind, let me do a few compare/contrasts for you in regards to what you had mentioned. First, with the Attitude Era. The era had given us some great wrestlers, but some pretty sick/wrong storylines as well. Katie Vick is obviously the easy ‘go to’, Hawks drug/alcohol problem, Val Venis / Kaientai, Bossman/Show, etc. It was a great time to be a fan, but I don’t think it was the best of times (80’s and the ‘ruthless aggression’ era I would rank higher personally).
I personally believe that in regards to caliber wrestlers and how many the WWE has v. TNA, WWE is packed with top tier talent. Del Rio, Big Show, CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, John Cena, Kane, Mark Henry, The Miz, Randy Orton are going to be your top tiered wrestlers (10), while TNA has a decent amount as well. AJ Styles, Austin Aries, Bobby Roode, Bully Ray, Jeff Hardy, Kurt Angle, Mr. Anderson, RVD, Samoa Joe, and Sting (10). I would give the notch to WWE.
Now the tag teams have diminished in BOTH companies, but the WWE has more consistent tag teams going for them right now. Curt Hawkins/Tyler Reks, The Usos, Kofi/R-Truth, Darren Young/Titus O’Neil, Epico/Primo, and Hunico/Camacho. You mention breaking up the tag teams of Harts, Cryme Tyme, etc. But what about Beer Money, MCMG, Crimson/Morgan, and Mexican America. I would give the notch to WWE.
Women’s wrestling… there is no need to write anything more than you are correct x 100. Notch to TNA.
What you incorrectly state is that the WWE lost over $100,000,000 last year which is completely false when they made money.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/is?s=WWE+Income+Statement&annual
The Net Income is going to be what they make, but I can easily break it down for you.
in 2009 they made $50,303,000
in 2010 they made $53,452,000
In 2011 they made $24,832,000
This is PUBLIC information that you can get, obviously you can get it on finance.yahoo.com where you can get all of their SEC filings as well.
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WWE lost 113 million dollars in the 3rd quater of last year, as for the whole year there was a profit, but very minimal. And for you to include Mark Henry as a top guy is ludicrous, he has no charisma or wrestling ability.
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It’s not possible for WWE to lose that much. In future provide a source please, WR got a little heat from this column.
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I am sorry, It was a while I read about this and I think I misinterpreted it
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Henry has charisma and wrestling ability(not that much), but he looks like he could kick my ass so it works for me.
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I’m responding from my phone so I cannot connect via twitter, but you are 100% wrong about the WWE losing $113M in Q3 its not even funny. If you go to the same link I posted, they actually made money in Q3, and actually lost money in Q4. Q4 they lost about 8-9M. Please provide your research when you respond, because saying such falsehoods makes you look dumb… for the lack of better words
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Also, to the comment about henry not being a top guy isfunny. First of all, his title run was beastly, in which every day was a bad day to be a white guy when he walked to the ring. The camera work on him as they walk behind him aAnd his chest is as big as the screen, made him look scary as shit. He played a great roll, and played the bad ass heel perfectly. You don’t need 5 star wrestling talent to be a badass heel, you just need to be badass
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I forgot to say, I’d love to debate if you are ever up for it. Wrestling is a great commonality between people in which each person has different meanings and watches the same program differently, this was in NO way to slam your article (except the complete falsehood of how much money they lost).
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Good article, interesting opinion but one I wholeheartedly disagree with.
Your logic for the alleged downfall of WWE is based on a handful of specific events that you can recall when the reality is that TNA’s problem is much deeper than that. The problem is TNA have nobody in charge who knows how to book a wrestling programme. Because of this nothin they do feels important.
They shoot on a soundstage, not in arenas, with a crowd of tourists who don’t know the product and don’t care. Wrestling isn’t about in ring moves its about working a crowd to get a reaction. TNA don’t do this so nothing seems like it matters.
They over book everything until their matches are completely devalued then cut straight to the back instead of hanging on important moments like WWE do (I.E title wins, feuded ending).
I could go on for days. TNA say “wrestling matters” but unfortunately, they themselves do not.
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And they didn’t lose 100m last year. They turned a profit. WWE will always make money.
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Some awesome feedback there guys!
I am offline now and will reply myself to some comments, I love a good money debate!
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You better not try bringing up your “They make more money now than ever” argument, again…
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No this is a different situation.
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Bad timing for me to bash TNA as their live show was actually pretty good.
Nonetheless, if ROH had the financial support of TNA, there is no doubt in my mind ROH would put TNA out of business.The position TNA are in now is the position they’ll always be in IMO. Like where exactly are they heading?
WWE builds you up GREAT, you’re interested, excited and you’ll buy the PPV. Sometimes WWE just let you down with simple and predictable booking. TNA don’t have that same hype WWE makes you buy into. And it’s all because they rather put older guys who fucking killed WCW over and run the show. Like look at Sting now, he’s facing Roode at Slammiversary , I just want to ask…why? I know Roode will more than likely win, but would you not rather see Roode face a younger up and coming wrestler or even someone already established like AJ, Shelly etc..
As Radio pretty much mentioned, look at WWE title scene compared to TNA. WWE have Del Rio, Big Show, CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, John Cena, Kane, Mark Henry, The Miz, Randy Orton. Perhaps not Miz but he’ll probably bounce back soon. ALL of the above were not rejects from other companies. TNA are built up with old WCW veterans and ex WWE stars. You can tell me Big Show was in WCW but it wasn’t until WWE when he was used correctly. Jericho could be added to that list too.
What WWE have is starpower. If you ask a random person on the street to name a TNA wrestler, they mightn’t be able too. If you ask name a WWE star, they’ll say John Cena, Undertaker, The Rock, Stone Cold etc..
WWE did not make a loss of 100 million. It’s probably not even possible for them to lose that much. WWE turn a profit every year. They always will IMO.
WWE is the better promotion and they are miles and literally miles ahead of TNA. I don’t ever see any promotion overtaking WWE tbh.
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The funny, yet sad thing about the profit is during the whole “worldwide recession”, companies are making record profits. In the U.S. alone, companies are sitting on 2.7 trillion dollars and won’t hire or pay the regular employees more. And they wonder why business is so bad.
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I found out the reason for that. It’s because they have a much more educated workforce and their smaller number of employees (opposed to 10 years ago) are being way more efficient. Companies in general not just sports. Also with the internet and globalization.
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But they still don’t pay the employees what they used to. A couple weeks ago, I read where a national supermarket chain gave the CEO a 66% pay increase, yet they clain to not have enough to pay the average worker more. My coworker’s husband had to find work there and he said he gets paid less now than he did at his very first job and that was 25-30 years ago. You keep squeezing the workers like that, it won’t end in a good way.
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I apologise for the wrong losses of WWE, I had been helped by a false source and am sorry for the mistake. I will never in the future make the same mistake.
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*shakes fist angrily*
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after reading this i totally agree with everything you said. for me tna beats wwe in every department. the most obvious department is the womens wrestling i actually watch the knockouts matches where as i cant remember when i last watched a divas match. the titles have more value in tna where as the wwe titles have been devalued overtime. tna gives you good matches where as wwe the matches are nearly always boring. the tna roster is so much better. top ten tna 1. bobby roode 2. kurt angle 3. a j styles 4. james storm 5. jeff hardy 6. mr anderson 7. austin aires 8. rvd 9. sting 10. bully ray wwe top ten stars 1.cm punk 2. john cena 3. sheamus 4. alberto del rio 5. daniel bryan 6. chris jericho 7. big show 8. dolph ziggler 9. cody rhodes 10. randy orton. i dont understand why any wrestling fan would prefer wwe over tna at this present time. i truly hope tna gets bigger and bigger and challenge’s wwe for biggest wrestling company not just for tna to be bigger but also that wwe have no choice but to improve.
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