I Hope TNA/WWE Partnership Leads To A Bigger TNA TV Deal

 

I previously wrote about my three biggest hopes for WWE and TNA's partnership. I realized I left out an important wish to help sustain TNA for more years to come. Hear me out that wish is for a new cable television deal.

Even though households are cutting cords left and right. There still are around 60 million households with cable TV. And thats just counting the traditional method of cable. That's not including the cord cutters who access cable channels through services like Hulu live, sling, Youtube TV and more.

TNA currently airs on AXS TV which is owned by parent company Anthem. Problem is nobody really gets AXS. The biggest cable provider Comcast only carries it on a premium subscription tier. Verizon Fios no longer carries it. DirecTV and Charter still carry the network but even then I'm sure most households are skipping right over it. Outside of that TNA has a $0.99 plan on YouTube and then TNA + which only diehard fans will watch. So TNA has to figure something else out for wrestling fans.

I don't care how you want to slice it. In order for TNA to grow they need to be more accessible. Especially to the casual fan who will not go through a bunch of hoops to watch the product. But it may turn out these fans will find themselves genuinely entertained and come back for more week after week. Even if a cable network picks up their Xplosion syndicated program. Somethings better than nothing. Which leads me to where WWE could potentially come into play, depending on how the partnership goes.

Maybe with NXT and Raw leaving the USA network. And WWE playing the wingman, USA  and TNA come to a agreement on a one hour show or maybe a series of "Special" quarterly events. Hell maybe if USA isn't the right fit, maybe look at one of the other NBCUniversal owned cable networks as an option. Hell if WWE is ok with it, Peacock could use some more content. And maybe could open the door for TNA if WWE leaves Peacock in 2026. 

If a TV deal seems too archaic for some, maybe WWE could help TNA negotiate with Amazon to air on prime. If Amazon isn't too keen for wrestling on the prime platform, there is always Freevee which if I remember correctly has a live content feature. 

The truth of the matter is TNA puts on a good consistent product. However in order to grow, they need more eyeballs on the product. The only way this can be done is find a way to consumers, and sometimes you have to go to them to pique their interest instead of them coming to you. Anthem is not going to just up TNA airing on Axs, but they gotta look at the big picture and reality of where Axs falls on the Cable TV spectrum. 

Meanwhile I hope a forward thinking executive somewhere is seeing the reactions and feedback to TNA wrestlers appearing on WWE TV and makes a move.