TNA Impact's AMC Debut Ratings Show a Huge Problem

• The first TNA Impact on AMC had production issues.
• The show was filled with old wrestlers and minor celebrities.
• Eric Bischoff said he was disappointed with the debut show.

TNA had a big opportunity to bring back lapsed fans and create new ones with their first episode on AMC, and they blew it. There was a decent crowd on hand to witness a new beginning, yet instead of giving fans new stars and great matches, what we got was trash, whether it be the production values, or the horrendous storylines. We'll always love the Hardy Boyz, but should they be winning matches at their age? Do we really care about seeing the cast of Dark Winds sitting ringside? And don't even get us started on the secondhand embarrassment felt with the Perez Hilton and Dixie Carter segments. Oof.

Fans trashed the first AMC show online, barely giving it a 1 out of 10 on Cagematch. Comments were just as unkind, with one saying, "TNA is a lifeless shell of what it once was," and another adding, "TNA has become unwatchable." Wrestling journalists weren't fans either. Bryan Alvarez of the Wrestling Observer had nothing good to say about it in his YouTube review, and Eric Bischoff, who once ran the company, said on his 83 Weeks podcast:

“Overall, disappointed because it was such a big opportunity. This is a giant step forward… and anybody that knows me well personally knows that I hate when people miss big opportunities… That’s why I hate it so much, because I know how it feels when you realize that you had a great opportunity and for whatever reason, you didn’t maximize it, and that’s what this felt like to me overall.” (h/t WrestlingNews.co)

The Ratings For TNA Impact's First Episode on AMC Were Awful

• Ratings were double what TNA did on AXS.
• They still fell far short of what the worst AEW shows do in viewership.
• Will ratings fall off in future Impact episodes?

If you love TNA, maybe you'll want to blame the critique of Impact's first episode on the "Internet Wrestling Community" or has been wrestling personalities and people who are paid to be negative. The proof is in the pudding. Did regular fans actually watch? According to PWTorch:

The viewership for last Thursday’s TNA Impact debut on AMC was 173,000. Typically, Impact had been drawing around 80,000, with some peaks and valleys, on AXS over the years.

With roughly double the available homes, they roughly doubled their viewership.

Doubling their ratings was nice, but with all of the hype and collaboration, the best TNA could do with their first episode on AMC was only 173,000 viewers. That, of course, not only pales in comparison to what WWE pulls in, but what AEW does. Even the worst Dynamite episodes get half a million people tuning in, and Collision often hits 300,000. For those who thought TNA was going to pass up AEW, sorry, but it's not happening. It's not even close. And with how bad the first Impact was, you can expect for ratings to crater in the second episode and beyond. Will Impact even be able to achieve anything more than their usual 80,000 viewers from now on?

TNA Can Only Succeed By Not Trying to Be Like WWE

• Fans aren't watching to see bad comedy segments and D-List celebrities.
• Relying on nostalgia, WWE has beens, and NXT stars doesn't help.
• TNA needs to give fans a reason to want to watch Impact every week.

TNA has only themselves to blame for the horrible AMC debut. The damage is done, yet it can be fixed if the company focuses on what fans want and what TNA used to be. Trying to be exactly like WWE isn't it. No one wants to see D-list celebrities. We don't want to see bad comedy segments. And having a show made up of NXT talent and renamed WWE rejects only makes it feel like a lesser brand of that company. Depending on nostalgia by pushing out Bully Ray or Dixie Carter surely doesn't help either.

The only way for TNA to succeed is to live up to the name of total nonstop action. The company was fun when it was all about building new stars and having exciting matches. It fell apart when they wheeled out all of the old has beens. If fans want WWE, we'll just watch WWE. The ultimate question for any TV show is, "Why should we watch?" In their AMC debut, TNA didn't have an answer.