Dave said on WOR last night that Spike has had two conversations about TNA's timeslot, one of which he thinks is over and another he thinks is ongoing. He mentioned that the companies wouldn't be the first ones you'd think..

Considering Spike's reputation, it's probably CZW.

I... hadn't thought of that. That makes me really sad. lol

I was hoping PWG or Dragon Gate if it weren't Ring of Honor. I am still really optimistic it would be ROH and Sinclair would just go ahead with producing more content.

I would love if PWG were put on Spike. Having easier access to indy shows might make me like them again.

PWG don't really produce enough shows to fill up a big time slots, and imo what makes them good is that every match on the show feels like it could main event anywhere.

New Japan's been trying to expand into America, so maybe them? Get AJ back on Spike, start showing reruns of stuff starting with WK8 hyping up that AJ Styles will turn up maybe? Or just start with Invasion Attack.

It's not whether they produce enough shows now.

It's whether, with $150M per year, they could do a full time schedule.

New Japan would be really cool if they got English announcers...

If, indeed, it's companies that you wouldn't normally expect then I think the "it" indie promotions aren't ... well, it.

So maybe OVW or something along those lines. There are a few wrestling promotions with scattered syndication deals that show up on different scattered stations here and there and it could be one of those ... not ones that use A-list indie talent. I'm sure they feel if they get behind a different promotion the money would allow that promotion to sign a few name, or semi-name, talents.

I wonder if it's possible they might go in a completely different direction like a women's promotion. Shimmer would probably cost less than half of what they pay TNA and might draw decent ratings.

Interested to see how it shakes out.

But TNA is DOA.

Saintpat wrote:

If, indeed, it's companies that you wouldn't normally expect then I think the "it" indie promotions aren't ... well, it.

So maybe OVW or something along those lines. There are a few wrestling promotions with scattered syndication deals that show up on different scattered stations here and there and it could be one of those ... not ones that use A-list indie talent. I'm sure they feel if they get behind a different promotion the money would allow that promotion to sign a few name, or semi-name, talents.

I wonder if it's possible they might go in a completely different direction like a women's promotion. Shimmer would probably cost less than half of what they pay TNA and might draw decent ratings.

Interested to see how it shakes out.

But TNA is DOA.

OVW is a local territory...why on earth would you give a local promotion thats been a developmental program twice, national television exposure? 

I dont think any indy company outside of PWG/DGUSA/CZW/CHIKARA would be able to handle mainstream exposure coming right out of the box. AAW maybe? 

"New Japan would be really cool if they got English announcers..."

The problem with this is New Japan airs live anywhere from 2 to 5:30 AM on the East Coast and this report, if its legit, says Spike wants another company to take the TNA timeslot. The only way this would work is if New Japan was willing to tape their one off live events and then send them to Spike for syndication, even then i dont see it working that well.

$100M+ a year might make it worth New Japan's time...

I don't think CHIKARA or CZW getting the second best TV deal in the USA would be good for wrestling. They're niche promotions. DGUSA and PWG would be OK.

i'd love PWG or Chikara or DGUSA. I heard DGUSA and Chikara are good, and I used to watch PWG wayyyy long ago and liked it.

Ian wrote:

$100M+ a year might make it worth New Japan's time...

I don't think CHIKARA or CZW getting the second best TV deal in the USA would be good for wrestling. They're niche promotions. DGUSA and PWG would be OK.

Sure it may be worth their time, but is it worth the effort to fly back and forth on a consistent basis to film for American television and then for the Japanese audience? That's the only way they'd be able to fill that time slot every week. Plus with their tournaments and "road to" shows, the jet lag and the constant getting used to time zones would drain most of the wrestlers. Dont get me wrong, id love to see NJPW on American tv at a decent time, i just dont see them wanting to turn into WWE-lite with the constant traveling.

For the content that Spike puts on it's network, CZW would more than likely be the best fit. It has it's wrestling, and then it has it's violence. Their product now isnt as insane as it used to be and they could easily save the ultraviolent stuff for iPPV.

Oh, I don't want them to fly here. They should do some shows here, but I assumed they'd just do more shows in Japan and they'd send them over taped.

I guess the language barrier makes it pretty hard to do 2 hours a week though.

CZW would be the last one I'd want to see... I realize not all their matches are deathmatches, but they are deathmatch-oriented nonetheless.

Hence why they'd save all the ultraviolence for iPPV

I would be for CHIKARA if they cut down on goofiness in the ring. There's been enough damage done to wrestling as it is.

I'm still vouching for PWG.

Batman wrote:

CZW would be the last one I'd want to see... I realize not all their matches are deathmatches, but they are deathmatch-oriented nonetheless.

They haven't been deathmatch oriented in years, at this point I'd say they're less hardcore based than even TNA outside of ToD once a year.

PWG is essentially the west coast version of Ring of Honor. They share most of the same talent, and have the same style of matches. The only difference is they can go balls to the wall with their matches cause they have no tv or ippv deal.

No wrestling show should go on spike anymore. they are too focused on MMA and which ever company they sigh they will just use it to promote Bellator. Do you want to see King Mo pop up in PWG, CZW, or Chikara? Because spike will force them to use him if they want to stay on air.

That's true. Whoever goes on Spike next will have to deal with a lot of bullshit like that from them.

I know people are excited at the thought of a smaller company getting a big chance, but it's fucking spike TV. I just hope TNA finds a better network before the fall comes cause any network is better then Spike.

I wouldn't be against the CZW idea. That'd be pretty cool imo