How many national promotions would you want?
 

I've been watching several of the documentaries on former promotions WWE has put out (WCW, WCCW, AWA) and it got me thinking. I have worked for a few promotions that have local television coverage but there are only two promotions with national televised coverage in the United States. As a fan, how many national promotions would you like to see every week on tv?

2-3

2 1/2. Was perfect with WCW, WWE, and ECW. 2 real and 1 semi real promotion.

Yeah I would like the idea of 2 1/2 if TNA and ROH could get popular.

All of the above. 2 promotions in heated competition and one good underdog promotion would be ideal.

The weird thing is, I think WWE needs to just explode again and bring in a ton of new wrestling fans in order to make wrestling big and therefore give TNA a chance. WWE is just so far above the rest of the pack simply based on it's name and history that no one is just gonna start closing the gap via good, quality programming. It's gonna take WWE figuring out how to make another boom period and then TNA benefiting from that AND THEN waiting for WWE to come down from their boom and hoping they're putting on a quality enough show to keep their fans from it.

This. Two promotions in real competition and a viable third option to keep a fire burning under them.

That makes a lot of sense. It's going to be hard to make WWE the "in" thing again. I think it is yeeeeeeaaaaaarrrssss away.

2 but not TNA.

As many as possible.

3, that's the magic number. Yes it is. No more, no less, that's the magic number.

I'll agree with three because any more national feds might flood the market and cause viewer burnout more quickly. Would the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, etc. be as successful if there were two or more additional same-sport leagues with national TV time?

I'm uncertain about whether the greater number of ships to jump around would drive up contracts for the top stars or make a race to the bottom for wages of undercarders, or maybe both scenarios combined in which we have greater income equality between main eventers and those down the card.

Regional feds can keep their bizarre fixations such as what fans and bookers of JAPW and IWA Midsouth seem to possess. There would be scant commercial value on national television for the following that have happened in regional feds:

*** "Lowlife" Louie Ramos orgasms when getting stabbed half to death by his idols the Original Sheik and Abdullah the Butcher in consecutive squash matches in JAPW.

*** "Reckless Youth" Tom Carter stops winning titles and reinvents himself as a "comedy wrestler" who gets pinned by 75-year old Fabulous Moolah in an intergender tag match between himself and "Boulder" Don Montoya versus Moolah and Mae Young in some no-name fed. Carter then enthusiastically blogs about how much punishment he delivered to Moolah and Young but dismisses the ending as "a funny kick to the balls which sometimes happens in a comedy match".

*** Ian Rotten and Mickie Knuckles beat the blood out of each other in a barefoot thumbtacks match in IWA Midsouth, with Knuckles doing the honors to put over her longtime mentor.

*** CZW's annual Tournament of Death. Am I watching a slasher film or a no-disqualification pro wrestling match?

I think there needs to be more local coverage and interaction between the feds. What made good wrestlers in the old days was the experience of being able to go back and forth between promotions when they got stale in one area.

Raw & Smackdown during the evalution/Smackdown 6 Era felt pretty different, ECW could have been that easy half if they left paul E incharge but I think he's what was making Smackdown great.

I felt the WWE belt was on Smackdown and the old NWA belt on Raw with plenty of cred.

2 should be enough for major promotions assuming the other follows the current WWE route of multiple shows per week. 3 might be pushing it with the amount of wrestling available.

The smaller ones could still have their own tv or streaming deals just to provide an "ECW" effect of doing stuff different that the major ones won't or rarely do.

Dunno. I sometimes find it a chore watching the 2 we have. 8 hours on a non-PPV week (that's excluding Superstars, Main Event and Xplosion) is a lot to take in.

Find myself skipping SmackDown entirely, watching Impact in x1.5 speed and skipping through the matches on Raw as it is.

If TNA managed to haul itself beside WWE and matched it for output I think it'd be overkill for me.

One big promotion, one promotion that thinks they are big but are just LOL and one artful rassle fed is excellent.

As many as possible. There's enough room for a true "alternative" style promotion, for sure, and I think that a heavyweight player to properly go against the WWE would be refreshing.

No. I know that. But I'm being asked how many promotions I'd like. If I find 2 too much to keep up with then I'm not sure I'd want a third/2nd putting out equal content.

I wonder if a promotion based on middle weights would work, or it would always be seen as the non heavyweight wrestling.

something like "where wrestlers come to wrestle and not be body builders" style slogan...

it would be x-divsion and ROH indies guys.

Doesn't ROH cover that already?

Someone told me this on that subject and I couldn't help but laugh. Would you go to a basketball game and be as entertained if all the guys were around 5 ft 8? Would you go watch a boxing match where both guys are 50 lbs overweight or so small you think you can kick their ass? So if you want to see people who look like professionals in other sports, why wouldn't you want to see it when you watch professional wrestling?

I would rather watch a promotion of Eddie Guerreros than a promotion of Eli Cottonwoods. Maybe it's because he had a moustache though.

Eddie really wasn't a small man. He got pretty muscular by the end and was a legit heavyweight when he was World Champ. Considering who you chose, most people would take a talented wrestler over a wrestler who just has size. I'm sure from who you chose, in 1999 would you rather see a federation of The Giants (Big Show in his prime) or a promotion of Spike Dudleys?

Kevin Nash said it best: Nobody would rather watch Greg Maddux pitch over Randy Johnson. These under 6"2 220 vanilla midgets have their place on the opening card, but come on, small wrestlers draw small amounts of money.

Is it small wrestlers that draw small amounts of money, or small personalities?

Agreed. Talent with unimpressive physiques / stature remove mystique from the sport. "Oh hey, it's amateur fight night! Let's talk to the booker so we can face each other in an evening gown on a pole match next time the promotion is in town." LOL

you guys just want to imagine licking sweat off of chiseled abs. it's ok to admit.

:y:

all of you dummies missed the correct answer right here

There is something to be said for the "laboratories of democracy" argument, esp. to the extent social media makes it possible for people to have non-binding "votes" on the booking direction they've seen. It's not quite a democracy except for people "voting with their feet" or refusing to spend money on a promotion that angers them.

However, the finite resources of the pro wrestling market makes it counter-productive to have a bunch of smaller feds competing when they could pool their resources to put on a better product than what you'd get with a bunch of shoestring budget feds. Crowd funding might weaken this argument in time, but that market is saturated with over-the-hill wrestlers asking for help paying healthcare.

So, you want to bring back the NWA?

I think you're baiting me...I'll bite and say "yes" because it is the simplest thing to do without being a rowdy rude roody-poo who blows off your question.

NWA should acquire CHIKARA and ROH so their fans can witness a multi-promotional champ defending all over. I say that either way, ROH and CHIKARA should be kept alive because the FBDVs need to get their wrestling-as-sex fixation every Saturday night.

Ever notice how they go "OHHH" and orgasm when a wrestler hits a big spot? They'll be changing undies when they get home. :)

The National Wrestling Alliance was awful.

What if ROH and TNA merge, go on TBS and turn into Captain Wrestling

One is the loneliest number that you'll ever know.