[Jeritron]

Even while it was a secret, I don't think it would raise to many eyebrows if they subtely put it over to get its ratings up. For instance, instead of pretending its not there, they'd call Monty Brown Monty Brown and even talk about how he was a major player in TNA. They could also directly adress things like Kurt Angle and Christian, and the VKM shoots.

Some may say this would give it away, but I don't think it would.
In this scenario, we're assuming that the TNA roster is in the dark too right?
If thats the case, they'd see WWEs answers to their attacks as acknowledgement, but I doubt they'd be suspicious unless it was "watch Impact on spike"
The wrestlers and smark fans would probably even look at WWE's acceptance of their weak rivals as a form of mockery. They'd be so caught up in bashing WWE and their perception of WWEs views that they wouldn't see the signs.

Of course, when WWE ignores TNA and makes comments like "no other alternative", the bashers just say "they're mocking them and they're arrogant, they don't see them as a threat"

Of course if WWE did the polar opposite and directly acknowledged TNA, those some critics would say...."they're mocking them and they're arrogant, they don't see them as a threat"

You can't win with these type of people, but in this hypothetical scenario this mindset would aid in WWE pulling the wool over their eyes.