TNA Takes On WWE On Monday Nights--Suicide?

TNA iMPACT!, which had aired on Spike on Thursday nights for the past four years, regularly drew about 1.5 to 1.8 million viewers in that time slot. On Monday, January 4, Impact ran a special Monday night live show against World Wrestling Entertainment's RAW and drew 2.2 million viewers.

That development has led Spike to greenlight the permanent move from Thursday to Monday night, initiating another chapter in a previous 'Monday Night Wars' that ran from 1995 to 2001 between Eric Bischoff and Vince McMahon.

iMPACT! will begin on Mondays March 8, 2010, with a live edition, then producing live programming every other week after that.

This is a suicide move for TNA. While the January 4 edition drew very well, especially going against RAW's presentation of Bret Hart, TNA should not expect the return viewership. The January 4 edition of Impact had the curiosity factor of Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff returning to wrestling, coupled with the rumored debut of Jeff Hardy and Ric Flair. The anticipated NWO reunion added to those numbers as well.

TNA's booking since January 4 has been sporadic at best, producing some good material, some bad and a lot of material that has been puzzling at best. What it hasn't produced is anything groundbreaking that will compel non-fans or WWE diehards to make the switch.

Could this obsession of Bischoff and Hogan be TNA's Waterloo?

source: gather.com