29.01.2003, 22:46
In keeping with the pattern of the last several weeks, you can expect surprises on tonight's NWA-TNA: Total Nonstop Action telecast. Dusty Rhodes, Roddy Piper, Nikita Koloff, Percy Pringle, the Road Warriors, Vince Russo and Raven have all appeared unexpectedly on recent shows, and longtime fans of the NWA won't be disappointed by tonight's show. Some have questioned why we have kept these appearances secret. The answer is simple. We're trying to create a "you never know what might happen" mentality among our viewers so they will tune in every week to see what will happen next.
Last week's telecast generated some of the most positive feedback since we launched the promotion last June. The excitement we have generated appears to be clicking with fans, and everyone involved in the show is excited about the momentum that has been building in recent weeks.
I had a chance to attend the shows promoted this past weekend in Virginia by Hermie Sadler. Matches between "America's Most Wanted" and the "Hot Shots" stole the show both nights. AMW's Chris Harris & James Storm have really gelled as a tag team and they seem to have great matches every time they hit the ring. After the AMW/Hotshots match on Saturday night, former NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ricky Steamboat took time to talk to both teams about the match. Steamboat was very impressed with the match and said that he got so caught up in the action that he couldn't tell which team was going to win. Coming from one of the all time greats, and someone who specialized in false finishes, that's quite a compliment.
It didn't take long for Raven to make a big impression in TNA. His surprise appearance at the end of last week's show brought smiles to the faces of fans in the "Heel Section" who had been salivating at the thought that he might be there since word leaked out earlier in the week that the WWE had released him. For those who think we planted the Raven signs in the crowd....we didn't. We didn't have to plant the signs...the "Heel Section" brought more than enough.
We've had productive conversations in recent weeks with DirecTV officials about ways to increase awareness about our show among their customers. We'll have a full page ad on the back cover of the March edition of the DirecTV Guide, and will be moving from Channel 192 to Channel 102 starting in March.
iNDemand officials will be in town for tonight's event and we will be meeting with them tomorrow to discuss ways we can better market our shows to cable systems. Conversations with cable affiliates in recent weeks have been productive and we are continuing to reach out to individual cable systems to educate them on our product.
We received a lot of feedback from fans from Australia about last week's telecast. It was the first time the show aired live in Australia and fans "down under" seem to have liked what they saw. The current plan is for the show to air once a month, but we are hopeful that we will be able to work out an arrangement that will allow us to air weekly as soon as possible.
Don West made his second appearance this morning on "The Big Show" with John Boy & Billy. West will be appearing on the show every Wednesday morning to talk about TNA and to give his thoughts about the upcoming show.
Tickets are getting harder and harder to get to our shows. Because every show is a live broadcast it's important for us to have a packed house every week, so we have heavily comped tickets in the past so we can be sure to have a crowd that will look good on television. With the success of recent shows and the excitement generated with all of the surprises we've been adding to the show, we are beginning to pull back on the number of comp tickets we are issuing. If you want to attend one of our shows (and there's nothing like being there live!), the best way to make sure you have a good seat is to order tickets in advance through Paypal.Click here to order.
That's it for this week. Be sure to tune in tonight to see another in our never ending series of surprises!
Last week's telecast generated some of the most positive feedback since we launched the promotion last June. The excitement we have generated appears to be clicking with fans, and everyone involved in the show is excited about the momentum that has been building in recent weeks.
I had a chance to attend the shows promoted this past weekend in Virginia by Hermie Sadler. Matches between "America's Most Wanted" and the "Hot Shots" stole the show both nights. AMW's Chris Harris & James Storm have really gelled as a tag team and they seem to have great matches every time they hit the ring. After the AMW/Hotshots match on Saturday night, former NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ricky Steamboat took time to talk to both teams about the match. Steamboat was very impressed with the match and said that he got so caught up in the action that he couldn't tell which team was going to win. Coming from one of the all time greats, and someone who specialized in false finishes, that's quite a compliment.
It didn't take long for Raven to make a big impression in TNA. His surprise appearance at the end of last week's show brought smiles to the faces of fans in the "Heel Section" who had been salivating at the thought that he might be there since word leaked out earlier in the week that the WWE had released him. For those who think we planted the Raven signs in the crowd....we didn't. We didn't have to plant the signs...the "Heel Section" brought more than enough.
We've had productive conversations in recent weeks with DirecTV officials about ways to increase awareness about our show among their customers. We'll have a full page ad on the back cover of the March edition of the DirecTV Guide, and will be moving from Channel 192 to Channel 102 starting in March.
iNDemand officials will be in town for tonight's event and we will be meeting with them tomorrow to discuss ways we can better market our shows to cable systems. Conversations with cable affiliates in recent weeks have been productive and we are continuing to reach out to individual cable systems to educate them on our product.
We received a lot of feedback from fans from Australia about last week's telecast. It was the first time the show aired live in Australia and fans "down under" seem to have liked what they saw. The current plan is for the show to air once a month, but we are hopeful that we will be able to work out an arrangement that will allow us to air weekly as soon as possible.
Don West made his second appearance this morning on "The Big Show" with John Boy & Billy. West will be appearing on the show every Wednesday morning to talk about TNA and to give his thoughts about the upcoming show.
Tickets are getting harder and harder to get to our shows. Because every show is a live broadcast it's important for us to have a packed house every week, so we have heavily comped tickets in the past so we can be sure to have a crowd that will look good on television. With the success of recent shows and the excitement generated with all of the surprises we've been adding to the show, we are beginning to pull back on the number of comp tickets we are issuing. If you want to attend one of our shows (and there's nothing like being there live!), the best way to make sure you have a good seat is to order tickets in advance through Paypal.Click here to order.
That's it for this week. Be sure to tune in tonight to see another in our never ending series of surprises!