IMPACT Wrestling is 20 years old this year.
20 years of ups, downs, good, bad, ugly and everything in-between.
But after 20 years it’s hard to tell if the company is an a better or worse position in 2022.
IMPACT goes through waves of sometimes having a lot of momentum going into and executing very good pay-per-views, but seems to always have trouble with the follow-up.
Through “partnerships” with both AEW and WWE recently many fans thought it would be a good bump for them but numbers have proven otherwise.
There are a few ways IMPACT Wrestling can retain those fans who garner the interests because I have come to notice that the fans want to stick around, but IMPACT just isn’t doing enough to keep them.
5. Production
One of the main complaints I’ve heard about IMPACT Wrestling shows is that viewers are tired of the production.
IMPACT has had this current production style for over five years.
The pandemic did them no favors as the view of no fans hasn’t left people’s brains and they are still relating the current production to that.
The visual aspect of a pro wrestling show is important and for the viewers to want to come back to the product, you have to please their eyes first.
Setting up every venue to look exactly the same is beneficial for the taped show BUT gives a repetitive sense to the viewers and gives them the sense they’ve seen it before.
It goes along with the marathon taping model they have adopted which will be discussed in the next section.
4. Stop The Marathon Tapings
Going along with the presentation of the show and the visual are these marathon tapings.
Taping eight weeks of programs in two nights saves a ton of money BUT by the end of the tapings the crowds are spent and it comes across on television every single time.
A hot wrestling crowd is half the battle on a television show, and not having this for most shows affects viewer retention a lot.
The first day of tapings should be reserved for a live show on AXS with a shorter amount taped for the second night because honestly, the more into-the-future you tape, the less likely anyone is to watch.
Bottom line is the bottom line though and we know that taping schedules like this are to save money, but a couple of tweaks to the schedule could offer a vast improvement.
3. Promotion
Like any wrestling company in the world IMPACT Wrestling just needs to promote the product more.
There are still a ton of people who do not know how to find their television program.
Still a ton of people who do not have access to AXS.
Turn up the promotion on social media, Twitter is a huge resource for them.
Tell people that on the YouTube page you can subscribe for just ONE DOLLAR to watch all the IMPACT TV episodes the next day. YouTube plays a huge role in IMPACT’s history.
2. Increase Focus On The Women’s Division
The number one most positively talked about thing in IMPACT Wrestling universally is the women’s division.
IMPACT needs to get back to a time where the women were a bigger focus on the show in a company where women in the main event was the norm.
Women on the roster have continuously kept viewers entertained with great wrestlers involved in great matches and a lot of intergender crossover.
Continuing to put focus on someone like Jordynne Grace, putting her in main events with men and getting victories over them is a way to keep viewers interested.
People want to tune into the women so shift focus to getting the women’s championship back to the main event.
1. Revamp The Main Event Scene
World title doesn’t just mean it has to be ALL heavyweights.
With the very diverse roster IMPACT possesses, the main event scene is not mixed up enough.
Moose, Morrissey, Cardona, and most of the larger men being featured leaves a lot to be desired for some viewers.
Having Josh Alexander as world champion is a huge step in the right direction and the more that they let him just go the better things will get.
You need to offer a new diverse list of opponents for him though and it’s not difficult when your roster includes the likes of Speedball Mike Bailey and Alex Shelley.
The X-Division and more women need to be included in the world title scene – more variety will lead to more reasons for viewers to tune in.
You have access to wrestlers from both New Japan Pro Wrestling and Ring Of Honor, insert a couple of them into the main event.
The main event scene’s history is a big reason IMPACT viewers have a bad taste in their mouth and it’s going to take time to restore faith.
Good stories with good payoffs is all wrestling fans really want and with the roster that IMPACT has the great matches will always be the saving grace.
Produce great main events and build new contenders. You have wrestlers that viewers want to succeed presently on the roster, so give them wins.
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