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PWINSIDER Q&A: WHY ISN'T TNA ON MONDAY NIGHTS ALREADY, TAZ'S RING NAME, MIKE ROTUNDA AND MORE

What exactly is keeping SpikeTV and TNA from moving iMPACT to Monday Night at 9PM head to head with RAW? Wrestling fans have been accustomed for years that Monday nights = wrestling. Millions of fans are already tuning in for RAW, so I would think if TNA promoted iMPACT correctly and got some good buzz going, they could easily pull in a better rating then they do now. Anything higher then they get now on Thursdays would be considered a success, wouldn't it? I would think going head to head with RAW increases TNA's chances of pulling in a better number. So why wouldn't they at least try it...at least once just to see? What would they lose? Maybe I'm being naive but I just don't see what the big deal would be. Couldn't they easily just put a taped iMPACT against RAW, then repeat it on Thursday to get some sort of idea of the number they'd get? EXPERIMENT. It seems like such a wasted opportunity.  What are they waiting for? Also do the UFC repeats that air on Mondays from 9-10PM on Spike pull in a good number? And where does TNA rank on SpikeTV in terms of the ratings they pull in? Thanks in advance! And yes, I REALLY miss the Monday Night Wars...obviously!

A number of reasons.  SpikeTV would have to put additional dollars and marketing might into a Monday Night broadcast.  TNA has experimented with Monday shows and they did not do well, even when they were aired on nights the Dog Show preempted Raw.  Thursday has become TNA's signature night so unless there is good reason, you really shouldn't mess with what has worked for the company thus far.  Sometimes, a gamble like that could go south.  Finally, with the advent of technology, a good part of what made the Monday Night Wars so much fun, switching back and forth, and counter-programming, etc.  has become passé and honestly, the chances of that era being re-created are pretty much nill.  The other factor to remember is that WCW brand-name was going on decades of consumer knowledge while there are still fans out there that aren't aware of TNA yet.  To me, it's just not time for TNA to make such a move, unless SpikeTV wanted to compensate them greatly for it. 

How come there were no problems with Taz using the name "Taz" in ECW,but when he went to  WWE, they added an extra z to his name? If it was a copyright issue, how did ECW get away with it? They've sold PPVs and DVDs advertising "Taz" for years.

WWE chose to add the extra Z.  Taz had been using the name in ECW without issue partially because ECW was so far under the radar and because he wasn't being marketed as a cartoon character.  It's OK to use the name in a different medium but if they wanted an animated version of Taz, it wouldn't have been to fly.  To protect themselves (and copyright the name themselves), WWE used the extra letter.

Whatever happened to wrestler Mike Rotunda?

Rotunda currently works backstage for WWE as a Producer.

Has there been any interest by WWE to have famed boxing announcer Michael Buffer announce certain pay per views such as Wrestlemania?

They've used him for the Royal Rumble in the past, but beyond that, no.  He wasn't a very good announcer for wrestling during his WCW run and honestly, WWE doesn't even utilize the best ring announcer they've ever had, Howard Finkel much these days.  It's one thing to retire Finkel under the guise of wanting someone younger, but to bring in Buffer and pay him an extravagant fee while not even using Finkel would be a massive insult.

Even though the ladies match on Raw between Divas champion Maryse and Kelly Kelly ended prematurely do you think that Kelly Kelly might be able to teach a thing a two to Maryse on how to improve in the ring? Even though Kelly has only a few years experience as a wrestler she certainly has showed remarkable improvement in the ring. I do think she and Maryse could have good matches if given the chance. Maybe what Kelly Kelly has learned can rub off onto Maryse if she is willing to learn. Possible?

Honestly, neither of them are in a position where they should be teaching anyone, much less each other.  Leave that to the veterans.

 

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