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PEOPLE WITHIN THE INDUSTRY READING PWINSIDER, WHY TNA CAN'T GRAB A GREATER PIECE OF ATTENTION FOR THEMSELVES, BAIT AND SWITCH TACTICS ON THE INDIES AND MORE

I was curious how many people in the industry read PWInsider? I see that Dixie Carter follows the site's Twitter and that Hurricane puts over the This Day in History all the time, but how many actually read and/or subscribe to the site?

I can't name numbers because I don't know hard numbers for sure but there are a lot of people from every company, from WWE on down to independents, that read and follow the website. Some like those you named above, make it openly known and others tend to keep it to themselves to keep things quiet and prevent political issues. Are there people reading it in Nashville and listening to audio in Stamford daily? Yes.

Some time ago, I attended a wrestling show put on by a small outfit in the Twin Cities metro area of Minnesota. After the show, I happened to talk to the owner and my friend asked him why there were no "midgets" on the show as had been advertised. He told us that one of the two scheduled to perform (presumably one of the same two who had performed at the same show a year earlier) had been arrested for drunk driving the night prior and was thus a "no-show." He subsequently told us a bit about how the little people are difficult to work with in the business because they draw a higher wage and are generally more difficult to book. About six months after that, we attended another show, put on by an even smaller outfit run by a former AWA star, in a western Wisconsin tavern. Same story: little people were billed to appear, but they "no-showed" because of an apparent drunk driving charge. My question is, have you or your coworkers ever heard of small indies using little people as a marketing draw, then baiting-and-switching using this or a similar story, or were my experiences some sort of coincidence?

I can't speak for the independents you went to, but there are independents in every market that use cruddy bait and switch tactics. We used to have an indy in NYC that would promote all these names and they would always disappear with claims of travel issues and family problems. When that promoter moved to another area, something similar would happen with his shows there. All you can really do if you are planning to see a certain talent and that is the only reason you are going to the show is to find out from that talent's social media if they are really booked.

My question is about TNA's inability to reach out to a broader audience so to speak. Quite simply, why does TNA suck when it comes to public awareness of their product? They could absolutely be doing more to create a buzz around the company. And this doesn't just land on their creative team. Why don't they take out more commercials on RAW, or SmackDown!? Atleast in the major cities if nothing else. (Chicago, New York, Cleveland, Philly, LA). It seems the only time they spend money on the commercials is when they are having an event in the area. I get they're trying to save as much as possible, but they've been running for 10 years now. I think it's time to kick their marketing tactics (lack thereof) into overdrive because whatever they've been doing until now, it' obviously has not been working. Your thoughts?

There's a number of reasons. One, financially, they can only afford to do so much when they can't be guaranteed hard results. Two, you have a very overworked staff juggling a number of jobs in their office (and for some, this is their first job, period). Three (and this is most important in my opinion), you have to remember that while WCW had decades of building their audience loyalty and WWE has that now, TNA doesn't. It's much harder for any property to be built from the ground up in the day and age of multimedia and social media. Three, if they just spend spend spend, they'll be more different than the AWF or the XWF or WXO, spending money and watching it fly out the window without a plan to recoup. TNA has been in business for ten years but that doesn't mean they are ready to break the bank and spent billions and get the brand awareness WWE has. In the United States, you say wrestling and people assume WWE. It's going to be seemingly impossible to ever break that habit. The only thing, in my mind, that could do it, is if a major broadcast network gave a wrestling company a primetime show on national broadcast TV weekly for YEARS. That just isn't going to happen for TNA or anyone.

I just started watching the 3 hour unedited version of the 2012 Hall of Fame. I have never liked JBL, not in the APA or later on as the Champ. BUT his induction speech (of Ron Simmons), was off the charts fantastic! I think in the 8 – 10 minutes on the mic, I’ve changed my mind quite a bit about Bradshaw. Question: Was I not paying attention or would guys agree Bradshaw was in rare and near perfect form?

He was always a great promo, but here he wasn't in character or trying to get heat. He was just espousing the greatness of his best friend with a LOT of passion. Of course you are going to love that! Who wouldn't?

I was wondering do WWE-TNA wrestlers need permission befor getting a new tattoo?

WWE, absolutely. I don't know that TNA has those same tight guidelines.

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