For 83 weeks, WCW defeated WWE in the Monday Night Wars of Wrestling. While most people remember the fateful night when Tony Schiavone told the world that Mick Foley would win the WWF World Championship and half a million viewers switched over to watch it, that wasn’t an isolated incident. WCW routinely spoiled the broadcasts of the pre-taped flagship show of the WWF, and for the most part, it worked in WCW’s favor.
That was the long before social media clicks, likes, and follows became the currency of the age. Now people cannot wait to be first to spoil things. The race to be first overtakes artistic integrity or proper journalism. Fans attending shows spoil AEW’s Rampage, which is usually taped after Dynamite, on X (formerly twitter) in real time. Part of the reason we knew Jade Cargill was leaving was because of fans reporting her out of character reactions as they were happening. It’s important to note that those actions did not appear on the actual broadcast of Rampage two days later.
Wrestling promotions pre-record shows to save money and edit any potential slip ups. Impact Wrestling regularly records up to a month of shows in a single weekend. This leaves only Pay-Per-Views and Impact Plus Specials as the limited live broadcasts for the company.
Impact Wrestling rarely disappoints fans by putting on some of the best in-ring action and consistent storylines found in wrestling today. But even the best company hits a low ceiling when a simple google search can let you know the outcomes to 4 weeks worth of television. WWE & AEW regularly provide 11 hours of live wrestling content per week. That doesn’t include Pay-Per-Views and Premium Live Content shows.
A pre-taped wrestling show simply can’t compete for viewership against that level of competition. Impact Wrestling not only needs a Live Show, the performers deserve a live show. The work that the wrestlers, producers, and staff put on should be seen live worldwide, not spoiled on a wrestling dirt sheet or social media.
During the Pandemic Years, IMPACT’s popularity soared. The Era of No Fans allowed the pre-taped shows to remain unspoiled. Impact’s “anyone can win” strategy made the show exciting. IMPACT even created the highly regarded “WrestleHouse” reality concept to socially distance half the roster from each other. The #1 Rated Fantasy Prediction Wrestling Game, FTW-The (Wrestling) Prediction League, made Impact Wrestling a focal point of the Prediction game during that time.
However, that changed once fans began attending shows. The free flow of spoilers flooded social media and in no time IMPACT’s momentum slowed. Impact Wrestling saved a number of careers during the pandemic and after the original closure of Ring of Honor. They even helped to boost the legitimacy of AEW in its early stages with a partnership agreement that saw Kenny Omega win the Impact World Championship.
Impact has proved its worth many times over, surviving the disastrous reign of former owner Dixie Carter, to establish itself as a top promotion in North America. Impact Wrestling accomplished so much without live shows. “The little wrestling organization that could” celebrated 20 years of operation as well as its 1000th episode. Live, unspoiled content would put more eyes on an already legitimate wrestling promotion and push it to even further heights.
Professor, Mentor, Role Model, Wrestling Fan, Dad. When he’s not educating, coaching, or being the best dad possible, he’s running the best Fantasy Wrestling Prediction League on the Planet, FTW which can be found at https://www.facebook.com/groups/predictionleagueftw, you can also catch him putting some of the best promos out in the The BWO Network on Youtube. Want to know more? Talk to him.
