Destination America acquires Ring of Honor

The new home of TNA wrestling, Destination America, also brings Ring of Honor to the fold, which is good news for fans, but could also be problematic....
Destination America, a Discovery network, will air wrestling back to back on Wednesdays. Photo/Discovery.com

Destination America, a Discovery network, will air wrestling back to back on Wednesdays. Photo/Discovery.com

[dropcap]D[/dropcap]estination America managed to do the unthinkable (for them anyway) and shock the wrestling world.

The network that is already home to TNA Wrestling’s flagship program IMPACT is adding decorated indie promotion Ring of Honor to its Wednesday lineup starting June 3rd. This is the same night which IMPACT will air from now on (at 9pm), with ROH acting as a lead-in.

Wednesday is already a crowded house for wrestling as WWE’s developmental promotion, NXT, and the cult favorite Lucha Underground already air on that night — on WWE Network and El Rey respectively. Four promotions will now vie for viewership in primetime — something not seen since the Monday Night War days — and the Internet should help keep things very interesting.

 Social media will play a more vital role, of course, with real-time fan reaction (something Twitter or Facebook sees almost every night of the week). Combine that with the unpredictable fervor of clicking back and forth between shows during the Attitude Era, and you have some idea what the climate might be like on an evening so jam-packed (tweets and updates alone would be entertaining).

And fans are already buzzing over the possibilities and implications, good and bad — especially for TNA. They’re in an awkward position now, both with the network and their “competition.”

Destination America, first of all, became TNA’s new home after Spike dumped them following a decade-long run. DA proceeded to showcase the beleaguered brand: putting IMPACT on Friday with a replay (similar to how Nitro aired on TNT back in the day), airing marathons of best-of matches leading up to the premiere and subsequent episodes,  and creating new content like IMPACT: Unlocked.

It seemed like the channel would champion the company in a way Spike wouldn’t. Fast-forward a few months and now much of that has been scaled back. Marathon programming is MIA and IMPACT: Unlocked is all but canceled.

The IWC speculates this is a sign of buyer’s remorse on the part of the network, and that they plan to phase out TNA by September via a loophole in their deal (to be fair, loopholes are common practice in many contracts).

Again, this is all speculative — and the Internet has a way of blowing things out of proportion — but TNA looks like they are being backed into a corner. ROH has the potential to be comrades-in-arms; however, their production costs are far less, meaning DA could see a bigger return on their investment.

Moreover, ROH’s talent pool is full of former TNA guys who left on so-so terms. AJ Styles, Jay Lethal, Kazarian, and Christopher Daniels, to name a few. They may not want to bury the company, but what desire do they have to work with Dixie Carter again?

Jay-Briscoe-ROH-Champ

A deal with Destination America means greater exposure for ROH originals and stalwarts like champion Jay Briscoe (pictured), but also for former TNA workers such as AJ Styles. Photo/prowrestlingpowerhouse.com

Cross-promotion isn’t inevitable, but the network could sooner or later demand it. An “Invasion” angle might be best for business. If not, it certainly has creative possibilities.

It’s also possible all involved will experience a thriving partnership. For DA to go to all this trouble indicates they may have fallen in love with wrestling. Acquiring the broadcast rights to the top two companies in the country, outside WWE, could mean this backwoods cousin of the Discovery Channel family is ready for combat with Vince McMahon himself.

They might want to consult WCW and the old territories on that one.

Nevertheless, their first test will be NXT, which came to prominence by doing what ROH and TNA were good at: signing the top talent in the world. Having locked up the likes of Samoa Joe, Finn Balor, Hideo Itami, and Kevin Owens, NXT is clearly looking to the future with aplomb.

ROH and TNA aren’t left in the dust exactly, but the odds are (historically) with WWE. Destination America on their side, the former two might have a chance. But, if War breaks out — not that it needs to, between VOD (such as WWE Network), reruns, and DVR — they are going to need each other.

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TV and Film

Eric is a columnist and the resident film critic for The Pit. He also acts and is a multitalented filmmaker.
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