Tito Ortiz showed up at the end of TNA Wrestling’s Impact show Thursday night as the “mystery man” the promotion had been billing as the #August1Warning. A day earlier, at Bellator 97 Ortiz showed up as the “mystery” opponent for Rampage Jackson to face on Bellator’s first PPV November 2nd.
Ortiz’s appearance will serve as a dual purpose for Viacom as it will now promote Ortiz-Rampage on TNA as well as on Bellator. Ortiz has been involved in pro wrestling in 2005 for TNA as a “special guest referee.” We’ll see if Ortiz will actually wrestle for TNA in 2013.
Payout Perspective:
It looks as though Ortiz’s signing with Viacom makes it the third MMA fighter to fight for Bellator and be involved in TNA Wrestling. Ortiz’s appearance for TNA comes at a time when there are rumors of financial instability and wrestlers being released from the company. It will be interesting to see how the cross promotion goes for both companies. Ortiz and Jackson are named stars that have done well in PPV in the past. However, that was the past. Jackson’s work in pro wrestling thus far on TNA has not looked good and we assume that Ortiz has not done a lot of pro wrestling training either. So, they may have to rely on the talking to promote. As for ratings, we will see how receptive the move is for TNA.
I would die laughing watching tito and ken shamrock do a pro wrestling match.
Bellator is shooting themselves in the ass of ever being accepted among sports like the UFC is. They are going way to far to blur the lines between MMa and Pro Wrestling. This will get TNA fans watching Bellator. But that is very limited. They will never be accepted among sports networks or fans with all their big name fighters being pro wrestlers. It is actually embarracing. It shows a lack of dedication and focus to fighting when you are moonlighting doing pro wrestling. 1 guy doing it wasn’t a big deal. But now you really have to wonder what you are getting in the fight and it shows the direction and intentions of Bellator. Bellator just set their cieling of expectations. It isn’t to be as big as WWE, UFC, Boxing, or any other sport. They are aiming for TNA ratings and by doing so assuring they can never be anything more.
Wonder how Bellator will feel down the road when all their fighters are obligated to pro wrestling? Wander how TNA feels that Viacom is basically forcing them to put fighters in the ring? Wonder how the wrestlers feel about the fighters leveraging them fighting career into wrestling deals with no training?
This is why you dont give up control. Viacom is killing the promotion for short term quick gains. Everyone talks about their deep pockets. But yet again we see Bellator with poor ratings and Viacom turned it into a side show to stop losing money. They are not investing in the sport. They are looking for a quick return. Now they have essentially turned Bellator into pro wrestling.
Haters gonna hate.
Look at pro wrestling history on tv and you would know it isn’t hating at all. Pro Wrestling has a huge stigma and most sports fans, the fans it requires to get huge ratings and big tv deals, have no respect for it and want nothing to do with it.
They didn’t need to have the fighters crossing over to bring in TNA viewers. They could have had the best of both worlds. But they moved Bellator away from TNA as a lead in and the ratings went to shit. Now to get them back they sacrificed the integrity of the sport and their promotions.
The only thing worse than Tito and Rampage fighting as two has beens is knowing they are now more worried about pro wrestling (which is where their future is) and don’t give a shit about the fight to put all their heart into it.
Maybe the fighters are having fun making money doing scripted work. But that thought couldn’t have crossed your mind you pea brain.
Or maybe Bellator just is to cheap tot pay them not to have to have a second job. Why aren’t you calling out Bellator and Viacom? Thought you said Viacom had deep pockets? Why aren’t they using it to pay their biggest stars to fight?
Because these fighters are probably enjoying the exposure. its gotta be more fun than ufc press obligations . viacom and bellator are smart for this.they are trying to get wrestling fans to tune in.
They had wrestling fans tuning in and they moved BFC. IF they would have left TNA as a lead in for another year or so it would have took hold of the fans and rthey would have followed to another day of the week. But not with only 1 season. This shows how Viacom has no long term goals. Only to use up Bellator and toss them to the side.
I would watch fighters do pro wrestling just for laughs.
Anyway, it took zuffa years to make ufc profitable. viacom has money to burn. Of course naysayer stooges like bs will say those results can’t be replicated. only time will tell
They don’t have to replicate the UFc success. The UFC has already build the industry. All they had to do was run a respectable MMA promotion. But they threw in the towel. Now they are trying to run a pro wrestling promotion. A page out of the Japanese pro wrestling handbook. Trying to run a “harder” version if Pro wrestling under the disguise of real combat. But these guys are no longer top athletes. They are no longer competitive. So what is it we are watching? Because without those two things it isn’t professional MMA. What it is is a joke and a circus.
Whatever it takes to keep it interesting and put asses in seats. ufc is played out and boring.
The only stooge here is you. Viacom doesn’t have money to burn. Bellator is nothing to them. They are a huge PUBLIC corporation who answer to shareholders. They will dump Bellator in seconds.
UFC is the only MMA promotion people care about because they took years to build their brand. No one cares about Bellator. Most never heard of it. And doing freak show fights and blurring themselves with TNA is only going to make them a joke. At least Strikeforce was legit.