Exposing The Myth: TNA Was A WWE Rival

4. Was It Really A War, Though?

TNA Hulk Hogan Impact Monday Night Raw WWE
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To be blunt, no, no it wasn't.

When TNA and Spike TV decided to move Impact! from a Thursday to a Monday, there was always going to be an element of risk. What if the show completely tanked in the ratings? What if TNA came off looking bush league? What if Spike TV completely soured on TNA should this move backfire?

Airing Impact! on a Monday had been tested out previously, with 4 January 2010 seeing TNA's flagship going up against WWE Raw.

That episode of Impact! actually drew an impressive 2.2 million viewers, with a first-hour viewership of 2.5 million viewers. To put that into perspective, the 22 September 2020 edition of Raw averaged 1.67 million viewers - which is a scary indicator of just how horrendous WWE's ratings have regularly been in the last few years.

So happy were both TNA and Spike at that 2.2 million average, 8 March 2010 saw Impact! permanently moved to a Monday night. The first week of this permanent move resulted in Impact! bringing in 1.4 million viewers and a 0.98 rating, while WWE easily surpassed those numbers with 5.1 million viewers and a 3.4 rating.

The following week would see Impact! draw its lowest rating for two years, but Spike TV and TNA were determined to make this move work.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.