Matt Hardy recently spoke with Jim Varsallone of The Miami Herald to promote TNA on Pop TV. Here are the highlights.
On TNA airing on Pop TV:
“[The deal] means a lot to me because TNA is going to continue to have a home in America,” Hardy said. “We would have been OK, in theory, if we would have just had our overseas programming, but if you’re an American brand, you need to have American television.
“So it was a big deal, and it’s important, and I really think the Pop TV people understand and have a good grasp of what it takes to make professional wrestling successful on their network — much better than the Destination America people did.
“So it was a big deal, and it’s important, and I really think the Pop TV people understand and have a good grasp of what it takes to make professional wrestling successful on their network — much better than the Destination America people did.
“I think Destination America just thought, ‘Wrestling is a very popular sport/entertainment type industry. We can put it on our network, and viewers are going to flock over and watch the program, and it’s gonna make money.’
On TNA making necessary changes:
“One of the most important things Impact Wrestling needs to do to evolve — or for that matter any wrestling promotion — is you have to take into consideration not just the casual fans but also the smart fans. There’s so much information accessible to everyone now because the Internet is so powerful; social media is so powerful. You have to play off both of those. You have to cater to two different fan bases.”
“You need original ideas. You don’t need rehashed ideas. You don’t need to do the same thing in a different capacity over and over again, because wrestling needs something fresh, something original, something different. Me, personally, that’s the direction I want to take. I’m certainly going to do my damnedest to get some new original content and cross over some unchartered waters that’s never been touched before.”
You can read the entire interview here.
