Reported by Mike Siciliano of WrestleView.com
On Monday, January 7, 2008 at 3:08 AM EST

This is an interesting quandary I am being placed in to deal with. Being a fan of the business, I would like to experience new aspects of the industry at any opportunities. In February, on the same weekend, two major companies are coming to the New York City area. One is running a double shot on Long Island friday, and in Manhattan on Saturday. And the other is running its first ever house show on friday of this weekend.

I'm talking about Ring of Honor and Total Non Stop Action. ROH is set to run in Februrary in Long Island for the first time since July, and the next night, they're back at the Manhattan Center. The Manhattan Center show will guarantee a lot of cash and attendance, as evident from the past seven shows, (I've been to the last two.) The Long Island ROH show is up in the air for two reasons. One, and I thought this was legitimate, although I have zero information to prove it, is that ROH realized they can't run a show and make a profit at the Deer Park Community Center, which is where they ran after Sports Plus closed. But, now, the second reason, and the most obvious one, is ROH is trying to find the right locale to run that will be far enough away from the TNA locale to avoid further conflict with the two companies running so close together.

What's got me in a twist is this. Now, most of you know I'm a father of three boys. With that, a certain budget is mandatory. Now, before the world calls me an ROH bot, let me say this. 90% of the shows I have gone to in ROH since 2005 have been through General Admission. Why? Simple. Most of the locations that I've been to have been small enough that a man of my size can get a good view no questions asked from the back of the room. Besides, most of the fans in the arenas aren't going to understand some dumb bastard wearing a jersey and windpants sitting ringside with a pad and a pen making notes for future references. With that said, it's easier, cheaper, and safer for me to be in the back of the room at these shows.

Now, I was hearing rumours of the show for TNA on Long Island. I didn't get word of the show's location and date until today. When I checked the ticket prices, I realized that there is only two tiers of prices for the tickets at the North Fork theatre. $50 and $35. Now, I have been to the old Westbury Music Fair back in the day, and the place is bigger than say the Grand Ballroom of the Manhattan Center. But the question is, is it worth $35 to sit at the back of the North Fork theatre to watch TNA, or is it worth $20 to sit or stand in the back of the Grand Ballroom?

I know the world is going to sit here and say I'm the cheapest bastard on the planet, but let's face facts. $15 is $15, and when you put that in the budget, one way or another, it comes back to bite you. I admit, I have enjoyed ROH immensely, and the price has been right up my alley. Which is why I have gone to the shows on more than one occasion.

Now, with this new opportunity, I am in the quandary. Go to TNA, spend the extra $15 and hope for the best, spend the $20 when I can, and go to ROH for the proven product that I am well aware of, or skip both opportunities all in all.

That's a question I have to address. But what TNA should address is this, if they're going to run the same weekend as the other competition they are dealing with, they should be more economically sound. I doubt most of the possible attendees to TNA's first house show in this market is going to fans with endless loot Chances are, they're going to be guys like me, who are interested, but need to watch their P's and Q's.

I've read reports as to how TNA has been less than cordial in trying to build their fan base with regard to their new house show circuit. Especially with them running in this market for the first time, I would think they should be a little more fan friendly.

It's a question that I think both companies will be thinking of for quite some time, but if I was Panda Energy, I'd be thinking of it a lot sooner rather than later.

NOTE: The preceding column does not reflect the views of the administration of this website.