Subhojeet Mukherjee on January 24, 2026
Eric Bischoff isn’t mincing words when it comes to TNA’s rocky return to primetime—and he’s sounding the alarm after their low-rated debut on AMC.
On the January 23, 2026 episode of 83 Weeks, Bischoff addressed the fallout from TNA Thursday Night iMPACT!’s debut on January 15, which drew only 173,000 overnight viewers and a 0.04 rating in the 18–49 demo. Fans were let down, and Bischoff didn’t sugarcoat it either.
“I think the number is obviously disappointing,” he said. “I still think that TNA is in a position to challenge AEW for a number one spot in terms of television viewing—not in terms of overall business—but man, they’ve got a lot more work to do than I thought.”
Bischoff then revealed that the debut show—and possibly the next episode—was hampered by unexpected visa issues, forcing the company to scramble behind the scenes. This kind of last-minute chaos led to heavy rewrites, which Bischoff believes explains the show’s sloppy execution—but doesn’t excuse it.
“I heard about 20 minutes before I went online… that this week’s episode is plagued with some of the same visa issues as last week’s show,” he noted. “They’re shooting in New Mexico, and they’ve got talent that can’t make it in. They’re going to have the same problem this week in terms of rewriting and scrambling at the last minute,” he continued. “If what I’m reading is true… it’s really going to be hard. They’re going to have to figure out how to produce a television show.”
Drawing a distinction between pay-per-view events and weekly TV, Bischoff made it clear that TV production is far more demanding—and TNA may not be ready. He was particularly critical of how the show was put together.
“No offense, pay-per-views are a lot easier. You don’t have commercial breaks. You don’t have a specific time you’ve got to hit,” he explained. “There are a lot of variables that come with live television that you don’t deal with on a pay-per-view. Let’s hope they can get their creative together, as well as the production and the format,” he said. “Because the format was abysmal. There’s really no excuse for that other than having to rewrite the show at the last minute.”
Despite the poor total viewership, Bischoff gave credit to the show’s performance in the 18–49 demo—but noted that it didn’t translate to broader appeal. He also pointed out that AMC’s promotion of the show was minimal, and the lack of marketing likely hurt viewership as well.
“I don’t even venture to guess what the demo was—the demo number was actually pretty good and respectable—but the total viewership wasn’t,” he admitted. “I’m really surprised there wasn’t more of a general wrestling audience, especially with social media awareness and all of that. That’s certainly not because of anything AMC did,” Bischoff stated. “I don’t think they really promoted the show beyond minimal social media.”
Bischoff ended with a direct warning to TNA President Carlos Silva, urging immediate investment before fan interest fades. He added that the company needs to focus on its infrastructure if it hopes to survive—let alone thrive.
“Carlos, if you’re listening, I mean this with respect because I want you to succeed—this is the moment you have to invest in yourself,” Bischoff said. “If you wait another six or seven months, you’re going to lose the audience that wants you to succeed. If they want to be number two, if they want to be a viable company, if they want to be acquired by TKO at some point… you’ve got to build value in yourself,” Bischoff warned. “That means investing in production, bringing in additional staff—whatever it takes.”
With Eric Bischoff laying out the problems in such stark terms, the message is clear: TNA’s AMC opportunity is real—but so is the risk of blowing it.
Do you think TNA can bounce back from this rocky start, or has AMC already become a missed opportunity? Sound off in the comments and let us know what you’d fix first.
Please credit Ringside News if you use the above transcript in your publication.
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