TNA ratings for Impact Wrestling show on Sept. 8 in Huntsville featuring Jeff Hardy's return

TNA took its Impact Wrestling show on the road recently in what amounted to a feeble attempt at a fresh look for its product. This was done to create the appearance of the show being bigger and more user-friendly, so to speak, as opposed to the terribly mundane Impact Zone in Orlando.

Spike TV helped fund these road trips with the promise of better ratings to come. Kurt Angle was arrested for driving under the influence and Jeff Hardy was sentenced to jail time but that didn't stop TNA from using them in an attempt to come through on its promise.

Well, Impact was in Huntsville last night (Sept. 8, 2011) and the ratings are in. PWTorch brings the numbers:

TNA Impact Wrestling on Thursday, September 8 scored a 1.02 rating, down from a 1.06 rating last week. Impact was opposed by the usual strong slate of Thursday night cable TV shows and the first NFL regular season game of the year.

Impact averaged 1.35 million viewers, down five percent compared to 1.42 million viewers last week. Impact's overall rating and viewership were tied for the lowest of the year.

The company's gamble is not paying off and Hardy's heavily advertised return to TV failed to move the needle in any way. Sure, the NFL kicked off its season with the New Orleans Saints vs. Green Bay Packers game on NBC, which did a staggering 27 million viewers, but I don't believe that game stole many viewers from Spike TV.

The show itself was the usual overbooked mess with convoluted storylines and far too much happening for bigger fans to keep up with. What's worse, this was the go home show for the No Surrender pay-per-view that will take place this Sunday, Sept. 11. In fact, half the card wasn't announced until just last night, so this was a fairly important show. The ratings flopped, though, and it will be a shocker if the buyrate for No Surrender doesn't do the same.

For complete results from Impact last night click here and for video of Jeff Hardy's return promo click here.