TNA going forward

TNA is having a strange year. I don't think anyone can disagree with that.

But before I talk about where the product is now, I just want to take a step back and look at the TNAs recent history. And ore importantly, I want to have a look at the Hulk Hogan era.

Back in January 2010, TNA announced that Hulk Hogan would be debuting in the Florida based wrestling promotion. And although this was the same night that the WWE revealed their own returning superstar [Bret Hart], TNA pulled in their best figures to date.

Leading up to that watershed moment, TNA had steadily grown in stature to become a good (if not great) wrestling show. The X Division was exhilarating, the Knockout division was bustling with actual female talent that could wrestle, the tag division had not one, two but three of the best tag teams working the circuits and the heavyweight champion was a certain Mr A J Styles, who many thought (and still think) was TNAs greatest home grown star.

With the Hulkster due to return, TNA would surely step up to the next level and challenge WWEs dominance in the mainstream.

Hulk certainly pulled in the crowds at first, but it didn't last for long.

So what happened?

Well, it certainly wasn't the WWE pulling out anything spectacular. Bret came back and with him delivered the most lacklustre performance in recent memory. So what was it that went wrong? I personally think that it can be summed up with one word - focus.

And that word can be used on a number of different aspects of what went wrong. Namely, the bookers at the time focused on the big names - Hogan, Bischoff, Nash, Booker T, Steiner....the list goes on. They lost focus on what made TNA at that time great - the X Division was won by Abyss, AJ Styles lost to RVD and disappeared to mid card status, the womens division lost first Gail Kim and then Awesome Kong. They lost focused on what made TNA different to WWE and that was namely the wrestling.

The second coming of Hulk Hogan coincided with TNA turning into the second coming of WCW. Big name egos taking the limelight away from the real talent that had grown the brand to a respectable place on the wrestling map. Not only did we have the power houses of yesteryear, we also encountered a change away from the simple story telling that had gone before. Now the audience had to get its head around the Main Event Mafia, Fourtune, Immortal and the World Elite, to name but a few. The fact that no one could tell who were supposed to be the heels and who were the faces was largely irrelevant at this point.

And this continued for most of 2010.

But then things got better. A lot better.

WWE returns

In January 2011, Kevin Nash and Booker T returned to WWE for the annual Royal Rumble event. And the crowd went wild for them. This is the same crowd that labelled Nash and Booker T WWE rejects whilst in TNA - its amazing how fickle and hypocritical some wrestling fans are, but that's a story for another day.

With these two gone, the MEM disintegrated, leaving TNA to rethink its strategy. Suddenly, it appeared that the penny had dropped to the TNA creative team. Factions broke up, clarity began to take shape and the things that made TNA great in the first place started to come back to the fore front. In fact, TNA summed it up themselves when they rebranded as Impact Wrestling "Where Wrestling Matters".

IMPACT Wrestling

The remainder of 2011 was almost a rebirth of the TNA product. It got back to doing what it always id best and that was namely to push the right people towards the title. Now don't get me wrong, it still made mistakes along the way but in amongst those errors of creative judgement were some nuggets of brilliance. The foundations were taking place for something special, or more importantly, someone special to happen. And at the end of 2011, TNA managed to create a new star in the shape of Bobby Roode.Yes there were uproars in the initial booking but I don't think anyone can deny that the heel that Roode plays has been nothing but a success. And going back to my earlier point of hypocritical hyperbole from the WWE fans, the way his title reign and challenge from Storm is perfect. How many times have we hear the WWE fans becry that both Punk and Cena should be chasing the title, as opposed to holding it for any length of time? Well that is exactly how this is playing out and bravo to TNA for doing things the right way. Wrestling does indeed matter in the headline storyline.But back to where I came in and the the year of 2012. It has undoubtedly belonged to Bobby Roode so far, But there are other breakout stars on the horizon. CM Punk and Y2J have been fighting over the best in the world moniker - maybe they should have asked Austin Aries for his opinion. Matt Morgan is finally becoming a credible future champion and his programme with Crimson has turned both into potential main eventers. And who would have thought that Bully Ray would or could be as brilliant as he currently is? Add to that the re-emergence of the X Division, tag and knockout divisions and things are looking up. They are still not perfect but its looking like the right foundations are there - something that hasn't been true for a long time.But there is still one thing that is weighing TNA down. It;'s the albatross around the neck of TNAs potential challenge to WWE. And that problem is the Impact Zone.
Last month at Lockdown, the main event match, in James Storms home town should have been an epic battle, rewarded by an electric crowd. However, that night, the biggest heel was the audience who failed to turn up and those who did were lifeless.To have any chance of surviving and challenging, TNA needs to get on the road and show off its deep talent pool. Only then will the crowds begin to appreciate the product and only then will the product be elevated to new heights. TNA needs to get a reputation in front of real crowds that will appreciate the product.2011 proved that when in front of a large audience, the product feels more epic. This years UK tour proved that when put in front of a willing crowd, the shows just feel bigger [and dare I say better]. The UK Tour and more specifically the Wembley shows are the blue print to TNAs future success. This, combined with the knowledge of putting the things that make TNA different from the WWE, are will what will elevate the product.And the rest of this year should just be about that. Taking the show on the road and taking it to the places that will appreciate it.
UK tour 2013
Which leads me on to the good news for other TNA fans. The show rolls back in to the UK in January. And hopefully the TNA creative team have learnt from past mistakes. The fact that they are coming back to film Impact at Wembley suggests they have learnt something. And with this announcement came more exciting news - in a move to push the boundaries of what the competition are doing, the 2013 tour will feature a cage match every night.

Finally, TNA seems to have found it feet and has realised that what the audience wants is a alternative that isnt afraid to celebrate the things it does well.And should Impact continue on its current path, by the time the tour kicks off in January 2013, Impact Wrestling could be the most exciting show in wrestling.

First off, I'll admit that I've never been a big TNA watcher, I've tried so many times, but have never been able to really get into it. Perhaps that is an inherent WWE bias, I don't know. However I still feel I can add something to this topic.

'TNA is going forward' or other words to that effect is one of the most common statements on a wrestling board and has been since I have been a member of them, around 2008. The problem is, they never actually do seem to go forward, they either go backwards or mostly just stay the same.

I think I, and almost everybody else now, have given up on TNA ever been a viable alternative or competition to the WWE. For every positive they have, there appear to be two negatives. They sort out some problems, while leaving others gaping wide. The biggest issue always will be inconsistent booking, WWE suffers from it too, but just not on the same scale as TNA.

The iMpact Zone has also been the problem of TNA forever now, there have been calls for them to leave it for years and years, but it looks like they're going to be sticking there, and that's a real shame considering how much limitations it puts on the product as a whole.

I also think you have a valid criticism of Nash and Booker's returns considering the disgust at their roles in TNA, but the difference is that a spot in the Royal Rumble with a quick pop, is not the same as centring storylines and a whole company around them. Granted Kevin Nash and Booker T have both returned in more substantial roles since then, but Nash was widely criticised for his part in the Punk storyline, in the same way he was in TNA. While Booker T's return to the ring only helped Rhodes and the spotlight was on Cody rather than Booker. The main problem for TNA and using old guys, is not the fact that old guys are used, it's the fact that they are used to the detriment to the younger more talented guys.

thanks for the comments Crimey

You are right in what you said about the older guys being used to the detriment of the younger stars. However, like the article says, that is very much in the past.

This weeks Sacrifice had RVD in the main event but I think it was plain to see that was just a stop gap until Storm finally comes back to take it off Roode for that feel good moment.

I think TNA is getting closer in terms of consistancy to where it needs to be. If the move onto the road, that can only be a good thing.

I'd disagree on the point over WWE didn't pull out the stops at the time of Hogan's arrival, Bret returning to the company was at it's time a huge event for anyone who experienced the reasons behind his departure (and remember that the fans that remembered Bret are the same fans that would care over Hogan), everyone wanted to see how he would interact with Vince and HBK, the moment where Bret and Shawn stood together in the ring was memorable, for me it was a let down from that point onward though as they should have involved Shawn rather than Vince, the tease of a SCM as he left the ring was all we got).

Back though to TNA, last night's PPV was meant to be a contender for PPV of the year, ironically enough a PPV without Bischoff or Hogan and with the likes of Daniels, Joe, AJ, Angle, Kaz etc the guys that pre Hogan era were stealing the show getting decent airtime.

I think every wrestling fan craves the competitive rivalry of the monday night wars and an alternative to the monopoly that the WWE has effectively had since the end of WCW/ECW. TNA has had so many false dawns in the past that it is hard to truly invest in the company. Don't get me wrong TNA are doing the right thing by rewarding the UK fans that have been so loyal and passionate. But is this the beginning of a new era of creative stability and intelligent booking? Time will tell.

I wasnt saying that WWE didnt pull out the stops - I was saying that the return was a major disappointment. To me Bret looked disinterested from the very first show.

Talking of which, the report I read were that RVD phoned in his performance

Still looking forward to it though!

For once I am too, though your fave Aries may have a new contender to 'Best in the World' right now in the form of the new ROH World Champion.

Hero wrote:For once I am too, though your fave Aries may have a new contender to 'Best in the World' right now in the form of the new ROH World Champion.

You should know you can't say that Hero because ROH aren't a "Big" Wrestling Company therefore it's seemingly impossible to WWE fans that they can put on a better show then them or even have talent as good as them

To me, TNA do indeed go forward, but they also go 2 steps back in other areas. The problems that are outlined have been tried and tested years before. They've been holding PPV's/Show's on the road since 2006ish. TNA have tried to get on the road, but I just don't get why it won't work...? It seems they can throw money at Hogan, Eric & Co but yet can't seem to make it on the road working for them. I keep hearing the talent say that the company is growing and growing, but I can't see it. You state that the house show's in the UK sell well, which they do. But they are also shocking in the states. To me the sooner that TNA part ways with Hogan & Eric the better and healthier the company will be. You see all these idea's that Hogan's coming up with trying to make TNA more of a reality show yet most of the ideas are insane and fizz out after he thinks of something else which is barking mad. He seems to have gotten it in his head that wrestling needs to be like a reality show. This isn't sports entertainment. This is entertaining sports (Little Kevin Kelly Reverence there )

What TNA have done well in the last couple of years is being able to to get new stars over as genuine main eventers, where WWE have lacked in doing this. The list is endless here, Alberto Del Rio, The Miz, Jack Swagger look where they are all now. In TNA they've been pushed the right way, not in your face but well enough making most of their ageing stars getting over them. Bobby Rude has finally shown is potentional & has been one of the best/entertaining world champions in recent times in TNA. James Storm has also shown that he can run with the rest of the main eventers and are pushing more stars such as Austin Aries & Crimson. They've also made the most of their mid-carders. Each to their own have some kind of unique gimmick, where in WWE they also seem to be a bog standard wrestler with no personality and a name that you would be given in a soap opera. So to sum up in places TNA have indeed proves and are going forward in small steps. But they do lack in other areas shooting themselves in the foot going backwards undoing their hardwork. As for Garrett Bischoff.... well I'm not going to get into that, not hear not now. But it's another major problem that TNA have, fans will resent him knowing who he is and where he's come from. The kid seriously needs to go and train in OVW!

Great OP and I would agree with most of what's been said here (regarding TNA) - especially the need for them to "get the show on the road".

The Impact Zone really does kill the atmosphere and sense of occasion so often...even when some of their biggest names are in the ring. Its quite depression watching a great match and seeing little or no reaction from the crowd.

I also think their creative team needs to come up with some more credible and interesting storylines for more of their talent. Most of the focus seems to revolve around the talent involved in the heavyweight title, which is understandable, to an extent.

However, it does mean that too many wrestlers are left with little or no backstory for their matches. The Morgan/Crimson and Styles/Daniels/Kazarian feuds are the exception rather than the norm.

Things are improving, but there is still a fair way to go.

@The Enigma: I'm guessing you haven't seen any of Garrett Bischoff's appearances...the fans LOVE him. The Eric / Garrett feud was a big story that ran for a while and was well-received.

Cheers Wolfie for the comments - looking forward now to watching Sacrifice tonight!

Not a big fan of TNA

Given it so many chances over the years,everytime it seems to be picking up business it then nosedives once again.

But I am currently watching Sacrifice,have no idea about the storylines involved but the opening tag team match is better than any tag bout I have seen in WWE for god knows how many years.

I believe TNA has the performers,if they can just get the stories on track then they could go far.

Watched a few matches from Sacrifice last night. I'd have to see I would agree with all the feedback here, It was a pretty decent PPV in all tbh... The Angle/Styles match was nothing less than what you would expect from both guys telling a story. A proper wrestling match! I'm hoping they go at it again in the next PPV as Daniels & Kaz did interfear. Austin Aries still proves that he's on par with CM Punk & D.Bryan as best in the world currently, great match with Bully Ray who has indeed come on leaps and bounds. I also though the Tag match to open the show was decent too, would agree with JJ on that. To be fair there was a range of finishes and no Garrett Bischoff either!

@ dyrewolfe, I saw the angle/storyline for Garrett and my opinion still stays the same. Don't be fooled by the crowd, its the same old iMPACT crowd, they're told who to cheer for, and they plant certian people there. When they taped Impact in London, they had to re-shoot and edit the promo with Garret & Hogan because of all the heat he got.

One thing I have to comment on is the whole Abyss storyline?
Are we meant to be in the know that he is his brother because otherwise its possibly the cringiest thing I've ever seen in wrestling. I watched the other night and it felt really car crash tv.

I dont think we are supposed to know.

As for the PPV, I havent finished watching it yet but what I have seen has been excellent.

the tag match proves that Joe and Daniels can still cut it. Samoa Joe looked very good in the match.

The knockout match was also very good. Two of the best wrestlers on the roster - Tessmacher has improved immensely and Kim is always dependable.

I will be honest and say that I didnt watch the Eric Young v Crimson match. I used to really like Eric Young but this current gimmick/ look he has is awful. Even if he did invent the dropkick, I can't bear to watch him at the moment.

The Anderson v Hardy match was odd. Hardy didnt look great and the crowd was indifferent throughout. The ending was defo screwed up as Hardy quite clearly kicked out. Will be interesting to see how they cover this one up. And for once, it looks like a ref/ bellkeeper error, not HArdy.

But the highlight so far has been Bully Ray vs Austin Aries. Both were brilliant throughout. The bump that AA took off the railings looked very painful indeed. Bully performed excellently throughout and these two are selling the in ring psychology better than anyone I have seen in quite a while.

Aries is one of the best sellers around too. The way he took the one man 3d was brilliant as well as a chokeslam which was as good (if not better) than a Ziggler sell!

And credit to Aries for getting up Bully Ray for a brainbuster - great strength and a real spectacle. Once again, the ending looked a little botched (Coudlnt understand how the running powerbomb was reversed) but the sub finisher looks very effective.

I never thought I would say that a Bully Ray match was amongst the best of the year.

Fernando wrote:

Hero wrote:For once I am too, though your fave Aries may have a new contender to 'Best in the World' right now in the form of the new ROH World Champion.

You should know you can't say that Hero because ROH aren't a "Big" Wrestling Company therefore it's seemingly impossible to WWE fans that they can put on a better show then them or even have talent as good as them

You really think thats true 'Nando? If anything I've found people see indie wresters once or not at all and begin to proclaim them the best thing since sliced bread based on hearsay, I myself was guilty of of this a few years ago but have since learned to moderate my opinions based on what I have seen

Well TNA is set for big things as Brooke Hogan is due to come in to teach the Knockouts how to develop characters

So someone whos clung onto Daddys coat tails to amount to nothing is going to show veterns how to do better?

TNAs big problem is that Hogan isnt creative, wrestling is rehashing old ideas in a new way Hogan doesnt bother with that he just rehashes old ideas

TNA has some of the best talent around and right now they are going with AJ and Dixie Carter having an affair?

Dont complicate things go back to basics and simply what the feuds are based on, titles, jealousy, greed, betrayal and wanting to be the best

marty2086 wrote:Well TNA is set for big things as Brooke Hogan is due to come in to teach the Knockouts how to develop characters

So someone whos clung onto Daddys coat tails to amount to nothing is going to show veterns how to do better?

TNAs big problem is that Hogan isnt creative, wrestling is rehashing old ideas in a new way Hogan doesnt bother with that he just rehashes old ideas

TNA has some of the best talent around and right now they are going with AJ and Dixie Carter having an affair?

Dont complicate things go back to basics and simply what the feuds are based on, titles, jealousy, greed, betrayal and wanting to be the best

Say what? Wasn't Brooke Hogan in some dumb reality TV series not too long ago? I just saw trailers for it - never watched it. She reminded me of an American Katie Price. If thats true it doesn;t bode well...and I can't imagine the Knockouts taking too kindly to it. If they thought Karen Jarrett was bad...

Agree also with the AJ / Dixie story. There are FAR more credible ways they could have built up the Styles/Daniels/Kazarian feud. Just as well they are all very watchable in the ring.

in the game of TNA you pick up a card, it reads:

"You hired Brooke Hogan, go to jail and bend over in the shower"

The_Enigma wrote:Watched a few matches from Sacrifice last night. I'd have to see I would agree with all the feedback here, It was a pretty decent PPV in all tbh... The Angle/Styles match was nothing less than what you would expect from both guys telling a story. A proper wrestling match! I'm hoping they go at it again in the next PPV as Daniels & Kaz did interfear. Austin Aries still proves that he's on par with CM Punk & D.Bryan as best in the world currently, great match with Bully Ray who has indeed come on leaps and bounds. I also though the Tag match to open the show was decent too, would agree with JJ on that. To be fair there was a range of finishes and no Garrett Bischoff either!

@ dyrewolfe, I saw the angle/storyline for Garrett and my opinion still stays the same. Don't be fooled by the crowd, its the same old iMPACT crowd, they're told who to cheer for, and they plant certian people there. When they taped Impact in London, they had to re-shoot and edit the promo with Garret & Hogan because of all the heat he got.

Maybe thats because British fans are more savvy, or just have different tastes (i.e. less inclined to go for corny storylines) than US audiences. During the Impact shows, Eric got plenty of heat, as you would expect, but Garrett got huge cheers, pretty much every appearance he made...not the half-hearted stuff that many of the big names on the roster get.

Mind you he has dropped off the radar again (the same time as Eric got carted off in a portaloo ) so maybe he has gone to Ohio Valley to work on his ring craft. His feud with his old man gave him a big push, but I would agree he needs to develop his skills and work on his character so he can stand on his own.

wolfe has hit on something, thet pshed Garrett hard now where is he?
Don't forget Matt Morgans push to the main event a while back and Crimsons undefeated streak these all fell away

TNA has no long term planning its like they wake up one morning with an idea run with it then get bored

marty2086 wrote:wolfe has hit on something, thet pshed Garrett hard now where is he?
Don't forget Matt Morgans push to the main event a while back and Crimsons undefeated streak these all fell away

TNA has no long term planning its like they wake up one morning with an idea run with it then get bored

I dont agree with that last part - Crimson is still undefeated and Matt Morgan will be pushed again soon enough.

WWE is far worse for treating storylines with contempt - leader of the nexus, Jerichos end of the world and RAw GM being the first 3 that spring to mind.

The leader of Nexus ended because Punk was turning and most of the group were getting injured

Why were the 2 of them built up then it stopped if your going to push it needs to go somewhere or else it gets wasted, those 2 were pshed then all of a sudden Roode and Storm were the top 2 guys

@Marty: Garrett returned to the ring (albeit briefly) for an Impact Royal Rumble, getting dumped out of the ring by Devon (if I recall correctly). He has no storyline or feud going at the moment, so it looks as though he is going to be a work in progress for a while, filling mid-card slots until they think he's ready for another push.

Crimson is still undefeated, but his feud with Morgan seems to have fizzled out for now and they are on the mid-card again for the time being.

The names currently taking top billing on the Heavyweight scene are the likes of AJ Styles, Mr Anderson, Jeff Hardy, Bully Ray, Kurt Angle and RVD.

I think its indicative of the creative mess that TNA are in that they have one of the best wrestlers around in Austin Aries (also long standing X Division champion) having to play with the Heavyweights because his own scene is non-existent. I also sympathised with him when he complained of never getting main evented, despite his champion status.

Oh yeah, and one of their Knockouts Tag Team champions is a bloke (none other than Eric Young).

While I do enjoy watching TNA and they do come up with some good stories from time to time, they still have a LOT of work to do in terms of revitalising the X Division, getting a worthwhile tag team division going...and getting some sense of continuity going for their heavyweight talent on the fringes of the title scene and on the mid card.

I watched Impact last night and was impressed with the show.

Once again the crowd let it down in parts but the main event highlighted the quality of the division (Angle, Styles and Roode).

Aries was in the gut check section and once again looked great - he sells better than anyone else (closest to him is Ziggler).

I also enjoyed the Gail Kim promo - liking her character at the moment.

Good show and better than RAW this week (although that wasnt hard!)

Agree watched it last night and really enjoyed it but.....

AJ was only looking over his shoulder at the end of the match he should have been watching out for Kazzarian and Daniels all through the match.