1. It’s the end of WrestleMania week which means that TNA has slowly slipped its way back onto the “10 Thoughts” radar. I honestly don’t know how I’ll receive this show after the roller coaster of a ride we’ve all been on since last Saturday but I thought I’d give it a go & see what the “other” wrestling company had to offer this week.
2. TNA opening up with the #1 Contender’s Gauntlet match tells me that TNA is sweating the competition from the new availability of WWE’s NXT on Thursday nights. And they’re smart to do so. NXT is new and fresh looking while TNA looks like the same show it was 5 years ago. It’s almost as if they need to load up every Impact with a PPV-style lineup just to hook (and hopefully keep) the fans from switching to the WWE Network.
3. Ethan Carter III & Bobby Lashley have been two good re-purposed additions to the new TNA roster. Carter has stepped up into his role and Lashley was brought back at the right time. Though I think I just heard Mike Tenay refer to Lashley as a former world champion. The only championship that might have even come close was his run as the WWE/ECW Champion but I don’t believe the WWE even referred to that belt as a “world” title. And damned if TNA’s “Santino Marella” didn’t just win the #1 contendership. I know they’ve tried to show the world that Eric Young is also a great talent that’s never been REALLY used properly but damn this is a jump. ANNNNND it’s happening tonight. I wonder if TNA watched WrestleMania XXX on Sunday.
4. What the hell is up with Davey Richards hair?! A bleached blonde mohawk?! On DAVEY RICHARDS! Good God…
5. OK, it’s always been quite plain that Dixie Carter is a horrible actress and never should have become an on-screen character. And now that Stephanie McMahon has returned as fixture on WWE TV, the glaring differences between a good female heel character & a HORRIBLE one are like a slap in the face. History has always stated that when the McMahons show up on TV, the ratings go up. The complete opposite goes for Dixie Carter. Watching TNA tonight is making me more and more interested in Jeff Jarrett’s new promotion than I am in TNA right now.
6. Seeing the Wolves now in TNA after a few months and I can only imagine the difference in their careers if they had signed a NXT contract. Sure they wouldn’t have been on the main roster right away but does that matter anymore with the WWE Network? NXT seems to be consistently talked about more weekly than SmackDown is! The WWE tag team division has taken a nose dive recently and injecting new blood like the Wolves would have been a tremendous move. Just picture them against The Usos and of course, The Shield! When they first made their choice and debuted with MVP, it really looked like they made the right decision. Now they can’t beat the Bro-Mans…
7. I don’t know why people are so down on Jeff Hardy’s “Willow” character. It’s a comic book character that’s completely different from the Jeff Hardy character. Of course it’s over the top, a little silly and insane but how many characters do you see like that in today’s wrestling? Hardy needed a bit of freshening up and while this is a bit more dramatic of a change than I thought he needed, he seems to be having fun with the character and it’s weird enough that I kind of like it too. Reminds me a little of the very early Mankind character in the WWF.
8. Eric Young is the new TNA World Heavyweight Champion. Now, don’t get me wrong, the man Eric Young deserved this. He’s busted his ass in the fledgling company for over 10 years and was booked seriously maybe once or twice during that entire time. Then for the last 4 or 5 weeks TNA has done anything they could to make Young a legitimate competitor again. The push appeared to have come out of nowhere and it led him straight to the TNA Championship. While this is incredible for Eric Young, I can’t help but feel like this was TNA falling back on the old “shock TV” idea that can only sustain itself for so long. One thing is definitely certain though, I’ll be watching next week to see how this all plays out so it’s working so far.
