Remember it stands for Total Nonstop Action
This past Sunday, Total Nonstop Action celebrated its sixth year of operation with their annual Slammiversary pay-per-view. At the top, A.J. Styles pinned Kurt Angle, and Samoa Joe became the first NWA/TNA world champion to make it through King of the Mountain with the belt. With the World X Cup and a bit of resurgence in the X-Division, it does seem that TNA has a few things going their way after another average PPV outing in a long line of them. It’s been a very interesting six years for this upstart company that many said wouldn’t make it past year number one. The promotion has taken on several identities, usually based on who was in creative control at the time, and has seen its share of greatness just as much as any upstart or up-and-coming promotion has. However, now that they are in a phase where the company is seen as being restarted without actually restarting, they have to be vigilant, and they have to be careful. This could be the time where they can actually make an impact.
P.C. Says: TNA finally seems to have some momentum
A lot of people may question why I think TNA actually has some momentum as a promotion considering they really haven’t done anything to indicate they’re making more money than usual, their buyrates haven’t gone up sufficiently to my knowledge since Joe’s title win, none of their pay-per-views this year have been out of this world good or even card of the year good, and iMPACT!’s ratings are still the same. All of these things are absolutely, 100% true, but that doesn’t mean that this promotion doesn’t have momentum. Momentum for a promotion can come in the form of actually using people well even if they aren’t paying big dividends yet. Momentum can also come in the form of a product beginning to be going in a different direction. I think most people can admit that the people you see, situations people are in, and matches we’re seeing are all pointing to a change in TNA, even if everybody can’t see it yet.
Joe’s title reign now has passed the possible exit point and Joe/Sting for Chicago and Bound for Glory seems to be the best possible matchup for TNA’s big show. There’s no other person in TNA right now that could be matched up with Joe and be expected to sell as well, especially if the retirement angle is put into place with Sting leading into the show in October. Joe/Booker is basically penciled in for Houston, and that is the best move considering Booker is from Houston and has a promotion there; not rocket science, and they didn’t completely miss the opportunity. Like last year around this time, the heavyweight division is again full of potential title contenders and some of them are actually worthy. A.J. should be an obvious choice for August or September due to the win against Kurt, but it should be in Orlando should A.J. get a shot. Robert Roode is a potential contender albeit a throwaway contender because nobody buys him as a legit challenge to the world title yet, but he would be a good candidate because he’s in that pool of top heavyweights and has had a feud with Joe within the last year. Cage is still a contender and considering the chemistry these two have in the ring, I think TNA would be stupid not to put these two out there one more time for the belt. Even Abyss with his comeback could be a potential world title threat for Joe should he have the best near the end of the year as TNA is not likely to hotshot Abyss into a world title scenario instead choosing the safer route of rebuilding his heat through a mid-card feud or feuds. Whatever way you look at it, all roads in the heavyweight division should lead to Joe/Sting in Chicago.
The X-Division has gotten a shot in the arm even if I’m the only person that spotted it Sunday. First off, Kaz/Petey fulfilled the expectations people like me had for it and was the consensus match of the night despite the interference-laden finish. Kaz is going for the heavyweight belt again this week—he doesn’t get it—with the match once again being a good one adding to his résumé and at the same time the X-Division’s because Kaz isn’t going to be made a legit heavyweight with the newfound stockpile of heavyweights TNA has. A potential feud between these two could give us a match of the year candidate at TNA’s next pay-per-view or even on T.V. Plus the Jay Lethal wedding train wreck actually gives us more of a plus than a minus; yes it was a long segment, but not a completely bad one, but now that the Dutt/Lethal feud has officially began, these two will actually get to start wrestling again. These two guys jumping around the ring could mean something really good, especially if they both get their mojo back (in-ring mojo of course). Plus, the World X Cup only allows for more X-Division goodness potentially giving Sabin & Shelley their chance to get out of the doghouse completely and based on the talent already signed for the tourney (Taichi Ishikari, Milano Collection A.T., Averno, Rey Bucanero, Ultimo Guerrero, Volado Jr., Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino, Alex Koslov, and possible Doug Williams), this tourney could be really good if they’re given more than three minutes a pop.
And LAX having the tag belts couldn’t be a better thing for TNA’s tag division. At this point, Team 3D is beyond helping and really can’t be counted on for more than appearances as far as quality, creativity, and reliability go. Past them and LAX, TNA really doesn’t have much of a tag division with Tomko & A.J.’s breakup, so the Latinos were the obvious choice. Not only that, but with the charisma that Homicide and Hector bring along with the badass chick and the big man presence (and movement) that Hernandez brings, this group is still one of the best acts TNA has and they are starting to realize that I’m guessing. Considering their title defense this week against makeshift team James Storm and Robert Roode, the tag division does need some rebuilding, and unless the Machine Guns do get out of the doghouse, this is what we’ve got as far as TNA and tag teams go unless you have Steiner & Petey challenge or Cage & Rhino or another put together team. At this point, TNA has to turn LAX into the proverbial tag team dynasty while rebuilding the division more with actual teams than makeshift teams because actual tag teams stick in that division instead of playing in the division until there’s something to do for them solo. Of course, Sabin & Shelley do provide TNA with a fail-safe option in the tag division, and I hope they take it if they need to.
The Reality is…the young guys are starting to get some face time. Yes, obviously the younger guys had gotten T.V. time before and A.J. has been credited as the one young guy who shined brightest in TNA’s earlier years, but in recent years the older crowd has retaken over the stage. In the last few years you have Kurt Angle, Team 3D, Booker T, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall all coming in either from The E or exile or possible retirement with oodles to do from the creative department and the bi-product of this overuse of people with names is Chris Harris leaving in disgust and the month or so of speculation as to Samoa Joe’s life in TNA. So far, that has changed over the last six months or so as Joe’s push to the belt and title reign so far has been better than expected as Russo has seemed to taken the slow and steady route with it, which I take in comparison to the alternative, which likely would’ve seen Joe lose the gold Sunday night. The fact that guys like Joe, A.J., LAX, Petey, Kaz, and The Guns are getting T.V. time is proof that TNA has at least come to the realization that their young talent is what is going to keep the promotion going now and into the not so distant future. Now it’s all about putting it all together and creating some stars and the effort seems to be there. Like I said, it’s momentum, even if everybody doesn’t see it.
