The date was July 21st, 2016. TNA made the move from Tuesday nights to Thursday nights. That episode started what could arguably be looked at as the best build to a major PPV in all of wrestling last year. Everything from storylines, to feud building, to flow of progress, was spot on. It was a stretch of a little over two months that gave us the Bound For Glory Playoff, the introduction of the Grand Championship, the debuts of Cody and Brandi Rhodes as well as Damien Sandow under the name Aron Rex, and of course. Delete or Decay. Bound For Glory itself was a very good PPV, highlighted by an excellent inaugrual Grand Championship match between Aron Rex and Eddie Edwards and the rematch from Delete or Decay, The Great War.
Any wrestling fan out there knows what happened next. TNA, post-Bound For Glory, hit one of the their worst rough patches. As the company seemed to operating year to year, with each year ending with questions of uncertainty, 2016 took it to a whole new level with bankruptcy filings, lawsuits, and three different entities claiming ownership. Needless to say, TNA was in a terrible position and death was inevitable, even for the die hard defenders like me. That was until Anthem Sports finalized the purchase of TNA. They ousted Billy Corgan who wanted to purchase TNA. But either way, it was saved at the eleventh hour and avoided going out of business. But that’s not to say that the saving of TNA didn’t come at a cost.
With the change of ownership, also came a change in management. Dixie Carter is out, which disappoints nobody. But with Corgan out, TNA was forced to take an unnecessary creative turn. Despite all of the financial issues they faced in the last few months of 2016, they were still on a very good path creatively. They still had the Broken Hardys, who were on their expedition of gold. EC3 and Eli Drake continued their feud. Lashley and Eddie Edwards continued their feud and Davey Richards returned. Drew Galloway returned from injury and anchored down the Grand Championship. Things were going pretty well considering the uncertainty surrounding the prior year’s end. But with all the talk of new management showing up at the beginning of the last set of tapings in March, there was sure to be some changes. But not the kind of changes TNA needed.
The Hardys had left. Drew Galloway left. Miracle Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis left. Jade left. Aron Rex left. It was somewhat of the same story with TNA with another mass exodus. But with the new management, they quickly dealt with the turnover in a way that seemed all too familiar. They brought in Alberto El Patron, a somewhat top ex-WWE superstar, and gave him a title match and a title win on his first night. They brought in a few tag teams, Reno Scum, the new LAX, and Laredo Kid & Garza Jr and one of their current top tag teams, Decay, has suffered as a result and now no longer exists because Crazzy Steve just left. Two weeks ago we were oh so blessed and jumping for joy at the returns of Matt Morgan and Magnus, along with Chris Adonis (Masters). Last night, we saw a video package for a returning Crimson, and a surprise entrant into the X Division six pack challenge match was Low Ki, who won the title despite the very entertaining build and feud that was developed between Andrew Everett and Trevor Lee. Point blank, Impact Wrestling (no longer referred to as TNA) has good matches but is pretty much a cluster fuck creatively. All the notable names from the past have been returning and they think they’re going to re-create TNA circa 2006. There’s a huge problem with that though. They no longer have AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Samoa Joe, or Bobby Roode. What they’re bringing in are the other guys from those times, and throwing all the glory their way.
TNA didn’t need a huge creative overhaul with new management. They were doing just fine. What they needed was money. Money which Anthem could have provided while maintaining the same creative direction they were going. They could’ve amicably resolved the situation with Billy Corgan, and they didn’t need Jarrett and Prichard. Corgan would’ve made sure the Hardys’ and Galloway’s contracts were there timely. Same goes with Bennett and Maria. They had a very strong nucleus and was successfully moving forward from the losses of Roode and Eric Young from earlier in the year. Instead, they tried to fix something that wasn’t broken and as a result, Low Ki is the new X Division champion, LAX are the tag team champs, and Lashley is still the World Champ with, of all people, Magnus gunning for him along with the ex-WWE guy, Alberto. Meanwhile, two cornerstones of the company through most of last year, EC3 and Eli Drake, are nowhere near the titles right now. This should have been the title feud from March until Slammiversary. Instead, EC3 is entering a feud with James Storm that will have no title implications and Eli Drake wasn’t even used on their rare “live” episode last night.
That is a damn disgrace.
Thank you all for reading everyone. I know this was sort of a rant, rather than identifying problems and offering solutions. But what do you guys think?
