March 8, 2017
Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of “Book It” Before we begin I’d like to say thank you to everyone whose been reading this column since it’s inception. Honestly I’m hoping that this column, and my other one help me get my ass back on track and work toward being able to put myself back into writer mode. Personal shit aside though, today we’re going to be talking about Total Non-stop Action Wrestling or as it is now referred to, Impact Wrestling, and the direction that it appears they are going with their purchase by anthem entertainment.
The first noticeable big differences is the behind the scene staff. Dixie Carter, Billy Corgan, among others are all gone. Now in their place, one of the original fathers of TNA Jeff Jerrett is back. But he’s not the only one as he brought along Bruce Prichard, and Dutch Martel with him to help with creative and behind the scenes duties. But that’s not all thats’ changed in the midst of this shake up.
A number of notable talents have left the company. A few of them are massive losses, but others not so much. The 3 that really caused the biggest shake up are the Hardy Brothers and Drew Galloway. Both of which were champions for the company. This puts the company into a strange place as it tries to the fill the void left by those men.
Now the next set of tapings have already been filmed. Now (SPOILERS AHEAD HERE) Alberto Del Rio, or Alberto El Patron as he’s being referred to is now in the company and already at the top of the roster. He seemingly came in and filled the role left open by Drew Galloway. In the midst of that he’s already in the title picture. Which a lot of people will groan at due to the fact that he’s an ex WWE Star. A lot of people will think that TNA is trying to piggyback on his name to get themselves further up the ladder, and in this particular case, why not? Because in this particular case, the man can wrestle week in and week out for the company. He’s got a good wrestling ability and a decent mic skill. Plus he’s got some decent drawing power, so in retrospect it’s what Impact needs right now, and I think they know that. The only thing is they need to capitalize on that if they ever intend to make it further then Orlando.
Though Alberto was one of the biggest surprises from the tapings, the other is the reemergence of LAX fronted by Konan. Now, I’m not a Konan fan by any means, BUT when he lead LAX the first time they were a fantastic group that worked very well as heels. I expect a similar run this time but their return also signifies something else. There’s some faith in the company that had been lost some time ago. That can be attributed to Jerrett I think because he was the man who built the house the first time, and now there are people who believe he can rebuild what Dixie destroyed. Though only time will tell if they will be able to come back out of that black hole or not. I personally hope so because WWE needs some kind of competition and TNA is the closest thing to that by a mile.
Looking ahead to the rest of the year for Impact, their tv deal with Pop expires this year, and I’d like to think they’d find a more widespread home for the product but they have burned so many networks in the past that it’s hard to think someone would want to pick them up at this point. But, as time has taught us, don’t underestimate someones drive and if Jeff is back in control of day to day operations, then it’s possible that we’ll see possibly the resurgence of TNA.
TNA is in an interesting transition period and I feel like they really need to get themselves together because if they don’t this may be the last real chance they’re given. That’s all for this topic, until next week when we take another look at the WWE Brand Split. I’m Kyle Robinson picking up the pencil, and closing the book on this subject.