Home Again: How TNA’s Focus Returned

Man… I remember, not too long ago, starting every TNA-based column with a little self-motivational speech. Something about how even though what you say is going to be mocked, you just have to believe in it, because while there’s plenty of bad, TNA still brings some fun stuff to the table. On top of that, I knew that there’d inevitably be some kind of gang fight between the TNA Defense Team, and the rest, because there’s just no middle ground, it seems, when it comes to TNA.

It could be a little rough on the soul, knowing that some people will just see the letters “TNA” and book to the comments as fast as they can, just to talk about how this company is definitely dying, and good riddance, right? Right?!

We went through the pains of the move from Spike to Destination America, and then again from Destination America to Pop, always hearing the heckling from the back by those who don’t enjoy TNA. And let’s be fair here – no one is under any obligation to enjoy anything from any wrestling company that they don’t think is good. That’s fine. It’s the incessant need to kick sand into the faces of those that do enjoy stuff that someone else does not that always made me hesitant to write a TNA column, knowing that the same three topics of argument would immediately be breached, without any care to what was actually being talked about. Did they have a great match? Eh, who cares, they’re gonna be gone anyways.

Recently though, I’ve found myself, week after week, actually looking forward to Impact. What used to be a Wednesday night where my friends and I would first get through Impact so we could then watch Lucha Underground (thus ending the night on a good note). At best, we’d give thanks that Impact wasn’t a three hour crawl like most Raws tend to be, but we were hardly ever looking forward to an episode. It was fine, we liked it enough, but it was never the top show for us.

And while it’s still not the top show for us, it’s become something fun. Something to look forward to. It’s this weird mix lately of schlocky camp mixed in with a gritty, fight-based presentation of wrestling. The whole thing can feel weird at times. Like, how can we go from a serious confrontation between EC3 and Drew Galloway, to a drone spitting out a hologram of Matt Hardy, all in one show? I may not know how, but at least TNA does, because they’ve been walking this line between the ludicrous and the very good for a couple of months.

2016 saw new faces get pushed to the top of TNA’s card while more familiar faces went and did other things. Guys like Mike Bennett, Drew Galloway, and the new arrival Moose get to wrestle TNA-established talent like MY BOY EC3 or a Bobby Lashley (among others), while Matt and Jeff Hardy feud eternally with each other, keeping both away from championships and serious feuds.

But there’s much more to simply mixing up new faces with old and seeing what kind of fireworks result. We’ve seen honest attempts at bringing a focus back to the X Division, Tag Team Division, and the Knockouts Division all at once, and it actually doesn’t feel chaotic or forced.

The X Division Reclamation started off pretty innocently, actually. With Shane Helms coming out to talk with Tigre Uno week after week, the simple logic was that Helms was going to return to the ring and attempt to win the belt. And to be honest, that was a direction I wasn’t too thrilled about, even though I do consider myself a fan of Helms. Soon, though, it would be revealed that Helms had a protégé in the form of Trevor Lee, who had a brief stint with the company during last summer’s Global Force Wrestling invasion. Lee would end up winning the championship, and while it seemed that he’d be the latest in a line of “Guy who holds the X Title without any type of feud or challengers,” that would be rendered moot with the addition of Eddie Edwards to the division, after losing partner Davey Richards to injury.

With Edwards holding the strap, a more known entity was able to grow the equity of the championship, and that would see Mike Bennett of all people making a move to win the strap. That, of course, would be short lived, and Edwards would regain the belt, and use Option C to make a challenge to Bobby Lashley for the TNA Championship.

In just a few months, we went from Tigre Uno wrestling guys like Mandrews to Mike Bennett and Eddie Edwards trading the belt, all while slowly rebuilding guys like DJZ, and attempting to bring along newcomer Braxton Sutter as someone to consider a challenger, and that’s no BS!

The Tag Division, almost always solid with TNA, had been hit hard with injuries and departures, so that even when the scene looked good, something bad would happen and ruin everything. Whether that was Jeff Hardy’s injury last year, or the injury to Davey Richards, or Bobby Roode leaving for NXT, it just seemed like TNA couldn’t get everything to fall together.

With Decay, TNA has their solid act that can carry the division through intrigue, but still deliver quality matches at the same time. While not as big a rebuild as was needed for the X Division, simply having stability at the top can go a long ways. TNA has plenty of talent to form teams, and they have a great team holding those straps. The impending feud with Bram could see the crazed brawler find some backup to deal with Abyss and Crazzy Steve, and that could lead to some fun, vicious matches.

The Knockouts Division was also doing okay, but suffered after devoting so much time to Taryn Terrell and Dollhouse, only to lose Terrell quite abruptly. This left Jade and Marti Belle on their own, and since they had been portrayed largely as ineffective side-pieces while in Dollhouse, it was hard for the fans to take them seriously.

Still, TNA persevered, and managed to get a nice little run for Jade, who formed a little bond with Gail Kim while trying to fight off Maria’s charge, Sienna. In just a few short weeks, a division that seemed doomed to be Gail Kim and Friends has actually seen new faces, new feuds, and Gail Kim isn’t winning everything at all times.

Rebuilding (or refocusing) on these divisions has been a key part of TNA’s resurgence into entertaining television, and that’s something that hasn’t really been mentioned amongst all the debate on whether or not the Hardy skits were good or not. And really, that’s the sad part here. TNA is doing a LOT of good elsewhere, but nearly all of the focus is on the Hardys, and whether their skits are amazingly entertaining garbage, or something that hurts your heart when you think about it.

This doesn’t even mention things like the rise of Eli Drake, Bobby Lashley finally figuring out how to be a heel nearly 11 years into his career (and I know that sounds snarky, but I thank whatever/whoever finally flicked the switch in his head), and even Billy Freaking Corgan inserting himself into the show by quoting his own songs while talking to talent.

Is it perfect? No, of course not. But it’s been really, really entertaining. Things are clicking. All the divisions matter again, and all get ample screen time. New arrivals and old faces changing their act have helped reinvigorate a show that, due to its taping schedule, can really feel dated by the time it hits the screen.

If you’re a fan of TNA, you can only hope that they continue this direction, building upon the momentum they’re gaining in terms of quality of product. No, this probably won’t be greatly reflected in the ratings, but, lucky for me, I can enjoy a show whether it draws a 0.8 or a 7.9, and I’m enjoying TNA. A lot.

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