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WALKING THE AISLE: TNA GETTING IT RIGHT

About two months ago a friend and I had a conversation regarding TNA. The conversation went something like this:

Friend: You see TNA this week?

Me: Nah, I haven’t really watched them at all the last two or three weeks. Just can’t deal with that show.

Friend: Yeah, so, what’re you doing Saturday?

You see, there was nothing to talk about. I had watched TNA consistently for over three years and about two and half months ago had finally given up on the promotion. From “The Governor” to the weird Abyss/Morgan partnership that included Abyss getting drunk on Impact, I thought the product had finally reached a point of no return.

Well, as they say, that was then and this is now. Over the past month or so, it seems that TNA has finally “gotten it”. The difference is so alarming that I actually went to the Internet to check if creative had changed hands while I was absent from watching. To me there are some basic things that have turned around the Impact program from ridiculous to entertaining and interesting wrestling television.

First things first, someone in TNA watched a prior program, listened to some criticizing, and said to themselves, “Wow, a lot of our segments come across as cluster bleeps.” As a result, Impact has dropped down a gear or two and has focused on the top three or four programs without shoving everyone on the roster within the first two segments. They have begun their show, most of the time, with one of their top two programs (Jarrett/MEM or Foley/Sting) and nicely woven development of that storyline throughout the show. This leaves the audience in touch with what has happened and interested in what is about to happen. It keeps the viewers watching, while pointing out the importance of the program(s).

Second, the heavyweight title, women’s title, and tag team titles have all grown in stature over the last month due to a renewed attentiveness to the straps and the feuds surrounding those straps. The Foley vs. Sting story heading towards Lockdown was terrific, as was the Beautiful People attacks, and Team 3D vs. Beer Money. In the latter, TNA made the feud feel special because they scrapped everything that they are accustomed to doing during a given program. There were no non-stop run-ins and terrible finishes. There was no one jumping someone in the back and there was no hokey comedy to flatten the importance of both teams and sets of titles.

The third aspect of TNA that has improved is the overall significance of the “Originals” and their story line with the Main Event Mafia. Look, when this feud began forever ago, it just didn’t do what it should’ve done; make the young guns of the company serious contenders and the future of the company. Creative forced themselves into a corner and had to add Rhino and Team 3D to make the fans take the “Frontline” somewhat seriously.

Recently, however, AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, and Christopher Daniels have been given the time to get themselves over and have become the main focus along with Jarrett. Some may not like Joe’s knife and Nation of Violence (I’m not big on it either), but at least he’s getting some time and attempting to be a bad ass. At least AJ isn’t running around as Angle’s lackey and Daniels is running around as the mid-card comedy act Curry Man. These three, along with MCMG, have given me hope that TNA is not going to end up WCW via 2000.

Finally, Vince Russo, Jeff Jarrett, and company has relaxed on the hokey silly comedy that was littered throughout an Impact. Yes, there are still some weak attempts at laughs, but the show has taken a more serious tone lately. Once this change completely takes shape, each wrestler will be able to be taken as a serious contender for a given title. Will comedy remain to be part of things? Of course, it has to; this is entertainment at the end of the day. However, less is much better in this case.

So there you have it, four sound reasons why TNA has absolutely picked up momentum over the past month. Is there still room for improvement? Yes. I believe that the X-Division is slowly getting more credit and time, but would still like to see more of it. I also think that Taz and Bobby Lashley need to be handled correctly, because they have the ability to take TNA to another level. But aside from a change here and there, it seems that TNA has finally started to give their fans hope again. If you’d like to read a former pro’s view, you can visit Lance Storm’s site and check on what he had to say about a recent Impact. And of course, if you have any feedback, feel free to hit me up at ncattles@gmail.com. Next column, I’ll look at the delicate relationship that Bobby Lashley and TNA have forged and what negatives and positives could come of it. Until next time, suspend your disbelief.