The Current State of TNA
By Andrew Ryan
So, Hogan has been endorsing the ECW guys big time and also acted so distraught at the beat down they took at the hands of Fortune that he was contemplating quitting in a backstage vignette. Something inside me wants to see the epic swerve at Bound for Glory where the ECW guys are in trouble, Hogan comes to help but nWo-style drops the leg on Tommy Dreamer and joins Fortune to become a super faction. But I suppose in 2010 that angle would come off as a cheap attempt at recapturing the past even though I’d still like to see it.
I am really enjoying the current angles TNA have been delivering. The shows are exciting and episodic. The two factions they have established for the main angle are both very interesting to me. The ECW group (or EV 2.0 if you would like) has Tommy Dreamer, the heart and soul, the epitome of ECW at the helm with Mick Foley as sort of the second in command and other spokesman for the group with the star power he has attached to him. Rob Van Dam serves as their crown jewel talent which makes the angle with Abyss taking him out courtesy of Fortune that much more important.
On the other hand, you have Fortune led by Ric Flair, the God of professional wrestling, who despises the ECW guys and thinks hardcore wrestling isn’t pro wrestling at all but just a disgrace to the business. There is also the past history between him and Foley that made for an entertaining exchange between the two on this week’s Impact. Foley claims he was the one who talked Flair to coming to TNA when Flair was down and out and missing wrestling. Flair is again leading a group of talent with tons of potential like he did with Evolution in WWE and of course, the Four Horseman, the group that made factions in wrestling fashionable. Fortune features the Television champion AJ Styles as their crown jewel and top talent with a nice cast of guys including a solid tag team in Beer Money, great talents in Kazarian and X-division champ Doug Williams and a giant enforcer in Matt Morgan. They also have Abyss, one of the key players in TNA, acting as a rogue doing Flair and Fortune’s bidding.
There is many wrestlers who aren’t in either group. Some of them such as Hogan and Hardy have been shown to be pro-ECW. However, it will be very interesting to see how they handle this aspect of the angle. This was what much of last week’s Impact was focused on with Hardy, Anderson and Angle all giving their opinions on the situation. And I have to believe that some swerves will be in store which makes sort of itch for TNA to turn Hogan heel once more or a cool heel like the nWo became. Hogan and Jarrett’s animosity with Sting and Kevin Nash has been somewhat of a parallel to the ECW vs. Fortune angle focusing on old guys who are trying desperately to hold their spot against giving newer, younger talent the chance and the old talent who are willing to step aside and help make new stars.
Two guys I wish would be part of TNA at the moment are Terry Funk and Scott Hall. I understand Terry is getting old but he has been involved at many wrestling functions lately and him advising Dreamer and company would be classic. Not to mention, there is loads of potential in a Terry Funk-Ric Flair mini-feud with all their past history. I have always been a mark for Scott Hall, who is currently in WWE paid for rehab. He has always oozed charisma but due to personal demons it is hard to utilize him to his full potential in TNA. That swerve I would like to see with Hogan would be absolutely classic with him and Nash in the mix. A possible third faction, a reincarnation of the New World Order would be so damn entertaining in my opinion but it is 2010 and in wrestling, you can only keep digging up the past for so long. Despite that and so many old school wrestlers being focused on in TNA, it is helping build new stars.
The angle with the Motor City Machine Guns as tag champs and their series with Beer Money have done wonders for the tag team division and the Guns. These matches took the titles and them up a notch and they were built well over the last few years into a really legit tag team. With Beer Money and the Dudleys (who I have heard haven’t yet resigned their TNA contracts) in the mix, and the potential to build other teams like Generation Me, the new British Invasion and other makeshift tag teams, it should be very exciting to see what goes on with that division and in my opinion is one of the healthiest tag divisions I have seen in a long time. With the influx of former ECW talent, the FBI of Little Guido Maritato and Tony Mamaluke make for a great tag team that TNA should get involved in the mix.
Sting’s ongoing heel gimmick has been well done in my eyes. Despite going basically his whole career as a babyface he has done well in the role he is currently playing being sided with Kevin Nash and not wanting to step down for anyone. I have never been a huge Jeff Jarrett fan but the roots he has in TNA makes him a great babyface along with Hogan in the angle versus Nash and Sting and I would be excited to see this as a big tag team match for Bound for Glory.
While things are not perfect and they still have many, many flaws TNA is doing a great job in slowly building to keep pushing their company upward and become bigger. While they are not even close to touching Vince’s empire it is impressive to me the strides they have made in the last few years and the angles and wrestlers they have been developing. Personally, the shows have been very easy and entertaining to watch and if they are able to slowly accumulate viewers I feel they can hold them.