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From the Pit
by Richard Trionfo
One thing that separates Total Nonstop Action Wrestling from World Wrestling Entertainment is the X Division. While the WWE has the cruiserweight division, it is not booked as a priority for the company and is often relegated to Velocity or a secondary position on Smackdown. On the other hand, TNA has focused on the X Division because it provides its fans with a brand of wrestling that cannot be seen on WWE television on a regular basis. Additionally, the wrestlers in the X Division are placed in main event angles on television and pay per views on a regular basis. The face of TNA is an X Division wrestler and the top wrestler in the company is an X Division wrestler.
Despite all of the positive things that have been said and written about the X Division in TNA, there is something that is troubling when looking at this part of TNA. Despite having some of the top wrestlers in the X Division, there are a limited number of people who can be viewed as a viable champion for the X Division title. They had the chance to fix that problem at Genesis, but in my opinion they have failed to establish any more contenders for the title. In the time since Genesis, the chasm has grown larger and it might not be able to be repaired if things remain the same in the X Division.
Starting with Final Resolution, the X Division title was held by three men in the year 2005. Those men are A.J. Styles, who won it from Petey Williams at Final Resolution and then from Christopher Daniels at Unbreakable; Christopher Daniels, who won it from A.J. Styles at Destination X; and Samoa Joe, who won it from A.J. Styles at Turning Point. During the year, a number of wrestlers in the X Division have been given a chance at the title, but none have succeeded to wrest the title from one of these three men.
Many in TNA claim that the X Division is ‘not about weight limits, it is about no limits’. However, there appears to be a limit about who can be considered a serious contender for the X Division title. After Genesis, I asked a few people who attend most of the tapings who they thought were the legitimate contenders for the X Division title. They could only name four or five people who would fit in that category. While there are four or five viable contenders for the title based on what they have done in TNA, there are at least ten people who should be considered top contenders for the X Division title based on their achievements in both TNA and other companies.
The purpose of this column is to look at the ten men who were involved in the two main X Division matches at Genesis and where I perceive they are in the TNA X Division hierarchy as well as why they should all be considered viable and credible people to hold the X Division title.
I would place these ten wrestlers in three categories based on their TNA work. The first group was the men who were at the top of the X Division. That group includes Christopher Daniels, A.J. Styles, and Samoa Joe. The second group was the people who are given title matches and due to their past work are not people who you would shake your head if they did win the title. That group includes Chris Sabin, Petey Williams, and Matt Bentley. The final group would be wrestlers who were new to TNA or have not had a chance to get a chance in the X Division through no fault of their own. The people in that group are Austin Aries, Alex Shelley, Roderick Strong, and Sonjay Dutt.
As I mentioned in my preview for Genesis, there were two ways that TNA could have booked the Elimination X match. The obvious angle from the match was the problems between Christopher Daniels and Samoa Joe. The first option was the way the match was booked with Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels making it to the end of the match while their partners did not make it to the end. On the other side, it would be Chris Sabin or Matt Bentley who was the final elimination. This would have kept the top guys who were on top at the top and would have brought up Chris Sabin or Matt Bentley.
The other way that the match could have been booked was to have Joe and Daniels get the other eliminated from the match to build up the feud between the two men down the road. This would allow Roderick Strong and Alex Shelley to establish themselves among the heels in the X Division. On the other side, I would have had Austin Aries as one of the final two on the face team. I would have had Chris Sabin be the other man to round out the ‘final four’ for the match. With those four in the ring, it would have allowed Aries, Strong, and Shelley to show the TNA crowd what they can do in the ring and Chris Sabin would have re-established himself as one of the top X Division wrestlers to the people who are not the TNA diehards.
While I have no problem with the way the end of the match established the upcoming feud between Christopher Daniels and Samoa Joe, it appeared to be done at the expense of the other wrestlers who could have benefited from being in the ring at the end of the match. Under my scenario, the eliminations of Daniels and Joe would have established the tension between the two, but it would have had to occur on an episode of Impact.
The purpose of this column is to look at the ten men that I see as the foundation for the X Division because while all of these men can put on great matches, if it is the same three or four men in the main angles with an occasional appearance by one of the other players in the X Division. I will discuss them in the categories that I discussed earlier in this column.
Group One:
A.J. Styles: A.J. is the face of TNA Wrestling and is the man who has been carrying the promotion for the three and a half years it has been around. He is a two time Triple Crown winner, despite only holding the World Title for a month the last time he was the NWA World Champion.
A.J. is one of the few wrestlers in the X Division who can successfully crossover into the heavyweight division, as is evidenced by his NWA World Title runs. In addition to his feuds against Christopher Daniels, Samoa Joe, and Petey Williams during the year 2005; A.J. has also continued his feuds with Jeff Jarrett and Abyss.
In addition to his work in TNA, A.J. has worked for many companies throughout the United States and overseas. Outside of TNA, I have seen him wrestle twice this year. The first time was in May, when he faced Roderick Strong in an excellent twenty minute match that almost saw Strong pull off the upset before Styles got the win with the Styles Clash. The other time that I saw A.J. outside of a TNA ring was at the Peterson Cup, when A.J. defended the NWA World Title against Lex Lovett in Lovett’s final match in NWA Florida.
A.J. is another wrestler who does not need the title to get over with the fans in Orlando. While he is the man the X Division revolves around, there appears to be a few chinks in his armor of invincibility among the fans. He has been getting a few more boos than usual in the Impact Zone. Does that mean we will see A.J. turn heel eventually because it seems that despite what TNA tries to do with Daniels and Joe, they are going to get the crowd’s support.
The only thing that would stop A.J. from staying at this level would be a severe injury that keeps him out of the ring for a long period of time. I don’t see that happening when you see some of the things that he has done in the ring without suffering a significant injury.
Christopher Daniels: Christopher Daniels has the longest title reign in the X Division for holding the title from Destination X when he defeated A.J. Styles until A.J. Styles won the title back at Unbreakable. Daniels is able to work the high flying ‘X Division’ style in addition to a mat based style that allows for his success in TNA and other companies like Ring of Honor.
When you hear Christopher Daniels’s music play before he makes his way to the ring, you know that you are going to get a very good to great wrestling match because he is one of the top wrestlers in the United States. Daniels also has something that gets him over with the crowd even when he is booked as a heel.
His current path was set into motion at the Turning Point pay per view in 2004 when he teamed with Elix Skipper against America’s Most Wanted in the Six Sides of Steel match remembered for Elix Skipper’s tightrope rana on the top of the cage. Despite that move, Daniels and Skipper lost the match and were prevented from tagging together in TNA. Since that time, Christopher Daniels has seen his stock rise and he assumed the title of ‘Mr. TNA’.
While he has not really been given the opportunity, it would appear that Christopher Daniels has the talent, based on his work in TNA and other companies, to be a contender for the NWA World Title. However, with the number of people contending for the title, it would probably be best for Daniels to stay in the X Division now and be one of the top dogs instead of one of the forgotten in the heavyweight division. It should only be a matter of time before Christopher Daniels is given an opportunity, if he wants it, to become the NWA World Champion.
At this point, Christopher Daniels is over with the crowd to the point where he does not need a title. Additionally, a loss to anyone in the X Division would not hurt his position because of what he has done this year. The one advantage that Daniels has over Joe and Styles is his work on the mic.
Samoa Joe: While some might say that Christian Cage or Sting are the biggest acquisitions for TNA in the year 2005, I would put the signing of Samoa Joe to a contract up there or higher than those two when looking at the top stories of the year for TNA. Some people compare Joe to Taz during his time in ECW in terms of his intimidation and skills. I would also add to the comparison Vader at the time that he was dominating in Japan and his early days in WCW. Joe is the current X Division champion after defeating A.J. Styles at Turning Point, and it would look like he is going to continue to dominate the division as long as he wants to be the X Division champion. At this point, Joe is the top wrestler in the company and he has destroyed the other two top X Division guys.
I will admit that I did not get on the Joe bandwagon until this year because I had not seen his work in Ring of Honor. However, my first exposure to Samoa Joe was in January for Full Impact Pro Wrestling. This was a few weeks after he lost the Ring of Honor title to Austin Aries and he was coming in to wrestle Roderick Strong. I had heard about how great Joe was in Ring of Honor, and you don’t give the world title to a man for almost two years in a company that prides itself on in ring work if he is not a good wrestler. I was not disappointed in either match in the Strong/Joe series and was amazed at how stiff the match was. Those two matches are among my top matches for the year and if you are a fan of either man, they are matches that you should add to your collection.
Joe is able to mix power moves with a finesse that too many men of his size in the business do not possess. That might be one of the reasons why he is one of the favorites in the Impact Zone. In addition to being a wrestling machine, he is able to elevate his opponents in most cases. One of his best matches in TNA was against Chris Sabin at No Surrender where despite losing, Chris Sabin was made to look like a serious contender for the title because he stood toe-to-toe with Joe and did not back down. He also did the same thing with Jay Lethal in Jay’s first match with TNA recently on Impact.
Even though Joe has the title, he does not need it to get over; and he is in the position that Styles and Daniels are in. While a loss would affect his ‘undefeated in singles’ matches gimmick, if he allows an opponent to get some offense in, it will benefit the opponent as well as the whole X Division.
I could envision a scenario where Joe runs through the X Division for a few more months and remains undefeated. At some point, Joe could become bored with the competition in the X Division and set his sights on the man wearing the NWA World Title, whoever it may be at the time. We have already seen Joe stare down Jarrett inside the Impact Zone and it is only a matter of time until Joe wins the World Title. If Joe decides to focus on the world title, he can ‘retire’ the X Division title. If done properly, it could do more to build the X Division if they do a tournament and give the title to someone besides Daniels or Styles.
Group Two:
Chris Sabin: Every time that Chris Sabin is in a match, you know that you are going to get a good match because Chris is one of the participants. While he is a former X Division champion, those people who are only familiar with the ‘Impact’ era would not know that other than a mention from Mike Tenay or Don West during commentary of his match. One of the best matches that I saw in 2004 was a three way match that aired on Xplosion with Chris Sabin facing A.J. Styles and Alex Shelley. In 2005, Chris Sabin continued to be a part of a number of very good wrestling matches. His match against Samoa Joe at No Surrender is one of the best wrestling matches from TNA this year and is forgotten among the Ironman matches and the matches involving combinations of Samoa Joe, Christopher Daniels, and A.J. Styles in one-on-one or triple way matches.
In addition to his work in TNA, Chris Sabin also made a big impression on me when he wrestled in, and eventually won, the Jeff Peterson Memorial Cup in June by defeating Delirious, Mikey Batts, Vordell Walker, and Sonjay Dutt. This tournament showed me a side of Chris Sabin in the ring that I had not seen before in TNA. In his first match against Delirious, he was wrestling more of a comedy match than a ‘traditional’ wrestling match that I was used to seeing from him. His match against Sonjay Dutt in the finals was the best singles match of the two day card and showed to the fans in Brandon what Chris Sabin can do in the ring.
Some people would say that A.J. Styles, Christopher Daniels, or Samoa Joe are the MVPs of the X Division, but I think you could consider Chris Sabin as a viable MVP of the division, if not the MVP of the company. Chris has a number of victories over Matt Bentley during the year, as well as a victory over Christopher Daniels to get into the Ultimate X match at Final Resolution.
While Chris has been wrestling primarily against X Division wrestlers the same size as him, he has been in the ring with Samoa Joe and had a great match; and has had good matches against Rhino and Abyss. The match between Abyss and Chris Sabin was the match that determined who my TNA MVP for 2005 was.
There are some people who complained about the way that Christian or Chris Jericho was booked in the WWE, but they fail to realize that there are some similarities to Chris Sabin’s status in TNA with the exception that Chris Sabin does not get any mic time. He briefly had an angle with Matt Bentley, Traci Brooks, and Trinity and that showed that Sabin can do something besides wrestle. However, once they had their match with the double swerve, it was done and Sabin went back to having good wrestling matches. If he stays healthy, 2006 should be a big year for Chris Sabin.
Petey Williams: When 2005 started, Petey Williams was the X Division champion. However, as the year ended, he was wrestling in an eight man tag match and is stuck in the middle of the ‘us versus them’ angle. During the year, he was involved in a few of the X Division title matches, but for the most part, he was a forgotten man in the division because of the many feuds Team Canada was involved in over the year.
Despite not being booked as a player in the X Division title picture too much before his title match at Genesis, Petey is still one of the top X Division wrestlers. Because of his past title reigns, he stays in this second level of X Division wrestlers. He possesses one of the most impressive looking finishers in the sport today with the Canadian Destroyer. While it is a move that is probably reserved for an X Division match because of the logistics of getting your opponent over on the move.
As a member of Team Canada, Petey assumed a leadership role, especially when Scott D’Amore was out with his ‘injury’ at the hands of Lance Hoyt. He has shown that he is a no-nonsense person when dealing with some of Eric Young’s shenanigans and he has tried to reel Eric in to maintain focus. I don’t know if they are teasing that Petey will leave Team Canada, but right now he has an identity in the group.
Petey Williams was also involved in the Jeff Peterson Memorial Cup and in his two matches; he was able to show why he is one of the top X Division wrestlers in TNA. He defeated Jerrelle Clark with a Canadian Destroyer as he came off the second turnbuckle. While he lost to Jimmy Rave in the second round of the tournament, just like Chris Sabin, he showed a lot more personality than you see from him in TNA.
There is no doubt that Petey Williams was a very good X Division champion, and was the longest reigning champion until Christopher Daniels eclipsed that recently. He is not someone who should be ignored because he has the potential to be a major star in TNA. As he incorporates more storytelling into his matches, he will be able to be compared to the guys in level one.
Matt Bentley: Matt Bentley is a two-time X Division champion during the weekly pay per view era and the early days in Orlando and has been a mainstay in the X Division during his time in the company. However, instead of being a contender for the X Division title at the start of 2005 or for the tag team titles with Frankie Kazarian, they were stuck in an angle with NASCAR’s Jeff Hammond.
Matt left TNA for a short period of time in 2005, but he returned with a big impact when he hit super kicks on Chris Sabin and Petey Williams. While he did not win the Ultimate X match, he returned to the position in the X Division that he had before he took his time off.
It seems like Matt Bentley has the talent to win the X Division title again, but something always gets in the way. If you watch Impact or the pay per views, you notice that Traci Brooks is at his side. However, due to the actions of Dusty Rhodes, they were separated so Dusty could have two assistants. Then when it looked like they were going to be reunited, they paired Matt with Trinity before doing a double swerve at Hard Justice. Traci complements Matt the same way that Dawn Marie did for Lance Storm in ECW; or Woman did for Sandman in ECW; or Miss Elizabeth did for Randy Savage when he started in the WWF. Having Traci at ringside also separates Matt from the rest of the X Division wrestlers because without Traci, he would probably be known as ‘one of those X Division guys’ from the casual fan because of the lack of anything outside the ring for the people in the X Division.
Since he has been a staple of the X Division for so long, it would seem logical that they give Matt the opportunity to get on the mic and cut a few promos. Like I mentioned earlier, it does not hurt that he has Traci Brooks by his side. While Matt will have some mic time on the Christmas Eve episode of Impact, he was basically the third man in the ring with Traci and Christian being the focus.
Group Three:
Roderick Strong: I will admit that I am slightly biased about Roderick’s work since he is based in the state of Florida and I have probably seen more than a dozen of his matches outside of TNA in promotions like Full Impact Pro, Pro Wrestling Warfare, Elite Wrestling Entertainment, and NWA Florida. In TNA, he was in the first match to air on SpikeTV, but he was just there to help put A.J. Styles over. Over the last few weeks, he has been involved in a tag team with Alex Shelley but it is primarily on Xplosion which is seen by a lot fewer people than Impact. The tag team is working well, and maybe if Alex and Roderick are not going to be short term contenders for the X Division title, they can challenge for the tag titles if they want to get the titles off America’s Most Wanted and not give them to Team 3D.
If you look at what he has done in TNA, Roderick has had three singles matches since the debut on SpikeTV. He has lost to A.J. Styles, Matt Bentley, and Samoa Joe (which will air on December 31). I have had the opportunity to see Roderick wrestle A.J. Styles at an NWA Florida show in a twenty minute match that was one of the better matches I have seen live this year. I have also seen Roderick wrestle Samoa Joe twice for FIP in January and those were two of the best and stiffest matches that I saw this year. Due to the time constraints, I knew that I would not get the same caliber of matches for television, but I think if someone saw the matches on Impact and then were told about the other matches, they would expect to see a five minute squash and not a competitive match between the two men.
Based on what I have seen from Roderick this year in the ring, he is my MVP for the FIP promotion and might be my overall MVP for the year based on what I have seen in the ring from him. He brings a ‘strong style’ to the ring and includes a number of devastating back breakers with some of the best chops in the business.
In addition to the Samoa Joe and A.J. Styles matches I described above, I have seen Roderick face the likes of James Gibson, CM Punk, Tony Mamaluke, Bryan Danielson, and Milano Collection AT in matches for FIP that are among the best that I have seen in the year. In addition to those matches, he had a very good match against ‘Reckless Youth’ Tom Carter for PWW; and he was part of one of my choices for match of the year in a tag team match with Sedrick Strong against Steve Madison and Erick Stevens. Roderick has also had a number of great matches with Erick Stevens, who is one of the best wrestlers in the state of Florida.
While he appears to be on the way to the top in FIP as well as Ring of Honor, where he is now one half of the tag team champions, it does not look like he has been given the chance in TNA. The fact that he is a local talent who has a following at the independent shows as well as Ring of Honor, it could be a good way to get some of those fans to start watching Impact and buying the pay per views if they give Roderick the chance to get to the next level.
Sonjay Dutt: Sonjay Dutt is another wrestler who spent some time away from TNA during 2005. At the time, Sonjay was starting to establish his position in TNA so he was not giving up a main event angle. Since his return, Sonjay has had a chance to re-establish himself in the company and has been in some good matches. He was part of the mini-Ironman match for Christopher Daniels and had Daniels on the ropes a number of times before he got pinned by Daniels. For a period of time, it looked like TNA was giving Sonjay a push, but he has returned to the pack of the X Division and has been placed in the regular X Division tag team matches.
Sonjay focuses more on the high flying moves than on the mat aspects, but he is able to pull off some amazing moves during his matches. However, he is starting to incorporate more ring psychology into his matches so he can tell a story.
On a recent episode of Impact, they showed footage of Sonjay, Shark Boy, and Simon Diamond in India and the piece talked about the sell out crowds that attended the events. If TNA wants to establish a strong international product, he is the face that the company should be used because while he is not given the opportunity to excel in Orlando, he would be the top star in parts of Asia.
Sonjay Dutt had some success a few years ago in MLW and was their Junior Heavyweight champion; and he defeated Jimmy Yang and Christopher Daniels in the tournament. This past June, he was in the Jeff Peterson Memorial Cup where he made it to the finals by defeating Todd Sexton, Ricky Reyes, and Jimmy Rave. In the finals, he lost to Chris Sabin in one of the best matches I saw this year.
If Sonjay, like most of the wrestlers in the X Division were given a chance to cut a promo or be given time in a match to show what they can do, it would do a lot to build the division. However, with the focus on showing Sting’s logo on the JarrettTrons and hearing the same promo every week on television, it looks like the X Division is not a priority unless it is the title picture.
Austin Aries: Austin is one of the last additions to the X Division, along with Roderick Strong. He made his debut in TNA at Sacrifice in the ‘Internet Dream Match’ against Christopher Daniels and had a match that made the crowd want to see more. In his short time in the company, he has become a fan favorite of the people in the Impact Zone and has been involved in a number of good X Division matches.
While there are some TNA fans that are familiar with Austin’s work in Ring of Honor, some might not know that he was a former Ring of Honor champion and the man who stopped Samoa Joe’s title run at Final Battle 2004. Based on the way that he is booked in TNA, it looks like some of the people in TNA are not aware of that because they had Joe and Aries face off in the ring on the November 12th Impact. While I knew that it would not be the same match as the one from December 2004, it was a bit disappointing to see it be such a squash based on what I have seen them do outside of TNA.
Austin Aries has also worked in the state of Florida for Full Impact Pro and has had a number of good matches and is a part of the main angle in the company. He is currently involved in an angle with Sean Waltman and is likely to challenge for the FIP title in 2006.
Just like Chris Sabin, it seems like every match that Austin Aries is involved in on a pay per view is one of the top matches of the night. Despite the fact that it is the opening match, or in some cases, a match on the pre-show, he does not hold back in the ring. Like most of the other X Division wrestlers, he is a fixture in tag team matches. However, like the others in the X Division, he needs to be showcased in a singles match and given a victory over a top X Division wrestler so it does not appear so shocking that a person as talented as Austin can defeat one of the top X Division wrestlers.
In 2006, maybe Austin will be given a chance to show what he can do in the ring as well as an opportunity to get some mic time. He has shown that he is a very good wrestler and is able to mix mat wrestling and high flying moves. If the people in TNA realize what they have with Aries, he should be a serious title contender.
Alex Shelley: Alex Shelley’s current run in TNA is making some forget about his ‘Baby Bear’ character while he was paired with Goldylocks in 2004. Alex returned to TNA at Slammiversary and was probably considered by many to be another of the ‘X Division wrestlers in black trunks’. However, one thing that separates Alex from most of the X Division wrestlers is his emphasis on mat wrestling over the high spots that are expected by the fans when they hear the words ‘X Division’. He had a few good matches with Shocker that might not have been the most popular among the ‘spot monkey’ fans that attend the shows, but it was a refreshing change of pace to see a mat wrestling clinic in the ring. Then he was teamed with Sean Waltman in the Chris Candido Cup tournament and Alex was able to click with Sean, and I thought they had a legitimate chance to win the tag titles because of their chemistry after a short time. However, Sean missed the pay per view and it looked like Alex would be in limbo, lost in the X Division.
Alex has become a favorite among many in Impact Zone for the small things that he does in a match. Whether it be words of encouragement from the apron to a tag team partner, mocking an opponent, or telling someone that ‘It’s cool . . . dog’, Alex has done something to set himself apart from the rest of the X Division. The other thing that Alex does is that he reacts to the crowd’s comments with a heelish smirk or gesture. Right now, I would consider Alex to be TNA’s version of Colt Cabana because of the mix of solid wrestling and the ability to have fun in the ring.
The latest addition to Alex’s character is a video camera that he brings to ringside for his matches as well as bringing the camera to ringside to watch other matches. This is definitely separating Alex from the rest of the X Division and it could lead to a future feud for Alex. If he continues to ‘interfere’ or get too close during other people’s matches, maybe they will want to face Alex. While they haven’t let him cut a promo about the new gimmick, we can only speculate for the reasons why he has the video camera. If he was only recording his matches, then you could argue that he has a huge ego and wants to watch all of his matches. Since he is also there for other matches with the camera, maybe he is going to do it to scout his opponents and find the thing to get an edge.
Over the next few months, I would expect to see Alex use this gimmick to separate himself from the rest of the X Division. We can only hope that he will get to wrestle for the X Division title as well as showcase his talent in the ring. Also based on what we have seen from Alex, I think he would be great on the mic, and it would be a nice change of pace to hear an X Division wrestler cut a promo instead of the same promos from the same four or five people every week.
Conclusion: To me, the biggest problem that I see in TNA for a lot of the wrestlers who have built their reputation off Ring of Honor is that they are going to be compared to their matches in Ring of Honor and other companies that do not have to deal with the constraints of putting on a weekly television show; and not let them be able to establish an identity in TNA. At the last set of tapings, there were two matches that should have made a fan of Ring of Honor and TNA very excited to see. The first match was between Samoa Joe and Jay Lethal. These two men wrestled a few weeks ago in Ring of Honor, with Jay Lethal getting the victory over Joe. While the match in TNA was about seven minutes long, it did a good job to show the fans that Jay Lethal will be a good addition to the X Division. It was a very good TNA match for television. The other match is one that will air on New Year’s Eve where Roderick Strong faced Joe. Because of the X Division hierarchy, it was not a ‘competitive’ match in the sense of their FIP matches or what they could put on in Ring of Honor. Another match that was affected by the TNA hierarchy was a match between Joe and Austin Aries for the November 12 episode of Impact. Instead of being another match like Final Battle 2004, it was closer to a squash because Aries had not been established yet in TNA. While I don’t expect TNA to follow the booking patterns of other companies, it can cause people who know that these guys can work a 40 minute match be turned off by the television product because they see a five minute match where one guy gets in no offense. The carrot is being offered to the fans with the talent of these X Division wrestlers, but if they are not going to get the benefit, it could affect the long term health of the division.
If Joe, Daniels, and Styles decide to focus on the World Title, despite all of the talent that remains in the X Division, it is not going to matter because a fan who is not entirely familiar with the talents of the other seven men I have listed, as well as people like Jay Lethal, Jerrelle Clark, and Elix Skipper will look at a match between any two of these men as ‘just another match’ instead of a potential match of the year candidate that many know they can provide.
Maybe if they decided to cut down on the ‘Insert Number Here’ Live Kru segments or the Jeff Jarrett segments that appear to say the same thing every week and provide an opportunity for one of the X Division wrestlers to cut a promo, besides Christopher Daniels and A.J. Styles, you could get more than three serious contenders for the title and a few who are contenders only because they have been in the company for so long. While I think it would be a mistake to shift the X Division focus off Impact and to Xplosion, instead of getting ‘Impact Lite’, why not provide segments for the X Division wrestlers and then put them on the TNA website? While the tag team division has started to languish a little (and only has two viable teams that can be considered title contenders), if the X Division does not remain strong, there will be little to convince people that TNA is an alternative to the WWE.
Feel free to send feedback to richard@pwinsider.com.
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