A Mark’s View #13 – Impact Resolutions

So I haven’t exactly been watching Impact Wrestling that much lately. Between work, other hobbies, and what I felt was Impact’s own inferior-ness to what it used to be having watched a few DVDs of TNA from back in the day when the ring had six sides, I hadn’t felt a need to catch up on Impact Wrestling. I’m totally out of the loop; I haven’t been looking at results, haven’t been trying to catch replays… nothing.

So I thought to myself, “Why am I not watching Impact Wrestling like I used to?” Then I came up with the idea that Impact Wrestling may need some “New Year’s Resolutions.” And what a perfect time for me to tell you what I think Impact need to do to improve for the New Year!

Interestingly enough, I don’t even do my own New Year’s Resolutions, but some nerve of me to come up with Resolutions for a company that, as far as anyone knows (or refuses to admit), has seen pretty solid success, all things considered. Still, here goes my laundry list of things I think Impact Wrestling needs to do to get better.

Improve the Tag Team Division

The Tag Team Division took a pretty bad hit this year. We went from that amazing series of matches between the Motor City Machine Guns and Beer Money in 2010, to the introduction of Generation Me in the beginning of 2011, to Mexican American losing the tag team titles (the fact that they even had them…) to Matt Morgan and Crimson… this is not a good look for Impact Wrestling’s once amazing Tag Team division. I’m not exactly sure what Impact Wrestling would have to do to get the Tag Team division back on track, since these days, you don’t really get a lot of dedicated tag teams to come into wrestling. Last dedicated tag team was Generation Me (which they split before they let them go… why?), and Beer Money was theoretically an accident (but a very good one!). So what could they do to improve this division? They could try and help the tag teams that already exist get better… Mexican America may not be LAX, but I think that if they change their attitude a bit, they’d be a whole lot more likable as a team, and what ever happened to the British Invasion? And maybe, they could work on another accident… at least until the Motor City Machine Guns get back together.

And when Chris Sabin gets back into action, don’t split them. Please.

Improve the Other Titles Accordingly

Last I heard of the X-Division Title, Aries defended it against Kid Kash in a pretty good match. Last I heard of the X-Division in and of itself, however, they were only using four guys. X-Division has more than four guys, especially that Zema Ion guy. He’s pretty awesome, and I’d love to see more use of him.

I don’t even remember what’s going on with the TV Title other than that Robbie E won it from Eric Young and I think I saw a possibility of that title being more competitive… but I still think that title won’t mean nothing until it becomes of its namesake and is seriously competed for on TV at least twice a month.

The Knockout Tag Title could actually be of some use, as they have a relatively significant roster of Knockouts right now (it’s still not as deep as it was when the KO Tag Title was first conceived). They have Madison Rayne and Gail Kim with it, they had TNT with it, Winter and Angelina Love are a pretty good team. They could even bring Rosita and Sarita back into contention, no? I think that if they find one or two more teams within the Knockouts, then a real interest could be sparked in the Knockout Tag Title again.

Improve the Bound for Glory Series

The Bound for Glory series was an amazing concept that was supposed to emulate the way real sports win championships. However, the Bound for Glory series was pretty flawed. I’m pretty sure that they changed the winning conditions of the series twice, they let a bit too much story line get involved, and everyone involved in the series didn’t have the same number of matches.

So ultimately, I think that for then to improve the series, they’d have to determine what’s going to be the winning conditions for the series and keep them, keep story line involvement to a minimum (unless it’s head to head rivalry, that’s always cool), and make sure that everyone gets the same amount of matches. In an ideal world, I’d start the Bound for Glory series right now, but between the possibilities of injuries, necessary off-time, and possible new signings, it’s obviously not the best idea. My other three ideas are pretty doable… at least I think they are.

And those are what I feel are the biggest improvements that Impact Wrestling needs to make. I’m definitely going to get back into Impact Wrestling for the New Year, I’m definitely going to use TNAStars to catch up on what’s been going on, and I’m going to try and return to keep some form of interest in this column. I might even do some “retro reviews” of the DVDs that I had been watching.

Before I go, I actually have a few more, slightly minor things that I’d like to see for the New Year from Impact Wrestling.

– Stop burying Samoa Joe: the guy is amazing in the ring. He has one gear, go. I think it’s in Impact’s best interest to use this guy, because people still want to see him “kill” people.
– Kill Immortal (if they haven’t already): this stable is pretty much dead, and the fact that it’s existing now is merely holding everyone involved in it back. Gunner has potential. Bully Ray is bust at the seams with potential. Steiner is Steiner, I love him on the mic, regardless. End Immortal. It’s over. Move on.
– Intensity: some of the matches don’t have the same intensity that TNA had before Hogan came in. I don’t know why this is the case, and it’s really only select matches, not all of them. But something is definitely missing.
– A New Impact Zone: one of the benefits of wrestlers signing to Impact Wrestling is the relaxed travel schedule compared to WWE. As much as we’d like to see Impact on the road on a regular basis, I think the needs of the wrestlers should also be respected. That said, I think there needs to be a new Impact Zone, a new place for Impact to hold most of its shows. the Impact Zone has gotten stale, and I think it hurts the show’s overall feel.
– Bring back the six sided ring: I know, I know, that’s not really going to happen on a regular basis. Still, I can dream
– BRING BACK THE KING OF THE MOUNTAIN MATCH: I didn’t even notice this went missing. It needs to be brought back. It’s a match concept that originated in TNA (to my knowledge) and it’s such an exciting, intense, and unpredictable match. In contrast to the six sided ring, I think bringing this match back to Slammaversary is a total possibility. How do I get this petition started?

And that’s all I have. I know this ran a bit longer than I’m used to, but what can I say. I love Impact Wrestling, I still Impact’s better than WWE on its worst days, and I want to see Impact grow more, or as much as it can in a world where wrestling isn’t one of the forefronts of entertainment. Hopefully, the New Year will bring Impact Wrestling even more growth.

Happy New Year to all!