It seems every so often in the growth of Total Nonstop Action, the company comes to a fork in the road where they must decided where to go next. Recently, the company decided to rebrand their flagship show as “Impact Wrestling”. The change not only came in the name of the show, but the overall cosmetic look of the show, and of course the catchy and clever slogan of “Wrestling Matters”.
While the “Wrestling Matters” slogan was in direct response to the WWE dropping the word “Wrestling” from their company name, I thoroughly do like the direction. Wrestling should matter, and for a company that has the most talented roster in the world, wrestling is where the focus should be.
Unlike most wrestling columnists and “experts”, I wanted to give TNA a full four weeks along with a pay per view showing to comment on the new branding. And while the overall production of the company is great, I’m still wondering about the direction of the company. It still seems like the company is still in a transition period.
Slowly but surely, the company is beginning to focus on the in-ring product, and lo and behold, the X-division seems to be gaining some attention.
And I’ll be honest, up until recently, I wondered if the company’s name will be Impact Wrestling moving forward, or if the TNA moniker will remain.
However, with some recent news, it seems the rebranding of the Thursday night show to “Impact Wrestling” has something to do with the fact that the company is currently in the works in developing a project called, All Wheels Wrestling, a projected new brand to be pitched to the Speed Network (who is interested in Wrestling programming). Currently, rumors are, with Destination X upon us, the new brand will be that of the X-Division, whose style brings that fast, wreckless, x-games-like pace that fans of car racing and motor cross would love.
If this does in deed come to fruition, I can understand the sudden rebranding for the company. “Impact Wrestling” can remain on Spike Television, while the new All Wheels Wrestling, which will be run as a separate brand (unlike the WWE’s brand extension), will begin on the Speed Network. And TNA, will remain as the company that produces both brands.
Some naysayers, and of course, the typical “know-it-all” wrestling fans will bash the companies effort for more programming, when the obvious next step for the company is to take Impact Wrestling on the road more for tapings. However, I like the move, as it could possibly bring in added revenue, while giving a platform to an attraction that I not only love, but is the reason TNA became famous for in the X-Division.
And while I’m at it, there are a few other things I would love to see TNA do as they move forward:
1. Make All Wheels Wrestling an all X-Division show. I know we just touched base on that, but it has not been confirmed on TNA’s part. I can’t leave that to chance. I long for the days of the X-Division again.
2. Hire more X-Division stars. It seems the company is currently scouting talent.
3. Begin elevating specific home grown talents such as Bobby Roode.
4. Either focus on the TV Title, or get rid of it.
5. Get out of the Impact Zone! The crowd is desensitized and somewhat spoiled to the product. What about a New York taping?
5. And finally, Be consistent! What ever happened to the ranking system?
The next couple of weeks should be interesting in TNA, especially as we now head towards Bound For Glory, and their new announcement of a 12 man ongoing competition leading to BFG, called “The Bound For Glory Series”.
As TNA grows, it will be just as fun watching the rebranding of this company take shape.
Stay tuned.