TNA News & Notes

[Head Booker]

From Gerweck.net

TNA's You Tube Page Removed?

For some Reason all official TNA Youtube videos have been pulled off the Youtube site. I just noticed this. If you had any TNA posted videos in your Youtube favorites,they are gone now. If you manage to find any official TNA videos on Youtube and click on them, you'll notice each link sends you to a message that reads "This video has been removed due to terms of use violation." TNA Today was the most watched daily internet show in the world and TNA was the number one (partner) channel on Youtube. I have no clue whats going on. It should be interesting to get more news about this in the next couple of days.

X Division title to be Phased out?

There were rumors last week that the X Division Title would soon be phased out. With the recent addition of Andrew Martin and Matt Morgan along with reports of signing Rikishi and A-Train, it would appear that the X Division is going by the way side.

Current story lines right now only focus on the heavyweights such as Angle, Cage, Sting, Jarrett, Abyss, Tomko, and Steiner.

At this time, it is believed that Kurt Angle will defeat Samoa Joe in the Winner Takes All Match and Angle will form an alliance with a yet to be named partner and carry the TNA Tag titles while the World Title and X Division Title will then be unified there by phasing out the X Division title. This is similar to what WWE did years ago when for a short time they phased out the IC title by unifying the World Title and the IC Title.

Drug Testing In TNA

It is being discussed right now in TNA to begin Random Drug Testing Effective in September. It is believed that the wrestlers will be notified of this new policy at the Hard Justice PPV to give the wrestlers 30 days notice. There are concerns how this will effect the talent. Some believe that while TNA is not under investigation at this time, it would present them in a good light despite no allegations of substance abuse in there company specifically.

While the recent news of WWE's Wellness Policy has been being accused of being to relaxed and not as stringent as it could be, TNA is making this move because it affects the Wrestling Business as a whole.

Others share concerns with how the drug testing will effect big name talent within TNA. WWE has been accused of favoring talent such as Triple H and Batista while rumors run rampant about the possibility of similar actions being taken on stars such as Kurt Angle.

While it's abundantly clear many within TNA's roster are not taking anabolic steroids given the size and stature of many of it's talent, there are still concerns of recreational drug use among those in the locker room.

Looking at the bigger picture of TNA, Dixie Carter herself stated months back that there is no problems with Drugs in TNA. She did however state that the only problem or run she had with substance abuse was with Raven but she later stated that the situation was under control.

[Rico]

how long ago was it that the WWE had the World title and IC title unified?


and with the X-division phasing out, I believe that is a big mistake if TNA does do this because that is what brought them to the dance and if they do they will also become what the WcW used to be and that was a place filled with WWE rejects. TNA just needs to keep building fresh new stars instead of whooing in Old wwe stars

[Vernon Vanderbilt]

I agree with Rico on this one. It would be a potentially fatal move for them to phase out the X Division title. I know I speak for myself, and probably a lot of other fans, when I say that's the most important title in TNA. I've never really given a shit about their main event scene, for the most part, but the X Division is always worth watching.

You can't compete with WWE by becoming WWE. That should be something you learn in any introductory business class. These people apparently lack common sense or something.

[Spyral]

thing is tho, some of the people they get from WWE are big name stars with big fan bases. It's good for business to bring in names which are hot off TV. Alot of Kurt Angle fans will have switched to watching TNA now etc etc.

I think getting rid of the X division belt is a huge mistake.

[Vernon Vanderbilt]

You have a point, to a certain extent, but seriously...are there enough Rikishi or Matt Morgan fans out there to make a difference in their ratings?

[Spyral]

I don't quite understand that one myself

[Rico]

Kurt Angle and Christian Cage are the only two former WWE stars that has a big fan base


Rikishi has a good fan base but not enough, and many people probly won't remember Matt Morgan, and Test....the only reason he had a fan base was because they paired him with Stacy.....

[Head Booker]

well Test actually does have a fanbase BEFORE of Stacy...he was highly favored in WWE...legit engaged to Stephanie McMahon...and very primed for a massive push past his upper midcard level...of course that went all down hill for whatever reason...(insert HHH here)...

as far as the X-Division...I agree that it is a horrible move if it's true...it has always been the heart of TNA and should get alot of exposure...not more than the main event but definitely more shine then it currently has been gettin' over the past couple of years...

also why is it common thought amongst wrestlin' fans that a wrestlin' company that is gettin' television time is tryin' to compete with WWE...I know they have taken jabs at WWE recently but why can't it simply be an alternative wrestlin' company simply tryin' to entertain wrestlin' fans and make some money in the process...of course alot of it is blamed on the "Monday Night War" days...tough bein' a smark...

Tate

[Lord Kaos]

Bringing in old WWE stars is NOt a bad move as long as those guys can go. Test is not a bad worker. Rikishi was not a bad worker, although i haven't seen him in a while. Morgan has a lot of potential. A-Train wasn't bad either. If they can put on a good show wrestling fans dont care where they came from.

The problem is these guys didn't get big pushes in the WWE, so now if they do get overly pushed, with the exception of maybe Test and Rikishi, TNA looks like where WWE midcarders go to main event, and that's not what you want to look like. BUT even in that case you got guys like Sting, Angle, Cage, Jarret who all have been at the LEAST major IC players in the WWE or WCW and have the overness now to put these guys over and make the product a believably major fed. So i don't have a problem with any former WWE guys coming in.

Now losing the X division.......HUMONGOUS mistake. The X division is what made them unique. Giving us those fast paced matches that the X division guys could give are what made TNA relevant in the first place. It definately wasn't Jarret and The Truth as World champions. So TNA needs to stop pairing the x guys up and making tag teams out of them and bring this x division back. Because when theres 2 hours they will have PLENTY of time to push the x division

[Icon Lord Leon Corbin]

Though they may not have done it often, the X title was sometimes defended outside of TNA as well. It was definitely one of the best matches on the card when they did that over here at International Showdown a few years ago even if you did know who was going to win because of the TNA PPV that was coming up some days later lol. Yeah, it's a bad move for them to make that title obsolete, it was definitely one of TNA's biggest selling points, not their world title scene which has often looked a sham anyway. The X division usually doesn't have an interesting story for the life of it but that's where the fan gets to see some wrestling that keeps them glued to the screen.

I suppose it's easy for the average wrestling fan to think TNA is trying to compete with WWE instead of it just being a company that happens to have a slot on TV when people look at how the rosters swap with one another lol. It can be misconstrued sometimes on TNA's part as if they are trying to get a direct one up on WWE when they take their ex superstars and make World Champions out of them too after watching them being wasted before they got there