TNA Wrestling January 2011 (GENESIS) Review

TNA Wrestling created extremely high hopes for many fans at the beginning of 2010 ushering in Legends of the industry like "The Immortal Hulk" Hogan and "Nature Boy" Ric Flair, and some younger talent from the "other" wrestling company such as Ken "Miiiiissssttteeeerrrr" Anderson and the "Charismatic Enigma" turned self-proclaimed "Anti-Christ of Professional Wrestling" Jeff Hardy, and "The Whole F'n Show" Rob Van Dam. This is all well and good, and I believe that 2010 should be considered a small success for the company, but now that all of the hype is gone from the big free agent signings and "They" were revealed to be the new heel stable "IMMORTAL" one big question remains. Can TNA stay interesting enough to watch in 2011?

I have to admit that prior to 2010 I was never a fan of TNA, and watched very few episodes of Impact and only a handful of pay per views, but since the Hogan-Bischoff regime began I have been an avid watcher and for the most part have enjoyed the product. Unfortunately, the month of January, 2011 was not a good one for TNA in my opinion. There was very little that held my interest story-line wise, and not any really memorable matches either. Plus the pay per view "Genesis" was an awful waste of time and money. The whole show was incredibly boring with the only highlight being the debut of Matt Hardy, which in itself is debatable as to whether or not it is actually a highlight.

So, what exactly is wrong with TNA right now? I believe that the executives of the company are looking too hard to find solutions, when in reality all of the solutions are already on the roster. I really believed that with Nash, Sting, and Hogan all temporarily out of the picture, and with Kurt Angle supposedly being forced to retire that the company was primed to give some of the youth a much deserved "push." Instead, we just witnessed what I believe to be the worst month of wrestling since the arrival of the new regime.

Following are some of the major issues that I have with the company right now, and what I believe is holding them back from competing with the major brand in sports entertainment.

First off, Tazz and Mike Tenay are not a good combo for commentating. Tenay spends too much time trying to sound young and hip, and Tazz reminds me of Joe Morgan calling a baseball game. By that I mean he has to reflect back on how he did everything in his day or find some way to glorify himself in all of his commentary. I believe that they desperately need someone with more passion to be doing the play by play calling, and essentially "selling" the product.

Next, A.J. Styles who was once primed to become the next big superstar seems to have taken a back seat to the likes of Jeff Hardy, Rob Van Dam, and Mr. Anderson. All of them by the way are former WWE wrestlers, which I don't necessarily have a problem with, but I know many hardcore TNA fans are not happy with.

Next, Matt Morgan who was one of my favorite "heel" characters in all of wrestling is being turned into a "face" and no longer seems to be effective on the mic. I thought Morgan was hilarious on the mic as a heel, but now that he has turned all baby faced good guy-ish he really seems to have lost something, charisma wise.

Then, The X-Division (the heart of TNA) still hasn't returned to its former glory. Even before I began watching Impact regularly I knew about the X-Division, and how it compared with the old WCW Cruiser Weight division, which was even more awesome than the "Miz." Only joking about that Miz being awesome part. I may not have all the answers to what the company needs to do, but I do know that they have a very strong following strictly because of this exciting group of young high-flying daredevils, and I would suggest that they start using them with more frequency.

Then comes the The Knockouts (Women) division, which has some pretty good talent, but is painfully repetitive. I used to think that WWE had women for eye candy and TNA had women for wrestling, but lately it is starting to seem that the reverse is true. Every week the women parade out, shake their toosh's, have the same match that they had the week before, and return to the locker room, but never before Madison Rayne lets out one of her wretched screams that makes you turn the volume down on your television.

My next issue is with the tag team division, which is also growing redundant with the only feud being the Motor City Machine Guns vs Beer Money. These are both excellent tag teams and I thoroughly enjoy them both, but they are not the only two tag teams on the roster. Generation ME is a very capable tag team as long as you keep them off the microphone, and Inc Inc shows much promise as well, or at least they did when we actually got to see them.

Lastly, on my long list of complaints is the absolute worst thing about TNA this January has been the amount of air time given to Jeff Jarrett and Ric Flair. I have no doubt that these veterans bring intangibles to the table that is highly beneficial for a wrestling company, but I absolutely refuse to believe that the main story line going right now should revolve around Jeff Jarrett and Kurt Angle. These guys would make a great supporting cast to the younger talent, but its atrocious watching Jarrett be the centerpiece of his own company. I find him less entertaining that Vince McMahon.

On the flip side there are a few interesting things going forward. The new character, Crimson, has been coming out the last few weeks promoting in a very Abyss-like manner, that "They" are coming February 3. Yeah sure, they just finished up a big story line where the first "They" was revealed to be "Ric Flair's Fortune" and "Hulk Hogan's Immortal," but this storyline is interesting enough to keep me interested to see it through. My guess is that Mick Foley and Dixie Carter will be coming out of the woodwork to lead this new "face" faction. I'm not sure who the members will be, but I would guess that Kurt Angle, Crimson, and Matt Morgan will be amongst the core of the group. I would also have to include "Big Poppa Pump" Scott Steiner, at least for a little while, since he came to the rescue of Angle, Morgan, and Crimson in the last episode of Impact in January. I'm really hoping that this storyline includes "The Icon" Sting making a return in some fashion. I actually screamed like a little school girl when the lights went out during the last episode of Imapct, because for a split second I thought that it was Sting coming to save the day, just like in the old days vs the nWo.

In conclusion, I may seem to be highly critical of TNA, but I'm actually a pretty big fan of the current product overall. I just have higher hopes and expectations going forward. I believe that Hogan and Bischoff are behind the scenes geniuses and the product will continue to gradually improve as long as they have creative control. I read all the time about hardcore TNA fans hating the new regime, but I for one, and probably a million other people would most likely be exclusive WWE viewers if not for the likes of Hogan-Bischoff.

January 2011 Rating - (6.5 of 10)