TNA: Where did it all go... right?!

After a decidely lacklustre TNA Sacrifice show, I was all geared up to write a column about where I thought TNA was going wrong with it's product and what they needed to do to resolve it. That was all until they released their ratings for Impact this week, and they are actually going up (especially among their target demographic of young males aged 18-25). Clearly they can't be doing everything wrong after all!!

So instead of bitching and moaning about what I don't like about the TNA product (you can probably work most of that out from my Sacrifice review) I thought I would look at just what is making TNA actually succeed! So here are my top 5 reasons why I think TNA's rating is slwoly on the rise.

1. The Sting Effect
One of the great names of WCW, but perhaps more importantly the only big name from that era not to have been tarnished by a run in WWE. Since WCW and ECW closed in 2001, wrestling viewership across the board has declined, so where have they all gone? By bringing in someone like Sting, TNA have gone after those former WCW fans who didn't like the way their guys were treated in WWE and it looks like it has paid off. Although there is often some debate about whether the arrival of Sting has taken the wind out of the sails of NWA Champ Christian Cage (and I believe it has) at least they have kept Sting out of the title picture and used him as an assett, when the temptation would have been to give him the belt as soon as he arrives. By having strong NWA championship feuds for Christian as well as a strong main event level feud involving Sting and Jeff Jarrett, then it gives the viewer 2 reasons to buy the pay per view, rather than just the one. It also means Jarrett has been kept out of the title picture and so when he finally gets his one on one rematch with Cage people might actually want to see it, rather than assume it is Double JJ pulling poilitical strings.

2. Bringing in the right big names
During the build to Sacrifice I really thought they had lost their minds when I heard the names Buff Bagwell, Rick Steiner and Lex Luger linked to TNA. I could feel flash backs to the early days of TNA when they brought in the ageing Randy Savage who wrestled as if in slow motion. However, unlike Savage, these guys were brought in for one shot deals only as a nostalgia gimmick and to TNA's credit, that is one of their strengths. They are very selective about who they bring and that really helps them from turning into the WCW knock-off that they so easily could. Even Savage seemed a good idea at first, as he still has plenty of name recognition. It's just a shame that that was all undone the minute you saw him in the ring. For every Sting or Scott Steiner who are brought in, there are a dozen other former WWE or WCW names that they could have brought in and haven't. By cherry picking these big names, and backing them up with strong workers who were under-used in WWE (like Christian Cage, Rhino, all three former Dudley Boys and even Raven) they establish a strong mix of 'names' as well as having a product that is about more than a trip down memory lane. Even the acquisition of former WWE diva Christy Hemme was a great choice as she has main stream media appeal thanks to her appearance in Playboy, as well as an individuality that the current identi-kit WWE Divas just don't have.

3. The X Division
Ignoring the current Kevin Nash silliness and the fact that the champ didn't defend his title on the last pay per view, the X Division is one of TNA's crown jewels. Heck, the fact that the champ of this ultra-atheltic, no limits division is a 280 pound Samoan with a less than perfect fiugure should tell you that this is something different to WWE. As long as Vince and co restrict their cruiserweights and treat them as a joke or fodder for bigger men, then TNA have an edge. Sometimes they don't seem to treat this assett as well as they should - part of what made last year's run of pay per views so exciting was having the X division main event pay per views, which they don't any more. However they do at least have one really great athletic X Division match on every show. They are also determined to bring in new stars and establish them in that division, rather than rely on the same names month in and month out. As guys like Jay Lethal, Alex Shelley and the retunring Senshi are brought in, they help provide the next generation to feud with the established stars like Joe, AJ, Styles, Sabin, Dutt and Williams.

4. Fast paced action
One of the main criticisms that is labelled at Impact is that they have to cram so much into one hour of TV that they don't have enough time to dedicate to getting over their wrestler's characters. However on the plus side, by only having one hour of TV a week, it means they have to make sure everything is kept at a high pace to fit everything in. Compare an episode of Raw or Smackdown with Impact and you get as much wrestling with TNA (if not more) in one haour and don't get the constant replay packages and commercials that blight WWE TV. TNA do as good a job of developing their feuds and character in one hour as WWE do in 2 and as such they have turned one of their negatives into a positive. If they could just get another hour of TV, then who knows where that would take them. I just hope it would not see them copy the WWE format and undo what is one of their key-strengths.

5. Doing things the opposite to WWE
They don't give good wrestlers stupid gimmicks. They don't rely on outdated sterotypes. They don't ignore storyline continuity. They don't have ref bumps in every world title match. They don't try and court controversy to get ratings. They don't use their TV as adverts for their film division. They don't treat tag teams as second rate. They don't treat cruiserweights as fodder for telentless giants. They don't have 20 minute HHH promos. They don't have Vince's bare ass on TV. They don't have midgets. They don't stop people from going out and having good wrestling matches. They don't call their wrestlers 'superstars'.