TNA Impact Wrestling: Competition or Not?

There has been quite a bit of speculation on the pro wrestling front concerning the two main companies in the world: WWE and TNA. While TNA has been somewhat dormant the past few years, losing their syndication time with Spike TV and seemingly disappeared from even some of the more hardcore fans. Now airing on the Pop Network,  TNA has seen somewhat of a resurgence in popularity, even signing new talents that were seen as undesirable to the WWE and making them into stars. Wrestlers such as Bobby Lashly, Drew Galloway, and even Aaron Rex, formally known as Damien Sandow have become instant stars! With this, coupled with the diminishing quality of WWE lately, TNA has all the workings to bring the fight to the WWE finally…if they can stay alive long enough to put up a fight that is. With talks of a sale looming and even speculation that Vince McMahon may have purchased or is in process of purchasing TNA, we may not see the height of possible accomplishment that this company can see.
I remember watching TNA back when it aired on Fox Sports in the afternoons and being amazed by how great these stars were. Guys like AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Christopher Daniels and even Jeff Jarrett were putting out great stories and fantastic matches. They seemed to grow new talent like Abyss and Monty Brown into stars that would have (and did) flounder in the WWE. I stopped watching for a long time during the dark years, as I call them when I no longer watched any wrestling, and did not see the fall of a company that had vast potential. With stories coming out about how management treated their wrestlers, and other various issues, I assumed TNA would fail and fade into obscurity.
Then one day, while flipping through channels, I came across an episode of Impact and experienced a vast array of emotions, mostly confusion. I remember seeing Jeff Hardy feuding with an odd fellow with crazy hair before realizing it was his brother Matt and he had been “broken.” I found myself intrigued though, seeing what could be an interesting story, and boy was I right! The rest of the show showed me new stars that I had never seen before, like EC3 and decay. Now I get excited every week, more and more curious as to what happens next. There are even weeks I am more excited to see Impact than Raw. I am genuinely impressed with all the work these superstars are doing, and given the time, they could be the rival that the WWE desperately needs and has not seen since the days of WCW.
Despite the new-found resurgance however, TNA is in serious trouble of going under. They are hemoraging money and seem to have very little leadership under Dixie Carter’s reign. TNA has all the tools to become a legitimate threat to WWE, they just need somebody that can be the authority figure they desperately need. When they first started out, Jeff Jarrett was an amazing heel as as the “face that ran the place” (sorry John Cena and AJ Styles). Jarrett made everyone hate him and made you want a hero to rise up and overthrow his reign of terror. It made for compelling storytelling.
Then came along days where guys like Vince Russo and Hulk Hogan took over, ruining everything that made TNA great. Destroying the X-Division, which made TNA’s name in the first place, along with the six-sided ring (which also was taken away thanks to Hogan). Thankfully they have fixed these problems and brought in new talent and leaders. Even Billy Corgan isn’t awful.
Bottom line, TNA can be great again! TNA has almost all the tools to compete at a high level. With a few adjustments, new leadership, and a platform that everyone can tune in to, it’s almost guaranteed to succeed. The fans desperately need a new franchise war, as it tends to bring the best out in both promotions, and even if one fails in the end, we will have plenty of new, memorable moments that will bring in new fans. If TNA goes under, and WWE continues with their same tired formula, professional wrestling as we know it is in serious trouble. Let’s all hope for a resurgence in wrestling!