Impact Wrestling: It’s Time to Kill Off TNA, Once and for All

This Sunday, at Slammiversary, Impact Wrestling have the opportunity to kill off the tarnished reputation of TNA, once and for all.

Like it not, Impact Wrestling will forever be associated with the name, TNA. The company, formally known as, Total Nonstop Action, has spent the first half of 2018 building new stars, telling compelling stories and undoing much of the damage done in 2017.

In what must be seen as a shift in their fortunes, the internet wrestling community, appears to be slowly forming a more positive opinion of the Impact brand. But, hauntingly, in the background, I hear that never-changing chant of T-N-A, T-N-A, T-N-A….

Some people just want to remember the company for all it’s follies, mis-steps and mistakes.

The TNA reputation is not wholly deserved. After all, this is the organisation that gave much of the current WWE roster an international platform on which to develop and perform. AJ Styles was having 5 star matches from the company’s inception in 2002. Kurt Angle has stated that he had a better career, in terms of match quality, while in the six-sided ring.

TNA’s women’s division was thriving and operating at a world-class level from 2008. Between, 2004-2006 and throughout 2016, I would argue that TNA offered the most dramatically satisfying storytelling in the industry (that’s a discussion for another time). The Impact product has contributed more to the professional wrestling landscape than its naysayers would have you believe.

And what of that reputation? Well…

TNA is the company that launched with a tag team called The Johnson’s, who essentially dressed in skin colored body suits to resemble penises! TNA is the company that took the potential, next Stone Cold Steve Austin, in Samoa Joe, and wasted his prime years (2009-2015) with kidnap storylines, fake tattoos and mid-card mediocrity.

TNA is the company that sent an inebriated Jeff Hardy to the ring to ‘perform’ in a pay per view main event. TNA is the company that often pushed ex-WWE stars as the face of the promotion, at the expense of home-grown talent.

TNA is the company with a revolving creative door: Dusty Rhodes, Jeff and Jerry Jarrett, Vince Russo, Eric Bishoff and Hulk Hogan, Billy Corgan, Dave Lagana…all, and more, have come and gone. TNA is the company that often failed to find a unique identity to differentiate itself from the WWE machine.

Credit: Impact Wrestling

Slammiversary needs to be a tipping point for Impact Wrestling. I, and others, have discussed the stacked card, the stories going into each match, the dramatic difference that Don Callis, Scott D’Amore and the the entire crew have made in developing Impact into ‘must see’ television. Slammiversary should be a statement of intent for Impact as a whole. This is where Impact should look in the rear view mirror and see the letters, T-N-A far off in the distance, for the very last time.

The last two pay per views were mired in backstage drama and “typically TNA” situations. Prior to Bound for Glory 2017, company founder and executive producer, Jeff Jarrett was relieved of his duties. Deemed unfit for the role and with videos of an apparently drunk (in-ring) Jarrett circulating the internet, this was an embarrassment.

Credit: Impact Wrestling

The Redemption 2018 PPV, the first under Callis and D’Amore, while excellent, had a Alberto El Patron sized cloud hanging over it. A matter of weeks before the event, El Patron no-showed the superb Lucha Underground vs Impact show during Wrestlemania weekend. Booked in the main event in New Orleans and at Redemption, Impact were given lemons and made lemonade.

But, it was a “typically TNA” situation in many people’s minds. Impact had only recently lifted Alberto’s suspension for a domestic assault allegation that came to nought. But, Patron was noted as being unpredictable and unreliable. Yet management welcomed him back with open arms and main event’s aplenty. A costly mistake, Impact creative had to rewrite months of television and edit Patron out of pre-recorded shows; a situation of their own making.

And so, to Slammiversary. The entire roster should be proud of where Impact Wrestling currently sits. As of today, there is no backstage drama that I’m aware of. There are no former WWE stars making a scene. There are no wrestling penises making one embarrassed to be a fan of the product.

There are great performers waiting to have the match of their careers. There are interesting stories being told. There is a strength and stability in the companies business and creative trajectories.

Next: Su Yung: The Undead Bride Of Impact Wrestling

So, Impact Wrestling…put your best foot forward, make good decisions, let the stories unfold and let the performers fly. The wrestling world is taking notice once more. Let’s wave a final goodbye to TNA.

Let’s celebrate a Slammiversary.