The re-boot for Impact Wrestling is going pretty well. The presentation has definitely improved, the show seems livelier than the increasingly torpid Raw and even Taz is pretty tolerable now he's been paired with Josh Matthews. However, some of TNA's flaws continue, and one is a direct result of their economy drive. In order to get the best value out of booking venues, TNA shoots a lot of television at once. On the current British tour, they are shooting two episodes per night on each of the three dates before returning to Orlando for a week of massive taping sessions that will produce programming up till the end of April plus eight One Night Only specials. This leads to odd timing problems.
Last night in Glasgow, TNA pulled two surprises, with the full-time return of Mickie James plus the signing of Drew Galloway (who was formerly Drew McIntyre in WWE). The former is perhaps the lesser surprise, given that TNA's women's division needs more bodies and Mickie's partner (and father of her child) is Magnus. A very logical signing. However, Galloway genuinely made me raise a quizzical eyebrow, as he seemed to be happy on the UK indie scene. In particular he played a major role in BBC Scotland's "Insane Fight Club 2" documentary about cult Glaswegian promotion ICW, in which the Ayr-born grappler was apparently returning home. TNA has pulled a definite swerve here.
However, this left TNA with a dilemma. As there was absolutely no chance of either signing not being splashed all over social media as well as wrestling news sites, the cat was clearly not just out of the proverbial bag, but had also announced its escape via its Twitter account. So, somewhat meekly, the company has announced the news on its website, even though the episodes in question have not been shown anywhere in the world yet. They have issued perhaps the first officially-announced spoilers in wrestling history. Even though their current approach obviously makes economic sense it leads to scenarios like this where the company ends up looking rather strange and not entirely professional.
Last year, I attended the London tapings, which felt a little surreal as the night was the last of the UK dates. Three unseen episodes separated the most recently-aired edition of Impact Wrestling and the action I was going to see. What became clear was that storylines had moved on considerably in the interim, and we could only guess at what had happened. New alliances had certainly been formed, but why was Austin Aries acting as a referee? And, more to the point, what was the deal with those extremely revealing shorts he was wearing? Furthermore, wrestlers in their promos kept referring to a PPV happening in three days' time. In reality, this event was six weeks away!
So time has a different meaning in TNA's universe; has anyone told Stephen Hawking? I get the feeling that even the esteemed Cambridge don, renowned for his theories about the paradoxical nature of time, may struggle to follow what's happening when he watches the One Night Only shows. These are basically slot-filling events that enable TNA to maintain its contractual commitments to Challenge and other partners despite having drastically cut down on its PPV schedule. They are non-canon, so exist outside of weekly storylines. This sounds fine in principle, but it does mean that the shows are literally inconsequential. You might see decent action, but the show ultimately won't have any lasting effects. Even more jarring is the fact that these events still offend against chronology, simply because of TNA's predilection for constant turns. As months can pass between the shooting and airing of a ONO special, it is inevitable that you will see current faces acting as heels and vice versa. So the programmes seem curiously outdated.
The better ONO shows are the ones that have a theme. Towards the end of 2014, TNA aired a rather interesting Knockouts special, in which top talent from the American indie circuit faced off against TNA stars. This was clearly a tryout session, in which TNA could cast a critical eye over potential new female signings. This was enjoyable as it allowed us to see the likes of Mia Yim, Reby Sky and Veda Scott on TV, and allowed the existing Knockouts (who have faced each other way too many times) to have fresh match-ups. This is all good stuff. However, it was just shown too late in the year for two reasons. First of all, EC3 and Spud presented the show using heel personae, which felt odd as Spud had since turned face and was now even feuding with Dixie's evil nephew, a feud which continues today. Even odder was the fact that we already knew who won this talent show. Jessicka Havok, here introduced for 'the first time' was actually an Impact regular by this point. Furthermore, she lost, which rather undercuts the 'unstoppable wrecking machine' image she now has. It seems irresponsible to air something that actually harms the image they're trying to present for Havok.
Whatever, timing is a real mess in TNA. On forums, I've seen it suggested that the promotion should purchase its own venue, thus meaning they don't have expensive hire fees and can shoot without long gaps before airing. This is surely the answer, and I'm amazed they haven't set up a venue in Memphis in which they can build up a specific flavour for their product (just like Paul Heyman did with the ECW Arena in Philadelphia). The Carters have the money to make this happen.
I don't want this to be a complete moan, and I reiterate that I do enjoy TNA, But this is an issue that needs to be sorted, as it's leading to absurdity.
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