One of the trademarks of TNA in its heyday was that it was a mixed bag. You’d have equal parts sizzle, substance, and drek For the positive and the negative of it all, that was TNA.
It’s been almost 12 years since the company had a show on mainstream cable in the United States, and still not much has changed with TNA.
In truth, the AMC debut put them in a tough spot, as you’d want to book something of importance on the show, but they also have a pay-per-view to try to sell tomorrow night so it’s undoubtedly a balancing act from a booking perspective. They needed something noteworthy to happen on the broadcast, which it did, but that was almost neutralized by the booking of the Genesis PPV.
There were months of anticipation behind this episode, as it was seen as the culmination of the meticulous efforts of the past few years to re-establish the once-tarnished brand. Keep in mind, it took a few years of a boost from the NXT crossover, as well as the announcement that the partnership will continue in the future, for a network to take TNA seriously as a potential commodity that could be successful with steady viewership.
Regardless of the difficult position with trying to book enough meat on the bone so to speak for the television debut to give a solid impression of a new chapter for the organization and still have enough left over to try to entice fans to spend $40 to order the Genesis event on traditional pay-per-view, I’m not sure if Anthem did enough with this show to create a sense of optimism around the brand.
In many respects, this hyped debut on AMC settled somewhere in the middle of the road category, and indifference is ultimately the opposite of drawing money.
The show opened with TNA pioneer AJ Styles to cut a promo to hype the show, which makes sense, as starting with a familiar face to WWE fans is a way to keep them tuned into the rest of the broadcast. That’s also why the six man tag that followed featured three more familiar faces to WWE fans. It’s definitely the smart move because the entire point of getting to a bigger platform is to get new fans to follow the product. Sure, some might’ve heard of TNA before or even watched it years ago, but for all intents and purposes, this is a fresh product for the usual pro wrestling audience.
I have to be honest, it was somewhat disappointing that we only got a rah-rah speech, but no indication that Styles will make the much-anticipated in-ring return to TNA. There’s an argument to be made that there would be enough of a demand for AJ to have a limited comeback run in TNA, simply because of how associated he is with the history of the promotion, but it’s doubtful that the WWE office would be willing to take him off the depth chart, especially when he already said that 2026 will be his final year in the sport. Still, a featured one-off TNA bout before he hangs up his boots seems too good not to book, and this probably would’ve been the time to do it to give the brand as much of a push as possible with the debut on a new channel, but as mentioned, there was nothing that would suggest AJ Styles will work another match in TNA.
The six man tag with The Hardys and Elijah vs. the Mustafa Ali stable was fine, and it was a segment that was designed to sell the PPV with the post-match attack after the initial baby face victory. The Righteous vs. The Hardys is a match that I’m looking forward to, and hopefully, it can be a breakout performers of sorts for the ROH tag team. In a time frame when the business is so crowded and so many get lost in the shuffle, Vincent and Dutch are a team that seem to bring much more to the table than they were ever truly given the chance to showcase in ROH, especially given the complete lack of exposure of the project since the Tony Khan purchase. In my view, not only is the tag match at Genesis a key opportunity for them, I think they could be a standout duo that could get over during the new chapter on AMC.
The segment where Daria Rae, the former Sonya Deville, became the new authority figure and introduced the arrival of Elayna Black, known prior as Cora Jade, was basically cannon fodder. There wasn’t anything wrong with it, but TNA as a whole has to avoid adding former WWE names just because they are former WWE names. The organization fell into that pitfall during its initial run so outside of the NXT guest stars, there should be a measured approach with how many former WWE talent get brought into the fold. That’s not to say that they can’t be productive in their respective roles, but was there really a demand for Sonya Deville or Cora Jade to be back on television?
The Elegance Brand defeated The Inspiration to win the Knockouts Tag Team titles. Considering that it was reported that Cassie Lee and Jessie McKay finished up with the company at this show, this segment was probably booked out of necessity more than anything else. The Prez Hilton appearance was worthless, as he had no value to the pro wrestling demographic twenty years ago and has even less now. The sum total of this segment was neither positive or negative in the grand scheme of things.
Visa issues impacted this show, as Leon Slater, who was scheduled for an X-Division contest, a bout that could’ve stolen the debut show on AMC, couldn’t be there. It was announced that Dani Luna also had visa issues and she can’t be at the pay-per-view tomorrow so it was revealed that NXT’s Zaria would challenge Lei Ying Lee for the Knockouts title at Genesis. This is where the NXT partnership can help bolster cards when needed. Granted, I’m not sure if Zaria’s appearance will be enough for the usual NXT audience to pay $40 to order the event, but it’s obviously useful to have the option to use some of the NXT roster.
The decision-making for the segment prior to the main event was absolutely mind-boggling. Maybe the writing team experienced a moment of temporary insanity, but for whatever reason, Dixie Carter, the former owner of the company, was given a live mic on the show. Why in the wide world of sports would Anthem want to remind the audience in any way, shape, or form of the Dixie era? Under Dixie’s direction, the company was on the brink of collapse, not to mention that there was a tax lien on it in the state of Tennessee before the Anthem purchase rescued the organization in 2016. Ultimately, the worst of TNA took place under Dixie’s ownership and there was no reason to remind the viewers of it. She was booed by the crowd so hopefully management takes note to avoid any other Dixie Carter appearance in the future.
The TNA World Heavyweight championship match was tremendous and it was an example of not only how talented the performers are, but also how much underutilized they were previously. This was a fast-paced back and fourth contest that built a level of drama toward the conclusion. There looked to be a botch before the ending sequence and took some momentum away from the finish, but it was still a very good match that showcased the level of talent involved in the main event scene. Mike Santana won the championship, but Kazarian will already be given a rematch at the pay-per-view so does the result of the match on Impact actually matter? Furthermore, it’s tough to sell the same match, albeit with the Texas Death Match stipulation, at the top of the card of the PPV two days after it was on free TV.
As I said, much like the history of TNA itself, this debut on AMC, which was promoted as a new chapter, repeated much of the same story. This was a two-hour show with only three matches and had more promo segments than ring time. I have to say that Leon Slater’s visa issues are probably what hurt the overall presentation the most, as that could’ve been the fireworks segment to personify the total nonstop action moniker. Thankfully, the main event provided a solid portion of in-ring work to highlight the action of the brand, but overall the impression that this episode left was lukewarm. Of course, this new chapter can’t be defined by one show so it will be interesting to see how the brand develops on AMC, but the debut certainly didn’t solidify a sense of optimism ahead of the Genesis pay-per-view.
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Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
Email [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
