What if: TNA separates Heavy's and Light Heavy's?

[HMARK Center]

Ok, I think most of us can agree that, while TNA's product is pretty damn good right now (your mileage may vary), it's roster is getting too big for it's own good.

Let's face facts: TNA has ONE 2 hour show a week, plus a show that only gets broadcasts in some places with maybe one match on it (Xplosion), as it's more of a review show.

Add to that the facts that TNA's divisions (World/X/Tag/Women) are only growing, and it presents some potentially serious problems down the road.

I mean, consider the MCMG; they just had to have an angle dealing with the fact that they haven't been on TV in about a month. Is it because TNA doesn't like them? Doubtful, especially since TNA knows full well the crowds love Sabin and Shelley.

No, they were forced off due to sheer numbers. The tag division in TNA is strong, but with only a couple of hours a week, they could only focus on a handful of teams. Lately, it's been the Brits, 3D, Beer Money, and MEM. That's fine, as those are four good teams, but it leaves teams like the Guns out in the cold.

So, what are the solutions?

The obvious answer is the one we'll hate to hear the most: "Brand Split".

But hear me out; what if TNA grows large enough to get another show, but instead of just splitting it into two shows with their own separate Heavyweight/Midcard/Womens/etc. titles, they went the puroresu route and separated it by weight class/style?

Maybe this wouldn't be viable in an American market where muscle-bound heavyweights have been the big dogs in the wrestling business for over 20 years now, but TNA could have two shows where it's broken up, again, like in puro, between heavy's and junior's. Each side gets a World Title, but intended for one weight class (or style, if we prefer to keep the X-Division), with feuds that are built up to be just as important and prestigious.

I guess this wouldn't be totally realistic; so much of the star power would be on the heavyweight side. But it doesn't mean that the two sides could NEVER interact with one another, and maybe you can still make tag teams that consist of a heavy and a junior (e.g. LAX) and somehow make that work.

I think it'd boil down to:

Heavyweight show: Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe, rest of MEM, Matt Morgan, Bobby Lashley, Hernandez, Sting, Team 3D, Abyss, Beer Money as the big names.

Junior show: AJ Styles, Chris Daniels, the MCMG, Lethal Consequences, Homicide, Kazarian, most of World Elite, etc. as the big names.

The PPV's would have matches from both shows, and work stuff into supercards sometimes that involve crossover matches and things of that nature.

Now, I don't even know if I really like this plan, myself, but it's just a thought I had in discussing TNA's time constraints and roster size. What do you guys think, and what ideas do you have?

[Ass Dan]

When I hear 'junior show', I think of midgets. And TNA's had enough midgets.

[HMARK Center]

Fair, but you know what I mean, "Junior Heavyweight", the puro expression.

Though an all-midget show...hmm...

[Oak: Certified Jade Hater]

Honestly? You march down to Orlando and present this idea.

I would love to see something like this unfold in TNA. It's working wonders in WWE right now (as Smackdown is far and away the best product they're presenting), and TNA could benefit greatly from implementing this idea.

Plus, with any luck, we could get some indy talent come in to flesh out the rosters if needed.

[GaTechGrad]

I would love to see another TNA show, but honestly the wrestling television market is to the point of being oversaturated as it is right now. There are currently 7 hours of wrestling programming a week, excluding pay per views and recap shows. It's not as bad as the Monday Night Wars period, which had a total of 12 hours of original programming, but it's getting there (3h Nitro, 2h WCW Sat Night, 2h Thunder, 2h Raw, 1h Heat, 2h Smackdown... and not counting non-storyline shows like WCW Pro and WCW Worldwide)

[HMARK Center]

I agree that another straight up wrestling show would be problematic to a degree, but that's why I think they stand to gain something by making a second show that heavily differentiates itself from the first one, in my example, by separating the roster by size. It would automatically make for two very different shows.

[Vice honcho room temperature]

I don't know if they need two brands but a second show on Spike where storylines progress would free up more time for more wrestlers giving people like MCMG more TV time.

It would be nice if TNA did separate the weight class like WCW tend to do. But even than its very hard to make both look like equals

[The Tank]

I'd like to see this happen, actually.

People like A.J. Styles and Christopher Daniels work their asses off for years and what happens? They lose the main event spots they had/nearly had because guys like Kurt Angle and Christian get sick of being a small fish in the ocean and jump to the new company for a quick World Title win.

This would give a lot of guys chances at the top that they truly deserve.

[tyler632]

I kind of like the idea and I kind of don't.

I would like to see more people getting TV time but I am not sure it would work out good for TNA. I think it might split their viewers. Some X-division fans might not watch the heavyweight show and some heavyweight fans wouldn't watch the x-division matches. Then half of the PPV wouldn't make sense or make the fans care that only watch one of the shows.

Also, how do you decide who is on what show? What if one show ends up being more profitable to be on for the wrestlers. It might be hard to convince someone like Samoa Joe who could be on either show to be on the X-division show if the heavyweight show is getting more viewers, thereby more royalty type money for the workers on that show.

I like that it is something different, but I can't see the logistics working out.

[Randy Barber 4-Life]

I actually like the fact that not everybody appears on the show every single week. Kind of keeps things fresh to me. It makes every time that person is on the show a little more special. It makes the show itself more unpredictable as well since aside from the mainstays like Foley, Angle, Nash, etc. you can't just assume certain matches. In all seriousness, aside from one guy (but I've disliked him for years so it's nothing new) I can't think of a single TNA wrestler I'm really sick of. I can think of several WWE guys.

[rrm15]

I like it. I was thinking TNA could really pull off something like this, with having people compete exclusively in just one division. ONLY X, Tag, or Heavyweight.

[Raging_Demons]

Don't think it will happen. Take a look at the X-Division. Once upon a time it was a great piece of TNA that you want to watch. Now. It's pure crap. I personally think some of it is due to Dixie's urge to bring in more recognizable names to make TNA noticeable.

[El Pollo Guerrera]

Aug 9, 2009 20:20:42 GMT -5 @rrm15 said:

I like it. I was thinking TNA could really pull off something like this, with having people compete exclusively in just one division. ONLY X, Tag, or Heavyweight.

I've been thinking this for a long time.

Set it up as part of the show. One day, the wrestlers show up and there's three blank lists pinned onto a big buletin board, and Jim Cornette tells everyone "You pick a division and you wrestle ONLY in that division, for the next 12 months. There's only (12, 14, whatever the number would be) spots open in each division, so hurry the hell up and choose, 'cause the crowd is waiting!"

Of course, this would lead to a few wrestlers having to pick a division that they didn't want to be in (say, Daniels in the X but wanting the Heavyweight title), a team of wrestlers who hate each other forced to work as a team, etc.

Oh, and no more "All or Nothing" matches. No inter-mingling of divisions.

Then, next year, three more lists...

[tyler632]

I like the idea of having distinct divisions better than the idea of separate shows. I wouldn't mind seeing wrestlers only going after one belt, but I like variety in my shows too.

I like to see a match between heavyweights and I like x division matches, and tag matches, and some of the knockouts matches, but I don't think that I would want to see 2 straight hours of any of those same matches.

I also like to see a good big man like abyss or hernandez or nash mixed in with the x-division guys to see the david vs goliath type psychology. I think doing separate shows would just limit possibilities for good fueds/storylines.

[HMARK Center]

Yeah, I wouldn't be all for strictly keeping all wrestlers COMPLETELY separated by division; it wouldn't hurt to have Angle sometimes on a junior heavyweight show, or Styles on a heavyweight show, etc...though, come to think of it, the two of them are pretty equal in size at this point, huh?

I'm just trying to think more outside the box. WWE has already gone the route of two separate shows with their own booking teams, own championship structure, etc., so I'm thinking of ways to lessen TNA's roster crowding problem, and to try something different from what anybody else has done in America. CROSS THE LINE(!!!) and all that.

Any other outside the box ideas would be cool to hear, too.

[comahan]

Well, this is... sort of close to what youre talking about;

- There has been talk of a TNA X-Division series on Spike TV. [Credit: Pwinsider.com]

An all X Division show would be sweet.

[HMARK Center]

The implications of such a move could be huge, and, if nothing else, it truly would present a big part of TNA's product as a strong alternative in mainstream wrestling.

Of course, the onus is on TNA, if this newsbit is for real, to book the X-Division at a strength so that the fans can REALLY get behind it. Book a X-Division show with the strength you book Impact, and leave it to the fans to see what they respond to more.

[londonfan]

Horrible idea. Vince proved a long time ago that the *smaller guys* can be World Champions when WCW showed no confidence in them. Keeping the smaller guys away from the bigger guys just makes the smaller guys look even more useless and less important than TNA already makes them look.

Tomko.

[Next Level was WRONG]

Yeah, remember when Naomichi Marafuji won The GHC Heavyweight title in Japan and nobody took him seriously because he had been in the juniors all his career? Imagine that, but with Jay Lethal.


Seriously, it'd be a disaster.

[AriadosMan]

Aug 11, 2009 18:12:45 GMT -5 londonfan said:

Horrible idea. Vince proved a long time ago that the *smaller guys* can be World Champions when WCW showed no confidence in them. Keeping the smaller guys away from the bigger guys just makes the smaller guys look even more useless and less important than TNA already makes them look.

Tomko.

You just said something I agree with...amazing.