Believe It or Not, Here are Four Reasons Why You Should Watch TNA Wrestlng by Corey Henson

Corey Henson and Troy go back.  Corey once worked at ADV, and he and Troy wrote for Newtype USA together before Corey came over to Shotgun.  Corey was one of the three original Best Shots members with Troy and The Rev. OJ Flow.  And when Troy became Newsarama's Blog@ Captain, Corey was part of that crew too.  His Shotgun rep is deep, and his knowledge of comics, anime and wrestling is large.  Ladies and gentlmen, Corey f'n Henson is back . . .

TNA Wrestling has been the laughing stock of professional wrestling for many years, and not without reason. Frankly, for much of its history, TNA has been completely unwatchable. As a matter of fact, I stopped watching TNA during the summer of 2009, and didn’t miss it for even a second. Recently, I decided to give Impact Wrestling another chance, and I was pleasantly surprised that the show had improved greatly while I wasn’t watching. In fact, I’d say that most weeks, TNA Impact Wrestling is a much better show than WWE Raw. If you’re a wrestling fan who’s been ignoring TNA, here is, in no particular order, a list of reasons why you may want to give the company a chance to make a positive impression.

1. THE RESURRECTION OF STING
TNA has a history of spending way too much time and money on middle-aged, washed-up wrestlers who ultimately do nothing to make positive contributions to TNA. Randy Savage, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Hulk Hogan and others have all failed to live up to contracts with more zeroes than a New Jersey night club. At the opposite end of the spectrum there’s Sting, the 52-year old legend who’s turned down numerous opportunities to sign with the WWE for the sake of multiple runs in TNA. Sting’s TNA career hasn’t always been stellar, thanks to a combination of poor booking and Sting’s own diminishing abilities as an athlete. There was also a heel turn in 2008 that was hard to watch because Sting never seemed to fully commit himself to making it work. For the past year, however, Sting has been one of the highlights of TNA. Once again, he’s reinvented his character, swapping the Crow motif he developed in 1996 for a new persona that’s equal parts Frank Gorshin’s Riddler and Heath Ledger’s Joker. It sounds utterly ridiculous on paper, but in reality it’s quite awesome, because Sting is busting his ass to make it work both in and out of the ring. Most of all, he looks like he’s having fun again, and it’s a blast to watch. If these are indeed the waning days of his wrestling career, as it’s been rumored, then he’s definitely going out on a high note.



2. BULLY RAY: THE BEST HEEL IN WRESTLING?
Back in 2002, the WWE split up the Dudley Boyz and attempted to push them both as singles wrestlers. It didn’t work out, and eventually the two longtime partners reunited. Then, in 2010, five years after coming to TNA, the Dudleys (now known as Team 3D) went their separate ways again. A newly motivated Bubba Ray got a second chance to shine on his own, and he’s made the most of the opportunity. He’s in the best shape of his career after shedding a staggering amount of excess weight, and has refined his loudmouth, roughneck persona into arguably the best heel act in all of wrestling. Now, the rechristened Bully Ray is firmly entrenched at the top of the TNA midcard while also playing a supporting role in the main event storylines. He’s always had charisma, and now he’s proving he can perform at a high level without relying on a tag team partner. Don’t be surprised if Bully Ray becomes THE breakout star in wrestling for 2012.

3. VINCE RUSSO HAS LEFT THE BUILDING
Vince Russo’s work as the head writer of TNA over the past ten years has been filled with senseless plot twists that exist only for the sake of misdirecting audience expectations, rampant sexism and misogyny, and a complete lack of regard for basic storytelling tenets like pacing and resolution. Impact Wrestling was mostly unwatchable, thanks to him. Russo’s defenders will say that he has a great creative mind, he just needs someone watching over him to keep his more insane ideas in check. There is some truth to this; after all, his creative peak was during his time as head writer in the World Wrestling Federation during the Attitude Era, where Vince McMahon has always had final say over the company’s creative direction. To Russo’s detractors, the man is no less than the worst thing that has ever existed, as evidenced by a stint in control of WCW that ranks somewhere between In The Life Of Chris Gaines and the Titanic on the list of history’s all-time greatest disasters. Hell, Rowdy Roddy Piper basically accused Russo of killing Owen Hart. In other words, Vince Russo is a polarizing figure, to say the least. That’s why, when it was announced last year that Bruce Pritchard was taking over as TNA head writer, with Russo taking a diminished role as a contributing writer, wrestling fans were hopeful that TNA would once again be worth watching. Pritchard’s influence was immediate, as he slowed down the show’s pacing from Russo’s mile-a-minute tempo. Now, storylines are given more time to develop, and are more memorable because of it. Earlier this month, Russo resigned from the company entirely, and with his influence no longer tainting the writing, there’s reason to believe TNA will continue to make marked improvements in quality.

4. YOU WON’T SEE THAT IN THE WWE
TNA has always tried to present itself as an alternative to the WWE, even though the company has never been as different as the people in charge would like for you to believe. But TNA still stands apart from the WWE for a number of reasons. Unlike the WWE, TNA isn’t rated PG. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the WWE’s family-friendly direction, but sometimes, a blood feud needs to have a little blood and excessive violence, which you won‘t see on Raw. TNA is also home to a number of great wrestlers who would never get a chance to shine in the WWE. Austin Aries was turned down for the cast of the most recent Tough Enough, but has shown that he’s one of the best wrestlers in the world since coming to TNA last year. AJ Styles is one of the top stars in TNA history and one of the most highly regarded workers in the business, but he works the kind of high-flying cruiserweight style that has largely fallen out of style in the WWE. Alex Shelley, Zema Ion, Christopher Daniels, and Doug Williams are other talented members of the TNA roster who wouldn’t fit in nearly as well in the ranks of the WWE, but still deserve recognition among mainstream wrestling fans.

TNA never truly developed a unique identity for itself, there is still has a lot of room for improvement, but for the most part, they seem to be on the right track. It’s probably too late for the company to offer any serious competition to the WWE, but with its current direction, TNA is well on its way to regaining respectability.