Of the many problems the company has, the roster isn't one of them. Well, it is in a way, but it's mostly in the utilization. It seems like every former WCW or WWE guy that comes through the gates is pushed to the moon. Meanwhile, AJ Styles has been with the company seven years and he's jobbing lame titles to Kevin Nash and waiting to get his shot to carry the promotion as "The Man" like he should be right now. Yeah, because that's how you build an identity. *rolls eyes*
With good booking, any roster can work, but at the same time, a big part of having identity is creating stars of your own, or at the very least taking the other guy's castoffs and reinventing them if they have the talent so that it seems like they're TNA originals. Paul Heyman did just that with ECW. When you saw Raven, he wasn't Scotty Flamingo or Johnny Polo. He was Raven. In fact, you had to have a smart friend or the Internet to figure it out. It was that good. TNA needs to do that, and therefore, there needs to be an enema at the top of the card. Guys need to either go completely or be reassigned into NPC roles, like Booker and Nash, who have value in the roles I outlined last time, or Sting and even Scott Steiner, who have value as road agents. But that they're wrestling and winning titles is just ludicrous. There needs to be a paradigm shift. Here's where it should come:
After the jump...
Main Event Wrestlers: Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Abyss, Jay Lethal
None of those six names should really surprise you excepting maybe Lethal and I guess Angle after that rant. However, here's the deal on Kurt Angle. While he's probably legitimately out of his mind and definitely someone who came in after being King Shit of Fuck Mountain in the WWE, he's one of those signings that make sense, a superstar to supplement a roster that should have been comprised of originals. Angle remains mainly because he's still a great wrestler and a name talent that can be used to both sell PPVs and, when the time comes, put over the other guys as legitimate threats. We've all seen Angle at his best in the WWE, so it goes without saying that if he were to get back to that level in TNA, it'd be a plus for them.
AJ Styles is a no-brainer really. The guy is talented, charismatic and loyal. He should be the face of the company. I'd build it around him with Angle and Samoa Joe as his heel challengers.
Speaking of Joe, first thing would be to wipe the penis off his face. Next, he goes back to being the "Joe's gonna kill you" assassin-type techincal marvel who chokes people out and feels no remorse over doing it. He's the one guy who's going to take the most rehabbing, but it'll be worth it because he does have a certain animal charisma, and I think as a heel, he could be a viable asset to feud with a bunch of guys, not just Daniels or Styles.
Daniels and Lethal are both smallish, but at this point, I'm building a company that is the opposite of what the WWE is. Because I want to put it out there that ability > look, why not push two of the most gifted smaller guys out there? Plus, let's face it, how many MMA superstars are roided out of their minds? Boxers? Legit tough guys? In fact, most legit fighters will tell you that the big muscleheads wouldn't be able to do much because they'd be immobile. Lethal presents an interesting case because he's been Black Machismo for so long. I'd be inclined to let him run with it, just because aside from the DVD, Macho Man hasn't been in the consciousness of the WWE forever, and really, a tribute gimmick isn't bad when it's done well. I mean, do I need to remind you that Ric Flair wasn't the original Nature Boy, and that turned out just fine?
Finally, there's Abyss, another guy who's been with the company forever and has a potential niche as a monster-type. Yeah, he's not a very good worker in the Angle/Joe/Styles sense, but he's not horrible and can fill the role for an underdog to take down on the way up, like say, Hernandez.
Of course, those six guys would comprise the TNA World Championship Division for the next few months. The next level down would compete for the Legends Championship... yeah I know, it's a lame name and a lame title, but hear me out. Instead of just ditching the title altogether and shoving everyone in the midcard in the X-Division, why not rename the title and keep it around, something like the TNA North American Championship? That would work. Here's that division:
North American Level Wrestlers: Hernandez, Cody Deaner, D'Lo Brown, Claudio Castagnioli, Necro Butcher, Ken Anderson, Umaga, Ken Doane, Jethro Holliday, Nigel McGuinness
Here you have a fair mix of indie talent, TNA guys and WWE castoffs that need to be reinvented. They at least tried with Jethro Holliday (the former Trevor Murdoch), so that's a start. Anderson is another guy that is acceptable to bring over as is, but he can't be mentioning the WWE all the time. That's one of the things that I hate about TNA, their propensity to mention the WWE, mention history, almost putting what happens over there over what's going on in the fed itself.
Umaga would probably have to be reinvented a little bit, but I think he'd be a good second for Samoa Joe. I'd redo him as sort of a silent bodyguard, an anti-Samoan gimmicked Samoan, a slick savage to coin a phrase.
Necro Butcher is so obviously over in the indies, and he's got the size and the raw unorthodox charisma that I think would translate well to the big stage. Why he hasn't been approached by either company is beyond me. He and Hernandez would have a great big-man feud, one that people would be talking about for a long time. McGuinness and Castagnioli are no-brainers as well, although McGuinness' penchant for getting hurt is a red flag, especially since chinadoll Anderson is in the same sort of mix.
Ken Doane was a late addition to that division, but my eyes were opened at DGUSA. He played his role so well. He can work in my TNA any time. Same for D'Lo Brown, whom I thought got an unfair shake years ago with the Droz thing and again this past run, where he was signed but not given any TV time. D'Lo would be great in ECW in the Goldust veteran-jobber-to-the-up-and-comers role where his sole duty would be to put on great matches with the rookies he's putting over. But their loss would be my TNA's gain.
Rounding out would be Cody Deaner, who is one of the lone bright spots of the fed as is right now.
Next installment will be dedicated to the X-Division and Tag Teams.
Banner by K. Sawyer Paul
