Of course, the premature reporting didn't uncover a big detail of that jump. Then again, even if Nigel's contract wasn't rescinded and he did make the move because he was tired of waiting for the paperwork, would it have been as bad as we were all fearing (myself included here)?
Thar be spoilers after the jump, yarr.... According to spoilers from the most recent TNA tapings, Nigel, newly christened Desmond Wolfe (not Dylan as I had said yesterday) is being immediately thrust into a main event program with Kurt Angle, having attacked him backstage and in the ring with the Tower of London, setting up a PPV match. Not bad for a newly-debuting non-ex-WWE/WCW talent, eh? In addition, the main event for the title was announced as a rehash of the famous X-Division three-way from 9/11/05, the only time the X-Division Championship headlined a PPV (Unbreakable), AJ Styles defending against Christopher Daniels and Samoa Joe. Does this mean TNA is finally realizing that it needs to change its identity and get one that's original and fresh rather than a carbon copy of what the WWE's is?
If this is the case, then that makes the Nigel signing look that much smarter for him and in general. Putting the strap on AJ Styles was the beginning. Hernandez's continued push is another really good sign. Matt Morgan... he still sucks, but I'll take his suck over Kevin Nash's suck in the main event. Yeah, Nash re-upped for a year, so he could still loom, but with the jettisoning of Booker T and Scott Steiner, the young guys, the originals and the indie free agents are starting to outnumber the rehashes and making the viable rehashes (Angle specifically) look more like pieces of the puzzle rather than part of the problem. And now Nigel gets a transitioning from indie main eventer to TNA main eventer, one that actually makes sense because of the relative penetration of both markets. For the first time in a long time, I'm excited for TNA.
Of course, TNA has teased this often in the past. Every time they seem to turn the corner, something happens where the rug is violently pulled out from under the fans. With Vince Russo solely at the helm though, I might take a chance. Sure, Russo is shit as an idea man, but he is the guy who kept trying to push new faces in the WWF when he was there. He brought us the New Blood, and although it was a failure, but a good intentioned-failure. He wanted to push the young guys, but he had the fuck-tarded idea to do it with them as the heels. If Russo gets people in his ear that tell him to lean towards the indie mode of match booking and keep the amount of Dusty finishes and nonsensical matches to a minimum, then TNA might have something.
Hell, even if Russo continues to be Russo, it might just be worth it to see TNA building some new stars and giving the people something to talk about. If the base is talking, maybe some of their friends who like the WWE or used to like WCW will come around and watch. Of course, the problem will be with them sticking, and I'm not so sure that Russo's booking formula is conducive for fans to stick around.
That being said, there's hope and excitement in TNA for the first time in a long time, maybe since they signed Angle away from the WWE. I will take a wait and see approach with it, but that's more than I can say from, say, when this was happening on Impact:
