TNA: Why They Need to Take a Page from WWE's Book and Focus on Storytelling

Since the Hulk Hogan and Eric Bishoff era began, TNA Wrestling has undergone many changes.

The Internet Wrestling Community has been very critical of these changes, yet I have remained positive in my views of the company.

I believe if TNA succeeds, the entire professional wrestling industry as an entirety is much better off for it.

As the Monday Night Wars in the late 1990s proved, competition makes everybody step up their game, even the multi-millionaire Vincent Kennedy McMahon.

I was watching this week's edition of iMPACT Wrestling, perhaps with my mind wondering to many other things (due to boredom), when something hit me.

While the WWE is upping its game by having tremendous wrestling matches and intriguing story lines, TNA continues with its illogical swerves and need for constant gimmick matches.

For example, in the last two weeks of iMPACT, TNA has had a ladder match, an Ultimate-X match and a steel cage match. They have had the classic Crash TV booking, with run-ins, spot fests and swerving us just for the sake of a swerve. 

Meanwhile, CM Punk and John Cena put on a great wrestling match, with no gimmicks attached so-to-speak. On Raw, they have been putting on a clinic on the microphone, showing all the younger talent how it's done.

TNA needs to take a step back and realize what the art of wrestling is supposed to be. In its truest form, professional wrestling is storytelling, not 40-year-old men screaming at each other and then blading at every turn.

Nor is it constant spots or gimmick matches, no matter how entertaining they may be, you can only take so much of it. At some point, spots no longer impress you. 

TNA has lacked the storytelling element for the better part of its existence, but it has been even more rare since the arrivals of Hulk Hogan and Vince Russo.

The solution is simply to let the best performer have the spotlight, like AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Kurt Angle and many others. These are men who can not only do crazy back flips, but can tell a story inside the ring.

Shawn Michaels was impressive athletically, but his ability to tell a story was unmatched, with The Undertaker being the only other on his level.  

Let story lines take more organic twists and not think up a contorted, unnecessary way to confuse your audience.  

Proof?

Watch AJ Styles versus Christopher Daniels from Destination X. That is what TNA needs.

If you like my writing, please visit the Enigmatic Generation of Wrestling, where I along with other Bleacher Report alumni have exclusive pieces daily. Make sure to follow me on Twitter @RyanFrye_V2, and fan me on my Bleacher Report profile page, where I just became an analyst.