TNA Made the IMPACT It Wanted but Will It Remain That Way?

When Gunner beat Anderson last night in a non-title match on IMPACT, the writers and Eric Bischoff finally may have stumbled onto something big with its new wrestling format.

Actually, the entire show looked more dramatic, more in sync and of course, more popular with the fans not only in the IMPACT Zone, but with this writer and fan as well.

The win by Gunner did two things. It showed the challenger will still keep his ties with Immortal and Bischoff (remember the Rock and McMahon or the NWO and Bischoff) and that Anderson (who does his best to be Stone Cold Steve Austin and it just does not work) will be fighting the fight on his own.

Fans will have no problems cheering for Gunner as long as he proves himself a worthy opponent and continues to climb the ladder.

The idea for “Bound for Glory” may be the best thing to happen to the company in many months. The twelve stars that compete will all work in iron man style and will remain relevant within the brand. This is important to wrestlers like Samoa Joe, RVD and Scott Steiner who are treading right now in a sea of mediocrity.

Since the company has put the belt on Anderson and has upstarts like Gunner and Crimson in the mix as well as Matt Morgan (my choice to win this tournament), it means they are in need of another push to remain as a top draw.

Last night’s three-way dance for an X-Division contract proves Bischoff knows how important the cruiserweights are to the company. Austin Aries win over Kid Kash and Jimmy Rave was OUTSTANDING and shows the popularity of these wrestlers and the need for Kazarian and Brian Kendrick to remain in the fold.

The changes last night, which also included the confrontation between Sting and Hogan over Hogan’s true “colors” show there will be more changes coming soon and will impact (pun intended) the future of the company.

Sting was the standard bearer for WCW when it was falling apart and challenged Hogan and Bischoff back then, only he was quiet and carried a bat with him. He became a darker character and showed his silence as more of the threat.

Now, more vocal (which is a good thing), we see him forcibly challenging Hogan, which ultimately will end up in the ring with some type of management stipulation in the balance.

Am I the only one who hopes Bully Ray and AJ Styles continue to battle after the pay-per-view? Both men nearly killed each other and made for good theater. Now that the network has moved away from the factions of Immortal and Fortune somewhat (which I hope is not a sign that they are killing the ideas all together) maybe some one-on-one time in the ring is good.

Both men are participants in the “Bound for Glory” series.

Hernandez needs another push. The idea of this Mexican/America tag team is getting old. Hernandez used to be one of the organization’s top talents.

He was feuding with Matt Morgan and it ended. He now needs a face turn and some momentum because he should be challenging Anderson and Morgan again, not Devon, unless D’Angelo Dinero somehow turns face.

And finally, I would be remiss if I did not say that watching Velvet Sky in the ring again was one of the highlights of the night. The battle between her and ODB and now Miss Jackie proves TNA is working on improving its women’s Knockout Division.