TNA- The Impact of no more Impact

As I sat watching Impact Wrestling coming live from the Manhattan Centre last week it felt very much like TNA was hitting the reset button again. Before anything else Kurt Angle reintroduced the six-sided ring after the fans voted for it to return. Since Angle's return as Executive Director of Wrestling Operations (What a mouthful, remember when wrestling used simple terms like 'president' or 'commissioner'?) there has been a renewed focus on in ring action and a concerted effort to return to logical story telling. As I watched Impact for the first time in several months I thought about three things. Firstly I thought about how for the first time in some time I was actually enjoying the show. Secondly I thought about Velvet Sky... let's face it. Anyone who read my reviews during my time with Divas of Destruction will know I'm always thinking about Velvet while I watch TNA. She wasn't even on the show that week!

The third thing I thought about was how resilient the company is. WCW were founded in 1988 and folded in 2001. We're talking twelve and a half years when you do the maths. ECW lasted a relatively short seven years. Not every company can have as illustrious a run as WWE but with that being said I thought about TNA's twelve years as a wrestling company. They've matched WCW in terms of simply existing. They've surpassed ECW. Yet there were times when one would think they were done for which are well documented. Unfortunately just days after thinking about TNA's resilience and relative longevity, the biggest threat to their existence in years reared it's head... Spike TV who air Impact Wrestling in the US have chosen NOT to renew their contract with TNA.

Although TNA have a huge following internationally (particularly here in the UK) this could be disastrous for TNA. Simply put their PPV business is barely negligible. If TNA can't work things out with Spike TV or an alternative TV station then they may join WCW and ECW in the graveyard of wrestling companies. Even for those who don't watch TNA, their ceasing to be as a company would be terrible news for wrestling fans. WWE don't need other wrestling companies to exist. As long as the WWE Network becomes a success they will be completely self sufficient. Their performance centre means that they don't even need to reach out to the indies for their talent although they still do. If you as a wrestling fan don't like what WWE is selling then at the moment they aren't the only restaurant in town. If TNA fold then they might as well be until Jeff Jarrett gets GFW off the ground. Not only that but there would be so many talented wrestlers we may never see on primetime TV again.

There is a glimmer of hope in that Dixie Carter tweeted yesterday that:

 Negotiations with @SpikeTV are ongoing. Stay tuned and be sure to tune in this Thursday night for Ultimate X on #ImpactOnSpike!!

On top of that Spike TV have said they don't comment on 'ongoing' negotiations. Perhaps TNA will dodge yet another bullet. I sincerely hope they do as I love having an alternative to WWE as much as I am really enjoying WWE's product at the moment. I guess the wrestling world will all be watching with baited breath to see if TNA can overcome this latest storm. Either way it's going to be a really interesting few weeks ahead for TNA and the wrestling business as a whole.

What do you think? Reply below or tweet me @NorrisApproved3