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

Welcome!

Hi all and welcome to the first ever post here at Norris Approved; my latest attempt at a blog. My name is Mike Norris and I live in Durham in the North East of England. It's a pretty awesome place and when I'm not working or generally busy I tend to write. What about? Well anything really... I'm currently attempting to write my first novel which has been in the pipeline for a year or so now. I'm sure I'll find the time to discuss that soon. But when I'm not deep in a world that I created I have a lot to say about certain passions in my life. If you have even a passing interest in any of the following things then maybe you'll get something out of my blog... MUSIC Music (like many of us out there) is my first passion. While I wish to high heaven I could play an instrument I have to make do with simply listening and loving music wherever I can get it. While most people in my neck of the woods splurge all their money on getting pissed every Saturday night, I would be much happier at a live show watching one of my favourite bands. Pretty much anyone who knows me knows that I'm a pretty major Queen fan. Seriously I tend to think I'd do pretty respectable on Mastermind with Queen as my specialty subject. Outside of Queen I sit very much in the hard rock/metal camp. Some of the bands I love and have been lucky enough to see at festivals and gigs include legends like Metallica, AC/DC, Kiss along with future headliners such as Black Stone Cherry, Steel Panther and Airbourne. So what qualifies me to have a blog about music? Well not a fat lot. I had a blog back in 2010 called 'Definitive Hysteria' but I didn't really keep it up as I was training to be a counsellor at the time. Four years later, I'm qualified and that creative part of my brain is flowing again. It helps that 2014 is seeing a huge resurgence in the music I love. Needless to say if you are a fan of rock/metal then this blog is for you. I will sometimes deviate from that but rock will always be my first love. WRESTLING Yes I'm a 28 year old man and I watch wrestling. Yes I'm aware that it's all planned out in advance. That's the joy of it! Do you like 'House of Cards' or 'The Big Bang Theory'? Guess what? They're 'planned out' too. Wrestling when done right is the most exciting thing you can watch live or on TV. Even in the knowledge that WWE is 'fake' (I HATE that word! More on this another time) they can still have me on the edge of my seat with the stories they tell in and out of the ring. Having said that when it's bad it can be excruciating! I have no problem calling WWE/TNA on their cheesy moments too! Some of you may have stumbled upon this and remember that I used to write for Divas of Destruction a few years back; a website dedicated to women's wrestling in WWE, TNA and beyond. Among various bits and bobs I used to review TNA Impact Wrestling (back when the Knockouts rocked) and NXT Season 3 (AJ Lee and Kaitlyn started out here) so it'd be fun to share my thoughts on wrestling once again. MOVIES/TV I graduated from uni in 2007 with a degree in TV and Radio Production. I haven't really done anything with this qualification since then but that doesn't mean I won't touch on film/TV a bit now and then. If I'd had this blog set up a couple of weeks ago I would have had a lot to say about the 'How I Met Your Mother' finale for example. So yeah I'll no doubt touch on this too. So thst's what to expect from Norris Approved Album Reviews. I may even post a video or two. The dream would be a podcast but we'll start here. Needless to say please spread the word and more importantly let me know what you want to see here. If there's anything you want me to talk about; email me. If there's something you want my views on; tweet me @norrisapproved. If there's a gig you want to hear about buy me tickets... I'm only half joking about that gig thing. So whether this lasts 5 posts or 5000 let's ride this out and rock on! Mike