By Greg Parks, PWTorch Contributor

Many people, myself included, have praised the Main Event Mafia vs. Frontline angle in TNA. The angle gives TNA a focus and direction they have lacked for a long time. They’re also making an effort to get guys like Eric Young and The Motor City Machine Guns over as main-event players by virtue of them hanging out with the top guys. TNA has also done well to avoid beefing up the numbers in the MEM, resisting the urge to add guys like Al Snow and Frank Trigg, wisely keeping group membership to former World Champions. Sure, there are still problems with the angle, like Samoa Joe and AJ Styles being pushed to the background in favor of retreads like Team 3D and Rhino, as well as the MEM dominating the feud. But taken overall, the feud is largely positive for the wrestlers and TNA in general.

However, TNA seems to be neglecting their undercard feuds since the top angle has begun to play out. The X Division, once this company’s crown jewel and the key component that separated them from WWE, has become an afterthought. A year ago, the women’s division was the highlight and often highest-rated segments of the show. Today, there is little depth to that division now and few characters to get excited about.

On TNA Impact, there seems to be less and less in-ring action each week. When X-Division matches only get two or three minutes, it’s hard to get over the performers’ personas or the athleticism that they are supposed to be featuring. Instead, the matches have been cut short to feature more segments relating to the main feud in TNA. The cream of the division, somebody like Jay Lethal, while he is getting face time against the Main Event Mafia, he is usually on the losing end of that battle. Sort of like The Frontline’s version of NWO Vincent. Sonjay Dutt and So Cal Val, coming off the up-and-down angle with Black Machismo, are middling in mediocrity with nothing to do.

lSheik Abdul Bashir, also at the top of the X Division ranks, is a one-dimensional character who is feuding with a referee. The Young-Bashir feud showed promise, but Young has been treated like a joke for so long, he really needed some re-building before he was thrust into the title picture. Plus, they pushed Shane Sewell into the middle of that feud, cutting the legs out from under Young and stopping whatever momentum he had. Petey Williams is on the shelf and Christopher Daniels is transitioning back to himself after wasting a year as Curry Man. These are big-name X Division competitors and could beef up the division in the future.

Since Gail Kim’s departure, TNA’s Knockout Division seems to have gone downhill. Can one woman have that much impact? Apparently so. They tried to follow Kim with Taylor Wilde in the “fan from the stands wins the title” angle against Awesome Kong (which worked so well for WWE and Santino Marella). The angle got Kong over more as she took on all comers, but Wilde didn’t have the in-ring capabilities nor the connection with the fans to make it work. Christy Hemme is in the role as top face now, but she has certain limitations in the ring and doesn’t have the pedigree to be a serious opponent to Kong. Plus, she is fresh off managing the heel Rock ‘N Rave Infection. The Beautiful People get great crowd reactions and are, more often than not, entertaining, but they are heels and are too valuable at this point to turn face and feud with Kong. ODB could take over that role, since the fans are into her and she has fared relatively well in the ring. But the writers seem content to sit back and write comedy for her rather than make her a serious threat to the title. Roxxi as the hardcore Knockout leaves a lot to be desired. There’s just nothing that stands out about her that would make you want to build the division around her.

Not only are these two divisions suffering but overall, there is little going on in the mid-card of TNA since the MEM-Frontline angle started. With Team 3D in the main event scene and LAX getting individual title shots thanks to the Feast or Fired match, there is little in the tag scene to get excited about. With LAX re-signing with TNA, it’s likely they’ll stay as a tag-team for the long-term. They are two centerpieces of TNA and the whole is certainly greater than the sum of the parts. As long as they’re together, they should always be near the forefront of the tag scene. Team 3D have the credibility other teams don’t and if you don’t believe it, just ask them.

Their in-ring abilities may be waning, but they can still bring it when motivated. Matt Morgan & Abyss have teamed as of late and while Morgan is certainly an impressive athlete, it’s disappointing to see Abyss treated as a comedy figure after being such an effective monster for so long. Beer Money Inc. can be entertaining at times and can bring it in the ring. They had a feud with LAX, but that seems to have run its course. The new champions of Jay Lethal & Consequences Creed have promise and also have the rub of being in The Frontline, as do the Machine Guns. But aside from these few teams, again, there is little depth beyond them. Like the X Division, a focus on the tag teams could separate them from WWE. There are many wrestlers who are directionless that could be paired together to form a decent tag team; it worked for James Storm and Robert Roode. 

TNA seems to have sacrificed roster depth for their main event feud. That may work in the short-term, but the undercard is where you develop the future main-eventers, whether they are brought to the forefront naturally or should injury occur. For the future of TNA, here’s to hoping they put more time and thought into the mid-card. 

[This article originally appeared as a PDF-exclusive bonus page in the Jan. 13, 2009 PWTorch Newsletter. Subscribers to PWTorch VIP have access to weekly PDF bonus articles by Greg Parks every week in the PWTorch Newsletter.]

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