By Wade Keller, PWTorch editor

TNA has a "new stars" problem. In our year-end poll this week asking readers to vote for the "Rising Star of the Year," out of 1,672 votes so far, 75 votes went to current TNA talent.

Austin Aries, a 35 year old decade-plus long veteran, was not on the list, but probably would have been the top vote-getter if he were included on the ballot. He'd also be the oldest person on the list of 19 other candidates.

In other words, in 2012, one of TNA's strengths was not building new stars.

A big part of what makes pro wrestling great fun to watch is seeing new stars on the rise. TNA has spent a lot of their 10-plus years pushing older stars who had that "recognition factor" from the Monday Night War era. If you look at WWE, though, there's almost no one left from the 1990s Monday Night War era getting a push. If so, like Rock and Undertaker and Triple H, they are special attractions.

TNA has a number of potential bright future stars who, with a serious push, could become this generation's TNA main eventers. But for every Magnus who seems to have a real upside, there's someone eating up roster space who maybe doesn't belong.

Where TNA had a good 2012 was getting more out of older wrestlers. Christopher Daniels and Bully Ray stood out as having career years in terms of being MVPs of many episodes of Impact. In 2013, they should be used not just to fill TV time and key PPV matches with a good veteran presence, but help get over talent in the 22-32 year old age range that can serve TNA for years to come.

Even just looking at "now" and not setting themselves up with main-eveners a year or two down the line, I really believe fans want to get a feeling they are watching younger wrestlers on their way to stardom. This means scoring big wins or at least putting up good fights against more experienced talent.

In late 2011, James Storm and Robert Roode looked to be on their way to break out years in 2012. Roode had a solid year, but at 36 years old now, he's not "the future." He's already one of those established singles wrestlers who should be in the mix, but also helping get the next generation over, not just out of the goodness of his heart, but because he's more valuable to TNA if fans care about his matches, and they'll care more if he's wrestling a wrestler that looks like star on the rise with a bright future.

Storm, meanwhile, had a shaky year. With Storm, they needed to go all the way with him because the half-way push he got just defined him down as a second-tier babyface who can't cut it on top. Nobody gave more spirited babyface promos in TNA than he did, but management must have felt he came up short in other areas.

Meanwhile, they do have use of Rob Van Dam, another 41-year-old, but unlike Daniels and Bully Ray, he had anything but a career year. The most noteworthy thing in his 2012 was complaining about not being able to bash people with chairs anymore because that's what his fans want to see. There are so many things wrong with that point of view, I can't fit them into this commentary.

I don't think anyone looks at Garett Bischoff as nearly ready for the type of TV time he has received, even if it's been more limited lately. Wes Brisco is not a future star. Joey Ryan is a nice comedy type figure, but he's not someone they can look at as a future headliner.

While Matt Morgan could be in for a big 2013 push and Jeff Hardy is their World Champion, they are 35 and 36 years old, respectively. They have good years left, for sure, but TNA needs to find a few people in their 20s or early 30s who fans can look at as future stars.

WWE has The Shield, Antonio Cesaro, Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, Ryback, and Damien Sandow all getting a lot of votes for Rising Star of the Year. TNA is coming up blank. That's an area to work on. A vital area.

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