2016 for TNA Wrestling was a year full of uncertainty and conflicting news… and that was just for the wrestlers in the company. The year started with questions as to the long-term viability of TNA Wrestling and whether TNA President Dixie Carter would be the one to lead the company through the year. Those questions were the common topic of conversation when it came to TNA, instead of the outstanding shows and in-ring action taking place weekly.
What were the main stories about TNA Wrestling in 2016? While there are so many places you could go with that question, there are three major points of the promotion’s year that had many talking and the most obvious starts the review of TNA in the year 2016.
The Ownership Fiasco
This story was a constant source of news for months, going all the way back to TNA’s Slammiversary show in June. Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan, brought on as a writer months prior, loaned the company money to put on Slammiversary. According to Corgan, this happened two more times until Carter agreed to sell him equity in TNA Wrestling and make him TNA President. This was thought to be the stabilizing move for TNA. However TNA and the word stable has never gone together.
In October Corgan filed a lawsuit against TNA and Carter claiming he was lied to regarding the purchase of TNA. He also said in court documents that he believed TNA Wrestling was insolvent, which was a clause in his deal where he would take over. Ultimately Corgan lost his court case and TNA was eventually purchased by Anthem Sports and Entertainment, the company that airs TNA’s Impact Wrestling show on The Fight Network in Canada . Anthem actually paid back the Corgan debt and now owns 85 percent of TNA at this time. Carter, who has run the company into the ground over the decade, still owns five percent while an outside company owns 10 percent.
Anthem seems to be committed to rebuilding TNA after the ownership issues that troubled the company for all of 2016. Things got so bad for the company, at one point no one knew whether their biggest show of the year (Bound for Glory in October) and the subsequent TV tapings would even take place. The bright side of all the moving and shaking in 2016 is that Dixie Carter does not have any say in any major decisions for the company and that one move may have saved TNA… for the time being.
Despite Management Issues, Impact Wrestling Has Been Good
While all the news in 2016 focused on who owns the company and who owes who money, the actual Impact Wrestling television show has been a pleasant surprise weekly. While not every show is a home run, there were weeks where Impact was better than Monday Night Raw . Between EC3 and his greatness, the continued improvement of Bobby Lashley to the renewed emphasis on the X-Division, TNA finally showed focus, which resulted in good shows.
Even with a good show, the ratings hover between only 300,000-350,000 viewers a week and that is not TNA’s fault. Pop TV is not a popular network like Spike TV, where TNA was drawing 1.5 million viewers weekly. Unfortunately the TNA brand has to be rehabilitated and this is what happens; you go to a bad network and receive no viewers while you get your house in order. Then when it comes together, you go to a bigger network.
The fear is that without Corgan and head writer Dave Lagana (who left with Corgan) the product and writing will suffer. It helps to be idealistic when it comes to TNA but if they just stay the course, people will come back. Just don’t do anything stupid, TNA Wrestling creative team.
Broken Hardys Storyline Still Not Old
Months ago the assumption was that at some point, the Broken Hardys storyline would run its course and people will get tired of it. Well, it’s almost New Years and TNA just had an entire Impact Wrestling show from the Hardy compound entitled Total Nonstop Deletion , which may have been the best Impact Wrestling episode ever. While Broken Jeff Hardy/Itchweeed is going well, Broken Matt Hardy is still the star of the show, as his promos and skits are worth your time. His work has many believing that the WWE may make a play for him when his contract comes up in the next few weeks.
While the Broken Hardys story cannot go on until 2018, it could definitely continue for a few more months, when an ultimate ending is needed to end it. Knowing Matt Hardy, the end to his storyline will be epic and worthy of a major pay-per-view angle. The key to the phasing out of this storyline will be to find the team/group that will take the mantle and “Delete” The Hardys. As of right now that team/group does not exist but TNA has a little while longer to find them. But the Broken Hardys is the highlight of TNA Wrestling at this very moment.
What are your thoughts about TNA Wrestling going into 2017? Let us know in our comment section.
