NoDQ.com > Columns > Hillmania Runs Wild on the TNA Tag Division Posted by Kevin Hillman on 04/20/2008 at 10:33 PM
More Orton Articles coming soon, but I must say, I wasn't too happy with all the feedback I got.
Is the tag division in TNA about to receive a facelift?
Since getting their second hour, TNA has made a serious effort to add a large number of viewers every week by adding intrigue and cliffhangers to their weekly shows. Most times, this intrigue has just left fans scratching their heads and saying 'wtf?'. This most recent cliffhanger about the tag division has also left many with that same feeling, but it is also a much more intriguing cliffhanger than others.
Most fans hate the idea of stripping any title off of its holder, and I am no exception. I am also in no way, a fan of Super Eric. However, the stripping of AJ and Tomko (or Super Eric and Kaz, depending how you look at it) of their titles, is actually quite appealing.
For months, fans of TNA have watched the tag team division in curiosity of how long it would take for TNA to revamp the division that once separated it from the competition. AJ Styles and Tomko, while a phenomenal team, didn't have the feeling of a tag team, and it was widely believed that they would merely be transitional champions. That belief actually made their matches much more unpredictable and shocking, though it was at the expense of the powerful tag team division that was already in place. Many fans have just been watching on wondering what team it would be that would finally defeat the former Coalition.
My personal prediction has always been LAX defeating AJ and Tomko in a clean battle in which the win would elevate the tag division to all new heights. That is obviously not happening however. On iMPACT!, AJ and Tomko lost the belts to the strange tag team of Kaz and Super Eric. While Young and Kaz deserved the rub, the story line was not anything to be praised by most traditional fans.
Kaz and Super Eric were later forced to vacate the tag team titles due to Eric Young's fear of revealing his 'secret identity'. While the story line was not anything that I found attractive, the ending was definitely interesting and everything that happened was very true to their characters. In the end, Cornette stripped the tag team championships from Kaz and Young. The tag team championships of TNA have been officially vacated now.
What this does is open up numerous possibilities for how to name new tag team champions. The painfully likely scenario involves TNA utilizing some form of a battle royal or gauntlet match with a screwy gimmick to determine their new tag team champions. While these can be entertaining, my hope is that TNA goes a more traditional route; one that will put the spotlight on TNA's powerful duo division for much longer than 30 minutes on pay per view.
What I propose, is a simple, non-gimmicked tournament. (Keep in mind that I haven't viewed the spoilers and it is likely that the future of the belts has already been announced.) TNA can spend the next few weeks having tag team tournament matches on iMPACT! with all of their teams being represented. LAX, MMG, Rock 'N' Rave, AJ and Tomko, Super Kaz, Reign and Rellik, Team 3D, and another team which can be anything interesting. The final team can be any combination of two people, like Skipper and Creed or Petey and Steiner, or it can be a team from the outside being brought in. The Naturals could return for a little while, or TNA could bring in the team of Swinger and Matthews. It would also be possible for TNA to simply use an X Division team like Curry Man and Shark Boy or Lethal and Dutt. No matter who the 8 teams are, TNA would have an intriguing, but simple story line that would keep the attention of fans everywhere.
The finals of the tournament could face off at the Sacrifice ppv, or later in the year. The brackets could be gimmicked slightly at the discretion of the creative team so that a ninth team could be utilized in a triple threat format. It would be different, and the finals would be must-see, no matter who the teams are.
If TNA is absolutely in love with gimmicks, they can do so by having the final match be a classic stipulation match. The final bout can be a steel cage match, a ladder match, a TLC match, or even an Ultimate X match. With three teams, the final bout would be tremendous.
Imagine the 8th team is the team of Christian Cage and Rhino. The 9th team can be whoever you want. After a series of triple threat matches, the finals will be composed of great teams like LAX, Christian and Rhino, and take your pick, the final team can be a 3rd face team of the MMGs, or the suitable heel team of Team 3D. The finals can be contested in a 'Full Metal Mayhem' match in which LAX will ultimately prevail against the others. The match would be an instant classic, just like Christian Cage, and the tag team division would be put in the spotlight for over a month. The final victors would look very strong and would prove their worth while creating numerous possibilities for future tag team story lines.
I truly believe that the use of a tag team tournament would be the best choice for TNA creative and would truly showcase the greatness of their powerful wrestlers under contract. I hope TNA takes this opportunity and provides us with wrestling gold.
Thank you for your time, and let me know how you feel!
By the way, if you enjoy talking wrestling with some good fans, I strongly suggest you join TNA's blog community, www.xtremeregime.com . I am a regular on there and of course, go by the name of Hillmania.
-Hillmania
Runnin' Wild on the Canuck-Fukcs.
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