Destination Unknown
(Note: It is humbly suggested that the previous post, On Pay-per-view and focus, prior to this post.)
I don't think I hated Destination X 2010. For the most part, the work was good, there were two must see X-Division matches and I didn't feel like my $35 was wasted. I've certainly seen better PPV events, from TNA and otherwise, but I can promise that I've watched much worse as well.
I'm merely bothered by the fact that TNA seems horribly adrift, which isn't the place they want to be.
I've already written about how I thought the build to this PPV was lackluster. Let's put that aside for now. The show is in the books, and we've seen the followup episode of Impact. We should now have a much clearer picture of where TNA is going.
But we don't. And if Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan know, they're keeping their cards close to their chests.
The pre-show to Destination X was a wonderful thirty minute film about the X-Division, the source of their best and most buzz-worthy matches. They made it out that this was what TNA was all about. Special attention was paid to the Ultimate X match, as one was booked for the show.
The show began with an X-Division match. A second one, the Ultimate X match, happened prior to the halfway mark. The X-Division Championship was defended later in the night, in a short match with little heat.
There were other matches on the show, none of which blew off their associated feuds. Destination X ended with a main event that had a no-decision finish. Abyss threw AJ Styles through the ring, and the match was ruled over with no winner.
This is all well and good. My expectation was that TNA would follow up on all these loose ends the next night on Impact. It was, after all, the airing against the last Raw prior to WrestleMania, so they needed to hook us in to watch and buoy the rating.
Impact should have opened with Hogan and Abyss hitting the ring, full of piss and vinegar, demanding a rematch against AJ Styles and calling out referee Earl Hebner for throwing out the title match.
We didn't get that. The show opened with Eric Bischoff playing the guitar and continuing his Jeff Jarrett vendetta. Hogan and Abyss came out later to discuss the Lockdown PPV. Abyss appears to have shrugged off the title match and is ready to move on to another match that won't get him the title.
It was also announced that AJ Styles would defend his title against The Pope at Lockdown because Pope won a tournament in February. Why Abyss got a title shot before Pope is beyond me.
And the X-Division - the cornerstone of TNA, the guys who got three matches the previous night - were nowhere to be found. The most we saw was a cameo from Shannen Moore.
The Abyss-AJ Styles angle has completely become the Hulk Hogan-Ric Flair angle.
Kurt Angle and Ken Anderson weren't even mentioned. There was a video package on The Band and a match between them and Eric Young, RVD and Jeff Hardy was announced. Rob Terry squashed another guy with no mention of Magnus or Doug Williams.
Tara and Daffney had their angle continue in an eight woman tag match. Matt Morgan kicked Hernandez in the head leaving Hernandez to do a stretcher job and Matt Morgan the only tag champion left standing.
Beer Money, instead of asking for another title shot, agreed to wrestle RVD and Hardy, after refereeing a match between Mick Foley and Jeff Jarrett.
So as it stands right now, I don't know where TNA is headed. It's possible they want things to develop slower. When you only have two hours each week, unlike the six WWE has, things can't happen immediately.
Sadly, having seen the previous work of Hogan and Bischoff, that's probably not the case. They're likely just throwing things together to create the illusion of unpredictability. If they don't have things set in stone, the fans will always be guessing at what will happen next.
This may have worked in the past, but now it has nasty side effects. When you don't have a clear plan, your product looks muddled and confused.
Your fans will then get confused. I've seen a number of posts this week from people who are wondering the same thing about the Abyss-AJ Feud ending so abruptly after a match where neither man was declared the winner.
Switching gears that quickly likely won't help ratings improve. Not bridging from the story-lines seen on the PPV smoothly into the next set of story-lines for the next PPV won't help PPV buys.
And I don't want that. I want to tune into Impact weekly and nod my head rather than shake it. I want to conclude my thoughts column with affirmation that not only was the show good, that I was getting fired up for the next episode, or even the next PPV.
I really liked Impact this week. As a wrestling show, it was a fantastic two hours. But I have no interest in the one match they booked for next week. The one match truly set for Lockdown, Pope vs AJ, has no heat yet.
TNA Impact was great. TNA Wrestling, the overall product, is aimless, muddled and disjointed.
If they have a direction, they need to point their compass that way, orient their map and get hiking. Otherwise, their destination will remain, sad as it may be, unknown.