TNA Gutcheck Winners; The Second Coming

[Cereal Killer EST 2012]

After four TNA Gutcheck winners earned a contract with TNA, they were sent to TNA's developmental system OVW*. On the Thanksgiving edition of IW, (Impact Wrestling) these wrestlers made a return and we got a chance to see how they had improved from their hiatus.

These are my current opinions on the Gutcheck winners:

Alex Silva: Thee first Gutcheck winner and one of the best. I DO think he has improved his wrestling ability and his charisma is great. He kept the crowd going as well as the match. He really showed off his skills here and has a lot ahead of him. The only problem with him is his look. I think he needs a new fresh one as he looked a little "plain" last night.

Sam Shaw: Now this guy needs to go back to OVW. His promo was very typical and boring and he can't sell that well. Each time he had got a move done on him, he didn't react well. His look is something different but it needs something that will make him stand out. Now HIS wrestling was pretty slick. He was man-handled at the start but then really showed the good side of him. I really think that this guy should go back to OVW for his "flaws".

Taelar Hendrix: Not a bad wrestler, not bad mic skills, needs a little improvement but not bad. She just needs that "Knockout" look and just like Sam Shaw, needs to sell better. Sometimes she over-reacted and sometimes it was the other way. Otherwise not bad, is athletic, a good wrestler and has improved quite a bit.

Christian York: Now this guy is awesome. He has a great career ahead of himself and to have a match with a world champion in his first OFFICIAL IW match, that really say's something about this guy. He is the total package. He's got it all; from in-ring ability, to mic-skills and all the other attributes a good wrestler needs. But.....yes, there's a but; in the Hardy match and in the match with Zema Ion, he seemed kind of sloppy and at times, effortless. He needs to sort that out, otherwise; he has no problem and can be a great champion some day.

*Not including Joey Ryan and I don't think Christian York went to the developmental territory as it has only been a week since he received his contract and has 16 years of experience.

Your views?

[MINISTRYrising]

ALEX SILVA
Has improved a lot down OVW and would make a welcome addition to the X division. My only real problem with the guy is his look but once that is sorted out he will be just fine.

TAELER HENDRIX
I'm not the biggest fan of the knockouts division, But after watching Hendrix in OVW she might just be what the division needs to start getting people intrested again. Sure she still needs to improve, but she is already better then a lot of the knockouts that TNA have had over the year

SAM SHAW
While he is not to bad in the ring, I don't find he is that interesting and still looks very generic. If I were TNA I would send him back to OVW for another year before bringing him up to the main roster.

CHRISTIAN YORK
I really like this guy and he did a great job against Hardy. Has a great career ahead of him and I expect we will see him as the X division champion at some point.

[Jack-Hammer]

Aside from York, I wasn't all that impressed with any of them in particular. They looked ok, nobody went out there and looked like a complete embarrassment of themselves, but I don't believe that any of them had "future star" written on them either.

I like Joey Ryan but I wish that TNA would book him stronger. I'm not expecting some ultra dominant character or anything but it would be nice if he wasn't booked to come off like a scrub in every match he wrestles. Since he's been in TNA, he's yet to win a match or keep from losing without Matt Morgan's help. Ryan has ability, I just hope TNA eventually lets him use it rather than hoping that simply packaging him as Val Venis lite will keep him over.

Christian York, in my opinion, is an example of how TNA should've been booking the Gut Check concept to begin with. York has looked good in both his recent appearances in TNA. Even though he didn't win his matches, he was against two champions in the company and put up a good fight against both. I understand that York isn't the typical early 20s, even younger in some cases, Gut Check competitor, but the simple booking of making York look good against guys on the roster works. Even though the other Gut Check contestants have needed work and still do, booking them to look capable in competitive matches against members of the main roster makes the concept so much better than sticking them in forgettable matches that usually amount to little more than 2 minute squashes.

[Alex]

Sam Shaw has a shit tattoo. I'm sorry no one should just have a mass of black on their upper arm, seriously it's distracting.

Anyway moving on, aside from Christian York (and Joey Ryan) none of them stick out particularly to me. Hendrix has the happy go lucky girl that's been done to death, I'd like something different.

Shaw comes across as a decent wrestler with no personality, if he works on that he'd go pretty far, he's got a decent look (besides that horrendous tattoo) so a personality would do wonders.

Sliva seems to be trying really, really hard, but it still seems forced trying to be a cocky heel, that and he looks like a stick. I know a wrestler's actual physique shouldn't really matter, but for a guy wanting to be a wrestler he should have some muscle. He's ok in the ring and I guess his physique lends itself to the X-Division which is in serious need of some bodies.

[Tesla Tank]

Originally Posted by Alex

Shaw comes across as a decent wrestler with no personality, if he works on that he'd go pretty far, he's got a decent look (besides that horrendous tattoo) so a personality would do wonders.

Well based on that, he could be the next AJ Styles :P

Of them all, I think Silva impressed me the most, but maybe that's because I didn't expect anything from him. I was expecting them to push him a plucky underdog (Garrett Bischoff style), but he pulled off the dominant heel thing well.

York is clearly the best of the bunch though, hopefully this guy will go far in 2013, and we'll see him main eventing a few matches before too long.

[ManureTheBear]

I only saw the last two matches, so I can't really comment on the others.

York had a good match with Hardy. I don't follow the indies, but it really looks as if this guy knows what he's doing. They set him up as a face, but he has the intensity and look to go heel as well.

And Taeler is just the cutest little darling in the world. She looks like a young Marisa Tomei. I'd keep her look just the way it is. She has to work on her selling, but as an undercarder, I think she's ready for the big leagues.

Obviously York was never going to win against Hardy and Hendrix was never going to best Tera, because (kayfabe-wise) why would a complete rookie be able to beat the company's best? I just wonder if they shouldn't have took on the #1 contenders, rather, or other main-eventers.

[Zeven_Zion]

Honestly, I really love York's look but this talk of him becoming big in the future is insane.

Let's face it, the guy is a bit awkward in the ring. He stomps in one place, it takes him so long to bounce off the ropes - he really moves like an old man sometimes. During spots when the pace is supposed to pick up he kills the whole momentum with his sluggish running. Also some moves that are supposed to be done quickly he does super slow and they look faker than they already were.

Again, great look, mic skills are sufficient but his in-ring stuff is irking me. He does everything right, it's just that slowing down that's bugging the hell out of me.

[Uncle Phatso]

Originally Posted by Zeven_Zion

Honestly, I really love York's look but this talk of him becoming big in the future is insane.

Let's face it, the guy is a bit awkward in the ring. He stomps in one place, it takes him so long to bounce off the ropes - he really moves like an old man sometimes. During spots when the pace is supposed to pick up he kills the whole momentum with his sluggish running. Also some moves that are supposed to be done quickly he does super slow and they look faker than they already were.

Again, great look, mic skills are sufficient but his in-ring stuff is irking me. He does everything right, it's just that slowing down that's bugging the hell out of me.

I agree, and I was a large fan of his at first. Well I still am, it could be that it's his only second match on T.V, but it seemed to happen more in his last match. I think this could be worked on with a 3 month stint in OVW, nothing wrong with that. Get him worked up to snuff, and send him back.

It worked for Alex Silvia, thats for sure, I still think he has more to work on. But with as young as he is, he has no where to go but up. I think right now he could work a mid card fued, or a TV title spot. Working with an older tallent could do wonders for him, or even having him Tag with and older tallent.

Taelar, I don't have much to say about her. She's allright, but a longer stint in Ovw wouldn't hurt.

Sam Shaw, I didn't think he should have got the nod. He's bland to me, I know it's been said a few times in here. So I will let it go at that.