X Division Revolution: The New Generation; New Rules and Stipulations

[It's Damn Real!]

[YOUTUBE]tbCApiGTi4o[/YOUTUBE]

http://www.impactwrestling.com/news/item/4164-The-X-Division-is-Evolving-New-Rules-Announced

The high-stakes title match has consequences for the challengers as well. The wrestler pinned in the X-Division championship match is eliminated from a future title match while the wrestler who isn’t involved in the decision gets to compete in the next X-Division title match. So where will the next contender come from?

New contenders will be also decided via a Triple Threat match. Fresh faces, former champions or recently eliminated contenders all will battle with one winner advancing into the next X-Division title match.

tl;dw version:

• 230lb weight limit
• All matches will be three-ways
• Champion defends in every match
• Wrestler pinned is eliminated from future title match
• Wrestler not pinned gets to compete in next XD title match
• New contenders decided via Triple Threat match via "fresh faces, former champions or recently eliminated contenders".

Frankly, these are some ballsy moves to add to a division devoid of much talent, but if a couple names from the past (like the returning Sonjay Dutt) and a couple other additions can be added, there's a way to salvage this, and the three-way stipulation will go a long way in re-injecting that constant crowd excitement (especially live).

Thoughts? Concerns?

 

[Harthan]

I don't mind stipulating a minimum of three persons, but there's potential trouble if they ever want to go bigger. I see them reneging on that rule pretty quickly to allow for 4+ competitors.

Other than that, pretty fun stuff. X Division has always had the potential to be the best thing in TNA; it's rather absurd that they've never managed to put together a sustained run of success over the last several years.

 

[Kris Benwa]

I love those new rules except for the weight limit one. X-Division is supposed to be about no limits not weight limits now we could miss out on agile big men like Samoa Joe or whoever else

 

[ABMorales787]

We might as well rename it the "3 Way" Championship. Or KB's worst nightmare. Making the matches exclusively 3 Way's is stupider than the 220 weight limit. Yes, I know it's 230 this year. They turned the title picture into some sort of game where getting pinned in these means you're out? I get 3 or more guys allow for more spots, but come on now. Lets not make it silly. Not to mention 3 guys and the champion happen to be the depth of the division.

 

[klunderbunker]

Two things.

1. They can't usually get two people for a title match and now we need three with one not being able to fight next time? They can't be serious. Dutt was brought back, but before this the division was RVD (apparently not around for now), King and Ion. That's it, that's the division.

1a. If you're the person pinned you're gone. Therefore, if the champion loses is he gone?

2. All three ways all the time. As is the case with anything in life, when you do something over and over and over it stops being special because eventually you've seen it all before. Yeah a three way can be fun once in awhile, but doing it every single time makes it dull and makes you want it to be one on one again.

And constant triple threat matches would get dull too.

I like the idea of actually doing something with the division again, but I'm not a fan of what they're doing with it. The weight limit is fine enough, as having it be any weight rarely ever played a factor.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

The first thing that sprang to mind when I heard this was: what's the point?

In the end, it just seems like a slightly complicated & unnecessary way to simply throw three guys together for a triple threat X Division Championship match. Minus the new stipulations, TNA frequently tosses three guys into the mix for an X Division title match so it's not exactly something that's revolutionary. Given that the X Division, for the most part, has been comprised of a small handful of people for the past few years, does this mean that TNA is pulling in wrestlers like Sonjay Dutt for more one time appearances? And what becomes of the wrestler who winds up pinned and won't compete in a future title match? Is he going to aimlessly float around the mid-card picture like much of the rest of the roster.

Also, making every match a triple threat match will soon get kind of old. A few years back, TNA frequently pulled gimmick matches out of its collective ass, typically lame ones that would be lucky if they went past the 3 minute mark, almost on a weekly basis. The result was the rendering of gimmick matches nearly meaningless. Every X Division match now being a triple threat match will only have the same effect in the long run. It'll soon lose its novelty.

I think this idea will get old pretty quickly. It's TNA's alternative to actually developing the X Division and adding more depth to its line up.

 

[dotty_84]

I like the weight limit i think it should be for lighter weight guys, fast paced. I know there are some big agile guys but hell should Samoa Joe be there? no he should be going for the bigger belts.

3 ways, it'll be entertaining but every match it'll get stale not to mention how will a feud feel personally with a 3rd wheel? hell they might not be able to run a program with the same two guys all the time as it's most likely to be get your spot then wait in line.

 

[snoopy]

The first thing that sprang to mind when I heard this was: what's the point?

In the end, it just seems like a slightly complicated & unnecessary way to simply throw three guys together for a triple threat X Division Championship match. Minus the new stipulations, TNA frequently tosses three guys into the mix for an X Division title match so it's not exactly something that's revolutionary. Given that the X Division, for the most part, has been comprised of a small handful of people for the past few years, does this mean that TNA is pulling in wrestlers like Sonjay Dutt for more one time appearances? And what becomes of the wrestler who winds up pinned and won't compete in a future title match? Is he going to aimlessly float around the mid-card picture like much of the rest of the roster.

Also, making every match a triple threat match will soon get kind of old. A few years back, TNA frequently pulled gimmick matches out of its collective ass, typically lame ones that would be lucky if they went past the 3 minute mark, almost on a weekly basis. The result was the rendering of gimmick matches nearly meaningless. Every X Division match now being a triple threat match will only have the same effect in the long run. It'll soon lose its novelty.

I think this idea will get old pretty quickly. It's TNA's alternative to actually developing the X Division and adding more depth to its line up.

No it's Tna's alternative to not having enough T.V. time to develop the X-division wrestlers characters and storylines. So they made it about competition, This is no different than what they did the last two years prior to Destination X when they would bring in X-division wrestlers to compete in three ways to see who will earn a spot on the Destination X PPV. And the matches were 9 times out 10 great matches.

 

[flyinbukta]

Look, it gives for some interesting mechanics for heels, where if there's two faces, and one of them is building a head of steam they can just get out and leave the two to fight it out, thereby "earning" themselves a spot in the next title match.

It suggests that they're bringing back some more, older X Division guys, Sonjay Dutt is a good start (side note: that Moonsault stomp thing is awesome), but I imagine there'll be more. Add to that some new blood, and we'll soon have a revitalised division.

Add to that the excitement of the Triple Threat matches in general, and it's probably quite a good plan. I mean, they still only need one new challenger a match, and the only stellar X Division feud I remember was a 3-way feud anyway, so...

The only downsides are the fact that it seems the Champ won't get a re-match anymore, which sucks, and that some of the X Division's gimmick matches are so awesome because they're such clusterfucks, and only allowing three men sort of stymies that. But I'm sure the rule will change if they decide to use any of that stuff, to become a minimum of 3 men.

 

[Rayne]

TNA needs to try these ideas out elsewhere before bringing them to television. Did the five people who still know about OVW approve of this?

Look, if you aren't trying new things, you are never going to break new ground. You try twenty new things, expect ten to bomb, five that don't work after further research, three that other people steal before you can market, one that's awesome but you can't afford, and one that works out well. But TNA's been trying to use their entire market as a focus group, and it shows in that people focus on the fifteen failures as opposed to the occasional shining gem.

So let's blue sky this. Right now, no one gives a shit about the X-Division, and as RVD proved, simply having a former star hold the strap isn't enough to cover up the fact that the talent is, for the larger part, generic and flavorless. This is a format that covers up for that flaw, at least for a few months. It is going to get stale, absolutely, but that's not a bad thing if you plan for it. Will it work to raise the prestige of the X-Division title as a mechanism for pushing performers? I doubt it, but it's worth a shot.

Of course, run with the idea too long, you kill the concept, and the X-Division title is right back where it started, but it's not too hard to think of workable storyline concepts for changing the format.

 

[ABMorales787]

It's just amusing to me that TNA's trying to retool the obviously dried up X Division. They lack a deep roster so their solution is to put more of that dry roster in the ring at once. TNA is literally making their problem more obvious.

Swallow your pride. I realize TNA's known for being "built" by the high flyers of the X Division, but there's no Jeff Jarrett hogging the spotlight to keep potential stars stuck there. There's no airtime to show off the one's that are around. At least in 2010 we could expect a gimmick match of sorts in our PPV's that would be fun. Which at the end of the day, is how TNA should go with this. The weight limit limits your roster. It was always "it's not about weight limits, it's about no limits". Well take it a step further. Instead of turning the title into a game of tag, guarantee us every X Division match will be fun. Instead of doing the same damn 3 Way over and over, give us a Ladder match. Then Ultimate X. Hardcore match.

What I'm saying is that if TNA wants an immediate solution, that title is going to have to be a bit more hardcore. A fun 15 minute spotfest with weapons is far better than wrestling's most overused concept. Not to mention TNA has the roster for that as opposed to glorified cruiserweights.

 

[DirtyD79]

It's just amusing to me that TNA's trying to retool the obviously dried up X Division. They lack a deep roster so their solution is to put more of that dry roster in the ring at once. TNA is literally making their problem more obvious.

Swallow your pride. I realize TNA's known for being "built" by the high flyers of the X Division, but there's no Jeff Jarrett hogging the spotlight to keep potential stars stuck there. There's no airtime to show off the one's that are around. At least in 2010 we could expect a gimmick match of sorts in our PPV's that would be fun. Which at the end of the day, is how TNA should go with this. The weight limit limits your roster. It was always "it's not about weight limits, it's about no limits". Well take it a step further. Instead of turning the title into a game of tag, guarantee us every X Division match will be fun. Instead of doing the same damn 3 Way over and over, give us a Ladder match. Then Ultimate X. Hardcore match.

What I'm saying is that if TNA wants an immediate solution, that title is going to have to be a bit more hardcore. A fun 15 minute spotfest with weapons is far better than wrestling's most overused concept. Not to mention TNA has the roster for that as opposed to glorified cruiserweights.

I agree. I'm so sick of the beaten to death three way dance. It was something new and original when ECW was doing it. When everybody started doing it and doing it all the time it just got stale especially once it became pretty obvious the only reason they started doing it was so the champ or whoever could lose without having to actually eat the pin. Granted I loved watching the giant clusterfuck X division matches especially when you'd get something like a bunch of guys all doing a Russian legsweep together. The only one of those new rules that sounds like a good idea is the 230 lbs. weight limit because it means we won't have hosses coming in for cheap wins.

If TNA wants to revolutionize the X Divison what they really need to do is add more depth to that part of the roster.

 

[Papa Pillman]

The idea that this won't work because the division is too shallow is idiotic. Obviously the division is shallow, the new rules were created in part to remedy that problem.

With this new set-up there is a necessity to keep more X-division talent on the roster and/or have guys temporarily return to X-division action who have left the divsion(Kaz for example). It will also keep a revolving door of fresh faces that could get over and become regular parts of the roster(the way the Dest.-X tourneys have the last couple years), as well as giving a platform to returning X stars (like Dutt last night) which is a cool bonus for long time fans of the division even if their appearances are one-offs.

This move directly addresses the lack of X-division wrestlers by mandating more guys be in and around the title picture.

Also the new rules don't "eliminate" the champion from being involved in the next title match if he is to lose, it just limits automatic rematch clauses. Champ doesn't get pinned? He gets a rematch. Champ gets pinned? He gets a shot in a new three-way to earn his rematch. That doesn't seem too unfair to me.

My only problems with this...
What about multi-man matches? Can matches like Ultimate-X still include more than three participants?

And, as always, why have a weight limit? Joe was a great X-division star, why prevent another similar competitor from being able to follow in his footsteps? Someone like Micheal Elgin were they to sign him for example.

But 230lbs. really isn't bad if they are going to have a weight limit. The majority of TNA's roster and the majority of past X-athletes and/or current indy stars fall comfortably south of 230. Hell, even a guy like Bobby Roode with his large physique on an average height and bone structure is often under 230lbs. and could concievably be included just from a size standpoint. So while I dislike the limit, atleast the new limit is much higher than traditional cruiser/junior division weight caps.

Overall I like the experiment as it puts a new emphasis on the X-division, will insure we see more X-division style athletes(a gigantic plus), and it does follow in the X-division's intended mode to be at the cutting-edge of wrestling innovation.

 

[akathelaw]

The weight limit is annoying, but sort of necessary. When Abyss was XD champ the division suffered, it loses it's specialty when typical big men hold the title. I do like that part.

I would've sh!tcanned the 3 way dance stip for every match. This will get old. The mechanic of eliminating a wrestler from the title picture for being pinned is messy, so much so that I expect this element to be forgotten when the bookers tire of the headaches it causes. Better stips like falls count anywhere, no count outs or rope breaks would have made me more interested personally. 3 way matches typically disappoint. I think these rules will only last a while. Wrestling is about man vs. man, a traditional face off. This 3 way format makes traditional grudge angles impossible.

 

[TheMaskedNewton]

I think this is a good idea to rejuivinate the X-Division. Agree that it may become monotonous after a little while but you can count on matches to be entertaining. Additionaly, I think this stipulations are only there for a little while. I believe they will move away from it once they have enough depth and enough stars have been made out of it.

 

[JustinSane]

I must say I enjoy the idea of the 3 way dance. It brings back memories of the classic 3 way dance cruiserweight matches in the original ECW days between the likes of Mysterio, Super Crazy, Tajiri and so forth. It brings back some interest to the division that has produced TNA's own biggest talents

 

[Judah's Lion]

IDR calls it ballsy. i'll add another b-word. brilliant. and yes, ballsy. very ballsy.

to answer Killjoy, KB and Jackhammer (3 of my personal favorite and the most respected posters here), if i understand correctly, elimination works this way...

so the x-division title match is a triple threat match. no matter who is pinned, champion or one of two challengers, that person is eliminated.
the next x-division title match will again be a triple threat match featuring the two men that did not lose the previous title match.
as for the person that lost, again whether champ or challenger, that person will then be involved in a separate triple threat match which will determine the third man in the upcoming x-division title match.

hopefully that reads less confusing than it writes. what i like about that idea, choosing to ignore how complicated it looks, is that if the champ loses, he doesn't disappear forever. same with the challengers. seems that all will have a logical and basic reason for sticking around in the same division as opposed to getting lost in the shuffle.

others have mentioned the concern of only 3-way matches and what about adding competitors? i agree there. what if 6 men wanna go for the title in an Ultimate X or Ladder Match? so hopefully 3 men is the minimum and not maximum number of guys fighting for the belt.

i'm just glad that there's some focus on the division. might take some weeks or months to see how it works on screen and not just on paper, but i'm willing to be very optimistic.

 

[akathelaw]

So let me be more clear about the flaws of using 3-way matches exclusively. First off, it's cheap. We just saw a cheap 3 way title match on WWE TV that saw Jericho and The Miz put on a hell of a show... While the IC champion was relegated to the outside to "rest" or whatever. Barrett gota sneaky pin in, he retained. Had this been an X-Division rules match, Miz (the guy who hit his finisher) would be out of the next title match due to being pinned.

CHEAP! ANNOYING! These are typical feelings I have watching TNA. The more I think of this weird title situation, the more bush league Impact is looking.

 

[Ovaltine]

These are stupid and dumb rules.

Impact just needs to hire some fresh faces for the division. Have long title reigns. No more of these 7 and 8 time former X division champions of the world. Ever reign should be meaningful. Don't throw a belt on a guy to get him over. Have him get over by chasing the belt and eventually (when it is deserved) he gets it and he keeps it for a substantial time. Holding a belt for two or even three times should be a HUGE deal. Nowadays I groan when people count their title reigns. It makes it seems like there are few quality performers out there when they are winning and losing a title 7 or 8 or 23 times! Also, these dumb rules just turn the X division into a complete gimmick. The days of Daniels, AJ, Joe, Low Ki, Sabin, Williams and Shelly aren't that long ago. Many of those guys (aside from Joe, Daniels and AJ- they have held that belt more than enough)could be brought back into the mix. Why TNA didn't resign Low Ki to a long term contract as soon as he was released from WWE is beyond me. Get him signed and get the title on him for a year or more! Make it a BIG deal when he loses it! Booking 101 boys. It's like bookers still think that it's the attitude era when wrestling was so big that they they could get away with making titles useless.

 

[Papa Pillman]

Why TNA didn't resign Low Ki to a long term contract as soon as he was released from WWE is beyond me. Get him signed and get the title on him for a year or more! Make it a BIG deal when he loses it!

They did bring him in after the WWE let him go. They used him as part of the 2011 Destination-X tournament that culminated in a 4-way between him, Aries, Ion, and Jack Evans.

My understanding is that TNA wanted to sign all four men to a contract at the time; however, Evans, Low Ki, and Aries all wanted more money than TNA wanted to spend. As a result they had to choose only one of the three, and Aries was who they decided was the best investment(seems like they made a good decision). Low Ki was able to hold out and not sign because he knew the money would be there if he wanted to go back over to Japan, which he did, and was under contract with NJPW for a few months.

Low Ki is currently back as a free agent with NJPW removing him officially from their roster. If his demands have come down any, or if TNA feels that now with contracts like RVD's coming off the books they have a little more to spend, I would love to see him back on the TNA roster. I'm not sure how many bridges he's burned inside of the company, but if he could be welcome, he would be a great addition for the new X-division set-up.

 

[Afro-Ameri-Spawn]

First and foremost, let me just respond to the Low Ki argument. This guy is NOT good for the X-Division. He never sold for others the way he wants them to sell for him, he has a reputation for always working stiff, and has the charisma of a rotted pumpkin. No, scratch that, a rotten pumpkin can at least draw flies. As far as letting him have the title and run with it for an extended period of time, it already happened. It was called the "Senshi" era. Everybody remembers it. There were hard workers like Petey Williams, Alex Shelley, Michael Shane, Jay Lethal, Frankie Kazarian, Chris Sabin, and a host of others. And what did they do? They put the title on the smallest of them all and had everyone sell his moves like he was the most devastating thing that ever happened to the X-Division. The matches were just awful as Senshi never sold for anybody and would pretty much just spring up from others high spots while flopping around the ring and hitting all of his. I think that the whole beat down at the end of NXT and jobber run in WWE was a message to him, as he hates to sell for others. So I would have to give the big nah-no to that idea.

As far as the new concept goes, I think that it can definitely be good as TNA already has quite a few X-division sized guys in OVW and on the indy scene that they can utilize. I mean, it's not like WWE is going to be re-introducing the Cruiserweight division any time soon, so their other options (in the US) are limited. Sure they botched or nearly botched a few moves during the initial match, but this should be ironed out over time and should make for some exciting matches to come. So I look forward to the concept.

Now with every good point, there is one glaringly questionable one that stands out. So let me get this straight. The man who gets pinned in the X-Division title match is out of the title match but them automatically gets put into a match to determine the next contender to take his place? So he essentially can lose the match but them earn his way back into it if he wins the contenders match? Am I the only one noticed this fatal flaw in the whole rules make up. Will it ever come to pass? Who knows. But I find it weird that there would be HUGE glaring loophole by which someone could lose the match but them be right back in the next X-division title match the next time. And to think, I thought the NFL has some janky rules. This one is just too weird not to be noticed or questioned. Any thoughts?

 

[Jack-Hammer]

No it's Tna's alternative to not having enough T.V. time to develop the X-division wrestlers characters and storylines.

Maybe time could be found if TNA altered a few if their booking strategies. For instance, one alternative is to not have Hulk Hogan bigfoot the show on a regular basis. Also he doesn't ALWAYS have to smack in the center of every relevant storyline TNA decides to make a focal point.

Also, doesn't TNA have Xplosion? Granted it's not a perfect solution as it's not on television in the states, but that show could be used to put a ton of energy into the X Division. Footage & clips from Xplosion could be broadcast regularly as part of IW so as to give the broader audience that watches IW the sense that TNA is genuinely trying to improve things.

TNA has chosen what is a priority and what isn't. What isn't, as of this point in time, is a relevant mid-card title picture.

 

[Johnny Scumm]

At first I thought, "Why the fuck bother with this?", but as I gradually thought about it some more, I realised that this could be pretty interesting in regards to how the X Division works. Apart from the all 3-way rule, the rest is a pretty interesting concept that COULD be perfect providing that TNA don't decide to forget that they created these rules and try to make them different by the 2nd week of using them.

Either way, it's going to be interesting to see at the start and it's either gonna get boring very quickly, or it'll make things great again.

 

[ABMorales787]

Maybe time could be found if TNA altered a few if their booking strategies. For instance, one alternative is to not have Hulk Hogan bigfoot the show on a regular basis. Also he doesn't ALWAYS have to smack in the center of every relevant storyline TNA decides to make a focal point.

That wouldn't solve a thing. After each match, there's a segment. It's script standard stuff and has been done by both TNA and WWE for ages. Taking Hogan out is not going to change the amount of segments and it's not going to magically give time to the lingering X Division and Knockouts to the point of making them relevant again.

Also, doesn't TNA have Xplosion? Granted it's not a perfect solution as it's not on television in the states, but that show could be used to put a ton of energy into the X Division. Footage & clips from Xplosion could be broadcast regularly as part of IW so as to give the broader audience that watches IW the sense that TNA is genuinely trying to improve things.

That would take more time from the regular broadcast and we'd get clips of matches instead of one dull one.

 

[Rayne]

That wouldn't solve a thing. After each match, there's a segment. It's script standard stuff and has been done by both TNA and WWE for ages. Taking Hogan out is not going to change the amount of segments and it's not going to magically give time to the lingering X Division and Knockouts to the point of making them relevant again.

You then fill those segments with other people.

The argument people always seem to make about Hulk Hogan is that either he's entirely good for everything that he's around, and should hence be used as much as possible, or that he should be completely removed from the program and hidden in a dark closet to maybe, maybe make an appearance in the first half hour of a B-tier PPV.

Isn't there a middle ground? Can't people just say "hey, Hulk Hogan is a major personality within the world of professional wrestling, but it's possible to see too much of him"? Couldn't it be that instead of having it be HoganHoganHogan, such that the focus is on Hulk Hogan seeing (performer) he could keep his presence limited, so that the focus is on (performer) seeing Hulk Hogan?

Let's not fall into the magical Hogan trap. He doesn't automatically make everything around him better. His past history gives him the potential to improve a program far more than other people could in his position- but that doesn't automatically mean that you can use Hulk Hogan however you want and the product has to be improved.