Jay Lethal is the NEW TNA X Division Champion; The Return of X?

[Rasha]

After seeing Jay Lethal win the X-Divison title tonight, you have to wonder if this means a refocusing on TNA's trademark style. There are still plenty of guys capable of making the division work; Lethal, Hardy, Kazarian, Kendrick, Amazing Red, Young, Moore, and any of the tag team guys from MCMG and Generation Me.

The Doug Williams era was a big waste. They put the belt on him to try and do the whole "mat wrestler kills high-flying division" angle, but then they dropped it and he just sat on the belt for a while. I hope Lethal's win means they're going to bring back a key part of TNA's unique identity and promote the X once more.

 

[Joe's Gonna Kill You]

I think that Lethal winning the belt could mean the return of the original X Division and I would like to see that happen. I think that it would have been better for them to build a match between Lethal & Williams at BFG and then have Lethal win at BFG instead of giving it away on free TV in a 6 min match with no real build. I think that Lethal will have a long reign with the belt and hopefully there will be more emphasis on the X-Division.

 

[DangerousDave]

I'm hoping this signals a push for the X Division, where there is a lot of great talent. The X Division is the main reason I am so pissed at EV2, they are taking up valuable air time that could be used to showcase real TNA wrestlers. I also hope that there will be a lot more Ultimate X matchs, a true TNA trademark, and always exciting wrestling.

.

 

[RVDrules]

After seeing Jay Lethal win the X-Divison title tonight, you have to wonder if this means a refocusing on TNA's trademark style. There are still plenty of guys capable of making the division work; Lethal, Hardy, Kazarian, Kendrick, Amazing Red, Young, Moore, and any of the tag team guys from MCMG and Generation Me.

The Doug Williams era was a big waste. They put the belt on him to try and do the whole "mat wrestler kills high-flying division" angle, but then they dropped it and he just sat on the belt for a while. I hope Lethal's win means they're going to bring back a key part of TNA's unique identity and promote the X once more.

Douglas Williams is boring as hell. Even as a "mat worker" he is dull. He should never have had the X title in the first place. Good job, TNA , you killed that belt.

We need Petey Williams, Lo Ki (Senshi/Kaval), Jimmy Rave, London and Daniels back to solidify the X division. No Shannon Moore or Eric Young.

The tag division is fine with Machine Guns, Generation Me and Beer Money.

Next, we need to fix the World Title division.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I'd like to see the X-Division make a return to prominence, I think just about everyone would, but I'm not going to hold my breath on it. A more positive sign that things MIGHT be on the turn around for the X-Division would have been for TNA to have built Lethal & Williams up for a match at BFG for the title rather than a forgettable 5 minute match on iMPACT! without any pomp, hype or build up for it.

Personally, I liked Douglas Williams as champion and he's been clearly the strongest X-Division Champion in TNA for the past 2 years. I do think he managed to restore at least a little bit of credibility to the title and he should have retained the title last night. He lost the strap at the wrong place and at the wrong time.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

I think that was the idea all along, but I'm not sure you'll really see that in full effect just yet.

My money is on Williams being absolutely furious he lost to someone like Jay Lethal and demanding a rematch at Bound For Glory where the two will lock horns again with Lethal still coming out on top. At that point, Williams can likely move onto another program, or perhaps still continue his tirade against the "high flying" X style wrestlers who Lethal can cut a promo on about bringing the title back to.

I would love for this to give way to the return of guys like Christopher Daniels and Petey Williams.

 

[Reddannihilation]

Rematch at BFG, if TNA does decide to use this time to revitalise the X-division, I had better see some technical wrestlers brought back. If Christopher Daniels and Petey Williams are brought back it'll greatly improve the division. But if it just ends up being Jay Lethal vs interchangeable high-flyer over and over I'll be quite annoyed.

 

[Nikeo]

I don't think any of you remember just how many times we've been promised a "fixed X-Division" and a "return to the glory days".

Bischoff promised it back in January, did we get it? No. They've had numerous wrestlers promise it on-air, say they were bringing back the glory days. Did they? No.

It's not going to happen. Whether Lethal has won the belt or not it will always be the same problem, big promises and no delivery.

 

[shattered dreams]

One version of they I considered interesting but unlikely was an x-division invasion. Joe, Daniels, Petey and some others that have been cast away from TNA's early years comeback to reclaim the x-division and what made tna great. I still do not get why people complain about the x-style being dead. Have you not watched the guns-genme matches?

I like doug williams quite a bit. I think people did not get that he was trying to draw heat by purposefully going against the x-division grain. I will say it never did quite translate though, although IMO that is because there were no good face challengers available to feud with, which should tell you what kind of shape the x-division was in before his run. I'll be surprised if there is no rematch. I also suspect this means British Invasion is getting back together.

 

[PhD]

I'm going to chime in and note that I too liked Williams as X-Division champ. His anti-high flying promos made for a compelling narrative in a division that has long been accused of sacrificing ring psychology and storytelling for spot-fests. I thought have a dominant heel champ in the X-division, a guy who is despised not only for his character but for his wrestling style, was an almost brilliant booking decision.

Unfortunately, with a guy as uncharismatic as Jay Lethal, who won the belt with no build after washing out of the main-event scene, I don't see how the X-division in going to get any better. Sure, Lethal is a skilled wrestler, but that backstage promo with him talking to his mom about taking pictures with the belt when he goes home should tell you all you need to know about why I don't give a shit about this guy. Can anyone tell me what sort of entertainment value Jay Lethal offers outside of the ring when he isn't impersonating a 1980s legend? I like a well-worked match as well as anyone else, but if it can't be packaged in a coherent narrative, the match itself means very little.

 

[ScruffDog]

They had to give the title to Lethal early. Williams is already in a match against EV2 at BFG. With Lethal getting the title early, now they can set up a great X-Division match at BFG for the title

 

[Branden]

They had to give the title to Lethal early. Williams is already in a match against EV2 at BFG. With Lethal getting the title early, now they can set up a great X-Division match at BFG for the title

Definately agree. I'd rather see Williams lose an unhyped match to set up for a good X Division title match at BFG, than not see the X title defended at all...

Jay Lethal has been making an impact lately, and will make a good X champ I think. And I also think he has the ability to have more exciting matches with it as well.

 

[K4P-Unleashed]

I don't think the X-Division match will be that great considering TNA's best X-Division guys will be doing other shit at BFG. First off, Amazing Red should be TNA's X-Division poster child - this guy is outstanding. As for Lethal, I like him and I like his gimmick right now, but there isn't much to it right now. What I see happening is Kaz getting the title shot at BFG. Lethal will win, grabbing him a victory on TNA's biggest stage. Of course, if TNA is in the business of burying Lethal, they can simply have him lose - but him winning is how I see this one playing out.

 

[Tha Wolfpac]

Let's not straight away jump to conclusions, but this is certainly a step in the right direction if TNA does and wants to finally put a little more emphasis on the X-Division that everybody wants back. Seriously there is probably not one person on this thread that doesn't want to see the X-Division return to some prominence. They definetly have the talent to pull it off, so why not do it already.
Jay Lethal was losing a bit of momentum in recent weeks but this is a good way for to maintain his popularity without being in the crowded main event scene on TNA. Hopefully he will have a long title reign, and HOPEFULLY this is a sign of the rebirth of the X-Division.

 

[TheAbsolute1]

The Doug Williams era was a big waste. They put the belt on him to try and do the whole "mat wrestler kills high-flying division" angle, but then they dropped it and he just sat on the belt for a while. I hope Lethal's win means they're going to bring back a key part of TNA's unique identity and promote the X once more.

You're wrong about that, Doug may have tried to push the idea that mat beats air but TNA was trying to show the X in the X-Division hence the saying "Its not about weight limits, its about no limits." And Im a huge Lethal fan, been on the wagon since he debuted. He was wearing white and green trunks and his finisher was a Tiger suplex. I'm glad to see Lethal back on top of the X-Division, the kid's gone a long way.

 

[Hyorinmaru]

Definate rematch at BFG with Lethal retaining. After that I see someone like Kaz tryingto bring the title back to fortune.

Other than that I do see the return of the 'original' X-Division which makes me happy. The X-Division is what got me intersted in TNA back when I started watching. I really hope guys like Petey and Danials returns to fight for thetitle at some point soon.

As for my toughts on Lethal as champ I couldn't be happier. He's a god worker and after his program with Flair he kind of got pushed to the side a bit which I hope doesn't happen to him now that he's champion.

 

[gd]

What a mess they made of this. "Hey, Jay Lethal, we haven't seen you for weeks. I guess we should just give you the X-Division Title in a 5 mintue match on Impact." Does that sound like a good idea? I don't think so.

At this point, the X-Division title doesn't really mean anything, that's something we definetly know. It should really just be nothing but ridiculous, gimmick, spotfest filled matches on every PPV. Hell, if they had 8 guys in each match with a different guy winning every PPV, I wouldn't have a huge problem with it. It's better than what they're doing with the division at the moment.

 

[mrbooker]

Lethal needs a LONG RUN!!! 5-6 months while putting on good matches against guys like amazing red, kaz, sabin, shelley etc... You remember how champs got over by winning tough matches, over and over. Alot depends on 10-10-10 but hopefully the dust will settle all the groups, and speculation will end and we can see wrestling feuds and wrestling matches.