Question about the X-Division

[MrHashasheen]

Now, I'm no TNA fan or regular watcher (I don't even get it on T.V while I get everything but Superstars from WWE), but I watched a couple of matches on Youtube, and the tagline got stuck in my head: It's not about weight-limits, its about no limits, etc...

So I was wondering, who thought up the unique X-Division part of TNA, and how big is it a part of current TNA wrestling?

 

[Zeven_Zion]

I don't know who made the catchphrase up, but I can tell you that it's nowhere near as good as it used to be a few years ago.

A lot of its marquee guys disappeared and no exciting new names came in. The traditional X-Division guys like AJ, Beer Money, Motor City Machine Guns, Samoa Joe - they all elevated themselves as performers and became mid-card guys and so on, which is actually a good thing.

The X-Division is quite dead at the moment. Pity, really. It's the one thing that they had which stood out in the viewers' eyes. Hopefully now that Dreamer is in charge of creative and has a nice stroke on things, he'll own up to his promise to resurrect the X-Division and have a more international feel about it, meaning bring in some guys from NJPW and so on.

 

[realdealasshole]

The X-Division is quite dead at the moment. Pity, really. It's the one thing that they had which stood out in the viewers' eyes.

It really is a pity. You're right. No one could legitimately argue that the X-division needs a complete 180 now. The reason I loved TNA when it first came on Spike TV is because of the X division. Sure it was cool to see Sting come back and stuff, but it was solely the X division keeping me watching. I remember watching my first TNA PPV saying, "man, these matches are better than anything I have seen in a LONG time." I can't say that anymore. I still enjoy TNA's wrestling better than WWE's, but it's a shame knowing that they can give us so much better matches than what we're getting if they truly put more emphasis on the X division. X division makes TNA. That simple.

 

[tjmars]

Yeah The X Division used to be awesome. It also started one of the greatest matches of all time in The Ultimate X, cant't forget about that.

And yes, it is supposed to be a big part of TNA. Kinda like cruiserweight but without weight limits.

The original AJ Styles, Chris Daniles and Somoa Joe X Division matches just blew me away.

 

[mrbrownstone]

I am not sure who first thought of the X-Division but guys like AJ, Daniels and Joe put the name on the map.

As for the state of the X-Division it is all but dead at the moment unfortunately. You are lucky to see an X-Division match on Impact these days, infact I cant remember the last time I did. It reallty is a shame as the X-Divsion was what put TNA's name on the map in the first place and it was what drew the majority of TNA's fanbase.

 

[MrHashasheen]

So the division doesn't get shown much these days? I guess I'll stick to the old matches on youtube, I guess. Pity. I was hoping for serious cruiser-weight action since WWE doesn't really showcase that anymore and WCW stuff tends to be finite since they're you know... dead.

 

[GameOver]

The idea was probably nicked from AAA, the domed cage match TNA uses was taken from AAA

As for XDivision as it stands, i not being a diehard TNA fan first saw TNA on youtube with a Xdivision match and thought this is crazy, definately want to see more of this. and it was what drew me to watch then the Jarrett championship stuff was just extra to fill the show

Then it started to get stale, XDivision starting becoming just a constant spot fest with the same people booked every show in fatal 4 ways and no rhyme or reason for the moves, jsut aslong as it filled time inbetween Jarret's title matches etc. but still it was different to anything WWE was doing so they shoulda kept it as a big focus, instead of spreading out to focus on standard "rassling" and bringing in big name after big name to lure fans, that has yet to do anything major for an extended period.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

The idea was probably nicked from AAA, the domed cage match TNA uses was taken from AAA

As for XDivision as it stands, i not being a diehard TNA fan first saw TNA on youtube with a Xdivision match and thought this is crazy, definately want to see more of this. and it was what drew me to watch then the Jarrett championship stuff was just extra to fill the show

Then it started to get stale, XDivision starting becoming just a constant spot fest with the same people booked every show in fatal 4 ways and no rhyme or reason for the moves, jsut aslong as it filled time inbetween Jarret's title matches etc. but still it was different to anything WWE was doing so they shoulda kept it as a big focus, instead of spreading out to focus on standard "rassling" and bringing in big name after big name to lure fans, that has yet to do anything major for an extended period.

I actually happen(ed) to like the spotfests. Nine times out of ten it didn't make any sense but I'd much rather see that than the 'good old' punch, kick, headlock, chop, punch, kick, headlock, chop. At least I got to see some moves and spots I've never seen before.

 

[Captain Jive]

From 2002-2005, I heard about TNA and how good it was, but I was stationed in Japan at the time, so I never got to watch it (this was also before youtube). So when I came back stateside, I decided to order the TNA PPV Unbreakable in 2005. The main event was AJ vs Joe vs Daniels for the X Division title. It blew me away, I was hooked. The X Division is the reason I started watching TNA. Other than those guys, they had Matt Bentley, Petey Williams, Sabin, Homicide, Alex Shelley was just starting out, Sonjay Dutt, TONS of talent. But then they just kind of took what got them famous and shit on it. They didn't get a TV deal because there was overwhelming demand to see Jeff Jarrett, the X Division guys did it. Now its just a joke.

 

[future admin]

The main thing that is ruining it, is the booking of the current champion, Douglas Williams, he is the one that is ruining the X Division plainly because of what he is saying in his promos, it also has something to do with the misuse of stars. Guys like Amazing Red, The Young Bucks (Generation Me) and others haven't been used in a long time. The X Division is what really put TNA on the map, and I think it is definitely dying!

 

[Tha Wolfpac]

Hey Yo!

The X-Division is really a dying art in TNA, and it really is a god damn shame. For so long it was an integral part for TNA and was a factor in sending TNA into the mainstream and making it stand out from other wrestling companies. Sure most of the time it was glroified spotfests but they were so amazing, and truly glorified and showcased these wrestlers and labelled them as superb athletes. The X-Division was entertaining nuff said.
But with old school minds such as Eric Bischoff, Hulk Hogan having alot of creative pull i dont really see much becoming of the division. Every now and then it looks promising but they then just drop the ball. It's unfortunate really.

 

[disturbedbob]

For those that don't know it was Jerry Lynn who was the innovator of the X division. Then guys like Shane, AJ, Red, Sabin and Daniels took it to another level before Joe and Lowki (Kaval) joined the ranks, along with Lethal and Dutt. X division was more important than the World title at one point. This was maybe the problem. I think the awful steel asylum match when TNA went live was a major reason for the death knell. Its also the reason Williams won the title, to prevent the spot fests and show that X division guys can wrestle too. It has taken a back seat but it will come good again. It seems Williams and Lethal might be getting it on soon. With Lethal champ there are so many great matches out there, problem is a lot of these guys have moved onto main event status or are in legitimate tag teams right now, namely the Guns, Roode, Gen Me and Shannon Moore. Suicide, Red, Young, Homicide, Kazarian and Kendrick add depth, so there is the making of a great X division again. They could even have a big guy like Morgan or Hernandez try to take over the division. I believe Lethal being champ would breathe new life into the divison again. I love Doug Williams, but Lethal is so over right now that it would be stupid to miss out on an opportunity like this. Lets not forget though that AJ is trying to give the TV title relevance, which is the correct thing to do and it seems like the TV title is gonna be TNA's IC belt. Hopefully this is not to the detriment of the X Division.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

The X-Division is really what put TNA on the map initially. It was just something different and legitimately set TNA apart from other wrestling companies. If you ask a lot of long time TNA viewers, many of them will say that it was the X-Division that got their attention and drew them to the product. Some would even come right out and say that the X-Division used to be the downright heart and soul of TNA. As to who thought it up, I don't know if any one single person can be given credit for coming up with the idea. But, it was an idea that worked.

The prominence of the X-Division in TNA, however, has really faltered. The X-Division is a pale shadow of what it once was and there doesn't look to be an attempt on the part of TNA to restore it to its former glory. I'd say it's been about 2 years since the X-Division started to spiral downward. Around this time a few years ago, TNA just stopped putting as much emphasis on the X-Division as they once did and the impact of the X-Division truly began dwindling in 2009 due to a series of weak and highly forgettable runs and the creation of the Legends title.

TNA has put more of an effort into the X-Division with Douglas Williams than they have in a long time, but it's still nothing compared to the glory days.

 

[KBUnitz]

I got no idea who thought of the X-Division, I could only guess Jeff Jarrett or Russo had the idea. But the TNA X-Division is composed of a mixture of WWE-ECW-WCW divisions of the Cruiserweights, Light Heavyweights & the Hardcore. The X-Division is like the former Cruiserweights of the WWE but they had the spotlight on them. They are unique in the way that they re-define the Cruiserweights and they put a more extreme aspect to it, also innovating moves and such. But lately, well I'd say it was right after Chris Sabin's last title reign in mid 2007 when the division started downwards. From what I remember, Sabin held the title for about 5, maybe 5 and a half months, then he dropped the title to Jay Lethal, who was doing that stupid Black Machismo angle. And Lethal held it for an astonishing 2 days...and dropped it to Samoa Joe, that's fine, since it does happen quite often now a days, like Triple H winning and losing the World Heavyweight or WWE title in the same night. But the problem is that Samoa Joe was still a rising star and was just beginning to main event the heavyweight division, what should've happened was that Samoa Joe should've dropped the title to Petey Williams or a rising TNA X-Division star, maybe Alex Shelly, but he dropped it to Kurt Angle in that "All or Nothing Match" where every TNA title was on the line. Angle won it, and the X-Division and the whole TNA show was featured around him. *Note: Kurt Angle looked like an idiot with all that gold, he had more gold on him that Goldust. Angle then dropped it to Sonjay Dutt or Jay Lethal, can't remember too well, but it was pretty much ever since, a lot of the TNA X-Division became heavyweight stars, or a lot have left, like Kazarian for a while though he was doing that Suicide character, Johnny Devine, Christopher Daniels, Elix Skipper, Sonjay Dutt, Low Ki/Kaval, and the biggest loss to date in my opinion, Petey Williams. But since Douglas Williams joined TNA, I find that the X-Division is only going to get better, especially with Amazing Red also in TNA now.

 

[FitFinlay4Life]

WCW had a great cruiser weight division with many of it's members going on to become massive stars (Eddie, Rey, Chris B, Chris J straight off the top of my head) but when Vinnie Ru came on board it went tits up (most likely because he shares VKM's attitude that wrestlers should be big and muscular).

Why has the X-Division deteriorated in the last couple years... hmmm, if we could only find a link!

 

[MrHashasheen]

WCW had a great cruiser weight division with many of it's members going on to become massive stars (Eddie, Rey, Chris B, Chris J straight off the top of my head) but when Vinnie Ru came on board it went tits up (most likely because he shares VKM's attitude that wrestlers should be big and muscular).

Why has the X-Division deteriorated in the last couple years... hmmm, if we could only find a link!

Except Vince has been there since the near beginning hasn't he? As I recall, he came up with the name of the fed.

 

[FitFinlay4Life]

Except Vince has been there since the near beginning hasn't he? As I recall, he came up with the name of the fed.

Vince has never been a proponent of high flying, partially because the big stars felt threatened by the inovative style. His version of the cruiserweight division was the light heavyweights and his weight limit was 215lbs as opposed to WCW's 235. Any former cruiserweights had to really bulk up to be taken seriously in WWe.

 

[shattered dreams]

People whine about the x-division not being what it once was. I can sympathize with that. However, the x-division style wrestling is anything but dead in TNA. Just look at the ultimate x match from the most recent impact. It was a tag-team match but it certainly was in the x-division style. There are many examples of this because the guys that made the division great have advanced up the card and brought the style with them. In the most recent case it was the MCMG. It only makes sense to do it that way. You have these talented guys and a style that is drawing people in, why waste it on the lower card and the new guys no one knows? Spreading it throughout the card is smart IMO. Unfortunately, many people got used to the x-title signifying the style and have been confused by the style being spread around instead of concentrated there. It is also worth mentioning that the early x-division matches had a technical element to them as well that was lost more recently when they became spotfests for the sake of spotfests and little else before Williams took the belt.

 

[Wade's Public Transit Bomb]

The X-Division people want pushed (and/or what it is now) is NOT what the X-Division was for. It was to showcase Indy guys that weren't "main event" material, weren't feuding with AMW (THE tag team of TNA's earlier days), and weren't really under real contracts.

Why would anyone want to see a bunch of characterless and directionless guys do 50 high spots in 10 minutes to the sound of "That was awesome! *clap* *clap*" is really beyond me. I am glad that Douglas Williams is trying to make the X-Division ass-clowns people love change the way they do matches.

 

[MrHashasheen]

Vince has never been a proponent of high flying, partially because the big stars felt threatened by the inovative style. His version of the cruiserweight division was the light heavyweights and his weight limit was 215lbs as opposed to WCW's 235. Any former cruiserweights had to really bulk up to be taken seriously in WWe.

... I mean Vince Russo. Still though, the X-Division seems to have made its legacy by making TNA stars out of big-name indie workers. No reason it couldn't do the same again.

 

[goodlay]

Unfortunately, the X Division isn't being properly used in TNA right now. Douglas Williams hasn't been seen prominently on iMPACT since Victory Road. And other than him and Brian Kendrick, who else is being showcased in the X Division?

Previously, the X Division was featured as prominently as the regular division. Hell, we used to see PPV main events for the X Division Title. Remember the epic Styles/Joe/Daniels battles for the X Division title?

TNA has the talent to have a great X Division, the problem is they aren't being used right. At least feature the champ on iMPACT, but that isn't even the case right now. I understand it's hard to get all your guys on iMPACT every week, but at least feature the X Division here and there weekly on iMPACT.

 

[kissfan85]

The X division is almost none existent I didn't start watching Tna for the big guys, i watched for the x division
now it seems pointless to watch cause it seems like there pushing guys and focusing on the main title picture.....
TNA was supposed to be an alternative to watch, and now it just seems like a crappier version of something I already have

 

[onemandynasty08]

It's funny how the X-Division used to be a huge part of TNA and now they can hardly fit an X-Division match on IMPACT!. They should at least put one X-Division match a week on TNA just as they do with the one or two knockout matches that they have. I actually kinda miss TNA holding the World X Cup where they brought in wrestlers from all over the world in for a short stint in TNA. However, it seems as if all the old X-Division stars have either moved onto the tag team division (MCMG (Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin), left TNA (Christopher Daniels, Kaval/Low Ki, Elix Skipper, Petey Williams, etc.), or moved onto the heavyweight scene (AJ Styles).

I really think that it should be a bigger part of IMPACT! than it currently is. They could more than likely find some guys to come in for the X-Division to replace the people they aren't doing anything with.

 

[Whatsinaname696]

as has been said for TNA's X-Division look no further than AJ Joe and The Fallen Angel and while, yes, the x-division has fallen off quite a bit, they still do ultimate x and some other crazy shit... and to MrBrownstone "You are lucky to see an X-Division match on Impact these days, infact I cant remember the last time I did." then you jus weren't watching impact last week, MCMG vs Beer Money in the ultimate x... Hell of a match! yes it has been cut down a lot... but not to that degree, I also agree with Zeven about bringing in some more NJPW guys... (bringing them in and USING them that is =)

 

[onemandynasty08]

Technically I wouldn't consider Beer Money as apart of the X-Division. The reasoning behind the Ultimate X match last week was that it was supposed to be MCMG's choice of match putting Beer Money inside their element. MCMG are apart of the X-Division as they started there as singles wrestlers, but for the most part James Storm has mostly been in the tag team division, first with Chris Harris as America's Most Wanted (correct me if I'm wrong) and Robert Roode was a singles wrestler as apart of Team Canada. That match was meant to give MCMG the advantage.