The X-Division's "Rebirth" Tonight on Impact...

[UFOcalling]

Eric Bischoff announced on Impact that the X-Division now has a weight limit. Bischoff announced that the X-Division will now exclusively consist of wrestlers that are 225 lbs or under. The X-Division will now be TNA's "Lightweight" (or Cruiserweight) Division, and I imagine that the X-Division will now be extremely similar to the old Cruiserweight Division (in WCW, and later in WWE). If I'm not mistaken, the old Cruiserweight Title (used in both WCW & WWE) had a weight limit of 215 lbs.

Personally, I don't like this idea. Yes, this will prevent Abyss from holding the X-Division Title again (an idea that I wasn't too hot on to begin with anyway), but it also eliminates Samoa Joe from the X-Division all-together. Samoa Joe is definitely in a slump right now, and I believe that he would have benefited from another run with the X-Division Title (if they booked it correctly). Unfortunately, it looks like we'll never see Joe with the X-Division belt again.

Joe is one of the guys that helped put the X-Division on the map in the first place. Some would even say that Joe (along with the rest of the X-Division) helped put the entire company of TNA on the map. I know Joe had kind of "out-grown" the X-Division when he won his first TNA World Heavyweight Championship, but (like I mentioned earlier) Joe's character is in a major slump right now. His character might have benefited from another run in the X-Division...it could have helped to re-elevate him from this slump. Joe is the only guy that comes to mind that bums me out (when I think that he'll never be able to hold the X-Division strap again). Other than him, Douglas Williams (maybe). Is he 225 or under? Hmmm....

IMHO, I feel that TNA should have just created a Lightweight Division, and tried to elevate the X-Division Title to be their equivalent of the Intercontinental Title. With what they've been doing with the TV Title lately, they might as well just scrap it all together. Now I know that most of the guys in the X-Division are 225 lbs or under anyway, so maybe this won't change too much in the long-run. It will tarnish the belt's reputation a bit (at least IMHO), as I used to see it as TNA's #2 Championship (their equivalent of the Intercontinental/United States Title). I believe the X-Division title will eventually move down a peg.

As soon as I heard Eric announce the new weight-limit, I immediately had a sinking feeling. Not only do I feel that the X-Division belt might become the "#3" Championship in the company (I bet TNA now tries to make the TV Title their "#2" Title), I also feel that it's going to be really hard for smaller guys (like Austin Aries, for example) to break through the "glass ceiling" of this new X-Division. Just how it was in WCW for guys like Eddie Guerrero, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, etc (guys who went on to become World Champions in WWE). This is one time I'll actually say that I'm glad Vince Russo works for TNA, because I feel he will be instrumental in helping some of the smaller guys achieve success beyond the X-Division. If it was all up to Bischoff & Hogan, I have a feeling that guys would get get pigeonholed into NEVER getting out of the "new" X-Division (just like how they weren't able to come up from the Cruiserweight Division in WCW).

Do you think that the "Rebirth" of the X-Division will ultimately be a good thing for TNA, or a bad thing?

Since most of the X-Division wrestlers are 225 lbs and under anyway, will this pretty much go unnoticed?

Can the X-Division Title stay TNA's "#2" Championship with the new weight limit?

What will happen with the TV Title now? Will TNA try to make it their "#2" Championship? Will TNA introduce a new belt (to make their "#2" Belt), and scrap the TV Title?

I feel that if they keep the TV Strap on Eric Young, and continue to treat the belt as a joke, it's place in TNA's pecking-order will never change (it will remain TNA's worst Championship, at least the worst that Men compete for). Personally, I hope that guys will be able to eventually "graduate" from the X-Division, and move up to main-event status (guys like Alex Shelley, Austin Aries, Brian Kendrick, etc)...but you never know. Some guys might never be able to get through that glass ceiling, once they've been labeled a "X-Division" wrestler. I really hope that's not the case.

 

[blockanWo]

I like it.

I mean we finally have a "definition" of what the X Division is rather than a broad "its about no limits" tagline.

Overall though, its not really going to change much...apart from telling people like Abyss to go away.

 

[Rayne]

So this is it- Eric Bischoff states publicly that he doesn't understand what the X-Division is or was, and TNA/IW's no longer going to try.

The X-Division was a cruiserweight division. The matches were all in the cruiserweight style. The only real difference was that every once in a while, TNA could run a storyline about a wrestler who wasn't a cruiserweight winning the title and then lording it over the cruiserweights. (See: Team 3D, Abyss, perhaps Samoa Joe.) It was a cruiserweight division without the actual baggage of having to segregate your performers by weight.

So what does this change? Nothing. You're going to see the same style of X-Division matches you always have. Now, however, it's not about no limits, it's about weight limits.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

I like having a weight class. It was pretty much that already minus the few bigger guys. They couldn't call it the "spotfest title". Give it a weight class.

As for Joe, he is really fucking good and is not in a slump. He always performs. The bookers just don't know how to use Joe. He's a monster, he should be a monster.

 

[Harthan]

To be honest, nearly every time a larger man held the title or got involved in the division it was pretty shitty, a few exceptions. Joe's first go around as a regular in the division was very good, and it was more of an indy style title than it was a cruiserweight title. Also when Williams had the title it was excellent (he's billed at 235, but really they're probably fudging that). Other than that, when Angle had the gold it was lost in the shuffle because he had all the titles. The second time Joe entered the division it he killed it by being a part of the MEM and feuding with Lashley. Abyss was just awful, so many different kinds of awful. There really seems to be a nice pool of cruiserweights in the TNA roster right now, and I support giving them an exclusive title. If Joe and Abyss need things to do, there's a TV title that they seem to have utterly forgotten about.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I have mixed feelings on this.

On one hand, the X Division has almost always been a light heavyweight/cruiserweight division with a flashy name. The VAST majority of wrestlers to compete in the X Division have always been well under 225 pounds in the first place so that's not really a problem. On the other hand, perception is reality and now the X Division is officially just a light heavyweight/cruiserweight division both in overall style and now in name as well. If you look back over wrestling history in North America, light heavyweight/cruiserweight divisions have never been hugely accepted. Whether it be WWE, WCW or the NWA; large numbers of fans just haven't gravitated towards wrestlers hindered by weight limits. American fans have generally just preferred to see guys get in the ring and may the best man win regardless of size difference. Having a special division for wrestlers limited by weight can give the impression that they're just not good enough to go out there and hang with the bigger guys. Of course that's not always true but, again, perception is often reality in pro wrestling.

The whole mantra of the X Division was "it's not about weight limits, it's about no limits" is dead and buried. Some could make a claim that limiting the X Division does take away from it. Deep down, we've always known that the X Division was primarily for smaller guys but there was always that possibility of someone that doesn't fit the mold taking part. Sometimes that's good and sometimes it's not.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

I have mixed feelings on this.

On one hand, the X Division has almost always been a light heavyweight/cruiserweight division with a flashy name. The VAST majority of wrestlers to compete in the X Division have always been well under 225 pounds in the first place so that's not really a problem. On the other hand, perception is reality and now the X Division is officially just a light heavyweight/cruiserweight division both in overall style and now in name as well. If you look back over wrestling history in North America, light heavyweight/cruiserweight divisions have never been hugely accepted. Whether it be WWE, WCW or the NWA; large numbers of fans just haven't gravitated towards wrestlers hindered by weight limits. American fans have generally just preferred to see guys get in the ring and may the best man win regardless of size difference. Having a special division for wrestlers limited by weight can give the impression that they're just not good enough to go out there and hang with the bigger guys. Of course that's not always true but, again, perception is often reality in pro wrestling.

The whole mantra of the X Division was "it's not about weight limits, it's about no limits" is dead and buried. Some could make a claim that limiting the X Division does take away from it. Deep down, we've always known that the X Division was primarily for smaller guys but there was always that possibility of someone that doesn't fit the mold taking part. Sometimes that's good and sometimes it's not.

Do the X division guys who only do cool moves and don't sell or tell a story or do anything else that gets them over in the mainstream ever draw anyways regardless of their division or the title's weight class they're fighting for? No. The X division never drew much as the "no limits" title and it won't draw much as the "under 225" title.

It's not that smaller guys can't draw, it's that there really is a huge gap in understanding how to work a match between guys like HBK, Daniel Bryan, even Kendrick, and guys like Shelley and Aries who just bust out crisp, clean, cool move after move. People don't like to be slapped in the face with "this is staged" but no selling and doing moves super fast throughout the match pretty much does just that every time.

If a guy is over enough, he'll be in the main event.

 

[snoopy]

This is very Interesting! The Network wants to focus on the X- Division so what would give Immortal more power? How about having the X- Division title! Austin Aries is sure going to make a fine new member of Immortal!

 

[Deexter Jorgan]

The Lightweight division limits the wrestlers, it puts a negative stigma on guys like AJ Styles, Daniels, Kendrik and Kazarian because they are viewed as smaller wrestlers apposed to guys who are wrestling in the hevyweight division.

I sore the X division titles as moreso a midcard title looking at the titles heritage most of the talent that have held it prior have been pushed into the world title picture, guys like Joe, AJ, Angle to name a few, pidgeon holing the division will end up doing more long term damage than anything immortal could have done prior, it does nothing to elevate the division itself or its stars.

 

[GrandSword]

The X Division was all about the flips! Joe could do the flips at almost 300 pounds...

There was no need to define it, it was about the X division, X meaning it's a mystery like in algebra when you are trying to find out what X is...

Meh...

To me the X Div was no countouts, no dqs but had a code of honor to it so interference and weapons never came into play. It was about bringing this x-factor of defying gravity and putting on matches that would blow the minds of the fans.

Trying to define takes away from the concept...

Obviously Bischoff never got it.. Yeah i know I'm bitching again, probably about nothing, but I just don't think Bisch and Hogan ever got TNA...

 

[It's Damn Real!]

What's more important to note about the XD "Rebirth" isn't the weight limit, which the division already functioned under to a large extent prior to this becoming law last night — it's the talent within it. The reason the XD has been such a pathetic shell of it's former self of late is because the "talent" within it was weak. When your entire division is being "headlined" by Brian Kendrick and the Rancho Cucamonga twins (Young Bucks), there's a serious issue at hand.

Prior to that you had what, Jay Lethal, Consequences Creed, Davari, etc? Spare me... Not a one of them could hold a candle to the charisma, personality and overall ability of guys like Kid Kash and especially Austin Aries.

TALENT is what is going to make the XD matter again, not this irrelevant weight limit. All that does is officially make it a cruiserweight division, which is fine by me as it already was one anyway.

 

[multiverseman.com]

Sorry folks, this just makes sense.

The X-Division's biggest problem to begin with was a lack of clarity in branding. "It's not about weight limits, it's about no limits." That's great, but what the hell does it mean? It's the freaking cruiserweight division so what's wrong with saying so?

 

[Zeven_Zion]

"It's not about weight limits, it's about no limits". Okay, no limits. Then what's the point of having a DIVISION if there's nothing that limits competitors from the mid-card and the Main Event being a part of it?

The X-Division had to be defined. It had to be a division so it's divided from everything else.

And why is everyone moaning that "Joe can't be a part of it now". I thought the IWC wanted Joe in the Main Event, holding the World Title. Whatever happened to that? Tell you what, the people who say that would also be the first ones to go "TNGAY BE BURIN' TEH JOE! HE SHUD BE DA CHEMP!" if he gets the X-Division title.

And like IDR said, talent is what the Division was sorely lacking. Not so much now. This is only a good thing and I like seeing it unfold.

 

[Rip]

I was never a fan of "cruiserweight" or "lightweight" divisions because, generally, it suggests they're below the heavyweight division and it's hard to move a cruiserweight wrestler up to the main event when they have the "cruiserweight" stigma attached to them. Yes yes, Rey Mysterio broke free but he's the exception rather than the rule. For every cruiserweight that made it to the main event scene (and there are few), you have dozens that didn't. That's why I don't like having "weight classes" because you essentially say "These small guys can't compete with the big guys, so they need their own title" which is a concept that doesn't work in professional wrestling.
What if a cruiserweight gets over? Then they move him up to the heavyweight division? Then you broke your own weight rule and defeats the purpose of the whole thing. If you don't move him up, his career is basically "stuck". This is why I prefer the "midcard and world" title format. A guy wins the midcard title, then moves up to world.

 

[UFOcalling]

Do the X division guys who only do cool moves and don't sell or tell a story or do anything else that gets them over in the mainstream ever draw anyways regardless of their division or the title's weight class they're fighting for? No. The X division never drew much as the "no limits" title and it won't draw much as the "under 225" title.

It's not that smaller guys can't draw, it's that there really is a huge gap in understanding how to work a match between guys like HBK, Daniel Bryan, even Kendrick, and guys like Shelley and Aries who just bust out crisp, clean, cool move after move. People don't like to be slapped in the face with "this is staged" but no selling and doing moves super fast throughout the match pretty much does just that every time.

I understand the point you're trying to make, I really do. The person I want to speak about is AJ Styles. I know that Styles may be the "exception to the rule", but AJ was able to adapt his wrestling style, so he could contend with "heavyweight" competitors.

You're right; in TNA there aren't a lot of guys in the X-Division currently that will be able to break through the "glass ceiling" of the new 225 Weight-Limit. If Desmond Wolfe was still on the roster, he might fall into that category, but he never really competed in the X-Division.

The reason why I brought up guys from other federations (Jericho, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, Mysterio, etc) is because I wanted to cite examples of guys that were able to adapt their "cruiserweight style" into more of a heavyweight style. The four wrestlers I just mentioned all were able to become World Champions in the WWE. Will TNA be able to have similar results with some of their more promising X-Division wrestlers? That's a good question. They were able to do it with AJ Styles, but that's the only example I can think of (unless you count Samoa Joe as well, but he was an X-Division wrestler when the division was still about "no limits").

Even though you mentioned that the X-Division was never able to draw, the Destination X PPV did okay...I know that was a recent event, but the X-Division was still about "no limits" when that PPV took place. Did it only draw because of AJ vs. Daniels, RVD vs. Lynn, or Abyss vs. Kendrick? I can't answer that question, because I have no idea. The only thing I can say is that it's not very likely TNA will hold another "all X-Division PPV", now that the Title is limited to a weight requirement (or lack of a weight requirement, however you want to look at it).

Can guys like Alex Shelley, Austin Aries or Brian Kendrick "break out" of the X-Division eventually? It's certainly possible, I just hope that guys like that don't get "type-casted" or "pigeonholed" into only being seen as "X-Division wrestlers". Hopefully they'll have the opportunity to move up to the mid-card, if they prove they deserve that opportunity. Just like you said:

If a guy is over enough, he'll be in the main event.

I hope you're right about that, because that's something that hardly anyone was able to do in WCW (at least anyone in WCW's Cruiserweight Division). Like I said before, I'm glad that Russo is there...if anyone currently working for TNA can help guys get elevated from the "new" X-Division to the mid-card, it's Russo. Based on Bischoff's prior track-record with the Cruiserweight Division (in WCW), I doubt they'd get an opportunity to do so (if it was strictly up to Bischoff).

 

[It's Damn Real!]

All this nonsense about guys not being able to break out of the X Division due to this new weight limit is just that — nonsense.

AJ Styles is 5'11/215lbs.
Jeff Hardy is 6'2/215lbs.

Both former World Heavyweight Champions, the latter very recently holding the title. Both are also former X Division competitors (granted, under a different regime).

Desmond Wolfe, who was also heavily pushed as a potential World Champion was 6'3/225lbs himself...

Sorry, but I just don't buy it. If a guy has what it takes to be a World Heavyweight Champion, he can (and perhaps will) be. Those who do not will not. Size is only a small facet of what limits a wrestler. His ability to draw is much, much more important to whether or not he'd make a good World Heavyweight Champion.

I do find it hilarious, though, that people argue that guys like Brian Kendrick (5'8/184lbs) should be World HEAVYWEIGHT Champion.

 

[JJYanks121]

All this nonsense about guys not being able to break out of the X Division due to this new weight limit is just that — nonsense.

AJ Styles is 5'11/215lbs.
Jeff Hardy is 6'2/215lbs.

Both former World Heavyweight Champions, the latter very recently holding the title. Both are also former X Division competitors (granted, under a different regime).

Desmond Wolfe, who was also heavily pushed as a potential World Champion was 6'3/225lbs himself...

Sorry, but I just don't buy it. If a guy has what it takes to be a World Heavyweight Champion, he can (and perhaps will) be. Those who do not will not. Size is only a small facet of what limits a wrestler. His ability to draw is much, much more important to whether or not he'd make a good World Heavyweight Champion.

I do find it hilarious, though, that people argue that guys like Brian Kendrick (5'8/184lbs) should be World HEAVYWEIGHT Champion.

You can not buy it all you want, my man, but that's the truth. This has officially become the cruiserweight division and niche entertainment for the program. According to the Bischoff plan, guys under 225 pounds don't draw. I'm going on history here, and his time in WCW was spent sucking on the big man teet while watching talented workers like Jericho, Guerrero, Benoit, Mysterio, and more either wallow in mediocrity as they weren't allowed to ascend up the card, or simply leave for greener pastures.

I'd like to hope that Bischoff saw some things while in WWE, like Chris Jericho's star power, Rey Mysterio's marketability (because masked wrestlers can't be marketable, right Bisch?), and the fact that size helps, but it's not the end-all, be-all. Unfortunately, I don't think he's learned a thing.

You IDR have talked about Aries and Shelley being two potential breakout stars. I'd love to see it, but the chances of it happening now are less than 1 percent in my mind. Now that they have been deemed "X Division guys", they will be told that they have a "prestigious" title to go after so don't bother trying to move up the card. They will be told that "it's not believable" for them to win the gold, simply because they have their own division.

Quite honestly, I thought the division might have been ok had it been deemed the actual midcard title. Clearly the TV title is a joke and a half so that's not a credible midcard belt, and the X title has been featured on TV quite often lately so I figured it could be TNA's midcard belt. Now, it's just a cruiserweight belt.

Terrible move on TNA's part and I feel bad for the Shelley's and Aries' of the world. Welcome to purgatory boys, you'll never get out alive!

 

[It's Damn Real!]

You can not buy it all you want, my man, but that's the truth. This has officially become the cruiserweight division and niche entertainment for the program. According to the Bischoff plan, guys under 225 pounds don't draw. I'm going on history here, and his time in WCW was spent sucking on the big man teet while watching talented workers like Jericho, Guerrero, Benoit, Mysterio, and more either wallow in mediocrity as they weren't allowed to ascend up the card, or simply leave for greener pastures.

I'd like to hope that Bischoff saw some things while in WWE, like Chris Jericho's star power, Rey Mysterio's marketability (because masked wrestlers can't be marketable, right Bisch?), and the fact that size helps, but it's not the end-all, be-all. Unfortunately, I don't think he's learned a thing.

You IDR have talked about Aries and Shelley being two potential breakout stars. I'd love to see it, but the chances of it happening now are less than 1 percent in my mind. Now that they have been deemed "X Division guys", they will be told that they have a "prestigious" title to go after so don't bother trying to move up the card. They will be told that "it's not believable" for them to win the gold, simply because they have their own division.

Quite honestly, I thought the division might have been ok had it been deemed the actual midcard title. Clearly the TV title is a joke and a half so that's not a credible midcard belt, and the X title has been featured on TV quite often lately so I figured it could be TNA's midcard belt. Now, it's just a cruiserweight belt.

Terrible move on TNA's part and I feel bad for the Shelley's and Aries' of the world. Welcome to purgatory boys, you'll never get out alive!

...and I just don't buy that. It's paranoia on the part of fans looking back to the mistakes made in WCW, as if men, in particular Hogan and Bischoff, are incapable of not repeating them. If you don't think they are capable of course correction, that's fine and dandy, but it doesn't make it true (at least not until it actually happens).

World Champions are determined by draw, and draw is determined by how well a wrestler can sell himself. That goes beyond ring work. You have to both look and TALK credible as a world champion. You have to be able to sell your gimmick outside of the ability to dive on another X Division wrestler from 20 feet in the air.

AJ Styles is the perfect example. Styles circa 2004? Suicide dives, spinal tap, non-stop high-flying impact moves. Styles circa 2011? Far more regressed and refined. Takes less huge risks for the sake of spot cheers from the crowd and wrestles a much more intelligent match, which allows him to hang with the main event boys.

When guys like Aries and Shelley do the same, they'll potentially be in the same boat, which means they'll potentially be World Champions in the future.

 

[JJYanks121]

...and I just don't buy that. It's paranoia on the part of fans looking back to the mistakes made in WCW, as if men, in particular Hogan and Bischoff, are incapable of not repeating them. If you don't think they are capable of course correction, that's fine and dandy, but it doesn't make it true (at least not until it actually happens).

World Champions are determined by draw, and draw is determined by how well a wrestler can sell himself. That goes beyond ring work. You have to both look and TALK credible as a world champion. You have to be able to sell your gimmick outside of the ability to dive on another X Division wrestler from 20 feet in the air.

AJ Styles is the perfect example. Styles circa 2004? Suicide dives, spinal tap, non-stop high-flying impact moves. Styles circa 2011? Far more regressed and refined. Takes less huge risks for the sake of spot cheers from the crowd and wrestles a much more intelligent match, which allows him to hang with the main event boys.

When guys like Aries and Shelley do the same, they'll potentially be in the same boat, which means they'll potentially be World Champions in the future.

I hope so man, but I've been given no reason to believe that Hogan and Bischoff will "right the ship" when it comes to their thinking about divisions like this. Much of the way they are running their product shows (and I'm not going to get into it because that's not the topic at hand) that they have basically the same ideas as years ago and aren't "learning from past mistakes". This comes off to me as "dude, we had the stars on top and cruiserweights to do the work in WCW, we should totally do that!"

Honestly, that formula worked........for a while. Then it got old, the stars got old, the "draws" became shit, and the guys who were busting ass to get a chance were waiting to be elevated.........and never were. I can envision the same thing happening here. I hope I'm wrong, I really do, but I have been given no reason to think that this is anything more than pigeonholing the smaller workers to be the worker bees like the Jerichos, Mysterios, Guerreros, and cruiserweights of old that never got a chance under similar management.

My challenge to TNA: PROVE ME WRONG! I WANT YOU TO!

 

[MB1025]

Why does everyone take this as the X Division now has a ceiling? I took it as they actually made it a division, which the Kellers and Caldwells wanted for a while, and then told everyone people like Abyss will not be able to wrestle for it. There was never a weight limit to keep people out of fighting higher up on the card. Also this Division will only be as important as TNA let's it be. Just because they actually made it a division has no effect on that.

 

[Rip]

You can keep using guys like AJ and Hardy... even Mysterio and Guerrero... as examples, but at the end of the day they're the exception rather than the rule. And look how long it took for most of them to win the big one, 10 years? Longer? Yes guys that draw get world titles, but you think the Cruiserweight division or title actually helped them get there? Looks more like a hindrance to me. The concept of "Cruiserweight Division" makes the road to the World Title, the title that every wrestler wants (at least in Kayfabe), much more difficult for smaller guys. At least that's how it's been in the past and somehow I don't see TNA innovating a way to use it as a tool for success.

 

[UFOcalling]

Okay, I absolutely LOVE the banter that went on between IDR & JJYanks121 on page 2 of this thread. JJ is echoing some of my own feelings about this topic, and so is IDR.

So far, TNA has only been able to elevate two X-Division guys to main event status. Those two guys are AJ Styles & Samoa Joe. One could argue that they also put the TNA World Title on Hardy, but Jeff Hardy was "made" by WWE. What if Jeff had stayed in TNA, instead of going back to WWE in....when was that? '06? '07? Would TNA have been able to get Jeff over as a credible World Champ without the WWE machine to do it for them? Maybe, but they didn't put the strap on him until his TNA return in 2010. Did they not put the strap on him during his previous TNA run because they didn't trust he could "run with the ball"? It's possible, given Jeff's history (drugs). Jeff Hardy also could have been elevated sooner in WWE, but fucked up and failed a drug test (if I remember correctly, he was slated to win one year's MitB -- but tested positive and was suspended instead). The WWE eventually got him there...yes, they got him there.

Let's face it, the WWE is the best at getting wrestlers over (and helping them achieve "major" success). WCW didn't allow some of their own talent to get over (IE: Jericho, Guerrero, Benoit, Mysterio), but those same guys were World Champions at WWE. Sure, WCW tried putting the World Title on Benoit...but Benoit was so fed up with WCW by that point that he quit the very next day. Will TNA be as successful in moving guys up the card? I know that the WWE is a lot "bigger" than TNA is, but I just hope that TNA will be able to elevate some X-Division talent (if they deserve to be elevated). I have a sinking feeling that some guys will get pigeonholed, but there is one saving grace that gives me hope...

IDR brought up a very good point in one post, when he said it's possible that Hogan & Bischoff might have "learned from their previous mistakes" (something like that). Not only that, but you've also got Vince Russo on board. Personally, I believe that Russo had more to do with AJ & Samoa Joe becoming World Champs in TNA than anyone else employed by that company. If Russo wouldn't have been pulling for those two, they might never have held the title (I know AJ held the TNA WHC in the company's early days, but you know what I mean).

Although it is a possibility that TNA's "new" X-Division will come with a "glass ceiling" to boot, I believe the X-Division wrestlers have a powerful ally in Russo. If anyone will help them get over (if/when they deserve to), it's definitely him. If Russo wasn't a TNA employee, I would be a lot more nervous about this situation.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

I hope so man, but I've been given no reason to believe that Hogan and Bischoff will "right the ship" when it comes to their thinking about divisions like this. Much of the way they are running their product shows (and I'm not going to get into it because that's not the topic at hand) that they have basically the same ideas as years ago and aren't "learning from past mistakes". This comes off to me as "dude, we had the stars on top and cruiserweights to do the work in WCW, we should totally do that!"

Honestly, that formula worked........for a while. Then it got old, the stars got old, the "draws" became shit, and the guys who were busting ass to get a chance were waiting to be elevated.........and never were. I can envision the same thing happening here. I hope I'm wrong, I really do, but I have been given no reason to think that this is anything more than pigeonholing the smaller workers to be the worker bees like the Jerichos, Mysterios, Guerreros, and cruiserweights of old that never got a chance under similar management.

My challenge to TNA: PROVE ME WRONG! I WANT YOU TO!

And you don't see how that sounds like paranoia? That business model brought them a million dollar company that nearly took the WWE to the brink. I'd say it was a pretty smart idea to take the risk on trying the same structure in TNA to see if it'd work again. It didn't, so they changed the format to incorporate a lot more of the "old" TNA into the programming, so why are you still so concerned? You have an X Division again. You don't have Sean Morley, Scott Hall, Orlando Jordan, the Nasty Boyz, etc.

Of course you can envision the same thing that happened in WCW happening here, but that is far from a guarnatee it will.

 

[JJYanks121]

And you don't see how that sounds like paranoia? That business model brought them a million dollar company that nearly took the WWE to the brink. I'd say it was a pretty smart idea to take the risk on trying the same structure in TNA to see if it'd work again. It didn't, so they changed the format to incorporate a lot more of the "old" TNA into the programming, so why are you still so concerned? You have an X Division again. You don't have Sean Morley, Scott Hall, Orlando Jordan, the Nasty Boyz, etc.

Of course you can envision the same thing that happened in WCW happening here, but that is far from a guarnatee it will.

The business model the worked for WCW was "cruiserweights on the bottom to be workhorses, gimmicks and draws on top for the big stories". It's a great model, but you can't pigeonhole people to roles within them.

WCW brought WWF to the brink, but they didn't keep the momentum both due to shoddy booking decisions and the inability to let new people get over. If anyone worked hard and the fans loved them, they were taken off TV or buried. By 1998, the stars of the cruiserweight division, meaning the ones people actually got behind, plus guys like Booker who were over in the tag division, should have gotten the ball but they didn't. The lack of new stars severely hurt WCW and it's a shame because they had plenty of talent to create new stars and simply never did it.

As it pertains to TNA, I'm basing this history on their current decisions. It would seem to me that they STILL don't see guys under 225 pounds as marketable. Otherwise, why say "here's your division for you little guys" on TV? It's evident that this is trying to recreate the 96-97 magic and it might, but if the talented guys cease to rise up the card, especially if others they push flop, you will see some very disappointed fans.

Am I paranoid? Heck no. Just not confident that TNA's decision makers are going to do this right. Plus, I've never, ever, ever, ever, ever liked the idea of weight classes in wrestling. It's not boxing.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

The business model the worked for WCW was "cruiserweights on the bottom to be workhorses, gimmicks and draws on top for the big stories". It's a great model, but you can't pigeonhole people to roles within them.

WCW brought WWF to the brink, but they didn't keep the momentum both due to shoddy booking decisions and the inability to let new people get over. If anyone worked hard and the fans loved them, they were taken off TV or buried. By 1998, the stars of the cruiserweight division, meaning the ones people actually got behind, plus guys like Booker who were over in the tag division, should have gotten the ball but they didn't. The lack of new stars severely hurt WCW and it's a shame because they had plenty of talent to create new stars and simply never did it.

As it pertains to TNA, I'm basing this history on their current decisions. It would seem to me that they STILL don't see guys under 225 pounds as marketable. Otherwise, why say "here's your division for you little guys" on TV? It's evident that this is trying to recreate the 96-97 magic and it might, but if the talented guys cease to rise up the card, especially if others they push flop, you will see some very disappointed fans.

Am I paranoid? Heck no. Just not confident that TNA's decision makers are going to do this right. Plus, I've never, ever, ever, ever, ever liked the idea of weight classes in wrestling. It's not boxing.

Well, like I said, draw is what determines who is valuable to what extent and to whether or not they are capable of being a successful world champion.

When you put the title on a guy, it's more than just the recognition of his hard work. He's the face of your company. He's the guy you want selling the product to new fans and he's the one you want representing your brand to the fullest, so I can understand the question behind the idea of putting the "heavyweight" championship on Jack Evans, for example.

Either way, though, I don't think things are going to be as glass ceiling as you're worried about. If a guy has what it takes to break into the main event (as I feel both Aries and Shelley do), they'll do so regardless of whether their 15lbs under the "weight limit" or not.

Besides... not to be too semantical, but the weight class was applied to the X Division, not the divisions outside of it, so who's to say that an X Division star can't compete for the WHC? All Bischoff established on the show was that guys like Abyss couldn't compete for the X Division title.