What They Should Do With the X-Division Championship

[Eyrothath]

So.. I've been watching all the changes to the X-Division recently and I just continue to sit here and shake my head "No, no, NO!!!" Everything change that has been made to the X-Division has done nothing to make the title more prestigious.

What I would do, with all honestly is make it like an "Extreme" championship sort of belt, I believe with all the high flyers in the X-Division, this could work, a title that could change hands so long as there is a ref to do a count-out, in or outside the ring, a "no rules, no limits" sort of belt, it would also help give TNA more of an edge to it to have a few ECW style matches in there.

Or I would just pitch some of the useless belts like the knockouts titles and reign in a extreme championship belt, what is your guy's thoughts?

 

[Ovaltine]

I don't want another hardcore type belt. Hardcore matches should be very few and far between and should happen when all other types of matches have been performed and there is a need for a very climactic ending to a feud. As for al of the "improvements" to the X-division... THEY SUCK! Gone are the great singles matches that the division once had. Now all we are left with are three man spotfest botchfests and it really sucks. They should have stuck with "it's not abot weight limits-it's about no limits." TNA under the Hogan/Bischoff regime have done some things right, but they have done just as many things wrong. This is one of those terribly wrong things!

 

[Nikeo]

Do you know why neither WWE or TNA have a hardcore type title?

Because it's ******ed, dated and wouldn't draw a dime. While a handful of IWC fans, including yourself it would seem, would love to see people smashing each other with chairs and wrapping themselves in barbed wire, the rest of us (thankfully) have very little interest in seeing that week in and week out.

Hardcore wrestling stopped being relevant the minute the WWE moved away from the crash TV of the Attitude era. Any company willing to go back to those days is, quite literally, moving backwards.

Sorry to seem like a dick but I think it's one of the worst suggestions I've seen here in quite a while. Hardcore wrestling has no place in the current market. A Monster's Ball match a year? Yeah, cool. That works because if it's saved for special occasions it can be shocking and keep one on the edge of one's seat. Do it every week and the fans become desensitised to it and it loses its' shock value and becomes violence for the sake of violence.

What you need to realise is ECW's style of wrestling is not only dangerous for the performers, not only would it not draw a dime but it's dumb and only appeals to the lowest common denominator of fans. I'm sure it looks really cool when you're watching it on Youtube but it's not. It's just not.

Hardcore wrestling for the sake of hardcore wrestling just doesn't have a place anymore and I, for one, am glad of that.

As for the X-Division, I think the new rules could be really cool. TNA gets an awful lot of flak for trying to re-brand the division every now and then and I think that's a bit unfair. No, the company has not found its' footing with regards to the division but how are they supposed to do that if they don't try new things? I think it's better that they try something new, and find it doesn't work, than do nothing and watch it fade ever further into irrelevance.

I've never been a fan of the X-Division but I genuinely hope TNA's risk pays off, at least they have the balls to try and fail. Let's face it, the whole "it's not about weight limits, it's about no limits" shtick stopped working years ago. Making the division different, in whatever way, helps it have its' own unique feel and makes it about more than just high-flyers flipping around. Maybe this take on it will fail but I applaud TNA for taking a chance.

I don't buy the general IWC consensus of "OMG Y R DEY DOING THAT!?!?!? ITS STUPID AND LOOK IT DIDNT WORK" (be it this, the short lived ranking system, etc). Let them try new things. They're not going to find their feet (and let's face it, the company is still trying to do that) without trying and failing a few things. The ranking system could have been great, but they were never going to know if it would work or not without putting it on TV to find out.

I know I'm ranting at this stage but I'll sum it all up:

Hardcore "ECW" style wrestling has no place on a modern companies TV show.

Cut TNA a break. Let them try and fail, how else do you expect them to improve? That's coming from a WWE loyalist.

 

[SpecialFNK]

what does getting rid of the Knockouts title have to do with the X division? one is men and one is women, completely different.

what they might as well get rid of is the X division itself, however since it's TNA original I doubt that happens.

it's a cruiser weight division with a bunch of nobodies, at least the way it is currently set up. there aren't enough smaller guys to have alone in a division that are much good. they should combine the X division and the mid card, let the mid card guys compete for the X division title too. then you can have a mix of the smaller types with known established names that a majority of your audience would prefer to see anyway.
they don't do shit with the TV title, can't remember the last time Devon defended it. drop that useless title and mix the X division and mid card.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

The X Division Championship, much like the Television Championship, isn't a priority in TNA right now. If you take Austin Aries out of the equation, then the X Division really hasn't been anything resembling a priority for years now. I think that's pretty much how it's going to stay. Like I've said in other posts, that wouldn't be so bad if they had another viable mid-card title.

Turning the X Division into a hardcore division isn't going to do anything to raise the prestige of the title. Given the information that's come out over the past several years, such as so many wrestlers dying while still young men, some addicted to various drugs & pain killers, wrestlers whose bodies are just plain worn out from being involved in so many hardcore style matches, etc.; there's been a pretty big backlash against hardcore wrestling. Just putting on wild, over the top violent matches isn't going to jack up prestige, it'll probably just wind up getting someone hurt.

In my opinion, the changes that need to be made to the X Division are simple. Build actual feuds with actual storylines in the X Division. Once doing that, put emphasis on those storylines and the wrestlers involved in them. Fans have to invest in the X Division & the wrestlers in it after the matches are over. That simply won't happen as long as interchangeable wrestlers are brought in, wrestle a match or two, then disappear for a few months. Otherwise, fans will generally just care only until those matches are over. After that, they'll be forgotten and TNA does the same thing next time with three more guys put into a random match.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

The X Division Championship, much like the Television Championship, isn't a priority in TNA right now. If you take Austin Aries out of the equation, then the X Division really hasn't been anything resembling a priority for years now. I think that's pretty much how it's going to stay. Like I've said in other posts, that wouldn't be so bad if they had another viable mid-card title.

Turning the X Division into a hardcore division isn't going to do anything to raise the prestige of the title. Given the information that's come out over the past several years, such as so many wrestlers dying while still young men, some addicted to various drugs & pain killers, wrestlers whose bodies are just plain worn out from being involved in so many hardcore style matches, etc.; there's been a pretty big backlash against hardcore wrestling. Just putting on wild, over the top violent matches isn't going to jack up prestige, it'll probably just wind up getting someone hurt.

In my opinion, the changes that need to be made to the X Division are simple. Build actual feuds with actual storylines in the X Division. Once doing that, put emphasis on those storylines and the wrestlers involved in them. Fans have to invest in the X Division & the wrestlers in it after the matches are over. That simply won't happen as long as interchangeable wrestlers are brought in, wrestle a match or two, then disappear for a few months. Otherwise, fans will generally just care only until those matches are over. After that, they'll be forgotten and TNA does the same thing next time with three more guys put into a random match.

Absolutely. That. The bolded part.

People need to take their heads out of their asses and face the fact that adding a gimmick to a belt doesn't make it worth a dime.

[Quick side note before I continute. The idea of belt prestige is some IWC bullshit that actually doesn't matter. It's a fictional idea, it's something we add to the whole experience through our picky imagination in order to legitimize a fake sport. I don't care how prestigious a belt is, as long as the feud around it stinks, it won't do jack shit to make the whole process more entertaining.]

So, if you ARE going to make it more "prestigious" for whatever damn reason, the way you do it is exactly what JackHammer said. Feuds. Good feuds and lots of them. I'm talking solid promos, solid air time, solid build, solid final match and some kind of interesting outcome. Then the belt becomes important by association with the awesome shit that happened because of it.

The X-Division's current format has nothing to do with belt prestige. The format is fine. Three ways always? What's not to like?

You get more spots. That's what the X-Division is. Think back to all the best X-Division matches. How many of them involved only two people? Note the pattern here.

And besides, your genius idea will only piss off everyone else. Turn it into a hardcore division? You do realize that this is killing the entire idea behind the X-Division, right? You're ultimately killing it all with one swift move. People bitched when TNA dumped that Toys-R-Us six sided ring. If they completely overhauled the X-Division the real TNA die-hards (or what's left of them) will freakin' riot.

This thread just goes to show once again that the IWC fantasy bookers and laptop gangsters don't know jack.

 

[akathelaw]

Awesome thread, awesome thoughts so far. I think everyone agrees that the X-Division could and should be a focal point in the company, because it means a better product with more entertaining outcomes.

I agree that rebranding the X-Division title as a "hardcore" or garbage match championship is a terrible idea that drags the company back to the mid 90's. The last thing TNA needs is to start signing guys like the Blue Meanie and Balls Mahoney.

TNA's attempting to show off more spots and feature more talent in their new X-Division. the "always 3" stipulation will get old, but for now it gives the X-Division the opportunity to feature more guys on a show. If it's booked right, you can end up seeing a lot of great spots in each match.

As for changes to the division, I got a few in mind. First, ditch the "3-man only" stipulation in favor of a Wildcard Stipulation Clause. Right before a championship match, the announcer informs the wrestlers and the audience of the particular stipulation for that match. It could be a 3-man match, where the 3rd entrant would be a surprise. It could also be a four way, no disqualification, no count out, last man standing or anything else. This would make the championship feel special, create excitement, add to the drama of storylines and help the talent get noticed.

The X-Division stars should exude confidence, attitude, electricity and athleticism. Naturally, the Knockouts should be attracted to the X-Division stars and participate in storylines. At least a few of the XDivision guys should have valets. It'll add to the dramatic possibilities and both divisions will look stronger. Also, by contrast the TV and World Champions will appear more focused and aggressive, less distracted by the beautiful women in the locker room. Guys like Zema Ion, Rockstar Spud, Alex Shelley and Kenny King would definitely benefit from some on screen interaction with the Knockouts.

Lastly, keep the opportunity for the X-Division Champion to vacate the title for a World Championship match. It's a really cool way to introduce a new star and did great things for Aries.

 

[One to Remember]

i dont understand the thread question. Eventhough its the X Divison and X is a synonym for unknown like wit all titles there is really no room to wiggle. The X title has to stay the high flyers fast paced title like a crusierweight title can't have guys the size of Vader or Bam Bam Bigelow even though ironically both were agile enough and high flying enough for the X Division.. A TV title can't exclusively change hands during house shows. Theres no room to wiggle with these specialty titles at all.

If the Divas tag team division is failing you can't have Hernandez and Chavo swoop in to take the titles, you either continue to present the Divas and the fans either respond or they don't..

TNA has to find wrestlers who meet criteria to even be in an X Division then its up to them to impress the crowd. If that only gives you 4 guys in the division then your gonna have a lot of downtime where the title might be seen but not defended. Then you have situations like with Jeff Hardy where his presence is demanded by the World title and so the X Division has to except that loss. If TNA does a talent exchange with CMLL or AAA the X Division title could find new life as a lucha division I guess..

 

[The Roadie]

Go back to the original X division style, with the X above the ring & all the high flying, high risk stuff. If they continue down the road they are now they might as well call it the "Cruiser Weight" division & be done with it, because at the moment thats all it is.

 

[The Boss]

I don't want another hardcore type belt. Hardcore matches should be very few and far between and should happen when all other types of matches have been performed and there is a need for a very climactic ending to a feud. As for al of the "improvements" to the X-division... THEY SUCK! Gone are the great singles matches that the division once had. Now all we are left with are three man spotfest botchfests and it really sucks. They should have stuck with "it's not abot weight limits-it's about no limits." TNA under the Hogan/Bischoff regime have done some things right, but they have done just as many things wrong. This is one of those terribly wrong things!

I'm usually one to stand up and defend what HOLLYWOOD HULK HOGAN and Bischoff have done in TNA. I think the good they have done by far outweighs any bad they have done. But I will admit that they have dropped the ball on the X-Division.

While some fans were upset that they took focus away from the X-division and focused more on the Heavyweight division, I fully understood what they were doing. After all to the average fan it's all about the World Heavyweight Championship. If the main title is taking a backseat to your gimmick title (I know the X-division is considered more than that by many but bear with me) then you are pretty much setting yourself up for uninteresting main events that require a ton of gimmicks just to seem important. Like the Jeff Jarrett reigns that nobody cared about. By focussing on the World title division they have succeeded in making the TNA World title division much more important and it has a lot of momentum at the moment.

Now, that being said they definitely need to go back and fix the X-division. One thing I do notice is that they seem to have the same question that I have always had. What does "X-Division" mean? Bischoff tried to make it a cruiser weight division which he made very popular in WCW. Now they are trying to make it a spot fest division which while allowing for a lot of high spot moments, having these matches regularly also allows for a lot of botched moments.

Sadly the entire premise of the X-Division (at least as far as I was ever able to tell) was just about young indy guys doing a ton of highspots. And as you grow older and wiser you learn to use them sparingly so that you protect yourself and so they mean more in a match. Only the youngest and least experienced guys can do this regularly. So to really bring the style back to what it was you would have to give it an age limit. Something like no one over 27. While some people might say that's a great idea, others might not.

The only way for the X-Division to return to it's former glory would be to make it the main attraction. But I believe this would only hurt the company they are trying to grow. While I would definitely give it some more freedoms like doing away with the only three way matches rule, I feel the X-Division is destined to be an after thought for now. The best hope I see for it is for TNA to continue to grow and eventually a second show is produced.