KB’s Review: Exodus Stage Left

So TNA is under new management (again) and this time it’s a big deal. Basically Jeff Jarrett is running things again and he’s bringing in his own team to help him out. The interesting thing though is how the contract situation is changing. Basically Anthem (the new owners) are changing the way contracts are written and a lot of people aren’t pleased. In this case, six people have already left the company and that could mean a variety of things. Today we’re going to break down the current talent to have left and what that could mean for TNA going forward.

These are in no particular order.

Jade

This is the most recent one and also one of the most interesting. The problem with the Knockouts division is how little depth there is on the face side. Now that Jade is gone, you have Allie, Brooke and Gail Kim when she’s actually around. Jade was rather popular but she had run her course in the feud against Rosemary, which will be blown off later this week in a Last Knockout Standing match.

There’s no doubt that Jade is very talented and the fans cared about her. I’m sure she could have been put into a variety of feuds and now there isn’t a lot of depth on the good side of the Knockouts. The whole division is in need of some fresh talent but that doesn’t mean it benefits from losing one of its more popular acts.

Jade Calls Out Rosemary | IMPACT Feb. 23rd, 2017

Drew Galloway

I know Galloway used to be a bigger deal but he’s still the Global Champion (we’ll have to see if he loses it on the last show of the taping cycle) and a former World Champion. Unfortunately he’s also one of the bigger stars on the indy scene at the moment and is worth his weight in gold on the white hot British wrestling circuit. Why stick around TNA when you can be closer to home and do whatever you want whenever you want to do it?

Of all the people to have left, Galloway might be the most valuable. I know there’s a pair later on who were certainly presented as bigger stars but Galloway is thirty one years old and has over fifteen years experience. He also opens a big door to the UK and could have been one of the biggest stars TNA could have. That being said, I more than understand why he left and it seems to have been amicable. Hopefully he comes back down the line.

And New Impact Grand Champion... Drew Galloway! | IMPACT Jan. 19th, 2017

Mike Bennett

This one is a little more interesting as Bennett came in and hit the ground running but then just….stopped. Other than beating Ethan Carter III, I can’t think of a single thing that he’s done in his time with TNA. Bennett is a strong talker but his in ring work is only average for the most part. His biggest strength is being married to Maria Kanellis-Bennett and I’m not sure if that’s enough to warrant a main event place on the roster.

The problem though is he certainly has enough skill to warrant a spot somewhere. There’s talent there and Bennett can be something interesting with the right story. Why that hasn’t happened yet could be due to the booking and writing but Bennett hasn’t done himself many favors. I liked his time in the company but he needed to be tweaked a bit and to find something better than the Miracle, whatever that was supposed to be. Bennett is probably the most expendable of all these people and I’m sure he’ll pop up somewhere else, perhaps in Ring of Honor.

IMPACT on POP: The Miracle Mike Bennett and Maria Arrive in TNA

Maria Kanellis-Bennett

Other than the Hardys, this is the biggest deal of them all. Kanellis-Bennett certainly isn’t a great in-ring talent but she can wrestler a match if necessary, though it normally means she takes one heck of a beating. The key to her character is very simple: she’s so evil all the time that people want to see her get what’s coming to her, such as what happened to her in last week’s great wedding angle. While she hasn’t been in power in the Knockouts division in a long time, she certainly still has value to the division and unfortunately that seems to be gone.

Kanellis-Bennett is a great example of someone who can be switched around to various places on the roster and have value no matter where she is. You can have her manage almost anyone (husband or not husband) and she’s going to get that person more heat than they’re going to get otherwise. She’s the best heel manager the company has had in a very long time and there was a lot more mileage to get out of her. She’s talked about leaving wrestling soon though and unfortunately that could mean less of her around, which isn’t a good thing.

Maria Tells Allie Her Wedding Responsibilities | IMPACT Feb. 23rd, 2017

Hardys

And of course we wrap it up here. This is definitely the most complicated as the Hardys are one of the most intricately detailed characters in wrestling today (if not ever) and they’re still the TNA Tag Team Champions. I’m not sure what TNA can do to write them off without mentioning them leaving (which would be as lame as it could get) and since TNA wouldn’t let Matt come back to drop the titles without some kind of a contract (the show is taped so if he goes nuts, don’t air it and come up with something else), it should be interesting to see where they go.

More important than anything else though, the Hardys are the biggest stars in the promotion and have been pushed as such for months now. All of a sudden they’re just going to be gone and I’m not sure what TNA can do to fill in all that space. The Hardys are different than anything else in TNA and I don’t think just filling it in with generic wrestling is going to be enough to make up for it. At the very least, let them get rid of the belts to ANY other team. Just grab a camera crew and send any two wrestlers down to the Hardy Compound to change the titles. I know it’s expensive but it’s more important to protect the titles.

The Expedition of Gold Begins For The Broken Hardys | IMPACT Feb. 9th, 2017

There’s enough talent between the independent circuit and Global Force Wrestling (Remember them?) to fill in two hours of Impact but I’m really worried about what TNA might put on to replace all these people. The audience for TNA is built up on a lot of these names (the Hardys in particular) and I’m not sure what they’ll have to replace the people leaving. Just throwing warm bodies out there isn’t going to work and given how fast so many of these people are leaving, it’s going to be a very rough transition. In other words, the talent is leaving and we’re not sure what’s going to happen. Just another day in TNA.

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