Over the years TNA has had many great moments. For example the AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels feud, or the image of Elix Skipper walking the cage to deliver a hurricanrana to Chris Harris. How about the resurrection of Christian’s career (Yes that counts. TNA being smart enough to give Christian a world title push is a great moment in wrestling history)? We could go on and on about the great moments in TNA’s 12 plus years of history, but we would be fools if we acted as if it has been all roses. In fact, it’s been quite the opposite.

TNA has made enough blunders that it would be literally impossible to recount them all here. That said, this past week an announcement TNA made literally made this writer’s head explode. Can someone explain why the Kurt Angle vs. Ethan Carter The 3rd’s TNA Heavyweight Championship match is happening on an episode of Impact and not the main event of Slammiversary? Did we really need another King of the Mountain match? Doesn’t Jeff Jarrett have his own company to run? Is this writer taking crazy pills?

Come to think of it, there were many things wrong with the Slammiversary pay per view, which subsequently is part and parcel of the larger issues within TNA. Before we get sidetracked, the main issue with the event was the lack of an actual TNA Championship match. Slammiversary is supposed to be TNA’s version of SummerSlam, or maybe even The Royal Rumble. It is supposed to be a huge event. Never mind the fact that TNA expected people to actually pay to view it. Instead of featuring the feud that has been the central focus of Impact the past few weeks (EC3 vs. Angle, duh, keep up!) they decided to make the main event a King of the Mountain match. Not familiar with what a King of the Mountain Match is? It’s essentially an overly convoluted reverse battle royal ladder match… thingy.

In the past, KOTM has been a means to put all of the heavyweight title contenders in a match and have Jeff Jarrett beat them… for some reason. Now before any Jeff Jarrett fans get upset, we love Jeff Jarrett here at Vavel Pro Wrestling… Ok, our Editor does… ok… So what if the person writing this is the editor in question. Why is this writer err… editor talking in indirect first person? Sorry about that, anyway Jarrett is literally the King of the Mountain. He has managed to win two of these matches. That said if they are bringing the match back it's perfectly fine to have him in it. Well, if you overlook the fact that he doesn’t work for TNA and is currently promoting his new Global Force Wrestling company.

For some reason Jeff Jarrett appeared on last week’s episode of Impact to announce the return of the match and that he would be in it… while wearing a GFW t-shirt and mentioning GFW a little under 650 times. Now, there is nothing wrong with cross-promotion, but this was a bit ridiculous. The funny thing is it’s hard to tell if an association with TNA will help or hurt GFW. Either way, it was cool to see Jarrett in a TNA ring again. Even though it was obvious that he was going to win the KOTM match.

Wait isn't that the TNA Legends title? Credit TNA

Under normal circumstances, the TNA Heavyweight Championship would be on the line but as previously stated the title will be defended on Impact the Wednesday after Slammiversary. Fun fact, the Impact that airs after Slammiversary was actually taped before Slammiversary, which means Slammiversary is actually showing events a week behind something that already happened. Isn’t this a time paradox? Shouldn’t Jean Claude Van Damme be going back in time to fix this? That was a Time Cop joke. Nothing? Jeez, tough readers.

The best part of this is that since the TNA title isn’t available, TNA decided to create a new belt. The TNA King of the Mountain title. You have to see where this is going. In what was one of the most telegraphed moves in wrestling history Jeff Jarrett wins the title at Slammiversary. He damn near kills himself trying to get to a mic to tell anyone who will listen that he will be defending the title in GFW. So it looks like the GFW title is literally going to be a hand me down from TNA. If GFW’s roster reveal left a bit to be desired (this writer is waiting for them to sign AJ Styles or sign a deal with ROH to add some depth), the news that their belt is A) held by Jarrett and B) literally says TNA on it can’t help you feel better about GFW’s future.

KNEW IT! It is the same belt! Credit: Dave Millican

This writer’s hands have been clasped praying that GFW takes off. The wrestling industry needs it to work, but this is seemingly not the way to put your best foot forward.

So to recap, TNA’s first pay per view of the year was essentially devoted to putting a title (that means nothing) on the waist of a wrestler who doesn’t work with the company. Again, TNA expected their fans to pay to see this! You are probably wondering what EC3 and Kurt Angle were scheduled to do during the event. EC3 tagged with his heater The Funka… err Tyrus vs. Lashley and Mr. Anderson (huh?). Kurt Angle wasn’t even on the card (double huh?). Yes, you read that right. The number one contender for the TNA title EC3 (even though technically he was actually TNA champ at the time because his title win happened before this event. Don’t try to make sense of it, just go with it) wrestle a meaningless tag match while Kurt Angle was home most likely washing his tights. Yet TNA fans wonder why the company isn’t doing well.

EC3 has been undefeated for over two years. TNA clearly has invested a ton of time and energy into him. His coronation as champ should be an epic event. Give the man a pay per view main event, along with a special entrance. Was Motörhead not available? Just picture Ec3’s entrance with Lemmy bellowing, “Trouble, trouble, trouble, trouble, trouble”. That would be quite the sight. Why would you not give the future of your company a grandiose entrance? Anyone remember Rey Mysterio’s funky chicken entrance at WrestleMania when he won the World title? Like that, but not as stupid. WWE had the right idea when shining someone up to make them champ. Go for the gusto.

You are probably thinking that even though TNA botched the EC3 title win, they would at least further the rest of the feuds at the pay per view. If you care about the Robbie E vs. Jessie Godderz feud or Bram calling out washed up former TNA stars, then sure, missions accomplished. Instead of the finals of the TNA Tag title series, they booked a singles match between Austin Aries and Davey Richards. The winner got to pick the stipulation for the final match in the best 3-out-of-5 match series. Again, TNA wanted its fans to pay for this event. Not one match that was booked would have been enough to get me to spend my hard earned money, and that is the main reason why TNA is viewed in the manner it is by the general public.

The only way to make a dime in the wrestling business is to build up stories and make the fans actually care about what’s happening in the ring. TNA has its fans, but the TV numbers have not gotten any better over the past six to seven years or so. No matter who TNA manages to sign none of it matters if the in-ring product isn’t up to par. WWE is far from perfect, but their formula is proven and it has managed to make Vince McMahon a billionaire (depending on the week). Obviously, they are doing something right over in Stanford.

So what in the world is going on in TNA? It’s tough to say that even the officials know the answer to that question. Nothing makes sense. Now it’s easy to come back and say the WWE title wasn’t defended during a few WWE pay per views this past year. Under normal circumstances that would be a fair point but the problem is at this point you can’t compare anything WWE does up against what TNA does. WWE could put the worst TV show on the air, but people will still watch due to brand recognition and sheer force of habit. TNA has done nothing to create that type of connection with casual wrestling fans.

Congrats! Let's hope this works. Credit TNA

An overly convoluted reverse battle royal ladder match thingy isn’t going to grab the attention of anyone. It’s flat out stupid. TNA would be better served to build up their homegrown talent, instead of dedicating a pay per view to the admittedly awesome Jeff Jarrett (seriously, we love him. Hopefully he doesn’t take our TNA criticism the wrong way). TNA management was on the right track with EC3. The build to the point of him winning the title was the definition of perfect. EC3 defeated legends. EC3 has a two-year undefeated streak. Why wouldn’t you have the only person you have actually built up to be a star win your title on a pay per view? Whatever the reason, it's safe to say that if TNA hopes to survive they need to take a step back and review what their priorities are and what they should be. Obviously, there is a severe disconnect between the two.

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