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Reviving the X-Division

4K views 46 replies 32 participants last post by  tbp82 
#1 ·
I think the X-Division has gotten stale and doesn't have the star power it once had. Austin Aries looked like a true champion basically due to a lack of competition and lack of personalities. Right now I think TNA needs to make some changes. The division basically consists of 3 people.
Zema Ion: They need to push him more as the kid who deliberately injured Jesse Sorenson and just didn't care.
Sonjay Dutt: He hasn't done anything for me since he's come back.
Kenny King: He's best suited for the tag team division.

I think TNA needs to add:
Damian Slater: The kid is gold down in Australia and unlike alot of indy darlings he would translate into the mainstream.
Fergal "Prince" Devitt: As his theme song proclaims "He's the best around"
Kenny Omega: One of the best performers in Japan.
Ricochet: He's a rehabilated spot monkey who is adding more actually wrestling moves to his arsenal.
Shawn Spears: He was great in OVW before they brought him into ECW as Gavin Spears and basically gave him nothing to work with, Good personality, mic skills and just a good all around heel.
 
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#2 ·
Re: Reviving the X- Division

I would agree, the x-division needs to be brought back alive it would add way more to the show.

These are the people that should be on TNA's radar for the x-division:
Adam Cole: He is a real good heel and could be what the x-division needs to bring it back up.
Ricochet
Fergal Devitt
El Generico
TPJ/Puma
Tommaso Ciampa
Sami Callihan
Chuck Taylor
AR Fox
Johnny Gargano
CIMA
Akira Tozawa
Samuray Del Sol
 
#3 ·
they need to bring back the Canadian destroyer Petey williams, Black Machismo Jay Leathel, Low Ki, Jack Evens, homicide, eric young (full time) ect
 
#5 · (Edited)
Prince Devitt - don't think they can afford him but obviously he has to be one of the very top targets for any X Division revamp. Pretty much the top junior heavyweight/cruiserweight in the world who hasn't had considerable North American exposure and would likely be over like a million bucks (i.e. rules out Japanese/Mexican workers, in general).

Low Ki - tremendous worker. He can do things that almost no-one else with national exposure can (or would be allowed to; see: Bryan Danielson). He can work cruiserweight, strong style, submissions etc. He's already been part of the X Division and could help redefine it all over.

AR Fox, Ricochet, and Jack Evans - I've placed these three together because I do consider them to be largely spot monkeys. There is room for that in the X Division however.

RVD, AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Austin Aries, Jeff Hardy - they're all with TNA, and are being pushed to varying degrees. I think with their status within the company (and, in the case of RVD and Hardy, worldwide name recognition) any one of these guys could have feuds within the X Division to elevate the division and the younger guys in it.

Dragon Gate - TNA would do well to poach guys from here from time to time, even just to keep the X Divsion roster fresh. Doi and Yoshino, for instance, have appeared in TNA before.

I should note that they completely missed the ball with PAC. He could have been such a star in the X Division.

If anyone can ever manage his clear mental problems, Teddy Hart.

And if they feel the need to do the whole WWF-fanboy recruitment policy, John Hennigan/Nitro/Morrison.
 
#7 ·
Yeah, that match was what really got me into TNA!

Dutt has really impressed me this time around. And King has a lot of potential. But a handful of guys does not a division make. They definitely need more. Low Ki is great, but doesn't he have quite a bad reputation backstage? I could be wrong, but I heard he's a bit of a nightmare to work with which is one of the reasons he doesn't get used much by TNA.
 
#14 ·
Yeah I've heard Ki is a bit of a mark for himself and can be kinda dangerous, I think he legit knocked some dude out at an EVOLVE show the other year on his debut after about a minute. I've enjoyed his recent NJPW work though, it's the best I've seen him in a while and I'd be happy if he stays there.

I think having some feuds first might help revive the division. They can bring in new guys if they want but the fact the champ barely gets TV time probably means they won't get that much either. Focus on King/Ion or Dutt/Ion for an extended period instead of throwing them in a match the week before. Zema's a really easy heel to hate too, so I'm sure if they invested in him more it'd be alright.
 
#8 ·
Fergal Devitt and Kenny Omega are winning good $$$ in japan, there's no way in hell they are going to accept a shitty TNA undercard contract.
So if you want them prichard, you better show them the $$$.

Now with that being said OVW exists for a reason:
- Chris Silvio
- Sam Shaw
- Alex Silva
- Jamin Olivencia
 
#12 ·
El Generico should be the face of the X-Division for the next two/three years. Fun, believable, sympathetic babyface. Is amazing in the ring, personifies the X-Division style and can sell with the best of them. Would sell a hell of a lot of merch as well.
 
#16 ·
Re: Reviving the X- Division

TJ Perkins is an excellent wrestler but has the personality of a board.
AR Foxx is a great spot monkey but he needs to EVOLVE in DragonsGate like PAC & Ricochet have.
Sami Callihan is a good indy worker but doesn't translate in the mainstream much like Kevin Steen, El Generico and numerous others.
Adam Cole I fully expect to get a WWE contract in the near future.
I was a fan of Anthony Nese but he didn't want to develop a personality or do anything to make him stand out.
I would love to see an Australian invasion in the X cup with TMDK (Haste, Nicholls) Damian Slater and someone else for the next X cup
 
#20 ·
while I agree that TNA need to sign some new talent to help revive the X division, thats not the main problem. The problem i am talking about is that you never see any X division matches anymore and There is no point in signing fresh young talent if you are never going to have them on tv. TNA need to have at least one x Division match a week to keep people intrested and at the moment we are lucky if we get one a month. So until that changes neither will the X Division. As far as who TNA should bring in there is a load of talent in the indy scene who could really help put the X division back on the map and below is a list of the talent i think tna should sign.

Pete williams
Pete was one of the best X division stars tna ever had and I don't know what tna where thinking letting him go in the first place.

El Generico
One of the best high flyers there is and could very well be TNA's answer to Ray Mysterio.

TJ Perkins
another fantastic high flyer and after ROH realesed him for working a dark match for TNA he would e easy enough to sign.

don't forget sorenson and sabin are still on the roster and if you add them to the guys I have listed above and the three active X division guys it would give 8 talented guys for TNA to use to revive the division and make it better then before.
 
#23 ·
No elite Junior Heavyweight is gonna come in TNA with the current pay-per-appearance politics, because the X Division is on the life suport machines. You come, work few random matches on TV and house shows, do a feud (if that), and you're lost in the shuffle after that. And you make no money because TNA won't let you do Indys anymore.
 
#24 ·
when i first started watching TNA the X-Division was 1 of the main draws they had guys like Sonjay Dutt Jay Lethal Alex shelly Chris Sabin Creed Daniels Shark Boy it was amazing and i started watching recently it looks to have taken a back seat was shocked and i also think ion is crap
 
#25 · (Edited)
problem is a lot of the better guys tna could get are either contracted or content working japan and or mexico

not that i can blame them
 
#28 ·
x division needs help big time.

zema
king
dutt
sorrenson whos hurt.

thats it. they need some more x division obviously, but they also need some guys who could be potential main eventers in tna since the x division champ gets a world title shot at destination x. does any1 see zema as a world champ? hell no, not at this point anyway.

some signings id like to see:

roderick strong-very good wrestler, tho would need truth martini to talk for him a help his character

tj perkins-recently had a tryout match, be a good pick up

el generico- another great wrestler who would be over as hell in the impact zone

petey williams- good worker who id like to see back
 
#29 ·
It's really not about the roster, it's about TNA wanting to get behind it. Kenny King came in, had a feud like another poster has already said, and now we haven't seen him again, after he lost to Ion.

It was a real shame that they dropped the ball with Shelley. He could be tearing it up right now as X Div Champ as he has got the mic skills and the charisma to keep the Div in the spotlight.

back on topic, they need to give more tv time to Ion. He needs more mic time and the X div needs atleast one match an Impact. Let it be the first match to pump the crowd up and give exposure to whoever they want to challenge Ion for the belt. Ion has shown glimpses of cool mic work with his breaking necks promo a few months back. He is f'n pretty and pretty f'n dangerous, or something like that. He needs a decent feud with someone and yes it would be good if Soreson was the one to take the belt from him, but it also would have been good to see Storm take the belt from Roode.

TNA needs to make sure that Ion doesn't do what Aries did, becaue he devalues Aries' contribution and sort of says that the X Champ is the only guy in the Div...
 
#30 ·
Here's what I think they are going to do, mixed with what I want to happen.

Obviously they're only keeping Zema around so they can put the X-Division title on Sorenson when he gets back.

1) Give Sorenson the X-Division Title when he gets back. Get rid of Zema.
2) Have Sonjay defeat Sorenson clean and then turn heel in the return match.
3) Have PUMA work as enhancement talent/undercard matches.
4) Eventually get rid of Sorenson.
5) Have a returning Chris Sabin take the title a couple of months before Destination X.
6) Have Sabin cash in the X-Division title for a shot at the World Title.Any
7) Bring back Roderick Strong and Petey Williams, as well as debut Ricochet in the Destination X tournament.
8) Have Sabin lose at Destination X, and have King or Petey win the X-Division Championship.

Going forward the X-Division Roster looks like this:
-Chris Sabin
-Kenny King
-Petey Williams
-PUMA
-Ricochet
-Roderick Strong
-Sam Shaw
-Sonjay Dutt

These are all affordable options for TNA, and any match-up would be amazing if Shaw continues to boost his athleticism.
 
#32 ·
The one thing I notice on here is that alot of people suggest bringing back former X-Division guys. The Petey Williams, The Jay Lethals, pushing Sabin etc.........while I have no problem with this it is not likely that they ever reach a level higher than they were before they left (not saying it doesn't happen but saying its not likely). The new peoople for the X-Division should be just that new people. I like the idea from the person earlier who mentioned OVW but 2 of the 4 mentioned on that list (Silva and Shaw) are already TNA contracted they just aren't being used yet so bringing them in would be a start.
 
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