Jay Lethal has left TNA.
On the surface this may not seem like such a big deal, but it speaks to a bigger issue within the company.
The problem isn’t just that they’ve lost a talented and likeable young star, it’s that he was one of the few remaining holdovers from when I enjoyed the X Division. With his leaving I’m losing all hope they will ever put a re-emphasis on the division that once created the greatest buzz for the company and gave the greatest hope they could provide a national wrestling alternative to what the WWE provides.
Jay Lethal was involved with Ric Flair in what was arguably the best T.V. segment of the last several years within TNA, and anyone who saw that or his Randy Savage Black Machismo character knew he loves and has always loved wrestling.
As a performer he had overcome the terrible storyline he was involved in with Sonjay Dutt that seemed to last for 72 years, & the recent Samoa Joe / “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero has reminded me of that angle in it’s booking quality & execution in many ways.
Lethal’s leaving means the only real performers left from an X Division of note are Christopher Daniels, A.J. Styles, Samoa Joe, Kazarian, Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin. Unfortunately half those performers no longer compete in the X Division, and despite Dixie Carter saying some time ago that they were going to bring in some new talent to liven up that portion of the roster we have yet to see it. The X Division is at its lowest point in terms of importance and quality.
So shut it down.
In fact get rid of the X Title & the joke of a T.V. Title.
Have one singles belt and one tag team belt in each of the men’s and knockout divisions.
Alternate defending them between each monthly PPV as the main event with the woman’s as a co-main in the billing.
Have each of the 4 titles defended no more than twice yearly on the weekly Impact television show.
Maybe doing this will create a scarcity in title shots and help to make wins and losses important and actually create title belts people give a damn about and want to see.
What’s the worst that could happen TNA, a 1.1 rating and 10k in PPV buys?
