You can say that the most important player on a baseball team is the pitcher. He doesn't actually score, but he is the centerpiece when it comes to limiting the other team from scoring. And teams in the MLB have multiple pitchers. They have to. You have multiple starting pitchers and multiple relief pitchers. This is something you don't really see in football and basketball. In those sports, you usually want your star quarterback and star players out there, unless it is a meaningless game. In baseball, a pitcher can end up throwing the ball a hundred times in one game before he gets relieved. No quarterback is going to throw the ball that much in one game. And quarterbacks don't play back-to-back nights like you have in baseball. You sometimes have a doubleheader, which is two games in one day. If one pitcher was responsible for all that, it would be murder on his arm. I probably couldn't throw one pitch without hurting myself. That is why you have this natural rotation in baseball.
I have said before that TNA likes to rotate around their stars. I once compared it to them being stuck in the preseason in football. This baseball analogy might be better. For one thing, the football analogy might imply that they are testing all this talent and trying to figure out whom to stick with, but they just can't make up their mind, which leads to them being stuck in the situation they are in. I am beginning to think this is how they want to do things. If that is the case, the baseball analogy might make more sense.
One thing to keep in mind, TNA weren't always the way they are now. They did have a different system. There was a time where Jeff Jarrett was pushed as their top guy. Some say he hogged the spotlight. He was like Triple H. He was the clear centerpiece. Over in their women's division, it had not yet really developed. Almost everything was in the periphery. It was an extension of issues in the men's division. For a while, Gail Kim was the clear top star. That system has changed.
TNA likes to rotate around their top stars. And it isn't an official, set rotation like you have in baseball, but it is a rotation. Lashley is having a run as top guy. Eric Young had a run. Magnus had a run. Bully Ray had a run. And a lot of guys that looked so awesome at one time then get rotated down back to the midcard. The same kind of thing happens in the KO division, although Gail Kim is starting to be pushed more like a true centerpiece than they have ever had before. Nevertheless, there is still a slight rotation there. You have had some women look so strong for a few months, then they get rotated out. You put that interest in them, then you take it away and rotate them out and someone else in.
It makes sense to do this kind of thing in baseball. One pitcher cannot handle all that work. Does it really make sense for TNA to be inconsistent like this? I know these wrestlers work hard and give their bodies to entertain, but it isn't like top stars have to wrestle on TV every week. Have them just do promos some nights. Have them on commentary. Have them in backstage segments. Have them brawl with whomever they are feuding. A lot of possibilities. It is obviously not about just physical freshness, since these guys still perform in the midcard. It is a matter of creative freshness. You don't want the top star being pushed getting stale. But are you really pulling the plug on him because he has gotten stale? I feel TNA often kills the momentum of someone for no good reason. It's not even that they are punishing anyone. This is just how they operate. And it creates inconsistency.
With this kind of system TNA runs, can you really have system guys and gals? Even if this system created a star, that star would get rotated back down, which would likely kill his momentum. If a person in this system treated like that is somehow still able to maintain a great connection with the fans, that person likely has the ability to succeed in most other systems. And I don't mean just connecting with wrestling fans or TNA's core fanbase. I mean connecting with fans across the board at a great level. I am talking A-tier overness. The only people that have that kind of overness are probably guys that became stars in other promotions prior to coming to TNA. In other words, this system has not really created any stars. I felt a guy like AJ Styles had that potential, but the system was just not good for him. Gail Kim looked so great during her first run in TNA, but I don't feel she is connecting with fans the same way. She is a great wrestler and helping to keep the division respectable, but in terms of her own overness, I don't think it is too high. If they pushed her differently, with better creative interest, it might be better. To put it simply, this system cannot properly create or feature stars, both for the men and the women.
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