Taryn Terrell Returns To GFW

Gail Kim had her title shot last week. She lost due to interference from the returning Taryn Terrell.

First, I am glad Taryn is back. She improved herself in the ring while in TNA/GFW. She is attractive. And she showed more charisma in her heel run than I thought she had in her. I also felt her feud with Gail Kim ended in a very boring way prior to Taryn leaving a few years ago. Taryn is now back and picking up with that great heel character and feud with Gail Kim.

Second, what does this mean for Gail Kim? Her career in GFW obviously did not end last week. She will still get a chance to go out on top with the title, which she deserves. I will say that I am not a big fan of the booking. I have seen this before. Gail Kim gets beaten, yet the attention still mainly stays on her and the woman that beats her does not really get elevated. Wins don't automatically make you a star. And a loss does not automatically stop you from being presented as a star. I don't think Sienna would be a great centerpiece for the division, but GFW does need to start booking better for that woman that will be the next top star.

I have seen one fan say that she wished it was Awesome Kong that had returned. I like the choice of Taryn Terrell over Awesome Kong. Ignoring why Kong has been fired twice by this company, the feud between her and Gail Kim has been done a lot. Last time they went at it, it was obvious Awesome Kong did not still have it. Taryn Terrell might still have some rust, but at least she is a fresher option and does also have a good history with Gail Kim.

Lastly, what does this return mean for the overall division? Depending on how long Taryn will be around, she can take Gail Kim's spot in the company. Or she could be a top heel to put over that next woman that will follow in Gail Kim's footsteps, like Allie. The possibility of rebuilding The Dollhouse with different members might also be good. GFW might bring back in Rebel or Brooke. Brooke was never in the group, but she was a part of the feud back then between The Dollhouse and Gail Kim. GFW can definitely do some good things with Taryn Terrell back.

Should Gail Kim Retire With The Title?

It is no secret that Gail Kim will retire from TNA/GFW this year. And they are having her set her sights on leaving on top. Specifically, will she be able to retire with the company's women's title?

Does Gail Kim deserve it? Some might say that Gail Kim has already had a storybook career in TNA. She was their first KO Champion. She has won the title numerous times. She held that title and the tag titles at the same time. She is the closest thing the company has had to a true centerpiece these last few years. She was the first woman in their Hall of Fame. They have done a lot for her. In return, she helped to develop the respectability that helped the KO division stand out for a number of years and gain a lot of praise from wrestling fans.

Trish Stratus retired in the WWE as Women's Champion. She was not the first Women's Champion. She was not the first centerpiece of the diva era. But if you think Trish deserved that honor of retiring on top, you can argue that Gail Kim also deserves it. Just like Trish Stratus was pushed as the greatest diva of that era, Gail Kim is just as legendary in terms of the KO division.

A couple years ago, Mickie James returned to TNA for one more match. Not only did she win that match, it was a nice moment for her. The way things are going for Mickie James in the WWE, it would not be surprising to see her back in TNA/GFW again. Ignoring that, Gail Kim is obviously a bigger deal in the company's history than Mickie James. If TNA let Mickie James have that moment, they can very well let Gail Kim have a moment to go out as a winner.

Overall, I think they should let Gail Kim retire with the title. There is no woman in the company more deserving. It is a respectful thing to do. If Gail Kim doesn't want to go out with the title, that's up to her. But TNA should want to honor Gail Kim now that she is retiring.

Will GFW continue to push a proper women's division without Gail Kim? They have done it before. I think they have enough women on their roster and free agents out there to supplement things. If they still want to create a centerpiece, which I think they should want to do, they can go with Allie. She knows how to wrestle. She is attractive. She can show personality. And she is going to be 30 in a few months. They can do some good things with her for a number of years.

Last thing to consider, should Gail Kim go back to the WWE? Even for just one match? Even if just in NXT? Some fans want it. I don't think she should. Leave the memories alone. The WWE mistreated her a lot. TNA was the company that was loyal to her. Don't be one of those people that has a huge farewell when they retire, then comes back for more, especially in a rival company. Gail Kim is 40. She was never over in the WWE and she has had some sloppy moments you cannot blame entirely on the WWE. As for coming back just for one match in NXT, what would that accomplish for the WWE? It might be something Triple H does to promote his love for women's wrestling, but there are a ton of women out there that would love to get a chance to shine in the WWE's developmental territory. Asuka has kind of been burying a lot of the division lately. If Gail Kim is going to retire, her final match should just be in TNA, not NXT.

How TNA Does "Diva" Better Than The WWE

Eye-candy has always had a place in pro wrestling. WCW had the Nitro Girls, who danced around. ECW was more known for catfights than respectable women's wrestling. Even today, there are women in the indies that are obviously just there for their looks. They may take bumps and have matches here and there, but they are mostly valets and just personalities.

What made the WWE's "diva" agenda different was that they would often look for women with no pro wrestling training at all and develop women like that in the ring to be their centerpieces. They took women that were really models and cheerleaders and treated them like they were as good as, or better than, women that had more credibility. Some of these women eventually became very respectable in the ring, like Trish Stratus, but there have been more failed centerpieces than successful ones during the diva era.

This is supposed to be a new era. This is supposed to be the women's revolution era. Let's face it, the women's wrestling revolution is turning into the revitalization of the diva era. I have pointed it out before. I see more and more fans bringing it up. Alexa Bliss being pushed like she has is straight out of the diva era. And Lana now looks like she is bringing back more of that diva flavor to Smackdown's women's division.

Bayley and Alexa Bliss are just coming off a feud where Bayley looked terrible before their recent PPV match. Without even bringing up how much fans disliked that elaborate segment last week from Alexa Bliss, just sticking to the wrestling, their PPV match was not good. I talked about how the story would matter in that match. It was likely that Alexa Bliss would retain, but I said that Bayley needed to at least look good and give Alexa Bliss a little comeuppance. I am not a sadistic individual. I do not have a fetish for seeing women getting hit by sticks. I am talking in terms of helping the characters and telling a good story in the ring. And it was awful. Bayley looks terrible. I have pointed out multiple times in the last few months that Bayley has not gotten a fair shot. She had to take a backseat to Charlotte/Sasha at a time last year when it looked like she would finally get her shot. That did not make her look good. And the WWE has just not presented her character right. They have taken her and just expected her to be something that just doesn't work for her.

Meanwhile, Alexa Bliss had a "match" on Raw this week against Nia Jax. It was more stupidity that hurts the image that Raw's women's division used to have since last year. Alexa Bliss just should not be the centerpiece. I hear some fans justifying her push because she sells merchandise. Okay, why does she sell merchandise? It is because of her looks and her charisma. No sensible wrestling fan out there thinks she's a great wrestler. If she is valuable for her looks and charisma, why can't they push her as a periphery diva? Present her as something special there. Because pushing her in the ring is definitely damaging the development of women that are better in the ring than her and irritating a lot of fans out there.

Onto TNA (Impact Wrestling). TNA obviously has a history of taking former WWE workers. They have even taken some of their divas. I don't just mean female wrestlers taken from the diva division, like Gail Kim. I mean those women that were true eye-candy divas in the WWE, like Taryn Terrell. This is also a company that has a history of featuring respectable women's wrestling that goes back even further than the women's revolution in the WWE.

How can these two things coexist? How can you have a company that is going to push respectable women's wrestling, but also hire these women that only got into the business thanks to their looks? Because TNA has maintained their standards. Women like Taryn Terrell and Brooke Tessmacher had to train and put on solid, respectable performances before they got title reigns. Taryn Terrell and Gail Kim had a great rivalry that even wrestling fans respected. Might these former WWE eye-candy divas sometimes botch? Yeah, but so does Gail Kim. And Velvet Sky is also one of the least-credible women TNA has ever had, but you can't blame the WWE for bringing her up. But even Velvet Sky had to at least be presented as a serious competitor before finally winning the KO title.

Go back to the lowest point of the KO division. I would say that was last year. Maria Kanellis won the KO title. You look at the list of women to have held the title. Is any woman on that list less credible than Maria Kanellis? TNA did not even sell her as a threat. She was abusing her power, relying on henchwomen, and using weapons. Allie (Cherry Bomb) got a short title reign during this time that looked terrible in terms of how she won it and lost it, but at least she has shown she is a good in-ring worker in the indies. Indeed, I would say Maria is the worst woman to have held the title. To make matters worse, this was going on at the same time the WWE was touting their women's revolution. It was terrible timing. As the WWE was moving away from the diva era, TNA gave the title to a diva.

Thing is, however, you can argue that TNA did not really lower their standards. They did not try to sell Maria like she could hold her own in the ring as Gail Kim. It was just a storyline getting in the way of that respectability the women's division is known for. The whole storyline was even that Maria running the division was ruining it. Gail Kim got her revenge on Maria Kanellis and the KO division has gone back to being treated better.

How is that different from what has been going on in the WWE recently? They are actually trying to sell Alexa Bliss as a woman that can hold her own against women a lot better in the ring than her. She may be better than Maria Kanellis in the ring, but that isn't saying too much. And the WWE isn't doing it by maintaining respectable standards and having Alexa Bliss rise up to meet those standards. The WWE has lowered their standards. That is what have so many fans unhappy about the direction things are going. Alexa Bliss vs. Bayley just did not come off as Taryn Terrell vs. Gail Kim at all. Would it have at least been better if it came off like Maria Kanellis vs. Gail Kim? Gail Kim got her revenge on Maria and everyone moved on. Bayley didn't get her revenge on Alexa Bliss and it does not look like the WWE is planning to move on from going in the direction of Alexa Bliss. This is not a storyline of Alexa Bliss hurting the women's revolution. This is the WWE damaging the women's revolution through their desire to push Alexa Bliss. I am sure there is a good chance there might be a storyline of Alexa Bliss hurting the women's revolution when she feuds with Sasha Banks, but will that storyline really lead to the end of Alexa Bliss? Or at least lead to her stepping up and being more respectable in the ring? Or will this just be a storyline for the sake of exciting smarks and not really change anything?

So, how was TNA able to do "diva" better than the WWE? By actually putting the divas they took from the WWE in a position to be featured as serious performers. There might be some sloppy matches here and there and the whole situation with Maria Kanellis I just mentioned, but their identity has still remained respectable. Meanwhile, the WWE seems to lower the bar when they want the divas still on their roster to look good. Female wrestlers are made to look bad and match quality is definitely taking a hit. And this is not a storyline that these eye-candy divas are hurting this new era. This is the WWE letting old habits take over again.  

And What About Paige?

When I talked about Impact Wrestling recently, I used a picture of Alberto El Patron and Paige. Those two are obviously in a relationship. Paige has had a bunch of injury and suspension issues in the last year, holding her back in her WWE career. Nevertheless, the WWE is making a movie about her. But then you have her being backstage at the Impact Wrestling tapings a couple weeks ago to support her man. That is the kind of thing that can get you in trouble with the WWE.

There seems to be mixed signals here. How good is the relationship between Paige and the WWE? On the one hand, they are still trying to do something with her. On the other hand, she might not be that interested in being as supportive of the WWE. She might choose her man over the WWE. This sounds familiar. Reminds me of the drama with CM Punk & AJ Lee against the WWE a couple years ago. We all know how that turned out. CM Punk walked out and AJ Lee retired abruptly. Like an RKO in the night, no one saw it coming. There were expectations that it might happen, but AJ Lee retiring when she did came out of nowhere. Will there be a similar end for Paige? 

I have seen some fans say that Paige is throwing her career away. They criticize her because this was her dream and she is just turning her back on it like this. Some say that the WWE should just fire her.

If Paige is not as in love with the WWE anymore, I do not blame her. She didn't debut during the start of the women's revolution era. She debuted during the dying days of the diva era. And her career shows it. She may have won the Diva's Championship in her first night on Raw, but the reign was terrible. Her feud with Tamina was not properly developed at all. Her feud with Alicia Fox featured Fox's crazy gimmick, which really did not serve a proper purpose in the feud. It just took creative investment away from Paige. Her feud with Naomi had to share the spotlight with Cameron and Naomi splitting. It was like they were more interested in putting creative focus on anyone but Paige. And she lost the title back to AJ Lee when AJ returned from her hiatus. She was finally pushed better, but that is because she was working with someone they wanted to be a star. The more you invest in a jobber, the better the star will look working with the jobber. She won the title back on her birthday, but the reign was short and just seemed pointless, as she dropped it back to AJ Lee.

Everything after that was just jobber pushes. The women's revolution era started. Some might say she was the leader of PCB, but she looked like more of the jobber of the group. She got that heated feud with Charlotte, but it was obviously a jobber push. And her career never looked that interesting again since then. Instead of being passed over for eye-candy divas, she was being overlooked for the sake of the Four Horsewomen.

Throughout all that, Paige has done a ton of extra-curricular activities for the WWE. She did Total Divas, Tough Enough, movies, and so on. Of course, these outside activities do not decide what kind of career you are getting in the actual division. And I already talked about the kind of career she was getting. Definitely not being pushed as an A-tier player.

Why should Paige be so loyal to the WWE when they are not properly reciprocating it in terms of how they push her? Even if this was Paige's dream to be in the WWE, it can very well be the case that your dreams don't always turn out how you would have liked. A woman might meet her dream man. Handsome, smart, funny, and all the other qualities she wanted. Problem is, he turns abusive after a while. Why should she stick with him? Because this is her dream guy? No, move on. It is the same idea with working in the WWE. A lot of people are eager to come to the WWE, but then some of them might not be happy with how they are treated. Why should they force themselves to stick around and be as loyal to the company as they might have first been when they came in?

Look at Mickie James. During her first run in the WWE, she took the career of a credible jobber and fooled many fans into thinking she was the centerpiece. She had the overness and talent to deserve it. She was loyal to the company. She had drive. She was the best option they had. But the WWE was still looking to create another eye-candy centerpiece. And that kept Mickie James as a credible jobber. If I remember correctly, Mickie James was released on a day she was promoting the Raw draft special in Richmond, Virginia. That's loyalty for you. Why was she so loyal to a company that never pushed her as a star and kept using her to put over other women and as filler, not to mention the humiliation? If the women's revolution never happened, I don't think the WWE would have ever given Mickie James a second run.

I am no psychologist. I do not know Paige personally. But I can understand the kind of situation she is in. She comes into her dream job with this idea that she can make something of herself and be great. She does a lot of projects for the company. She has some success getting over. But she gets pushed aside for other women that she might feel have not done the things she has done. It's like a great worker in a company that does a lot for them, but does not get rewarded in terms of getting promoted. Now, I can respect workers that shrug that off and just continue to do their job as best as they can because of a good work ethic, but there is nothing wrong with knowing your worth and not wanting to stick around in a situation where you are being mistreated, might be taken advantage of, or are just unhappy. This kind of mistreatment can just make you lose your drive. Your eyes might start to wander elsewhere. In the case of Paige, it looks like she's given some of that devotion the WWE once got to Alberto Del Rio.

People always talk about the WWE giving workers second or third chances. What about the other way around? What about workers that feel the WWE messed up with them and might not want to go back to them? Should they give the WWE a second or third chance? As I pointed out, Paige has done a lot for the WWE and they did not push her right. You can blame it on the dying days of the diva era being so bad. Okay, but Paige still stuck around. She was there as the women's revolution era got started. And she was not featured that well there. Should she give the WWE another chance and refocus herself into her WWE career? This era is still messed up. Both divisions have issues, although this era is looking like it will be better for women's wrestlers than the diva era. And Paige will likely not get lost in the shuffle like she has been in the past. But that is up to her whether she wants to still be with the WWE. I would say you can argue the WWE has betrayed her trust and loyalty in the past. Even if this was her dream job, they gave her a reason to lose interest. It's not like she turned her back on them after the first depush. She gave them multiple chances to treat her right. And if they don't value her, just let her go.

Does that mean she goes to Impact Wrestling with El Patron? It is an option. I already brought up AJ Lee & CM Punk. It is a very similar situation. AJ Lee was showing signs for a while that she was siding with her man over the WWE, but the WWE kept on pushing her well and still lost her. Paige is showing signs of choosing her man over the WWE. The WWE is showing they might still be interested in keeping her with this movie, but it might be too little, too late.

What would this mean for Impact Wrestling? Well, they need a successor for Gail Kim. She's 40 now and still looks like she is coming back for more. But the company really needs to plan for the future. They just can't keep bringing back ODB and Angelina Love. And I'm sure Velvet Sky will come back sooner or later. Outside of that, they rotate in women from the indies, but they never seem to make anything out of them. I have seen some people say that Jade would be the successor to Gail Kim. Yeah? How did that work out? Paige, who is still very young, can be that successor. Some people might roll their eyes at another ex-WWE performer getting a spot in TNA. You do realize Gail Kim was an ex-WWE performer before going to TNA, right? And she is still the most respected female performer the company has ever had. There is no shame in going from the WWE to Impact Wrestling. If Paige thinks she deserves better than the WWE, she might switch companies.

Last thing to consider, will losing Paige hurt the WWE? Not at all. Even though their depth is terrible, they have a ton of women in NXT to debut. And they just have to learn to be more efficient with what they have. Paige was pretty popular, but so are a lot of women these days in the WWE. No one woman seems to knock it out of the park these days. Paige was definitely someone that should have been pushed as a star, but it might just end up being their loss. That is, if they even care. They are doing a terrible job building stars in the women's division these days. I am not even sure if that bothers them.

Dark Days Have Fallen On TNA's KO Division

I am going to be spoiling a a few things that will be happening in TNA in the coming weeks. They tape a lot of episodes at a time, so things can change very fast. That is the situation you had in their previous set of tapings.

First, Sienna, the KO Champion, lost the title in a multi-woman match. Allie got the title. After that, Allie lost the title to Maria Kanellis. To top it all off, Gail Kim became #1 contender, so the title feud you have his Maria vs. Gail Kim.

Giving the title to Maria is the worst decision TNA has made for their women's division in a long time. She is not credible. This is not a respectable decision. And for TNA to do this at this time is also dumb. The WWE is hyping their women's division and treating it with more respect. While that is going on, TNA is collapsing almost to the level of a diva division. There was a time when TNA's women's division was a lot more respectable than the WWE's women's division. And TNA ran with that. It was one of their strengths. Giving the title to Maria isn't as terrible as the WWE giving Debra the Women's Championship back in the first dark age of the diva era, but it is not an answer to Sasha Banks and Charlotte trading the title. Maria has some wrestling training, but she is just not credible. She was liked in the WWE, but did not have the wrestling ability to deserve to be pushed as the centerpiece. She is not as beloved as she used to be and her wrestling ability has not improved that much.

TNA has given their title to eye-candy performers they took from the WWE before, but those women had better wrestling credibility than Maria. I am talking about Brooke Tessmacher and Taryn Terrell. Both had the look, showed charisma, and gained some real wrestling credibility. Either of them would have been great choices to build a diva-like women's division around. Maria does not fall in that category.

Of course, this is all for the sake of the feud between Maria and Gail Kim. TNA has sacrificed respectability for the sake of a storyline. As I have said before, they could have ran this feud without the title being involved. Maria puts her control of the division on the line and Gail Kim would retire if she lost to Maria. Of course, Gail Kim would win. Leave the title for other women to fight over. Maria should not be getting a title reign.

As for Gail Kim, she is being inducted into the TNA Hall of Fame. She deserves it. She helped to make TNA's women's division respectable. She is going to be 40 next year, but she still wrestles better than some female wrestlers younger than her. You can even argue she's the best in-ring worker in the KO division right now.

All that being said, TNA needs to move on from pushing her so hard in the title scene. If this is going to be her last title run, that is fine. She deserves it before retiring or taking on a different kind of role. But everything revolves around Gail Kim. TNA didn't always used to be like this. If Gail Kim was more popular than she is, then you might let it go. If those other women want her spot, they have to reach her level. But she's not that popular. That is why TNA should be opening up the playing field and trying to give these other women a chance to be made into stars.

You might bring up the counterargument that four women have held the KO title since Gail lost it earlier this year. And I would say none of those women have been pushed right to build them into stars. While they have held the title, it has still been Gail Kim's show. The main focus has still been on her. Even if TNA has not protected Gail Kim that much and has had her get pinned a number of times in the last few months, sometimes needlessly, the creative focus is still on her. And as long as the focus is on her and these other women are not getting featured nearly as well, no new stars are being built. TNA still has a bit of a periphery. Rosemary is doing her thing. But there are lot of women not being given a fair shot, even if they are getting title reigns. Gail Kim should take on a periphery role.

I don't follow wrestling in the indies that much, but I do know who Cherry Bomb (Allie) is. I have seen some clips and matches of her. The way TNA has used her is crappy. She has just been used as a cowardly sidekick. That is a waste of her skills. Someone like Maria would fit that role better. Obviously, the gimmick won't last. But how much faith do you have in TNA to properly keep the ball rolling on her? I think she has potential to be a star. But she needs to be featured a lot better.

TNA just has a lot of issues right now in their women's division. They have declining respectability, have not been featuring their KO Champions properly in the last few months, put the title on an eye-candy performer with no real credibility, are relying too much on a woman that is not that popular and nearing 40, and are not properly creating new stars for the future. I am not against shaking things up now and then. At any other time, someone like Maria winning the title and being pushed as she has been would be okay. But the WWE is making TNA look bad. TNA doesn't need any help to look bad. You would think TNA would try to lean on the respectability of their women's division at this time, not let a storyline trump respectability. And all their other mistakes might be overlooked if they had better star power in place. But they don't. They need to move on from Gail Kim and build new stars.

Will Credible Jobbers Be Returning?

Let me start with a little review of terminology. The centerpiece is that woman the WWE wants to be the main focus of the women's division and to dominate title matters on a long-term basis. Women with wrestling credibility will be used to put her over and be used as filler. Those are credible jobbers. Stars developed and featured on the periphery of the centerpiece and her title matters are periphery divas.

With the brand split coming, many fans are excited for the WWE bringing back certain talent from the past to help fill out the rosters. If the WWE was not doing a brand split, they would have more than enough talent between the main roster and NXT to handle things efficiently. The WWE would just need to improve how they use that talent to truly produce results. With the roster split, however, the WWE does need more bodies. And it would help to bring in people viewers are familiar with, not just talent from the minor leagues only wrestling fans will care about.

There are a whole bunch of reports of people the WWE is interested in bringing back. It is mostly men I see popping up in these reports. That is understandable. More men get pushed than women. Besides that, the WWE is able to generate hype with wrestling fans just with women from NXT. These women don't have any real star power, but this is an era where vocal wrestling fans are hyped up about women's wrestling and will react to a lot of these women more than the general audience will care to do. The WWE does not really need to bring any women back.

Nevertheless, the WWE has shown that they are willing to bring women back in this era. Some say the new era started after they dumped the old butterfly title and debuted the new Women's Championship at Wrestlemania. The first woman to return on the full-time roster after that magical night? Maryse. A diva. She is involved in a periphery angle with her husband, Miz. An eye-candy periphery diva is the first woman to return in a new era that is supposedly more about women's wrestling.

What about credible jobbers? What about those women there mainly for their wrestling talent? Wrestling fans would probably be even more excited to see some of these women back right now than in previous years. And yet, no real reports about these women being contacted to come back for the main roster. I have seen none.

Look back at the diva era when it came to credible jobbers coming back. It has happened on occasion. What has never happened, however, is that a woman given this type of career returned to the company to be treated better.

Gail Kim is the classic example. She was in the WWE. She won the Women's Championship. Her matches were not that great. The WWE didn't get rid of here right there, but they eventually did. She went to TNA. She made a big name for herself. The WWE roped her back in. And they still treated her like a credible jobber. She never got any title reigns. She got jobber pushes. She got the weak periphery angles credible jobbers tend to get. She became an afterthought. And she walked out on the company and went back to TNA.

A lot of wrestling fans would love to see Mickie James back in the WWE. She connected better with the fans during the diva era than any of the other credible jobbers. And she still has a few good years left in her. They brought her back in 2013 to be a guest trainer in NXT. They will eventually put her into the Hall of Fame years from now. But she has not yet retired and wants to come back to the WWE as a performer. What are her chances? She would be the best choice of active female wrestlers that were pushed as credible jobbers in the WWE already. Problem is, the WWE did not view her as a star when they had her and it doesn't seem like anything has really changed since then. If she did come back, she would probably end up like The Dudleyz. She already won 6 women's titles in the WWE. The WWE will not book a credible jobber to tie Trish's record and they probably will not acknowledge that Mickie already beat the record when you count her TNA title reigns.

Overall, I am not expecting the WWE to bring back any credible jobbers in the coming weeks. They don't need them. They can generate hype in the women's division just with what is coming out of NXT. They can sign women that have no real star power, run them through NXT for at least a year, and debut them much to the excitement of wrestling fans. It is more likely that a new debut from NXT happens in the coming weeks. Even if you do have a return of one of these female wrestlers that were not actually pushed as stars in the diva era, how will they end up being treated in this era?

Minor Slammiversary 2016 Preview

TNA is having a PPV this Sunday and one of the matches I am interested in is Gail Kim vs. Maria. These two have had issues for months. I have spoken about it a few times. The match will probably be terrible, but I am interested in seeing how TNA will handle it.

Heading into the weekend, they are handling it with an injury angle. Maria is teasing a broken hand. It adds some drama to things. I still question whether someone like Maria even deserves this push. It obviously will not be a great match, with or without the injury angles and sidekicks Maria has. At a time when the WWE is hyping improvements to their women's division to make it seem more respectable, this kind of feud for TNA does not help them maintain their image of being respectable.

Nothing is on the line in this match. This is really just Gail Kim wanting to get her hands on Maria to beat her around a little. I have said before that the stakes should be raised in this match. Not only have Gail Kim beat Maria, but take away Maria's control of the KO division. Have Gail put her career on the line. Injury angles are one way to add some drama to a feud, but I don't think this feud has reached its climax.

What do I think happens this Sunday? Gail Kim will get her hands on Maria. But there will probably be some kind of shenanigans for Maria to win. That will continue the feud to a point where it can end in a bigger way.

The KO title seems like somewhat of an afterthought in all this. All the creative interest is in Gail Kim vs. Maria. Nevertheless, Jade defends against Sienna, one of Maria's sidekicks. Putting the title on Jade wasn't enough. TNA should have done a better job with her from a creative standpoint. That is what will really help her get over. This match can go either way. I would not be surprised if Sienna won the title to bring a little more credibility to Maria's group. Better than Maria winning the title herself. But I will say Jade retains here. Maria can screw Jade out of the title later on.

Switching to a men's feud, how about Matt and Jeff? The Hardys are feuding against each other. And it certainly has been an interesting feud. Matt Hardy has gone crazy. There have been some interesting, elaborate segments to push this feud. I would say this feud is more interesting than the title feud between Lashley and Drew Galloway, which I won't even bother talking about.

Of course, many fans are ready to induct this feud into Wrestlecrap, and it probably does belong there. Nevertheless, it is getting people talking. And Impact did see its best ratings on its new network recently. It may not be a huge jump to the numbers they had five years ago, but it is a good sign. I doubt Lashley vs. Galloway is the feud that has people interested enough to watch. TNA has to do it by creating drama. For the women, Gail Kim vs. Maria is the feud that has the most drama to it, even though the match will not be respectable. For the men, Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy has the drama to it, even though there is a lot of dumb things involved. I can't criticize them too much for some of the things they are doing here, even if I don't like some of it.

Who wins this match? This is one feud I would like to see end this Sunday. I don't know how much more wrestling fans can take. And I don't want to think what else TNA might try to keep this feud going. Jeff Hardy wins. I'll just leave it at that.  

Maria In Charge

TNA had a ladder match involving the KOs this week. The winner is in charge of the division. Who won? Maria Kanellis. Arguably the least talented woman in the match won.

Maria is obviously having issues with Gail Kim. She cost Gail Kim the title. And now this. Let me tell you how I would like to see this feud go. I have said many times that TNA should start to build new stars in the KO division and stop having Gail Kim just keep dominating title matters. This current situation can be the perfect way to transition her to something else. The obvious story to tell is that Gail Kim will be the one to knock Maria out of power. But put more on the line. If Gail wins, she gets to run the KO division. Just to make things balanced and add more to the feud, if Gail loses, her TNA career is over. Gail would obviously win. Maria could have some heels try to assist her during the match, because we all know Maria is no match for Gail Kim. Gail can overcome them herself, or have some other face KOs help her out. Maria gets her comeuppance and Gail Kim gets something relevant to do for the rest of her time in TNA that keeps her out of the title picture for a while. She will still probably get one more "thank you" run before she does retire, but other women get a legitimate chance during this time. Of course, Gail Kim has to be willing to do this.

For most of her run since coming back to TNA in 2011, I would not say Gail Kim was really the centerpiece of the division in the same way the WWE has a centerpiece. She was a part of TNA's rotation for a while. There was a span when the title went from Brooke Tessmacher to Madison Rayne, back to Brooke, to Tara for a while, to Velvet Sky, to Mickie James, and then to ODB before Gail Kim got it again. During this time, not only did Gail Kim not hold the title, but she was not featured as that serious of a threat to the title. She got title shots, but so did other women. She was sometimes used to put over other women. She got some non-title stuff to do, but not always anything too major. Her feud with Taryn Terrell during this time was praised, but it didn't get really heated until last year. It is not unusual for the centerpiece to sometimes trump title matters, but I don't feel Gail Kim really did that back then.

Recently, Gail Kim is looking more like a true centerpiece.  She is just coming off a lengthy title reign. Her feud with Maria feels more important than the KO title. The Decay kidnapped her. It just seems a lot of things are running through Gail Kim right now. She is getting better creative investment in her. If Gail was more over, I would say TNA should just keep going with her until she does retire. But she's not.

There are a lot of young women in TNA and in the independent scene that can use a great push. TNA cannot count on taking women from the WWE and running on their star power. WWE doesn't release people on a regular basis anymore. With the recent feminist revolution, female wrestlers there may not likely want to quit to come over to TNA. TNA has to do something they have never really been great at doing. They have to make their own stars. And it might be easier if Gail Kim was doing something on the periphery of the title scene. Gail simply losing to these other women is not enough. TNA does not need to job her out. These younger women need better creative investment and hype. Maybe TNA can practice with Gail Kim now with how they are pushing her, but they eventually have to give the younger women that kind of treatment.

Back to Maria. I have said before that TNA can beat the WWE at their own game. The WWE has pretty much beaten their own diva division into the ground. There is supposedly a new women's division there, although they still have divas, like Lana, Summer Rae, and Maryse, who returned one night after debuting the new Women's Championship. And TNA has a woman that doesn't represent serious women's wrestling get a big push. I am not against eye-candy performers in wrestling. Even if they never become serious in-ring workers, these women can still find a role and often be very entertaining. And I think this current storyline with Maria in TNA has great potential, especially if TNA handles it like I mentioned before. But from the standpoint of fans of serious women's wrestling, TNA's recent actions might be viewed as dumb. Oh well!

TNA has always had eye-candy women in their KO division. Even when things were a lot more respectable and you would read reports of TNA's women's segments drawing the highest ratings, there were eye-candy women around. And for the most part, TNA has done a great job integrating these women into what they do. Taryn Terrell, an eye-candy diva from the WWE that never looked like a serious in-ring worker there, looked legit in TNA last year. Not only could she handle herself in the ring, she had an appealing look and was portraying a great heel character. And even though Maria is not treated as legit, she is still getting matches. You have a respectable women's division that was pretty efficient that featured both female wrestlers and eye-candy performers, some of which became solid in-ring workers.

I cannot say that about the WWE right now. Yeah, wrestling fans are so excited about "divas" being dropped, the new title, and women's wrestling being taken seriously. Respectability is obviously there. But they are very inefficient. They have a ton of dead weight on the roster. They cannot possibly consistently feature even the major female wrestlers (Charlotte, Paige, Sasha Banks, and Becky Lynch). With the rotational system TNA runs, there might be some periods where certain women were left with nothing to do for a while, but it isn't as bad as the WWE right now. TNA never had this much dead weight. There are women not going anywhere that you just know are not going to get the opportunity to go anywhere, like Tamina and Alicia Fox. The WWE also does not have great characters and their feud development is dull. All this hurts their ability to be efficient.

And the WWE, so far, has not done a great job integrating eye-candy workers into the new division. There are still divas there. And Lana was a great one. Instead of the WWE keeping the ball rolling with her, even if only in the periphery, they bring back Maryse. The WWE cannot just use these women as jobbers to the female wrestlers and only let them beat other women being pushed as lowly as them. It was not unusual to see eye-candy divas be used as jobbers even in the golden age. Because they lacked wrestling credibility and were not treated as serious threats, I would not call them credible jobbers. But what kept these women over is that they were still given meaningful things to do to help portray their characters and their sex appeal. Divas right now are not consistently getting that. Consistency matters. Lana never got pushed to the moon, but she got over because the WWE put her in a position to do her act and be sexy. And that is all it takes. And now they are doing some of that with Maryse. But will she eventually get lost in the shuffle? A lot of wrestling fans do not want these type of women to get involved in too many of the matches because they will hurt match quality. Okay, but that does not mean they should be pushed so inconsistently and poorly.

TNA has definitely dropped the ball with some women over the years. You can criticize them for pushing Maria. But for all their faults, I would say they have done a better job of balancing a respectable, efficient women's division with featuring both solid wrestlers with eye-candy performers than the WWE has been doing in the last few months.    

How Does Maria Kanellis Fit In TNA's KO Division?

I have said before that TNA was in a position to beat the WWE at their own game when it came to their women's division. The WWE runs a division where they like to have a glamorous, sexy eye-candy diva be their centerpiece. Last year, TNA had both Brooke Adams and Taryn Terrell on their roster. If TNA wanted to, they could have pushed one of those women as their true centerpiece. They had a nice group of credible female wrestlers to act as a foundation to carry the division. They could run periphery angles or secondary feuds for other women. They could really run a diva-like women's division. Given how horrible and lost the WWE has been with their women's division in recent years, TNA could easily beat them at their own game. Problem is, both Brooke and Taryn left last year.

Enter Maria Kanellis. She has debuted in TNA with her husband, Mike Bennett. Given how TNA juggles around their men and never settles on a true centerpiece, I will probably never focus on him in anything I write. But you have two eye-candy women, both of whom came from the WWE, gone from TNA, then have another eye-candy woman, who also originated from the WWE, show up. Can Maria fill the void of Brooke and Taryn?

Maria was in action this week on Impact. As a wrestler, her performance was nothing to get excited over. Of course, you have to understand the story of the match. They were selling that she was scared of Gail Kim. Gail Kim isn't afraid to smack around a woman or a man. Maria got a fluke win over her in that tag match. She definitely did not look like a former WWE eye-candy diva that could follow in the path of Brooke and Taryn last night.

Maybe you cannot go too much by last night's match. Wait for a singles match between Gail and Maria? Maria was never a great wrestler in the WWE. Even by the WWE's recent standards, where they allow eye-candy divas with solid wrestling ability to get jobber and filler pushes, I do not think Maria was good enough to legitimately earn a title reign off that kind of career. She has had some matches since leaving the WWE. But she still does not look that amazing. I won't say she's down there with Eva Marie in terms of wrestling ability, but she doesn't look like she's become solid enough to deserve a title reign like Brooke and Taryn got. You have to wonder if she even deserves a feud with Gail Kim.

TNA's women's division isn't dead with their recent loss of women. They still have Velvet Sky, their own version of a WWE diva for the longest while. The Dollhouse is still around. That group is made up of two actual wrestlers. Rebel would be in the same group as Maria when it comes to wrestling ability. I like Rosemary. That's an actual gimmick there. They can run an interesting periphery, something the WWE has not been doing well recently. And there is still Gail Kim. She still has a few years left. Before it is all said and done, she might get back her record for longest reign with the KO title and might break the record for most major women's titles. She's talented and she is beautiful. But a lot of other women are not getting proper opportunities. One of them might be a legitimate long-term centerpiece for TNA. They might actually get very over. I do not think that is Maria Kanellis. Once again, you have to wonder if she really deserves the push she is getting. It could go to someone more deserving that is already solid in the ring.

The Longest-Reigning Diva's Champion & The Longest-Reigning Knockout's Champion

AJ Lee still holds the record for longest reign with the Diva's Championship. That stands at 295 days. Nikki Bella is knocking on the door, and it looks like she will just walk right through. She has held it for 281 days. Unless she loses it before Night of Champions, she is going to hold it at least until September 20th. And that will give her the record.

Should AJ's record be broken? You have probably heard all kinds of talk as to why Nikki has been holding the title for so long and will likely beat the record. It's Vince McMahon's ego. It's her boyfriend playing politics. It's Total Divas ruining the diva division. There is no denying Vince McMahon has an ego. A woman he pushed extremely well and allowed to get away with certain things essentially walked out on him. Yeah, I can imagine someone being bitter about that.

I would make the decision to have someone else break AJ's record. It has nothing to do with ego or backstage politics. It is about sending a message to your workers. AJ Lee was given a ton in just a few years. I do not think any diva has been pushed that hard in such a short time. She had backstage issues and they still treated her well. She took a shot at Stephanie McMahon on Twitter and they still let her get the win at Wrestlemania a few weeks later. Right after that, she retires. What kind of message does that send to your workers? That workers can get away with acting like that? I would sometimes read reports that Vince McMahon saw the "bigger picture" with AJ Lee. Really? Vince might need glasses. He couldn't see this woman was likely going to side with her husband and leave? A lot of people were expecting it since last year. I never would have even let AJ do all the things she did. If you are going to act like that, you better be someone I should be afraid to lose. I like it when wrestlers being mistreated stand up for themselves. When a wrestler being pushed very well and the company is very loyal to complains or causes issues, it sometimes comes off like they are being greedy or betraying that loyalty. I believe workers that are bringing great results and are loyal to the company should be allowed to make history and have the major accolades. Send that message to your workers. Don't let a worker that is not bringing the results that match her push and might not be loyal to you walk all over you.

Nikki Bella might not be the poster girl to deserve the record. But if the WWE wants to take a shot at AJ Lee by giving the record to someone else as quickly as possible, she is the obvious choice to have break it. She was holding it at the time AJ left. She had already held it a few months. Don't forget she is the likely new centerpiece of the diva division. I wouldn't be surprised if she gets the record.

Fans are not liking Nikki Bella breaking the record. #ThingsBetterThanNikkisReign was trending a few days ago. That was soon followed by #NikkiDeservesTheTitle. Even then, a lot of the tweets were still negative. Will this cause the WWE to put an end to Nikki's run sooner? Unless that Twitter negativity turns into something from the crowds in the arenas, I doubt it will. But it would be interesting to see Nikki bragging about beating the record the Raw before Night of Champions, then having some diva come out, talk Nikki into defending the title right there, and Nikki ends up losing. That would tie AJ's record, not break it. In terms of just storytelling, that is the kind of thing you would want to see a heel experience. But this is a diva division. This is the WWE. I don't think the WWE will end the reign early.

How about that negative fan reaction? Honestly, if it wasn't for those recent diva matches not being respected by the live audience and that report that John Cena was the reason Nikki was still holding the title, I don't think a lot of fans would be complaining about Nikki Bella as hard as they are and saying the diva revolution is failing. They would still be mesmerized by the longer matches, new NXT divas, and everything else the WWE has been doing. The fact that things are not working has brought an end to the honeymoon.

Prior to 2015, Gail Kim held the record for longest reign with the Knockout's Championship at 210 days. Taryn Terrell entered the year with the title and went on to break Gail Kim's record. Her reign ended at 279 days. She lost to Brooke, with some help from Gail Kim.

Does it matter? Does it feel important? Does Taryn Terrell feel like she has gone to another level by getting this record? This isn't even a question of whether or not she deserves it. It is a question of how TNA has handled it. And I would say they dropped the ball. How can you have someone make what should be considered a major piece of history and not follow through better? Taryn has just looked like a coward since losing the title. She has looked very weak. They are not putting proper individual focus on her. And Brooke? The woman she lost the title to? Gail Kim has since gotten back the title.

The whole feud has been handled poorly. Why not have Gail Kim win the title from Taryn? Brooke wins it? I have seen some fans question why Awesome Kong did not win it. She was the one screwed out of the title the night Marti and Jade aligned with Taryn to form The Dollhouse. It would have made more sense for her to finally get what she was screwed out of. And they really didn't do anything much with Brooke during her run. Next thing you know, Gail Kim ends up with it again. And the way her feud with Taryn Terrell ended was just mediocre. A backstage segment? This was arguably the best feud the KO division had going this year. It was very heated. It should have ended a lot better than that.

Back to Taryn Terrell breaking Gail Kim's record and TNA not handling it properly. I do not care if Gail Kim is okay with it, suggested it, or whatever, the woman that breaks her record should be someone the company intends to push as the next top star of the division. This should be considered a major record and accomplishment. It should be followed up with a lot better. Instead, they break Taryn down and continue to just juggle around their women.

This is an example of why I say TNA does not really have a centerpiece and does not do a good job creating stars. If Gail Kim was the centerpiece of the KO division in the same way Trish Stratus was the centerpiece of the diva division, the woman that beat her record would be someone the company would follow up with at a high level. Moreover, Gail Kim would have been booked to win the title from Taryn. You develop credible jobbers to put over the centerpiece. I can't say that is what TNA has done in this situation. Gail Kim is obviously a legend in the KO division, but they are not booking her efficiently, and the same goes for everyone else in the division.

Let me give another example. Look at Brock Lesnar ending The Undertaker's undefeated streak at Wrestlemania. A lot of fans say the WWE botched by doing that. It could have been worse. Let's say that happened, then the WWE follows up by making Brock's next feud against Sheamus. Sheamus looks godly during the entire build up of the feud. When the match comes around, Sheamus wins cleanly and decisively. Basically, Brock gets buried. Fans would be wondering what Brock did wrong. He had to have done something wrong for the WWE to do that. This is just not something the WWE would do. They handed him one of the biggest accolades they could. How can you follow up by having him feud with someone like Sheamus? And have Sheamus dominate the feud? And beat Lesnar cleanly? Just to make it worse, let's say they do that with Sheamus, then go back to treating him as mediocre. It's just not what the WWE does. They followed up with Brock by having him destroy Cena for the title. He has gone on to continue his feud with The Undertaker, which had better hype to it around Summerslam than Wrestlemania last year. This is what the WWE does.They use these accolades to build stars and build up to bigger feuds. I am not saying they never seem to drop the ball. The first-ever Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal winner was Cesaro. Yeah, they dropped the ball with him. But The Streak is a lot bigger deal than that.

I am not saying being the longest-reigning TNA Knockout's Champion is the same as ending The Undertaker's undefeated streak at Wrestlemania, but it is one of the biggest accomplishments a woman in TNA can be given. How do you not properly follow through with the woman that breaks the record and use the situation to create a better feud with a better payoff between the woman that breaks the record and the woman that held the record before her? These are wasted opportunities that define TNA.

Let me just look at Gail and Taryn. I once talked about Gail Kim playing a ninja-like character. Gail Kim is not great when it comes to charisma. It is her only real weakness. She needs a gimmick to help her look more interesting. The gimmick she has had since returning to TNA has been something like I had in mind. She is playing a serious character, but her attire and the whole appearing and disappearing thing works. She is sexy and is playing a cooler character. I'll give them credit for this.

How has Taryn Terrell been doing as a heel and with this gimmick? Once again, I will give them credit. She has been doing a better job than I expected. She has the sex appeal and the charisma to pull it off. Always having her run away from Gail has not been good. Booking Seth Rollins as a weasel and having Kevin Owens walk out on matches aren't helping those two in the WWE. But at least Taryn Terrell is more entertaining with her cowardly act. And The Dollhouse is not done yet. Hopefully, TNA can come up with some fresh stuff for Taryn to do, for however longer she is with them.

State Of The TNA KO Division: January 2015

The major development for TNA's women's division is obviously the return of Awesome Kong. She returned during their first show on their new network to start a feud with Havok. She can obviously bring more credibility to a women's division that was already more respectable than what the WWE offers. TNA might even generate a little hype with her back. They need it.

How will Awesome Kong be utilized in this KO division? She was featured very well during the time she was there a few years ago. TNA is used to rotating around stars. During her final weeks of her last run, it looked like they were legitimately rotating her out of the KO title scene. Luckily, there were tag titles back then to make having more than one KO feud going even easier. Those titles have gone and TNA sometimes fails to properly keep the ball rolling with their women these days, despite still trying to feature respectable women's wrestling. After Awesome Kong wraps up her feud with Havok, I am sure it will be only a matter of time before her and Gail Kim feud again. I am sure many fans are looking forward to that. Another title reign for her will most likely also be on the table. Right now, there are many options for her.

How about the feud between Awesome Kong and Havok? On paper, this is a great feud. You have a dominant KO that has been doing great in recent months facing possibly the most dominant KO ever. I just feel it could have meant more. Havok has only been in TNA a few months. When you keep in mind that TNA stopped airing original content way before the year even ended, the audience has had even less time to really connect with her. They have still kept her dominant and protected her until what will happen now that she is feuding with Awesome Kong, but this feud could have been more epic. Can't blame TNA. They didn't really botch this. More time just would have been nice. You could have developed Havok to be something like a female Goldberg. For what it is, this is a good feud.

The decision in general to bring back Awesome Kong shows one of the good things about TNA's rotational system. They had women on their roster that they could push as their top stars. They had options. I talked about how someone like Taryn Terrell could be a diva-like centerpiece. They had women they could push in the periphery. Outside of that, all you need are credible jobbers to rotate around. Awesome Kong is not here to be a credible jobber. If this was a closed system like the WWE diva division, the people running the show would have the philosophy that they already have women they want to be stars and exclude signing someone like Kharma back, in addition to holding down their own talent on the roster they do not view as stars. I wouldn't be surprised if a promotion like this would also bring back Mickie James in time, regardless of whomever else they have on the roster. If they only did a better job creating and featuring stars, they might be even better than they are.

How about the other KOs? First of all, TNA continues to be efficient and respectable with their women more than the WWE is with their divas. And TNA does not even have the number of women the WWE has. Not counting Christy Hemme, who doesn't wrestle anymore and doesn't get involved in angles on a regular basis, TNA has 9 KOs. The WWE has much more than that on their main roster. And yet, most of those women are not utilized efficiently and some are not great wrestlers. TNA could have continued running a solid division with just 8 women. Just rotate some fresh blood in now and then.

A lot of the women seem to have some angle going for them right now. I talked about Awesome Kong and Havok. Taryn Terrell is still holding the KO title. Brooke is back and feuding against her former Amazing Race partner. Velvet Sky and Angelina Love have a periphery angle going for them. Rebel has her periphery angle. Very few women have no real angle going and are just floating around. Gail Kim happens to be one of them. Not shocking. TNA does not run a true centerpiece system like the WWE does. TNA is just putting the spotlight on other women now. Gail Kim is still wrestling, but she is neither a major focus nor getting some kind of periphery angle. That will not last long.

Since I am on the subject of TNA, how about the ratings for their first show on the new network? Viewership averaged 263,000. That is worse than I was expecting. A loss was obvious. A bad loss was even obvious. But TNA has gone down to about a quarter of what they would typically get a year ago. The WWE would probably go out of business before seeing Raw's numbers slip that low. Keep in mind, this was a live show and there was some hype around it. What happens for those taped shows and when the product gets staler? It will get worse. Of course, it could get a little better if the product improves and the star power is there.

You obviously should look at how TNA Impact is doing in relation to other shows on Destination America. Moreover, the network could be viewing this program as something that can help them expand. Pro wrestling has that power to attract all types of fans. It can attract men and women. It can attract young and old. It can attract various races. It can attract people entertained by different things. If TNA can put out a quality product, that might get people who do not watch Destination America tuning in or people that don't even get that channel trying to get it. TNA can help Destination America. The network is doing a few things to help them. I wouldn't rush to say TNA has flopped just yet.

EDIT: I rarely do these kind of things. I have to make a correction. I said TNA did 263,000 last week. This report says they did 359,000 viewers. They cite TV By The Numbers as their source. I trust that source. I go there a lot. Going by the new number, that is more respectable and closer to where I was expecting. Still not amazing, but it was to be expected that there would be a drop.

Gail Kim: Centerpiece Or Credible Jobber For The KO Division?

In recent weeks, I have pointed out that TNA could very well try running a diva-like women's division and beat the WWE at their own game. I have talked about how they have a woman that fits the image of a diva centerpiece that is currently holding their women's title. I talked about the periphery. The third element in running a diva-like women's division are the credible jobbers. These are the women with wrestling credibility that are like the supporting players. They put over the centerpiece and get filler pushes, especially should the centerpiece go down. They really help the division to look respectable and remain efficient.

The KO division is obviously respectable. That is the atmosphere they love to sell. They have a lot of women with wrestling credibility. They can bring in female wrestlers for one night only or for a short period. Unlike the WWE, it is unlikely TNA will ever have serious depth issues when it comes to credible jobbers. Depth issues when it comes to legitimate stars is another issue.

That brings me to Gail Kim. She is the closest thing to a centerpiece that TNA's women's division has, although TNA does not push her the same way the WWE would a centerpiece. She obviously has wrestling credibility. She was a credible jobber both times she was in the WWE. And she also was a big deal during her first TNA run. She is still pushed as a big deal, but is she still connecting with fans in the same? If she can connect with the fans in a strong way, she deserves to be the centerpiece. If she cannot, she should be a credible jobber. Don't get me wrong, I like Gail Kim. If she was more charismatic, she would be my #1 favorite female wrestler. But if TNA wants to attempt to run a diva-like women's division, Gail Kim should be in the rotation of credible jobbers.

TNA is at a better position than the WWE to run with a solid diva centerpiece. They are in a better position than them to run with a better periphery. They are in a better position than them to run with better credible jobbers. All they have to do is not make the same mistakes the WWE makes. That includes overpushing a centerpiece that cannot get over. Taryn Terrell deserves a fair shot to be the top KO of that division, not just hold a title for a while. If someone like Gail Kim can connect better with the fans than her, then she could take back that top position. But TNA should continue to maintain a good balance between featuring female wrestlers and eye-candy performers. Maintain that respectability, build real stars, and beat the WWE at what they have not been able to do in almost a decade.

Since I am on the subject of TNA, that gives me an excuse to talk about their new network. They will be moving to Destination America next year. I had never even heard of that channel. I had to check if I even get it. I do. That doesn't mean I'll necessarily watch them regularly.

How successful will they be on this new network? Their numbers in recent weeks have been horrible. The ratings may not look so bad, but they are not even going against football competition on Thursdays anymore. Moreover, viewership has dropped below a million in recent weeks. Can't blame that on Thanksgiving. They are doing that badly and they are moving to a network I have seen many fans indicate they do not have. Even though I think their product has become more stable recently, it is still not drawing. I would expect bad numbers on Destination America next year.

Since I was talking about Gail Kim, let me also mention that she was mentioned in the press release about the new partnership between TNA and their new network. When listing some of the "biggest names" on the TNA roster, she is listed alongside guys like Jeff Hardy and Kurt Angle. She is obviously their top star in the KO division. I just question her overness. If you are going to develop a centerpiece, you should care about overness. There is no clear sign that TNA definitely is interested in running the type of women's division the WWE runs, but if they did want to do it, they are in a good position. They just have to make the decision to push someone else other than Gail Kim as the top star.

I'm feeling lucky. I'm going to roll the dice. I'm going to do another aside. I have used the grading system to classify what type of careers some wrestlers are getting, critique their talent and potential, assess how over they are, and even grade the WWE on how they are pushing their workers. How about grading the fans?

I have said before that there is not one level of fans. You have your hardcore fans. You have your casual fans. You have so much in between. Can you create some kind of spectrum from A+ to F? I think so. You can also differentiate fans by what draws them to pro wrestling. The actual wrestling? The storylines and drama? Hot men and/or women? Will they tune in no matter what, even if just to complain? You can break it down like that, but you cannot grade that easily. This grading system is based on how interested they are in the product.

Your A-tier fans are your hardcore fans. A+ is more hardcore than A. A is more hardcore than A-. These are the fans that are extremely dedicated to the product or a particular wrestler. They go to see the show every opportunity they get. They spend money on what they love without a second thought. Tattoos. Shaving weird stuff in their head. They will name their firstborn child after their favorite wrestler. Super fans. To varying degrees, this is the kind of things that they do.

The B-tier fans are the ones that consistently follow the product and spend money on it, but they don't go insane over it. These are the regulars.

Casual fans are your C-tier fans. They watch the product, but are not likely to spend money on it too often. If something else comes on that they would rather watch, they will change the channel. Whatever they are C fans of, that is not something they are too interested in.

D-tier fans are even worse than casuals. Casual fans are at least somewhat consistent in watching or caring about the product. D fans are the ones that only tune in once in a while if something big is going on.

F fans? How can you have that? F is failure. These are the people interested in the product for all the wrong reasons. These are the haters. Haters do exist. They are interested in the product or a performer because they dislike whatever it is. They complain about it. They want to see it fail. This is what you don't want a lot of.

Both the WWE and TNA obviously have fans that fill out the whole range. Looking at it like a range like this might help someone consider how well they really are doing and plan on what they should be doing. Does it matter? Well, one of the reasons the WWE Network is not as successful as many people thought it would be is because not enough fans cared enough to subscribe. They look at their number of viewers or Twitter followers and think they can easily get subscribers. Those numbers do not actually tell you how many A-tier and B-tier fans are interested in your product. Those are the fans likely to subscribe. Moreover, right now, I get the sense the WWE is caring too much about what those A-tier fans are saying and wanting. I'm no expert, but they are losing their overall audience. That is a loss in casual fans. You need to interest those C fans more. TNA's problem is that they do not have enough C fans and cannot consistently do enough to draw in even D fans. They have a lot of F fans that view them as a joke. The regulars are solid. A-tier TNA fans? I don't know how many of those still exist, but they need do to better just drawing in an overall audience. Bring those C fans in and give them a reason to become B or A fans.

Let me end it on Gail Kim. I don't want to make it sound like she's not over at all. She has her fans and can help a women's division be respectable. I just do not feel she has the overness a centerpiece in a top wrestling promotion should have. Break down her overness a little. When I analyze how over someone is, I pay attention to the reactions she is getting, think about why she is getting those reactions, look at how consistently she is getting them, pay attention to what other fans are saying about her, look at polls and contests I come across, and things like that. As far as A-tier fans go,  there are some fans that look at Gail Kim highly, but not too many. I think most of her support is C-tier. And that is not enough.

TNA's Rotation

I don't really watch baseball that much. I watch if there is nothing else on and I'm bored. My cousin likes the Yankees, so I follow how they are doing to be able to talk about it with him. Who cares? I decided to make an analogy between baseball and TNA. Might be the only time I talk baseball.

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.

The Kind Of Periphery Diva Gail Kim Could Have Been

I have been talking about some divas that might have benefited from good careers in the periphery, whether because they earned it, had potential to be good periphery characters, or the WWE wanted them over and a strong push in the periphery might have helped. I want to talk about Gail Kim today. She obviously never had the overness to deserve it. The WWE did not want her over. Potential? Yes, I think she had potential to be good in the periphery. That is why I'll spend some time brainstorming what to do with her.

Go back to Gail's first run in TNA. This was before the KO division was really formed. Everything was periphery. That is to say, a lot of the women were getting angles alongside the men. There was no title to fight for. What did Gail Kim do during that time? She was with Jeff Jarrett and AMW. She was helping them win matches. She was getting physical with the men. She was going the Chyna/Lita route. You can say she was like the enforcer of that little stable. It helped to get her over even before the KO division was really formed.

Why not have her do something similar in the WWE? I understand you don't see men and women getting physical with each other that much in the PG days, but I still think they could have made it work in some way. They could always get a diva to feud against Gail and neutralize her in certain feuds. Besides, I remember Gail giving Chavo Guerrero an Eat Defeat during her last run in the WWE. Just have her do that kind of thing to guys that aren't jobbers. Have you ever seen any movies that had a hot Asian henchwoman alongside the main villain? Have Gail Kim play that kind of role alongside a main villain in the WWE. She can cheat for him here and there. Gail will get big rubs from working alongside top stars, just like she did in TNA.

This may sound similar to the idea I had for Mickie James in the periphery. Pair Mickie James up with a top heel or heel stable. What I would do with Gail is a little different. How? The idea I had with Mickie James did not really involve her getting physical. She would not really be some kind of enforcer. She would essentially just be a valet. Might sound like a waste of a woman with wrestling talent, but Mickie James has great charisma that could have been utilized more. Gail Kim lacks that charisma. If she had that kind of charisma, she might just be my favorite female wrestler. She is very good in the ring and is beautiful. And I think she would fit that enforcer role better than Mickie could, since it would be pretty much the same as she was in TNA. As far as look goes, I said Mickie would be dressing like Stephanie McMahon. She would be fitting in with suit-wearing heels. She would dress accordingly. It wouldn't make sense for her to be wearing wrestling gear when she didn't need to. For Gail Kim, it wouldn't be weird for her to wear wrestling gear when she's out there to support her guy. Chyna dressed up like a dominatrix even when she wasn't in a match. Gail Kim does not have to dress exactly like Chyna did. Some of her outfits may not have been PG. But something similar would work. Gail Kim was in a movie around the time she rejoined the WWE where she played a ninja. Why not use that as motivation to design her character? Don't make it goofy, but have that kind of style as you treat her as an enforcer. While Mickie's periphery character would be one of arrogance, Gail's would be one of more toughness.

That was an idea on how to push Gail Kim as an A player. There was also a way to feature her well in the periphery without pushing her alongside top stars. Remember that romance angle she had with Daniel Bryan. The WWE did not do as much with that as they could have. Daniel Bryan was not being pushed hard back then. You can say he really was a B+ player back then. Pairing Gail Kim with him did not make Gail a true periphery diva. You have to be featured as a star in the periphery to be a periphery diva. Women like Victoria and Katie Lea were paired with a guy for much of their careers, but were not featured well to be considered periphery divas. They were credible jobbers. And Gail Kim's angle with Daniel Bryan was even worse. It didn't have to be. This was a romance angle. Gail Kim would not have to be featured as Daniel Bryan's enforcer. She would not have to dress in any particular way or have any special gimmick. Just have her go out there and support her man. Feature them in a lot of mixed-tag matches. Their styles are very similar. Both rely on agility and also have some great submissions. They would compliment each other well. And as Daniel Bryan did grow in popularity, Gail Kim would be alongside him for the ride. She could have ended up doing some of the things AJ Lee ended up doing alongside Daniel Bryan. Gail could have gotten mowed down by Big Show. Gail could have been berated by Daniel Bryan. Gail could eventually have stood up for herself. Probably no psycho gimmick. She does not have the charisma to pull that off. But she is great in the ring and could move back into another midcard romance angle after moving away from Daniel Bryan or be used in minor diva feuds. If they don't want to push her as the centerpiece, there are still options for Gail Kim, especially after the character they would have been developing for her alongside Daniel Bryan. She is being put over as a female version of Daniel Bryan and getting creative interest that could help get her over.

Why spend time talking about creative ideas for women to be pushed in the periphery? I usually just talk about whether this woman or that woman should be centerpiece. Stars seem to be born in the periphery in the diva division. With the exception of Mickie James, all the women to become very over in that diva division since it got started have gotten developed in the periphery. You could bring up Kharma, who was connecting well with the fans, but did not last long, but she most likely would have ended up a true periphery diva had they kept her. And it is in the periphery that you usually have unique characters and interesting storylines that go beyond a chase for the title. There is just a lot of potential here. Will I do more of these? I did not expect to do Michelle McCool after I did Mickie James. I did not expect to do Gail Kim after I did Michelle McCool. Since I just mentioned her, I'll probably do Kharma as a periphery diva one day.

Gail Kim: The Closest Thing To A KO Centerpiece?

Gail Kim just seems to be getting KO title reigns. And she is getting them pretty needlessly. Taryn Terrell just returned. She should have been in line to get the title.

Is Gail Kim the closest thing to a centerpiece that KO division has? I think so. They don't do it exactly like the WWE does it. The WWE would develop credible jobbers just to put over their centerpiece, then phase out that credible jobber. TNA will develop women just for the sake of making them look interesting. Everyone puts over everyone. It's not just about developing someone to put over Gail Kim. The WWE diva division tends to look dry or completely collapses when there is no centerpiece or a struggling centerpiece. TNA's KO division would look pretty much the same whether Gail Kim was there or not. The WWE diva division also revolved around making their centerpiece into a star, which includes getting her over. With what TNA does with Gail Kim, it seems to be just about passing around the title. They seem to be blind to overness.

TNA obviously wants to sell Gail Kim as the greatest KO. They even made a documentary about that. But does she deserve to be pushed this much? I like Gail Kim. She's in my top 10 favorite women of wrestling. If I had to pick a centerpiece for a women's wrestling division based just on wrestling ability, and not overall overness, I would pick Gail Kim. She has a great technical style and great agility. And she's hot, but that isn't about wrestling ability. TNA is trying to run a major wrestling promotion. You have to care about overness. You have to make and feature stars that can get you more viewers and people interested in you. As I just said about the WWE, the centerpiece there isn't just winning the title a lot. The WWE invests creative interest to make her look even better. TNA's creative interest in Gail Kim is lacking. If TNA wants to run a successful women's division that actually produces stars, Gail Kim isn't a great choice as centerpiece. And even if they really want her to be that great choice, a lot more creative interest would be nice.

There is a drought of first-time World Champions in the WWE. Haven't had one in years. The same thing can be said for TNA's KO division. When was the last first-time KO Champion? Brooke Tessmacher in 2012? You have other women to give it to. Give it to Taryn Terrell.

Look at their men's division. There is no one man being pushed like Gail Kim. You have a bunch of first-time TNA World Champions recently. Lashley just won it. Eric Young held it. Magnus held it. Their men's division still obviously lacks a centerpiece. They just rotate things there. Am I saying that the KO division should be run like the men's division? Or that the men's division should be run like the KO division? Balance would be nice.

Let me switch gears to the WWE. There is a rumor that AJ Lee is pregnant. Let me talk about that assuming it is true, just for the sake of discussion. Obviously, congratulations to her and Punk. But what does this mean for the diva division? That diva division just seems to be cursed. AJ Lee is their top periphery diva. She is the only real star that diva division created since Trish and Lita left. Without even talking about a possible pregnancy, the fact that she has been away all these months and married to a man that is currently in an interesting predicament with the WWE is kind of not allowing her to do anything for the diva division. If she is pregnant, including the few months she has already taken off, she is going to end up being away from the WWE for about a year. A year. And that is under the assumption she even comes back. The WWE just cannot catch a break. A lot of this they did bring on themselves, but a lot of it is just things out of their control.

This is the worst the diva division has ever been. I should probably put that on a coffee mug and sell it in the gift shop. I have no job right now. I can use that money. I say that a lot. What makes me say that the current situation is worse than any other situation this diva division has even been in? This division lacks stars. Stephanie McMahon is your only A-level player. And she's a non-wrestler. Vickie Guerrero was not being used for much for a while, but they featured her frequently recently for her farewell angle. You do not have a centerpiece being pushed. Go back to before the WWE pulled the trigger with AJ Lee in the periphery. They lacked any strong periphery divas. What they did have, however, was that they were pushing someone to be their centerpiece. That would be Kelly Kelly. She did not work out, but they were more efficient during that time. After they gave up on her, they reset. They slowed things down and built up AJ Lee and Eve Torres. Title matters were dry for a while, but the periphery was interesting. The periphery is not that great now. Summer Rae is being developed to potentially be the next centerpiece, but she is not there yet and the WWE probably should do more with her than just this angle with Fandango/Layla. Aside from the weak periphery, title matters are also rather dry. Cameron's heel turn is the top story.

I just had a shocking realization last night. Alicia Fox is the top heel credible jobber. Alicia Fox has definitely become more solid over the years, but she is no Beth Phoenix or Ivory. That is another reason the current situation is worse than times before. I thought the WWE was taking steps to fix the depth issues with credible jobbers. AJ Lee wasn't even a heel credible jobber. She was a heel periphery diva. But who took her place among the heels when she left? It wasn't Tamina. She wasn't pushed as a top heel credible jobber. Aksana was more of an eye-candy periphery diva than a true credible jobber. She got released. There really aren't any other options. Alicia Fox is it. Even with Cameron going heel, I don't think she has the credibility of Alicia Fox and will not even be featured as well as her in the ring. The WWE probably should not have debuted both Paige and Emma as faces. Or they probably should have turned one of them or Natalya into a heel in the past few weeks. Instead, they go with Cameron. Total Divas is probably the only thing this diva division has going for it right now. They might want to consider debuting a heel diva from NXT.

With the loss of their top star, no other real stars around, and poor credible jobber depth, the WWE might want to consider creating another top periphery diva. Even pushing Summer Rae up the ranks to be a main-event periphery diva might be nice, although I do not think it is likely. But do it for someone. You need more stars. They should just be running on the assumption that they cannot count on AJ Lee. They cannot wait for her. It isn't right for those women there now. If and when AJ returns, they can easily make her a priority again. Until then, do better with these women now. I never thought I would ever be eager to see The Bellas get a big push, but they would be a great option. Right now, it is not happening. Right now, this division lacks stars, is not doing enough to make them, and depth is still an issue.

The Decline Of The KO Division

TNA recently released a number of workers. There were a few women among them, including Tara and Taeler Hendrix. You also have the fact that the KO tag titles are gone. Financial problems are obviously significant. You can't keep around a lot of workers when your company is not making enough money to pay them all, cover other costs, and still make a profit. Regardless, what is TNA doing with their KO division?

There is definitely a change going on in TNA's women's division. They have always sold this image of being respectable since the KO division really got started. They were better than the WWE diva division. Just like the diva division is about more than just that sexy, glamorous image associated with the eye-candy divas, the status quo about the KO division is about more than this theme of respectability. The division isn't simply about the company saying they are better. What makes, or made, them more respectable and better? I would say it is two things. First, they do not hold their women back in matches. There was a ladder match just a few weeks ago featuring the KOs. Second, they featured their women more and regularly by having multiple feuds and angles going.

That last point is where there is an obvious problem. They just released some of their women and there is no debuting to fill the spaces. The fact that you don't hold back your women is nice, but how interesting can your division be when you keep on featuring the same women? Currently, they are still trying to have multiple things going. Mickie James is the KO Champion, likely still feuding with Velvet Sky. Gail Kim looks to be feuding with ODB now. Not very creative right now. A lot of fans like that Mickie James is now a heel. Technically, TNA isn't really giving her a great storyline. It's up to her to make her heel character work. And Gail Kim's recent feuds also show a lack of creativity. She just lost a title match against Mickie James. She now looks to be entering a feud with the ref of the match, ODB. Go back a few months. Gail Kim lost a title match to Velvet Sky, then went on to feud with the ref of the match, Taryn. They obviously put on some respectable matches, but in terms of the quality of the actual feuds and angles, TNA is not delivering.

They should have kept the tag titles. Of course, that only works if they brought in more women to feature. But if they kept the tag titles, that would make for more feuds with more on the line. They are currently heading in a direction where everything is either a title feud for the KO Championship or a grudge match that will most likely lead into one of those women getting a title feud for the KO Championship. There are no intriguing storyline ideas, stables to feature multiple women, and development of women outside of this cycle. They had Tara involved as the valet as a tag team. If they had kept her, that would not have been a bad use for her. If there was ever a tag team or stable who got another KO member, you could have a 6-person feud and match. But keeping the tag titles would have been a great move. Getting rid of that was a sign that things really are heading in the wrong direction.

They need fresh workers, workers that can connect with the fans, and workers with unique looks and gimmicks. They can't keep pushing the same women in these cycles. At the same time, releasing a generic blond and hiring a generic blond that looks basically the same isn't really bringing anything unique. I think they should have done more with Taeler Hendrix. She is sexy and she has a unique look. TNA has redheads still employed, but they don't wrestle. Give the fans some variety in who they are seeing wrestle.

Respectability can only take you so far. Not holding your women back is fine, but if you are not featuring a wide variety of women and interesting angles on a regular basis, things will get boring. And that is the problem. They lack depth. They cannot afford Mickie James or Gail Kim getting injured. Who will be your other heels? If TNA does not plan to change things, the status quo of the KO division could really change. Their agenda is no longer about featuring their women prominently in terms of letting them go at it in the ring and having multiple fresh storylines and feuds going. It is about making do with what you have. That's not aiming for greatness. Pretty soon, the KO division might just become more hype than substance.