Do you think it’s possible for the TNA X-Division to be must watch ever again? Or do you think with the current wrestling style and sizes of wrestlers it’s pointless?
I don’t know. There are still plenty of heavyweight stars, but today’s main event wrestlers are X Division-sized, if not literal X Division alumni, and they all wrestle that fast-paced style. I think the division could survive, but it will need to evolve in a way that hasn’t been seen much in mainstream American wrestling yet.
It's not as special as it once was but I think it can and still is a place to showcase impressive smaller guys like its current champ Speedball Mike Bailey
Whenever Bischoff publicly shits on AEW (about once every 2 days at this point) I instantly think of how fucking awful his run in management/creative with TNA was.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't he just an on screen talent when he was in TNA? He wasn't doing anything regarding booking to my understanding (at least that's what I had heard but correct me if I'm wrong.)
@@superior7673 that’s what he says. But the aces and eights were his idea. I wouldn’t believe a single thing he says about his time In tna. He comes across sour.
@@superior7673 pretty sure that’s wrong. As I understand he was on creative for anything to do with Hogan, also he was obviously instrumental on them bringing in Hogan’s friends and the decision to get rid of the 6 sided ring. He also pushed heavily for them to go live Monday nights head to head with Raw. You can tell he had input into creative I mean Fortune and The Band was just a rehash of The 4 Horsemen and nWo from WCW.
@@superior7673 Eric Bischoff's original intention & involvement with TNA Wrestling was to oversee/proofread any storylines, that included Hulk Hogan. Than later he became more invested in the programming of TNA IMPACT! with his business partner Jason Hervey (of the Wonderyears) producing the show, under their Hervey-Bischoff Productions company.
When I first watched Impact/TNA in 2004 (via random channel surfing), I really seemed to love watching the X-Division because of all the crazy moves they did. It honestly feels like a downer that The X-Division suffered from being phased out with the Hogan Era not helping matters and it's still in rebuild mode to this day. At least The X-Division introduced me to some of my favorite wrestlers...
I lost interest in the weekly ppv day when they did the World Cup. Too many multi man matches and kicking out of everything was put on spotlight in a fake tournament.
@@dizzy1369 They were and TNA could have stayed on Spike for less money they could have kept the exposure and created new talent but nope, Destination America came calling.
Me too random channel surfing with illegal cable caught one of their weekly ppv i remember saying i can't take this company serious with Jarrett as champ until i saw the x division
@@chrisd7439 Jarrett was the only guy with experience, in good shape and could make others look good that they had. The rest were either not ready to carry a title match, old, out of shape and had substance abuse issues thus being unreliable. Working with Jarrett elevated AJ Styles really quickly in his career.
This was the biggest mistake in TNA history. The X division was often putting on matches that would be better then the main event matches. The X division als gave tna a 5 star classic with Joe,Styles and Daniels. Killing it made me so mad.
Just because matches are 45 mins long kicking out of 4 finishers 15 super kicks and taking turning flying over the ropes (or diving through the ropes) doesn't make it great after awhile it's boring. The ratings reflect that type of wrestling. For me wrestling is about story telling and creating a story. You don't have to wrestle like a cruiserweight to do that or be considered a good wrestler.
@@themadrapper101 couldn't agree more....most internet fans only credit technical wrestling or high flying extravaganza as great matches...where are its always about story telling
@@themadrapper101 Wrestling fans have different reasons for liking it. I don't follow it well enough to keep up with fueds, so matches like that keep the attention of "light" fans. Kids love these kinds of matches, too. Alot of us didn't care about every single match having some 16 week backstory that involves their grandmothers recipes. Most storylines these days are awful, just read comment sections on here....you'll see. Lol.
@@themadrapper101 most people aren't antisocial nerds who can watch 20 hours of wrestling storylines, vlogs, internet shows a week. I just want to see an entertaining match once in a while.
@@edwells4769 Stone Cold vs The Rock match is about as entertaining as it gets. You don't need two high flyers or two heavyweights trying to be cruiserweights for a guaranteed 25 mins to have a good match. RVD is one of my favorites of all time though and Jeff Hardy
For Russo, he was working with charismatic talent who at times could get his ideas over. As for Eric, from what I have seen, he took one good idea gave it to three popular guys and rode it's success til the wheels fell off.
Actually had their defining moments (the attitude era/nWo) at the same time period. It was everything they both did following the amazing success of that one span of 4 years or so that everyone remembers as being like death for any company they worked for since (oddly both worked in wcw and tna) so maybe they just can't work TOGETHER in one company lol but Bischoff with Hogan was just as bad as 2000 wcw. Bischoff came up with ONE idea and drove it to death because he was greedy and never wanted that success to end. Russo was only good in that period because Vince McMahon would tell him which ideas were f'ing stupid and which were money makers.
@@Hillthugsta Bischoff had more than one good idea. Such as Nitro going live, directly competing with Raw, turning Hogan heel (which people don't appreciate was a huge gamble), creating the heel on screen boss character (although WWE obviously did that better with McMahon) Goldberg's streak, even the Aces and Eights wasn't a bad idea. Bischoff while not a great booker imo, has definitely had more than 1 good idea.
Russo was in WWF at a time when JR, Brisco and Patterson were around McMahon as a cohesive unit whilst they allowed Austin, HBK, Rock, Bret, Foley, Undertaker, Triple H and Kane creative freedom to work as they needed. Bischoff had unlimited money to sign/keep the biggest names the business had ever seen in Hogan, Savage, Sting, Warrior, Flair and Piper as well as the biggest names in the business at the time like Nash, Hall and Luger which drew in casuals as well as obviously the ‘New World Order’ storyline they took from Japan.
I can guarantee that Hogan/Bischoff saw the Unbreakable 2005 Triple Threat, and thought that Triple Threats was the solution, completely forgetting anything to do with storylines and that AJ, Daniels and Joe weren't in the X-Division.
Part of the name change was probably that you can't market a toy for a man named Suicide. I think there was a figure for him that they had to change his name. Edit: Looks like they just used his symbol rather than his name.
I remember my brother had shown me this DVD of like the best of the X-Division which included a bunch of classic stuff. It was my first exposure to wrestling outside of WWE and I thought it was the coolest shit ever and got me HEAVY into AJ Styles.
The belt for the X-Division Championship always went through a lot of different designs. My personal favorite design was the second one that was mainly featured in this video.
Reminds me of the tag division earlier this year. The champs at the time, jungle express, had a good thing going for a bit. But in the lead up to the revolution ppv they suddenly declared that they were going to have two casino battle royales to determine two teams that will compete against them in a three way tag match. Keep in mind that in aew for some reason it’s not three teams in the ring, but two with a third team on the side who has to tag their opponent or get tagged by an opponent to enter the match. Anyway the champs became sidelined so that the very predictable young bucks vs redragon story that had been slowly unraveling could take place. Both teams basically defeat the entire tag division to get in the match at revolution and it happens and it really doesn’t matter. Next ppv the same thing sort of happens where they get roped into a feud that didn’t involve them and they have another three way tag match. This included swerve in our glory and team taz. The champs kinda meander after this having pointless defenses until they get into another three way match with the young bucks and the hardy boys but then jeff got a dui and they were dropped from the match. Then jungle expressed lost to the young bucks. They then immediately drop the belts to swerve in our glory in another three way tag match. All this happened when ftr was gaining belts from other promotions getting ranked (remember aew ranks?) #1 and haven’t gotten an aew tag championship match in ages. And I don’t like to bring him up but in their last ppv all out, cornette said that swerve in our glory successfully defending their titles meant nothing (which is true since they haven’t done anything of note as champs) but if the acclaimed (their opponents) have won it would’ve meant something. And it would’ve
I watch AEW regularly and one of the biggest criticisms I have of the product is how they do 3 way tag matches because the rules are so stupid. Team A and Team B are in the ring and Team C is out. Team A can tag in their tag partner or they can tag in Team C. Why not just have all 3 teams in at once. Also yeah I like Swerve and Keith Lee but their time as tag champions feels pointless at the moment and they should've dropped to The Acclaimed at All Out because the crowd were going absolutely insane for The Acclaimed the whole time. They should've just called an audible. The stuff with FTR I think more just has to do with backstage politics between them and the Young Bucks. I don't think there's any other explanation for why they've been the #1 tag team for like 3 months and never got a title shot
@@artirony410 thank you I always thought the three way tag matches were nonsense. Just let all three in the ring at the same time! It drives me crazy how no one ever cares about it
In the early 2000s, the x division really brought me as close to back to wrestling after the attitude era as anything would. Watching those joe, styles, Daniels matches was always a treat
idk if it was technically an X Division match but the Ultimate X match between the Motor City Machine Guns and Beer Money is one of my favorite tag matches ever
I think the triple threat and the unpinned guy is in the next match is a good rule for a division, maybe not this one but some division or special attraction match series. Gives competitors a reason not to break up a pin, thinking they'll have a better chance in the next match compared to being more beat up than the current winner is now
I was young at the time but I grew up on this era of TNA. I absolutely loved the Hail Sabin era. I love to see other peoples perspectives and opinions on these things
They did have this compelling storyline back in 2019 when Sami Callihan wanted Rich Swann to join OVE and Rich Swann refused which led to a match at Rebellion that year. But it was an OVE Rules Match between an X-Division and a guy who's far from an X-Division.
Hulk Hogan comes to TNA with 1 idea. "Hey how about we change everything Brother". New rules and limitations, the ring is 4 sides now, x-division title sucks so why not trade it in for a chance at the good title brother. Oh the fans like this so let's either change or get rid of it.
Here's the thing; they saw that Unbreakable 2005 was TNA's most successful match. Instead of taking away that a match with stakes, with people who had beefs to settle for a title is great storytelling, they saw that Triple Threat is the key. They seemed to have learned nothing, then doubled down until they were brow beaten enough to admit that they got it wrong....partially (with the one on one restriction). Then finally giving in and admitting they had no clue what they were doing by reverting it all back to the way it was.
Successful how? Kurt Angle / Samoa Joe was TNA's most successful match. At least the first time they did it. Unbreakable happened when TNA wasn't even on cable. The great majority of their Spike audience have never seen that match and don't even know it exists.
1:23 I mean he also said basically the same about the WCW cruiserweight division when it was like the most revolutionary thing in American wrestling at the time
The Cruiserweight division had multiple segments every Monday night on Nitro. The division served its purpose. There was no way of elevating it further to the existing fan base at the time.
As someone who was a wwf fan scrolling through the TV channels and seeing the octagon ring and the x ropes above got me curious enough to actually check out the product
It was also because the TNA video game tanked. Since Suicide was the main character of it's Story Mode, he had a small, failed push to promote the game.
@@Markyd123 Likely, yeah, but they could have at least explained it in a way. Not to mention that it's lone video games will forever call the masked wrestler that.
From watching your TNA reviews, I got the impression that the X Division was a blend of Cruiserweight and Hardcore [from all the weapon use in front of refs]. Kinda like id the Hardys, Brood and Dudleys were their own division [and the Dudleys lost about 100 total pounds]. Ore like a hardcore match between Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guererro at their prime. A return to that format, as its definition [Hardcore Lucha-Libre/Hardy Boys vs Brood style] could work. Treat is as a full division with a low-midcard build match [like a fleshed-out version of the X-division tournaments they would occasionally do] and a main event blowout like a triple threat, ultimate X, TLC or other spotfest as the co-main-event. Every show, plus a guaranteed title defense at every PPV/PLE and maybe 1 X-division PPV, that has a tourney, a title defense and an Ultimate-X match with all the losers of the tourney for a title shot on the next show.
The X Division, which as you point out is a cruiserweight division, wouldn't have existed without Bischoff first popularizing cruiserweight wrestling in the US with the legendary WCW Cruiserweight Division.
The only rule that the x división needed imo Is that the title match should be always a special match but choosed for the champion like a ladder match or whaveter he supposed to be better than the rest. (So an oportunist like Kenny king make Sense do triple treath i Guess) so they can make some story Telling with that.
The worst thing they did was add weight limits to the belt. You serious, Hogan/Bischoff? Here you have a great division of talent of varying weight classes from cruiserweight to even super heavyweight..... and you want to destroy it by capping it with a weight limit thus ruining the entire point of the X Division in the first place? It was an absolutely dumb idea and it should have never happened. Then they did this other dumb thing where X Division matches were to be just Triple Threat Matches but that got scrapped thankfully. The Option C thing I actually don't mind for 2 reasons, 1) it gives the current holder a World Title match and potentially a push although this didn't happen all the time, and 2) it freed up the title for more up-and-coming wrestlers. If you thought someone was gonna become a big star, slap the X Division Title on them. Again, with varying degrees of success. I'll say this. When TNA/IMPACT started getting good again around 2018 and you had guys like Johnny Impact, Brian Cage, Rich Swann and more recently Josh Alexander and Mike Bailey, it's when the X Division started resurfacing as a must-see bit of the show. Even if you didn't like IMPACT, you could always count on the X Division to put on a great match. Hell, TJP and Josh Alexander put a great 60-Minute Ironman Match for the X Division Title last year.
I think Option C cheapened the X title as much as the weight limit did. What other promotion has had guys give up their championship belts for A SHOT at another belt? I can’t think of any, because it’s a stupid idea! It totally buries the title getting vacated, making it less important. Sure, some titles are obviously meant for the midcard, but you can overcome that with smart booking, like the X Division in 2005.
@@james_the_animator I agree with you here. It always made the X division feel like a secondary title. There is a difference in a belt being meant for the midcard and the show outright presenting it as such.
From what I gather, the hate for Kenny King stems from him being an unprofessional asshole that screwed over ROH and Rhet Titus who was his tag partner. What happened was King told ROH management he would stick around for 3 months before going to TNA, but he left early while still tag champion.
Peak X-Division = Shark Boy, Black Machismo, Suicide, Curry Man, Sonjay Dutt, Petey Williams, Daniels, Kaz, Consequences Creed with the occasional Eric Young thrown in.
I still hate the fact that they decided to change the belt design of the x division title after Sabin vacated it, the design they changed it to doesn't suck, the blue version of that belt is definitely better than that ugly green version, it's just that it was pointless for them to change the belt design and I have a lot of nostalgia for the 2007-2013 design.
I'm surprised to hear Bishoff say the X Division is dumb considering that he introduced Cruiserweights in WCW as a highlight. But that again, he never thought much of smaller talented stars and just have old established names to hog up the spotlight until it doesn't sell anymore.
The final nail came when Samoa Joe used the x division as squash fodder. It made the smaller athlete look weak and helpless like the women’s division. Giving the title to flavor of the month talent like Amazing Red, Michael Shane, and Zema Ion didn’t help either.
The Brian Kendrick vs abyss feud was great tho at least I thought that when I was a kid. It was like the Brian Kendrick the prophet had to slay the beast abyss to be validated
The X Division made no sense without weight limits. Period. The end. The dumbest thing done wasn't Option C....it was the fact Sabin beat Bully and killed their top heel, top stable, and top angle
Hogan/Bischoff/Prichard/Dusty: "I don't understand what the X-Division is and I'm not going to try. I don't like it, and I don't care how many of them go on to become main event level talent in WWE, AEW, or even TNA when we leave. Listening to Prichard and Bischoff's podcasts about TNA is never not frustrating. Eye-opening, but frustrating. Same with Jarrett, though he's just blind to how bad and formulaic his own stuff could be, and listened to a lot of the wrong people. Bischoff and Prichard to me come across as cutting off their noses to spite their faces. Your high fliers tend to be your best bumpers, so don't bury them. Don't give them crappy stories, instead, give them simple stories much like it was done in ROH. Simple, easy to follow, and climaxing with one of the best matches on the card. To this day I don't think they realize how special AJ Styles was from day one, or the majority of the guys on their roster.
Bishoff not getting IT is irrelative . He didnt have a clue why Rey Mysterio and Luchadors masks were sacred ! All he had to do was ask ANY of 50 luchadors he hired or ....OR ANY WRESTLER THERE !!!!!!
I really enjoyed the Option C variable. I wish this was booked differently. The Best thing Aries is that he an asshole. And I loved pissed off this made people.
Love your content.. you are by far my favourite wrestling youtube channel. One thing I hate though is this new cut away every few minutes to the markyd and hawk picture.. it really distracts from the video. I hope this isn't here to stay.
What a crazy downward slide from highlight reels of Elix Skipper and AJ Styles to this funky shit. I’m shocked that Hulk Hogan didn’t know what to do with folks who knew more than 4 moves
Why did Hogan just reveal Suicide's identity that easily? That was stupid. The 230lb weight limit for the X Division was also pretty stupid. Why couldn't they keep it around 210 lbs, and as a cruiserweight type division? Fast paced video game matches is what made the X Division special. Professional wrestling needs variety
The name change I could get because suicide was not a very marketable wrestler name but the reveal kind of killed all interest in the character. It also didn't help that they did not use it as a story for more than a week if I remember right. Perkins story for it being completely different from the original suicide story but something along the lines of the suit giving him confidence blah blah.
@@aerostrafe1075 yeah I'm glad I missed that and wasn't watching TNA anymore by then. I always thought Suicide was Christopher Daniels and Kaz originally
@@UndergroundSkat2000 A few people have been in that suit before. Kaz and Daniels have both been in it before. I think when he first won the X division title it was daniels in the suit.
Makes me respect Kevin Nash trying to help the X-Division, compared to the constant triple threat nonsense. Credit where it's due AJ/Daniels/Joe was the only good triple threat X-Division match ever. Atleast Sabin who was a TNA Original (not as long as AJ's time but was a part of the beginning years), got the world belt.
Hopefully this doesn't get taken the wrong way, but would current wrestling look the same without the x division? I just watched the Dr. Strange multiverse movie thing btw
Do you think it’s possible for the TNA X-Division to be must watch ever again? Or do you think with the current wrestling style and sizes of wrestlers it’s pointless?
Yes if they keep it to smaller guys. And triple threats are rare if ever.
I don’t know. There are still plenty of heavyweight stars, but today’s main event wrestlers are X Division-sized, if not literal X Division alumni, and they all wrestle that fast-paced style. I think the division could survive, but it will need to evolve in a way that hasn’t been seen much in mainstream American wrestling yet.
Can't even get the regular show to be watchable now according to the ratings.
Pointless.
It's not as special as it once was but I think it can and still is a place to showcase impressive smaller guys like its current champ Speedball Mike Bailey
Whenever Bischoff publicly shits on AEW (about once every 2 days at this point) I instantly think of how fucking awful his run in management/creative with TNA was.
Same he talks like a saint and blames TNA for everything. Won’t accept responsibility for anything.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't he just an on screen talent when he was in TNA? He wasn't doing anything regarding booking to my understanding (at least that's what I had heard but correct me if I'm wrong.)
@@superior7673 that’s what he says. But the aces and eights were his idea. I wouldn’t believe a single thing he says about his time In tna. He comes across sour.
@@superior7673 pretty sure that’s wrong. As I understand he was on creative for anything to do with Hogan, also he was obviously instrumental on them bringing in Hogan’s friends and the decision to get rid of the 6 sided ring. He also pushed heavily for them to go live Monday nights head to head with Raw. You can tell he had input into creative I mean Fortune and The Band was just a rehash of The 4 Horsemen and nWo from WCW.
@@superior7673 Eric Bischoff's original intention & involvement with TNA Wrestling was to oversee/proofread any storylines, that included Hulk Hogan. Than later he became more invested in the programming of TNA IMPACT! with his business partner Jason Hervey (of the Wonderyears) producing the show, under their Hervey-Bischoff Productions company.
Interesting how a division that as originally billed as "not being about weight limits, but no limits" would end up having a weight limit years later.
Edit: Continue to watch the video and you called that out nice Marky D.
When I first watched Impact/TNA in 2004 (via random channel surfing), I really seemed to love watching the X-Division because of all the crazy moves they did. It honestly feels like a downer that The X-Division suffered from being phased out with the Hogan Era not helping matters and it's still in rebuild mode to this day. At least The X-Division introduced me to some of my favorite wrestlers...
that's when and how I found it too, channel surfing. spike was a great network.
I lost interest in the weekly ppv day when they did the World Cup. Too many multi man matches and kicking out of everything was put on spotlight in a fake tournament.
@@dizzy1369 They were and TNA could have stayed on Spike for less money they could have kept the exposure and created new talent but nope, Destination America came calling.
Me too random channel surfing with illegal cable caught one of their weekly ppv i remember saying i can't take this company serious with Jarrett as champ until i saw the x division
@@chrisd7439 Jarrett was the only guy with experience, in good shape and could make others look good that they had. The rest were either not ready to carry a title match, old, out of shape and had substance abuse issues thus being unreliable. Working with Jarrett elevated AJ Styles really quickly in his career.
This was the biggest mistake in TNA history. The X division was often putting on matches that would be better then the main event matches. The X division als gave tna a 5 star classic with Joe,Styles and Daniels. Killing it made me so mad.
Just because matches are 45 mins long kicking out of 4 finishers 15 super kicks and taking turning flying over the ropes (or diving through the ropes) doesn't make it great after awhile it's boring. The ratings reflect that type of wrestling. For me wrestling is about story telling and creating a story. You don't have to wrestle like a cruiserweight to do that or be considered a good wrestler.
@@themadrapper101 couldn't agree more....most internet fans only credit technical wrestling or high flying extravaganza as great matches...where are its always about story telling
@@themadrapper101 Wrestling fans have different reasons for liking it. I don't follow it well enough to keep up with fueds, so matches like that keep the attention of "light" fans. Kids love these kinds of matches, too. Alot of us didn't care about every single match having some 16 week backstory that involves their grandmothers recipes. Most storylines these days are awful, just read comment sections on here....you'll see. Lol.
@@themadrapper101 most people aren't antisocial nerds who can watch 20 hours of wrestling storylines, vlogs, internet shows a week. I just want to see an entertaining match once in a while.
@@edwells4769 Stone Cold vs The Rock match is about as entertaining as it gets. You don't need two high flyers or two heavyweights trying to be cruiserweights for a guaranteed 25 mins to have a good match. RVD is one of my favorites of all time though and Jeff Hardy
I don't understand how guys like Bischoff and Russo became so successful in wrestling with so many shit ideas.
For Russo, he was working with charismatic talent who at times could get his ideas over.
As for Eric, from what I have seen, he took one good idea gave it to three popular guys and rode it's success til the wheels fell off.
Actually had their defining moments (the attitude era/nWo) at the same time period. It was everything they both did following the amazing success of that one span of 4 years or so that everyone remembers as being like death for any company they worked for since (oddly both worked in wcw and tna) so maybe they just can't work TOGETHER in one company lol but Bischoff with Hogan was just as bad as 2000 wcw. Bischoff came up with ONE idea and drove it to death because he was greedy and never wanted that success to end. Russo was only good in that period because Vince McMahon would tell him which ideas were f'ing stupid and which were money makers.
Politics and knowing how to play the game, same as actual politicians.
@@Hillthugsta Bischoff had more than one good idea. Such as Nitro going live, directly competing with Raw, turning Hogan heel (which people don't appreciate was a huge gamble), creating the heel on screen boss character (although WWE obviously did that better with McMahon) Goldberg's streak, even the Aces and Eights wasn't a bad idea. Bischoff while not a great booker imo, has definitely had more than 1 good idea.
Russo was in WWF at a time when JR, Brisco and Patterson were around McMahon as a cohesive unit whilst they allowed Austin, HBK, Rock, Bret, Foley, Undertaker, Triple H and Kane creative freedom to work as they needed.
Bischoff had unlimited money to sign/keep the biggest names the business had ever seen in Hogan, Savage, Sting, Warrior, Flair and Piper as well as the biggest names in the business at the time like Nash, Hall and Luger which drew in casuals as well as obviously the ‘New World Order’ storyline they took from Japan.
X division was the pinnacle of TNA.
Damn right it was. Reminded me of old school WCW(93-99) Cruiserweights and ECW
They really created something unique
I might be a Hulkamaniac for life but I am Hawkamaniac even after death
Should have been a "No fat Samoa Joe" division and then they could have had a storyline around Joe losing weight so he could win the title again.
They would just be accused of reusing russos “Dudley’s are too fat to wrestle the machine guns” storyline in 2007
Hahah that made laugh
I can guarantee that Hogan/Bischoff saw the Unbreakable 2005 Triple Threat, and thought that Triple Threats was the solution, completely forgetting anything to do with storylines and that AJ, Daniels and Joe weren't in the X-Division.
Part of the name change was probably that you can't market a toy for a man named Suicide. I think there was a figure for him that they had to change his name.
Edit: Looks like they just used his symbol rather than his name.
Yeah I think it was stated to more the character more marketable friendly s the Suicide name was too edgy for larger audience.
You know the saying “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” well that applies to the x division.
That applies to entire TNA. Like changing 6-sided ring, monday night wars, only pushing ex-wwe talents etc.
Oh yeah. Lets keep doing the same thing over and over. Thats sure to keep people coming back. lololololololololol
i could've sworn the weight limit came in because Abyss had just won (and then lost) the belt to someone... i guess im remembering it wrong then!
Bischoff saying he didn't understand the X Division makes too much sense
Wish he could explain why his son was in more main event matches than anyone in the roster could ever get.
@@mollyanderson657 The same reason Erik Watts got pushed hard after his dad became booker in WCW
@@EssexAggiegrad2011 I mean at least Erik Watts trained in WCW's power plant for 3 weeks. But yet again, that's not saying much.
The cruisers were the best thing in the dying days of WCW
@@sppspharmdude if you can ignore the Vince Russo shenanigans.
I like how TNA put Sabin who has two major knee surgeries back to back in a ultimate x match then they do the same to Trent Barretta
Another thing that killed the division is that they didn't focus on creating new stars in it when they moved AJ, Joe, and Daniels on.
"The Cruiserweights, can Cruise or Wait, brother."
- Hulk Hogan
I remember my brother had shown me this DVD of like the best of the X-Division which included a bunch of classic stuff. It was my first exposure to wrestling outside of WWE and I thought it was the coolest shit ever and got me HEAVY into AJ Styles.
I’m new here, just got back into wrestling, but this may be the greatest channel on youtube.
The belt for the X-Division Championship always went through a lot of different designs. My personal favorite design was the second one that was mainly featured in this video.
Reminds me of the tag division earlier this year. The champs at the time, jungle express, had a good thing going for a bit. But in the lead up to the revolution ppv they suddenly declared that they were going to have two casino battle royales to determine two teams that will compete against them in a three way tag match. Keep in mind that in aew for some reason it’s not three teams in the ring, but two with a third team on the side who has to tag their opponent or get tagged by an opponent to enter the match. Anyway the champs became sidelined so that the very predictable young bucks vs redragon story that had been slowly unraveling could take place. Both teams basically defeat the entire tag division to get in the match at revolution and it happens and it really doesn’t matter. Next ppv the same thing sort of happens where they get roped into a feud that didn’t involve them and they have another three way tag match. This included swerve in our glory and team taz. The champs kinda meander after this having pointless defenses until they get into another three way match with the young bucks and the hardy boys but then jeff got a dui and they were dropped from the match. Then jungle expressed lost to the young bucks. They then immediately drop the belts to swerve in our glory in another three way tag match. All this happened when ftr was gaining belts from other promotions getting ranked (remember aew ranks?) #1 and haven’t gotten an aew tag championship match in ages. And I don’t like to bring him up but in their last ppv all out, cornette said that swerve in our glory successfully defending their titles meant nothing (which is true since they haven’t done anything of note as champs) but if the acclaimed (their opponents) have won it would’ve meant something. And it would’ve
I watch AEW regularly and one of the biggest criticisms I have of the product is how they do 3 way tag matches because the rules are so stupid. Team A and Team B are in the ring and Team C is out. Team A can tag in their tag partner or they can tag in Team C. Why not just have all 3 teams in at once.
Also yeah I like Swerve and Keith Lee but their time as tag champions feels pointless at the moment and they should've dropped to The Acclaimed at All Out because the crowd were going absolutely insane for The Acclaimed the whole time. They should've just called an audible.
The stuff with FTR I think more just has to do with backstage politics between them and the Young Bucks. I don't think there's any other explanation for why they've been the #1 tag team for like 3 months and never got a title shot
Magnificent match with the Acclaimed though!
@@artirony410 thank you I always thought the three way tag matches were nonsense. Just let all three in the ring at the same time! It drives me crazy how no one ever cares about it
@@nemotoad9315 yeah their match with The Acclaimed was easily match of the night for me at All Out
The X-divison was awesome in TNA
Most of the people in it was awesome even with C star
Disagree. I think that the X-Division was better in Smokey Mountain Wrestling.
Is*
Those referee cams would’ve made Kevin Dunn blush.
In the early 2000s, the x division really brought me as close to back to wrestling after the attitude era as anything would. Watching those joe, styles, Daniels matches was always a treat
idk if it was technically an X Division match but the Ultimate X match between the Motor City Machine Guns and Beer Money is one of my favorite tag matches ever
ref cams are a cool idea. It wouldnt be grainy and bad anymore
I think the triple threat and the unpinned guy is in the next match is a good rule for a division, maybe not this one but some division or special attraction match series. Gives competitors a reason not to break up a pin, thinking they'll have a better chance in the next match compared to being more beat up than the current winner is now
I was young at the time but I grew up on this era of TNA. I absolutely loved the Hail Sabin era. I love to see other peoples perspectives and opinions on these things
They did have this compelling storyline back in 2019 when Sami Callihan wanted Rich Swann to join OVE and Rich Swann refused which led to a match at Rebellion that year. But it was an OVE Rules Match between an X-Division and a guy who's far from an X-Division.
the x division was so cool, I loved the concept and the fantastic matches that were had.
Hulk Hogan comes to TNA with 1 idea. "Hey how about we change everything Brother". New rules and limitations, the ring is 4 sides now, x-division title sucks so why not trade it in for a chance at the good title brother. Oh the fans like this so let's either change or get rid of it.
i had no idea the x division was being done so dirty around this time lmao
Here's the thing; they saw that Unbreakable 2005 was TNA's most successful match. Instead of taking away that a match with stakes, with people who had beefs to settle for a title is great storytelling, they saw that Triple Threat is the key.
They seemed to have learned nothing, then doubled down until they were brow beaten enough to admit that they got it wrong....partially (with the one on one restriction). Then finally giving in and admitting they had no clue what they were doing by reverting it all back to the way it was.
Successful how? Kurt Angle / Samoa Joe was TNA's most successful match. At least the first time they did it. Unbreakable happened when TNA wasn't even on cable. The great majority of their Spike audience have never seen that match and don't even know it exists.
That ref cam is a genius idea
1:23 I mean he also said basically the same about the WCW cruiserweight division when it was like the most revolutionary thing in American wrestling at the time
A man who had no idea what to do with WCW's Cruiserweight division and unmasked half the luchadores in it, didn't get X-Division? Shocking.
The Cruiserweight division had multiple segments every Monday night on Nitro. The division served its purpose. There was no way of elevating it further to the existing fan base at the time.
Eric Bischoff has always been a one trick pony. He had one brilliant idea and that was it.
Exactly
And it wasn't even his idea. He took it from Japan.
He's like the band Trapt, a one hit wonder when it came as a booker
Loving the Guilty Gear music at the start.
As someone who was a wwf fan scrolling through the TV channels and seeing the octagon ring and the x ropes above got me curious enough to actually check out the product
6:48 Wait, THAT'S why Suicide's name changed?! Because Hogan just...ruled it?
I think Suicide is a word they didn't want to use
Yup hogan changed it but they probably didn’t want a wrestle called that either
It was also because the TNA video game tanked. Since Suicide was the main character of it's Story Mode, he had a small, failed push to promote the game.
@@Markyd123 Likely, yeah, but they could have at least explained it in a way. Not to mention that it's lone video games will forever call the masked wrestler that.
From watching your TNA reviews, I got the impression that the X Division was a blend of Cruiserweight and Hardcore [from all the weapon use in front of refs]. Kinda like id the Hardys, Brood and Dudleys were their own division [and the Dudleys lost about 100 total pounds]. Ore like a hardcore match between Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guererro at their prime.
A return to that format, as its definition [Hardcore Lucha-Libre/Hardy Boys vs Brood style] could work. Treat is as a full division with a low-midcard build match [like a fleshed-out version of the X-division tournaments they would occasionally do] and a main event blowout like a triple threat, ultimate X, TLC or other spotfest as the co-main-event. Every show, plus a guaranteed title defense at every PPV/PLE and maybe 1 X-division PPV, that has a tourney, a title defense and an Ultimate-X match with all the losers of the tourney for a title shot on the next show.
They tried the ref-cam back in WCW and it didn't work then either, so, yeah... Bischoff.
Dude, you are always funny as hell & crack me up every time I watch your channel!!! COMEDY GENIUS in my opinion, literally!!!
The X Division and the 6 sided ring was TNAs identity. Hogan, Bischoff, among obvious others, took their identity, and shat on it.
The X Division, which as you point out is a cruiserweight division, wouldn't have existed without Bischoff first popularizing cruiserweight wrestling in the US with the legendary WCW Cruiserweight Division.
Its exactly like you said. The X Division was great because of no or limited rules. It didnt need MORE rules.
The only rule that the x división needed imo Is that the title match should be always a special match but choosed for the champion like a ladder match or whaveter he supposed to be better than the rest. (So an oportunist like Kenny king make Sense do triple treath i Guess) so they can make some story Telling with that.
That would have been interesting
The worst thing they did was add weight limits to the belt. You serious, Hogan/Bischoff? Here you have a great division of talent of varying weight classes from cruiserweight to even super heavyweight..... and you want to destroy it by capping it with a weight limit thus ruining the entire point of the X Division in the first place? It was an absolutely dumb idea and it should have never happened.
Then they did this other dumb thing where X Division matches were to be just Triple Threat Matches but that got scrapped thankfully. The Option C thing I actually don't mind for 2 reasons, 1) it gives the current holder a World Title match and potentially a push although this didn't happen all the time, and 2) it freed up the title for more up-and-coming wrestlers. If you thought someone was gonna become a big star, slap the X Division Title on them. Again, with varying degrees of success.
I'll say this. When TNA/IMPACT started getting good again around 2018 and you had guys like Johnny Impact, Brian Cage, Rich Swann and more recently Josh Alexander and Mike Bailey, it's when the X Division started resurfacing as a must-see bit of the show. Even if you didn't like IMPACT, you could always count on the X Division to put on a great match. Hell, TJP and Josh Alexander put a great 60-Minute Ironman Match for the X Division Title last year.
I think Option C cheapened the X title as much as the weight limit did. What other promotion has had guys give up their championship belts for A SHOT at another belt? I can’t think of any, because it’s a stupid idea! It totally buries the title getting vacated, making it less important. Sure, some titles are obviously meant for the midcard, but you can overcome that with smart booking, like the X Division in 2005.
@@james_the_animator I agree with you here. It always made the X division feel like a secondary title. There is a difference in a belt being meant for the midcard and the show outright presenting it as such.
2:40 "it all looks about amateurish at this point" ..that's most of modern wrestling that wrestles this kind of style.
I was watching TNA regularly back then and I no recollection of Trent being there
The x division is my favorite part of TNA impact wrestling I don't ever want to see it die off or go away for any reason
X division dosent really work now as everone is smaller just look at aew nearly everyone is a cruiserweight
Yeh I get what you mean everyone is capable of some crazy moves
The X division wasn’t about size. Samoa Joe fit perfectly in the x division
@@pleaseshutup7053 I think he means in the early years of the divison. Before joe it genuinely was just cruiserweight guys.
@@Markyd123 Don’t get smart with me I got a fresh pile of bricks in the mail today
2022 the x division needs to be more of a fokle point of the company again as well as the knockouts division
Yep. TNAs #1 weapon was the x division. Then the knockouts.
Not going to lie, I did not expect Guilty Gear music. Keep Yourself Alive was a good choice too.
Brother brother brother
I feel Austin Aries carried the division for his initial run as champion
*Watches another awesome Markyd Video, hears Guilty Gear X2 (XX) Music playing in the Background*
I see you are also a man of Culture.
From what I gather, the hate for Kenny King stems from him being an unprofessional asshole that screwed over ROH and Rhet Titus who was his tag partner. What happened was King told ROH management he would stick around for 3 months before going to TNA, but he left early while still tag champion.
I remember wanting Trent? to win the x division title in that match
Peak X-Division = Shark Boy, Black Machismo, Suicide, Curry Man, Sonjay Dutt, Petey Williams, Daniels, Kaz, Consequences Creed with the occasional Eric Young thrown in.
I did like that Chris Sabin referenced kicking out of The 3D in his feud with Bully Ray
I still hate the fact that they decided to change the belt design of the x division title after Sabin vacated it, the design they changed it to doesn't suck, the blue version of that belt is definitely better than that ugly green version, it's just that it was pointless for them to change the belt design and I have a lot of nostalgia for the 2007-2013 design.
Tigre Uno for ring of the hawk
I loved when Trent was in Impact!
Those x division matches are what those trios matches are now in aew
Awsome video marky
Never knew RVD won the x division title
you should do a video about the peaks of the X division
I'm surprised to hear Bishoff say the X Division is dumb considering that he introduced Cruiserweights in WCW as a highlight. But that again, he never thought much of smaller talented stars and just have old established names to hog up the spotlight until it doesn't sell anymore.
Ouch, his comment about Low-ki... Was point on. Great wrester who never got over anywhere
The final nail came when Samoa Joe used the x division as squash fodder. It made the smaller athlete look weak and helpless like the women’s division. Giving the title to flavor of the month talent like Amazing Red, Michael Shane, and Zema Ion didn’t help either.
I could only imagine how much the guys hated the triple threat format
TNA in the 2010's was the beginning of the end for people interests in the company!
I swear this dude drops a video every time bios does
And drops a better one
We might just have the same schedule. I’m typically saturdays and Wednesday. And a random extra video on a random day
I was kind wanting to see a "Was it any good?" video about Suicide. A bit of a strange character.
The Brian Kendrick vs abyss feud was great tho at least I thought that when I was a kid. It was like the Brian Kendrick the prophet had to slay the beast abyss to be validated
I love your video ❤️
The X Division made no sense without weight limits. Period. The end.
The dumbest thing done wasn't Option C....it was the fact Sabin beat Bully and killed their top heel, top stable, and top angle
Hogan/Bischoff/Prichard/Dusty: "I don't understand what the X-Division is and I'm not going to try. I don't like it, and I don't care how many of them go on to become main event level talent in WWE, AEW, or even TNA when we leave.
Listening to Prichard and Bischoff's podcasts about TNA is never not frustrating. Eye-opening, but frustrating. Same with Jarrett, though he's just blind to how bad and formulaic his own stuff could be, and listened to a lot of the wrong people. Bischoff and Prichard to me come across as cutting off their noses to spite their faces. Your high fliers tend to be your best bumpers, so don't bury them. Don't give them crappy stories, instead, give them simple stories much like it was done in ROH. Simple, easy to follow, and climaxing with one of the best matches on the card.
To this day I don't think they realize how special AJ Styles was from day one, or the majority of the guys on their roster.
I think around this time I checked out on TNA.
That's my favorite title, it should go to NXT
Austin Ares winning the belt was dumb.
Bishoff not getting IT is irrelative . He didnt have a clue why Rey Mysterio and Luchadors masks were sacred ! All he had to do was ask ANY of 50 luchadors he hired or ....OR ANY WRESTLER THERE !!!!!!
That hulk Hogan TJP suicide segment practically suicide IMO
Shuv it squad!
It seems weird the thing that made them stand out TNA sure enough manages to screw it up
I really enjoyed the Option C variable. I wish this was booked differently. The Best thing Aries is that he an asshole. And I loved pissed off this made people.
Alright it's the Hawk.
Love your content.. you are by far my favourite wrestling youtube channel. One thing I hate though is this new cut away every few minutes to the markyd and hawk picture.. it really distracts from the video. I hope this isn't here to stay.
What a crazy downward slide from highlight reels of Elix Skipper and AJ Styles to this funky shit. I’m shocked that Hulk Hogan didn’t know what to do with folks who knew more than 4 moves
X division was cool
6:29 Brock Lesnar Guy
Why did Hogan just reveal Suicide's identity that easily? That was stupid.
The 230lb weight limit for the X Division was also pretty stupid. Why couldn't they keep it around 210 lbs, and as a cruiserweight type division? Fast paced video game matches is what made the X Division special. Professional wrestling needs variety
The name change I could get because suicide was not a very marketable wrestler name but the reveal kind of killed all interest in the character. It also didn't help that they did not use it as a story for more than a week if I remember right. Perkins story for it being completely different from the original suicide story but something along the lines of the suit giving him confidence blah blah.
@@aerostrafe1075 yeah I'm glad I missed that and wasn't watching TNA anymore by then. I always thought Suicide was Christopher Daniels and Kaz originally
@@UndergroundSkat2000 A few people have been in that suit before. Kaz and Daniels have both been in it before. I think when he first won the X division title it was daniels in the suit.
Makes me respect Kevin Nash trying to help the X-Division, compared to the constant triple threat nonsense. Credit where it's due AJ/Daniels/Joe was the only good triple threat X-Division match ever. Atleast Sabin who was a TNA Original (not as long as AJ's time but was a part of the beginning years), got the world belt.
AJ vs Petey Williams vs Chris Sabin Ultimate X match..
Shove it mannnnn
please do a video of Eli Drake's impact title reign
Love it.
Hopefully this doesn't get taken the wrong way, but would current wrestling look the same without the x division? I just watched the Dr. Strange multiverse movie thing btw
I hated when Hogan n Bischoff were there. It made the wcw death squad complete.