Welcome back to the latest edition of 411 Fact or Fiction, TNA Wrestling Edition! Stuff happened, people loved/hated it and let everyone else know. I promised some TNA themed columns this week, and this is one of them. Battling this week is myself (411’s Larry Csonka), as I make a rare Fact or Fiction appearance, and will discuss all things TNA with my good friend and fellow TNA reviewer from Voices of Wrestling Garrett Kidney!

1. Drew Galloway will remain TNA World champion at Slammiversary.

Garrett Kidney : FICTION – TNA are between something of a rock and a hard place with the finish of the Slammiversary main event. While on the one hand Drew Galloway is a tremendous representative for TNA and really everything you could ever ask for in a champion. Not to mention it feels too early to take the title off of him. On the other hand Lashley is an absolute beast on every level while oozing credibility and legitimacy. Once again not to mention TNA has been slowly building toward EC3 vs. Lashley in a nice subtle way for much of this year. That leaves the question – which of those two is the better option? And I’m siding with Lashley. Lashley booked as a total monster and destroyer only for EC3 to finally confront him in October is TNA’s best possible course from here and unfortunately that means Drew’s title reign has to be cut short.

Larry Csonka : FICTION – I believe that Galloway has done a fine job as champion, and that the build to Galloway vs. Lashley has been great, but his run will come to an end at Slammiversary. This is for a few reasons; 1) to make Lashley look like a bad ass and retain his credibility since he is an MMA fighter. 2) Galloway will either lose due to shenanigans or due to passing out to retain his credibility. 3) Galloway needs to lose here and then likely lose his next feud, because he needs to go heel. 4) Finally, Lashley needs the win so that he can go on a rampage as champion; This is where TNA builds to EC3 overcoming Lashley to retain the title as the big babyface hero. They have been teasing this, and it makes the most sense. EC3 overcoming the legit fighter and moving on to the “wronged” new heel Galloway looks good to me.

2. TNA’s complete lack of attention to the X-Division is a disservice to their overall product.

Garrett Kidney : FACT – Ginormous, humongous FACT! Not only does the X-Division have a special place in TNA, not only is it fundamental to the very DNA of the company, not only has the X-Division been the launching pad for the majority of TNA’s success stories, not only does it provide some style variety on the show – more than all of that TNA’s total inability to feature the X-Division betrays the extremely talented guys TNA still has in the company. Mark Andrews, DJ Z, Trevor Lee, Tigre Uno, Andrew Everett and Eddie Edwards could form the basis of an extremely entertaining and dynamic division that could really bring a youthful energy to TNA’s product. But TNA either sits them on the sidelines, gives them five-minute matches, or lumps them together in meaningless multi-man matches. The division deserves better and the division isn’t that hard to get right. Just let great wrestlers consistently have great matches. But that clearly hasn’t been a priority for TNA for years now because they have no idea (or simply no inclination) how to feature the X-Division in a way that makes them feel meaningful. So yeah, a strong X-Division would do a great deal to help Impact week to week.

Larry Csonka : FACT – This is the easiest fact in the word, and something I have been discussing for a very long time. The X-Division was TNA’s calling card back in the day, it brought excitement, great matches and new talent to the forefront of their presentation. Somewhere along the way, depending on who was “in charge” of creative, that vision would be lost, found and then lost again and as a long time view of the product, it is such a disappointment. And that brings us to current day TNA and the state of the X-Division. While I think we can all agree that today’s guys are not Joe, Daniels, AJ, Lynn or Low Ki, but it’s not like the company doesn’t have talent. Lee, Everett, Edwards and DJ Z are all quality guys. Mark Andrews has had some tremendous matches in North America, just not for TNA because they never use him. TNA’s lack of dedication to the division is the main issue, as they will have them on the show out of the blue and having a title match with no build and then they are gone for 1-3 weeks and then back again, largely in the same scenario. The X-Division should be a centerpiece of the TV show, offering up quality matches worked differently than the regular matches. They should be important, they should feel special and they should get the TV time instead of things like Al Snow, the weird French Guy and the French Stallion vs. Grado and Mahabali Shera. Seriously, the fact that Mahabali Shera gets more TV time that the X-Division champion is a sad statement, especially considering Shera brings nothing to the show and the man cannot wrestle; although I am sure his position is part of the Sony Six deal. Anyway, the company should be minimizing their weaknesses and using any strength that they have. X-Division matches every 2-3 weeks that are always between 4-6 minutes worked like a regular match with one or make for a positive.

3. You have no interest in the Gail Kim vs. Maria feud and or match.

Garrett Kidney : FICTION – I really like the core idea at play between Maria and Kim. Maria is the entertainer. She believes that she is above sullying herself by getting her hands dirty and wrestling every night. She is more interested in status and celebrity than competition. Gail Kim on the other is the exact opposite. She is the very embodiment of women’s wrestling in TNA. She stands for tradition and integrity and respect. And when those two characters come into orbit they collide on an organic level. You understand why they don’t like each other. The conflict, the dramatic tension is clear from the outset. I really like that as a core conflict between the two. My problem has been TNA using a tired authority figure trope to further their dispute rather than simply relying on the strength of the characters, the performers and the story to carry it. So while I didn’t like the way they played the Maria/Kim feud, I can’t say I have no interest in it. I hope their match doesn’t descend into total nonsense.

Larry Csonka : FACT – This is all going to come down to personal preference, and while I get that some love Maria in her role, I am not a fan of the feud at all and honestly do not have any desire to see their match. Now I will say that I do not really find the angle to be poor, I think that Maria plays the “bitch queen” of the company well, I get why she wants to take down Kim and I get why Kim wants to defend the division that she helped build. But I personally do not feel that the performances to get there have been that food, Kim’s a great wrestler, but has always been weak on the mic; while she comes across as believing what she’s saying, I do not feel convinced by any of her verbiage. And then there’s Maria. Some love her promos, and think she’s a scone coming. I find her cadence and pacing to be annoying, not annoying as a heel, but annoying because it becomes the focus and I cannot get into anything she says. And when it comes to the match, Kim is good but has slowed in recent years and quite honestly, Maria’s strengths are not in the ring. I get the feeling that there will be a lot of smoke and mirrors, likely with Allie, and when you add it to everything else, it just does not make we want to see the match at all.

SWITCH!

4. Ethan Carter III will defeat Mike Bennett at Slammiversary, and become the next challenger for new TNA champion Lashley.

Larry Csonka : FACT – While I think that Lashley will win, and he may have a short-term opponent, I feel that TNA has been teasing the end game of Lashley vs. EC3. Lashley has been great in his gives no fucks role, his world title run before was great when he was wrecking people, and we should be getting more of that. But the end game is EC3, and the fact that they have all of their eggs in the EC3 as the big babyface star basket. EC3 overcoming Bennett, continuing the build to Bound For Glory, and then facing and defeating Lashley is where I think they are going and at this time where they should go. On top of that, if he is sticking around, get to work on that Galloway heel turn, because he’s great on the role and those would be my post Bound for Glory plans (EC3 vs. Galloway).

Garrett Kidney : FICTION – Fiction based on one simple word in the question – “next”. TNA are undeniably building toward EC3 vs. Bobby Lashley. Since they faced off after Lashley’s match with Kurt Angle TNA has slowly been pushing them towards one another. Before then they were moving on parallel paths – each doing their own thing – but after that those paths turned slightly inwards, making a collision inevitable. However should Bobby Lashley beat Drew Galloway (and we’ve established already I believe he will) I would be very surprised to see EC3 lined up as his first challenger. If I were them I’d save that for Bound For Glory in October – it would seem like a waste of such a smart little slow burn to blow it off on TV with little return.

5. The Full Metal Mayhem match between Matt and Jeff Hardy will steal the show at Slammiversary.

Larry Csonka : FICTION – I am going to go fiction here, but I hope that they have an awesome match and prove me wrong. Right now, I have to be honest and say that I am not all that trilled with the Matt vs. Jeff angle. It started well, but the Black Scorpion style angle followed by shitty Shakespeare in the park starring Matt hardy has done nothing for me. Add in the fact that these two have never had great matches, along with the fact that Matt is older and Jeff is more banged up, and the odds are all against them. Now with the gimmick of the match and the fact being that Jeff is insane, they may rock the house and steal the show and I wish them the best of luck. But at this time, I just do not see it happening.

Garrett Kidney : Fact: Can I abstain here? Faction? Ficct? – I dunno really. Lashley vs. Galloway looks great on paper but you can never bank on a TNA main event and I have no idea how the Tapout or Knockout stipulation will play out on canvas. Mike Bennett and EC3 will be out with something to prove and have really quite a smart story buoying them along – that they are two sides of the same coin and that’s why they don’t really like each other. Eli Drake and Bram will likely have an alright midcard match. None of the womens matches look blow away. I’m going to say Fact but with a proviso. If the X-Division title match is Eddie Edwards vs. Trevor Lee (as the finish to the recent Ultimate X match seems to suggest) then I’m going Fiction and picking that instead. Hardy vs. Hardy should be a fun stunt brawl that hopefully has a little more substance to it too. Even with wacky wizard Matt Hardy.

6. The Decay are the best original act TNA has created in years.

Larry Csonka : FACT – I’d have to say so, and with ease really. As someone who watches and reviews the product each and every week, it’s easy to point out where they go wrong, and just as easy to point out the bright spots, and that is what Decay have been. TNA took an unknown (on the national stage) and paired her with two guys that new doing JACK and SHIT. Don’t deny that, Abyss and Steve were horrible in their roles and going nowhere. They gave Rosemary a great look and she’s been killing it on the mic; Steve is not a wacky clown with a rubber chicken anymore, he actually appears crazy and like he can hurt someone. Finally, Abyss, who had been doing nothing and really doesn’t need to be working singles at this point in his career, has come off as motivated and like he’s having fun again. Give them some killer theme music that’s fitting of the group and is has been excellent. They may not be the greatest in the ring they aren’t bad) but as a group they succeed. The fact that the group, containing an unknown and two going nowhere fast acts, clicked as they did is great to see and the company should be proud of that.