TNA's Biggest Mistake (or Sorry About Your Damn Luck!)

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Never has that old axiom been truer than in regards to TNA (now strictly IMPACT) Wrestling. Just as it seemed the embattled company was righting the ship after tossing Dixie overboard, they begin March 2017 by losing more talent and burning more bridges behind them.

And we all thought there were new owners?

In all seriousness, Anthem Sports, or Exhibitions (or that owl), is firmly in control of the operation. It just seems like they've inherited something of the old Carter business practices.

As most probably know (long story short), negotiations with several top stars -- Matt and Jeff Hardy among them -- came down to the wire, ending with them not renewing any deals. A mass exodus of workers and lawsuits ensued. So did a Twitter tirade by Broken Hardy matriarch Reby Sky, in which she blasts the company.

Reby Hardy didn't take IMPACT's dismissal of her husband's "Broken Brilliance"
lightly.

This latest episode is, unfortunately, consistent with a storied history the promotion has of letting go big names with huge upsides (as a certain legendary Good Ol' Sooner would say). Among other shady, questionable habits (like late checks and Dixie hanging onto Russo all those years), management can't seem to resist pushing guys or staking their name on someone -- at times a few -- as a savior or paragon to the product, and the larger wrestling world, without blowing it royally.

From AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels and Samoa Joe to Eric Young and Bobby Roode, wrestlers over the years left the TNA locker room, disillusioned and headed for greener pastures. Heck, go back to the early days and recall the sudden departures of men like Monty Brown and Matt Bentley. Both were very talented and seemed to have bright futures at one time.

You can go down the list -- it's lengthy. Many stories and grievances are the same, but the example that typifies this whole vicious cycle, a saga of mistreatment ongoing and unacknowledged, is the burial of "The Cowboy" James Storm.

If TNA knew what they were doing they would have made this the face 

of the company rather than just another one on the roster.

Gone from an IMPACT ring briefly last year, Storm wound up crawling back mere weeks later, and his return hasn't amounted to much. There was a too-little-too-late Beer Money reunion, plus another TNA Tag Title run. And after disappearing from TV for a bit Storm re-emerged at the end of 2016 in another hyped faction, the DCC, doing more or less what he did leading The Revolution -- but with cheap masks.

With the team doing jobs here and there lately, that's just more depreciation of a man who gave added value to an organization searching for an identity while always lost in power struggles.

There was a point last summer where it seemed Dixie and co. actually got it. Storm won the (defunct) King of the Mountain Championship from Eli Drake, and when Lashley challenged him in a title-for-title showdown, vignettes aired leading up to the match invoking The Cowboy's storied career, accomplishments, his fighting spirit and also his undying commitment to the sport.

After that build, you might think something epic, like Storm winning and possibly having a long reign, would be in store -- finally -- and they would make up for lost time. No, instead Lashley went over him, collecting another belt, reaffirming his undeniable dominance. Great for Bobby Lashley!

Where does that leave James Storm, a true original, now that his legacy has been fed to a big guy, a virtual transplant, from MMA and WWE? (Rhetorical question, really: I already answered it.)

He was the perfect guy to build the company around -- a multiple tag team title holder, reliable stalwart, over with the crowd, consummate heel, charismatic babyface. A Southerner, he is ideal for reaching that demo. They didn't have to elevate him from the X Division to make a star, though Storm could've mixed it up with them convincingly.

The Cowboy at his best, beer in hand, next to the real Chosen One. Glorious, huh?

James was anointed the Shawn Michaels of America's Most Wanted once and could walk that walk. He has that ineffable "It" factor. Although he was rewarded with a world championship run for all his hard work, it was short-lived, ultimately laid down for that other It Factor -- Bobby Roode.

If TNA had gone the other way and stayed the course with the belt on James Storm, imagine what they could've had, where they could've gone. They obviously recognized his potential or they wouldn't treat him like a living legend. The problem is his status in the company is similar to Tommy Dreamer's in ECW and Sting's in WCW back in the day.

You're good enough, kid, to be a franchise player, but just not good enough to be the Man (somehow). "Sorry about your damn luck!"