The wrestling business is banal, clichéd and lethargic. So, I was trying to come up with a banal, clichéd and lethargic column idea.
Hey, I know: Which TNA “stars” deserve better than being part of a struggling, fading, potentially soon-to-be-extinct promotion?
It’s not a lengthy list:
Bobby Roode (legit main event talent)
Brooke Adams (best female body in wrestling)
Bully Ray (way recycled, but a great heel)
Gail Kim (excellent worker)
Hardy Boyz (one of best tag teams ever)
Jeremy Borash (one of wrestling’s great utilitymen)
Kurt Angle (one of best ever; held back only by physical issues)
Robbie E (meat and potatoes; solid)
Samoa Joe (borderline; poor man’s Umaga)
Taryn Terrell (Penny from “The Big Bang Theory”)
Velvet Sky (Great look, great character, decent work)
Zema Ion (criminally underrated)
If I’ve erred, it hasn’t been on the side of caution. I freely admit, some of these names are a stretch. TNA just isn’t good. Anyway, WWE isn’t interested in TNA performers. Even if those listed deserve better, they won’t get it.
Then, it struck me: Four of those listed are women.
Then, it struck me: TNA’s Knockouts are way better than WWE’s Divas. Better looking, and better performers.
TNA has decent second-string Knockouts like Angelina Love and Madison Rayne. In WWE, Natalya is very good, but perennially underutilized. Lana is excellent in her role, but she’s a traditional valet. Charlotte is WWE’s best female performer, period. Her continued relegation to NXT is inexplicable.
The Bellas shtick is worn out, diluted by overexposure on “Total Divas” and a philosophy that gives that show too much priority. A.J. Lee is excellent, if small (even by Diva standards). Paige and Emma are exemplary of what’s wrong with the Divas: Ordinary looking, ordinary characters, ordinary everything.
Too many WWE Divas come under that one-word description: ORDINARY.
Really, who cares? Women in wrestling don’t draw money. (Then again, what does draw money right now?) But the WWE Divas division would benefit greatly from dumping the plethora of dead wood present, promoting Charlotte from NXT and signing Brooke Adams, Gail Kim, Taryn Terrell and Velvet Sky if/when TNA finally goes down for the dirt nap.
But let the buyer beware: As in legit sports, talents that shine in the bush leagues sometimes don’t look as good in the uncompromising glare of the bright lights in the big time.
Follow Mark on Twitter: @MarkMaddenX
