Five Things Impact Wrestling Can Improve Upon By Hakeem Fullerton

Intro: No wrestling promotion is perfect, that much is clear but every now and again you are bound to stumble upon a multitude of issues whether it's truth, rumors or a story that gets blown way out of proportion by the dirt sheets.

For many impact fans the idea of Impact Wrestling securing a deal with a TV Network has been a big issue since late 2018, thankfully that issue was settled in September of this year when Impact's parent company, Anthem Sports and Entertainment manage the buys majority stake in AXS TV (home to wrestling programs like Women of Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling).

While this solves one of the major issues that surrounded the company for quite some time, there are a few more issues that Impact should consider fixing or improving as they head into a new year.

Now some of these issues don't have to be fixed right away but these are ideas that the current regime of Don Callis and Scott D'Amore should be considering in the new future.

1. Making the X Division Exclusive

"It's not about weight limits, it's about no limits" this has been phrase that has been synonymous with the X Division almost since it's inception back in 2002.

Many wrestlers who have tried to use the no limits motto in order to become champion; Names like Samoa Joe and Abyss come to mind as superheavyweights who became champions within in the X division.

While Joe is still regarded as one of the most influential wrestlers to become the X division champion, Abyss on the other hand is considered one of the worst to ever hold the title do to the fact he did little to nothing to elevate the title or the division itself but also showed the state of the division that helped to put the company on the map.

There have also been individuals like Brian Cage and Rich Swann who have also won the title but unfortunately they time as champion never led to any growth or intrigue within the division as aside from a few names like the Rascalz, Jake Crist and Daga, the X division is almost in the same place as the tag team division was in back in 2017 and I do not say that likely.

For these and many other reasons is why the X division should be exclusive again to cruiserweight and highflyers once again.

By doing this the company can avoid anymore unworthy wrestlers becoming the champion (*Cough Mike Bennett Cough *) or just using "Option C" as an easy way to get wrestlers the company wants to put into the world title scene (*Cough Tessa Blanchard and Brian Cage Cough*).

Things like reinstating "the 275 weight limit rule" can prevent superheavyweights from winning a championship and making it clear to fans as to who can wrestle within this division.

Making the X division exclusive to highflyers again could be the first step in not only bringing back the intrigue and splendor to a division that helped put Impact Wrestling on the map and desperately needs a reboot but also cleaning up any misconceptions fans or casual viewers may have about what the X division means or represents.

2. Signing Familiar Faces

Since the new regime of Don Callis and Scott D'amore began in early 2018, There have been a multitude talented wrestlers who have not been signed by big promotions like WWE, ROH and NJPW.

Aiden Prince, Reno Scum, Heather Monroe, JT Dunne, Chris Bey, Alexia Nicole, Vikingo and just some of the names who have appeared and wrestled within the impact zone despite not being signed to any major promotions.

While many of these wrestlers have been paid for their appearances on the show, it begs the question: Why hasn't the company signed some of these names onto the roster if they keep on rely on these men and woman when doing their tapings?

Perhaps some aren't interested, some are signed with promotions who don't wish to work with Impact or maybe Impact officials don't see them as a part of the big picture.

Whatever the case may be, Impact management should really be thinking about signing some of these names onto the roster as they show promise and could offer something new to company.

Plus, with the seeds for a new wrestling war being planted with the arrival of All Elite Wrestling, Impact scoop up as much talent as they can because if they don't places like AEW and the NWA most certainly will.

3. Making Xplosion Worth Watching

Impact Wrestling's Xplosion show is similar to the B or C shows that companies like WWE and WCW had in order give wrestlers who don't get enough time on TV they opportunity to show management and the fans what they can do in the middle of ring whilst, also recapping events from the previous impact episodes and hosting interviews with various wrestlers within a 60 minute format.

The show has been a stable within the company for more than a decade now and it stands to reason that the show has provided the company with some impressive matches involving the local, indie and signed talent; however, the one thing that Impact needs to make clear to the fans (both diehard and casual): What reason is there to watch the show?

Ideas that the company should consider could range from airing never before seen content you wouldn't be able to find right away on the company's mobile app, their YouTube page, or even on recent TV tapings; removing the match or flashback of the week segment on the show and adding another match to the show or including exclusive interviews with wrestlers hyping up matches for Xplosion, Impact tapings or upcoming pay per views.

Rumors have confirmed that Impact wishes to air a studio style B show in California in the foreseeable future, but Impact wants to continue on making it's content exciting and must see, perhaps they should focus some of that effort to Xplosion as they do with their TV tapings and PPVS.

4. Branding and Advertising

Like all companies, getting your name and product out there for the world to see is important when looking to draw in customers, advertisers and in most cases financial backers.

Impact has slowly started to embrace this method once again as the company have gone back to making merchandise like wrestler inspired T-shirts, partnering and sponsored with organizations like NFL Alumni, Future Legend, Wrestling Travel among others while at the same time promoting matches and events on social media platforms Like Twitter and Facebook.

While these steps are certain in the right direction it could be argued that their strategy for hyping and promoting their shows and products could be much better.

For Example, the 2019 "Unbreakable" Special saw a multitude of matches culminating in the high anticipated sequel between "The Draw" Sami Callihan and Tessa Blanchard for a shot at the Impact World Heavyweight Championship at Bound For Glory.

They issue here is that the company did not provide any videos packages hyping up any of the other matches that took place on they event other than Callihan vs. Blanchard II, which could of garnered more publicity and attention if more people knew about it.

Another example could be the company's attempts of promoting there Xplosion shows which basically boils down to Impact promoting them on Twitter just minutes before the event takes place.

While you could argue some of the content on the Xplosion shows aren't must see and exclusive (see the previous entity for how that could be fixed) it still highlights how Impact's marketing and advertisements has been less than stellar and how they need to fix that if they want more that a few thousand people watching them on a weekly basis.

5. Fixing Audio, Camera and Lighting Issues

This has been a big glaring issue for the company especially in 2019; from "United We Stand" to "Unbreakable" a number of Impact specials have seen issues ranging from low lighting that makes it hard to see the action in the ring, camera angles that miss or failed to capture important spots in matches and audio problems where you can't hear the reactions from the crowd, the commentary or people speaking into the microphone.

The company clearly want people (not just fans) to watch these shows on Twitch and Impact Plus but also to go back re-watch them otherwise they wouldn't be putting these shows on in the first place.

Whether Impact's finances have improved since the god awful GFW period, the fact still remains that if the company continues to do these special events on Twitch or on the Impact Plus app, they need to drastically fix these issues because what's the point in advertising your new app or any matches on these show if the general public can't even see or hear it.

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And for more Wrestling Related Lists like this one, here are the links to some of them down below:

10 Best Heel Turns in TNA/ Impact Wrestling History:
https://blogofwrestling52.blogspot.com/2019/10/10-best-heel-turns-in-tna-impact.html

Top 7 "What Ifs" in TNA/ Impact Wrestling History:
https://blogofwrestling52.blogspot.com/2019/09/top-what-ifs-in-tna-impact-history-by.html