CM PuLs3 said:
They don't have characters like any of those... they just have solid ass fucking wrestlers.
The two are not mutually exclusive. CM Punk and Daniel Bryan Danielson are two guys who are solid in the ring and they've turned their personalities (or parts of them anyway) up to 11 to create characters that get a reaction. They're not the first to do this, just the latest to do it in the WWE. It's a tradition that goes back to a guy named George Wagner, better known to old-school wrestling fans as Gorgeous George. He was an excellent worker, many even put him on the same level as guys like Kowalski, von Erich, and Thesz. The difference between those guys and George is that George took his natural, somewhat arrogant, I grew up in by-God-Texas personality and turned it up. Then he incorporated some effeminate mannerisms to get heat from crowds and inspired a rash of guys like "Superstar" Billy Graham and "The Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers.
As to the OP, I don't know if the guy who can do it is on their roster. I agree with the poster who suggested Ken Kenne.....sorry, Anderson, but I don't know that he can get the right booking in TNA to make it happen. In fact, I see that potential in several of their guys: Styles, Daniels, Aries, Storm, just to name a few. The biggest problems with TNA are their writing (which has been so bad in the past that it just turned off a large portion of the "casual" wrestling audience) and their marketing (yes, wrestling matters.....but so does marketing; WCW never would have hit it big without being featured prominently in the advertising of TNT and TBS).
I think they're probably going to have to make a big splash signing (something along the lines of signing another Hogan-esque figure). The only problem is that WWE goes out of their way to hang on to those types or bury them so they have no credibility if they can't hold on to them. Their other option (and the one that's probably their actual best bet) is to improve their writing and marketing and roll with the guys they've got, along with building new talent. They've also got to stop featuring aging veterans whose best parts of their careers are behind them (I'm looking at you Jarrett, Steiner, and "Bully Ray"), unreliable performers (if Jeff Hardy hasn't gone through a serious amount of drug rehab, I'd get his @zz out of my company), and failed experimental big men (Matt Morgan and Crimson jump immediately into my head, along with that Robbie T guy, whose gimmick is just stupid; he's much better as Rob Terry). Then, do what their advertisements say, let "wrestling matter". Angle can still go. He can still enhance anybody's push. Samoa Joe (The Round Mound of Wrestling with a ton of charisma), AJ Styles (terrific performer who can move up and down the card as needed; very reminiscent of guys like Jericho), James Storm and Bobby Roode (I like them both as individual performers, but I feel they worked so much better as a tag team), Austin Aries (who belongs in the conversation as the best all-around pro wrestler in the world), Abyss (not just the best big man in TNA, but a guy who could compete with the top big men in the WWE and outperform most of them), and Ken Anderson (who has proven that a lot of the concerns about his in-ring style have been worked out) should be the central people in their promotion. If one (or more) of these guys aren't competing in the main event scene right now, you're doing something wrong. And right now Roode and Storm are the top two guys in the promotion, which is great, but I've also seen TNA go away on too many tangents to trust their instincts.
Finally, keep a good deal of focus on the X-Division and the Knockouts. WWE could rule these areas, but they don't pay attention to cruiserweights/light heavyweights and their women's division is subpar outside of the top 3 or 4 women in the federation. I'd build my lower cards around the wromen, my midcards around the X-Division, and my main event cards around the guys I mentioned in the last paragraph.
Only then can we truly know if the "Savior of TNA" is on the roster now or if we're still waiting for him.
wk
