By James Caldwell, PWTorch.com assistant editor

Last week, we posted a TNA Survey with five questions on the direction of TNA to take the pulse of the discerning Torch reader's opinion of TNA.

Questions: (1) Has the Main Event Mafia angle been booked well and are you following TNA closer because of that heel faction? ... (2) When you tune in to TNA Impact, who are two or three wrestlers that you feel are the main attractions? ... (3) Do you watch TNA Impact more or less often than a year ago, and why? ... (4) Would you prefer TNA replace many short matches with fewer longer competitive matches throughout the show? ... (5) What is TNA's biggest weakness compared to WWE? And how about it's biggest strength?

Reax: (1) Has the Main Event Mafia angle been booked well and are you following TNA closer because of that heel faction?

Talon starts it off: "There are pros and cons of the MEM angle. We won't know if it has been booked well until the end results. At this time the end result matter much more."

Nate says it's a reminder of the past, but not a good past: "From what I've seen, it hasn't been done too well. Like others, it reminds me too much of NWO. But the bad period of the NWO, not the good period when the NWO first started."

Many readers view it as a rehash of the "Millionaires Club" storyline at the end of WCW. In the modern context, readers see no benefit to the Frontline group of younger wrestlers.

Dusty Robinson writes: "The problem is the Frontline. The older guys like Jeff Jarrett, Mick Foley, Team 3D, and Rhino have looked strong against the Mafia, while the young guys like Samoa Joe, A.J. Styles, Jay Lethal, Petey Williams, and Eric Young - the wrestlers they'll need five years from now - have looked like fools."

Perhaps Sting is the catalyst to lend credibility to the younger Frontline members if Sting leaves the Mafia in the storyline. Marc writes: "On a whole it's been booked well. I am watching. There are similarities to NOW, etc., but the group has melded well together and this angle has made things interesting. It seems to have some upward movement with the Sting teasing and it appears to me to still have some legs on which it can advance other storylines."

At the end of the day, though, how should TNA utilize the crop of veteran stars it has on the roster? Is this the best TNA can come up with an overarching storyline involving older stars?

Ron Tracy writes: "The Main Even Mafia has been effective. Could it have been booked better? Yes. Can I personally think of a better way to utilize so much veteran talent? No. it gets guys like Booker, and Steiner TV time, but doesn't have them either constantly doing jobs, or destroying young talent. It makes good use of their status as main even players, and gives you ready feuds between any MEM member and any Frontline member."

Caldwell's Analysis: The key to the future of this storyline is the success of the younger Frontline wrestlers. Right now, they're simply not in a position to be PPV draws for this company. I'll take one element as a microcosm of this situation where has put off and put off the development of the younger Frontline.

When Kevin Nash cost Samoa Joe the TNA World Title back in October at Bound for Glory, there was supposed to be a program leading to Joe eventually getting his one-up on Nash to have the final word. That program has been put off for so long that there won't be any steam when they actually have a legit singles feud.

Just like when TNA actually gets around to putting the younger Frontline stars in a position to draw money for the company, they won't have any steam behind them because of how much damage has already been done to the Frontline stars.

Whether or not TNA has a long-term vision for how they want to progress this storyline is largely irrelevant due to the damage already done on the road to getting there. There have been flashes of "good stuff" during this feud, but a lack of direction related to the main goal of building future stars in the Frontline.

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