By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

I get it. TNA believes there's money to be made with the "Hardcore Justice" PPV tapping into the "ECW legacy." They also believe there are enough people out there willing to pay for the bells and whistles featuring who's left from the Original ECW.

The promo with Tommy Dreamer and Dixie Carter last night on Impact was designed to make the audience believe it's out of the goodness of TNA's heart they're letting the old ECW crew get back together for one more night of fun, action, passion, and excitement.

TNA sees a business opportunity to make money off ECW, perhaps boost their dreadful PPV buyrates for one month, and take the ol' ECW spirit on the road to house shows.

It sounds pretty good, but it's one of the most short-sighted business decisions I can recall TNA making in company history.

Let's say the PPV increases TNA's typical buyrates by five, ten, or 15 percent. What does it say about the state of the TNA brand that the company is looking to a brand that went out of business in 2001 and WWE tried to kill off in 2010 to boost buys? It would mean the TNA brand has less value in the marketplace than ECW.

Instead of trying to build their own brand, TNA continues to be defined by nostalgia, including whatever Kevin Nash and Jeff Jarrett were talking about during their promo exchange on Impact last night.

Meanwhile, the TNA roster isn't over. Last night's Impact was a methodical dismissal of the roster in favor of building to Dixie Carter's big announcement with Tommy Dreamer.

- Samoa Joe vs. Jeff Hardy first-time-ever? That didn't matter with minimal build-up and a decision to insert an Eric Bischoff phone conversation talking about Dixie, Hulk Hogan, and ECW during the match.

- Kurt Angle on his quest for #1 in the Top 10 Rankings and an eventual shot at TNA champion RVD? Angle vs. Hernandez was just another match thrown out on TV, then a means to set up Angle talking to Dixie about ECW.

- Beer Money vs. Machineguns Best of Five series? It's been one of TNA's best feuds this year, but TNA has watered down the program's value presenting three matches in ten days. Don't forget the match was more about referee incompetence and getting over the Hebners.

- Matt Morgan vs. Mr. Anderson? A quick segment that should have emphasized the start of a prolonged feud, but the show quickly moved away to something else immediately after the segment ended.

- Can anyone make sense of the Knockouts division with three or four different feuds within one program?

- Rob Terry vs. A.J. Styles for the Global Title? Why?

- What happened to Jay Lethal? In classic hot/cold TNA booking, Lethal was a central figure on TV for several weeks this summer, went over Ric Flair on PPV, lost to Jeff Hardy last week, and was nowhere to be found this week.

A lengthy period of poor booking has ensured no one on the roster is getting over. TNA tries to stuff too much content into every show and give away big match-ups on TV, with the end result being nothing stands out.

The timing was spot-on for Dixie and Dreamer to talk about the similarities between TNA and ECW on Impact last night. But, it's not for the reasons they talked about on the show. It's because neither brand has strong value in the marketplace. Not with "hardcore" wrestling fans, but with mainstream wrestling fans.

As for the Hard Justice PPV in August, TNA is selling the audience on the ECW of 1997 with world-class workers having world-class, thrilling matches all over again. Just think, you'll get to see that legendary RVD vs. Jerry Lynn match not on a VHS tape, but on PPV in 2010!

RVD vs. Lynn could still be a very good match in 2010. But, in actuality, TNA will be presenting who's left over from the Original ECW - the guys who aren't dead, crippled, or completely broken-down. There will be plenty of bells and whistles to excite the audience in attempt to generate strong reviews, but where will TNA be after this detour to re-visit the past?

They'll be stuck with the same roster of wrestlers who aren't over, with the same writers who keep shooting themselves in the foot, and the same TNA brand that does not have value or awareness in the marketplace.

Unless there's a major change in direction for this storyline, it can only be considered a poor business decision that is a mere distraction from what should be the goal - get over the TNA roster, not another brand's roster.

In 2005, WWE made money off the ECW brand using their platform to promote a PPV, sell a DVD, and get over RVD. TNA doesn't have a platform after burning through the Monday night experiment and they don't have exposure despite bringing in Hulk Hogan, Bischoff, Ric Flair, Jeff Hardy, and others this year.

The ECW wrestlers and their buddies figured this one out pretty easily. Here's a company desperate to make a splash and trying to fulfill the promise of a "huge announcement" made by the president of the company. TNA has a talent roster that isn't over and writers who can't put the pieces together. Plus, the president wants to make the fans happy. Cue up the ECW Reunion for that warm, fuzzy nostalgic feeling when people think about those hot crowds, big spots, and world-class workers in 1997.

At this stage of the game, this looks like another short-sighted decision to avoid the real problem of changing the booking, the production, the marketing, management, and gutting this company from within to begin moving forward.

Perhaps then TNA will actually start to get over their own roster of marketable stars, and not someone else's roster from the '80s, '90s, or 2000s.

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