PARKS’S TAKE: Unfortunately for fans, Impact’s debut on AMC was the same old TNA

Thursday was a new era for TNA as it aired its first episode of Impact on AMC, and yet, it was also very much the same old TNA.

The “LOLTNA” meme has perhaps never been as appropriate as it was last night when, in front of what’s likely their largest audience in years (a decade maybe?), TNA put on a show that has been critically panned within the online discourse. Their Cagematch rating for the show, as of 8:00 a.m. on Friday morning, is a 1.62. That’s not out of a possible 5.0; that’s out of a possible 10.0.

Now, the caveat here is that TNA did have legitimate visa issues that prevented some of its talent from attending the show, reportedly causing re-writes the day of per Fightful. That may explain why there was only three matches on the two-hour broadcast, and merely one in the first hour alone.

Visa problems are not new and wrestling and can’t 100 percent be blamed on TNA, but this is certainly a very TNA-thing to happen on such an important night. TNA likely isn’t flying in their entire roster like AEW and WWE do, so they may not have had a lot of wiggle room to add more matches. If they purposefully only booked three matches, well, that would fit in with some of the decisions made throughout the rest of the show.

Most everything else that went wrong was well within their control. There was the patented live TNA production gaffe (within the first few minutes!) when A.J. Styles’s graphic came on the big screen and yet his music did not play. The decision to feature a WWE wrestler first in the arena rather than a full-time TNA star is a decision that should be second-guessed.

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Check out the latest episode of the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Post-show covering the latest episode of TNA Impact: CLICK HERE to stream (or search “wade Keller” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)

TNA also dragged us back into the mid-aughts by introducing the former Sonya Deville, now going by Daria Rae, as the heel authority figure to battle with babyface Director of Authority Santino Marella. AEW and WWE have realized the heel authority figure trope is passe, but TNA writers apparently haven’t gotten the memo.

In addition to cameos from Styles and appearances by NXT stars Sol Ruca and Zaria, TNA’s big celebrity “get” was Perez Hilton, who was big probably when authority figures in wrestling were. So that seemed appropriate.

TNA made the mistake of showing people in the crowd, such as stars of an AMC show and, for some reason, Eric Young, while empty seats surrounded them.

The sad part is all of this deserved criticism overshadows Mike Santana’s TNA Title win in the main event over Frankie Kazarian. Santana’s second reign will likely last longer than the first and smartly was a feel-good ending for the fans who stuck around the entire two hours. He’s a guy you can build around, but in TNA, that’s like having a sturdy foundation while the ceiling is collapsing.

They say you only get one chance to make a first impression. It seems like over the years, TNA has gotten tons of chances at first impressions and, because of shows like this, they’ve rarely gotten that impression to stick in a positive way with wrestling fans at large, dooming them to existing as a distant number three in the American wrestling landscape.