Indeed not all has been bad during Hogan's time in the company. 2012 became a pretty big year for them with several good to great Pay-Per-View shows and finally the spotlight seeming to fall on the right people. Bobby Roode was an excellent champion that the company really got behind whether Hogan meant what he said or not. Roode shined as the arrogant heel champ who would do anything to stay on top and he had some excellent matches along the way. Despite TNA dropping the ball in keeping Storm at the top of the tree with him losing to Roode one too many times when it mattered and eventually falling off into the background, they did get it spot on with Roode and many other guys like Styles, Daniels, Angle and Aries delivering some classic matches. Jeff Hardy had also been given another chance to redeem himself in late 2011, coming back as a fan favourite who had changed his ways. Thankfully so far Jeff seems to have taken full advantage of this opportunity and he has seemingly stayed clean and at the top of his game since. Likewise the Bound For Glory series delivered even better this time around, having a more clearly defined format and more top-tier matches. Austin Aries would come out of nowhere to dethrone Roode at the Destination X Pay-Per-View in a real feelgood moment that was totally unexpected, using another new idea where the X-Division champ could cash-in that belt come Destination X for a shot at the Heavyweight Title. Roode and Aries had a great match and Aries becoming champ really changed the landscape from what wrestling fans expect on television these days. Aries would likely never have the same chance in WWE where he would be seen as too small, something which no doubt helped them decide not to even let him onto Tough Enough before his TNA stint. Towards the end of the year Jeff Hardy would win the Bound For Glory Series and ultimately beat Aries for the belt at TNA's biggest show in another great match which the fans lapped up. Hardy has always been a massively popular character in wrestling who is naturally very charismatic and can seemingly do no wrong in the eyes of the fans. Despite his past issues and how many chances he's been given the fans seem to be more behind him than ever in his quest to finally overcome his demons. Bischoff and Hogan were also no doubt behind the idea of new segment Gut Check which debuted in April 2012 but came to an end in July 2013. At the time it seemed a relatively good concept, using a similar format to WWE's Tough Enough although with a wrestler having a match one week on Impact and having his fate at getting a contract decided the week after by three TNA staff judges. The flaws in the idea were the questionable decisions on who got through and at times putting people on live television who simply weren't ready and came off very badly. To make matters worse most of the people that were hired and spent time training in OVW to one day be called up to TNA are already gone from the company, but I do give them credit for a more original idea on weekly TV. It seems now this along with the themed Impact episodes like Open Fight Night and the Television title belt which had already changed names and rules to compete for it many times, are more of those ideas that they hope people don't remember as all have vanished with no mention of why. On the whole though 2012 gave reason to believe that TNA were on a roll and finally were starting to gain some traction with good booking and the focus in the right places. Could it stick?
2013 has been the typical year for TNA. One step forward, two steps back. Since the year began the company has taken some twists and turns that have left fans wondering if TNA is in worse shape than it has been for some time. The next big idea from camp Hogan was that taking Impact on the road would be what would put them over the top and boost those ratings and finances. Unfortunately whilst this came across great on television with way more enthusiastic crowds and much better visuals than the very small Impact Zone, it hasn't brought the company anything other than larger bills to pay. This has contributed in TNA letting go of a lot of names this year, which when you think about how the Knockouts Division is practically non-existent now, the X-Division is a shadow of its former self and even major names like Mickie James, Tara, Mr. Anderson and more have gone whilst Hogan sits on a presumably astronomical contract, is pretty ridiculous. As it stands now Bischoff has yet another faction the (not at all a rip-off of Sons of Anarchy, honest) Aces & Eights that has done nothing for anyone outside of the fantastic Bully Ray who could have done the same on his own. The Bound For Glory Series became more convoluted again and seemed to chop and change rules as they saw fit towards the end just so they could come out with who they wanted in the top spots after not planning properly to begin with. AJ Styles has gone it alone and become a sort of tweener character whose contract is up in real life and worryingly has still not committed to staying beyond the end of the year. He's now playing off an angle about winning the belt at Bound For Glory after winning the series and potentially leaving the company with it like CM Punk did in the WWE a couple of years ago. Whilst Styles is not Punk and the angle is coming off as a copy of sorts, it does work to some degree with Styles words on the names that have been let go and the people in Dixie Carter's ear that have changed the company for the worse being very close to what he probably feels for real. Bellator fighters Rampage Jackson and Tito Ortiz have for some reason been brought in taking up television time and done nothing much aside from integrate into the Aces & Eights and Main Event Mafia feud (oh yeah, they're back too) and promote Bellator far more than TNA have benefited from the situation. Chris Sabin also had a very short run as Heavyweight Champion thanks to the Destination X cash-in situation and shenanigans which did nothing at all for Sabin except make him look weak. Hogan himself continues to trot out and flub his lines whilst attempting to put over TNA guys with alarming insincerity. The good news in all this? Hogan (and presumably Bischoff) is coming to the end of his contract in the next week or so and reports say he isn't so sure to re-sign this time. I guess that leads me to my conclusion... Despite the fact that I'm sure TNA has gained some more attention through Hogan since he came along, the experiment has clearly failed when it comes to the company making so many cuts in talent whilst Hogan and friends sit there on their big money deals. Hogan is incapable of wrestling any sort of decent match with all his surgeries and does not come across as at all sincere or believable when attempting to build up TNA or any of its employees. Recent reports say that Hogan and Dixie Carter are not on great terms anymore and there's no word that Hogan is staying this time around. Whilst TNA have recently filmed an exit for Hogan if he doesn't stay, it remains to be seen whether it's all a work and Hogan will sign once more. No doubt Hogan is doing what he usually does and looking out for himself first and foremost by seeing if Vince comes calling for a Wrestlemania 30 appearance next year. It's also no coincidence that this is at least the second time Hogan's contract comes to an end just before the biggest show of the year for TNA, which potentially gives him leverage in contract negotiations and forces them to keep him around for any angle that's been building up long term. Personally I think it's time TNA rebooted the whole company once more and remembered what sets them apart from the WWE. That means building up the X-Division again, building up the Knockouts again and expanding the tag team division with a few more established teams to go with the outstanding E.G.O stable (consisting of Roode, Daniels and Kazarian) who are possibly the most entertaining part of Impact every week at this point. It means convincing Styles to stay and continuing to build people like Magnus who has a bright future. Bring back some of the names that made this company so exciting like Jay Lethal, Low-Ki and Alex Shelley. Hell bring back Jeff Jarrett too. You could argue that TNA are more visible to casual fans than ever right now and maybe Hogan has helped that, but now is the time to stop trying to mimic WWE. No company will ever come close to toppling Vince McMahon and his empire so trying to copy them only makes you look like a poor mans WWE-Lite. What TNA needs is to stand out as a viable alternative and they certainly have the capabilities to do that if they do the right thing now and use the money they've been putting in Hogan's pocket to hire several wrestlers and do what they used to do best. Also TNA needs to start relying on youth more, push Magnus into the main event, keep Samoa Joe in there too and let's cut back on Sting and Angle. Don't get me wrong Sting and Kurt Angle are legends of the sport and do have a place in the company but they shouldn't be in main event positions and title feuds at this stage of their careers. Also Angle really needs extended time off from the ring considering his own alcohol issues and wealth of bad injuries that have taken a toll on his body. For me it's time now to revolve the company around the safe hands that know this company inside out, Samoa Joe, Frankie Kazarian, AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Bobby Roode, James Storm, even the smaller Chris Sabin who is great when utilised right and of course Austin Aries who has shown his ability to make waves in the company and looks like he belongs in the main event. By adding a few names of old and a few new to the company and going back to what they do best TNA could thrive as an alternative to WWE. They've already done something which I fully support by cutting back from monthly Pay-Per-Views to only four of them a year which stops them from flooding the market with way too much for the fans to shell out for, something I wish WWE would take stock of themselves. Now they just need to learn how to build those shows much better, bring the right people into the company, listen to the right people who have the company at heart and maximise the talent they have instead of lining the pockets of faded heros.