7. Gimmicks And Identities
Now this is a tale of two halves, since most gimmicks in TNA tend to range from peculiar to absolutely ridiculous. A good gimmick won't make a wrestler, but a bad one can sure as hell break them. Nonetheless TNA deserves credit for their focus on gimmicks because in this day and age, even a bad gimmick can help a wrestler stand out from the pack. We looked at TNA's tag team division earlier. Each team had their own identity. Whether it was Biker gangs, Canadian patriots, Latino street thugs or even the Rock n Rave Infection (Think 3MB with Guitar Hero) every tag team had a gimmick that instantly made them connect with the crowd. Same with the X-Division and Knockouts. Whether it was Jay Lethal's hilarious Macho Man tribute act, or the Beautiful Peoples Divas parody, it was impossible to mistake one wrestler for another. This was something TNA deserved credit for, especially when FCW (the predecessor to NXT) produced so many wrestlers who were taught the same style of wrestling and delivering promos. I'm not saying every gimmick was a success (Black Reign, Orlando Jordan, Samuel Shaw), but at least they stood out.