One of the defining things about Impact Wrestling (formerly known as TNA) is its X Division. With a tagline of “It’s not about weight limits -- it’s about no limits,” the X Division promised fast-paced, high-flying, and intense matches from some of the hottest up-and-comers in the company. As a result, the history of the division is full of great, notable talent like AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, TJP, Jay Lethal, and countless others.
Despite all that, there are a number of things about the X Division that simply haven't made much sense over the years, especially as things changed backstage in Impact and the Division was approached differently depending on who was running the show.
10 Changing Rules
While the concept of the X Division is pretty simple, the Division itself has gone through a number of rule changes over the years. Sometimes there are no weight limits (as the tagline suggests), and other times there’s a strict weight limit. Then there are periods where the title is contested in only one type of bout, like an Ultimate X match or three-way dances. It felt like every time Impact would establish rules for the division, they’d quickly forget about them.
9 Putting the Belt On RVD
The year 2012 saw veteran Rob Van Dam defeat Zema Ion (a.k.a. NXT’s Joaquin Wilde) for the X Division Title, kicking off a forgettable 197-day reign that would ultimately be ended by Kenny King. While RVD’s reputation for crazy high-flying moves certainly is X Division material, it was a strange decision at the time, as Van Dam was already a former World Champion and main event caliber performer. While sometimes that kind of booking decision can help elevate the title, at the time the X Division was in shambles, and RVD working on autopilot certainly didn’t do anything to rectify that.
8 Eric Bischoff As An Antagonist
The Eric Bischoff/Hulk Hogan era of Impact is certainly one of the lowlights for many fans, especially because of Bischoff’s approach to the X Division. Easy E was positioned as the evil authority figure targeting the X Division stars, which doesn’t make sense because its precursor -- the WCW Cruiserweight Division -- was his idea.
While Bischoff was certainly a villain in this storyline as he defeated The Young Bucks in a tag team match and Abyss became X Division Champion, it was a narrative that felt more like a burial of the division than something that could draw interest.
7 Bringing In Kevin Nash
More successful than Eric Bischoff’s antagonism of the X Division was Kevin Nash’s stint working with the wrestlers on screen. For some reason, X Division stars didn’t get much character development on their own, but Nash’s presence in the division resulted in not only personalities being established but also some of the best and funniest segments in Impact history. Where it doesn’t make sense, however, is the fact that what a division of fast-paced high-flying youngsters needed was its antithesis -- a veteran who was neither fast-paced nor high flying.
6 Suicide
Basically, a mascot of the X Division -- for lack of a better word -- Suicide was a fictional wrestler created for the 2008 video game TNA Impact! Before long, however, Suicide ended up becoming an actual in-ring performer, portrayed by a number of wrestlers over the years including Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian, Caleb Konley, and more. At one point his “true” identity was revealed as TJ Perkins and the character would be renamed Manik. However, these days Suicide and Manik are separate characters, further adding to the strangeness of the gimmick.
5 Squandering The Young Bucks
Before they were indie darlings and counted among the best tag teams in the world, The Young Bucks were SoCal workhorses who found themselves wrestling for Impact under the name Generation Me. Despite some great matches with the Motor City Machine Guns, Impact did a notoriously poor job handling “Max and Jeremy Buck,” having them repeatedly break up and reunite while never really getting the spotlight they deserved. It would work out for them in the end, but it’s pretty disappointing to see Impact mismanage a slam-dunk idea like “brothers who do flips together.”
4 Kurt Angle Winning The Title
While Kurt Angle’s initial victory over the previously undefeated Samoa Joe at Genesis 2007 is considered a controversial victory among some fans, it at least sparked a feud -- and some great matches -- that would take the two all the way to the spring of 2008.
One of the most egregious moments of this rivalry would be a winner-take-all match at Hard Justice for nearly every title in the company, including Joe’s X Division Title. Angle would come out on top, becoming X Division Champion (among other belts), in what could easily be criticized as Impact’s classic preferential treatment for WWE veterans over “home-grown” talent.
3 Too Often An Afterthought
Pretty much every wrestling promotion has a heavyweight title division, so it can be argued that the “undercard” titles do a lot of work in defining a promotion. The Knockouts Division was obviously a highlight for Impact, but the X Division offered something stylistically different by definition. While it’s intended to springboard younger competitors into greater success, that isn’t always the case. After all, how many X Division Champions have successfully matriculated? While Austin Aries, AJ Styles, and Eddie Edwards became main eventers, there are also loads of dudes who languished like Sanada, Amazing Red, and Brian Kendrick.
2 Samoa Joe’s Last Title Reign
The X Division is at its best when it places a spotlight on younger talent, so the fact that Samoa Joe won it in 2014 felt like a decision that didn’t benefit the division or Joe. By this point, Samoa Joe was a near-10-year veteran with Impact, a four-time champion already, and a former World Champion. While former World Champs have competed in the X Division before (like AJ Styles) and veterans obviously still have something to offer, putting the belt on Joe at this point felt more like one of the company’s best wrestlers once again getting short shrift.
1 Option C
The X Division Title comes with an interesting rule called Option C, where the champion can actually exchange the belt for a shot at the Impact World Title. Since it was introduced for Austin Aries in 2012, Option C’s been used a few times since, though the most recent instance was in 2018. Aside from criticisms that the rule basically turns the belt into a glorified Money in the Bank briefcase, it’s strange that top stars of Impact aren’t always chasing the X Division Title for an easy route to the World Title.