TNA Gut Check

So TNA’s first televised Gut Check has come to an end and the roster has now been expanded to include the plucky youngster Alex Silva. Despite a less than glowing report from the NAITCHA BWAAAAH! Ric Flair, Silva did enough to convince the judges to take a punt on him.

I hadn’t seen anything of Alex Silva prior to his appearance on (Jefferson) Impact so my only conclusions can be drawn from what I saw of him there and therein lies the flaw- in my opinion - in Gut Check’s current guise. Granted, TNA officials wouldn’t have based their opinion solely on what happened on TV (at least I’d hope not) but for TNA fans is a video package and a short match really enough?

From what I saw on TV, Silva didn’t look anything special. Yes, it’s an unfair assessment based on such a brief showing but I doubt I’d have been the only one to come to that conclusion. Of course over time Silva may turn out to be an outstanding talent but I think he’s been somewhat hamstrung by the set up of Gut Check. Next time he shows up all people will see is a guy who didn’t really do anything to stand out yet was still rewarded with a TNA contract.

As things stand, Gut Check will run once a month with an unknown wrestler having a match on Open Fight Night. He / she is then assessed by the panel of judges and either given a TNA contract or told to sling their hook. What I would do is give each wrestler the full month to prove themselves worthy of a spot on the roster.

You could still have them debut on Open Fight Night, with a little background info provided by a vignette prior to their match. The next week would see them being given promo time in front of the live audience where they could show off their mic skills – or lack thereof. The remaining weeks would consist of two more matches, one of which would be against one of the bigger names in TNA just to see how they cope going in against an established upper mid-card / main event wrestler. They could then cut a final promo about why TNA should sign them etc.

I just think that by allotting 4 weeks to each Gut Check entrant it would give fans a bit more of an insight into why TNA have / have not signed a certain wrestler. Do you think Gut Check in its present format works or are there any changes you’d make to it?

In an ironic twist, I think that just like the wrestler needs more than one appearance to determine whether he is a success, so does the concept of gut check.

My question is: is it a legitimate thing or just a TV prop for people who already have contracts etc?

If the former then I think it is an interesting idea, if the latter then a bit rubbish.

Good question Josh. I think we'll know the answer if they end up signing everyone they invite. Flair's sudden change of heart for the final decision did make me ever-so-slightly suspicious.

After all, that 30 seconds on the mic didn't really do him any favours. He did seem over with the crowd though, so that may have affected the outcome.

@Undisputed: TNA's talent guy (can't remember his name) did say on more than one occasion he had been following Alex's career for some time, prior to his appearance on Gut Check and that while his performance on the night wasn't the best, he'd seen enough to think he was worth a shot.


Looking at the bigger picture, TNA do badly need some new talent to reconstitute the X Division, which currenly has Austin Aries, Zema Ion and the injured Jesse Sorensen. If this is a fast-track way to do it and give the fans some sense of being part of a new era, (they're able to vote, but I think they only use the results as a barometer of how popular the newcomer is) then I suppose its okay.