Keith Watanabe * NET 2.0

Samoa Joe is quite dominant right now and has the fans behind him.  Naturally, the question posed is who will succeed Joe as TNA's next breakthrough star?

Watching TNA Impact from 5/29/2008 and 6/5/2008, here are some picks:

• Tomko - I think in about a year, he'll be main event material.  He's far better than what we saw in the WWE.  He can work with smaller guys and isn't stiff.  Also, he's got very good interview skills and presence in the ring.  I guess his only weakness at this point is his loyalty to TNA; his little outing in .jp probably postponed any singles push for this year.  But he's definitely someone to closely watch.
• Hernandez - This is a long shot one, but it's hard to ignore someone with this much power, this much agility for his size and the general ability.  He's got presence and charisma in the ring, but his only lacking point is his interview skills.  He reminds me of Mike Awesome in some ways.  Definitely, a sleeper in TNA.
  
• Kaz - There's a lot of indications that management is happy with him.  Pretty much 2007 was a year that demonstrated his ability to be well rounded enough to move eventually to the main event.  You saw him wrestle a good range from top names (Kurt Angle, Christian) to the bottom of the barrel (Black Reign, Rellik), but those again were tests to see if he is capable of becoming a headliner.  He's not a small guy as a high flyer and has a good look and decent enough mic skills.  By the end of next year, barring injury or quitting, he'll definitely be near the main event, if not competing in it.
• AJ Styles - Some say he already is a breakthrough star, but his big push came before the promotion started to hit a bigger main stream stride.  Right now, he's being slowly groomed as a huge star, perhaps just as big of a representative as Samoa Joe because he's homegrown.  His match with Kurt Angle will definitely be a possible career maker.  Everyone knows of his ability but he needs the key feud and win to boost him up higher.  His interviews recently moved him from the dorky hick, to a pissed off kid looking for redemption.  The sky is only the limit (and maybe not considering whom this is!) for this guy.

Besides these guys, I can't say other people are really ready at this point.  However, some honorable mentions include:

• Robert Roode - I'm never going to be high on this guy.  However, one thing I have to say is that he makes a decent heel.  His offense isn't great, but he can work with people and isn't stiff and can take bumps.  His mic skills aren't earth shattering to really propel him into the main event.  At this stage, he might be better off as a tag wrestler, but he needs to find a complimentary partner.
• James Storm - His big feud that exhibited what he could do basically was blown off and he's wandering perpetually in the midcard looking for something to do.  He's got a good gimmick, decent brawling skills with some nice moves thrown in as well as being fearless and able to take bumps.  Despite all this (and the fact that he cracked Sting over the head without any bigger payoff for him), he's still at the same level.  Again, he needs someone to work with to demonstrate that he can recapture the magic he had with Chris Harris.  It's obvious that he has skill but hasn't been paired up with anyone that can make him look good.  But perhaps that's part of the problem in that he requires an equal or better person to really stand out at this point.
• Eric Young - This poor guy is indefinitely stuck with dumb comic relief gimmicks.  The sad part is that he's popular, has good mic skills, is charismatic, can wrestle, take daring bumps, has a nice move set and is deceptively strong.  Of course, his biggest weakness is his size.  Back when Samoa Joe let him tag with him, TNA management should've saddled him with a serious gimmick to demonstrate his hunger for becoming something bigger in TNA.  Instead, he keeps getting cycled through the worst gimmicks and wrestlers and rarely has an opportunity to demonstrate that he's capable of being a good wrestler.  The paranoid gimmick has long played its part and he should move on to something bigger for himself.

Sad to say, there's really not a lot of choices at this point because TNA has done little to bring in new people (outside of the women's division).  Mostly, the people there are simply sitting and spinning in variations, waiting to get their moment in the spotlight.  Hopefully, some new blood comes in so these other guys can move up the ranks.