Scott,
I'm sure Vince McMahon and WWE do not consider TNA "competition" in any real sense, nor should they. They do not compete head-to-head and are in an entirely different stratosphere in terms of media and business model. However, given Vince's history of raiding competition, can you see him trying to do that to TNA just for the sake of it? TNA has picked up some steam in terms of a niche audience and he certainly isn't looking over his shoulder in any sense, but could you see him throwing big contract offers at top guys just to keep TNA way beneath him? Or just to be a bully like the old days?
Nah, I think Vince is past the point of doing stuff like that to be an ass now that he's apparently more worried about Mattel bailing on their toy deal and/or launching a new show for every night of the week to be concerned with petty things like talent acquisition. If there was ever a time that sort of thing was going to happen it was during the Flair/Morgan contract thingie earlier this year, and nothing came of it, so I doubt anything will.
I'm sure Vince McMahon and WWE do not consider TNA "competition" in any real sense, nor should they. They do not compete head-to-head and are in an entirely different stratosphere in terms of media and business model. However, given Vince's history of raiding competition, can you see him trying to do that to TNA just for the sake of it? TNA has picked up some steam in terms of a niche audience and he certainly isn't looking over his shoulder in any sense, but could you see him throwing big contract offers at top guys just to keep TNA way beneath him? Or just to be a bully like the old days?
Nah, I think Vince is past the point of doing stuff like that to be an ass now that he's apparently more worried about Mattel bailing on their toy deal and/or launching a new show for every night of the week to be concerned with petty things like talent acquisition. If there was ever a time that sort of thing was going to happen it was during the Flair/Morgan contract thingie earlier this year, and nothing came of it, so I doubt anything will.
I think wrestling was and the wrestler were much better when "new" guys came from the competition and not from the own development system.
ReplyDeleteWell, of course it was. But that isn't an apples-to-apples comparison to how acquisition of talent from TNA would go now. Aside from the guys who came from WWE, there isn't nearly the same name recognition for guys who come from the "other" company as when WCW was around. And who knows how guys like Roode or Storm would do going from working in front of (usually) the same 1,100 people in the same TV studio week after week to working in front of 12-20K on the big stage? When the talent acquisition was coming from a (roughly) equally big stage, it's a lot different for so many reasons.
ReplyDeleteWell I think the only two guys WWE would want and could plug in as stars again right away are Kurt Angle and Jeff Hardy, but only if they were 100% clean. I think as far as young talent, WWE has just as much as TNA: Tyler Black, Hero and Ambrose.
ReplyDeleteWho sent in this e-mail? Pat Patterson? Sounded like Mr. McMahon's personal secretary or something.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand: Why take talent away from a company you don't consider competition?
I used to want everyone to be in WWE, now I'm pretty much the opposite. There's a few guys in WWE I really like but know won't get anywhere anytime soon, if at all. I'd rather they be in TNA - TNA might be small and nowhere near as big or important as WWE is but I liken it to college football fans. It's not the NFL but if you enjoy it, who cares?
ReplyDeleteAnother thing to consider is that with two somewhat equal companies the wrestler had some leverage - if you're not going to sign him to do anything with him, he'll just stay where he is. If you sign him and don't use him, he'll tell his friends to stay where they are. Now the attitude is if WWE will hire you you're just lucky to be there, even if it's one month of 50/50 booking on Smackdown followed by web show and battle royal appearances. And with WCW and the territories gone, and everyone having to go through WWE developmental before hitting the main roster they've firmly implemented the WWE Style - they're not going to let a guy come from TNA and just trust that he knows what he's doing.
ReplyDeleteConsidering the age of most TNA's most marketable stars (actual age not TV age) and the WWE's insistence that almost everyone must go through developmental (unless you are an international star with a large following in a market they want to penetrate) it's hard to imagine anyone that they want to grab from TNA into their current roster, especially given their track record with former TNA wrestlers (Braden Walker and Kaval anyone?). In TNA there's a huge gulf between those at the top of the card and those underneath. While the likes of James Storm and Bobby Roode, who are in their mid-30's are well polished and probably need a little tweak before showing up on RAW, their 20-something stars like Zema Ion and Robbie E would probably need to spend years in developmental before they are even ready to even be featured on Superstars. The James Storms of TNA would probably bulk at spending so much time in developmental when they already have a featured role on TNA, while a Robbie E would have to spend years in Florida and by the time he comes up any recognition value he may have had is gone, they might as well give that spot to someone in the indies who had less exposure. The ones in TNA who are ready have no real incentive to leave and the ones who aren't have years of work before they would even appear on WWE television (excepting NXT).
ReplyDeleteBecause Hardy and Angle can still have great matches and are still marketable(Jeff Hardy would instantly be the #2, if not #1 face, he has a lot of fans that want him back in WWE) and Angle never even got his DVD set, that alone would pay for Angle contract. And Angle could settle back in nicely as the #1 heel on Smackdown.
ReplyDeleteMostly it's a personal favorites thing. Angles done it all in TNA, won world titles, tag titles, fought everyone: Joe, Sting, AJ... I just think it's time to go back. Same for Jeffery
I think there's plenty of incentive for a guy like Storm or Roode (who, aside from the ex-WWEers like Angle and Hardy, are the only TNAers that even seem like they'd be a fit in WWE). That incentive being stars in front of the biggest possible audience in their profession, and making a shitload of money. Again, I don't think Chris Harris and Kaval and Lance Hoyt prove any theory that WWE won't push TNA guys. They're all TNA midcarders— why would they necessarily have gotten a big push in the larger organization? TNA didn't treat them any better. I think Storm and Roode can look at Punk, Bryan, and (to a much lesser extent so far) Cesaro as examples of outsiders who are excelling in WWE without having had to become wrestling plumbers or anything.
ReplyDeleteNot saying I think Storm and Roode should make it their #1 priority to jump ship or anything. Perhaps the lighter schedule and lower pressure environment suit their personalities better. But I would say there's plenty of incentive for them to make that move if given the chance, and that both those guys could definitely become huge WWE stars within a year or two of switching.
it was more about hurting the competition
ReplyDeleteterrible catchphrase.
ReplyDeletethey did everything in wwe before that... so whats your point marky mark?
ReplyDeleteHero's 32, but your point otherwise still stands about young, high-ceiling talent.
ReplyDeleteFor WCW maybe, but WWE used almost all of their acquisitions well. Jericho, the Radicalz...they got some major stars outta that.
ReplyDeleteIt wasnt a splash. It took 2 years with Jericho (Im going with never because of all the politics involved) it took 4 with Eddy/Benoit. I hate the fact that Vince had to feel he needed to wash the WCW stink of them first and make em pay dues...
ReplyDeleteI did. And the question was: would Vince do it for the sake of it. Not because he considers them competition in any sense, but simply because he could. There is a precedence.
ReplyDeleteit's a new era from when he left and there's people in wwe today he's never faced?
ReplyDeleteYeah, but WCW signed guys and never used them because they could. Vince used everybody he got, not necessarily well, but they were used.
ReplyDeletecollege football is still VERY big.
ReplyDeleteI will agree with that.
ReplyDeleteand when they go over those new acts then what?
ReplyDeletesee above comment. Cuz Jeff Hardy with the WWE machine behind him is an unstoppable force.
ReplyDeleteHow many TNA wrestlers would actually go to WWE? Most of the former WWE wrestlers are in TNA because of the Wellness Policy, the travel schedule or personality conflicts with the higher-ups in WWE. I can't see Angle or Hardy or RVD going back to WWE. Most of the homegrown TNA stars aren't interested in going to WWE. WWE turned down Austin Aries when he tried out for Tough Enough and then he only un-retired because he got an offer from TNA. The WWE runs of Chris Harris and Frankie Kazarian are probably reason enough for most of TNA's homegrown stars not to go to WWE. Harris in particular was being pushed pretty strongly by TNA when he left (he beat Storm in a ****1/2 or so Texas Death Match and competed in the King of the Mountain match on the next PPV), but his push stalled because TNA decided to push established stars (primarily Sting and Angle) instead. Samoa Joe turned down WWE when he was offered the Umaga gimmick and a huge push. AJ Styles turned down a WWE developmental deal early in his career. James Storm and Bobby Roode aren't giving up a main event spot to go to NXT or be yet another glorified jobber on Raw. WWE probably doesn't have any interest in the X Division wrestlers or TNA's Knockouts (most of whom are former divas now over the age of 30).
ReplyDeleteVirtually the entire TNA roster is either somebody WWE wouldn't want to sign or somebody who probably doesn't want to sign with WWE. There are top guys in WWE that have a realistic chance of ending up in TNA within the next few years. Randy Orton and Rey Mysterio are each just 1 Wellness strike away from being a TNA wrestler for the rest of their careers. WWE has many wrestlers that are on the cusp of the main event, but they just won't commit to them.
I would also disagree with the notion that WWE and TNA are not competition. Given the way Raw's ratings are in free fall, if the Aces and Eights angle is as successful as the Main Event Mafia angle was, Impact's ratings might be fairly close to the same as Raw's when Wrestlemania season ends. If Impact is suddenly doing a 1.4 (a level TNA reached a few times in 2011 and about the best TNA has ever been able to draw) every week while Raw is doing a 2.0 on a weekly basis and Smackdown is doing a 1.5, suddenly there isn't as big a gap between the 2 companies. If that happened, I'm sure Spike would take the opportunity to green-light taking Impact live and on the road every week (and doing every PPV outside of the Impact Zone), which is something many in TNA are already pushing for.
Hmm, good point. Okay I'll use hockey - not the most popular sport but the people who like it like it.
ReplyDeleteMoney? Promises? If they called Storm, offered triple what he's making and said they saw him as a top guy, wouldn't he consider it?
ReplyDeleteI'm actually hoping Kofi's fuck up with Miz is enough to get him future endeavored and relocated to Orlando by Destination X.
ReplyDeleteUhhh because they could improve your company? The movement during the monday night wars wasn't only about hurting the other guy, but helping yourself as well with a fresh influx of talent.
ReplyDeleteObviously they then go CHIKARA to feud with the wrestling insects and wrestling hypnotists.
ReplyDelete