Over the last two years, a lot of former TNA Impact Wrestling stars have made their way to the WWE, with most of them performing in WWE NXT first. Names like AJ Styles have become world champions and names like Samoa Joe have dominated in NXT before heading to the main roster. The current WWE NXT champion is Bobby Roode, a former TNA world champion.
Former TNA world television champion Gunner took to Twitter yesterday and hinted that he is now on his way to the WWE NXT brand as well. In the tweet, Gunner said that he almost hung things up but is glad he didn’t.
He finished off by saying, “World…..here I come. Time to TakeOver!”
Of course, “TakeOver” is the name of all the WWE NXT special events, with the most recent being NXT TakeOver: Chicago last weekend. That event alone saw the impact that TNA talent has had in NXT, with Bobby Roode defending his NXT title on the show and former TNA champion Eric Young battling former X-Division star Roderick Strong.
Former TNA world champion Drew Galloway also recently returned to the WWE in NXT as well. Other former TNA champions to make their way to WWE NXT include Austin Aries and Xavier Woods, and Mike Bennett is also rumored to be on his way as well. Matt and Jeff Hardy recently made their WWE return after reinventing themselves in TNA Impact Wrestling.
Last year, Gunner spoke to the Inquisitr in an interview about the possibility of coming to the WWE. In that interview, he was questioned about his age, which he said was never something he needed to worry about. He was, at the time, 33.
AJ Styles never even had to stop at WWE NXT before making his way to the WWE’s main brand. He is now one of the top stars and is a Top 5 merchandise seller and former WWE world champion at the age of 39. Bobby Roode is the WWE NXT champion at the age of 40.
However, one thing that Bobby Roode and AJ Styles have is over a decade of experience in professional wrestling. Both men were TNA originals and were main event stars in TNA. Gunner, while a former TNA tag team champion, has never reached main event status in his career.
When TNA released Gunner last year, he said he was not given a reason, but they told him that he had a lot of things he needed to work on and improve at if he wanted to become a main event star. While he said he thought he was doing what was needed, it seemed like TNA wasn’t willing to gamble on him.
If his recent tweet is any indication, it sounds like WWE NXT is going to give him that chance. The reason that he is a late bloomer in professional wrestling is because he joined the military and served from 2002 to 2006 in the Marine Corps. Gunner said that he could have signed earlier when WWE had their OVW brand and learned there if not for his military service.
In an interview with WSVN-TV in Miami last month, Gunner said that it was a dream of his to finally sign with the WWE. He even said that was something he told people in TNA, and it was always his goal to just get an opportunity to prove himself there.
Gunner even mentioned that one of the WWE NXT feuds he would love to be part of would be one that included former TNA Impact Wrestling world champion, Eric Young. Gunner mentioned that the two rarely wrestled each other in TNA, and it would be great to do it in WWE NXT.
[Featured Image by Impact Wrestling]
