Throughout the course of their many lives, TNA Impact Wrestling has been through a revolving door of management figures. Not only is this detrimental to the overall stability of the company, but it affects the morale of nearly every employee backstage. In turn, this could spill out onto television, which makes fans not as invested in the product.
TNA has never been devoid of talent. During the first few years of its inception, the company was full of both notable names, as well as names who were commanding respect based on their characters and in-ring work.
Christopher Daniels, Jay Lethal, AJ Styles, Bobby Roode, Eric Young, Samoa Joe, James Storm, Austin Aries, Low-Ki, and Jerry Lynn are just a few names who helped put TNA on the national map and get people invested to continuously watch the weekly shows and eventual pay-per-views.
When those talent left, names such as Bobby Lashley, TNA veteran Abyss & Crazzy Steve (Decay), Decay, Matt & Jeff Hardy, Ethan Carter III, and Aron Rex are still there in hopes that it will once again achieve the status that it once did.
Now being owned by Anthem, the brand is in need of a facelift, whether it is more live events, pay-per-views, or a traveling brand going to different cities outside of the Impact Zone. While this was done before, it failed because of a lack of urgency in the promotion and creative team.
However, from recent rumblings, TNA may include as many as three months of programming in one taping. This is certainly not a way to keep the already-fleeting audience.
In the midst of Anthem being at the helm of TNA, somehow WWE is still involved in TNA talks.
Will Vince McMahon’s by impact wrestling. Is this the future for the #TNA title #WWE #TNA pic.twitter.com/HW3EOTtugd
— Wrestling Central (@wrestlingctrl) October 20, 2016
Before, WWE released a survey asking fans what content they would like to see on the WWE Network. One of the options , surprisingly, was TNA Impact Wrestling. During this time, it was eventually revealed that Dixie Carter was indeed in talks with WWE regarding purchasing at least the library.
Now, it looks like TNA is once again an option that could be on the Network. On the heels of the United Kingdom Championship tournament, WWE posted another survey of what shows viewers would like to see on the WWE Network. The options were ICW, Next Generation Wrestling, Preston City Wrestling, All Star Wrestling U.K., Progress Wrestling, PCW, WCPW, IPW U.K., RevPro, and FutureShock Wrestling.
Along with this list of U.K. promotions was, interestingly, TNA Impact Wrestling.
Historically, if WWE does buy the TNA library, in the long term, it may just lead to the demise of the company as exhibited by WCW and ECW.
Rolling Stone had this to say on the matter.
“Although anybody who knows their wrestling history recalls that while there was hope that WCW and ECW would remain in some capacity (and ECW did stick around as its own thing until 2010), eventually the WWE folded up shop on both promotions, and the best of both of them are distant memories you can access on the WWE Network.”
It certainly does not seem like a coincidence that WWE would mention TNA regarding content to air on the WWE Network. From their end, purchasing the library would be a great business move and only help the desire for fans to subscribe or maintain the Network who appreciated the action from TNA over the past 15 years.
Sadly, however, for the TNA talent, there will be many who will not have an opportunity to be on the same level as they are currently in TNA, especially names such as Aron Rex, Eddie Edwards, and even TNA mainstay Abyss.
[Featured Image by WWE]
