April 22, 2015
By Ryan Porzl
In January 2015, TNA Wrestling made their move from Spike TV to Destination America. Rumors circulated that the company was interested in Alberto El Patron (WWE's Alberto Del Rio) and wanted to sign him. When they couldn't come to terms on a deal, wrestling writer and reporter Dave Meltzer claimed that El Patron did not sign because TNA has a reputation for being a "career-killer". While Meltzer has had an ax to grind against TNA and a lack of journalistic integrity, this is still a ridiculous thing to say. Not only is TNA not a "career-killer" but at times it's a star maker and I'll explain in this article.
The first reason why TNA isn't a career killer is the most obvious which is that most of their talent signed contract extensions in 2014 and 2015. Meanwhile, plenty of new talent joined the promotion which begs the question. If TNA is a career killer than why are so many wrestlers staying or joining? Makes no sense. Meanwhile, the few talents that have left in '14-'15 didn't leave because they felt held back or weren't given opportunies or thought their careers weren't going anywhere. AJ Styles, Bully Ray, and Samoa Joe left because they couldn't come to terms with TNA regarding money. Velvet Sky left because she's dating Bully Ray and followed him out. Christopher Daniels and Kazarian were not offered new deals. ODB was, I believe, released. Finally, Chris Sabin said he left because he been there for eleven years and wanted to move on. Kind of weird that for a company that saw departures in the past year didn't have one case where the wrestler spoke out about their run in TNA killing their career. Not to mention that most of the departures are from talent who been there for seven to twelve years. Safe to say that if TNA was a career killer than the guys and girls that left had careers that flatlined years ago.
Then there is the case of returning wrestlers cause TNA saw many returns over the past year. Wrestlers like Angelina Love, Matt Hardy, Awesome Kong, Mickie James, Low Ki, and Homicide all returned to the company after being gone for years. So if they left (or escaped as some would look at it) TNA years ago why would they come back? Not only that but in the case of Matt Hardy, he didn't even have a contract at first. That's right. When he Hardy returned to TNA in July 2014, he didn't even have a concrete deal in place. He was on a pay-per appearance deal. It wasn't until eight months later in March 2015 that he got signed to a deal. Seems weird for a guy with a job in Ring of Honor to leave it for not only a company that's a career killer but one that didn't offer him a contract for months and who was in between TV deals. Then there are the up and comers who have come to TNA. The Wolves had a week long tryout with the WWE at their performance center and even appeared on an episode of NXT yet still chose to go to TNA. Bram is married to NXT diva Charlotte and is Ric Flair's son-in-law. I'm sure he could've spent time in the indies, prove that he can behave, and not have any incidents with alcohol like DUIs. Then after a while, his family could've put a good word for him to get back in. Instead, he went to TNA. Mica's brother Tama Tonga works for New Japan so maybe he could've asked his brother to recommend him to New Japan but he chose to go to TNA.
Then there is the case of the recent TNA alumni not only having no problems finding work but they're very successful and in demand. Not only that, but even active wrestlers have no problems working for major indy companies. AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Kazarian, ODB, Samoa Joe, and Chris Sabin have been brought into ROH while Hernandez has gone to Lucha Underground. Styles (who has been considered the face of TNA) has also begun competing in New Japan Pro Wrestling where he's won their heavyweight championship twice while being voted by Meltzer's own readers as the 2014 Most Outstanding Wrestler of the Year. Meanwhile, Joe is rumored to be heading to the WWE, Daniels and Kazarian have won the ROH Tag Team Titles, and Hernandez has also been pushed as a top attraction in Lucha Underground. As I mentioned, active wrestlers have also been able to find work in major indy companies. In recent months, Davey Richards has made a few appearances for the EVOLVE promotion and appeared in CZW with partner Eddie Edwards to challenge for the CZW World Tag Team Championships. Havok continues to make appearances for the SHINE promotion and Austin Aries has made an appearance for EVOLVE. Drew Galloway is still EVOLVE's champion and they don't seem to be in a hurry to get the belt off of him even after he joined TNA.
Now having argued that TNA is not a career killer, this next part will explain that, if anything, they can be a star maker or career saver. In the last thirteen years, TNA has given many talented wrestlers their big opportunity including AJ Styles, James Storm, Bobby Roode, Chris Harris, Eric Young, Hernandez, Kazarian, Petey Williams, Magnus, Chris Sabin, and Alex Shelley. These wrestlers, to this day, are still recognized for their times in TNA then any other company. Then there are wrestlers like Samoa Joe and Homicide who were already successful but achieved bigger exposure in TNA and introduced to a national audience because of them. Christopher Daniels and Low Ki started seeing success in Ring of Honor but made bigger impacts (no pun intended) in TNA. Then there are international wrestlers like Doug Williams, Tigre Uno, Rockstar Spud, and Sanada who have been introduced to a new audience in America (or in Williams' case, a bigger audience since he made appearances in ROH before this). The company was also a career saver as well in the case of Austin Aries. When Aries was released from ROH as a cost cutting move and WWE had no interest in him, he contemplated retirement as he didn't want to go back to the indies. Then TNA came calling and eventually rehired him.
Then there's the case with Women's Wrestling. When TNA started their knockout's division in 2007, the WWE was shifting their divas division to feature more models than wrestlers and focusing on sex appeal. As a result, TNA was the place to go for good women's wrestling and it helped boost the careers of many women. Angelina Love was signed to the WWE before her TNA run but never made it to the main roster before getting cut. ODB worked in OVW when it was still a developmental territory and WWE never hired her. Brooke and Taryn Terrell made it to the main roster of the WWE but never wrestled or were giving many opportunities which resulted in them coming off as bland models. Gail Kim had a decent first run in the WWE but was wasted in her second run. Velvet Sky and Madison Rayne were born and bred in TNA as they got their names and gimmicks in TNA along with their big breaks. Awesome Kong and Havok got national exposure for their time in TNA. All these women gained from being on TNA and have had some of the biggest moments, if not, the biggest moments and highlights of their careers in TNA.
TNA has also been very good with up and coming talent as well. When he was in the WWE, EC3 was Derrick Bateman and was mostly stuck in developmental which was Florida Championship Wrestling and NXT when it was still a WWE.com show. The few times he appeared on RAW and Smackdown, he was used as a jobber who got squashed. Now in TNA, he's become one of the brightest up and comers in wrestling today. Bram was in the Ascension in the WWE which is where he would likely be if he was still there. While the Ascension had a very successful run in NXT, they've been wasted since coming to the main roster back in December. Now that he's in TNA, he's been shining and has "future world champion" written all over him. Kenny King enjoyed tag team success in FIP and later with ROH but he was also wasted in ROH as they waited years before giving him the tag title and he was already on his way out. Now in TNA, he's a top heel in MVP's Beatdown Clan and has held the X Division Title twice. By the way, King was part of the All Night Xpress with Rhett Titus in ROH. Since that team broke up, King has done very well in TNA as I just mentioned his run. Meanwhile, Titus has done almost nothing and is a masked jobber named the Romantic Touch. Who do you think is doing better? Then there's Drew Galloway who has been looking very good since coming to TNA while he spent his last year in the WWE as a comedic jobber. TNA has proven that they can bring in talent that didn't get the best chances in WWE or ROH and give them a second chance. They're not perfect but nobody is.
Ultimately, I feel this article does a good job debunking Dave Meltzer's comments and shows that TNA has had success with talent. Whether people want to admit it or not, TNA has made mistakes but have also been a great part of the wrestling business by providing fans with an option while giving talent a chance to raise their profile which is something they may have never gotten. The next time Dave Meltzer decides to make comments like that, I hope he talks to the many men and women who have gone through TNA and ask them what their career would be like without it.
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