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What if TNA signed some of these big NXT stars 4 years ago?

2K views 24 replies 22 participants last post by  Greatsthegreats 
#1 ·
Finn Balor
Kevin Owens
Sami Zayn
Apollo Crews
Hideo Itami
Bayley
The Vaudevillains (though they became a team in WWE)
These guys were all on the open market back around 2011 had TNA said "screw Hogan and Flair" and signed these guys instead were would they be now?
 
#4 ·
I've always said that in the summer of 2010, they should have thrown everything at Bryan Danielson. He had just had his WWE contract terminated, I would have been calling up and giving him anything he wanted. Pay for his travel, let him work any other dates for any other company he wants (outside of WWE), anything. The guy was hot after he'd just been fired, he was probably the best wrestler in the world and the matches he could have had with that roster. Angle, Joe, Styles, Sabin, Shelley, Lethal, he could have been putting on MOTYC with half those guys in TNA at the time. Although looking back at TNA in 2010, it may not have worked out that well but the potential was there to bring him in if they'd gone for it.
 
#17 ·
After about 2006-2007, TNA really slowed down on signing top indy talent. Not saying they didn't sign any (ex. Aries & Wolfe/McGuinness) but they definitely spent more time going after former WWE/WCW/ECW "superstars" after that point. Big mistake in my opinion since the hottest period in company history was when "indy" guys who killing it, so after a certain point the TNA roster grew stagnant along with the overall product for whatever reason.
 
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#18 ·
If I remember correctly, Dixie made a comment about the e was cutting tna off everytime they would try to sign someone. That was about the time they were talking with finn baylor and he turned them down to go to nxt. There are so many young men and ladies out there now in the indies they should be all over right now and signing them up. Tna has never had good talent scouts or none at all as it seems they are always three steps behind in trying to sign anyone. For example, they should have had Brad Maddox in the office the day after the e fired him as well as Sami Callihan. Letting Austin Aries and Brooke Tessmacher leave the company is ridiculous, but like everthing else, we have no idea what $ figure some of these people are demanding to stay with the company, it may be too much to justify and they let them walk, but they should at least try to work it instead of turning their back and not negotiate with them as has been reported in the past.
 
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#23 ·
AJ Styles was over within TNA & their fanbase since 2002...

Problem of this thread in a nutshell is what the problem is w/TNA: why look back on "what if's?" for successes within WWE today, and not acknowledge the roster TNA had at the time and proceeded do to zero w/? Clearly those who were watching liked who they saw. Yet, despite the desire to want to see em, most weren't used in a positive light. This is more of showing a lack of growth and only relying on the bigger names the entire tenure. As opposed to a certain focus TNA did w/someone like Jay Lethal. Goes from feuding w/Ric Flair & AJ Styles during 2010, to follow that up by immediately falling back down into X Division purgatory. Not long after departing from TNA completely. TNA did that all the time w/pushes for "new" stars. They built em up, only to knock em back down in the blink of an eye. Had Sami Zayn or Finn Balor joined TNA, per the hypothetical, at the time, well history shows us it probably would have been all for not.
 
#24 ·
I agree with you completely, and in regards to Zayn and Balor. I can't see TNA using guys like them effectively. Especially with Vince Russo on the creative team. I doubt he would see anything in them, apart from being good wrestlers, and we all know what he thinks of wrestling.
 
#2 ·
I think Owens & Zayn could have been very possible, Zayn especially was open about coming (not sure about Owens, but I do think he would have been tempted). Crews was always earmarked by WWE since day 1, Itami would have stayed in Japan, Bayley and Gotch - I had never heard of until WWE picked them up.

What is more depressing we should not be saying this, 4 years ago they had AJ Styles, Daniels, Kazarian, Kendrick, Young Bucks, Joe, Sarita, Sabin, Shelley, Desmond Wolfe, Doug Williams, The Pope and this was not even the prime year for talent. Now look at the roster - it is a bloody depressing sight.
 
#7 · (Edited)
Yeah they almost definitely would have wasted them. As was said before they did already have a roster much stronger than current NXT with AJ, Joe, Roode, Shelley, Sabin, Lethal, Xavier Woods, Storm, Aries, Daniels, Kazarian, etc And they didn't use a single one well.

The WWE product was dogshit in 2009/2010 and TNA 2009 was awesome with the MEM and return of AJ, Joe and Daniels to the main event. Had TNA continued what they were doing in 2009 instead of making it WCW 2.0 with only ex-WWE guys getting pushed, they could have been very strong competition to the WWE.

Had that happened, Vince would have been forced to innovate his stale product and we could have 2 great companies competing now. Oh well...
 
#11 ·
This is circa 2011. Let's go through them individually:

Balor: Was under contract with New Japan. Just a year before, he had a big push as one of the top junior heavyweights in the company. Most likely wouldn't have gone to TNA, regardless if Hogan and Bischoff weren't there. He probably could have made a one time appearance, through the partnership between NJPW and TNA, Although it was fading away at this point.

Zayn: Was in a huge rivalry with Kevin Steen throughout 2010 and 2011 in ROH. Most likely would have stayed and finished the rivalry and gone to WWE.

Owens: Was off-screen for most of 2011 to lose weight. More Likely to stay with ROH, especially after Jim Cornette would leave.

Itami: Would have stayed in Japan. He was a top wrestler in NOAH at the time. TNA already had Kiyoshi and Kazuchika Okada (on excursion). Him signing would (or would not) sabotage whatever affiliation was left with New Japan.

Crews: Very likely. Crews was wrestling in FIP and Evolve, which are both Florida organizations. If TNA wasn't utilizing older guys and if they were scouting Indy wrestlers, Crews probably would've been signed.

Bayley: Likely. At this time, Bayley was wrestling for SHIMMER and Shine. Many Female Indy wrestlers had stints at TNA during this time and Bayley probably would have had a stint in TNA.

English: Nope. He made his wrestling debut later in 2011 in the Chicago Indy scene and was a relative unknown until he signed with WWE in early 2012.

Gotch: Was in lesser known indies. His persona of gentleman grappler may have not been down TNA's alley, but you never know with TNA. Probably wouldn't have been signed, though.
 
#16 ·
Like others have said, it would not have mattered. TNA from 2010-2013 had an incredibly amazing roster, had PPV, and had all the tools to expand into a major contender. They did nothing with it. The talent has never been the problem. They don't have any decision-makers who know how to steer the ship in a competent direction on a consistent basis.

Austin Aries, Jay Lethal, Samoa Joe, The Pope, Crimson, Bobby Roode, and the list goes on. They had some strong former WWE guys like Kurt Angle, RVD, Jeff Hardy, Mr. Anderson. Nobody knew how to book. They gave away potentially interesting matches on free TV with limited build-up so that the matches themselves meant nothing and then had feuds/title matches take place on the Impact show after the PPV, instead of the PPV itself. They had enough talented, new guys they could have built up and more than enough familiar names from other companies to pull in the casual fans. They just didn't know how to utilize anyone properly.
 
#25 ·
Aj was over, have you ever been to their live shows and heard the reactions AJ gets?!
AJ Styles was over within TNA & their fanbase since 2002...
I think its was more into 2003 that he took off

Problem of this thread in a nutshell is what the problem is w/TNA: why look back on "what if's?" for successes within WWE today, and not acknowledge the roster TNA had at the time and proceeded do to zero w/? Clearly those who were watching liked who they saw. Yet, despite the desire to want to see em, most weren't used in a positive light. This is more of showing a lack of growth and only relying on the bigger names the entire tenure. As opposed to a certain focus TNA did w/someone like Jay Lethal. Goes from feuding w/Ric Flair & AJ Styles during 2010, to follow that up by immediately falling back down into X Division purgatory. Not long after departing from TNA completely. TNA did that all the time w/pushes for "new" stars. They built em up, only to knock em back down in the blink of an eye. Had Sami Zayn or Finn Balor joined TNA, per the hypothetical, at the time, well history shows us it probably would have been all for not.
okay hindsight is 20/20 but reaching out and securing all the talent that the future will be based on would have at least built tna has a dominant force to be reckoned with as the place to be for up and coming

the new face of professional wrestling so to speak
 
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