[The Widow Maker]

I was wondering what you guys thought about the never-ending flow of ex-WWE that have come to TNA over the years.

When I look at the wrestlers I like, and the ones I don't care about, nearly all the 'meh' wrestlers have come from the WWE and most of the fresh talent have come from the small wrestling stables or are pretty much home-grown TNA. They just have a certain X-factor to them.

People/teams like: Hamada, Brutus, Gen. Me, Ink Inc etc. etc. - I just feel more inclination to watch these guys/girls than the usual flotsum from WWE.

So come on TNA, how about going one year (or just 6 months) without hiring ANY ex-WWE!

 

[TripleG]

I don't think there should be the mind set of "Never hire ex-WWE guys". If they did, they wouldn't have The Pope & Mr. Anderson.

My advice: Scout the talent everywhere you can. ROH is a great place to look. Dragon Gate, Chikara, PWG, etc, and if WWE lets somebody go that you think you can use, get him. For example, if WWE, for whatever reason, let Dolph Ziggler go, I'd definitely say he's worth picking up.

But always be on the look out for FRESH talent. Guys like Foley, Sting, Nash, Flair, & Hogan aren't going to be your future. Its better to load the roster up with young talents that you can mold and eventually find a star out of then constantly focusing on past stars that can't go anymore.

 

[hornmeister]

I was wondering what you guys thought about the never-ending flow of ex-WWE that have come to TNA over the years.

When I look at the wrestlers I like, and the ones I don't care about, nearly all the 'meh' wrestlers have come from the WWE and most of the fresh talent have come from the small wrestling stables or are pretty much home-grown TNA. They just have a certain X-factor to them.

People/teams like: Hamada, Brutus, Gen. Me, Ink Inc etc. etc. - I just feel more inclination to watch these guys/girls than the usual flotsum from WWE.

So come on TNA, how about going one year (or just 6 months) without hiring ANY ex-WWE!

To put a carte blanch embargo on it is a little OTT especially if some decent stars become available at an affordable price.

TNA have a pretty decent roster, they have too many people for the air time available, so I certainly wouldn't suggest swelling the numbers, but there's a few ex 'E' people out there that would add to the promotion if they were used correctly. WGTT for example are a pretty good replacement for 3D.

 

[RIPGuerrero]

I'd love to see it starting the day after they hire The World's Greatest Tag Team. WGTT vs MCMG would be amazing.

 

[seatea15]

Don't think it should matter if you're ex WWE or not, it's if you can add to the product that's important.

 

[roberta]

Hire Jon Moxley !!

 

[PauseMenuNotWanted]

It'll never happen, not while Dixie Carter, Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff and Vince Russo are around. Next year is probably going to have Matt Hardy and Serena come in.

 

[Ph3n0m]

It'd be incredibly stupid to take that stance as a general rule. So if a guy like Jericho comes along and says I want a piece of this (HYPOETHETICAL, I know this will NEVER happen) - TNA should turn round and say "Sorry Chris, whilst we acknowledge you are amongst the best performers in the World with a great fanbase and great work ethic - we have taken it upon ourselves to abstain from hiring any more ex-WWE employees as a moral stance. Sorry again."

Yeah right. This is pointless anyway, within 60 days or something the next ex-WWE guy will be onboard too. HARDY BOYZ FEUD!!11¬¬

 

[What 3:16]

I don't think there should be the mind set of "Never hire ex-WWE guys". If they did, they wouldn't have The Pope & Mr. Anderson.

My advice: Scout the talent everywhere you can. ROH is a great place to look. Dragon Gate, Chikara, PWG, etc, and if WWE lets somebody go that you think you can use, get him. For example, if WWE, for whatever reason, let Dolph Ziggler go, I'd definitely say he's worth picking up.

But always be on the look out for FRESH talent. Guys like Foley, Sting, Nash, Flair, & Hogan aren't going to be your future. Its better to load the roster up with young talents that you can mold and eventually find a star out of then constantly focusing on past stars that can't go anymore.

I agree with this wholeheartedly. Hiring "WWE's Elijah Burke" (who did nothing in WWE, despite being excellent in most aspects) as opposed to hiring "Hardcore Legend Mick Foley" (who did everything in WWE, not to mention being a lot older, because he was excellent in some aspects) are two very different things.

Guys like Pope and Matt Morgan in particular are having a far better run in TNA. But old guys like Foley, Nash, Hogan and Flair are just taking up room.

 

[Goatlord]

TNA should stop hiring random WWE guys that were just dropped or older Talent. I have a feeling that guys like Edge and Mysterio might move to TNA in a few years after they ended their career (aka retired), basically when they're in their 40s, at least TNA would pretty much love to sign them if they got the chance. That's one of TNAs biggest faults, they are maybe more daring in their product but at the same time the WWE has much more energy to go all out directionwise and pushing new guys, in TNA people get pushed until they decide to give the old guys the ball to run with once again.

TNA needs to get their hands on guys like Aries, Omega, Pac, Castignoli etc instead of those if they were to sign new contracts. Currently TNAs roster is so big that new signings are totally unneeded so they should use their current roster to its maximum potential. If those guys TNA wants to push were in WWE (Morgan, Roode, AJ, Joe) and WWE decided to push them they would all be multiple time world champs by now, just look at Cena/Orton or more recently, Orton/Sheamus.

 

[CoRyP2008]

They should never entirely stop hiring ex-WWE guys because that would be stupid. What they need to do is start hiring more indy guys along with the WWE guys so it balances out more.

 

[Flux]

There is WWE Stars, WWE Talent, and former WWE Workers.
WWE stars, such as Flair and Foley add something t the product. Whatever you may say, they do add some star quality to not only the show but on to the written roster. Millions, worldwide have heard of Flair and Foley and they can generally draw. Just before you all say "So wai r TNA styl on 1.1 R4TINGZ,' it's through no fault of Flair's or Foley's, it is TNA's lack of ability to advertise.

Then there is WWE Talent. When I say this, I mean people like The Pope, Matt Morgan and Kurt Angle. People who add something to the product, have a fair sized fan base (in some cases such as Angle, HUGE) and can go in the ring and on the mic. These are the rarities nowadays, as WWE aren't that stupid to let a lot of them go, and TNA can rarely make them a big name... however recently they've seemed to be doing well.

And finally there is former WWE Workers. A la Tommy Dreamer, Shannon Moore and Rhino. People who TNA think can draw so they feature prominently on their shows, but in fact they couldn't draw a fly to shit. TNA generally wanted to stay away from former WWE Workers and in some cases WWE stars (older stars) No, TNA shouldn't avoid signing former WWE talent, as you never know there could be some real gems!

 

[M.S.I.I.]

Only in wrestling are fans concerned about the company signing a wrestler who used to work for another company.

Hey Red Sox management, don't sign any former Yankees.
Hey Patriots management, don't sign any former Colts.
Hey Lakers management, don't sign any former Celtics. I don't care if Paul Pierce is a free agent, we said no ex-Celtics!

Open up your door and walk into the real world.

 

[reDREDD]

Um, no. TNA instead should go a year without making any retarded decisions or fucking up

 

[SpeedStick]

The Problem with these WCW/WWE/ECW they do the same storylines in TNA , That they were doing in WCW/WWE/ECW , Now we have Tara vs Mickie James over WWE feud...

Russo or all the WCW/WWWE/ECW guys have to then maybe we can get some new storylines.

 

[M.S.I.I.]

The Problem with these WCW/WWE/ECW they do the same storylines in TNA , That they were doing in WCW/WWE/ECW , Now we have Tara vs Mickie James over WWE feud...

Russo or all the WCW/WWWE/ECW guys have to then maybe we can get some new storylines.

There hasn't been a new wrestling storyline in fucking years. It's professional wrestling. The only thing that changes is the people in the ring. Everything has been done at some point in time. Everything.

 

[geraldinhio]

No.If a talanted free agent comes around of course they should be signed alias Pope and Anderson.Saying that they should stay away from the Matt Hardys and the likes.

Rather than just signing former WWE wrestlers they need to get the balance of talent right.Have a few homegrown stars ,a few former WWE wrestlers and a few talented wrestlers from the Indy scene.

 

[sharkboy22]

No that's just plain stupid.

I think they should reduce the amount they take in. And by that I mean, stop frigging hiring pieces of shit like Kendrick and Moore who served/serve no purpose whatsoever.

 

[Post-Modern Devil]

Only in wrestling are fans concerned about the company signing a wrestler who used to work for another company.

Hey Red Sox management, don't sign any former Yankees.
Hey Patriots management, don't sign any former Colts.
Hey Lakers management, don't sign any former Celtics. I don't care if Paul Pierce is a free agent, we said no ex-Celtics!

Open up your door and walk into the real world.

The fundamental difference between those examples you mentioned and TNA is that many of the ex-WWE/WCW/ECW employees TNA goes out of their way to hire don't manage to entirely assimilate into the TNA roster and always stand out as WCW/WWE/ECW rejects because of management's tendency to have these guys' long history have an effect on the storylines they are invloved in. Its all right to incorporate more interesting characters into the ensemble, but veteran characters who aren't competing or can't compete for the TNA World Title really shouldn't be promoted at the expense of guys who can compete and work. Its good to have guys like Nash, Foley, Flair, etc. add their own unique brand of entertainment to the show, but they shouldn't be given prominent roles & feuds over the talent that can actually work.

There hasn't been a new wrestling storyline in fucking years. It's professional wrestling. The only thing that changes is the people in the ring. Everything has been done at some point in time. Everything.

Wrestling fueds may not be original, but the history between the two competitors' and their personalities are definitely unique aspects to base feuds around. The unfortunate thing about the Micke/Tara feud is that it is based almost entirely around their history in WWE instead of something tangible to the TNA canon like, you know, Tara outright forfeting the Knockout's title to Madison Rayne and damaging the prestige of the title that Mickie James came to TNA to win which then could have incorporated a bit of their history in WWE to spice things up. That would have made the feud about 5 times better off than constantly referencing the WWE.

 

[The Skarupa]

I still don't know why it matters if someone is ex-WWE.

They're just people making a living where they can.