Did TNA Drop the Ball With Flair Exchange?

[cult_of_icecream_bar]

At SLAMMIVERSARY christian cage cut a promo on tv in exchange of flair's HOF induction.The thing that bugged me was why did they go for christian who was out for months?why not exchange for someone who is a bigger draw than christian?They could've wanted CM Punk who wrestled for quite a while in raven's stable i recall.It would hav brought them great publicity and boosted the PPV sales more as punk is the WWE champion.What do you think about it?

 

[Self High 5]

No. Just no.

TNA presumably wanted Christian as he the only member of the current WWE roster who is a real and relevant part of their history. CM Punk is a footnote.

Plus, can't imagine WWE - or Punk for that matter - would ever agree to it. I don't imagine a tightly scripted and controlled promo by a WWE wrestler would have boosted PPV buys by a single unit anyway. Unless one has more money than sense, that is.

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

So...you're asking why they wanted Christian, a guy who was their top guy for a few years and was really over, instead of CM Punk, who was a much lesser known guy a part of someone else's stable? (That last part I'm just assuming you're right because I did not watch TNA back then).

Grabbing Punk instead of Christian would just be more ammo for people who say TNA does a lot of things that doesn't make sense. Yes, Punk is a bigger draw now, but did he do anything of note in TNA? Not that I know of. You said it yourself, he was just a small guy in someone else's stable. So why bring him in when Christian was a TOP guy? Christian is still a very over guy in either company and was much more over in TNA.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

No they didn't drop the ball. I don't mean to offend the OP, but this sounds to me like it's coming from the same breed of user who constantly list incredibly imbalanced, incredibly biased "trade proposals" in all the threads designed to swap talents between the companies — ones where AJ Styles gets traded for Heath Slater and Evan Bourne, since, you know, that's obviously helping BOTH companies out, right?

Flair appeared on stage, and never even spoke, during a Hall of Fame ceremony that saw the Horsemen inducted into the WWE Hall-of-Fame. I'd actually say TNA got the better end of this deal, because not only did they get Christian to appear on television while being under contract with WWE, but he was (is?) the current WWE Intercontinental Champion at the time, and they even had him cut a promo about his time in the company.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Christian was a major main eventer, but so was R-Truth... I am surprised they didn't go for both really cos Ron Killings was one of the earliest TNA champs/main eventers.

Ultimately, Christian is not only a top WWE guy, but a champion. Having the IC champ immediately lends gravitas to TNA. Hoever, reports are that Christian didn't actually want to do it and was made to... if that's the case then it's poor form on WWE's part.

 

[FlairFan2003]

Christian is a top guy even if he's not a top tier guy, not everyone is John Cena or The Rock but Christian is very well known and has a significant history in TNA. Getting a retired Flair to appear at the HOF & WrestleMania, sign some autographs and leave was not worth WWE sending someone like Punk or Cena, those guys are too big, the potential boast to TNA would have been more than what WWE got from Flair. If Flair was younger and wrestled he would have had way more worth, as it is TNA got a fair trade, Flair got a great moment, WWE got a special HOF Ceremony. It worked out for everyone.

 

[Lowdown]

Christian was a huge part of TNA's roster when he went there. I don't even recall Punk being there (I only watched TNA periodically at my boy's house at the time). The fans seemed to be very receptive of him when he was at Slammiversary. Like IDR said, it looks like TNA got the better end on this one.

 

[multiverseman.com]

If it had been a bigger wrestler than Christian, WWE wouldn't have gone for it. I think it's that simple.

 

[closet_fan]

Going with Christian over R-Truth made the most sense considering Christian, right now, is one of the top stars, while Truth is stuck in tag-team hell.

How long was Punk even in TNA? A couple months?

 

[Arashi]

I would've rather they brought Killings in. He was more likely to give TNA a bigger rub imo, not to mention he was a HUGE part of their early history. Cage was a bigger though so I totally understand that. The only place they really dropped the ball was in advertising. They should have announced it on impact to get some buzz.

 

[The Chosen One of WZ]

Christian was the biggest face in his TNA time currently on the WWE roster and Punk was nothing in TNA.

The way I see it TNA did get the better part of the deal as they got the current IC champion on one of their biggest PPVs of the year cutting a promo putting over the company. All WWE got was an old guy to stand on stage and wave at Wrestlemania and talk at the Hall of Fame ceremony that not many people watched anyways.

 

[Metalcrack]

While i loved Flair on Impact if only for a few great tirades on the mic (ala Stiener), I'm actually happy to see him go. Frees up cash to rehire Roode when he's due, as well as keep the other main players around.

I thought Christian would have had a bigger speech, but prolly cut for time restraints. Could have been a slap in the face to WWE and him at the same time.

 

[JJYanks121]

No they didn't drop the ball. I don't mean to offend the OP, but this sounds to me like it's coming from the same breed of user who constantly list incredibly imbalanced, incredibly biased "trade proposals" in all the threads designed to swap talents between the companies — ones where AJ Styles gets traded for Heath Slater and Evan Bourne, since, you know, that's obviously helping BOTH companies out, right?

Flair appeared on stage, and never even spoke, during a Hall of Fame ceremony that saw the Horsemen inducted into the WWE Hall-of-Fame. I'd actually say TNA got the better end of this deal, because not only did they get Christian to appear on television while being under contract with WWE, but he was (is?) the current WWE Intercontinental Champion at the time, and they even had him cut a promo about his time in the company.

Just so we're being accurate, Flair did speak. It's on the DVD and it's less than 5 minutes which is weird because we know Flair can ramble with the best of 'em. If you watch the induction, all the guys said their piece but it seemed to be geared towards Arn Anderson more than anyone else. Quite deserving, and I think the fact that Flair was already inducted made him less likely to steal the spotlight from his brothers. So yeah, Flair did speak.

In my opinion though, no one "won" or "lost" in this exchange. This was about Flair wanting to appear and he got to do so. Because he was a contracted employee, TNA wanted compensation for something their employee was doing that was with their competitor. They got the current Intercontinental Champion. That's pretty good. Thing is, neither guy did anything of note really. Neither guy increased buys or made money for the company really. Perhaps if Christian was promoted in advance it could have increased PPV buys but who knows. The point is that this wasn't a gamechanging agreement. It happened, the guys did what they did, and we've moved forward.

 

[lazeric]

I think they dropped the ball. I can see 3 different things that could've been done instead of just having him cut a simple promo.

1. Instead of having him play nice why not have Christian just completely tear into TNA, talk about how they suck and will never be on the level of WWE. He could talk about how they just pick up the scraps of old WWE talent and how guys only come there to make enuff of a name for themselves to attract WWE attention. In the middle of his promo James Storm music hits and he comes out to defend TNA and after a little back and forth he superkicks Christian and says get out my ring. That brings major publicity and could potentially be the big story to put wrestling back on the map.

Instead of Storm answering Crimson's challenge what if Ryback came out? Yes its a fantasy match but it would've been huge if they had a streak vs streak match. Yes it couldn't end with a definite decision but those 2 slugging it out would've been huge for all parties.

3. My last one but my personal favorite. What if during the Roode vs Sting match as Sting gets on a roll and goes for the Scorpion Deathlock and right before Roode starts to tap the lights go off, the gongs sound, and Undertaker appears on the screen. He tells Sting he has beaten all of the best but him and he wants a match at WrestleMania. This could set off a huge storyline of will Sting accept or not and it would be a perfect way to set up the match everyone wants to see.

I know alot of this sounds crazy but all of it is better than that crap TNA actually did. They traded away Ric Flair for a stupid promo from Christian, that's just poor judgement. Flair is now a double hall of famer and TNA should've asked for more in return. Now with all that said I also think that if WWE never brings that up on tv then they 2 will have dropped the ball on a potentially big storyline, imagine a WWE guy confronting Christian about his appearance at Slammervesary that could be a huge storyline.

 

[suffolkspur]

I think they dropped the ball. I can see 3 different things that could've been done instead of just having him cut a simple promo.

1. Instead of having him play nice why not have Christian just completely tear into TNA, talk about how they suck and will never be on the level of WWE. He could talk about how they just pick up the scraps of old WWE talent and how guys only come there to make enuff of a name for themselves to attract WWE attention. In the middle of his promo James Storm music hits and he comes out to defend TNA and after a little back and forth he superkicks Christian and says get out my ring. That brings major publicity and could potentially be the big story to put wrestling back on the map.

Instead of Storm answering Crimson's challenge what if Ryback came out? Yes its a fantasy match but it would've been huge if they had a streak vs streak match. Yes it couldn't end with a definite decision but those 2 slugging it out would've been huge for all parties.

3. My last one but my personal favorite. What if during the Roode vs Sting match as Sting gets on a roll and goes for the Scorpion Deathlock and right before Roode starts to tap the lights go off, the gongs sound, and Undertaker appears on the screen. He tells Sting he has beaten all of the best but him and he wants a match at WrestleMania. This could set off a huge storyline of will Sting accept or not and it would be a perfect way to set up the match everyone wants to see.

Well yeah this is pretty crazy because there is no way that either company would go for any other these options.

Point 1. It doesnt do TNA any favours to have Christian lay into them on PPV. It makes no sense for TNA to say come in Christian we'll give you an open mike to completely disparage the company. The other flaw being there is no way WWE would allow any of their contracted wrestlers to be made to look weak on a TNA PPV.

Point 2. It would make no sense for Ryback to come into TNA as he has no history with them. I really can't see this as a fantasy match either. People who watch TNA dont generally buy into Crimson's streak anyway and Ryback has less legitamacy than Crimson as all WWE have had him do his squash wrestlers a 1/4 of his size. What a horrible prospect.

Point 3. Just no. Let it go. Sting is currently under contract with TNA there is no way that this is happening until Sting leaves the company. WWE would not allow one of the biggest stars they have ever had appear on a TNA PPV and TNA would certainly not allow a WWE superstar to come onto their show and request a match at WWE's biggest PPV. Completely non-sensical.

Neither company gained much from the trade. Flair appeared at Wrestlemania and the WWE hall of fame, Christian appeared on a TNA PPV, gave the company a nod and went home. I dont really know what else people were expecting. Whatever happened had to be mutually agreeable to both companies there was little else Christian could do.

 

[HBsam31]

Honestly overall I think it was an even trade. Flair didn't really do all that much at the HOF, and Christian gave a nice promo. I think they should have advertised Christian's appearance more, but this trade was not going to make or break either company, and all in all I think it was fair so no I don't think they dropped the ball on this one.