Angle's Contract Up This September; Time for TNA to Step Up?

[whoopin' ass]

In his Ross Report interview, Angle mentioned his contract is up in the fall and he is looking at his options. If he doesn't decide to go back, he will be just the latest of veterans who left. In Angle's case, it is a little strange since he talked a lot over the years about staying with TNA behind the scenes after his career ended but that is beside the point. If he does leave, do you feel that TNA the company(not the wrestlers) need to seriously step up?

While there are other guys from WWE who are still in TNA, Angle is really that last big name they were able to get. Bully Ray was a name in the tag division but he had no real singles career until the last few years. That does show that TNA does have some potential to make guys. I feel that now TNA really needs to stop trying to borrow a legacy by hiring guys like Sting and Angle and really try and create their own but the company has to decide to do that. Do you think they will? Hope this makes some sense.

 

[king1836]

I have no problem with Kurt Angle leaving in September. I hope that he ends up fighting Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 31.

It is time for TNA to step it up. They need to have more home-grown stars instead of hoping that Dolph Ziggler or CM Punk comes to them.

 

[UFOcalling]

Agreed, TNA has "borrowed" a lot of former WWE talent in the past (and present). However, in the last year or so (maybe even longer) they've been doing a decent job making non-WWE talent look relevant. The real problem they have is branding. Since the TNA brand has never been very big at all, their stars (including the former WWE guys) have never seemed like a "big deal" while working for TNA. I think that to a lot of people, TNA seems on par with WWE's midcard - and nothing more.

WCW used a lot of former WWF talent as well, and look at how far they were able to take their company. Nash & Hall, for instance, became even bigger stars when they jumped to WCW (at least IMHO). TNA has had less relevant ex-WWE talent than WCW were able to lure over, but even the big names they acquired (like Jeff Hardy, Hulk Hogan and/or Kurt Angle) weren't ever able to move the needle for the company.

I do think that TNA needs to "step up", but they've needed to step up for a while now. I don't think there will ever be a company that can compete with WWE again (like WCW was able to do), but TNA could become a bigger player if they just stuck to logical storylines (and stayed consistant). They're on the right track, but they've abandoned stories in the past to make room for ex-WWE guys. Even if/when their storylines become better than WWE's, I don't think TNA will become much bigger than they are now. It's unfortunate, too - I'm a fan of TNA, and sometimes I'm more excited for iMPACT than I am for Raw.

Global Force Wrestling starting up soon doesn't help matters either, because I feel that TNA will become paranoid of another "upstart" company stepping on their toes (which they might and/or will). Another company along the same lines as TNA might cause them to go into "panic mode" again, instead of focusing on their own talent & storylines...which is what they should have been doing all along. It's fine to "know your enemy", but you shouldn't focus more time and energy worrying about what everyone else is doing. Focus on making your product the best it can be, by making the audience care about the characters.

I'm not sure how TNA creative is ran (and I'm not pretending that I do know for sure), but as far as I know it's ran similarly to the WWE's: a committee of a dozen or more people writing each show. The WWE was most popular when the show was written by a handful of people (three or four guys in charge of everyone), so why don't they go back to that? The WWE should do that too, IMHO. If it worked so well during the Attitude Era, why did every company stray from that formula? When there's a revolving door of writers at any given time, the product suffers - because there's no consistency, or logic. An odd example (depending on your outlook) is the old show "Saved By The Bell". The character Kelly Kapowski was ditzy in some episodes, and seemed like a scholar in others. I know it was a show aimed at teenagers at the time, but even I was able to see that the writing for that show was bad when I was a prepubescent child in Middle School. Each character needs to react differently to different situations, and their character needs to stay consistent. I know that's easy for me to sit here and type, without being in the thick of it - but to me, that's how TNA should be "stepping up" in the future.

 

[mlp420]

TNA has never tried harder to create their own stars than they are doing right now. ECIII, The Wolves, Magnus, Roode, Storm, Aries, Kenny King, Sam Shaw, Bram, BroMans and more. The people that ignore that just to focus on established guys they are using are a lost cause. They've got their own little narrative in their head that they're going to always cling too. They're always going to see things the way they want to see them. Unless TNA just purges their entire roster so there's nobody that's ever even sniffed the WWE, NXT, Tough Enough, etc. It's pretty silly.

 

[Lowdown]

Much like when Sting left, if Angle were to opt out it would hurt. But it's not the end all be all for TNA. The company is trying to make strides with the talent they have, and dare I say they've done an ok job. Guys like EC3 and Kenny King have no where to go but up, and the Wolves brought in some fans from ROH. The mainstays are finding some relevance again which is always refreshing. I like Angle, but it makes me wonder how long he's gonna want to compete. A job in the back is cool for him since he's been in the industry for so long. Regardless what he decides to do, TNA will survive.

 

[whoopin' ass]

Don't get me wrong, I don't think they should drop anyone with a past wwe connection - far from it. You get quality people no matter where they worked. It is just that in the past, they seemed to use guys like Angle and Sting and use their history instead of really trying to create one for themselves. I like what they have been doing for the past several months but I look at the guys like AJ, Daniels and Kaz leaving and wonder if TNA actually gets it. I think they have done a good job with Bully Ray and think they are moving in a better direction but I just wonder if Angle's leaving will be the thing to really make them get serious and focus on what they have instead of what other "name" they can bring in.

 

[hatehabsforever]

If Angle does indeed "jump ship" and leave TNA In September and return to WWE, that would be a very difficult pill to swallow for them, one which would hurt them tremendously despite what the guys who are consistently loyal to TNA make like to believe. Not because he is irreplaceable or anything like that, and I'm certainly not making any apocalyptic post about the state of TNA Wrestling if he walks out the door because let's face it, up until the last couple of weeks, he hasn't been on much anyway. And at his current physical condition, his in ring effectiveness is limited these days anyway. But it's the perception of what losing yet another established veteran would mean to the company. Over the last several months, there's been a parade of well known athletes heading out the door, some more relevant, some less so, but it does have to make one a little nervous for the future if this trend were to continue. Angle has been a vocal and consistent supporter of TNA, one whose loyalty has never really been in question. If he too decides that enough is enough, what does that tell the world about the state of TNA? If even their most loyal and dedicated performer decides enough is enough and the grass is indeed greener on the other side, one has to wonder who's next, and how many more big name departures can they withstand before those apocalyptic thoughts creep in there?

Having said all of this, I wouldn't bend over backwards and break the bank (which they probably aren't in a financial position to do anyway) to keep him. If he retires due to his age and physical limitations, well that's that. And I'm not sure that WWE has any particular interest in him at this stage of the game, for a bunch of reasons. Don't get me wrong, I'm certain WWE would take him back, but I'm not so sure he would get the lucrative deal and the main event slot that his colossal ego would demand. WWE is in an excellent position right now with an excellent blend of young talent and established veterans. They don't need Kurt Angle. I'm sure they would take him, but if he expects to be front and center in the company, vying for major hardware, then it think he'd be better served staying put.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Although Angle is easly the most well known member of the TNA roster, I wouldn't be too bothered about him leaving if I was running the company. Kurt is still a really good in-ring performer on his day, but he's suffering from more and more injuries these days as well as coming back from well-documented personal problems. In my opinion, TNA would be better served spending the money from his high salary elsewhere, on strengthening the roster with a couple of carefully selected signings- such as John Morrison.

Kurt will return to WWE before his career is over, I've no doubt of that. In my opinion (without knowing all his medical issues) Angle should be seriously thinking about calling it a day. I'm amazed he has lasted this long in TNA without suffering a career ending injury to his neck, as it's long been known the issues he has had with this, and how it limits his mobility when he isn't in the ring. Angle has such a high pain threshold no-one really knows the condition he is in when he gets into the ring.

If he were to return to WWE, I think it would only be on a very part-time basis, with just a few major matches before he hangs up his boots. I'd be surprised if Kurt needed the money after earning so much over his career, and he'd be guaranteed a WWE HOF entry, probably headlining a class and they'd almost certainly want to take advantage of his knowledge in their training facility. Angle would definitely get the 3-disc DVD treatment too, and probably an on-screen role too if he came back to the company. I have my doubts though as to whether he could even pass a WWE medical at this stage, in his broken down state.

I do hope we see a couple of Kurt Angle matches in WWE before he calls it a day though, I'd love to see him face Triple H again, Seth Rollins and Daniel Bryan. Also CM Punk if he does end up returning.

 

[Mustang Sally]

If Angle does indeed "jump ship" and leave TNA In September and return to WWE, that would be a very difficult pill to swallow for them, one which would hurt them tremendously despite what the guys who are consistently loyal to TNA make like to believe.

I'm not sure how badly they'd be hurt. Is the TNA fan base pining for Angle? He's been gone so long that I wonder if they've essentially written him off already, which would pretty well negate the impact of his officially leaving the company.

As a poster said previously, TNA can make stars; Bully Ray being a good example. Since they've been achieving TV ratings that hover around 1.0 both with and without the expense of paying guys like Hogan & friends .....and they've been attaining that level these past months without the benefit of Kurt Angle performing for them, for that matter.....is there anything Angle can realistically bring to the TNA table at this point?

It's possible Angle's appearances for TNA have concluded already.....or maybe he'll show up just to say goodbye. Or, maybe he'll return soon, announcing that he's signed another 2-year contract with the smaller organization, allaying TNA's fears while sacrificing the greater income he could earn with a 2-year stint in WWE to take into blissful retirement. With Kurt Angle, who knows?

September is just around the corner.

 

[hatehabsforever]

I'm not sure how badly they'd be hurt. Is the TNA fan base pining for Angle? He's been gone so long that I wonder if they've essentially written him off already, which would pretty well negate the impact of his officially leaving the company.

As a poster said previously, TNA can make stars; Bully Ray being a good example. Since they've been achieving TV ratings that hover around 1.0 both with and without the expense of paying guys like Hogan & friends .....and they've been attaining that level these past months without the benefit of Kurt Angle performing for them, for that matter.....is there anything Angle can realistically bring to the TNA table at this point?

It's possible Angle's appearances for TNA have concluded already.....or maybe he'll show up just to say goodbye. Or, maybe he'll return soon, announcing that he's signed another 2-year contract with the smaller organization, allaying TNA's fears while sacrificing the greater income he could earn with a 2-year stint in WWE to take into blissful retirement. With Kurt Angle, who knows?

September is just around the corner.

In a tangible manner, no, I don't think they'd be hurt too badly at all. The TNA fan base is likely not pining for him at all. He's been out of action for some time anyway, and a shadow of himself his last while there when he's been active so no, strictly on paper, I don't think TNA would suffer much at all.

But it's all about perception sometimes. A mass exodus of superstars, bailing out on the sinking Titanic, this is a sentiment that will be out there if yet another one of their established superstars bails out on the company, especially if it is to go elsewhere. I'm not even saying this is the reality of the situation, but it is how much of the fan base will perceive it. Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Mick Foley, Booker T, RVD, Christian, and others I'm sure, all guys who left WWE to take TNA over the top and to put them in direct competition with the big leagues. All gone, and have returned to their roots, at least in some capacity. How about their "homegrown stars"? Where are AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Kazarian, Chris Sabin, and a few others I'm sure? Left for greener pastures. Gone because they were unhappy in TNA for whatever reason. There are only so many established "big names" left there, and Angle is the biggest, so if he leaves to go back to WWE, the perception of this will be very negative amongst the fan base. What they need is someone to stand up and stop the bleeding, someone to renew their contract because they want to be there. This will help fan confidence, roster confidence, and curb the sentiment that not every guy on the roster has one leg out the door.

Of course they do have one guy who would fit the bill, but for some inexplicable reason, he's wearing a weird mask and prancing around the ring like a lunatic. Other than that, they don't have many pillars upon which to support the foundation of the company. I've long been saying that TNA needs to be an alternative to WWE, not a watered down version of it full of castoffs and has been's, and I still believe this. But you do need some stalwarts to count on. And if all of their go to guys decide to head back home to the big leagues, that reflects poorly upon the company's future.

Unless of course, you want to pin your future hopes on Ken Anderson. Or yet another authority struggle for control of the company.

 

[UFOcalling]

I think one more thing that I neglected to mention in my earlier post is all these taped shows that TNA is doing. Obviously a live show will always pull a better rating than a taped one, but I also understand that the current TNA taping schedule is saving them a lot of dough. I loved when TNA was doing a double-header every other week, so they'd be live one week and then taped the next. That was the best time for TNA, I believe (at least for their taping schedule, if nothing else). Taping so many shows weeks in advance is hurting TNA, but I think they must know that...it's just a lot easier on their wallet to do it this way right now.

The other big problem that TNA has (and WCW had near the end too), is that they're expecting business to turn around just like that *snaps fingers*. When the WWF was getting their ass handed to them by WCW, it took over a year for them to build to big ratings...but they did so by ushering in the Attitude Era, and staying consistent with those stories. It took them a freaking YEAR to get there, though. TNA keeps switching everything around, because they expect to get there in less than three months. That's not possible, especially in this day and age. When WCW started to lose their big ratings, they went into panic mode - and kept switching everything around every couple of months. That was the proverbial kiss of death for them, long before the AOL/Time Warner merger happened...and TNA has seemed to be in the same panic-mode more often than not ever since I've been watching them (I started watching consistently some time in 2007).

Like I said in my earlier post though, I don't think there will ever be another company that will be able to compete with the WWE (like WCW was able to). The WWE is too big now, and it could take years upon years of consistent fantastic shows to do so. It would also take live shows every week, and having a much bigger production value (which TNA isn't able to do at this time - if they were able to, they'd be doing it). It's gonna take deep pockets to be able to compete with Vince, and wrestling just isn't going to have a big enough return (not for a few years, at least) to merit anyone spending "Vince Money" to get there.

 

[The Dragon Saga]

TNA has never tried harder to create their own stars than they are doing right now. ECIII, The Wolves, Magnus, Roode, Storm, Aries, Kenny King, Sam Shaw, Bram, BroMans and more.

Storm, Roode, Shaw and BroMan's are TNA created guys, but the rest aren't. The difference with the rest are they weren't established guys. Davey and Eddie were established to ROH audience and as top indy guys, but the issue with TNA is not many top indie guys want to sign with them because signing with them means you can't sign with WWE, and as Kevin Steen has said, "truth is, nobody wants to go to TNA", the thing Aries and Davey have in common is they burnt all their bridges and TNA was their final option. Bram and ECIII were WWE development guys TNA are utilizing correctly, the biggest advantage is they didn't have any real WWE "stank" on them, they are ex-WWE guys but nobody cares.

The talent they bring in is almost irrelevant. The reason I stopped watching TNA is because flat out the product sucked. I don't want it to suck, I want it to be good so that I can watch, but there are only so many hours in a week and considering WWE have a three hour show with Raw which is much better, NXT is an hour, ROH is an hour and NJPW do three/four hour iPPV's, there are better options. They seemed to put on good shows in NYC - that's great, good for them, but the hard part wasn't putting on good shows in NYC, it was continuing to put on good shows after NYC. Which is their next task. And without using spoilers, signing WWE guys or bringing in ex-WWE guys isn't going to help.

 

[Reflection]

I feel that Angle has a purpose in TNA, and people actually tune in to see him wrestle. So while letting go of big names like Sting, Styles and Hogan didn't affect their ratings and helped in savings, letting Angle go might result in a drop in viewership and the lack of any popular starpower, apart from Hardy. Angle and Hardy are the only two expensive guys that TNA need to hold on to.

 

[ABMorales787]

Is there ever a single solitary moment in this always seemingly dying company where there isn't a requirement to "step up"? It seems like they always need to be in perpetual improvement and nothing is ever good enough.

As for Angle though. He's been very inactive since August of last year. That's nearly a year with the only thing of note from him being his feud with Bobby Roode. Him being gone would be a loss backstage as having an experienced name gone. On television, not so much. AJ and Sting's departures have shown that TNA can indeed endure the loss of major stars because for them those two were #1 & #2. Kurt's time as a top talent came to an end with the advent of Hulk Hogan as other major stars were able to take the reigns with the given exposure besides him.

It would be a shame to see him go seeing how instrumental he was to TNA in it's success. But times change and sadly so do the faces of pro wrestling. So if they can't reach an agreement so be it. Though it would be cool to have him on commentary. WWE or TNA.

 

[Trill Co$by]

People are forgetting that TNA has, and would still have; MVP, Bobby Lashley, and Jeff Hardy when/if Kurt Angle leaves as well as Tazz and Bully Ray. The veteran in sights aren't going anywhere, and if Kurt is at a Hulk Hogan stage right now then it's best that TNA let him go back to WWE or even just retire. I think that TNA is in a great position right now to be very healthy with Angle leaving... and here's a better piece that people are forgetting.

When Kurt Angle leaves TNA, TNA will have MORE MONEY to spend elsewhere. They could probably afford to bring back some of the old originals. And more than likely, Daniels will be back to TNA some day anyway like he always seems to do. And even if they don't bring back originals, they can still go out and find more talent to enhance their roster. Maybe they could sign guys like Roderick Strong, Chuck Taylor, Jigsaw, bring back Gen Me, get more guys from Wrestle-1/Japan and rebuild. TNA's not that badly damaged, and plus Jeff Hardy has made TNA way more money than Kurt has.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

As has been stated a few times now, if the losses of Sting, Styles and others have taught you nothing, TNA is more than capable of surviving these veteran, well-known brand losses, despite what the rhetoric and internet clairvoyants predicting doom and disaster will tell you. These are the same future-telling experts who've accurately timed and predicted TNA's collapse since, oh, 2006 or so. What's that, an 8-year window? Not too shabby... if we're judging things by millennia.

Losing Angle isn't going to be fun, just like losing Sting and Styles wasn't either, but let's not sit around predicting the end times again, eh? They'll be just fine without him. There are still plenty of vets on the roster to keep things stabilized, and frankly, most have been far more important to TNA today than Angle has. Angle, like Sting, Nash and others, I would credit so much more with being instrumental, or even integral, to their earlier years. 2013/14? The picture has changed quite a bit. His role is being filled by guys like Hardy, Bully Ray Aries, Roode and MVP.

 

[whoopin' ass]

I don't think Angle leaving is going to destroy TNA but I do feel it leaves a gap. It seems you have a roster of guys fighting for either their first or second title run and for a company this old, that seems odd. At least with Angle around, someone beating him makes that person more credible because he was a multitime champ. It isn't a huge deal and they still have a couple guys like that in Hardy and Abyss but they are not exactly relevant right now so it doesn't have the same impact as Angle. I think that was part of the problem before, it was just too easy to stick the title on Sting or Angle, and now we have an issue because of that. I guess the good part is what veteran can the bring in now who isn't under some sort of wwe contract? There aren't a ton available who haven't already worked there so maybe TNA will realize they have no choice other than to push their guys. Then again, they did just bring back Tommy Dreamer and Rhino...

 

[New Hot Fed]

In a tangible manner, no, I don't think they'd be hurt too badly at all. The TNA fan base is likely not pining for him at all. He's been out of action for some time anyway, and a shadow of himself his last while there when he's been active so no, strictly on paper, I don't think TNA would suffer much at all.

But it's all about perception sometimes. A mass exodus of superstars, bailing out on the sinking Titanic, this is a sentiment that will be out there if yet another one of their established superstars bails out on the company, especially if it is to go elsewhere. I'm not even saying this is the reality of the situation, but it is how much of the fan base will perceive it. Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Mick Foley, Booker T, RVD, Christian, and others I'm sure, all guys who left WWE to take TNA over the top and to put them in direct competition with the big leagues. All gone, and have returned to their roots, at least in some capacity. How about their "homegrown stars"? Where are AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Kazarian, Chris Sabin, and a few others I'm sure? Left for greener pastures. Gone because they were unhappy in TNA for whatever reason. There are only so many established "big names" left there, and Angle is the biggest, so if he leaves to go back to WWE, the perception of this will be very negative amongst the fan base. What they need is someone to stand up and stop the bleeding, someone to renew their contract because they want to be there. This will help fan confidence, roster confidence, and curb the sentiment that not every guy on the roster has one leg out the door.

Of course they do have one guy who would fit the bill, but for some inexplicable reason, he's wearing a weird mask and prancing around the ring like a lunatic. Other than that, they don't have many pillars upon which to support the foundation of the company. I've long been saying that TNA needs to be an alternative to WWE, not a watered down version of it full of castoffs and has been's, and I still believe this. But you do need some stalwarts to count on. And if all of their go to guys decide to head back home to the big leagues, that reflects poorly upon the company's future.

Unless of course, you want to pin your future hopes on Ken Anderson. Or yet another authority struggle for control of the company.

Here's the thing most of them, they left cause TNA couldn't pay them anymore. And you could say it's a sinking ship but remember late 90s WWF, all the stars left cause they to lacked funds, they were in trouble. But they reenergized their product with new wrestlers and came out of the woods in great shape.

As far as Angle, it's probably more of a case of TNA waiting to see if they get their TV deal back.