Could TNA Rekindle a Relationship with ROH? Would it Help Them?

[Trill Co$by]

In the early days of Ring of Honor and Total Nonstop Action, the two companies had a working relationship that saw them not only share talent but even reference the companies within a respectful manner before the conflict with ROH founder Robert Feinstein happened. After that, TNA began pulling talent from the promotion in an effort to distance themselves from the man himself. But here we are, in 2016. The man who founded ROH is no longer around, and the company is thriving as easily the best alternative product to the WWE in the United States, IF you could find it on your television.

TNA on the other hand has gone from being the best alternative to being a downright disaster. And that's not to any fault of the talent, because their roster is great. You've got a nice blend of time tested stars like Jeff and Matt Hardy, Kurt Angle, Bobby Lashley, Beer Money, and Abyss. You've got a nice blend of stars in the making with EC3, The Wolves, Bennett, Drew Galloway, and Bram. And you've even got a solid women's division featuring a great blend of experience and green. But for some reason, the quality of shows are going down.

So, is it possible that with ROH and TNA doing deals with other promotions; for them two to finally put aside their differences and become some what allied? It's no secret that Jeff Jarrett used his namesake with TNA to bring awareness from some casual American fans to his new promotion GWF (that doesn't even air) and they've also advertised the House of Hardcore promotion of Tommy Dreamer. So why not give it a go with aligning with ROH one more time? As I see it, that would be a win-win for both brands.

Ring of Honor would get the advantage of regaining some of its greatest workers in the Wolves and Bennett while also receiving the opportunity to get guys like Kurt Angle, The Hardys, EC3, Beer Money, etc. while TNA would be able to revitalize Jay Lethal within the TNA legacy, get access to teams like ReDragon, regain the two best tag teams not named Beer Money in Bad Influence and MCMG, and be able to use guys like Moose, Cedric Alexander, The Briscoes, Matt Taven, the Young Bucks, etc etc.

If done right, a unity of these two companies could put WWE in line to have some very stiff competition. It could possibly breathe the much needed life into both companies so they can gain recognition and get better television outlets. It could be something that TNA and ROH would both benefit from as well as be able to give something fresh to the fans.

But could it happen? Could Dixie get in contact with Sinclair to let the unity come through?

 

[Fabulous Freebirds]

No.

As a TNA fan, I don't want to see any relationship with ROH. It helps nobody. ROH and TNA working together would help nobody.

If anything, TNA should do whatever it takes to work with Lucha Underground. That's the hot ticket right now and would get people to care. Or NJPW.

But working with a niche product like ROH, no. I don't see any appeal in ROH right now worth the time.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

The problem with trying to work with rival companies, or even other companies in general, is that one of the two have to "win" if you are doing any kind of "invasion" angle, which folks who run wrestling companies, particularly ones named TNA, can't seem to say no to. As soon as that becomes reality, any opportunity at working together goes out the window because neither side wants to be seen as having wasted their time, or having their guys look weak to the "other" guys.

From what I read, TNA did reach out to Lucha Underground to do a Super Card type event, but Lucha turned them down, and I can't really blame them for doing so.

At the end of the day, the only way there can be a working relationship with TNA and another wrestling company is if it's simply in a talent exchange manner where the two companies can borrow talent from one another, similar to how TNA used to operate years ago with ROH, NJPW and more recently with Wrestle-1.

 

[klunderbunker]

Why would Ring of Honor want to do that? At this point, TNA comes off as a company screaming "PLEASE PAY ATTENTION TO US! WE'RE COOL REMEMBER?" TNA used to be a big deal in wrestling but now they're that company that has Matt Hardy as World Champion and the same Tag Team and Knockouts Champion that they had like three years ago. Ring of Honor isn't exactly lighting the world on fire, but they're in a much better position than TNA right now. ROH really gains nothing from working with TNA and would be just fine without them. There's nothing to gain from a partnership and I don't know why they would ever consider this.

 

[midgensa]

I don't HATE the idea, but mostly because I am a mark.

I want to see a properly utilized champion like Jay Lethal back in TNA. I want to see rEDragon vs. The Wolves. I want to see Dalton Castle and Moose get more exposure. I want to see ECIII get the chance to grow and feud with talent like the Briscoes.

But, business wise ... it makes BOTH brands look bad. It makes them look like they are saying, "We are not good enough by ourselves, but, together, we can be something!"

Fiscally, if they could figure out a way to merge the companies, they could be a legitimate No. 2 together, but nobody wants to merge and it is clear that Dixie does not want to walk away - and she is the largest problem with TNA right now.

I just don't see any real way a working arrangement does anything other than make both companies look weak. It is a little different when working with NPJW since it is on the other side of the world.

 

[mlp420]

Why would Ring of Honor want to do that? At this point, TNA comes off as a company screaming "PLEASE PAY ATTENTION TO US! WE'RE COOL REMEMBER?" TNA used to be a big deal in wrestling but now they're that company that has Matt Hardy as World Champion and the same Tag Team and Knockouts Champion that they had like three years ago. Ring of Honor isn't exactly lighting the world on fire, but they're in a much better position than TNA right now. ROH really gains nothing from working with TNA and would be just fine without them. There's nothing to gain from a partnership and I don't know why they would ever consider this.

Knew I'd see at least one of these here.

ROH is absolutely nothing. They have no TV other than seniors that leave their local CBS/ABC on falling asleep Saturday night after the news. They got the DA slot thinking they'd roll over TNA once viewers saw ROH's obviously "superior" product and they ended up getting exposed.

The big difference between ROH/TNA is ROH gets praised by the small internet wrestling media while TNA obviously gets the opposite. Until we start seeing smark praise translate into serious dollars for them, that praise means nothing. So ROH is in the same boat: Wrestling promotion struggling to gain a slice of the national wrestling market.

Objectively speaking, neither gains much from working together, but not because as some delusional fanboys would say, one promotion is too good for the other. More because neither has much to offer the other aside from a nice little invasion storyline.


And one more thing, how many good shows does TNA have to put together before people start to get their head out of their rear ends and stop acting like everything they do is terrible? If you stopped watching and don't want to give them a fair shake because you're bitter about stuff like Hogan/Bischoff just say so. Don't blindly rip the product if you aren't paying attention.

 

[klunderbunker]

Knew I'd see at least one of these here.

ROH is absolutely nothing.

Except for a promotion with connections to New Japan, talent like AJ Styles and Alberto Del Rio in the last year and a bunch of TV stations that haven't thrown them off in the last year.

They have no TV other than seniors that leave their local CBS/ABC on falling asleep Saturday night after the news. They got the DA slot thinking they'd roll over TNA once viewers saw ROH's obviously "superior" product and they ended up getting exposed.

I stopped reading after the word "other", as whatever they've got is better than the old TV Guide channel. They're nationwide and in a much better place than TNA, which is on its third different network in a year and a half. That's not much to brag about, especially when I can see Ring of Honor on the same channel as the NFL. I'd call that a step up over whatever Bigfoot hunting show Destination America was offering or the channel with those awesome That 70s show reruns.

The big difference between ROH/TNA is ROH gets praised by the small internet wrestling media while TNA obviously gets the opposite.

You're right. TNA gets heckled by most fans because they're really kind of a disaster.

Until we start seeing smark praise translate into serious dollars for them,

Like a network buying the entire promotion? More than two live pay per views a year? Destination America money maybe? Again: better than TNA.

So ROH is in the same boat: Wrestling promotion struggling to gain a slice of the national wrestling market.

Staying on the same system of national stations while appearing on the biggest non-WWE show of the year vs. hoping they can survive on the TV Guide Channel.

You really think that's the same thing?

Objectively speaking, neither gains much from working together, but not because as some delusional fanboys would say, one promotion is too good for the other. More because neither has much to offer the other aside from a nice little invasion storyline.

As in the invasion that TNA just had about six months ago where I was supposed to be interested in Jeff Jarrett's house show tour? You know how Ring of Honor has a working relationship with New Japan? As in the company WWE raids for talent? Again: if you think that's the same as what TNA is doing, you really don't get this.

And one more thing, how many good shows does TNA have to put together before people start to get their head out of their rear ends and stop acting like everything they do is terrible?

Enough that they don't get canceled because people aren't watching. Late 2011 saw them getting two million viewers a week. Now it's about 250,000. Those losses are all because of the internet complaining right?

If you stopped watching and don't want to give them a fair shake because you're bitter about stuff like Hogan/Bischoff just say so. Don't blindly rip the product if you aren't paying attention.

Actually I haven't missed a show in at least eight years. As I watch this week, I see Matt Hardy as champion. As in the man who was in Ring of Honor about two years ago joking about what a stupid move it would be to make him World Champion of a major company.

TNA gets some bad treatment, but at the end of the day, they've earned a lot of it with so many stupid decisions.

 

[TDFG]

There would be a benefit to it for TNA, TNA has a good roster but seems to have a piss poor booking team, poor & bland storylines, no real indication of where they are going so a partnership with ROH would give them access to some TNA originals and a couple of teams that would give them some depth.

As for ROH, well they have a nice exchange partnership going with NJPW at the moment, they've got some good talent & I don't see what they could gain out of a partnership with TNA.

 

[Rayne]

And one more thing, how many good shows does TNA have to put together before people start to get their head out of their rear ends and stop acting like everything they do is terrible? If you stopped watching and don't want to give them a fair shake because you're bitter about stuff like Hogan/Bischoff just say so. Don't blindly rip the product if you aren't paying attention.

A couple would be a start. See, here's the thing about how this "viewers" stuff works. Fans aren't out there, constantly trying and reevaluating your product. No one's making a week-by-week decision on if they're a fan of the programming or not, and TNA, over the past few years, has reduced their audience size by 7/8's. These people aren't sitting around, tuning into Impact every other week to see if it's a good show this time. They got sick of watching TNA for one of many valid reasons, and stopped paying attention to it.

So how does a company go about getting these viewers back? These lost viewers didn't just disappear from the face of the planet; they went on to fill their time with other shit. They started watching other promotions. To get those viewers back, you get their friends- people that are still watching- to talk about the show.

You know what I hear when people who are watching TNA talk about it? "Uh, Matt Hardy's champion. I guess EC3 is pretty good." There is zero excitement about what's going on in TNA right now, there seem to be no plans for doing things to get people excited about the product; they are currently off to the exact same start on the TV Guide channel as they had on Destination America. You're no exception; whenever you post here, it isn't to talk about what's going on with the TNA product- it's to get involved in pissing matches with people who have the gall not to be entertained by your chosen side.

"Give TNA a fair shake?" It is not the audience's responsibility to try a product every week to see if they still think it sucks. It's up to the company who is trying to sell a product to sell people on the product. Case in point: I don't like bologna. I'm not going to the grocery store every week and saying "let me try all of your bologna, to see if I no longer hate it", but if a friend said to me "no, seriously Rayne, try this bologna, it's fucking good", I might give it a shot.

Obviously people aren't going to take your words of glowing praise with any seriousness; Dixie Carter could walk to the ring, hike up her skirt and shit with her ass facing the wide camera, and you'd be here complaining about how fans didn't appreciate the texture and viscosity. When TNA starts giving people something to talk about besides 'are they still around?' and 'no, really, they are?', that's when they'll get their "fair shake".

 

[rmp0012002]

No benefit for ROH in doing anything with TNA. ROH has deals with PWG and New Japan but they know their place right now. Would they like to grow? Absolutely. TNA feels that a move here and a move there and they're right up there battling Vince which will never happen. First of all, they need to get rid of "TNA" as to many it comes across as something childish and sexist rather than wrestling. I think when they rebooted they should have just renamed the company Impact Wrestling.

 

[Vanilla Midget]

Any relationship would be only to TNA's benefit, and possibly ROH chagrins. Together they're the two biggest alternatives to WWE in North America, whereas TNA tries to be an alternative through emulation, ROH truly is a polar alternative.

ROH focuses on wrestling, and good storytelling told in the ring. TNA focuses on being an entertainment company, focusing on the soap operatic aspects.

They're no longer on the same TV station, so telling a fluid story would be convoluted as many would miss pieces. The other issue is who goes over? Any time any faction has invaded WWE, they've inevitably been rebuffed. ECW in the late 90s, WCW in 2001, ECW again and again. Nobody from the invading company got over.

It'll be fun for the die hard fans of each brand, but it makes no sense from the outside. It might be more beneficial to the two companies to do some kind of talent exchange, have Jay Lethal return to TNA for a storyline or send EC3 to ROH for a run. Any true invasion would beg the questions, who goes over, and what ultimately would be the long term benefits to the talent and both companies?

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Any relationship would be only to TNA's benefit, and possibly ROH chagrins. Together they're the two biggest alternatives to WWE in North America, whereas TNA tries to be an alternative through emulation, ROH truly is a polar alternative.

ROH focuses on wrestling, and good storytelling told in the ring. TNA focuses on being an entertainment company, focusing on the soap operatic aspects.

They're no longer on the same TV station, so telling a fluid story would be convoluted as many would miss pieces. The other issue is who goes over? Any time any faction has invaded WWE, they've inevitably been rebuffed. ECW in the late 90s, WCW in 2001, ECW again and again. Nobody from the invading company got over.

It'll be fun for the die hard fans of each brand, but it makes no sense from the outside. It might be more beneficial to the two companies to do some kind of talent exchange, have Jay Lethal return to TNA for a storyline or send EC3 to ROH for a run. Any true invasion would beg the questions, who goes over, and what ultimately would be the long term benefits to the talent and both companies?

Exactly this. The only way it makes sense is from a talent exchange perspective, as TNA did years ago with ROH (a long, long time ago at this point), GFW, Wrestle-1, etc.

So say Bobby Roode isn't doing anything right now and "creative has nothing for you" — you lend him to ROH for N around of time and ROH can lend back someone they have nothing for at the time being.

 

[DirtyD79]

While it would be nice to see, anything TNA could bring to the table Ring Of Honor already has. Such a partnership would benefit TNA far more than ROH. Plus the TNA they'd be partnering with doesn't have the red hot X Divison of it's early years or the great Knockouts divison that boasted the likes of Awesome Kong, Cheerleader Melissa, and Daffney. I can't picture ROH being in much of a hurry to swing a deal like that. TNA really screwed themselves over with their restrictive policies on what kind of shows their talent could appear on.

 

[stingray11214]

Get real. If TNA REALLY wants to hook up with another company in order to get talent exchanges, they would do something smart and rejoin the NWA. If I were the Sinclair family, the only way I would work with TNA is if TNA is used as a developmental territory for RoH owned by the Sinclair family. RoH is slowly becoming a force to be reckoned with here in the States. With Sinclair purchasing cable networks to become a truly national player, RoH is only going to get stronger as a Sinclair property.

TNA is not going anywhere anytime soon. TNA would not benefit from an arrangement with RoH. They really have nothing to offer RoH except more pairs of eyes.
That said, they really need to drop trying to become "National" and stay "Regional". By rejoining the NWA, they could be the destination for a lot of Indy stars to have a match or three. And, it would allow TNA to cherry pick those they wish to work with in the future.

 

[TDFG]

Didn't TNA send some guys to AAA as a gesture and possibly begin a working partnership, obviously never worked.

TNA should go back to Wrestle-1.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

I don't see this happening at all for one simple reason, roh wants to beat tna and become the no.2 company in north america and it won't happen if they have a deal with tna. Also you got to take ito cnsideratio that most of the formers tna wrestlers that movve to roh still have a. Sour taste in their mouth about the way they were treated In tna and would rather leave roh then actually work with tna again. So I doubt that roh would put a partnership with tna over the wish of guys like tthe young bucks and chris daniels.