do you think TNA should look for their talent?

[SavageTaker]

We know that right now, TNA has a few wrestlers who plan on retiring soon and some that plan on leaving the company. They only have a few wrestlers that they can push into the main event and they would be able to carry the main event. But after those wrestlers are pushed up who is going to fill the void they leave once they move up to the top of the card? They aren’t going to have “mid carders” to push because they will be in the main event. Also, TNA doesn’t have a developmental system that they can call talent up from and start building them up to be main eventers once the current crop of wrestlers who are going to be main eventers leave or retire.

It appears that TNA isn’t looking to invest in a developmental system right now, even though they should probably get one. They have been looking for different ways to cut back on expenses so that they can save some money. We’ve seen them do several different things to cut back on expenses such as taping 4 weeks of Impact in 3 days if I am correct. They’ve also released two referees recently in order to not have to fly them out to Orlando. From what I read in a report, they prefer hiring the referees who live near the area so that they don’t need to fly out the referees that live far away. Another thing we’ve seen them do is keep their pay per views in the Impact Zone so they don’t need to pay for the costs of renting an arena for the pay per views. Lastly, they have decided to not fly out all of their talent for the tapings, they are only flying out the ones they are going to use. So I think it seems obvious they don’t plan on investing in a developmental system for the time being. So I ask the question, where should TNA get new talent from?

We’ve seen some great talent come from all over the world but I think we have seen some of the best talent come from the great nation of Canada. For the last couple of decades we have seen amazing talent come from Canada and I think it would be wise for TNA to search for talent there. We’ve seen guys like Bret Hart, Owen Hart, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, and many others come from Canada and they have proven to be some of the best in the world. I think that if TNA looked in the right places in Canada they could snatch some really great talents that they could use as future main eventers?

So now it’s your turn, where do you think TNA should look for their talent? It doesn’t necessarily have to be a country, it can be an indy promotion you’ve seen or a could a state that has produced great wrestlers. It can be anywhere you think there is great talent that TNA would be wise to take before anyone else gets to them.

 

[RageBattle]

I think it was Paul Heyman that posted an article saying that neither TNA or WWE "Scouted" talent per se, but if that's true, they are either going to have to start up a development program or scout for talent.

I sure hope they don't rely on taking leftovers from the WWE, which I doubt, but they don't seem to be looking for anything really, nor pushing their young talent that hard.

Canada would be a good place to start, they could pickup some real talent there and if they actually hired some could mean competition for the WWE, to a minor extent.

 

[Hacksaw Highway]

I guess they just need to hire some scouts and send them off to indy shows. Really, I don't know of any hotbeds for young talent, so I guess they should just keep an eye on some of the bigger indy promotions like ROH, PWG and the like. Now that WWE isn't affiliated with OVW anymore, that may be a good place to look at, because they have produced so many stars in the past and as far as I know the staff there is more or less the same as it was during their time as a WWE affiliate.

 

[Harthan]

Well, honestly, TNA should do the thing that gave them their three greatest hopes for the future, and that's steal rampantly from ROH. I love ROH, and from an ROH fans standpoint, I'd be pissed, but it's the only recourse TNA has. It got them three future main eventers and possibly more (Styles, Daniels, and Joe - although, to be fair, Styles was shared between TNA and ROH from the start). Austin Aries, Nigel McGuinness, Tyler Black, Jimmy Jacobs, even, potentially Bryan Danielson (I hesitate on Bryan because his style isn't quite what mainstream wrestling looks for). Those first four names, however, as well as a wealth of ROH's undercard (Claudio Castagnoli off the top of my head would do quite well) would all make fantastic additions to TNA and, really, this is where they have to go. ROH is the Mecca of independent wrestling and, without a developmental program, TNA needs to get fully fledged independent talent out of the gate, ready to rock in TNA.

This, combined with pushing the smurf out of their undercard, including Lethal, Sabin, Shelley, Creed, Storm, Roode, Young, and Williams (and more), will hopefully give TNA the base of a solid undercard and will be able to fledge out several main eventers to carry the company once its main event talent fades away into the background and retires.

 

[squitman]

They could always look at Booker T's or Team 3D's Wrestling schools for fresh talent if they wanted to. ROH is also an option. They should get some scouts to go to Canada to find some talent.

 

[Viola Moonlight]

Well really, where else can TNA find top notch talent without having them placed into a developmental system for training in the TNA style of wrestling? Gaining old members from the WWE & ROH are great options as these wrestlers can handle the big time success & mainstream. Every other American promotion is under the radar so to speak... except those associated with ROH & WWE of course. There are many guys on the roster that can easily take over the Main Event scene & transition very well, but most of these guys are attractions in either the tag team or X Division. They really don't have to look very far for great wrestling matches. I don't know, but gaining more members from these corporations are not hurting TNA at all in terms of expansion & ratings. From these acquitions, more viewers are tuning into TNA Impact! & is doing ohkay to say the least.

So, my answer is to look for talent in the roster. They could easily pull off the product without a main event scene where the X Division, The Tag Team Division & KnockOut's reign supreme. This may sound hella crazy, but what does TNA offer that WWE doesn't? The three divisions under the Main Event division in TNA tends to offer something fresh & exciting, going as far as saying that I would place TNA's division higher than WWE. But, TNA will never match the WWE in the Main Event Scene. Just an opinion, albeit crazy.

 

[yoshi_doce2006]

A few years ago Jeff Jarrett began a working relationship with SHIMMER women of wrestling and that has really done wonders in creating the best women's division in wrestling. Unfortunately neither Dixie Carter or Jarrett has went out of their way to do that with the men's division. I honestly don't know why they have neglected the men's division. I know they have a working relationship with the IWGP but most of the big talent there doesn't want to work in the US for an extended period of time which really makes it a one way deal in favor of the IWGP. That doesn't help TNA. If TNA doesn't want to start a developmental territory they need to come to an agreement with another territory to develop them some talent, as others have said Canada might be the best way to go.