[Official] Roster Cuts & Acquisitions Thread

[hatehabsforever]

Sure I can see Austin coming to TNA, it'll be in a triple threat match with Austin, Santa Claus, and the Easter Bunny.

Come on, get serious. Why would Austin go to TNA? What purpose could it possibly serve either side, especially Austin's?

As I understand it, there's no bad blood between Vince McMahon and Austin. If Austin wanted to return to wrestling and was physically able to go, Vince would welcome him back with open arms and blank cheque book. This is what separates the Hogan signing from this ludicrous Austin suggestion. Vince wanted no part of Hogan, certainly not at the type of money that I imagine Hogan wanted. Hogan had no option but go to TNA, or else be out of the wrestling business for good as WWE wasn't an option. But the same cannot be said of SCSA. WWE could offer Austin more money, more exposure, more spinoff potential (such as movies), than TNA ever could, and I'm sure WWE would in a heartbeat if SCSA came calling. Austin is not 56 years old and is still able to walk, so WWE would still have some interest in him.

Incidentally, are we really so certain that Austin cannot still go in the ring to some degree? I'm not suggesting that he can go flat out and full time, but I'm not sure he couldn't come back and wrestle to some limited capacity (if he wanted to, which apparently he does not). I know all about his health history so I don't need anyone to come on here and update me about his troubles. I remember several years ago when HBK was retired and I wondered if he would ever come back, and I was admonished by one of my friends, who had been a wrestling fan far longer than me, that there was no way Michaels would ever be able to wrestle again due to his extensive back problems. Yet he has been back and going pretty much full out, albeit a reduced schedule. He doesn't limit his action in the ring much and really shows no evidence of a dehabilitating back injury that ruled out a wrestling return years ago. Is it possible that the same could be the case with Austin? Because if so, a return to WWE wouldn't necessarily be out of the question, and with even a possibility of a WWE return being there, a TNA appearance is even more impossible.

Dream on TNA fans and get used tothe Terry and Eric show, along with all of his cronies (Macho Man, Nasty Boys, Scott Hall, Brutus the barber Beefcake., etc.,) putting over all of the younger TNA talent, as these guys have always done throughout their careers (he says with a slight hint of sarcasm).

 

[I_Like_All_Wrestling]

100% complete and total bullshit. In my opinion if Hogan said this in all seriousness he loses all credibility with me. First, I'm pretty sure that Austin has a life time deal with WWE, but I'm not totally sure. Also, Stone Cold could only lose from this deal. It doesn't help in in any way whatsoever.

 

[ThePhenom8809]

Hogan has been and will always be full of shit. I don't believe Austin is going to TNA just like I don't believe Hogan was gonna kill himself. He made up the suicide bullshit to help sell his book and now he is lying about this to get more viewers to TNA. I hope this whole Hogan signing runs TNA in the ground and I actually liked TNA before they signed him. I will still watch but I hope this Hogan thing falls flat on its ass.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

Hogan has been and will always be full of shit. I don't believe Austin is going to TNA just like I don't believe Hogan was gonna kill himself. He made up the suicide bullshit to help sell his book and now he is lying about this to get more viewers to TNA. I hope this whole Hogan signing runs TNA in the ground and I actually liked TNA before they signed him. I will still watch but I hope this Hogan thing falls flat on its ass.

As much as I like what Hogan can bring to a wrestling organization and a fan of his from all he's given to the wrestling business .... and I do cut the man a lot more slack than what others do .... I have to agree that he is simply trying to create more buzz with TNA. Unfortunately, he is making himself look like a complete Jackass in the process, and he needs to cut the shit out, unless they plan on turning him into a power hungry Heel and using these remarks as part of an angle.

I don't know if he thinks that wrestling fans in great numbers are going to buy the shit he is spewing here .... but if everyone in this thread is a good representation of the IWC ... then pretty much only 10% are taking Hogan at his word and think that Austin coming in is a possibility.

The rest seem to accept that Hogan is completely full of shit ... and he is in this case. The difference is that this time, more people are on to Hogan's integrity issues and do not take him at his word, anymore. So he isn't doing anyone any favors other then making himself look like a complete bullshitter and losing credibility. And this hurts the credibility of TNA, as well.

On a side note, I also think the suicide thing was bullshit and stated as much in the thread we had on it. The man is doing apparently what he feels he must to keep his name alive and earn a living, I suppose.

 

[baldeagle1961]

Both Austin and Macho Man hate hogans guts so this would never happen. Look at Bret Harts induction, Austin ignored Hogans offer to shake hands and walked past him like he wasn't even there and Hogans daugther has admitted that Hogan hates Savage.
Hogan has to realize his time in the spotligth is over and needs to gracefully fade away but his "Hulkamania" sized ego would never allow it.

 

[Sedated]

This is the most ridiculous thing I've read in almost forever. This will not happen, period.

With that being said I really question wtf some of you guys think.

Macho Man would draw?

Have you guys seem him in recent years? Last time I saw him he did some BS in TNA... the guy is fucking old as can be. He could barely step foot in the ring. That was prob. about 2-3 years ago. I could just imagine what he looks like now. I prob. like Macho Man as much as the next guy but give me a fucking break. TNA can't get wrestlers in their prime to draw ratings, or wrestlers a bit past their prime. Why in holy hell would a super washed up macho man do any better?

A lot of you guys are also really down playing the impact (zero pun intended) it actually would have if Stone Cold did go to TnA. Hogan + Austin on the same show would = huge ratings. That's if they even managed to use just one of them in a SEMI decent fashion.

Lastly, I'm really getting sick of all the Austin hate. I can't help but think this bullshit stems from

A. People who are too young to actually even fucking remember the attitude era

B. People who just try way too hard to go against the grain and want to look "cool"

It happens in everything and it's really just getting sickening. Then there's the BS reasoning people try to use like "He's a pos, he's a wife beater!" Yeah, like Debra hasn't made it stupidly obvious time and time again that she's nothing but a attention seeking cash ****e. Mean while we'll sit around and still sing the praises of Benoit, the guy only murdered his entire fucking family. Yet this does zero to his wrestling career. Austin may or may not have back handed his annoying wife one night and so everything he ever did was utter crap.

This BS happens with music, movies, video games and wrestling it would seem.

How quickly some of us forget what the man did for wrestling. Hogan did a lot for wrestling, but people over do it I find. Hogan was more the guy who got WWE a lot of attention when it didn't really NEED it. With out Austin we'd all be watching WcW right now (Granted with the current WWE "product" that might not be so bad but w/e, that's a whole other story.)

*edit*

One more thing - I also see people say crap like with out Hogan there would never have been any Austin or Rock. Really? Explain that to one to me..

The way I see it we'd have no John Cena with out Hogan. If you want to credit any old wrestlers for the Austins/Rocks/who ever that'd be Piper.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

This has been said many times in this thread, but this is absolutely not going to happen. There are so many reasons as to why this will not happen. Logical ones at that. But the main reason is that Steve Austin knows how to market himself. Austin never bites the hand that feeds him. He only bites the hands that scorn him. Austin and Bischoff wouldn't work in TNA. It worked in the WWE because Bischoff was in Austin's court and answered to Stone Cold. It was Austin controlling the story and the angle they had. In TNA, I couldn't see Hogan and Austin working together. Austin does what's best for the product, Hogan does what's best for his image.

This will never happen. Good move on Hogan trying to stir the pot, but Austin will never go to TNA. Besides, doesn't the WWE own the Austin 3:16 copyright anyway?

 

[WWETNAWARS]

LOL I would rather not see Steve AUstin in TNA he sucked big time in WWE and WCW in the past days! He has a broken neck unless he makes a feud with Hogan and the ratings hit the roof but honestly when Hogan says Austin may come to TNA who do you think he mean G O L D B E R G
Now him I wanna see in TNA and Randy Savage sure why not
But the way I see it he may be speculating The Rock Dwayne Johnson because in the past he did say he would come into TNA in the near future
So my money is on ROCK and GOLDBERG forget AUSTIN after OWEN HART broke Steve's neck he is useless now!

 

[Brady12]

Hulk Hogan is lying about Steve Austin. He's famous for telling stories on Bubba's radio program and Austin has been very clear about not wanting to work a program with Hogan let alone allowing him to be his boss in a different company.

If I'm not mistaken, Austin has also closed the book on wrestling in general and the send off was at Wrestlemania 26. Sure, never say never in this crazy business, but Austin has accepted his wrestling retirement since WM19 and even turned down the chance to guest host Raw.

As for Austin's neck or knees. This is not stopping him from wrestling -- He just simply does not want to anymore. In several interviews, he claimed that he felt great and that he could wrestle full time for another 2 or 3 years if he wanted to, but would rather not risk any more injuries. Which is a shame, because seeing him face Cena or Orton would have been great. Heck...with Jericho's legend angle at WM 25, an Austin vs. Jericho match would have been a stellar story and a true send off as far as I'm concerned.

So unless TNA's investor (Panda Energy) came upon a new fortune and offered Austin a seven figure deal for a few appearances, I don't ever see it ever happening. Heck, even with a seven figure offer, I think Austin's dislike for Hogan would override it.

It's just so sad that we'll never see a Hogan vs. Austin match. Not that it would be a 5 star wrestling match, but just the energy both men bring with their charisma would be off the charts.

 

[attitude_hero]

Reported on the WZ homepage.


Now, just like posted in the quote, we can take this with a grain of salt.

But, if Stone Cold were to come to TNA, that could be another huge signing.
Obviously, Austin wouldn't be wrestling due to his physical condition. But really, if he had any on screen position, it could help BIG time with ratings! Or at least I personally think it could!

What do you guys think?

OH hell no, the fact that people can think about it and even consider it to be a possibility is Ludacris. Austin doesnt need tna hogan did, hogan knows that this is the only place where he will get a national spotlight to do whatever he wants...WWE was not going to allow that...RETIRE ALREADY!!!!

 

[SinCityBlitz]

Austin is FOS if he thinks he could wrestle full time for another two or three years. When he left he could barely go and the injuries he had are not the type that get better with rest. His knees and neck are shot. He couldn't go another two months with a full time WWE schedule.

TNA doesn't have the money to lure him to TNA. It would cost a ransom to bring him in.

I think many different people covered it nicely in this thread.

 

[Brady12]

Austin is FOS if he thinks he could wrestle full time for another two or three years. When he left he could barely go and the injuries he had are not the type that get better with rest. His knees and neck are shot. He couldn't go another two months with a full time WWE schedule.

TNA doesn't have the money to lure him to TNA. It would cost a ransom to bring him in.

I think many different people covered it nicely in this thread.

I think Austin knows what his body can endure better than you so let's leave Austin's condition to Austin. Besides, after Stone Cold's last match, he still took quite a few bumps so apparently, he wasn't completely shot.

If Steve wanted to, he could wrestle again.

 

[dansaun77]

Hogan is the king of making outrageous comments, and people all fall for it. There is now way Steve Austin will work for TNA. Isnt there enough non wrestling guys on camera already????? Hogan is bringing publicity to TNA. Internet marks are going off the chart over Austin coming to TNA. But it simply not going to happen

 

[GameOver]

He's a lier, a schemer and a backstaber. Long live Hulkamania LOL

Savage joining him in TNA? yeah right, since when did they kiss and make up that noone knows about?

Savage already did a brief stint of appearances in TNA anyway

Highly doubt Austin would join either.
A) He can't wrestle so it'd have to be purely mic talent
B) He's too busy making movies
C) He hates Eric Bischoff and Jeff Jarrett

Now if they had said Mick Foley convinced Austin to join them i'd believe that but still the likelyhood of it happening "It'd be a cold day in Hell" and thats the bottom line

the rest of the cast he's said were joining are his best friends, guys who are with him on his Australian Tour atm and have been by his side him since WCW went bust so thats a given, just proves that he's gonna totally take over and run it into the ground i fear. It will be good for a short while

As for the comment about Austin being the greatest and thats been shoved down our throats for the past year. um When? a few casual comments relating to Austin returning for 1 last match at a Mania which has been the case for yrs. Hardly Vince shoving it down everyone's throats.

 

[PEP3]

1) Don't believe a word about Austin. He's expressed absolutely no interest in returning to pro wrestling, even for a short-term WWE gig.

2) I'm all for a "Macho Man" vs. "Black Machismo" match, where hopefully Savage would help pass the torch to Lethal. If they're going to have Jay Lethal continue sponging off Savage's legacy instead of building his own, this is the only way I can see this going.

3) The Nasty Boys were over-weight slobs barely able to breathe by the end of their matches in WCW something like 8 years ago. Now either one of those fat pigs would probably drop dead before they got from the entry ramp to the six-sided ring.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

If you had the power to sign anyone, or any tag team, or even a multitude of singles or tag-team wrestlers to a TNA contract right now, who would he/they be and why?

Keep in mind, I'm not only referring to the free agents now like Ken Anderson, Eddie Fatu, Paul London, Brian Kendrick, RVD, etc. but also the "veterans" of the wrestling industry who might also have something still left to bring to the table.

Please try to keep this discussion solely around who you would bring, and not who you think Hogan would bring, or who you think TNA would bring. I'm just curious to know what the users of this forum actually think, and if there's a general consensus or not (I have a feeling RVD would take the cake there).

IMO, Anderson (Mr. Kennedy) tops the list, followed closely by RVD and Brian Kendrick.

Anderson (as I've explained before) is an A+ mic worker, and I've always had a bit of a soft spot for him. IMO, he'd do a lot to replace the hold Christian made when he left regarding a mid-to-top card face, and no it has nothing to do with the fact that they both have bleached-blonde hair.

RVD is RVD. He's the whole fuckin' show. Need I say more there?

And Kendrick I think would only strengthen the X-Division.

 

[MoxViolence]

id like to see ken anderson and rvd be brought in. anderson has yet to even peak in his wrestling career and tna was made for RVD. they'd be absolutely perfect there. when it comes to veterans....even tho it'll probably never happen...i'd like to see bret hart come to tna. even if he doesn't wrestle. just being able to see bret hart on tv every week would be great.

 

[ianfromlondon]

No chance and ill tell you why.....

there was a interview with stone cold a few months back and he said 'although i have left i am still accually under contract with wwe'

so it looks like hogan yet again is talking out of his behind
maybe he is getting a bit to old that he doesnt know what he says anymore lol

but guys stone cold is still under contract with WWE

 

[dangerduck2]

RVD and Mr. Kennedy are no brainers but i'd like to see Phil Shatter and Mikal Judas be brought up from AAA(NWA Anarchy) and make an impact. Also, i'd love to see Shelton Benjamin get a real chance to show his immense talent.

TNA needs more than more talent and better storylines. Firstly, they need to expand their locations. Let Impact travel to different states like NY, CA, IL, TX, etc. When they get there monday show, make it there A show at much bigger locations. With the right advertising & star/knockout appearances they will sell tickets. Start low in price & increase when they can.

If they keep concentrating on new stars with only internet advertising & very few commercials on spike, if any, they will never have an effect on their ratings. They already have the middle-aged wrestling community's support, & they will get the older crowd with Hogan. They should focus on the younger people because thats where the money is to grow and improve.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Similar to my thread regarding free agents, if you could poach just ONE current WWE roster talent who you think could use TNA most, who would it be and why?

I realize a lot of you will default to someone like Cena or HHH, simply because they are the biggest name in the industry, and much like Hogan did for WCW, poaching the WWE's largest name would legitimize TNA like no other, but the answer I'm looking for here is who you think could actually use TNA, and not necessarily who TNA could use. There is a discernible difference between the two.

For instance, The Undertaker has no use for TNA (regarding what he's accomplished, and what he has yet to), but TNA could certainly use the Undertaker. Understand?

Among a list of guys including Shelton Benjamin, Carlito and Gregory Helms among others, I think the one talent who's being most mis-used by WWE right now, and has the most to give to gain by switching companies at this point is Shelton Benjamin, who IMO is one of the biggest wastes of talent WWE has on any of their rosters.

Why the hell is he on ECW? Why was he demoted? Are you telling me Evan Bourne is better than Shelton Benjamin, because Bourne can do a shootingstar press? Please...

Benjamin would come to TNA and instantly shoot to the top of the X-Division, and put one what IMO would become instant classic matches. He could even break the X-Division for the mid-card and compete there as well.

 

[MoxViolence]

dam straight about shelton benjamin there. he's put on some serious matches in his career. and those money in the bank matches he was apart of...he shined in. if benjamin were in tna no doubt he'd be xdivision champion. tna could use another wrestler with great in ring skills such as him just to add to there already talented roster. shelton vs. aj would be a dream match imo

 

[It's Damn Real!]

dam straight about shelton benjamin there. he's put on some serious matches in his career. and those money in the bank matches he was apart of...he shined in. if benjamin were in tna no doubt he'd be xdivision champion. tna could use another wrestler with great in ring skills such as him just to add to there already talented roster. shelton vs. aj would be a dream match imo

My thoughts exactly, but even beyond just AJ, can you imagine an Ultimate X match with Benjamin and any combination of Kaz (or Suicide), Homicide, Dinero, Shelley, Sabin, Red, Lethal and Creed?

Talk about the "it" factor. That's "it" right there. It'd probably become an instant candidate for match of the year.

I still have no idea why Benjamin was never pushed the way Kofi Kingston was, or even Evan Bourne. Though his mic work is a little weak, Benjamin is otherwise a total package wrestler.

 

[NSL]

If they were going to bring anyone in from outside, the best bet is obviously RVD. He is gold on the mic, and one of the best ever in the ring. He'd work well in the ring, with anyone they threw at him.

My other guess would be someone like Noble...Sure, he's only just now leaving WWE, but he is a great backstage guy, and would be great at helping the young bucks in the X Division.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

Hmm.. a lot really.

Evan Bourne ( Matt Sydal ) - The guy will get burried and burried and jobbed and jobbed in WWE until he croaks. He loses almost every week and I'm sure he's better than half the X division. His biggest problems are his mic skills some say, I say he doesn't have a gimmick and WWE won't let him spend time on the mic. How can someone improve when he's not given the chance and proper gimmick. The guy is just tailor made for the X division.

 

[wrestlemaniac]

I think i'll go a different route here. I'm not saying that shelton sucks because we all know he's talented in the ring and would do wonders in X-Division match. I think...and this is just me here, I think jack swagger. In time, I would see him being a heel tna champ. He's got talent, gots mic skills, gots that cockiness to him.