Well, as members of the Hall of Fame, I'd imagine they be a little closer to retirement than not, so guys like AJ, Joe, Daniels, etc. are all out for me.
Personally, Jerry Lynn would be the very first name I'd contact, as he was integral to the early X Division and was a fantastic veteran leader for the old NWA TNA.
Second would be Sting, who like Lynn came into the company in the early on and stuck around, despite the obvious offer for a substantial amount of money more from the WWE on principle alone (his wanting never to work for Vince).
Third would be Jarrett, by default, as he is afterall the founder of the company.
I always hear about AJ/Daniels/Joe/XDivision built TNA. "They made what TNA is today." I was looking to see if any TNA fans appreciated any of the young guys who were with TNA a long time, but were released/let go or any old guys who helped pioneer the X Division. I feel like TNA will never have a legacy b/c the fans don't appreciate it enough to do so.
I'm sure there are more, but IDR is the one guy I've noticed who seems to be out for TNA's best interest on these forums. Sometimes it almost feels like half of the supposed fans of TNA are WWE plants. By that I mean, you only like the stuff about TNA that the mainstream wrestling fan wouldn't get into.
It's like a lot of you want to hold TNA back and don't even know much about it's history. AJ/Daniels/Samoe Joe are not the heart and soul of TNA as everyone seems to thnk.
Rhino has been in TNA longer then Joe and where is his thanks? TNA fans seem to think he's old meanwhile he's around the same age as Styles, Joe, Anderson, Hardy, Morgan, Beer Money and is even younger then Abyss.
I feel as though when Styles is about 35 and limited in the ring, TNA fans will dump him like they have everyone else.
I'm glad IDR brought up Jerry Lynn. As much as everyone complains about old guys and how much better TNA's wrestling is then WWE's ... Angle, Sting and Jarrett are the stand outs for who should be in first HOF induction.
I was writing a response earlier but didn't post ... but I was going to ask ... since X Division is such a big part of TNA how come people aren't mentioning the pioneers of it such as Jerry Lynn (w/TNA 02'-07') or Kid Kash (02'-05') Did Kid Kash even get a pop @ HJ? He wasn't even brought back the second night. I feel even Raven, whose been around forever on and off in TNA, isn't even considered a TNA guy by TNA fans. The guy I was hinting too in the original post (who one person mentioned, props to them) was Chris Harris. He was W/ TNA from 02-08, part of America's Most Wanted ... was a seven time tag team champion. Undoubtedly, a lot of fans of TNA hold Chris Harris close to their hearts as he helped the X Division and James Storm build TNA too what is today?
Another guy I'm pretty sure I still haven't heard said ( I might be wrong ) is Kevin Nash (*whild editing I noticed XTSDlx mention him, good man!). He's been with the company since 04'. If you think Nash has been holding any talent back, check out how many titles he's held in TNA.
Nash brought soli sd promos/skits too TNA. TNA must of gained some recognition from Paparazzi productions and Nash bits going viral.
Anyway, my choices would be Angle, Sting, Jarrett, Nash. My hope is that Mr Anderson sticks it out with the company and if he does, he will one day become a TNA HOF'er. Storm and Rude are 33 so I'm going to have to include them, especially Storm (already a Ten time Tag team champ.)
I suppose as a seventh member of this class, I think it'd be right to include Jeremy Borash.
In closing, I've heard lately that Paul Heyman took nobodies and made them something. I think TNA must also been given credit for this as well. If he were in WWE, AJ Styles would have gotten lost in the fold somewhere along the lines. Samoe Joe wasn't even fat enough to be the likes of Umaga, Rikishi, or Yokozuna. TNA has prospered from aged stars the likes of Nash, New Age Outlaws, Jarrett, Angle, Foley, Steiner, Booker T, Sting ... the list goes on and on. And with these recognizable stars, they brought in spot monkeys and very good wrestlers who would have only rotted away in WWE (Styles, Kaz.)
When I see Styles, I feel like "what if Rey Mysterio had joined TNA in 2002?" Rey might have been even better suited in those style matches then AJ, right? I just feel this is the wrong time for TNA to try and parade AJ Styles as the face of the company. How long ago was it AJ was having to dress up as a turkey and listen to w/e Angle told him to do while he teamed with Tomko.
Anyway, I think TNA has done well with that they've been given. And I feel right now TNA has more World title contenders then ever. I stopped watching when TNA for a while Christian was world champ. I think I also stopped watching WWE for years when Christian was given a more prominent role (Team Canada.)