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| Why did Ryan have to go? Photo Credit: ImpactWrestling.com |
My biggest concern for their product is their recent release of some of their talent. The most notable of these is Joey Ryan. TNA put forth some great effort bringing this guy in and making him relevant. He was the second contestant on Gut Check, and was the first to be declined for his shot into TNA. They then spent the next several weeks showcasing Ryan on television lobbying for his spot on the roster because 86% of the people voting on their website believed that Ryan was worth a TNA contract.
After watching his promos and a little of his in-ring work, I believed that those 86% were correct. I loved seeing Ryan on television, and some of his work was better than many people they gave better time to. Again, I don't have any information, but to think that a lifetime indy worker like Ryan was given a lucrative contract seems a far stretch. I assume that Ryan was on the lower end of salaries that TNA was paying, so I'm not sure why his release was one so desperately warranted.
Matt Morgan makes a little more sense. He received a decent push in WWE and was given even better treatment upon his initial entry into TNA. I know he asked for his release; however, I believe that if Morgan's talents were utilized correctly, if he had been the booked as the biggest man on the roster, that he could have made a good home in TNA. He probably would've been more of a bargain than some of the stars on the roster.
Yet another puzzling release was Tara. I've always believed that women's wrestling in TNA was far superior between the two corporate companies, so for the company to get rid of a savvy veteran just baffled me. I get the fact that Velvet Sky is over. I get that they've put a lot into building Miss Tessmacher. But women like Mickie James and Tara are the reason that the Knockouts' Division seems superior to the WWE product. The fact that WWE let those two go in the first place is really beyond me. But for TNA to do the same with Tara and even Madison Rayne is completely shocking.
But perhaps the most mind-boggling move of all in the past month for the seemingly cash-strapped TNA is the failure to re-sign DOC before his contract expired earlier this month. I didn't get to see much of Gallows in WWE; I only caught a bit of Festus when he first debuted. However, that was enough for me to see that the guy was great, an athletic big man with character chops. Of course, he was terribly misused in TNA, but that still didn't stop him from being the most eye-catching of all Aces and Eights' underlings (if that's a good thing).
The same thing goes for Gallows that goes for Morgan. Yes, he was a WWE guy first, but he probably didn't come with a gigantic price tag. I'm not sure a non-marquee member of Aces and Eights commanded big money. I just don't understand how they can't come to terms with talents like these in order to keep a higher level product.
Yet, with all the financial distress that the company pleads, they are still willing to pay guys like Hulk Hogan, Sting, and Kurt Angle what I'm sure are ridiculous salaries. Hogan, I get. The man made the business what it is today, and I'd buy tickets to the lowest rate show I could find if Hogan was on the bill. As long as TNA is pulling a profit, I can't blame them for whatever they pay the Hulkster.
Sting and Angle on the other hand? No thanks. I'm sure there are people out there paying to see these guys, but I'm not one of them. I believe that if you are watching TNA, you are either a die-hard wrestling fan or someone looking for an alternative. While I'm sure that TNA makes some change off of the former, it's the latter who are, or at least should be, their main demographic. I'm one of those guys, and I'm tired of seeing old-timers like Sting and Kurt Angle not only wasting my television time, but also keeping the company from opening up the checkbook for better talents at cheaper prices. I'd rather have five Luke Gallows than one Sting.
I think TNA needs to take a big step back and look at where they're hemorrhaging the most money and where they can get the bang for their buck. We always hear reports about how WWE is looking at their target audience and how they can pull more people into their product. TNA seems to be relying on the past and showcasing talents that someone else has made. That's all well and good until your audience becomes so old and your roster becomes so unrelatable that you're not drawing in any new fans.
WWE is consistently looking to bring more women and other casual viewers in because if they can get them hooked, that's more people paying into their product. Theoretically, the various outlets that carry TNA wrestling should be enough to bring in new fans, especially with a network like Spike behind them. Let's pay some actual talent that will be here to entertain me for years to come instead of guys walking down to the ring in suits to talk on the microphone for five minutes and then walk to the back. Let's move out the Stings, the Kurt Angles, the Jeff Hardys, and the Rampage Jacksons and let's move on with the Bobby Roodes, Austin Arieses, Christopher Danielses (I know he's old, but you get the idea), and AJ Styleses. It's not only going to be better for the product, but it's going to be better for the checkbook too.