Last week, TNA released five wrestlers and another contract expired,
which totals six departures from the company, reportedly for budget
cuts. While it's understandable that TNA would have to cut the budget
because of the expense of running Impact on the road, did they actually
waste more of an investment when they released the talent? Four of the
wrestlers that were released were participants in the TNA Gut Check
Challenge and while releasing most of the winners of the contest, TNA
has basically killed the credibility of it. Why should the audience
think that the future winners of the contest are potential stars when
there's a track record of Gut Check winners that get released?
Furthermore, the TV time that was used to push Christian York,
Taeler
Hendrix, Crimson, and Joey Ryan was basically wasted because with the
except of Crimson, did any of the other Gut Check talent that were
released actually get a legitimate opportunity to become a star for the
promotion?
Christian York is a ring veteran that despite
being signed to a few major organizations during his career, didn't
really make it to the next level in the business and TNA used it as the
basis of the storyline for his debut, but York did nothing major after
it. There wasn't a storyline for him after he was signed to the company
and while his released isn't a major mishap, as he's decent in the ring,
but nothing great, it's another example of TNA wasting TV time, as
there could have at least given York the opportunity to become a more
established star.
Taeler
Hendrix had a decent match with Tara and was signed to a contract to
wrestle in the OVW developmental territory, but only made a few
appearances on Impact so it seems to be another situation where she
didn't really get an opportunity to become a star for TNA. Hendrix has
potential and it would seem to make sense for the promotion to add to
the knockouts division, which is some of the better ratings for the
company, but she was released. Another Knockout, Madison Rayne, wasn't
resigned after her contract expired, which doesn't make sense because
she was one of the better knockouts, at least in terms of character on
the TNA roster. Gail Kim, Tara, and Mickie James are great for the
knockouts division, but Rayne could have added a lot to it.
Joey Ryan was also released and I think he could
have become a star for the company, if he was given the opportunity,
instead of the sporadic TV appearances during the past few months. Joey
Ryan was good in the ring, has great mic skills, and he's entertaining
so he should definitely have a spot on the TNA roster. I would guess
that Joey Ryan returns to Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, where he has wrestled
most of his career and he will continue to have good matches.
Obviously, Joey Ryan was under utilized in TNA, but at least it gives
him the opportunity to return to PWG, which is probably the best
independent promotion in the United States so if you haven't seen it
yet, I definitely recommend watching some PWG.
Crimson is one of the original Gut Check winners
and was signed after he wrestled at a TNA seminar. Crimson has all the
skills to be a major star in pro wrestling and it's possible WWE could
sign him. After his debut, TNA gave Crimson a major push and he was
undefeated for over a year before he basically disappeared from TNA TV.
What did the undefeated streak really do for Crimson? When TNA didn't
book him on Impact, they basically killed the push and the TV time they
invested in him is worthless. Crimson should still be on the TNA roster
and it will be interesting to see if the WWE signs him.
Matt Morgan was also released and it was after
some sporadic appearances for the company. There were rumors that Morgan
would return to the WWE last year, but he eventually resigned with TNA,
but did nothing memorable after it. On the surface, Morgan seems like
he would be a star in pro wrestling, but for some reason, he just hasn't
really become anything other than a mid card talent in TNA or the WWE.
That's not to say that Morgan doesn't have the potential to be a star,
but rather that the way he was booked in both companies didn't really
help push him. It will be interesting to see if he returns to the WWE
and if he gets push at the company.
