Last week it was reported by Cageside Seats and Wrestling Observer Newsletter that ROH talent had been contacted by TNA about if their contracts were up or were free to come to TNA. According to John Pollock of Live Audio Wrestling, not only has this been happening, but that one significant name is unhappy about it.
The timing of such a report is interesting. TNA Wrestling just had their Slammiversary pay per view while Ring of Honor enters the traditional PPV format next Sunday with ROH Best in the World 2014 in the old TNA stomping grounds of Nashville, Tennessee. Best in the World will feature the debut of the former Bad Influence. While Christopher Daniels is a former ROH World champion and long time alumni, Frankie Kazarian making the trip with him including ribs at TNA in their vignettes shows a sense of escape for the team. ROH fans also chanted “Fuck TNA!” when New Japan Pro Wrestling and IWGP Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles was in their ring.
Another interesting development with this is that Matt Hardy is going to be at ROH Best in the World 2014 but TNA Wrestling recently announced that Hardy will also be attending the TNA New York City tapings to reunite with his brother Jeff Hardy.
It isn’t as though talent going back and forth between the two is a rarity. The most recent jump was the Wolves with Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards. However, they were always expected to leave. They weren’t scooped by TNA as they were also attending WWE’s NXT tapings. The one time it did feel like a poaching was when Kenny King was working without a proper contract in ROH and despite being ROH tag team champion, jumped to TNA Wrestling. The rumour going around is that TNA has been talking to current ROH tag team champions reDragon, where Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly are good friends of Davey Richards. Everything is speculative and whispers at this point.
Are we about to embark on a true wrestling war for the first time since 2001? Will this be ROH and TNA going to war?
A situation like this seemed silly years ago. Ring of Honor was always a lot smaller than TNA Wrestling and the two companies either shared talent or TNA used them the same way WWE used ROH. With SpikeTV and traditional PPV plus a multi-billion dollar company backing them, TNA was firmly entrenched as the top North American wrestling company behind WWE. Today, TNA’s pursestrings have been tightened up and with massive talent exodus’ and some uncertainty with their SpikeTV deal, TNA has been looking smaller and smaller. ROH meanwhile was purchased by the Sinclair Broadcasting company and not only has a regular presence on local television but are now jumping into the traditional PPV route. With their relationship with New Japan Pro Wrestling (a relationship TNA squandered), ROH has the ability to bring in some top international stars once a year to spark excitement if need be.
However, is a few talent poaching’s really evidence of a war? Not really. More importantly, wrestling war’s are really defined by head to head competition. I said it was the first true war since 2001 since TNA moving Impact to Monday’s was a lopsided disaster that destroyed momentum and reputation before the company flipped right back to the comfortable Thursday slot. It was less of a war and more of a rabbit being trampled by a herd of elephants. TNA and ROH won’t really be running towns against each other, nor will they be running PPVs on the same night. Ring of Honor’s TV deal isn’t like a SpikeTV cable deal and even if ROH shows to the same amount of people? It isn’t a comparable battle.
More importantly, both companies are not really in positions of strength. While ROH has made some good moves into their future with Adam Cole and Michael Elgin in the main event, they lost their mantle as the top company for independent wrestling talent years ago to Pro Wrestling Guerrila. When your roster includes guys like Matt Taven, Cheeseburger and Tadarius Thomas, you don’t look like a very strong promotion. One could look over at TNA’s use of the rookie Von Erich’s or Tigre Uno or Jessie Godderz as their weak links but even Godderz looks like a pro wrestler on television. Matt Taven looks like a Pauly Shore impersonator in the 21st century. Nothing that’s ever going to set the world on fire. Both companies have relied on stale talent for too long. How much more can you do with the Briscoes or Ken Anderson? How does one define Samoa Joe in 2014 compared to Samoa Joe in 2013? Is Roderick Strong ever going to consistently sell in a match enough for people to care beyond some exciting backbreaker spots?
But I digress. This could have been an exciting battle five years ago when ROH was on HDNet and still had Tyler Black and the Kings of Wrestling. Now they just have Chris Hero, though so does the entire independent wrestling scene in North America. TNA is currently in a point of transition, bringing in new talent and trying to find their identity while working the same overdone authority angles. If TNA steals a talent or two from ROH, it isn’t the first shots fired in preparation for a war to protect the number two spot. It’ll just be business.
Some might not want to hear that, especially ROH fans worried TNA can scoop their stars. But the sign of a healthy wrestling promotion is their ability to make new stars. ROH didn’t go out of business when CM Punk headed to WWE and Samoa Joe signed with TNA. When ROH lost the Kings of Wrestling, Tyler Black and Nigel McGuinness in a short span, they learned to evolve. The reason we have Adam Cole and Michael Elgin in the main event of Best in the World is because guys like Kevin Steen might be heading to the WWE, and it’s time for new stars to shine. The wheel will keep turning. When WWE lost the likes of Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, they made new stars like Mankind and Stone Cold Steve Austin. When ECW lost Taz and the Dudleys, we got Rhino and Steve Corino. Even TNA realizes this with the recent pushes of guys like EC3 and Eric Young. You need to replenish the roster and keep things fresh. So even if TNA takes a reDragon or a Tommaso Ciampa, it’s not the end of the world. A good booker/writer sees a situation like that and says, “Okay, a spot is open. Who deserves the next shot?”
No, I don’t think a war is about to be upon us between TNA Wrestling and Ring of Honor. But even if it did, it is going to take a little more than a talent swap. A war needs stakes. A war needs two fighting armies battling. About the best you can say is this could turn into a cold war. It’s kind of hard to fight a cold war when you’re more concerned with your own survival. Either way, the last thing we as wrestling fans need is another wrestling war. The last one cost us the greatest era in modern pro wrestling. This one would just cost 50% of the combatants their jobs.
Photo via impactwrestling.com
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