Can TNA be Saved?

July 25, 2013 Patrick Hickey Jr. Professional Wrestling, TV 0

With the recent releases of Matt Morgan, Luke Gallows, Tara, Joey Ryan, Christian York, Bruce Pritchard and a slew of others, the budget cuts in TNA continue to scare both employees of the company and wrestling fans. While the real faces of the company have yet to flee, is it only a matter of time? Is TNA on its last leg? Can it even be saved?

According to most reports, TNA is two months behind their payrolls. That’s Paul Heyman-run ECW territory right there.

At this point, TNA feels more like WCW in 1999- desperately trying to find its way, but lacking the mobility because of older stars, who refuse to give up their spot. Lets face it- AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Christopher Daniels, Austin Aries, Frank Kazarian and Chris Sabin aren’t little kids anymore. They are ready to be stars and have already proven that they can thrive in other companies if given an opportunity.

Opportunity that has yet to come in TNA because the company seems focused on putting their World Title on WWE washouts and guys that the E passed on, only to let them go or allow them to leave when they don’t produce. While the title runs of Mr. Anderson and Bully Ray were welcomed ones and entertaining, reigns from Jeff Hardy and sadly Christian over the years, stopped the guys who could really help TNA from being the stars they should be.

Even TNA “legends” Kurt Angle and Sting have been roadblocks for TNA’s younger guys. Their salaries and the ones of Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff, limit the company’s ability to be fresh and new. Instead, they’re like Florida for WWE veterans.

In order to be saved, these large contracts have to be cut and for the time being, TNA has to stay inside the Impact Zone. Like Jim Crockett-run WCW before it, TNA has stabbed itself the back by venturing out past its home. With escalating costs, TNA must keep the bulk of their X-Division stars turned heavyweights and simply build from there. otherwise, this company is finished.

At this point, the only people that can save TNA are the people inflicting the most damage.

In the end, those former stars won’t give up their paycheck and that ultimately means TNA, unless saved by someone with cash or decent business sense, will be dead and dozens of quality workers will be back to the bingo halls they started their carers in.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14316 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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