TNA’s partnership with WWE has a lot of people excited for the future.
The news of TNA’s groundbreaking partnership with WWE – a deal that will allow both companies to share talent – has got the wrestling world talking about what the future could have in store. With numerous possibilities for collaboration and an abundance of storylines to develop, many notable figures have been weighing in to share their thoughts and suggestions. WWE Hall of Famer and recent TNA enigma JBL seems very excited for what the partnership could bring.
Speaking on the latest episode of the Something to Wrestle podcast, JBL pointed out the similarities between NXT and TNA, especially when it comes to the energy of the fanbases – similar to ECW, the fans “chant their initials” and “have taken ownership” of the promotions. For TNA in particular, JBL sees this partnership as a huge opportunity:
“Now you have somewhere else for them to go with TNA. [They can] work with a different group of people. Learn a different sense and system. Learn different camera people, different producers, everything that you do that changes and adds to that background of education that these young people have before they go to WWE. To me, it’s going to be very helpful and I think it does wonders for TNA.”
Regarding the NXT roster, JBL spoke about how useful it will be for wrestlers to gain experience outside of WWE, to showcase their talent in different environments:
“I think you’re gonna start seeing some NXT guys on TNA. I think that’s wonderful, because when you’re learning the business as people are learning down in NXT, no matter how great your coaches are – and they have great coaches down there… Finlay, Robbie Brookside, those guys are world-class – but no matter how much you have from a coach, you still have one territory. Back in the day, one of the things that happened when guys got to WWE was they had wrestled in several different territories. It was kind of like college football. You knew that a guy was a stud in high school, you knew that everybody on that college football team had been a star somewhere. That was the same, pretty much, back in the day with WWE. Well, now you bring them up through one territory. I think it’s a hard learning process. I think it’s harder on these kids that come in.”
The new of the TNA partnership has had many fans speculating whether an invasion angle could develop, similar to WCW and WWF in 2001. JBL shared his insight into this idea:
“I don’t know if an invasion angle is ever going to be out there. I doubt it. I don’t know that. I have no idea what creative is, but I think it’s fantastic for both [TNA and NXT].”
TNA Announcer “Officially Signs Off”
A fan favourite from TNA’s announcer team is bringing her time with the promotion to an end.