WWE Wants Certain TNA Superstars to Jump to NXT

According to a new report from Dave Meltzer of F4Wonline.com, WWE wants certain TNA superstars to jump to NXT once their contracts with the other promotion expire. It was previously noted that WWE didn’t want to bring in anyone from TNA, as they like to pretend the promotion doesn’t even exist, but this isn’t the case apparently.

Meltzer claims that WWE is weary of how weak the depth chart is in NXT currently. While there are a lot of new talent in developmental, most aren’t advancing in their craft as rapidly as the company would like, so they’re eyeing a few members of TNA’s roster to bring in and work great matches to help build the brand.

This news comes after WWE omitted Samoa Joe’s TNA tenure from a career retrospective that they posted on WWE.com about the latest WWE signee. They discuss his time in Ring of Honor, then stop at year 2006, and pick up with 2015. They also leave out Joe’s feud with CM Punk during their Ring of Honor days, which was Samoa Joe’s biggest ROH program and what helped him get a job with TNA Wrestling.

Meltzer writes,

“A correction from last week: While it was the case that WWE wouldn’t touch anyone from TNA, we’re told that WWE is looking to find out what dates a few of the good workers in TNA’s contracts expire because they are interested in TNA guys, but right now only for NXT. I think it’s pretty clear that NXT is lacking good wrestler depth and they are selling it on both a few personalities like Enzo & Cass, and the women, but the key is the great workers and right now there are only a few of them.

A few scouting notes from NXT. Braun Stowman is not even close to being ready. Eva Marie got really rattled on her promo when fans started catcalling her. It’s scheduled to air this week and it’ll be interesting to see how it’s edited. Finn Balor vs. Rhyno was the best match at the last tapings. The crowd reactions were down for almost the entire show.

The Samoa Joe vs. Kevin Owens match was not as heated as expected. The idea of it was over but the actual match wasn’t. The post-match brawl wasn’t even getting that good a reaction until one called the other a “bitch,” and the crowd was into it after that point. But it was also noted that they were able to get away with stuff that others can’t, because the talent in developmental has been taught not to use words like that. The idea taught is that swearing is cheap heat, plus the whole idea is they put on family friendly shows.

Corbin right now is considered a full-time heel, even though there hasn’t been a turn. Lina, the Samoan monster woman, is very green at this point. Most of the talent that weren’t already made before coming here is not making progress at the rate one would expect. One person noted how scary it is when you look at how long so many have been around and how limited they still are.

The fans themselves at the Florida house shows are very different than the Northeast, as they fully accept weak matches and have a good time no matter what, so it’s a far better environment to work and build confidence, but it’s also the difference between performing in front of 200 to 500 people and 2,000 people. They are doing far more with the television show in post-production.

The WWE web site did a story on Joe, with photos and a look at his career. What was notable is that when covering his career, they covered every promotion including ROH, but TNA never existed, so it was like he wrestled until 2006 or so and then vanished. They also showed photos of him from ROH interacting with the likes of Bryan Danielson, KENTA, Kenta Kobashi, Takeshi Morishima, Tyler Black (Seth Rollins), but nothing of Punk.”

Editor’s Note:

TNA has good talent…they just need to sign with WWE to get recognition of said talent.