The wrestling industry has never been the same since the
fall of WCW in 2001. Vince McMahon has ruled the professional wrestling world
for the last 15 years with ease as the closest thing to competition the WWE has
had is Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, and that isn’t really saying much. TNA
started with promise as its blend of veteran talent with young and up and
coming stars looked poised to make the company a credible threat to Vince
McMahon’s wrestling empire. Unfortunately a series of bad contracts and storylines
have seen ratings for its weekly “Impact Wrestling” show decline as well as
many of the company’s stars leave for greener pastures. Things have gotten so
bad that the future of the company is in limbo.
About a month ago, TNA’s version of Wrestlemania, Bound for
Glory, was in danger of being cancelled as the company was scrambling to find
funds for the pay-per-view. The company is currently for sale, and the two
leading candidates to buy the company from owner Dixie Carter in the week
leading up to Bound for Glory were McMahon’s WWE and TNA president and Smashing
Pumpkins front man Billy Corgan. It was expected that news on who purchased the
company was going to break on that Friday.
Twitter was buzzing as it was widely speculated that McMahon
had purchased TNA, and he would once again be able to put another notch in his
belt of competitors he conquered. However, neither company confirmed the
purchase and on Saturday, it was being reported that TNA had managed to attain
the funds needed to pay for both Bound for Glory and its Impact Wrestling
tapings for the rest of the year. According to reports, neither WWE nor Corgan
funded the pay-per-view, and Bound for Glory went off without a hitch, and TNA
was also able to tape enough Impact Wrestling shows for the rest of the year.
A few days later, reports began to surface that WWE and
Carter had reached an agreement in which WWE would buy TNA, but apparently
Carter backed out at the last minute and still owned the wrestling promotion.
It was then reported that WWE had purchased the TNA video library, and Corgan
had purchased TNA with the intent of rebranding and rebuilding the company. Those
reports turned out to be false however, and Carter is, at the time that this
article was written, still the owner of TNA. The drama is not over though as
Corgan is now suing TNA despite being the company’s president. In the latest
development, TNA’s funds for Bound for Glory and the Impact Wrestling tapings reportedly
came from Anthem Sports & Entertainment. Anthem Sports & Entertainment
owns Fight Network which is in a global distribution partnership with TNA.
Needless to say this is the most interest TNA has garnered
in a long time. The drama of whether or not the company would be able to stay
afloat as well as the interest of Vince McMahon in the company set the
wrestling world on fire with rumors and speculation. Part of me wants to see
McMahon buy TNA so that some of the TNA wrestlers could go toe to toe with the
WWE roster and so that the TNA video library could be added to the WWE Network.
The other part of me wants to see Corgan buy the company so that TNA can get a
second chance at being a credible threat to WWE. That would then hopefully
usher in a period of creativity and innovation that has not been seen since the
Monday night war between WCW and WWE. Until a report of TNA being sold is
confirmed to be true, wrestling fans are left to speculate and wonder about the
future of the company. Hopefully something develops in the near future.
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