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The sudden departures of Eric Young and Bobby Roode from TNA Saturday leave a number of questions about each of the talents, where they are heading, and what this means for the future of TNA.
It's important to note that each situation involving Young and Roode are both unique and exclusive to each of those performers. One leaving had nothing to do with the other and the timing just turned out that the two, who signed the same day with TNA in 2004, were exiting the company on the same day.
As reported over the weekend in the Elite section of PWInsider.com, while all sides are going to publicly play up that the two former TNA champions leaving are completely amicable departures, and at the end, things between all sides might even be completely amicable, obviously the situations leading into Roode and Young's exits were not. If things were 100% amicable, they'd still be happily working for TNA.
There are reports floating online, attributed to PWInsider.com, that the pair each asked for pay raises and were turned down, leading to them quitting. PWInsider never reported that in any way, shape or form and that version of the story is incorrect. Here is, based on speaking to multiple sources over the last 48 hours, what we did report in the Elite section of the site:
BOBBY ROODE
After speaking with multiple sources, in the case of Roode, it appears his situation was somewhat similar to what happened to AJ Styles several years ago. Roode had been signed to an existing TNA deal that allowed him to be one of, if not, THE highest paid talent in the company. As Roode's most recent deal came to an end last month and with Roode as one half of the Tag Team champions, TNA wasn't in a position where they could continue to pay Roode at the level he was previously receiving, nor was Roode being used at that level where TNA could derive the sort of revenue necessary to viably pay him. So, Roode had effectively worked himself into a position where he was too expensive for TNA, in it's current state, to retain.
We have also heard that in recent months, a bigger issue was that Roode had been extremely unhappy with TNA pay being behind and was very vocal about it to TNA management, which led to a lot of frustration and issues between the two sides. We have heard from multiple sources that TNA did eventually catch Roode up in pay.
We are also told that Roode recently agreed to a new deal but then had a change of heart and requested his release after what one source called "more frustrations." What exactly was the tipping point is unknown and it's doubtful either side will go on record with it. It's possible it was a pay issue but again, we've heard from multiple sources that TNA completely caught up whatever they owed Roode.
TNA negotiated an exit with Roode getting his complete release in exchange for him working this past week's set of TV tapings. He was completely free and clear as of midnight Sunday 3/20. He is currently taking independent dates.
ERIC YOUNG
In the case of Eric Young, we are told that Young had also signed a new deal recently but after being with the company for 12 years, he was said to have been upset with what he had been offered for that deal. Beyond that, one source believed that Young was frustrated to see TNA talents who had a much shorter tenure (or had left and returned) being offered deals at the same level or better. It should be noted that while others were likely being locked in 100% for TNA, Young is believed to have had the ability to do outside projects, such as his past reality series, with TNA not being involved with that aspect of his career.
We are told that Young voiced his unhappiness and TNA management asked him to decide if he wanted to remain or wanted to see if he wanted to be a free agent. At 36, Young decided that he'd rather not be locked into a deal and wanted the ability to explore options elsewhere, so he and the company negotiated his release, part of which was Young working the last week of TV tapings. Young is also completely free and clear to sign anywhere he wants and is currently taking independent dates.
Young leaving specifically shocked a lot of people in the company since he had been one of the most loyal talents in the history of TNA.
THE FUTURE
Young and Roode will be appearing on Impact Wrestling TV for the next six weeks through 4/26. Based on what we have heard about the tapings, neither were explicitly buried or "written out" on the tapings, so the potential for either to come back and work additional tapings (TNA is next set currently set to tape in late April) as non-contracted talents is certainly there, although if Roode and/or Young are looking to move to another major promotion, they may wish to distance themselves from the company publicly.
The natural next question is whether either Young or Roode are WWE or WWE NXT-bound. As of today, both are 100% free and clear to sign anywhere they want. AJ Styles is on the main roster of WWE. WWE NXT has signed Samoa Joe and Austin Aries and flirted with the idea of signing James Storm. It's not outside the realm of possibility that WWE will take a look at one or both and that either would be a perfect fit for NXT specifically. Young, who excelled at playing different characters, seems tailor-made for WWE if they chose to cast him in a role similar to the one Santino Marella or R-Truth have held in recent years. Roode is a workhorse in the ring during a time period where old style in-ring workhorses are scarcer and scarcer.
While ROH and New Japan are also obvious possibilities, if you are a professional wrestler in your mid-late 30s, your eyes should be on getting a WWE deal before your window of opportunity closes and I'd be shocked if Young and Roode weren't looking at that end result of their decision.
For those asking if this is a sign of the future for TNA being bleak, it's not a sign that things are any worse than they were a week ago or a month ago. They aren't, but they haven't moved forward, either. If anything, things remain constant. TNA is completely separated from Panda Energy now and are a completely independent entity. Their international TV deals, specifically UK and India, are the top revenue sources for the company right now and are what keep the company afloat. The company is still signing talents to deals (and is expected to sign a number of signings in the days and weeks to come, we hear). They are still seeking potential investors and partners to help the company build to the future and meetings in that regard have continued to happen, we are told.
While they are nowhere near the level of where they were when they were on Spike, TNA is continuing to produce content and trying to move forward. As long as they are doing that, there's always chance they can build around newer talents to try and and forge a new foundation to grow from, but the company has a lot of hard work ahead of them and needs a lot of good luck going forward, something they have not had a lot of in recent years.
For those who asked how Dixie Carter and the departing talents dealt with each other on their final day, Carter was not present at Saturday's TV taping. So, any farewells would have been left up to John Gaburick, Bob Ryder, etc.
The one silver lining in this, if anything, is that Roode and Young's departures open up roster slots for someone new and fresh to replace characters that had been heavily featured for over a decade. It's on TNA to take advantage of that going forward, just as it's on Young and Roode to make the most of this new chapter of their career.
As it turns out, Young vs. Roode is set to main event the House of Hardcore event on 5/7 in Niagara Falls. For tickets to that event, visit www.HouseofHardcore.net. Once again, they are intertwined.
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