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EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO ASK ABOUT TNA PULLING TALENTS FROM WRESTLEMANIA WEEKEND EVENTS AND BEYOND

SUBMIT YOUR QUESTIONS TO MIKE FOR THE PWINSIDER Q&A BY CLICKING HERE.

Since we have received so many questions about the TNA situation, I am answering them all in one place, as opposed to just responding to all emails.

If TNA agreed to these bookings, why would they change their mind?

Their statement explains everything.  The talents were pulled due to concerns by TNA partners.  So, it was either WWE or AMC.  I don't see AMC being that concerned about independent events, but that's just me.  At the end of the day, the reality is that WWE is competing with AEW and likely didn't want their partner in TNA doing anything they didn't like, but no one's ever going to go on the record and admit that's the case.  We are back to a situation where promotions that are all on national cable aren't going to let their talents in the same ring at the same time, not all that different from the WWF, WCW, ECW era of the late 1990s and early 2000s.  TNA decided they needed to keep their partner happy.

Who gets the blame here for making the decision?

Carlos Silva made the call to keep partners from being upset.  Heavy is the crown, as the saying goes.

Did TNA have the contractual right to pull these talents?

Yes, we are told that TNA's contracts with the talents gave them the right to pull the talents.

What would happen if the talents just said the hell with it and took the bookings anyway?  Aren't they independent contractors?

My belief is that in a worst case scenario, TNA could go after them for breach of contract.  The best case scenario, if you could even call it that, would be that the talents just wouldn't get used by TNA and would be sitting home.  Yes, these talents are independent contractors, but the second they agree to the terms of a contract and sign it, they have to abide by them, unless they intend to go fight it legally.

Why would TNA not have an issue with Jody Threat wrestling and beating Mercedes Mone recently if they have all these issues now?

One, Threat won.  Two, that predated the issue that is now taking place, which is that they don't want to upset their partners by having their talents in situations where they are on streaming shows (or appearing in footage) selling for or getting beat by AEW talents.

How could TNA screw over Brian Myers, who works for them, by canceling MJF vs. Nic Nemeth?

TNA absolutely put Myers and Create-A-Pro in a horrible spot, absolutely.  They had sold a lot of tickets for a match that will no longer happen because of circumstances beyond their control.  If I am TNA, I am sending a ton of talent to that show for free to try and make good to Myers, who's been a great soldier for them.  

Is TNA going to pay these talents for missed bookings?

They absolutely should but I don't know if that's the plan here.

How could TNA pull Leon Slater off a benefit memorial show?

Let's clarify here.  While the Mark Hitchcock Memorial Show is a tribute to Mark, it was not, nor was it ever a benefit show.  TNA didn't pull any talents off a charitable show.

How can indy promotions trust they can use TNA talent going forward?

That is a question only independent promoters can answer but it's one that has to be thought about.  I think most indy promoters realize when they book contracted talents, they have to respect where they work (i.e. not having TNA Champions getting squashed, present them within the range of their TV personas, etc.) and realize that those talents can always be pulled for TNA bookings, but if they are going to have to start worrying about who can work with who and the political ramifications and not potentially being able to deliver what they promised their audiences, it certainly could lead to some promoters pulling back on using TNA talents in prominent positions.  Who can blame them?  Who wants the additional stress?  Running indy wrestling is hard enough without politics that aren't your issue being factored in.

Do you really think all of this is because AEW went up against TNA and hurt their rating recently?

It could be, but it's not like AEW chose to go against TNA.  WBD made the call to move the show when they scheduled their sports programming.  Chances are that decision was made a year ago - and it's not like they knew TNA would be on the air on AMC at that point.

How do you think TNA should have handled the situation?

Well, in a perfect, fair world, they would have let the matches they agreed to take place actually happen and then say the door is closed and we aren't going to allow this going forward.  I can actually understand TNA's concerns here, especially if WWE, who they need, is giving them flack.  The issue isn't restricting the talents BUT agreeing to letting the talents do something, letting it be advertised and THEN making a 180.  That's where it's really messed up.

Let's be honest, I don't think anyone expected Ricochet vs. Leon Slater to have a clean 1-2-3 finish anyway.  I don't believe Moose being on MLP or not means a massive difference in advance ticket sales, but TNA agreed to these bookings - and then didn't.  None of this was fair to anyone in my opinion. 

Yes, wrestlers can get other bookings and promotions can shift their lineups, but if we are going to be truthful here, the ones who really got screwed here the most are the fans who bought tickets or streams for matches they will now not see delivered to them.  When you break promises to fans, it's always a bad look.  TNA has been in a position where for the last several years, they have worked really hard to rebuild goodwill with the audience.  That work took a big blow this week, all to make someone other than fans happy.  Again, a bad look in my opinion.  Even if these weren't TNA shows, they agreed to the terms and plans for these matches and then changed that - putting other promotions in a hard situation.   Not fair.

Is it possible we get past Mania weekend and TNA at least lets MJF vs. Nic Nemeth take place?

No, because it's obviously not their call.

Doesn't all of this put Tony Khan in a position where he can be seen as a huge babyface if he sends talents to these shows to help out and show he's a "bigger" man so to speak?

It sure could.  I don't know if Tony would want to do that, but he'd absolutely be the babyface of the week if he threw these shows some additional help. It would be good karma, for sure.  But, that's not his responsibility.  It should be on TNA to try and do something, anything to actually make up for this.  As of this writing, that hasn't happened.

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