TNA, the Gift of Jericho and More from the Seller's Market Mailbag

TNA is on fire. At least that's what recent headlines seem to suggest as the national promotion scrambles to find a new owner who can fund its hallmark pay-per-view. Sadly, the real-life drama surrounding TNA's possible extinction is its most interesting storyline in years.

Total Stop Action?

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Who will purchase TNA Wrestling?! #WWE pic.twitter.com/E9pXeyOvbv

— Robert Lentini (@LentiniTV) September 29, 2016"

TNA seems to be in more jeopardy than ever before, which is saying a lot.

During a recent interview with Busted Open, current president Billy Corgan did not seem certain as to whether or not Bound For Glory, TNA's biggest pay-per-view, will happen.

Corgan is currently seeking a majority share, and for TNA's sake, this would be a best-case-scenario. Should Corgan wind up with a majority share, TNA would be able to solider on, albeit with continued financial issues.

I don't see a scenario where WWE would purchase TNA and keep operations alive, not even with an original program on the WWE Network, which could actually be a safe haven for TNA. Dave Meltzer (h/t Wrestling Inc) recently noted that WWE would only be interested in the tape library and a small handful of talents.

Should Bound For Glory happen, it will do so under the most buzz that TNA has had in a while. TNA is at the epicenter of wrestling news at the moment, as new developments seem to be happening by the hour. If TNA once again manages to escape certain danger yet again, it needs to do everything in its power to turn this run of national attention into much-needed momentum.

Free TNAgents

This seems like an appropriate question for maybe two or three years ago. Then, my answer would have been Samoa Joe, Bobby Roode and Austin Aries. With all three currently thriving in WWE, those missions have been accomplished.

As for today?

Jessie Godderz has a WWE look, in addition to the charisma and personality that can translate on a mainstream level. He's like a poor man's Miz, and I can see him brought in as a lackey of sorts for the intercontinental champion.

For nostalgia purposes, it would also be fun to see the Hardy Boyz brought in. Judging by the recent one-year run of The Dudley Boyz, WWE seems mainly interested in booking Attitude Era stars as nostalgia acts, as opposed to any successful reincarnations in other promotions.

WWE opted not to book Bubba Ray Dudley as Bully Ray, and I don't expect Broken Matt Hardy to exist anywhere other than the Impact Zone. Still, imagine the pop for a surprise appearance at next year's Royal Rumble or a return for a potential match at WrestleMania 33, which coincidentally will be held in Orlando, Florida.

Raw Is (Still) Jericho

Chris Jericho has been the MVP during WWE's current lean period. Cena has done fine on SmackDown, which I think has been a better fit for him, especially since that roster became so thin after the WWE draft. With a Raw roster that is engineered like Pro Wrestling Guerrilla's Battle of Los Angeles, WWE is in turn garnering indy wrestling ratings.

Up against superior competition, WWE's roster of hipster favorites simply couldn't compete, drawing its lowest audience ever as the presidential debate took center stage, per ShowBuzzDaily (h/t Wrestling Inc).

Wrestling is certainly WWE's core product, but it takes more than a high work rate to draw in a captive audience. Jericho's current renaissance has been one of the few examples of WWE building a character through pure entertainment. 

Despite being booked as a weak universal champion thus far, Kevin Owens has also done well as an entertaining figure, although he may be hurting WWE's viewership potential as a world champion, since his strongest following is a mostly hardcore audience.

WWE already started to plant the seeds of dissent between Owens and Jericho when Owens corrected Jericho's spelling as he added to his already famed "List of Jericho." Much like AJ Style's sudden ascent to the WWE World Championship, WWE needs to ride the hot hand with Chris Jericho and consider giving him a run with the Universal Championship.

Alfred Konuwa is a Featured Columnist and on-air host for Bleacher Report and Forbes. Like him on Facebook.