TNA: Which Wrestlers Are Being Squashed?

It seems the more veterans that sign onto a wrestling roster (WWE and TNA), the more those older performers continue to hog the main-event spotlight.

While other businesses or "sports" are a younger man's (or women's) game, wrestling continues to defy boundaries and promote cagey veterans who are in the 40s and some (Sting, Ric Flair) older.

What happens to the younger talent? In the case of TNA, where shows and PPV events have been doing well but not great, while the product of "wrestling" seems to be a better option right now than the WWE (the wrestling product, not the overall performance), young talents are being squashed or pushed down the ladder, thus not allowing them to become the superstars they can be.

These are some wrestlers—and yes, I understand they are not rookies—who have been held back or "squashed" by creative and need a push because they are too talented to be sitting on the sideline or in the back of the production studio.

Gunner

Last year, Phil Shatter beat Mr. Anderson and Sting in consecutive weeks and we all thought he would get a major push and role in TNA. Maybe he would even become a baby face.

There was no push and there was no character change.

Gunner is still a "jobber" and a good one at that, but he is also being held back. The look of a menacing wrestler with the body of an enforcer should be at the forefront of the brand. Instead, Gunner's talent is being wasted on an angle with an aging Ric Flair as his advisor.

The Pope

We haven't seen D'Angelo Dinero on the program lately. Would it be too much to ask to have him released from his contract so he can go back to the WWE as a new character, join forces with Kofi Kinsgton and R-Truth and become a major stable under the guidance of Teddy Long?

The Pope has so much talent and is great on the mic and should be competing for titles, especially the Television Title.

Devon won the Television title and I would hate to see another program with those two, but he is being wasted.

That is a damn shame.

Eric Young and ODB

Eric Young as a wrestler could be the next coming of Tully Blanchard. The "idiot" gimmick doesn't work anymore.

He should have given the Television Title some class and instead, creative gave it some disgrace.

ODB (by the way, love the matching bra and panties at the wedding) is a talent, albeit an odd sort of a talent.

She should be challenging for the Knockouts Title. Instead, creative has now made a mockery of the Knockouts Tag Titles. And Eric Young is a park of that again. Hmmm.

James Storm

If he does not move forward and win the World Title again, he remains on this list.

TNA is doing him a huge disservice by not having him challenge for the title again right now. Storm is the second- or third-best talent on this roster and to have RVD jump in as a top contender right now shows me no faith in the Cowboy.

This is not a case of management in WWE worrying whether CM Punk can bring in ratings. Storm is a true star who works well with Roode and the feud sells itself.

Bully Ray

Certainly an MVP candidate.

Bully Ray's star shines bright, but he should have been a champion by now. Could he be the best heel to never win a world title? Could he eventually become Gunner?

The angle with Austin Aries is top-notch, but it is not going to be centered around gold. Because Bully Ray has risen for the past year, he finally deserves a shot at the title and unless the title is given to RVD, who then would drop it to Bully, I do not see this happening.

AJ Styles

He is the MVP of Impact Wrestling.

Whenever he is in the ring, there is excitement and if he were given another push to the TNA Title, it would be a real treat.

Styles is stuck in a situation where he has achieved everything in the promotion and writers cannot continue to go to the well over and over again.

The angle with Daniels and Kazarian is interesting, but we will get tired of it soon again.

I think a Pope/Styles angle would be interesting.

Velvet Sky

She deserves more than a one-week holdover as Knockouts Champion.

While I love the idea of maybe having Brooke Tessmacher challenge for the title, no one works harder than Velvet. She is an unsung hero of sorts in TNA.

If she can get into a real program with Gail Kim for the title, it would be pretty dynamic. But because it is the women's division, there will always be controversy.