Is TNA Mortgaging Their Future on Aging Wrestlers?

One thing I have seen out on Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) for some time now, is that they continue to build their future on older wrestlers.

Take these men for example: Sting, Kevin Nash, Scott Steiner, Kurt Angle, Booker T, and Mick Foley. And while he has taken himself out of the World Title picture lately, Jeff Jarrett continues to build on himself, too.

The fact is, they are building on something that will be gone within a few years. Maybe even before that, considering this is pro-wrestling. Injuries can happen at any time, especially for older stars out there.

Take men from the WWE like Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker. HBK took off years after back issues. And while he did come back, many believe it was a mistake that his body will pay for.

Undertaker has worked through injuries his entire career. And now, he looks to be retiring soon, pending the results of his knee surgery. And because he worked through injuries, his knees and hips will likely be terrible in his older years.

Taker is in his 40s right now, and he may not be around much longer.  Over the past few years, the WWE has worked with his desire to have a part-time schedule. They did reward him five World Titles, but he didn’t hold them for too long.

He has a certain schedule he goes by, which is one of the first of its kind. When people want a lighter schedule, they say they want an Undertaker-like schedule. This is THE best bet for a WWE superstar in his/her later years.

The fact is, ‘Taker was THE man for a long time in the WWE. He is still a fan favorite and he will be loved forever. However, the WWE has found plenty of people to replace ‘Taker in his fan-favorite position.

They have people like Jeff Hardy, who, by the way, may be on hiatus soon. Most likely he will work through the summer before he takes a long break from the WWE.

They have CM Punk, John Morrison, and others to replace his spot soon enough.

Fact is, you could easily put ‘Taker in a main event and have him hold a World Title for 8 to 9 months of a year. But, not only will it hurt him, it will hurt the company, too.

Because when he can’t go anymore, you lose a big star. And you have no one there to take his spot. So fans leave because they are not behind the new star. When you could have built the new star up over time and get him fans, you didn’t.

And it is not the fans’ fault, they try to be support you.  But when you just throw a guy in there and expect them to cheer for him right away, they won’t.

You basically cast the young man in the shadows and then called upon him to be in the spotlight. And while he might deserve the call, fans were not behind it because they were not familiar enough with him. That process literally takes years.

That is the mistake TNA is making now. While people will watch the superstars of TNA like Sting and Angle, and will be behind them along the way, these men will soon be gone.

And you are left to find a heel and a face that could bring the same heat or praise that Sting and Angle did. And you have NO ONE because you kept your younger stars on the bench for a long time.

And while you do have stars people are familiar with, you don’t have many you can build on because they were out of the main event for so long. When you put them in it, people are going to think something is missing, or is not right.

The fact is, Jarrett is trying to get people to watch, so he puts the older guys out there because he knows people will recognize them. The problem is that when you invest in something that won’t be around a long time, it will fail more than t will succeed.

That is like investing in a failing business, and looking at the books, knowing that the concern is going bankrupt, yet you still keep throwing money into it.

While this business was popular in its day, it has to end at some point. And when you keep investing in it, you will not get a good return for it in the end.

TNA made Mick Foley its World Champion, and he won it from Sting. Both are older gentlemen, and are not going to be able to wrestle well for much longer. Foley should have retired 10 years ago.

And while Sting does have enough ability to last in the ring for a time, he cannot possibly wrestle another 5 to 7 years at the level that an AJ Styles could.

Yet, you keep Styles out of the spotlight winning secondary and—some say stupid—belts such as the Legends Title. Before that, mind you, he held a tag team title. And that was it, nothing else.

He had not held the X-Division or World Title in years before that. He still has yet to win another. Yet he was the first triple crown winner in TNA history.

You could be getting him X-Division titles or World Titles. But no, you keep him out of the spotlight. So when Sting retires, people will love to see Styles there in main events more.

But, who will he face? And, will fans be behind a person they have not seen in such a spotlight in some time?

If we got rid of every veteran in TNA, then the company would go under. Why??

Not because fans hate seeing new wrestlers, but it’s just human nature to take time getting used to cheering somebody you’re unfamiliar with.

There are great young wrestlers there, but, they cannot show it if they are not given the spotlight to show it. Most of these younger stars are better than all of the vets combined right now. Only Kurt Angle is still wrestling at a high level.

All others have lost a step. Even the Dudleys (Team 3D) are not the Dudleys of old. Fans love them, but fans love other teams, too. This makes Bubba and D-Von more easily replaceable.

That is because they have a good, deep tag team division. And their X-Division is good, so is the Knockout Division.

But guess what, all of those guys are young stars in the company. Those divisions are successful because people like to see the athleticism, the excitement.

Also, people are not going to want to watch the same people over and over again. You have to add a breath of fresh air by seeing new talent, and work that talent into headlining status.

This is something TNA just doesn’t appear to know how to do.  They do not know how to transition in new talent and how to gradually put the young stars into main events.

Think of this: Eric Young has been there for years now. He is well known by the TNA audience. Yet, Booker T, who has spent years less than Young has in TNA, has been in more main events than Young has in his entire TNA career.

Is that fair? NO NO NO!

People know who Booker is, true. But to put him in the spotlight at the expense of someone like Young, who has won X-Division titles, it is not fair, nor is it good business for TNA in the long term.

TNA needs to recognize that Young needs to be brought up to main event level. It can be gradual, but to totally forget about him like they have is pretty sad.

Sure, they have been getting him in the spotlight more lately. But, this was needed long ago.

If TNA can finally figure out that they need to forget about what they THINK people want to see, and focus on what fans actually WANT to see, they will be a successful company.

WWE does this. They bring in new talent and get them known. Then they start to get them in main events, putting more established stars over. Soon enough, we see them as the being worthy of being one of the top guys there.

Why do you think WWE is so successful? Because they recognize that the younger stars are the future, and while they have legends like HBK, Triple H, Undertaker, and others, they cannot put them in every single main event against each other. They work younger talent in programs with the established stars.

Which is why they will always be successful.

If TNA wants to rival Vince and the WWE, they will have to do the same. Forget about putting only vets in the main event storylines. Put the vets in some main event storylines alongside the top younger stars in that slot.

That way, people will become better known, and you build your future while also keeping the vets in the spotlight, too.

That is just my opinion, TNA, take it or leave it.

But, if you think you should mortgage your future on aging wrestlers, then you are completely out of your minds.