What new stars has TNA made?
 

I don't know if you can say TNA has created any stars to the point of taking them to a national spotlight type level. And when i say that, I mean like being as or close to well know as WWE is. To me, they are still the minor leagues, not the 2nd major wrestling company.

However, from the TNA fan point of view, I would say guys like Abyss, Joe, AJ, Bobby Rhoode, AMW, and a couple others were guys that were made or given national exposure in TNA. But to be really "made" in my opinion, you have to make it in WWE.

It's just like all those ECW guys going to WCW, where they became much more exposed to a national audience and were made into superstars

That's how I see it

I think they launched quite a few guys (former WWE guys and otherwise) where if they were to enter the WWE they could easily be put into a main event spot, but to say they've truly "made" anyone where they're big enough that they are considered a superstar is a stretch.

TNA is still a promotion?

nah, I would definately give them AJ. If you watched TNA early on, he was just a generic Ring of Honor type guy. They gave him a heel persona and let him run with it and he has progressed a long way since then. You could see in 2003 that AJ was a future star easily. I really believe he could be a major star in WWE.

I'd agree with that, but I would say ECW transcended that to a degree in two cases. Taz and Rob Van Dam. Beyond that, ECW didn't make any starts, and TNA hasn't made any stars either.

Plus it's really hard for me to say TNA has even made any of their own stars really. I mean, back with ECW they didn't really have any companies with the same demo as them so when they had guys like Van Dam and Taz, they had to start from scratch, build them, and make them. TNA has ROH. Really, TNA hasn't made Joe or AJ, they just brought Joe and AJ from ROH and their general persona and respective fans came with them.

Now if Rhoode, or Storm or Kaz got made, then yeah. I'd give them to TNA.

I see AJ more of one of those part-time main eventers, sort of like Kane. He can satisfy the fans and can fill in a main event spot with ease. Sure, he's a star, but he will never be a true main eventer and likely will never lead the company.

Kanes a good example, as is Jericho.

Of course, I honestly believe he'd be used the same in WWE. What do they have him doing in TNA? He's an uppermidcarder right?
He'd be an IC champ level guy, and be used similar to CM Punk and MVP circa 2007 if he was in WWE, I think.
Maybe he'd even get a push.

If he's staying with TNA because he thinks TNA is gonna push him bigger, and to further heights, and is afraid of WWE burying him then I think he's fucking up. If he's just loyal then that's cool.

Petey Williams.

Joe and Styles....I would've said Daniels a while back but they've really dropped the ball on him.

They came close with Abyss but his ridiculous need to use tacks and gimmicks in every match really came back to bite him on the ass...

They might've had something with James Storm if they weren't afraid to push anyone other than WWE guys to main event status.

To me they've had better success with the women. I'd say they made Awesome Kong, Gail Kim, and ODB stars...

Again, as much as TNA can make someone a "star"

"That Guy who does that awesome move" and/or "That guy who looks like a mini Scott Steiner" != "star".

I would say Daniels is some sort of star, considering people I know that watch WWE, but don't watch TNA name Daniels as the first wrestler that they know from TNA.

Funny. You and BDC both misspell Roode's name the same way.

I'm pretty sure Petey Williams was intended as a joke answer, Xero. :roll:

This is hard to answer, because you have to go by what BDC's definition of a star is. I mean, you give him a fine answer like AJ Styles, and he turns it around and says it doesn't count.

Samoa Joe, Abyss, AJ Styles and to a certain degree, Christopher Daniels are all reasonable answers. They were nothing but indy guys before TNA signed them, and now they are well recognised within the wrestling world. I'd also submit Jay Lethal for consideration. They may be botching him, but Lethal has gotten some big wins in his young career, and prior to it was just another ROH guy the WWE were apparently looking at. Now he's got a gimmick and is largely over with crowds.

BDC isn't looking for these sort of "stars," but what TNA did with Christian Cage, Tomko and Rhino, and giving them big pushes that made them better than they had been in their career (in Rhino's case, maybe not better, but it made him the top guy in something other than a niche promotion). You have to agree that Tomko was much more relevent in TNA than in the WWE.

Matt Morgan seems well on the way to becoming a "star," too. As does Kaz, if they choose to push him right. In time, James Storm and Robert Roode could make it, too.

It all comes down to what your definition of "star" is, because it's really quite a subjective term. Especially in today's professional wrestling landscape.

They took a fledgling black rapper named K-Kwik who was known for "gettin' rowdy" well after Piper and not much else. They gave him a serious gimmick and named him Ron "The Truth" Killings and made him their champion. Now that very man has resigned with the WWE, re-hyphenated his name and proudly raps to the ring once more. Success? I think so.

Which is interesting, given your use of it.

Spoiler: I'm not just talking about this thread. In fact, this thread's near the bottom of the list.

It's especially pointless to say they could or will be, since the pattern is that they won't. Period.

It's interesting that people like Tomko, who were pushed beyond their means on a large stage, move to a small stage and are suddenly now stars.

Not a Tomko fan or anything but I think maybe his stint in Japan had a bit to do with his progression from WWE too his time now in TNA.

He wouldnt be the first guy to go to Japan, learn to work a match then come back stateside to some form of stardom. Might not just be medium sized fish in a small pond syndrome as you suggest.

Oi.

*shakes head*

Abyss, AJ Styles, and Samoa Joe is really about it. And by star I mean other wrestling fans know who they are. The average Joe on the street probably doesn't, but then again, they probably don't know who Batista or JBL are either.

Christopher Daniels was on track, he even wrestled Sting once, but then they pulled the carpet out from under him and now he's a comedy act. Fucking sad.

It seems TNA wants to try so hard to make Eric Young a star.

Eric Young sucks. I have never really understood his appeal.

Very true. The Tomko in the WWE was green. Very green. When he went to Japan he learned to work and work well. The Tomko we se today is one of. if not the, best big man in the buisness state-side today. With talks of him coming back to TNA there is strong chance for him to be in the upper main event in no time. And he could do very realistically do this in TNA or the E with ease. The guy is getting great.

Honestly - I don't TNA has created any stars whatsoever. In my opinion - NONE of TNA's "home grown" talent would barely get a mild crowd reaction at best if even one of them jumped ship to the WWE.

By contrast - guys like Goldberg, Booker T, Scott Steiner, RVD, DDP, etc. all got very respectable crowd reactions upon debuting in the WWE.

Now I realize that TNA shouldn't be compared to the likes of WCW and ECW (since their budget, exposure, etc. is much smaller), but I just *hate* the term 'star' being thrown around irresponsibly.

In my humble opinion - *no* homegrown talent in TNA is a star. Outside of TNA and a few indy circles, no one knows about them or gives a shit about them. Just keeping it real.

TNA's budget and exposure smaller than ECW's? :wtf:

I might be wrong on that, but that was the impression that I was under (the OLD ECW...not the one at current).

If I'm wrong, then that makes my opinion about TNA to be even less.

TNA has about 10 times the budget and production value of ECW. Back before the TNN deal, ECW TV was edited in a basement. Promos were usually done there too.

Read HArdcore History for a great in depth description of their budget. All the companies assets were a Truck, a Van, and the ring. That is about all they owned. They rented the lights and cameras. They had zero production. They had to use real music because they had no money to make their own. They had to use covers to avoid paying royalties.

If ECW had the money TNA has behind it, they would have made it much farther than they did.

Yeah, TNA had lost more money in the first two or three years of it's inception than ECW ever had to lose period.

ECW also had a lot more exposure, which was the other half. Part of that was simply the sheer volume of fans at the height of wrestling interest, but that doesn't change the fact that there was more exposure. When Tazzzzz had the "Mood is about to change" promos, people (Not everyone, mind) knew who was coming. Enough to matter. If AJ Styles ran a promo, say a "I suck dick for quarters" campaign, You'd see only a fraction of people who would recognise him or care. The only person I could see managing any sort of real celebrity is Soma Joe, and that's still a stretch in my book.

TNA is at least gaining money right now. All ECW was lose it.

No one's arguing that. What's up for debate is has TNA made any new stars? The answer is no, hell they didn't even make the stars they have. AJ and Joe aren't stars on a national level, and Soma Joe's fans are all ROH/Japan fans. TNA didn't make them. ECW on the otherhand re-invented a shit ton of workers, made their own stars for their promotion and had two guys (Taz and Van Dam) who were stars on a national level prior to going to WWE.

The biggest issue I have with the idea of TNA creating new stars is the fact that their only two points for argument right now are AJ Styles and Soma Joe. Two guys who are using the exact same characters they had in every other promotion they've ever been in. That's not creating a star. That's taking someone who already has some degree of fan fare in similar circle (the TNA audiance base is the ROH and Japan fan base) and just putting them on television as opposed to having them restricted to tape traders.

Do more people know about AJ Styles and Somoa Joe now than they did before? Absolutely. That does NOT mean that TNA created the stars. It's in the same regard as Van Dam, WWE did not make Van Dam a star. ECW did. ECW built him from Robbie V. They gave him his character, they gave him his initial stage to apply his craft and they gave him his main cult fan base. WWE just exposed him to a larger audiance. Those two acts are not the same thing.

For TNA to MAKE a star, even in their own company, they would have to have re-invented a worker. If James Storm, or Robert Roode or Kaz ever main event, I'll give TNA that they made their own star. They still haven't made a national star, but at least they'll have a start.

And TNA lost it for how many years? Without a patron company constantly funneling money into them for years, they would have been dead in a shorter time than ECW.

I mean, I know that this is beside the point, the question being about stars and all, but sometimes you see something so stupid you can't help but address it.

What's a TNA level star, especially when the main event and high profile matches tend to go to guys who were stars (or at least made) before they came to TNA?

No, TNA hasn't even created a TNA level star. They've used either workers from other companies or just exposed a worker with the same gimmick to a larger fan base.

TNA sucks balls

I think a second-placed promotion has created a new star when they have a homegrown talent on their roster that gets fans mouths watering to see a match against their counterpart in the rival organisation. Everybody wanted to see Ric Flair vs Hulk Hogan. They wanted Bret Hart vs Sting. They wanted Austin v Goldberg. I think it also works better when the top dog in the rival promotion (WCW, NWA, TNA, whomever) has never worked for the WWE and the match has never taken place before.

Does anyone REALLY wanna see Samoa Joe v John Cena? Would anyone really get excited to watch Abyss vs Kane, or AJ Styles vs Randy Orton, or Awesome Kong vs Michelle McCool? Regardless of match quality, do any of those matches scream out "HUGE PPV BUYRATE" or "big match feel" or "all-time memorable moment"? When TNA has a guy that casuals and diehards alike are salivating to see go up against WWE's top dogs, then they have made a serious star.

Although, I wouldn't mind seeing Shawn Michaels vs AJ Styles just because AJ reminds me of a young, early 90s Michaels... that's more from a match quality perspective than a "big match moment" though.

You're right, CAC. It's sad too because they had something with some of those guys and then they just let it go.

Right now the only big promotion vs. promotion match I would be amped to see would be Awesome Kong vs. Mickie James.