James Storm Leaves Impact Wrestling

[benstudd]

(for real this time) 

Pro Wrestling Sheet

James Storm is the latest name to leave Impact Wrestling. As we noted last week, Storm’s 2-year deal expires in January but there are no more tapings for the rest of the year, which means that the recent tapings were his last with Impact.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}He was written out of the show after losing a “loser leaves town” match to Dan Lambert (yes, you read that correctly).

Aside from a very brief stint at an NXT taping in late 2015, Storm had been with TNA/Impact since 2002. Storm had a contract offer in late 2015 with WWE as part of NXT but opted to go back to Impact Wrestling for various reasons. Triple H told him that the door was open for him to return in a couple of years.



Well, it’s almost been a couple of years and if there is interest on both sides then we could see Storm on NXT

[Deleted]

I'd like to see Storm back in NXT. I doubt he'd ever amount to much in WWE, probably at most a Beer Money reunion for a filler tag title feud or something, but he'd be a good hand.

[Chainsaw]

Is he officially the last person who was wrestling on the first show to leave TNA? Or was Petey Williams on that show as well?

[Deleted]

Nov 10, 2017 17:01:59 GMT -5 Chainsaw said:

Is he officially the last person who was wrestling on the first show to leave TNA? Or was Petey Williams on that show as well?

Abyss was in the battle royal for the NWA title, though not under that gimmick.

[benstudd]

To think that early this year Jarrett was talking about the HOF induction and Storm pretty much said that he would love to be chosen for it and Jarrett responded that Storm had still too much wrestling left to go in. Maybe Storm planned to leave there and then and was thinking that it would be a good sendoff to close his career there?

I feel with Storm leaving it should be a perfect time to close their whole operation down. That's it. End the company, keep the library for the streaming channel.

Personally with my TV package in Quebec, it works on a channel-by-channel subscription and I unsuscribed with the Fight Network last week, so it is my last chapter with TNA as a fan and viewer.

[evilone]

James Storm - perfect example how to make a multidimensional and perhaps the most developed homegrown character stale and useless. Oh you TNA/GFW/iMPACT

[This Player Hating Mothman]

Considering the amount of money he came back for there's no way Anthem wasn't going to try and undercut him come renewal time, but for him to decide he's out they must have taken a f***ing hatchet to what he was being paid before. Either he's already called up Hunter to find out if the door is still open, or they offered him something so insulting he said "f*** it I'll take the indies over this trash".

[cabbageboy]

He really, really needed to have stayed with NXT in 2015. It's entirely possible he would be on the main roster right now with Roode. I could see maybe going back to TNA if they promised him some massive push, but what has he done? The DCC?

[2coldMack is even more baffled]

So they're literally just a Canadian indy at this point, right?

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

According to Bruce Prichard, James was inconsistent during his push as a main eventer, originally Hogan and Bischoff chose him to be the guy, but Bobby Roode was just better than him, that's why they ended up going with Roode instead of Storm.

Prichard also said that the reason people liked Beer Money had a lot more to do because of Roode than any of the stuff James did.

[Deleted]

I always thought Storm was better than Roode, but maybe I'm alone in thinking that. Better mic skills, better personality, could play heel or face equally well, and solid in the ring. Roode had a good run as a heel in 2012 but is dull as hell. If they went all in on Storm instead of Roode in 2011-12, they may have gotten better results.

[Deleted]

Nov 10, 2017 19:25:03 GMT -5 @conebone69 said:

I always thought Storm was better than Roode, but maybe I'm alone in thinking that. Better mic skills, better personality, could play heel or face equally well, and solid in the ring. Roode had a good run as a heel in 2012 but is dull as hell. If they went all in on Storm instead of Roode in 2011-12, they may have gotten better results.

I'm in a weird place on it in that I think Roode's pretty much worse than Storm in every way, but he just feels like a bigger deal. Maybe that's years worth of booking Storm like a midcarder while Roode's been treated like a big deal from the day he won the TNA title talking, I dunno.

[H-Virus]

Abyss: Cheer up, Nordholm. Sure, all of the company's most well-known and popular stars are gone, but you still have Abyss. YOU ALL STILL HAVE ABYSS!

[Mayonnaise]

Nov 10, 2017 18:29:04 GMT -5 cabbageboy said:

He really, really needed to have stayed with NXT in 2015. It's entirely possible he would be on the main roster right now with Roode. I could see maybe going back to TNA if they promised him some massive push, but what has he done? The DCC?

He and his wife were trying for another kid and he couldn't commit to the NXT touring schedule. Had nothing to do with money or a push.

[DASH 243✅]

Nov 10, 2017 18:31:54 GMT -5 2coldMack is even more baffled said:

So they're literally just a Canadian indy at this point, right?

The 5th or 6th best Indy in Canada! Maybe 11th

[Emmet Russell]

I'm pretty confident he could make more money working US indie shows than with working for TNA in Canada.

Good choice by him.

[Alice Syndrome]

Nov 10, 2017 21:43:26 GMT -5 Mayonnaise said:

Nov 10, 2017 18:29:04 GMT -5 cabbageboy said:

He really, really needed to have stayed with NXT in 2015. It's entirely possible he would be on the main roster right now with Roode. I could see maybe going back to TNA if they promised him some massive push, but what has he done? The DCC?

He and his wife were trying for another kid and he couldn't commit to the NXT touring schedule. Had nothing to do with money or a push.

Plus in NXT at the time he'd be stuck under an Indy logjam, so he may as well take the 2 years of higher pay with Triple H's blessing than possibly sit out the rest of his career in developmental. 

He's probably gonna end up in a Mickie James type role anyway before shifting to trainer.

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

Nov 10, 2017 20:24:43 GMT -5 H-Virus said:

Abyss: Cheer up, Nordholm. Sure, all of the company's most well-known and popular stars are gone, but you still have Abyss. YOU ALL STILL HAVE ABYSS!

Ugh Abyss really is a fatter and more pathetic version of Tommy Dreamer.

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

Nov 10, 2017 21:43:26 GMT -5 Mayonnaise said:

Nov 10, 2017 18:29:04 GMT -5 cabbageboy said:

He really, really needed to have stayed with NXT in 2015. It's entirely possible he would be on the main roster right now with Roode. I could see maybe going back to TNA if they promised him some massive push, but what has he done? The DCC?

He and his wife were trying for another kid and he couldn't commit to the NXT touring schedule. Had nothing to do with money or a push.

Was that reported? I don't remember it. That certainly changes the way I think about how he chose tna instead of nxt.

[Corre.222]

Nov 10, 2017 18:29:04 GMT -5 cabbageboy said:

He really, really needed to have stayed with NXT in 2015. It's entirely possible he would be on the main roster right now with Roode. I could see maybe going back to TNA if they promised him some massive push, but what has he done? The DCC?

Sorry about his damn luck.