TNA In Talks With Former WWE Champion Brock Lesnar

[The Line]

I'd mark.

[bigrick0016]

They can bring in all the big name tralented people they want... but TNA will still suck.

[poi zen rana]

i don't really care if lesnar would boost ratings. the man has the talent to put on some good matches and i can see a lot of good wrestling possibly coming out of it should it happen. but who needs good matches? RATInGS WOULD SUCKCKCKC

[angryfan]

Lesnar to TNA? God, this, if true, can not end well, under any circumstance.

He had the top spot with WWE, and decided he wanted to do somethign else.

Football didn't work, so he went to Japan. THey paied him huge amounts of cash, and he skipped town with the belt when they pointed out that, you know, he needed to do the job. He then carried the belt around, claiming that "no one's beaten me for it" while saying how fake wrestling is. Contradictory? Nah, of course not.

Then he went to MMA, beat the piss out of someone with a losing record, and suddenly, TNA seems like a good idea. Big money, he can do whatever he wants, doesn't have to do all that pesky traveling, and they'll give him time off to do MMA whenever he wants, since it couldn't possibly lead to anyone kicking his ass ever, thereby rendering him uselss for TNA.

I get the name value, and he's still young and very athletic. Problem is, the guy clearly has problems doing business and being professional, given the whole Japan situation. Add in the comments he made about why he left wrestling, and what positive could come out of this? No other "big name" has caused ratings to rise and then sustained them for more than a week. Not one. Why would Brock be any different?

[Bret Hart Rules]

angryfan said:

Lesnar to TNA? God, this, if true, can not end well, under any circumstance.

He had the top spot with WWE, and decided he wanted to do somethign else.

Football didn't work, so he went to Japan. THey paied him huge amounts of cash, and he skipped town with the belt when they pointed out that, you know, he needed to do the job. He then carried the belt around, claiming that "no one's beaten me for it" while saying how fake wrestling is. Contradictory? Nah, of course not.

Then he went to MMA, beat the piss out of someone with a losing record, and suddenly, TNA seems like a good idea. Big money, he can do whatever he wants, doesn't have to do all that pesky traveling, and they'll give him time off to do MMA whenever he wants, since it couldn't possibly lead to anyone kicking his ass ever, thereby rendering him uselss for TNA.

I get the name value, and he's still young and very athletic. Problem is, the guy clearly has problems doing business and being professional, given the whole Japan situation. Add in the comments he made about why he left wrestling, and what positive could come out of this? No other "big name" has caused ratings to rise and then sustained them for more than a week. Not one. Why would Brock be any different?

I read a story in Power Slam (UK Wrestling magazine) that goes into the whole Brock Lesnar/IWGP Title dispute and it says that they didn't pay Lesnar all the money they promised him and that the match where he supposed to lose the title was impossible for him to be at as he wouldn't have the time to get a work visa. They knew he wouldn't be able to as well but made it out like he was refusing to lose. And anyway, he jobbed to Kurt Angle recently without any complaints.

However, while I'm a huge mark for Lesnar and think it would be good to see him in wrestling again I don't think TNA should shell out even more money when they don't have lots to spend without making cutbacks. The promotion is a 5 year money loser and spending high 6 figures for one man is not something I would call smart and to be honest I don't want to see a Raw/Impact simulcast like what happened with Raw and Nitro so they can do another crappy McMahon angle.

[angryfan]

The money thing is a major issue, that's for sure. They've, if I remember right, got Angle and Sting on the same deal, with the Dudleys also making high-end bucks. That's four guys you've dropped a ton of cash on, with what to show for it? Adding another guy to the list won't help matters, and with the arrangement of the rest of the talent (who have had indy locatiosn they can work reduced substantially, thereby cutting into their income) having to now pay for hotel/rental car accomodations just to go to work and possibly not get used on air, I can see how it would be a morale killer.

In the end, that's the worry with signing Lesnar, company morale.

If I start working for, let's say, a computer company on the day they open, and I work tirelessly, and become well-known amongst the customer base for my hard work, it would stand to reason that, at some point, the company would reward my dedication. If, instead, they started hring people who were either terminated by, or quit, IBM, regardless of what they had done for that company, and told me that my role with the company would be to go around and tell the former IBM guys how great they were, then I'd probably get pissed.

Wrestling's a job, just like any other, so I can understand Brock or anyone else looking for the best deal. It makes sense. Problem is, signing a few guys to occupy the majority of your payroll, while over half your roster gets little chance to showcase their skill, with indy bookings also being reduced (thereby costing them paydays as well as merchandise sales at those events), this affects those performers' ability to put food on the table or live comfortably.

I'll be honest, in the next six to eight months, I expect to see a good number of TNA talents, especially the X-division guys, leave if for no other reason than they just want a chance to actually work.

[Jimichiro Likes Erick Rowan]

Just thought I'd throw out that TNA isn't paying some of the bigger names contracts by themselves, SpikeTV actually pays either a third or half of Sting's & Angle's contracts, maybe more people then them.

[lmoney215]

guys like angle, sting, dudleys, and christian cage, legit main eventers who have drawn money, i can see why they would get higher salaries to please advertisers and spike tv by trying to get some starpower out there to not only get over, but help others and TNA get over as a whole. I think bringing in brock lesnar has a huge upside, but not as high of a salary as the other 4 people i have mentioned. if lesnar is serious about mma, he should stick to that more and do less professional wrestling. but if people who did pride, k-1 could compete in new japan and still retain the credibility as a mma fighter, then more power to brock lesnar. heck, bob sapp was IWGP champion for oince, more for his character than his wrestling skill, but he had an awesome ring entrance and his mma background and size made him a legit bad ass. lesnar has that same "shooting" credibility as well, so hopefully something does work out.

[Dynamite Kid]

nerdinitupagain said:

Thanks TNA for repeating the mistakes of WCW and slowly giving WWE the best young talent out there because you signed all the old guys and pushed them over the guys that got you to where you were. Thus creating resentment and a maxx exodus.

Thanks. Thanks a lot.

Brock? An old guy? He's been pro for like, five years, and he was only in WWE for two. The guy is still young, and was a phenomenal athlete.

I look forward to seeing him in TNA.

[Hugh Mungus]

Here's what I see in the future:

TNA's going to recreate the Hogan-Sting-Savage promo from WCW in 1995-1996 where Hogan burns a "ragsheet" ("Observe THIS, brother!"), only this time with Angle in Hogan's role, Samoa Joe in Sting's role, and Lesnar in Savage's role.

[BD Punk AKA SUSPENDED!]

Bah, TNA needs to fire people, not hire more. They seriously need to get rid of Test, Roode, VKM, Eric Young, 3D, and Angle. Yes, I said Kurt Angle. Since he has arrived in TNA the whole company has revolved around him and has really sucked out the enjoyment I used to get out of watching TNA. I used to tune in every week when guys like AJ, Joe, Daniels, AMW, and the whole X-Division was being featured. Now, TNA is all about washed up WWE rejects (Angle, Test, 3D etc) and people who never will amount to anything (Young, Roode).

Bringing in Brock Lesnar won't make me tune in, all it'll do is put TNA farther into debt and accelerate their death.

[Powder/The Professor]

It was bound to happen and I have Kurt Angle solely to blame/thank for this. Lesnar, trusts Kurt....always have, always will. Who better to have Angle fight with...then one of the (former) Wrestlers who helped solidified Kurt as a 'Main Event Draw'. I doubt Lesnar would make a huge ratings impact.......but I do honestly/sincerely think that it'll help in the short term.

I really truly hope and pray that Kurt & Lesnar find their way back to Vince. He knew EXACTLY how to use them.

[KingPopper]

I know TNA has a lot of heels already, but I would love Lesnar to team up with Joe and Rhino and just destroy everybody.

[ddt]

demolition said:

Bah, TNA needs to fire people, not hire more. They seriously need to get rid of Test, Roode, VKM, Eric Young, 3D, and Angle. Yes, I said Kurt Angle. Since he has arrived in TNA the whole company has revolved around him and has really sucked out the enjoyment I used to get out of watching TNA. I used to tune in every week when guys like AJ, Joe, Daniels, AMW, and the whole X-Division was being featured. Now, TNA is all about washed up WWE rejects (Angle, Test, 3D etc) and people who never will amount to anything (Young, Roode).

Bringing in Brock Lesnar won't make me tune in, all it'll do is put TNA farther into debt and accelerate their death.

I have to agree with this. (Although I think Roode and Young are just fine -- they just need a better chance to show what they can do.) Bringing in all of these guys like Test, Lesnar (if it happens), Vito (if it happens), Matt Morgan, Pacman Jones (WTF???), etc., and muddling the potentially-great tag team division with the likes of VKM, won't help matters in the least. Who's going to tune in to see them?

And as for Angle, yes, he has definitely sucked everything good out of TNA. I've grown so tired of him (and now of his wife, too), that I genuinely feel awful for the real TNA talent and the TNA fans.

The TNA roster is amazing, beyond the aforementioned people, and there are so many match-ups that could be very entertaining. But having Angle and his family (and maybe soon his friends) dominate the organization, and having guys like Styles, Daniels, the X-Division talent (where is Petey Williams???), Rhyno, James Storm, Chris Harris, etc., lose their spots to the likes of Test, Matt Morgan, VKM, Tomko, etc., is a real turn-off.

I'll keep watching TNA for now, but if the company continues to shove Angle down our throats, bury great talent and hire deadwood, then I guess I'll be trying ROH.

[Hugh Mungus]

pdubsworld said:

I really truly hope and pray that Kurt & Lesnar find their way back to Vince. He knew EXACTLY how to use them.

And this is where the problem lies.

Vince and NJPW pretty much washed their hands of Lesnar after all the trouble they have went through by pushing him into the main event, and then he threw it all away, due to, in the case of the WWE, he was burned by the travel schedule and a desire to play in the NFL, and in the case of NJPW, he developed a Goldberg-like attitude and refused to job to Tanahashi, not to mention the fact that he didn't draw well.

As for Angle, he was in his "Krazy Kurt" stage when he took shots at the WWE (which is standard TNA protocol) and at HHH and HBK, which promped the WWE to take shots back at him.

[ProtestTheHero]

angryfan said:

In the end, that's the worry with signing Lesnar, company morale.

If I start working for, let's say, a computer company on the day they open, and I work tirelessly, and become well-known amongst the customer base for my hard work, it would stand to reason that, at some point, the company would reward my dedication. If, instead, they started hring people who were either terminated by, or quit, IBM, regardless of what they had done for that company, and told me that my role with the company would be to go around and tell the former IBM guys how great they were, then I'd probably get pissed.

Spot on. That's exactly how I look at it.

I've not been back into wrestling for long, but before I managed to start watching it again, a friend of mine would always tell me how awesome TNA was - how it was filled with all these great young talents and awesome moves. I finally tune in, and what do I see? Loads of ex-WWE performers dominating over young, charismatic, promising stars who could really go somewhere.

And when I saw VKM doing the whole New Age Outlaws in-ring mic thing, it was heartbreaking.

I really can't see Lesnar joining as a positive for TNA... As others have said, he's just gonna take a huge chunk of the limelight while guys who've been working their asses off in that company stand in the back and watch.

[Jay Peas 42]

Brock is basically this decade's Sid. I'm sure if TNA offers WWE enough money, they could get him.

["Nature Boy" Ric Moranis]

jaypeas42 said:

Brock is basically this decade's Sid.

No, he basically isn't.

[Jay Peas 42]

aaaaaaaaa said:

jaypeas42 said:

Brock is basically this decade's Sid.

No, he basically isn't.

Well, he is a big, tough, and popular wrestler who could be the next Hulk Hogan, but for reasons entirely of his own, he doesn't. That's what I mean by Sid.

["Nature Boy" Ric Moranis]

By the time Sid was 33 years old (1993), he had flopped in the WWF and got kicked out after failing a steroid test, and kicked out of WCW for stabbing a guy, and hadn't won a world championship.

Brock's only 30, didn't flop in WWE, won world championships and due to his flirtations with NFL and MMA he's a much bigger mainstream star than Sid was at the same age. He'd be a bigger wrestling star by default for main-eventing when WWE was far more popular than when Sid was there in 1992.

Plus Brock's a better in-ring performer. That's why I said he isn't like Sid.