TNA Has Better Wrestlers Than WWE

Yousef

When it comes to athletic ability and performance, TNA has the better naturally gifted talent. Perhaps it's just this PG stuff that holds back WWE performers showing off what they've really got in the bag i.e - Vince's handcuffs.

Just look at the rosters - AJ Styles, Kurt Angle, Alex Shelley, Austin Aries, Christopher Daniels, Bobby Roode, Kazarian, Chris Sabin, Pope, James Storm, Samoa Joe to name a few. All of these athletes have put on unbelievable wrestling matches and if you put any of them in a WWE ring, it would be match of the year.

Now look at WWE's roster - between Santinos/Hornswoggles comedy characters, the big guys that can't move quickly i.e - Khali/Big Show/Mark Henry or guys that just can't wrestle ie. - Heath Slater, Bordus Clay....it seems WWE is not concerned about employing actually wrestlers with wrestling ability.

I haven't watched TNA in over a year. Hogan drove me away from the product but I have to say when two wrestlers get in the ring, that's exactly what you got, a wrestling match. We'll never see what Punk/Bryan are truly capable of at OTL because they'll have handcuffs on..I just don't understand why the sporting aspect/physicality/wrestling has to be toned down also in addition to cursing and sexuality?

DM_7

To help us understand your point can you answer a couple of questions, what do you regard as "wrestling"?

For me I really like some of the things WWE are doing. I thought we saw three top quality wrestling matches at Extreme Rules. Bryan and Sheamus was more traditional than Punk v Jericho or Cena v Lesner. But all three were enthralling, engaging and genuinely entertaining. That is wrestling to me.

Also how can you judge if you haven't watched one show in over a year

For the record i think wwe have plenty of people that are gifted athletically and more importantly as performers. In fact i think the ability to perform is the most important attribute.

Rjd2

Yousef wrote: »

Just look at the rosters - AJ Styles, Kurt Angle, Alex Shelley, Austin Aries, Christopher Daniels, Bobby Roode, Kazarian, Chris Sabin, Pope, James Storm, Samoa Joe to name a few. All of these athletes have put on unbelievable wrestling matches and if you put any of them in a WWE ring, it would be match of the year.

Now look at WWE's roster - between Santinos/Hornswoggles comedy characters, the big guys that can't move quickly i.e - Khali/Big Show/Mark Henry or guys that just can't wrestle ie. - Heath Slater, Bordus Clay....it seems WWE is not concerned about employing actually wrestlers with wrestling ability.

So why did they sign Bryan, hero, Claudio exactly?

Insect Overlord

I don't watch TNA so I can't comment on their roster.

Yousef wrote: »

Now look at WWE's roster - between Santinos/Hornswoggles comedy characters, the big guys that can't move quickly i.e - Khali/Big Show/Mark Henry or guys that just can't wrestle ie. - Heath Slater, Bordus Clay....it seems WWE is not concerned about employing actually wrestlers with wrestling ability.

Santino can put on good matches. They just use him as a comedy character instead. See what he did at the Elimination Chamber PPV for example.
Big Show is a 40 year old acromegalic. The guy is incredibly agile for a 30 stone man.
Bryan Danielson, Kofi Kingston, Rey Mysterio, Dolph Ziggler, CM Punk, Chris Jericho, Cody Rhodes and Christian wouldn't agree with you either.

rossie1977

Yousef wrote: »

I just don't understand why the sporting aspect/physicality/wrestling has to be toned down also in addition to cursing and sexuality?

physicality was toned down because wrestlers were getting seriously hurt, there are only so many tlc matches (re mania 17) or jumping off cages or taking unprotected chair shots to the head you can do before it eventually catches up with you

cursing and sexuality was toned down because wwe lost tons of sponsors during the attitude era, stuff like this was order of the day back then http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1999-11-29/news/9911300243_1_advertisers-at-premium-rates-coke-turner-broadcasting-system

rovert

I could probably put together a like for like list and make the case WWE does have a better roster (I think it does btw). Being a WWE wrestler comes with certain restrictions:

WWE is a full time promotion TNA isnt totally yet so wrestlers in can take more risks.

TNA wrestlers a more high spots indy style while has their own branded style.

What rossie said. He also hinted around it but I will spell it out WWE is a public company so they carry a greater duty of care.

WWE has a far more mature and vaster array of revenue streams so they do need gimmick performers on the card to sell merchandise.

Cherry_Cola

TNA does have an excellent talent roster but I don't particularly think it surpasses the WWE one. Yes they have higher quality matches overall on TV at least but again as rovert said, that comes down to the schedules of the performers giving them a little more freedom on what they can do.

You simply can't have "indie style" matches on a constant basis, at least not with WWE's schedule and you can look to Kurt Angle alone to see some of the effects it had on him.

It could also be argued that TNA haven't really built any major stars through the course of their existence. I love what they've done with Bobby Roode but he's not quite a bankable star yet imo.

rossie1977

Cherry_Cola wrote: »

TNA does have an excellent talent roster but I don't particularly think it surpasses the WWE one. Yes they have higher quality matches overall on TV at least but again as rovert said, that comes down to the schedules of the performers giving them a little more freedom on what they can do.

even thats argumentative, best tv match so far this year for me was bryan and punk on raw the night after royal rumble, no tna tv match has come close to that this year

on ppv a wwe match has won "match of the year" on the observer last 4 years

Cherry_Cola

rossie1977 wrote: »

even thats argumentative, best tv match so far this year for me was bryan and punk on raw the night after royal rumble, no tna tv match has come close to that this year

on ppv a wwe match has won "match of the year" on the observer last 4 years

Well yes, that's true and I think WWE has done a great job recently. The Kofi/Jericho match a few weeks back was really good. I haven't kept up with TNA in recent weeks to compare properly

As for the better wrestlers, the future is looking really bright in WWE with Moxley, Hero and Castagnoli coming on board. Add that to the people like Punk and Bryan that are already there, then there are some exciting times ahead.

WWE has better superstars. I think WWE has better wrestlers too, not taking anything away from TNA. Worst thing is, it is close and it shouldnt be with the money wwe have behind them.

Machismo Fan

As already said it's not a like for like comparison with different factors on either side, but without thinking too much it about it probably evens out more or less.

jaykhunter

If roster potential was ratings, impact would be getting 10.0's. The problem is that 100% of the roster isn't being used to their potential. It's what grates me about TNA the most. TNA doesn't have these 4-5 star matches anymore and haven't for years so this goodwill deserves to die. They squander talents like Joe, AJ, Shelly etc. The focus is on old guys and angles are rarely executed right. Tna has FAR more restrictive handcuffs than WWE. When did Styles last have a cracking match? I can't remember... Late 2009? Punk though had one At Extreme Rules. Same goes for the rest of the tna locker-room.

WWE have problems and less high-workrate wrestlers but workrate is only a piece of the pie. they use their roster far better and consequently have a better show. Even take Santino at the Elimination Chamber. I guarantee Punk an Bryan are faring much better in WWE than they would in TNA; land of the apathetic ex-WWE guys. Look at No-Job Bob Van Dam, Anderson and Jeff Hardy.

That said TNA doesn't have as many great talkers as WWE do. So overall it doesn't matter what tna have since they're used so poorly. And TNA don't have Ziggler or Swagger, Hero or Claudio either. It's like saying you own a Ferrari but you only ever drive a Toyota starlet.

rossie1977

Deleted User wrote: »

WWE has better superstars. I think WWE has better wrestlers too, not taking anything away from TNA. Worst thing is, it is close and it shouldnt be with the money wwe have behind them.

tna have panda energy behind them, wwe beat turner or at least were beating turner when he got out (and all his billions) and in money terms that should have been no contest

jaykhunter

TNA are not close to WWE at all. You only might get this impression off the internet, where I guarantee a higher percentage of TNA fans congregate (than WWE). Nobody gets into TNA initially, they get fed up with WWE and check it out. So people who watch TNA are generally hardcore wrestling fans that've been watching WWE long enough to get bored and try an alternative.

I know TNA were about breaking even in 2009 but then they bought Hardy, Flair, Hogan, RVD, Anderson and their PPV buyrates still went down, so they're in the red. WWE are coming off their biggest WrestleMania ever (buys/money wise) and make about $50,000,000 profit per year.

Taking creative aside, WWE is fantastic as a company; a solid foundation with lots of different avenues for profit. It's why even though PPVs overall are down, they're still making great/the same money. Even if they put on the same match every month for a year they'd still be clearing $30,000,000. That said, WWE have history, brand awareness and a markethold as the big kahuna.

GTR63

A lot of the great matches in Tna are almost in spite of the management at times who bog them down with ref bumps, cheap finishes & lame gimmicks. I remember many times seeing a Tag or X-Division match kick off the show & it would be great. Then Tenay would say now thats how you kick off a ppv only for a it to be followed by 3 blah matches in front of the worst crowd in wrestling.

jaykhunter

On the plus side, TNA's house shows generally smoke WWE's. Like a no-contest.

ciano316

I'd like to see Bobby Roode and Austin Aries in WWE but WWE wouldn't know how to use them and they'd be wasted..

starviewadams

AJ Styles aswell and those young buck lads too,just so Ryback can squash them!