TNA can be a depressing product to follow. Nearly every great homegrown talent theyve produced over the years has been mishandled and under-paid, which leads to them leaving. Legacies arent built, and a company identity isnt born due in part to management's bizarre insistence on pushing WWE talent over their own time and time again. Gone are guys like Alex Shelley, Jay Lethal, Christopher Daniels and A.J. Styles. Now Samoa Joe has been added to the list, which is exciting and sad at the same time. In interviews I had with Nigel McGuinness and ODB, both of them listed Joe as a guy that TNA dropped the ball on the most. His talent and charisma was obvious to everyone but management, and the various writers who were employed over the years. Instead of being the companys top star and taking them to the next level, he was pushed aside for Sting, Mr. Anderson, Jeff Jarrett, Rob Van Dam, and other former WCW and WWE cast-offs. In the end of his run with the company, Joe meant nothing to TNA. He turned heel without any explanation. Weeks went by as he didnt say a single word of why he joined the Beat Down Clan. Instead, it was all about MVP and Bobby Lashley. Yep, two more guys that were former WWE wrestlers. Now like A.J., Joe should land on his feet. He should make an even better living in Japan, the indies, or possibly NXT/WWE, but the fact remains that his tenure in TNA was a fraction as successful as it should have been. Instead of fans getting behind the next top star for the company, theyre more likely to wonder when theyll suddenly be gone, and then maybe someday show up in WWE developmental. Time to kick out. Agree? Disagree? What was your worst wrestling moment of the week? Sound off below and thanks for reading!
As Rust Cohle from True Detective said "Life's barely long enough to get good at one thing. So be careful what you're good at."
Sadly, I can't solve a murder like Rust...or change a tire, or even tie a tie. But I do know all the lyrics to Hulk Hogan's "Real American" theme song and can easily name every Natural Born Thriller from the dying days of WCW. I was once ranked 21st in the United States in Tetris...on the Playstation 3 version...for about a week.
Follow along @AndrewSoucek and check out my podcast at wrestlingwithfriends.com
