0.89

[SHOGUN]

One of the things I really just noticed...

AJ Styles is 35
Bobby Roode is 35
James Storm is 35
Samoa Joe is 33
Austin Aries is 34
Christopher Daniels is 41
Frankie Kazarian is 34
Chris Sabin is 30
The Pope is 34
Doug Williams is 39

Damn...even TNA's "young guys" are old as fuck.

The age of the TNA is pretty startling. I had no idea that they were all that old.

To answer your first question, YES. Their crop of young talent is pretty bare. They were really pushing Jesse Sorensen until he got injured and he was alright, albeit bland. Gunner, Rob Terry and Robbie E. are shit. Crimson is OK, he just doesn't scream future star like they expect him to be. Poor man's Matt Morgan. I've been waiting for them to give Magnus a singles push for ages. I think that he could main event in TNA.

Before TNA essentially gave up on tag teams, I would have recommended the Briscoe Brothers because they could have added some energy to what was once a promising tag division (MCMG, Beer Money, Young Bucks, etc.) I think someone like Adam Cole would be a strong addition to the X-Division. They already had Jay Lethal and made him relevant before they randomly depushed him.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Rob Terry is 32 believe it or not.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Also, would TNA pay more, for those in the know, to these indy guys, more than say...a guy like Prince Devitt would get, who, I assume makes good coin traveling the world as a regular headliner?

Somebody I trust told me that Devitt makes mid level WWE money, which is why he doesn't bother taking U.S. indie bookings. New Japan is serious business, if you are full time, and pushed, you are making a very good living, topped only by the mid to high WWE guys and some Mexican headliners.

TNA doesn't pay the bottom guys shit. A main event level indie guy can make more on his own on the indies and Japan than going to TNA (thinkavey Richards or Rocky Romero or El Generico or people like that). The trade off some make, is exchanging less money for national TV exposure. TNA will book you on the indies if they arent using you, but they take a percentage. So what incentive does a guy like Richards or Generico or Ricochet have? They would be cut off from the top indie gigs like ROH & gabe's groups, and would lose their Japanese hookups. Generico can go to Japan on a DDT tour for a month, come back, and get steady work as a top indie guy until the next Japan tour. Same for the Dragon Gate guys like Ricochet & Rich Swann, etc. If you recall, Davey Richards quit on Gabe at the start of EVOLVE & DGUSA, because New Japan made him a regular and the money was too good to pass up, so politically he couldnt work Dragon Gate and New Japan at the same time, and then ROH even threw him a raise (I believe it was $500 per show) to stay to stick it to Gabe further.

So basically, the top indie guys also have lucrative Japan deals, so it makes no sense for them to go to TNA unless they want to eat Ramen in exchange for being on Spike.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Somebody I trust told me that Devitt makes mid level WWE money, which is why he doesn't bother taking U.S. indie bookings. New Japan is serious business, if you are full time, and pushed, you are making a very good living, topped only by the mid to high WWE guys and some Mexican headliners.

TNA doesn't pay the bottom guys shit. A main event level indie guy can make more on his own on the indies and Japan than going to TNA (thinkavey Richards or Rocky Romero or El Generico or people like that). The trade off some make, is exchanging less money for national TV exposure. TNA will book you on the indies if they arent using you, but they take a percentage. So what incentive does a guy like Richards or Generico or Ricochet have? They would be cut off from the top indie gigs like ROH & gabe's groups, and would lose their Japanese hookups. Generico can go to Japan on a DDT tour for a month, come back, and get steady work as a top indie guy until the next Japan tour. Same for the Dragon Gate guys like Ricochet & Rich Swann, etc. If you recall, Davey Richards quit on Gabe at the start of EVOLVE & DGUSA, because New Japan made him a regular and the money was too good to pass up, so politically he couldnt work Dragon Gate and New Japan at the same time, and then ROH even threw him a raise (I believe it was $500 per show) to stay to stick it to Gabe further.

So basically, the top indie guys also have lucrative Japan deals, so it makes no sense for them to go to TNA unless they want to eat Ramen in exchange for being on Spike.

This is what I figured.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

I remember Bryan Danielson telling people in 2006 that he was making more money working indies while having creative freedom and enjoying himself than some of his friends were making as bottom guys in the WWE. Even with WWE, if you aren't on PPV or in the video game or have hot merch, you are barely surviving.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

I remember Bryan Danielson telling people in 2006 that he was making more money working indies while having creative freedom and enjoying himself than some of his friends were making as bottom guys in the WWE. Even with WWE, if you aren't on PPV or in the video game or have hot merch, you are barely surviving.

I don't think I'd go that far, lol...

On the American Indy scene...how many guys are working events without a M-F 9-5'r?

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

I don't think I'd go that far, lol...

On the American Indy scene...how many guys are working events without a M-F 9-5'r?

Only the tippy top guys I mentioned already.

As far as the previous point, think about it. If youre a Superstars or NXT guy like Tyson Kidd or Derrick Bateman or Camacho or somebody like that, never see a dime from PPV or merch, and have a 50 or 60k downside, how comfy is your life? These dudes still have to pay for their own cars and food and travel aside from airfare.

They aren't on food stamps like the TNA guy whose name escapes me was, but they are barely getting by because living on the road isnt cheap.

 

[EmpireWF]

Not to mention they have to pay for their own health insurance which must be a pretty sizable chunk of change.

That's WWE guys since we know low tier TNA guys can't afford it and end up sometimes fighting with the company over medical costs when they get hurt in the ring...or at least that happened a few times in the past.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Only the tippy top guys I mentioned already.

As far as the previous point, think about it. If youre a Superstars or NXT guy like Tyson Kidd or Derrick Bateman or Camacho or somebody like that, never see a dime from PPV or merch, and have a 50 or 60k downside, how comfy is your life? These dudes still have to pay for their own cars and food and travel aside from airfare.

They aren't on food stamps like the TNA guy whose name escapes me was, but they are barely getting by because living on the road isnt cheap.

I am not sure what guys like Tyson Kidd are making, but I assume those guys get paid a bit more than 50-60 because they are often pulling double duty in OVW as well. I recall some things a few months ago that the lowest guy on the E roster was making around 90, which is plenty to live off of, especially when they are a hop away from making really good money and probably make a bonus or two per year because they moped their way onto the Royal Rumble or the pre-show WresteMania match. A guy like Kidd is easily pulling in at least 100K a year. A guy like Bateman, fresh off OVW and curtain jerking, I'd assume 80-ish by year's end?

 

[EmpireWF]

The list of WWE salaries back in the 05-06 period...the lowest for a wrestler was Matt Striker ($43k) and Trevor Murdoch ($48k) while the Bashams were earning over $100k (just mentioned them since they were pretty much always lower card guys..so not sure how they got that high unless that includes video games and a PPV bonus).

 

[Bigpapa42]

Regarding the ages of much of the "young" guys in TNA... I must play too many booking simulator games, cuz I was actually aware of that. That generation mostly debuted into the business in the 1999-2002 period, so they almost all have a full decade in the business now, and some close to 15 years. A few guys had a cup of coffee in WCW - Daniels, Styles, and Storm for sure.