The 411 Wrestling Top 5: The Top 5 TNA Talents WWE Should Sign

The 411 Wrestling Top 5: Hello everyone and welcome to 411 Wrestling’s Top 5 List. We take a topic each week and all the writers here on 411 wrestling will have the ability to participate and give us their Top 5 on said topic. So, onto this week’s topic…

Week 351 – The Top 5 TNA Talents WWE Should Sign

If TNA happens to go out of business, and their contracted talents become free agents, who are the top 5 talents WWE SHOULD sign.

Chad Perry
5. Bobby Lashley – Full disclosure before we start; I have watched a total of 23 TNA matches in 2016 so there are names on the roster that I have quite frankly never seen wrestle. They may be great, but if I have not seen them, than obviously there is no way for me to know. I have probably seen more of Lashley’s work in WWE/ECW than I have in TNA. That being said when I have watched TNA in the last few years, Lashley has consistently been a guy I would go out of my way to watch. Lashley is still not the best talker, but he has found his in ring style and it works. Lashley vs. Lesnar is a weird dream match for me. It would likely flop, but there is a lot of appeal in at least seeing it happen once.

4. Moose – I have seen one match from Moose during his few months in TNA, that was against the man who appears as my #2 selection and it was nothing special. Really I have never seen Moose put on a ****+ singles match in his run with ROH, but that does not mean he is not a great player. Moose can play the “beat em up” heel who just runs through smaller guys. However, Moose can also play the fun loving guy who I saw break into doing “The Carlton” during a recent AAW show and have the crowd chanting his name in unison. Moose is 32, and would not look quite as large in WWE with his 6’5”, 295 pound frame as he did in ROH, but I would take him on my TV over Baron Corbin for sure.

3. Mandrews – WWE seems to be serious about pushing their Cruiserweight division on Raw. Mandrews is currently just 24 years old and would be an amazing fit for the division. I often forget that Mark Andrews is a TNA wrestler because of my limited viewing; it is often Excalibur in PWG that reminds me. Andrews is a phenomenal talent from England that has really had a lot of shine to him this year with his work in PROGRESS, and SMASH out of Canada. I would not object to WWE bringing in Trevor Lee, DJ Z and Andrew Everett as well. All four men would shine in the Cruiserweight division, they could even be brought in as in invading stable that was insulted by not being invited to this year’s CWC.

2. Eddie Edwards – Edwards is one of the best talents to come out of the New England region. Edwards has always had the skills to be the focus of whatever company Edwards was working for. A few years ago when Eddie announced he was leaving ROH, I really hoped it would be to WWE. Unfortunately, Eddie stuck with tag team partner Davey Richards and came to TNA. By the time Eddie arrived in TNA I gave very little care about the company so I have not seen as much of Edward’s work that I would like. However, of the 23 TNA matches I have watched this year; six of them have featured Eddie Edwards. This includes his big title win a few weeks back. Edwards is 32 and would likely never become a top star in WWE, but the matches he could have with Balor, Styles, Jericho and other stars would be a dream come true.

1. The Broken Hardys – In 2016 the most popular mobile game is Pokemon Go. What’s old is now new again. The Broken Hardys have done just this with the reinventing during 2016. I would credit more of this to Matt as from what I have read and seen, Matt led the way in this turn, and Jeff has always just been an odd duck. Jeff Hardy was certainly one of the most popular stars during his singles run in WWE in the late 2000s and if Jeff could have just kept his head on straight, he would likely still be one. Both men are older now and have an interesting gimmick. Even if they returned to WWE as just The Hardy Boyz 2016, you know the fans would go wild.

JUSTIN WATRY
5. The Pope – Like my next pick, WWE had big plans for this man. Whether as an in-ring competitor or a different role, The Pope has proven he belongs. His gift is gab is certainly his strength, but in the PG Era, he has also taken up many great causes outside of the squared circle. It’d be a perfect fit; it’s a shame his stuff does not get promoted more. In his late 30’s, time is not on his side, and no offense, but The Pope does not deserve to be sitting next to Josh Mathews (yes, it is just one ‘t’ folks) at the commentary table babbling. Hopefully, WWE turns back the clock to when Vince McMahon hand picked him to be the wave of the future. The New Breed indeed…

4. Drew Galloway – Similar to The Pope, Drew Galloway (McIntyre) was singled out and named a future World Champion by the boss himself. I don’t consider the TNA World Title to be an official championship, so that premonition has yet to happen…unless WWE brings him back into the fold. He is young to make it happen, and I believe that is what Drew ultimately wants too. If you recall, when he was let go from WWE, he made a mission statement of going out there and proving his worth so much so that he would HAVE to be brought back down the road! Very convincing words and a good path to take. Admittedly, he has since softened on that stance, but I don’t buy it. His original goal was the right one – make it back to WWE better than ever.

3. Cody Rhodes – Not sure if this counts since he isn’t in TNA Impact Wrestling full-time. Still, I am including him. As many know, I bashed his Stardust character and predicted from day one of its’ inception it was going to be a bust and cause way more harm than good. Well, strike up the band because it basically drove him out of WWE. Disappointing to say the least. Yet, if there is one positive to come out of that whole mess, it was that CODY RHODES landed on his feet, got to have a few matches on his bucket list, and has set himself up nicely for a Hollywood OR WWE career. He may claim he will never sign a contract again, but get real. We all know that is garbage; whether soon or later, the time will come. Cody Rhodes has the tools to be a future top STAR in this industry! The harsh reality that can only happen in WWE.

2. EC3 – Yep, all of my selections are going to be people that had a previous run in WWE. Shouldn’t shock anybody. Just how it is. Truthfully, I’m not a big Ethan Carter III fan. I didn’t buy into the hype when he debuted in TNA. I thought the entire family gimmick was short-sighted and doomed to fail. The undefeated streak was actually not an undefeated streak, and despite his improvements, the wrestling matches never did get up to par from what a main eventer should expect. Long story short, he was/is a fairly decent sized fish in a small pond vs. the sharks swimming in the ocean of WWE. Exactly why he faltered in NXT/Smackdown yet can stand out in TNA. Still, he has re-invented himself and seems to understand the business and be a legitimate diehard fan. Why not give him another chance? Why not? Certainly better than being Dixie Carter’s nephew.

1. Jeff Hardy – Sorry James Storm, you had your chance and blew it. While I’d love to see you get ANOTHER opportunity, you took the money grab of a “contract” with TNA over a shot in WWE (NXT) for slightly less…which you could easily make up over time. Nonetheless, I am going with Jeff Hardy as my top pick. Have said it before and will again: Jeff Hardy went from mega-super star in summer 2009 to be an afterthought in January 2010. One of the biggest falls from grace I have ever seen. All over what? A CM Punk HEEL promo? Big deal. Cry me a river. We all have our suspicions on why Jeff chose TNA over WWE years ago, but the fact remains he was on par with John Cena, The Undertaker, and DX in 2009…and then went to an Orlando sound stage in front of non-paying tourists and 300,000 viewers on television. My guess is he is FINALLY ready to head back to WWE and reclaim his main event status. If his brother Matt comes with him, fine. Don’t care for the broken garbage so whatever. If Kurt Angle is not next in line for the big, grand WrestleMania comeback in 2017, then the next best thing is Jeff Hardy.

Rob Stewart
5. Eddie Edwards – Let’s start at the top… with the current TNA Champion, Eddie Edwards. It was a surprise recently when Edwards snatched the primary championship away from Lashley, and it was a nice culmination of his evolution from a tag team specialist to a solo star. WWE already had a chance at Eddie back in NXT, but they weren’t able to hold on to him. Now that he’s proven himself as a more diverse performer, they might want another shot.

4. Mike Bennett – The only competitor on this list who doesn’t have SOME level of WWE experience, Bennett is still a young talent at just 31, though he has a wealth of Ring of Honor, New Japan, and TNA experience. He’d absolutely be worth a shot at using in NXT for a while to see if his success and reputation carry over and can make him a future breakout star on the main roster.

3. The Broken Hardys – Matt’s work in TNA of late has been beautifully whacky. WWE would be unlikely to give Matt the leash TNA has given him to just go bonkers, but they’d absolutely give him SOME leeway given his tenure and dedication to the business. And hell, WWE already aped his work with that battle at the Wyatt Compound; why not let Matt and Brother Nero back in the door so they can show them how it’s really done?

2. Cody Rhodes – Okay, so this one has virtually no chance of happening, I get it. If Cody wanted to still be in WWE, he’d still be in WWE. But it’s my list, and I’d like to see WWE hire Cody Rhodes back, reset him from the whole Stardust thing, and give him another shot on either brand. Or, hell, send him to NXT and let him be a top babyface there after Nakamura inevitably moves up. No matter what, Cody is a guy who feels like he has unfinished business in WWE, and I’d love to see him brought back.

1. Ethan Carter III – This was a pretty easy #1. EC3 had a run in some of the earlier iterations of NXT (and even made a handful of main roster appearances), but he never gained any real traction there before he was released. He has, since then, become a revelation in TNA, and has been the best talent in that company for the last two years. At this point, EC3 would hit either WWE or NXT with instant credibility and be an immediate threat to a secondary title or the NXT championship. Honestly, at this point in EC3’s career and TNA’s troubles, it feels like it’s time for him to return to the land of the titans and get another shot there.

Kevin Pantoja
5. Drew Galloway – I want to preface this by stating that I barely watch TNA anymore. I’ve only seen around ten matches this year. I don’t get POP TV and I don’t care enough about it. However, I know most of their talents. This spot was very close to going to Eddie Edwards but I went with Drew Galloway instead. He had potential to work well with the WWE during his first run with the company but that all went to waste. Since going to the indies, Galloway has gotten better and has played a badass character pretty well. I think that a second chance for the new Galloway would be a great idea.

4. Allie – There are reports that the WWE believes Dana Brooke vs. Charlotte is a big money feud. Charlotte has treated Dana like garbage but the problem is that Dana doesn’t come off as likable or sympathetic in any way. Not at all like Alex Riley or Damien Mizdow in recent memory. However, Allie’s story with Maria has been the right way to do that angle. Allie is incredibly likable. She’s adorable and is just so fun to root for. If she were to eventually give it back to Maria it would get a strong reaction. I think that Allie could go to the WWE and help bolster the NXT women’s division. She has been working for a long time as Cherry Bomb, isn’t 30 yet, is good in the ring and has nailed a fun character. Sign her now.

3. Trevor Lee – Trevor Lee is really, really good. He first stuck out to me after his epic 105 minute match with Roy Wilkins down in CWF Mid-Atlantic. Since then, I’ve watched him have really good to great matches with the likes of Will Ospreay, Zack Sabre Jr., Andrew Everett and Cedric Alexander throughout PWG and CWF. Lee has had a tremendous run as the CWF Mid-Atlantic Champion and only just turned 23 years old. He could become one of the new faces of NXT and have top notch matches up and down the card. Lee is awesome and needs to be seen on a bigger stage.

2. Broken Matt Hardy – Never in a million years would I have believed that Matt Hardy would have the best character in wrestling in 2016. Alas, here we are. The Final Deletion segment/match was the first time in YEARS that TNA felt even remotely relevant. The Great War at Bound for Glory was a ton of fun and the best match I’ve seen from TNA since EC3/Spud in early 2015. Honestly, I don’t think the WWE would properly handle the Broken Matt character, but if given a fair amount of free reign, I believe Matt would make it work. The sheer absurdity that a Bray Wyatt/Broken Matt feud would bring would be worth it alone.

1. Ethan Carter III – I’ve been saying it for a while now. Ethan Carter III is the biggest missed boat that I can recall the WWE blowing. I’m talking wrestlers, not storylines. EC3 is a bigger missed opportunity than Carlito, Galloway, John Morrison and everyone else I could think of. He’s that good. His babyface run hasn’t exactly lit the world on fire, but EC3 was the best heel in all of wrestling for the better part of 2015. Even if it is just a run in NXT, I truly think that EC3 could have a special second run with the WWE. They’ll most likely change his name up a bit but the character is golden.

Jack Stevenson
5. Ethan Carter III – A superb promo, and decent in the ring as well, no one would begrudge ECIII a second shot at WWE. The ECIII character would have been absolutely nothing in lesser hands, hinging at it does on his relationship with the thoroughly uninspiring Dixie Carter, but Ethan turned it into something genuinely remarkable. For the last two years he was the default option when you were searching for something, anything nice to say about TNA at all, and for dragging countless episodes of Impact along almost single handedly, he more than merits inclusion on this list, even if 2016’s not been the most exciting year of his career.

4. Gail Kim – With WWE now attempting to sustain two credible women’s divisions, a couple of extra bodies who can go in the ring certainly wouldn’t be amiss. I’m fairly sure Gail Kim’s interest in a return would be minimal, but she’s got the most amount of name value of any of the women in TNA, and has been a part of some of the best North American women’s wrestling matches of the past decade. I’d definitely be intrigued to see what a Gail Kim-Sasha Banks match would turn out like.

3. Trevor Lee – WWE’s stuttering cruiserweight division could really do with some personalities. At the moment, its champion is just a guy who makes silly video game references, and he’s pretty much the strongest character on the whole scene. Trevor Lee is a hugely talented wrestler with a shimmering future ahead of him, having only just turned 23, but the thing that makes him most appropriate for WWE right now is that he’s a smaller guy with this great, oddball charisma about him. He’s a good looking guy who also just appears a bit unhinged at times. As well as that though, he’s also comfortable as a plucky underdog fan favorite or a sneering, dominant champion, making him suitable to plug a variety of gaps depending on the situation. Lee’s easily the brightest prospect TNA have, and in this hypothetical scenario where they go under and WWE raids their roster, they’d be fools to overlook him.

2. The Hardy Boyz – Pretty much everyone agrees that Matt Hardy’s extended mental breakdown has been the most weirdly compelling thing to come along in pro wrestling in quite some time. The baffling accents, the eccentric vocabulary, and the madcap brawls at the Hardy compound have all come together to resemble a complete reinvention, one for which Matt deserves immense credit. Certainly, I’d rather watch ten segments from Broken Matt back to back than anything Bray Wyatt’s done in the past couple of years, and it would be so fascinating to see how the character would translate to WWE. Jeff Hardy/Brother Nero isn’t vital to the success of the Broken Matt gimmick, and so I think there’d be more mileage in him attempting a singles run. I think people forget how wildly successful his final one in WWE was; he held both the WWE and World Heavyweight Championship, was monstrously over with every section of the fanbase, and should by rights have become the number two star in the company behind John Cena. Injuries put paid to that, and his well documented personal troubles mean he’ll probably never be trusted with such responsibility again, but as a sympathetic, spirited underdog he’d still have plenty to offer. In their own ways, Matt and Jeff would both be superb pick ups for WWE.

1. Lashley – Bobby Lashley in 2016 is a completely different beast to the Bobby Lashley of 2006. Back then, the guy looked perpetually uncertain and out of his depth, just not convincing at all. Nowadays, he comes off as one of the most dangerous men in the business, bristling with terrifying raw strength, and bringing a big fight atmosphere with him wherever he goes. His reign as champion has leant TNA some much needed legitimacy as it’s shambled through the various crises that have engulfed in this year, and Lashley himself is at the point now where, if he debuted in WWE tomorrow and ended Brock Lesnar’s over three year undefeated streak, it wouldn’t be an anti climax at all. In fact, this year, Bobby Lashley has been a rich man’s Brock Lesnar. It’s deeply unusual for the motivated, energized WWE wrestler from the mid noughties who puts on loads of great matches to be in TNA, while the lazy, bored WWE wrestler from the mid noughties coasting on reputation to be in WWE. The universe would be in much better harmony if the two would swap places.

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