TNA’s creative search exposes a bigger problem | Opinion
The old saying goes you want to leave a place better than it was before you got there. But once you leave, who will replace you?
TNA turmoil has been in the news this week with Tommy Dreamer, seen as one of TNA’s key creative figures in recent years, suddenly departing from the company. It was probably the right time to do so; as I mentioned in an opinion article a few weeks ago TNA needs a fresh creative reboot because frankly, the company’s current direction in that department is dire. His departure, however, highlights a larger issue across the pro wrestling spectrum: wrestling companies are increasingly dependent on only a handful of well-known, established creative names, with little indication of who will step up in the future.
PWInsider, for example, reported that Hunter Johnston (Delirious) will be leading TNA’s creative team in Dreamer’s absence. He ran Ring of Honor for a long time and his track record is divisive to say the least, particularly towards the end of ROH’s time under Sinclair. The bigger question here is why people in wrestling keep turning to the same pool of names over and over again.
It becomes even more apparent when one of the names being talked about to helm TNA creative is Brian James, aka Road Dogg. He decided to leave WWE earlier this year, and towards the end of his run often got accused of being the person behind all of the bad SmackDown angles and storylines since he was the head writer. Considering SmackDown’s problems are still continuing, I think those accusations were unfair in hindsight. But again, this is a familiar, safe name that reinforces how small the creative talent pool is.
But that’s the problem: the lack of creative minds in pro wrestling these days is prominent. Post-WCW, much of the creative behind WWE and TNA were Vince McMahon and Vince Russo, respectively. Underneath them were a bunch of writers who, over time, became a revolving door of faceless people who came and went. People got promoted, people left, no one was really a constant beyond who ultimately made the final decisions. Even in Ring of Honor, once Gabe Sapolsky left it was Jim Cornette who ran things for a while before Delirious was brought on board.
Triple H now helms WWE creative but much like Vince McMahon, there’s no one really underneath him to take his place if TKO sours on him. Who would they bring in, Bruce Prichard? AEW has some creative people but much like McMahon, Tony Khan is such a big part of AEW’s creative that if something happens, there will be a vacuum of power.
There are many independent promotions out there run by creative people that have the potential that could do a great job if given a new opportunity on a bigger platform. But that highlights another problem in pro wrestling as there are so few promotions that have national weekly television and in the rare instance where there’s an opening, those in charge want someone who has that experience, limiting the talent pool considerably.
I think across the spectrum pro wrestling needs to do a better job of developing tomorrow’s creative minds, not just focusing on today just to get by. I don’t know how Road Dogg would do as TNA booker, and maybe the promotion will be better under his creative guidance if the rumors do come into fruition. But is that the best Anthem can come up with? But it’s not just TNA, it’s a bigger problem across the industry. We know who is in charge now, but the question for every promotion is what’s the plan for the future?
Bryan Rose is an editor from California that has been covering professional wrestling for well over a decade. He officially joined F4WOnline as an editor in 2017.