A question is posed. Two Pulse Wrestling writers go head-to-head. But only one will move on to next week to the face off with another member of our staff. This is VS., and this week’s question is… Which former WWE wrestler will be the next to debut with TNA, and how SHOULD TNA debut him or her?
Paul Marshall
Dale Clarke
Paul Marshall: It’s been practically proven that Taz will be the former WWE wrestler that will be the next to debut with TNA since TNA loves to spill the beans before the fact. While TNA has made me not want to watch sometimes, I do keep some tabs on the show; whether it be fast forwarding iMPACT or catching the results somewhere. Samoa Joe seemed to be talking to an adviser behind the scenes…obviously, that man had to be off camera or TNA would risk a huge lawsuit from WWE that could tear the company apart. Samoa Joe proceeded to fire off the hints, from wearing a towel over his head and doing trademarked suplexes that Taz is famous for.
With Taz’s debut looming, TNA *SHOULD* not debut him as a wrestler. Taz should manage Samoa Joe to the next level and Samoa Joe should continue the route he is on; being a heel. Sure, Taz may want to get his hands dirty. That is fine, but unlike Mick Foley, Taz’s days as an in-ring competitor are very limited. In reality, I can’t see Taz being an in-ring competitor. I also can’t see Taz replacing the horrible Don West on commentary because Don West is a staple in TNA and I’m sure their intention is to not break up their announce team.
With that said, Taz should be in a manager/advisor role and give Samoa Joe the edge that was missing when he made up the Nation of Violence. Whether or not TNA does this…that’s another question for another time.
Logical/sound enough, although I’d rather see Taz lead a stable than just hang with Joe. Plus I’m pretty sure his neck is so beat up he can’t wrestle again, even if TNA wanted him to.
Dale Clarke: Predicting what wrestler will be signed next by any company is never an easy thing to do. There are so many factors to take into account from storylines to merchandise sales. Now the one man who TNA is almost guaranteed to sign is Ken ‘Mr. Kennedy’ Anderson. I could have written an essay based on Anderson, but since his no compete clause restricts him until September I had to rethink things, because the chances that TNA will not sign another WWE castoff before September are very slim.
While I’d like to argue in favour of a talented youngster such as Elijah Burke or Ken Doane I’m going to have to say that the next ex WWE wrestler going to TNA will be Tazz. Now he’s not technically a wrestler anymore, but he has formerly wrestled for WWE, so he fits into the criterion of the question set.
I’m sure we’ve all heard the rumours that Tazz is coming to TNA. They started just days after his departure from WWE, and with his no compete clause just days away from expiring there will be nothing stopping him from joining TNA. It’s a foregone conclusion that it will not be in a wrestling role, and I don’t see him taking the place of either Mike Tenay or Don West on the announce desk, so that leaves a managerial or ‘consultant’ role.
In terms of how he should be debuted there have already been numerous clues as to the mysterious consultant of Samoa Joe and it wouldn’t be hard to tie them into Tazz, whether this is who they are pointing to or not. In my mind Samoa Joe’s turn at Slammiversary should be kept too. Don’t play it as part of some master plan and have him swerve on the next set of IMPACT tapings. Keep Joe allied with the Main Event Mafia, and on the IMPACT following Slammiversary have him explain that he is sick and tired of being told what to do, and that now he can get the respect he deserves.
From here, have numerous signs that Samoa Joe’s former consultant isn’t going to let Samoa Joe’s betrayal go without some sort of retribution. Promote this consultant through various psychological mind games, such as threatening messages being shown during Samoa Joe’s matches and the week before Victory Road have Scott Steiner show up bloodied, with a message written in blood on the wall solely stating “I’m coming for you Joeâ€. Throughout this period set up an AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe match at Victory Road, playing off the King of the Mountain turn.
At Victory Road have Samoa Joe moments away from winning when all the lights go out, and a remixed version of Tazz’s ECW entrance music plays. This gives AJ Styles the time to roll Joe up and get the win. It is crucial that Tazz does not actually appear during this time, and that the mystery is built upon.
Over the weeks following Victory Road have Samoa Joe go on a rampage, choking out numerous midcarders who aren’t actually doing anything, demanding that the unnamed consultant appears or he will continue this rampage, eventually issuing a challenge at Hard Justice. At said pay per view have Joe’s challenge be answered not be Tazz, but by Christopher Daniels, acting as the hero of TNA’s midcard. Have Joe defeat Daniels in a competitive match. Following this match have the lights go out, and when they are brought back on have Joe laid out, covered in blood in the centre of the ring, with no attacker in sight.
All this stalling isn’t just for mystery’s sake however, because by the time that Tazz eventually does make his debut, finally answering Samoa Joe’s challenge at the end of the IMPACT following Hard Justice, he can refuse to enter the ring with Joe, instead telling Joe that he has found a bigger better replacement for the Nation of Violence, in turn bringing out another former WWE talent – Eddie ‘Umaga’ Fatu!
This would of course lead to a Samoa Joe vs. Nation of Violence feud, capping it off with Joe losing to Fatu in some kind of Nation of Violence street fight, with Tazz finally entering the ring towards the end and locking in the Tazzmission, causing Joe to pass out. Not only could this blowoff the feud, but would also mean that TNA has a ready made main eventer in the form of Fatu, with Tazz acting as a sort of Raven-esque psychopathic mouthpiece, and would also provide another main event heel for them to work with in Samoa Joe.
As I was reading this, I thought Dale was heading in the same direction I alluded to in my above comments… and was ready to give him the win. But then he took it in a totally different direction, and impressed the heck out of me. Great idea, and I wasn’t even thinking about Umaga/Fatu/Jamal. I’m deducting a point for not mentioning the fact that Joe is now seemingly aligned with Angle, a man who has a background with Taz, but overall…
Winner of VS. #24: Dale Clarke
Do you agree with Paul or Dale or do you have an entirely different opinion? Let us know in the comments section, below!
Until next time…
