Jonathan Coachman thinks WWE does not need to buy TNA, because the company is already getting plenty out of the relationship.
While speaking on 2 Count Tuesday, Coachman said fans may be too focused on whether WWE will actually purchase TNA. In his eyes, the bigger issue is that WWE is the larger company in the partnership, and if TNA is not careful, WWE can use that power to its advantage.
“No. And I think sometimes you get caught up in saying we’re partnering with the WWE instead of what we’ve talked about here on Coach and Bro, that the WWE, if you’re not paying attention, they will take advantage of the partnership because they are the big, big bad brother, and that’s what they’ve done here.”
Coachman said WWE does not have to spend a huge amount of money buying TNA when it can already request talent and plug them into major spots whenever it wants.
“You just laid it out perfectly. They don’t need to pay $50 million for anything because whenever they want something or somebody, they say, ‘We want this person up here. We want them a part of the John Cena tournament. Want them this or that.’”
Then he shifted to the talent side of things. Coachman said if TNA tells wrestlers it cannot pay them what they want, but also tries to control outside paydays, that could become a real problem fast. Coachman said that kind of setup could make talent wonder why they should stay at all.
“And then the other part is if you’re a talent — and I said this about the whole Nick Nemeth-MJF situation — is when you’re telling your talent, ‘We can’t pay you what you want, but we’re going to allow you to have paydays, but we want to dictate the paydays.’
Well, now all of a sudden, you’re going to have talent that doesn’t want to be there anymore because they’re saying, ‘Wait a second. If I get a chance to make 10 grand in one day, are they going to step in and say, “No, you can’t do that?” And that’s what they’re starting to do. And in my opinion, at the wrong time.”
The WWE and TNA partnership has already created a lot of talk, especially with reports claiming WWE has a purchase option in the deal. There has also been talk that Anthem’s debt could make a full acquisition less attractive.
Coachman’s take is simple: why buy the whole company when you can already benefit from the parts you want? For TNA, that is the dangerous part. The partnership gives the company exposure, but Coachman believes WWE could end up treating TNA more like a talent pipeline than an equal partner.
What do you think about Jonathan Coachman saying WWE is taking advantage of TNA? Is this partnership good for TNA, or is WWE getting too much control? Leave your feedback below.
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