Steve Maclin has already spoken at length about why he wanted out of TNA, but he’s now opened up about another frustration he had before leaving the company. Looking back, Maclin says he never understood how TNA handled wrestlers who were already on their way out, and admits some of the creative decisions just didn’t make sense to him.
While speaking to TSN, Steve Maclin reflected on his final storyline with Mike Santana and explained that he leaned into his real-life frustrations because they fit what was happening behind the scenes.
“I was trying to really dive into that story, like here I was as a guy trying to be so selfless for so long for the company and [management is] just clamouring for people getting ready to leave right away.”
According to Maclin, it was already obvious that certain talent would be leaving, so he felt the focus should have been on making those stories mean something after they were gone instead of letting everything hit a dead end.
“The writing was on the wall with certain talent just leaving as to how the story was going to end. All right, cool, so how do we make the most of this story to make the product, for when they do leave, continue to move on instead of just coming to a dead stop? None of it made sense sometimes.”
He also made it clear he wasn’t part of TNA’s creative team. While he appreciated being able to throw ideas out there, that didn’t mean they were ever going to make television. That’s why he decided to channel his real feelings into the story instead.
“Obviously, I’m not part of the creative process. I can add my two cents, which I’m really appreciative of, where I can throw my opinion into the hat, but it just doesn’t come out of it.It was just one of those things where I was trying to take real-life situations and feelings and add that into the storyline.”
Those comments line up with what Maclin has said before about the final stretch of his TNA run. He felt like he kept pitching ideas that never went anywhere, including plans for making the International Championship feel like a bigger deal.
“I kind of felt towards the end of my fifth year I was just spinning the wheels where I was throwing ideas to creative and they were taking them and then nothing would come of it.”
“Even when I became International Champion, it was like, ‘All right, cool, where are we going to? Am I going to Mexico, Japan? How are we going to make this title mean something?’ And every pitch that I threw just never came to fruition like I imagined. It just felt like I was always fighting an uphill battle where I just folded every time, like, ‘Okay, cool, whatever you guys want, then.’”
Even then, he says his goal never changed. Every idea he pitched was meant to help the company, the story and whoever he was sharing the ring with.
“For me, that’s not something I like to do, especially when I try to put every bit of me into a story to better the product, to better the company and to better the person I’m in the ring with.”
Maclin has already made it clear that creative frustrations and financial issues both played a role in his decision to leave TNA. His latest comments add more context to that story, as he says watching the company handle talent who were already leaving often left him wondering what the long-term plan actually was.
What do you make of Steve Maclin’s comments about TNA’s handling of departing talent? Let us know in the comments below.
