Ben Bishop finally made his TNA debut at Bound For Glory on October 11, 2026, but the surprise entrance didn’t exactly come out of nowhere. New details indicate TNA had been looking at Bishop for quite some time, and there were some real reasons why it took this long for him to actually get through the door.
Bishop crashed the Call Your Shot Gauntlet as the 19th entrant, took out Jada Stone and stole her spot in the match before declaring that he was done waiting for somebody else to hand him an opportunity.
That line hits a little differently now. According to Fightful Select, Bishop had been on TNA’s radar dating back to last year, and his name was being discussed even under previous regimes. He had also been a regular name in conversations about unsigned independent talent and had multiple WWE tryouts before finally appearing on TNA television.
The holdup appears to have come down to a mix of concerns over his presentation and questions about whether he was ready for a bigger spot. One of the biggest sticking points was apparently Bishop’s social media presence. While some people inside TNA viewed his clips as a major positive and thought they should help get him hired, Tommy Dreamer had a different view and felt some of that content could actually work against him.
Dreamer later explained that he had been working with Bishop and had seen major improvement from him, while also acknowledging that an earlier tryout hadn’t gone especially well.
“I’ve been working with Ben a lot lately on trying to better him. I like him. He had a tryout that didn’t go well a long time ago.”
Dreamer also made it clear that he had concerns about how Bishop was presenting himself online and whether that was hurting his chances with companies.
“I told him I don’t think his social media is helping him get hired other places. He has improved in ring so much, hopefully someone picks him up.”
So while Bishop’s Bound For Glory debut looked like a sudden surprise on television, there was clearly a lot more going on behind the scenes. TNA had been watching him, people inside the company had different opinions about him, and Bishop had to keep improving before the company finally gave him a shot.
It has not been confirmed whether Bishop is signed to TNA, so there is still a big question hanging over what happens next. Bishop spent a long time waiting for his opportunity, and when it finally came, he made sure nobody could miss him. After all the internal debate, failed tryouts and questions over his social media approach, TNA finally put him on one of its biggest stages. Now the real test is whether Bound For Glory was the start of something permanent or just one loud night.
What do you think held Ben Bishop back from getting into TNA sooner, and do you think the company should sign him full-time? Leave your thoughts and feedback in the comments below.
