Another day, another round of rumors regarding the potential sale of TNA. Fresh off potentially breaking the news of a Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar rematch, Jim Ross is at it again with his HOT SCOOPZ, possibly shedding some light on the buzz that WWE is interested in buying TNA. It turns out that might not be the whole story.
On the latest episode of The Ross Report podcast, good ol’ J.R. says his sources are once again buzzing, and this time they’re telling him that a deal between the two companies is on the way … although it may not be the deal we were expecting.
“These are good sources, but it doesn’t mean that they’re accurate. It just means that they have been reliable in the past.
…
“[The] rumor is that WWE is allegedly very close to buying the TNA library. Not the promotion; the TNA library. Obviously, with the WWE Network, the TNA library could be a nice resource, nice asset. Now, TNA does have some talents I’m sure WWE would probably like to have somewhere down the road, but right now we hear that WWE and TNA have had talks regarding WWE buying the library, and that that deal is imminent.
“Again, these are … rumors. They have not been verified. But the people who told me normally are very, very reliable. That’s all I will say on that deal.”
This would certainly be an unprecedented deal if it’s accurate. Ross is a fan of the move and thinks it’s “win-win.” Normally, you would think only selling off your video library would be an absolutely terrible move for a pro wrestling company that will sell the promotion itself to another party — and that may well prove to be true — but TNA is a bit of a special case here (as it usually is).
Most of the potential buyers involved in the TNA sale rumors have reportedly mostly been interested in purchasing the company for its contracted talents and existing infrastructure and (for what it’s worth) status as an established company with a television deal already in place, and would likely do a complete rebrand of the promotion in order to start fresh. Any potential buyers wouldn’t be able to leverage any sort of “over-the-top” outlet like WWE Network, and the TNA best-of DVDs already exist in the world, so what good would NEW “best of” DVDs do a new owner?
Again, we’ll have to wait and see whether this proves to be accurate, and whether if it’s accurate, it ends up being a deal-breaker for other potential buyers. But if TNA is able to get bought out by Billy Corgan or other investors who love the company and want to rebrand it and turn it around, and WWE Network is able to get the entire dang TNA library … that truly would be the best-case scenario for wrestling fans everywhere.
Fingers crossed.
