Prince Devitt Signs and TNA-Spike Deal Not Renewed

Greetings, everyone. My name is Speed on the Beat (yes, that Speed on the Beat) a/k/a the Resident Chris Jericho of Eyes on the Ring. What that means is that I pop up when I please (sometimes pretty damn cockily), get my ass kicked (read: type up a post or two) put something over (read: actually have those posts published), then head back to the shadows until I'm needed again (read: go back to editing other submissions and/or working behind-the-scenes and/or on other projects, such as my stint on Dancing with the Stars).

With every bit of awesome news in wrestling, there seems to be a bit of bad news to accompany it. For instance, Daniel Bryan gets Stone Cold-over and wins the WWE WHC (good news) then finds out he'll need neck and shoulder surgery and be out of action for months (bad news). Afterwards, he gets even more over by choking out a robber (good news on many fronts), but still won't be back doing what he loves for a few more months (bad news). It's like, as wrestling fans, we're stuck doing yes and no chants (possibly even more than "what?" chants at sheer idiocy).




Today's good news comes in the form of Prince Devitt signing with WWE (and he hasn't been rebranded--yet). Now, I'll be honest. I'm not as familiar with Devitt's body of work as some may be. But, based off what I have seen, it's one helluva signing. It shows that WWE is committed to indie growth (and showcasing talents not named Jaaaaaaaaaaaahn Ceeeeeeena). Add this in with the KENTA and (possibly) Kevin Steen signings and you've got some of the best independent names of the present and past (DB, Ambrose, Rollins, etc.) all under one roof. Cue the yes chants.

Now, for the bad news. TMZ (and WrestlingInc) report that the Spike-TNA TV deal is no more (potentially because of a well-known name still working with TNA, but I'll leave the speculation to Meltzer and them). What does that mean? In October 2014, barring a new contract with another network, TNA will lose a plethora of--excuse the pun--eyes on its ring. This will leave only WWE, ROH, and AAA as the only promotions with even a semblance of a national television deal (at the time of this post). That's bad news, not just for TNA, but wrestling as a whole.

TNA offers an alternative to WWE. Without it, fans are left with one less alternate view on what is considered wrestling. It also doesn't bode well for larger indie organizations such as the ROHs and GFWs of the world that may want/need to get a TV contract to further their growth. Finally, if TNA is, in fact, beginning its swan song, a lot of talent will be out of a place to go. Cue the no chants.

I, for one, hope TNA can get their crap together and get another deal. While I'm not a big fan of TNA's style, I am a fan of wrestling. And I'm not ready to say goodbye to another somewhat-major promotion just yet.