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With the return of TNA set for 1/13/24 at the Hard to Kill PPV in Las Vegas, PWInsider.com discussed the brand's resurrection with a number of talents in recent weeks:
JOSH ALEXANDER:
"Selfishly, I'm super excited, super happy about it because not only, is TNA back, being what it once was and the proper way it always was, the best in ring talents in the world that you may not have heard of a place where, people can come from other companies and reinvent themselves like it's always been, but we're finally under those three letters again, TNA. I get to be a part of it, the one thing that inspired me to step foot in the ring in the very first place is back, and, it's just, everything was very exciting before, I'd always work hard before, but now there's a little extra oomph added in there because of those three letters, man, it's hard for me to explain, but I get goosebumps just talking about it, I'm so excited for January 13th.
I never thought I could be a pro wrestler because when I watch TV, I'd see like a six, six, 300 pounds of muscle Bautista and be like I'm not that guy. I can't be that guy. But then I tuned into TNA and I remember the very first time, I've talked about it many times. I saw AJ Styles, Low Ki, Samoa Joe, all these guys, and I realized that wrestlers came in all shapes and sizes and it was possible to do this with athleticism and presentation rather than just being a muscle bound dude that...It seemed like an impossible feat for me to become. So it definitely just gave me a little push in the right direction knowing that I could just even attempt this, and it introduced me to names in pro wrestling that, introduced me to companies like Ring of Honor and independent wrestling to even find out that even existed. So it just opened a complete door for me to walk through to discover a different type of pro wrestling that I ever knew existed."
JORDYNNE GRACE:
"When they originally told me [about the change back to TNA], I don't know why, but I have always had in the back of my mind for the past couple of years that someday it's going to go back to TNA just because of the name value. Like every single time that I tell someone that I work for impact they don't really know unless they're like a really hardcore wrestling fan, but then when I say, Oh, did you ever like hear of TNA? And they're like, Oh yeah. So I just feel like. So many like casual wrestling fans and even like normal people, they remember what TNA was. So I don't know why I always felt it in my soul that it was going to come back. So I was so past excited and stoked when I was finally told when we actually did like a script read, which was crazy. I've never done that before. We had a script read with everybody there. The part where Kazarian comes out of the water, I was so jealous that he got to do that I was like that's a sexy scene like i'm so jealous that you get to do that."
"I hope [this] brings back some of the things that originally made TNA special. I think Impact was doing that for sure, but... I just talked, I just had an interview before this and they mentioned Lockdown, so that would be like a cool thing to bring back. Just all the things that made TNA so unique, we had the Ultimate X match, we had the Lockdown, we have these crazy matches. They had different concepts and they're so unique and cool. The Queen of the Mountain, King of the Mountain. I would love for them to come up with something like a new match, like a new kind of match. Just specifically for this new era of TNA. I don't know what it's gonna be but that's what makes TNA, is that we're always innovating stuff, and I think that's what we need to keep doing."
FRANKIE KAZARIAN:
"It' really cool. It's got the more quality personally and [Scott D'Amore] told me what was going on. Sometime before we shot [the TNA return vignette], they were very clandestine about it. This has been in the works for the better part of the year, and I had questions, and he answered all those questions. At the end of that conversation, if I wasn't on board already, I was 100 percent on board. It's cool, especially for me, because I've, I was in the original TNA and the rebranding and all the stuff that's, happening and becoming Impact Wrestling and all that. A lot of times, especially in the most recent years, we've run from our past and we are now embracing it. There are a lot of fans, there are a lot of wrestlers that grew up not wanting to be just wrestlers, but wanted to be TNA wrestlers or wanted to be X-Division wrestlers or wanting to be Knockouts. We're not running from that anymore. We're going to embrace our past and make it part of our future. I was very psyched and, being part of filming that was incredible. The production that Eric Tompkins put into it was incredible, much like all of his work, and just being in the ring and watching the video and hearing the rumble and the xxplosion when they announced that and just seeing all the positivity that's been you know That is the feedback on that. It's really cool to be a part of I think we have a lot of equity as a company right now, and it's very fulfilling and very cool."
"I think what we need is more eyeballs on us. This year has been the most consistently great in ring content out of any organization out there, especially our big pay per views, we always deliver on that, and it's just gonna be more of that. It's gonna be, I don't want to dismiss what Impact was because we're putting a button on that particular nam. Impact Wrestling this year has been amazing, and, everybody, the excitement level has really just it's contagious, and everybody in that locker room is so ready for January to be here, for us to, really show the world, we still have something to prove, we want, we want people know what TNA is all about more so now than ever. I think we do want to recreate that excitement that we had in the early days in the asylum. And when we first moved to Orlando, when we first got on FOX Sports and we first got on Spike TV, it seemed like back then it was constantly something new was happening and something exciting. I think we were really trying to get back to that. I think we got a good start with the buzz that we've received from this announcement and again, the equity I think we have in the industry right now is at an all time high."
MOOSE:
"I was shocked [when I found out about the TNA return.] I was very shocked because a lot of us had no idea it was happening. They just told us to make sure you're by a monitor after the Alex Shelley vs. Josh Alexander match. They just told us to make sure we're by the monitor. After that match, because it was a huge announcement, and I had no idea what that announcement was. I thought maybe there was like a surprise wrestler making his debut or something. That's what I had in mind. I was very shocked, obviously now very excited, and it makes sense."
"My expectation [for TNA in 2024] is to run in bigger arenas. Usually when we are in Vegas, we were we run in Samstown, which only holds full capacity, maybe 800 people. Now we're running in the palms. In the Palms Hotel, which, from what I was told, at capacity, it holds like 2,000 people, so just that right there is Big start for the company. I know meetings we've had with talent. With office and talent, they've told us the goal for us is to start running bigger arenas. I think with the news of us changing the name back to TNA, we're going to draw more eyes to the product. More fans are going to want to come check us out. More free agents are going to want to come work for us because of the momentum that's rolling and like I've been here for what, 7-8 years now, and I've been to the low points of Impact to now, the high point. everything I know is that each year that I'm here, how much better things are from before. I think in 2024, we're going to, oh man, this, It's going to be huge. I can already, I can feel it. We all can feel it and it's time to show up."
CHRIS SABIN:
"I was really excited. The three letter name, it's more traditional obviously most wrestling promotions throughout history have had that three letter name I can remember several instances of bringing up Impact Wrestling around someone and that person, not sure what Impact Wrestling was, oh, do you remember TNA Yeah, I remember TNA. So I think it's a little more recognizable and I think that The more we get out that TNA Wrestling is back, I think we have a chance to bring back some of those fans that possibly watched back in the day that maybe don't watch anymore. We were doing really, TNA Wrestling was very popular. I'm not sure if people remember, but we were doing millions of viewers on Spike TV. A lot of people watched TNA Wrestling back in the day. So hopefully if they see that TNA Wrestling is back, we can, bring back some of that old fan base. I hope [the company] could be more innovative than just being a new version of the past, right? We have a chance to be a new style of TNA, obviously most of the talent is completely different, this is our opportunity to step up and really show that we can be a force in pro wrestling nowadays."
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