With the announcement that they had agreed to a new TV rights deal with AMC last week, TNA finds itself in a position of strength, at least in terms of visibility, for the first time in over a decade. They also find themselves with a new source of income, something that is rather important given 2025 is about to turn into 2026, and the promotion reportedly has many of their contracted wrestlers set to hit the free agent market soon, and some talents even reportedly wrestling without deals.
Unfortunately, that TV money may have come too late for TNA to retain some of their talent. In the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reported that WWE had already begun engaging in talks with certain unnamed WWE talent, in a situation Meltzer described as similar to that of WWE stars Jordynne Grace and Joe Hendry. Both Grace and Hendry had been TNA stars that began working with WWE as part of the TNA/”NXT” talent exchange, with WWE later signing them once their TNA deals expired.
One TNA talent confirmed that TNA had been slow in offering new extensions to existing talent, which was attributed to the promotion waiting to finalize the AMC deal. Talents now expect that TNA will be making formal extension offers in the immediate future, and talents believed to be waiting for offers from TNA are Mustafa Ali, Jake Something, AJ Francis, Steve Maclin, Zachary Wentz, and former TNA World Heavyweight Champion Mike Santana.
It wasn’t confirmed whether those TNA stars were the names that WWE had engaged with in contract talks. Of the group, Ali, Francis, Maclin, and Wentz all previously wrestled for WWE, and a recent report on Ali’s contractual status suggested the door could be open for a WWE return. Some speculated that Santana could be WWE bound himself after he unexpectedly dropped the TNA Championship to Frankie Kazarian, though such rumors were later disputed.
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