Photo Courtesy of www.cagesideseats.com
TNA Slammiversary XI is officially in the books, and has received a great deal of positive feedback from the internet wrestling community so far.
The overall show delivered big-time in terms of match quality and the in-ring stories that were told. However, the one portion of the show that made everyone start to buzz was the announcement of the next inductee into the 2013 TNA Hall of Fame.
While many thought the obvious choice would be Jeff Jarrett, a collective gasp came across the world when Dixie Carter, president of TNA, announced that the Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle would be the next to be inducted.
Angle signed and debuted with TNA back in the end of the summer in 2006 after his last run with the WWE. Angle immediately went into a long awaited “dream program” with Samoa Joe to satiate the hunger of all TNA fans. He has lead a storied career not only in TNA, but under the overall blanket of pro wrestling in general.
Since Angle is set to be inducted into the Hall of Fame during Bound For Glory weekend, what does this mean for any possible returns to the WWE?
It’s general knowledge that when a wrestler is inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, they are essentially a property of the WWE in terms of copyright, trademarks and all likenesses moving forward. Many fans toyed with and discussed the idea of Angle possibly making a WWE return to end his career there. Many felt that it would’ve been the perfect full circle to come back to WWE: one last possible championship run, one last WrestleMania match, a career DVD release and WWE Hall of Fame induction.
Many would say that the downside to Angle’s induction is the lack of depth that his induction would encompass. From TNA’s standpoint, between the years of 1999-2006, there is almost seven years worth of material that will not be a part of Angle’s induction. However, since Angle has been so heavily involved in the company from storylines, stables, five-star matches and championships, TNA will not be missing any steps in terms of recognition.
Angel will become the second inductee into the TNA Hall of Fame, following current hall of famer Sting. It’s very interesting to see that both inductees are not in the WWE Hall of Fame. You need to ask yourself if this will be the model trend moving forward so TNA can continue to individualize themselves.
TNA would easily lap the WWE in terms of the Hall of Fame if they make a physical location for theirs. With their original home at the Universal Studios theme park set and the company having maintained a solid relationship with them, a location could easily be in the works for the future.
Until then, a major congratulations to Kurt Angle for this stellar accomplishment.
Maurice D. Proffit is a Writer for Rant Sports
