What if TNA had signed Bullet Club?

The hottest story making the rounds right now is the press release TNA released late Friday night, January 22nd 2016, regarding them having some sort of deal (at least verbal it appears) with AJ Styles to return to TNA for their re-debut on Pop TV. Apparently, Gallows and Anderson were also part of the deal, set to arrive in TNA as soon as their New Japan contracts were up. One report even says that all three men met with Dixie Carter on December 12th, and had gone so far as to complete a story line that would have taken them six months into the year, and a logo had been designed for whatever Styles, Gallows, and Anderson would have been calling their faction in TNA. Soon after making this deal (verbal or in writing, no one knows for sure except the parties involved) word has it Styles agent got upset that it was done without his participation and put a halt to it, supposedly because nothing was official unless he was involved with it. Soon after that, Styles signed with WWE, and it appears likely that Gallows and Anderson shall do the same.

Here’s the interesting part of the story…was this deal a “signed” deal? Was it only verbal? If it was signed, is it true that no deal is legal unless Style’s agent is involved with it as well? Whatever the answer to that is, what kept this deal from happening for TNA? Did Styles, Gallows, and Anderson simply “change their minds?” Did WWE catch wind of TNA’s plans and scoop in to steal the Bullet Club members away? Did Styles, Gallows and Anderson use the TNA deal to leverage WWE themselves? Chances are we’ll never know, but if TNA has a signed deal, surely they will take it to court, right? Was their press release a warning shot to Vince and the WWE not to proceed with their plans for Styles this weekend at The Royal Rumble? Or, as many TNA haters are saying, is it just TNA being silly, and spiteful, trying to seem relevant because they couldn’t finalize the deal with Styles, Gallows, and Anderson? I’m not sure we will ever know, but it’s going to be fun to follow and try to find out.

Finally, I honestly would have preferred Styles, Gallows, and Anderson coming to TNA. While I love WWE’s NXT, their main roster shows are terrible, and have been for some time now. I can’t even stand to watch RAW, and Smackdown isn’t much better at all. WWE has done a few things well over the years though. Daniel Bryan’s story was done wonderfully, and CM Punk was pushed, and used extremely well too. Kevin Owens has been pushed to the top pretty quickly, but of course lost the battle with perennial face of the company, John Cena. Seth Rollins was given the title, but came off horribly weak in his title run, and Dean Ambrose, while not doing poorly, deserves the Roman Reigns spot far more than Reigns does. WWE never used Sting well at all, even jobbing him out at his only Wrestlemania, and now there are strong rumors that Vince McMahon’s new favorite is The Wyatt Family’s Braun Strowman. Part of me wants to believe that Styles, Gallows, and Anderson are going to come in strong, instantly getting a main event push, and will be used like the superstars they are. However, another part of me worries that Styles will be eliminated from the Rumble, shortly after getting in the ring, by someone like Strowman, as the commentators blurt out something like “this is the big time AJ!” I also have nightmares of Gallows and Anderson having to put over the Vaude Villains, or get beaten up by Baron Corbin single handedly as he screams at them to go back to Japan.

TNA needs some work, they need to keep finding their identity, but I am certain they would have used the Bullet Club in a remarkable, big time, fun to watch way. I know AJ would have won the world title, and Gallows and Anderson the tag titles, and that would have made TNA look important, that would have made TNA look different, strong, and exciting. I suppose there’s a danger, or concern that TNA might collapse, and as such not be able to pay out on promised contracts, but people have been predicting TNA’s collapse for years, and years now, and it’s not happened. I think Styles, Gallows, and Anderson might have been the thing to finally put them over the top. I’ll cheer for Styles, Gallows, and Anderson in WWE, but I’m a little sad for TNA. Wrestling fans who cheer for their bad luck, and misfortune, annoy me. TNA has a lot of top notch talent that deserve success, and watching people who supposedly “love wrestling” wanting them to die, is really pathetic. 

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