Wrestling Six Packs: TNA Wrestlers Who Could Cross Over to WWE

WWE wants Sting so bad, or so it seems
Photo Credit: ImpactWrestling.com

The running meme is that if someone leaves WWE, TNA will attempt to sign them just to give them the World Championship within a month. For all the talk of how strong TNA's roster is independently of the folks they get from up north, the exchange rate hasn't exactly been close to equal. Outside of CM Punk, who appeared for the company in its earliest days and was signed for his work in Ring of Honor, no one who didn't already work for WWE before their stint in TNA actually got a chance to get over. The closest may have been Monty Brown transitioning into Marcus Cor-Von in WWE. He retired due to family issues.

Many of TNA's current crop of "originals" are past the age where WWE would most likely send them to NXT for retooling. Why spend time on someone who's already 35 or over, right? Something about old dogs and new tricks, especially with someone like AJ Styles, who has been ingrained in the TNA faux-indie environment for his whole career. I could be wrong, on all these accounts or on those who are already of a certain age not making it in WWE, but in my estimation, here are six wrestlers currently contracted to TNA who have never appeared in WWE that I could see bucking trends and crossing over.

1. Sting

Okay, this choice is cheating. Sting isn't exactly homegrown TNA talent, but he is the only active guy from WCW who has never had a run in WWE. The company seems to want him to wrestle for them so badly that their fawning borders on embarrassment. If TNA lets him walk, don't think for a second that whatever plans they have for Undertaker at WrestleMania XXX won't get tossed out Titan Towers so hard they reach the southbound lanes of I-95.

2. Magnus

Magnus is in his late 20s, has a good look, can be excellent in the ring with a little more training, and drips with charisma. In a way, he's TNA's next great hope, their Monty Brown if you will. If TNA goes tits up tomorrow, or if they foolishly let Magnus' contract lapse, WWE would be calling his phone and offering plane tickets to Tampa before he was able to listen to his voice message from one of Dixie Carter's underlings informing him of his release.

3. Samoa Joe

Joe is in the Bobby Roode/Austin Aries/AJ Styles/James Storm camp of TNA regulars who are probably past NXT age. On the surface, he wouldn't be an ideal candidate to jump ship. However, Joe has ins with both John Cena and CM Punk, both of whom are rumored to have some clout with the front office. I wouldn't hold my breath to see him in WWE, but of the main event scene, I'd be the least surprised to see Joe in a WWE ring before he retires.

4. Jay Bradley

Bradley is the most appealing of the Gut Check dudes in terms of the things WWE looks at. He's got size, look, and decent instincts. He doesn't impress me, but WWE seems to look for different things than I do. I have my own reasons for disliking the guy, but at the same time, I understand that one match shouldn't inform an entire opinion. Besides, WWE employs plenty of dudes I dislike.

ETA: Apparently, WWE already employed Jay Bradley as Ryan Braddock. I totally whiffed on his employment with the company. I can't think of anyone else to put here though.

5. Velvet Sky

I hate that I don't feel the need to explain this one. I really do.

6. Jesse Godderz

TNA's roster is so bereft of guys WWE would pick up, which isn't so much an indictment of them as it is of WWE. Godderz is probably the next best wrestler because of his reality show past and interesting charisma. To be quite honest, everyone after Magnus was a struggle for me to come up with. The talent admiration seems so one-sided.