By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
TNA wrestlers are being pulled from some independent wrestling shows. The company pulled Moose from a scheduled booking on the Maple Leaf Pro’s Multiverse event that will be held on Friday, April 18, during WrestleMania weekend in Las Vegas. TNA issued the following statement to Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com: “TNA wrestlers were pulled due to partner conflicts.”
Johnson wrote in a previous report that the belief was that Moose would have been in the ring with talents from other promotions, and added that it was likely AEW talents. Check out that full story here.
Powell’s POV: H/T to Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com, who has also reported on the story. The “partner conflicts” line seems to support the theory that TNA will no longer allow its wrestlers to share the ring with AEW wrestlers. It’s unclear whether this is the company’s decision or if they were pushed to do it by their television partner or WWE. Johnson’s report adds that TNA’s concern “seems to be centered around the idea that someone could conceivably show TNA talents in a bad light or losing on rival programming.”
I checked the calendar, and it says 2026. I had to make sure because the idea that a wrestler or a company would look bad if a wrestler lost to someone from a rival promotion feels like it’s from a different era. If a TNA wrestler loses to an AEW wrestler or vice versa, I think it makes both companies look good for putting aside any politics and allowing the match to happen. And while some independent promotions are bigger than others, I suspect that most pro wrestling fans wouldn’t even know the match took place. The vast majority of fans who would be aware of the match would not look at the home promotion of the losing wrestler any differently.
While Moose’s match was not advertised, it’s a dick move to pull wrestlers from advertised matches scheduled for WrestleMania weekend less than two weeks out. At the very least, TNA should have let wrestlers honor their commitments and apply this new edict to future bookings. It hurts the promotion that booked those wrestlers, and costs the TNA wrestlers the money they would have made for working the show. Pulling talent for petty reasons will make TNA look far worse in the eyes of disappointed fans than it would if one of the company’s wrestlers lost a worked pro wrestling match. Meanwhile, they’ve opened the door for Tony Khan to score some points with fans by having AEW wrestlers replace any TNA wrestlers who were forced to cancel their bookings.
(Jason Powell, founder and editor of ProWrestling.net, has covered pro wrestling full-time dating back to 1997. He hosts a weekly podcast, Pro Wrestling Boom, and also appears regularly on the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast. Reach him via email at dotnetjason@gmail.com and on social media via @prowrestlingnet.bsky.social or x.com/prowrestlingnet. For his full bio and information on this website, click here.)
The fed have spoken. Their lapdogs have listened. Nxtna.
How sad. AEW is the hottest promotion in wrestling. Sad for the tna talent but maybe they should rethink their choice of employer.
The MLP shows will still be great. MJF will have a field day if they pull nemeth.