Roode and Young are Leaving The Ship

Former TNA champions Bobby Roode and Eric Young will be finishing their TNA commitments at tonight's Impact Wrestling taping in Orlando, Florida, PWInsider.com has confirmed with multiple sources.

The story making the rounds is that Roode and Young each requested releases from their TNA deals and their working this past week's Impact Wrestling tapings were part of those agreements.

Roode, 39, is currently one half of the TNA Tag Team champions Beer Money, an act that was just resurrected at the onset of the year with the return of James Storm to the company.    Roode has been a good soldier for the company, debuting in 2004 as part of the Team Canada group and slowly made his way up the ladder, eventually winning the TNA championship.   We are told that Roode is a free agent as of tomorrow.

The current King of the Mountain champion, Young, 36, has been with TNA since 2004 as well.  Something of a chameleon for the promotion, Young has filled every role imaginable for the promotion - from paranoid underdog babyface to foreign menace villain to masked super hero to most recently out of his mind evil villain over the course of the 12 years he was with the company.  Young was also the host and star of several Animal Planet reality series.  Young and the company had been negotiating a new deal but Young made the decision to instead ask for a release to the company.  Young is also a free agent as of tomorrow.

While Roode has not publicly commented, Young wrote the following on  Twitter earlier today, "Heading to the building and thinking back on the last 12 years....... What a wild ride!!!!"


In response to a PWInsider.com request for comment, TNA issued the following statement:

Impact Wrestling has come to terms on the release of veteran wrestlers Bobby Roode and Eric Young (Jeremy Fritz). Bobby and Eric have been valuable members of The Impact Roster since 2004 and we wish them nothing but the best in their careers going forward.

Bobby had this to say earlier today, “To the guys and girls I got to work with for the past 12 years, Impact Wrestling, the office and everyone associated with me getting to live this dream, I say thank you. It is time for me to move on to the next chapter in my life. This has been amazing.”

Eric Young had this to say. “Thank you. Thank you to everyone who watched me for the past 12 years. Thank you to Impact Wrestling. I wish everyone here nothing but the best going forward.”

Executive Vice President of Creative and Television, John Gaburick added, “Bobby and Eric are true professionals. We salute them for the 12 years they gave TNA.

With a Superstar roster including EC3, James Storm, Drew Galloway, Jeff and Matt Hardy, “The Destroyer” Bobby Lashley, Gail Kim, The Wolves, Maria Kanellis-Bennett and “The Miracle” Mike Bennett we couldn’t be more excited about showcasing the finest wrestling in the world for the Impact fans.”

In the coming weeks be sure to see the final matches of both Bobby Roode and Eric Young on Impact Wrestling at 9PM EST on Pop TV.

Time for the monster Carolina Caveman push.

James Storm just gotta be like "shitttttttttt"

From what I hear, Meltzer seem to be thinking, they are both likely to be heading to WWE, but he hasn't gotten it confirmed, his speculation that if they are indeed WWE bound, it has a lot to do with how over AJ been with the crowd.

edit
PWTorch is saying Roode and Young decided to leave TNA over their contracts. Both asked for pay raises and were turned down. As a result, Roode and EY gave their notices

I can see WWE wanting Roode but Young? That would be a strange fit. Even in NXT.

From Meltz's Daily update
There is nothing confirmed, but within the industry, the belief is Roode is WWE-bound.

Also pwinsider has a elite article up, from what others that have read, hints that there might have been some late on pay issues going on well.

I know they seem to be having decent tv shows from what others say but I just don't really seeing them climbing out of this.  It hard to believe that months ago they could give Storm a decent enough contract that he decided to take instead of working NXT. They gave Maria and Bennett some decent change and now they have money freed up from Angle & Anderson not being there but can't give 2 guys that been with the company for a dozen years a little raise. If for anything give their fans that still watch some false hope that the company doing fine.

Roode will not be replaced, just like so many of the originals and even the ones the came afterward  that have left in the past. Those that still drink Dixie's kool-aid can pretend that guys like Bennett, Eli, & Bram are going be up front, bringing TNA back up and to new heights with the false nephew Ethan and Drew leading the way but I just can't see it happening..

Honestly, I see Drew going back to WWE whenever his deal is up, unless TNA makes a play for Wade when his WWE deal is up and maybe a few other of Drew's euro buddies to make him want stick around and continue his international bookings.

The need to make some changes to the Knockouts division but between WWE & NXT
They have a Tag team Division that need major work
The great & even just good X-Division style workers that made TNA different aren't really there anymore and the powers to be don't care, although my bet is in the Fall will be hunting down a number of talent cause they seen them in the WWE Cruiserweight series.

John Gaburick with Dixie's blessing most likely for the most part is only looking at the who did WWE release recently list for people to sign when there so many talents in the indies  everywhere that should be at least look at that would be even be more cheaper to pay the former NXT

Finally to show how much the roster have changed in the last 4 years or so...here the list in order of the 6 longest tenured male talent currently in TNA aka Dixie's TV Wrestling Show on Pop.

James Storm (Ignoring those few months he went sailing)
Abyss
Jeff Hardy
Robbie E
DJ Z (Who I think will test the water when his contract is up in the summer)
Jessie Godderz

Roode could be a solid piece on the main roster, but keep EY the hell away from everything please

The sudden departures of Eric Young and Bobby Roode from TNA Saturday leave a number of questions about each of the talents, where they are heading, and what this means for the future of TNA.

It's important to note that each situation involving Young and Roode are both unique and exclusive to each of those performers. One leaving had nothing to do with the other and the timing just turned out that the two, who signed the same day with TNA in 2004, were exiting the company on the same day.

As reported over the weekend in the Elite section of PWInsider.com, while all sides are going to publicly play up that the two former TNA champions leaving are completely amicable departures, and at the end, things between all sides might even be completely amicable, obviously the situations leading into Roode and Young's exits were not. If things were 100% amicable, they'd still be happily working for TNA.

There are reports floating online, attributed to PWInsider.com, that the pair each asked for pay raises and were turned down, leading to them quitting. PWInsider never reported that in any way, shape or form and that version of the story is incorrect. Here is, based on speaking to multiple sources over the last 48 hours, what we did report in the Elite section of the site:

BOBBY ROODE

After speaking with multiple sources, in the case of Roode, it appears his situation was somewhat similar to what happened to AJ Styles several years ago. Roode had been signed to an existing TNA deal that allowed him to be one of, if not, THE highest paid talent in the company. As Roode's most recent deal came to an end last month and with Roode as one half of the Tag Team champions, TNA wasn't in a position where they could continue to pay Roode at the level he was previously receiving, nor was Roode being used at that level where TNA could derive the sort of revenue necessary to viably pay him. So, Roode had effectively worked himself into a position where he was too expensive for TNA, in it's current state, to retain.

We have also heard that in recent months, a bigger issue was that Roode had been extremely unhappy with TNA pay being behind and was very vocal about it to TNA management, which led to a lot of frustration and issues between the two sides. We have heard from multiple sources that TNA did eventually catch Roode up in pay.

We are also told that Roode recently agreed to a new deal but then had a change of heart and requested his release after what one source called "more frustrations." What exactly was the tipping point is unknown and it's doubtful either side will go on record with it. It's possible it was a pay issue but again, we've heard from multiple sources that TNA completely caught up whatever they owed Roode.

TNA negotiated an exit with Roode getting his complete release in exchange for him working this past week's set of TV tapings. He was completely free and clear as of midnight Sunday 3/20. He is currently taking independent dates.

ERIC YOUNG

In the case of Eric Young, we are told that Young had also signed a new deal recently but after being with the company for 12 years, he was said to have been upset with what he had been offered for that deal. Beyond that, one source believed that Young was frustrated to see TNA talents who had a much shorter tenure (or had left and returned) being offered deals at the same level or better. It should be noted that while others were likely being locked in 100% for TNA, Young is believed to have had the ability to do outside projects, such as his past reality series, with TNA not being involved with that aspect of his career.

We are told that Young voiced his unhappiness and TNA management asked him to decide if he wanted to remain or wanted to see if he wanted to be a free agent. At 36, Young decided that he'd rather not be locked into a deal and wanted the ability to explore options elsewhere, so he and the company negotiated his release, part of which was Young working the last week of TV tapings. Young is also completely free and clear to sign anywhere he wants and is currently taking independent dates.

Young leaving specifically shocked a lot of people in the company since he had been one of the most loyal talents in the history of TNA.

THE FUTURE

Young and Roode will be appearing on Impact Wrestling TV for the next six weeks through 4/19. Based on what we have heard about the tapings, neither were explicitly buried or "written out" on the tapings, so the potential for either to come back and work additional tapings (TNA is next set currently set to tape in late April) as non-contracted talents is certainly there, although if Roode and/or Young are looking to move to another major promotion, they may wish to distance themselves from the company publicly.

The natural next question is whether either Young or Roode are WWE or WWE NXT-bound. As of today, both are 100% free and clear to sign anywhere they want. AJ Styles is on the main roster of WWE. WWE NXT has signed Samoa Joe and Austin Aries and flirted with the idea of signing James Storm. It's not outside the realm of possibility that WWE will take a look at one or both and that either would be a perfect fit for NXT specifically. Young, who excelled at playing different characters, seems tailor-made for WWE if they chose to cast him in a role similar to the one Santino Marella or R-Truth have held in recent years. Roode is a workhorse in the ring during a time period where old style in-ring workhorses are scarcer and scarcer.

While ROH and New Japan are also obvious possibilities, if you are a professional wrestler in your mid-late 30s, your eyes should be on getting a WWE deal before your window of opportunity closes and I'd be shocked if Young and Roode weren't looking at that end result of their decision.

For those asking if this is a sign of the future for TNA being bleak, it's not a sign that things are any worse than they were a week ago or a month ago. They aren't, but they haven't moved forward, either. If anything, things remain constant. TNA is completely separated from Panda Energy now and are a completely independent entity. Their international TV deals, specifically UK and India, are the top revenue sources for the company right now and are what keep the company afloat. The company is still signing talents to deals (and is expected to sign a number of signings in the days and weeks to come, we hear). They are still seeking potential investors and partners to help the company build to the future and meetings in that regard have continued to happen, we are told.

While they are nowhere near the level of where they were when they were on Spike, TNA is continuing to produce content and trying to move forward. As long as they are doing that, there's always chance they can build around newer talents to try and and forge a new foundation to grow from, but the company has a lot of hard work ahead of them and needs a lot of good luck going forward, something they have not had a lot of in recent years.

For those who asked how Dixie Carter and the departing talents dealt with each other on their final day, Carter was not present at Saturday's TV taping. So, any farewells would have been left up to John Gaburick, Bob Ryder, etc.

The one silver lining in this, if anything, is that Roode and Young's departures open up roster slots for someone new and fresh to replace characters that had been heavily featured for over a decade. It's on TNA to take advantage of that going forward, just as it's on Young and Roode to make the most of this new chapter of their career..

ftr i have ZERO interest in either of these guys, whether it would be going to NXT, japan etc. Any promotion that signs them will be about 20% less interesting.

I refuse to believe the main WWE roster could possibly be less interesting

Bobby Roode vs. Sheamus

Sheamus just got done having a long boring feud with Roman, it's a push

A few years ago, I probably would be ok with EY going to WWE but I don't think he would add much to the roster now that they don't already have in other guys there. If he was willing to take a Rhyno type deal for a year in NXT teaching/putting guys over there I wouldn't have no problem with that plus with that under his belt, If TNA still breathing, I am sure Dixie would be more willing to give him that money he wanted cause he had now worked for WWE.

Roode on the other hand would be a great pick up even at his age. So many good possible match ups. let him have a decent run or two with the US or IC title. I might even consider teaming him up with Aries again, which would really fresh up the tag division some along with Anderson/Gallows and Team SAWFT.

Very disappointing that TNA's in the state where it can't even keep such loyal and tenured guys like Bobby Roode and Eric Young on the roster anymore.

However, depending on where they end up, it could be a great change of pace for them to freshen up their careers in completely new environments.

For a 39 year old, Bobby Roode sure doesn't show his age. Him in NXT, and possibly the WWE main roster, seems like a no-brainer.

As for Eric Young, I think he's a lot better than some here are giving him credit for. He's extremely versatile in what type of roles he can play. Whether it's the comedy guy, straight-laced babyface, stoic heel, or psychotic heel, he goes all in to play his character to perfection.

I also have really enjoyed his recent work in building up the Piledriver as THE most devastating move in TNA. It's almost certain if he ended up coming into WWE, that he wouldn't be allowed to ever use it again. However, considering how well he does it, by performing it so safely, yet also making it look so vicious, perhaps there's some hope he would be able to bring it back.