TNA's deal with WWE has put the promotion into a level of limelight it's never had and potentially brought many new fans to the product, especially with the number of crossovers between the two promotions. However, AEW is still considered the number 2 promotion in the USA, but could they someday be overtaken by TNA? According to TNA President Carlos Silva, that's something that might just happen eventually.
"There's a major league of wrestling and we know who the players are," Silva admitted during his interview on "The Ariel Helwani Show." "Obviously, WWE with NXT are the NFL of the space. AEW has done a great job over the last six/eight years, building up, they've gotten a great distribution deal. But TNA is part of the major leagues, too." Silva then noted that TNA has been in partnership with both AEW and WWE, but added that he doesn't see the promotion's current deal with WWE as a way to go to war with AEW.
"I think [WWE sees] the value of not only building up stars like a Joe Hendry, that came up through TNA, but also letting the Hardys and Nick [Nemeth], and others find another place to celebrate their greatness," Silva also explained, before praising both Nick Khan and Shawn Michaels for being very supportive of TNA across their partnership. Silva was then asked about whether he thinks TNA could become the #2 promotion, to which he agreed and added that it's always their goal to get better. "We're one of the major leagues, we've got a great partner in WWE, and I think we keep getting bigger every 3 months," he added.
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