TNA's current partnership with WWE has been both praised and criticized by some, especially after the recent Slammiversary pay-per-view, where many fans voiced that TNA ultimately lost because two "NXT" stars walked away with the two biggest titles. However, a few years ago, TNA partnered with AEW, but was that deal any better? Interestingly, Eric Bischoff originally predicted that the AEW-TNA deal would fall through, but how right was the WWE Hall of Famer?
In a 2021 episode of his 83 Weeks Podcast, Bischoff admitted that he simply couldn't stand the TNA product at the time but presumed that the deal with AEW was beneficial to a degree. "Just nobody cares... Nobody is going to watch it, and I'm sure the action is good. I'm sure there's some great matches. I don't watch it, but I'm guessing there's some great matches that take place. If you're a fan of it, then great," he said. Bischoff then urged his listeners to take their 'fan hats' off and look at it from a business perspective. "How has it been performing? Who has benefited?" he noted. "How is this benefiting anybody? Or is it really diluting AEW, in particular, in my opinion, and not really helping Impact because when the AEW component of this eventually goes away, what do you have left? Less than you started with because you've been building your brand around something that's only temporary."
On the other hand, then-TNA Executive Vice-President Scott D'Amore had more positive things to say about the TNA-AEW deal. "Getting Kenny Omega as IMPACT World Champion and getting the Good Brothers featured on their show. From a business point of view, the two Kenny pay-per-views were two of the three highest pay-per-views the company had at that point," he claimed in an interview with "Fightful." "Hats off to Kenny on everything he did for us and the AEW relationship. Did it have its hindrance, as far as what some of the restraints were? Sure. That's why it ultimately had to end."
"While we were doing it, there is no question from a financial point of view, it had its benefits. There is no question when it came to eyeballs, buzz, and legitimacy, it certainly helped," D'Amore added. "The AEW relationship was good for IMPACT, it helped Kenny with his storyline there, and it helped AEW." However, what do the fans think?
According to a post on the TNA subreddit, some fans felt that the partnership didn't go far enough, as some people wanted an all-out crossover with an invasion angle or war. Several comments also expressed how they wanted Kenny Omega to lose the belt to a TNA star, as well as Tony Khan getting some "comeuppance" for his TNA trashing segments. Others noted that the only ones satisfied were Omega superfans, adding that fans of both TNA and AEW didn't get what they wanted.
Based on all of this, Eric Bischoff was only halfway right fans from either side didn't get anything out of the partnership, nor did either promotion, but fans sure seemed to care enough to vent online.
