Ron Killings and Konnan quit TNA

[James Bester]

Straight from the Wrestling Observer:


2 stars quit TNA before tonight's TV tapings
Ron Killings and Konnan both quit TNA tonight before the TV tapings in Orlando. Both will be working for AAA in Mexico.

I really couldn't care less about Killings leaving. I hated his rap gimmick and the whole movie thing he did near the beginning of this year, and it seemed like he only took up a spot on the roster. No loss.

But Konnan? That's a huge blow to LAX and the tag team division as a whole. I'm not sure how LAX plans to get over without Konnan leading them. No manager will ever be able to replace Konnan, that's for sure.

[The Penguin]

No news like good news.

[Sigma]

Both are a loss, but Konnan leaving really sucks because without him LAX just won't be the same. Killings is an amazing talent, but he hasn't done much of anything in years outside the 3LK gimmick which was terrible anyway.

LAX is going to need a new manager, but replacing Konnan will be impossible.

[Jin Kazama]

I can easily see Konnan leaving. TNA has cracked down on it's stars working other companies, and he's a very big part of AAA. If they made him choose, I can easily see him picking AAA. It just sucks because he pretty much was LAX. Now two good wrestlers will be pushed to the side because their mouthpiece is gone.

Then again, It's not like LAX has been pushed lately anyway.

Killings is no loss. Yeah, he's good, but when was the last time he was even on Impact?

[EinBebop]

Killings was pretty good in the beginning of TNA, before going full-blown rapper character killed any hope of him being taken seriously.

[Hurricane V1]

I'm a Ron Killings fan, I used to order the weekly TNA PPVs just to see him and AJ Styles. You hear this a lot in wrestling, but he just wasn't used right. He should've just been allowed to rap his way to the ring like he did in the beginning. It would've been a great outlet for his own creativity. The guy also wrestled well. With his agility, speed and high flying moves, he would have been perfect for the X-division. I am somewhat glad he and Konnan are going though, since they can probably recieve better treatment in AAA. I just won't be able to watch them. Dang.

TNA is becoming more and more like WWE but without the history, name power and connections to fall back on. They let so many of their original talents go, push others ahead of Samoa Joe, and just in general keep pushing talent from other feds. The only two guys I'd push would be Christian and Sting, and only to a certain extent.

It sucks now that TNA, PWG and RoH talent will have to remain exclusive to one brand.

Don't you ever wish you could write and book for a wrestling promotion? I do. I could think of a dozen storylines for all of the underused talent on TNA, none of which would require them to do anything too dangerous, too out of character or too offensive.

I know that's a lot of opinionated ranting, but I'm ticked now.

[Andy Mancini]

Don't you ever wish you could write and book for a wrestling promotion? I do. I could think of a dozen storylines for all of the underused talent on TNA, none of which would require them to do anything too dangerous, too out of character or too offensive.
As a person who writes wrestling story lines for a living, I can tell you firsthand that it's not as easy as just "writing a story." One has to keep in mind that...

1) ...putting together an enjoyable wrestling show is not a one-man job. Other people have ideas as well, and will fight to get them realized.

2) ...other people might have different tastes. Writing just what I like 100% of the time just isn't a viable option. It will alway leads to trouble. Now, that doesn't mean that I can't take "idea X" and put my "spin" on it. It just means that not every idea will be something that I thought of.

3) ..."wrestlers have big egos." I learned about this the hard way. Shortly after I started, I was told to do an interview [name withheld], a personal favorite of mine. Sure, they were "worked" questions, but it was still thrilling to think that the person in question was answering something that I wrote. Well, he answered them, but he was angry. Really angry. Turns out he took my "break the ice" joke at the beginning of the interview seriously. It took my boss a little while to convince him that I wasn't a hack. Point is, no matter how "unoffensive" I might think a story is, that doesn't mean that someone else will feel the same way.

4) ...plans change on a moment's notice. I've had stories and ideas that I spent days working on be dropped unexpectedly. Plans change, a hot prospect gets signed, a few guys get fired backstage... these things happen. The trick is being sharp enough to pitch ideas B, C, D, and E when A goes out the window.

5) ...available talent is like a teenager's first car - you make due with what you have. Right now I'm dealing with a guy who rather hated by most wrestling fans. Was I thrilled that my boss put a title belt on the guy? No, but I understand why he did it. It's been a week since the guy showed up and thus far, he's been fine to work with. The upshot is that his "celebrity" opens up a whole new world of story ideas.


Simply put, things like this will happen. Good talent will feel used and simply walk away. The key is using the talent that one does have around to the best of his or her ability. Do I think TNA does this? For the most part. There are a few guys that I feel are being ignored, but again, nobody's perfect. Not Dutch Mantell, not Vince Russo, and especially not me.

[hobbyfan]

Replacing Konnan in LAX isn't that hard, really. Not when you have choices like these:

1. Hector Guerrero. Either he turns heel or LAX turns face. They've been getting face pops anyway, so it's entirely doable.

2. Juventud Guerrera. If Juvy hasn't burned all of his bridges in the US, he might be persuaded to come to TNA.

3. Ricky Banderas. I know he is supposed to be partnered with Jim Mitchell, but put the chain together. Mitchell has done the stable thing before (The Disciples of the New Church), and he'd be a great motivator.

[RedKnight]

I'm actually saddened by Killings leaving.

I mean, the TNA heavyweight scene certainly is crowded enough as it is (just ask Rhino and Styles, who haven't had anything good to do since last October...), but a guy like Killings could be a potential superstar. He is great on the mic, has unqiue talents and can go inside the ring. That's a rare package.

I think he was misused once TNA expanded. He could have been a solid upper mid-card performer and a believable championship challenger -- easily.

[Mr.Kurtz]

Killings certanly has more credibility to play the rapper gimmick than Cena. The picture of Killings and Tupac alone gives him more cred than Cena will ever have. I think he could be a legit star, but I guess that won't happen in TNA.

Konnan is a big loss, but hopefully LAX can still suceed.