With a huge free agent group available thanks to the COVID-9 lockdown, this has given Impact and other Indie promotions a chance to reclaim some of the talent that was lured away. And it’s led to many asking why is Impact Wrestling attractive to wrestlers, and everyone has a different opinion about. For many, they don’t understand why someone would pass up a substantial paycheck to work for a smaller company, while other look at having creative freedom as a big reason for why Impact Wrestling is Attractive to Wrestlers.
It’s the same story we’ve heard time and again over the last few months as more and more WWE superstars asked for their release so they could go elsewhere. Many cited creative freedom instead of having to do what Vince McMahon made them do, and others said they simply wanted to perform and earn their paychecks.
Whatever the reasons, the one thing everyone has in common is they walked away from good, consistent paydays with the WWE to be able to express themselves.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cAls5RN_iM
Turning down the money
As we mentioned before, opinions on leaving a good paying position are varied and heartfelt. For some, it’s idiocy to give up guaranteed money even if it means sitting around doing nothing. Others look at it as a choice only the privileged can make, while others understand the need and desire to do their own thing or at least contribute something.
Jon Moxely (formerly Dean Ambrose in WWE) made headlines when he signed with AEW and said he blamed the WWE’s creative team for forcing him to walk away from millions.
Others like Mike Kannelis (Michael Bennet in Impact and other Indie promotions) and his wife asked for their release several times after signing their deal and finding they weren’t being used. Matt Hardy said he just wanted to be active and not sit around collecting a paycheck.
Wrestlers like EC3 were huge stars in Impact and were signed away in a believed maneuver to keep Impact weak. It was something the WWE did relentlessly as they signed everybody they could and hardly released anyone.
With Impact’s Slammiversary coming up, many of the WWE’s recent released wrestlers have been teased in a video promo. On July 18, we’ll find out how many, if any, are returning/arriving at Impact.
And here the question needs to be asked again, why them?
Too many to list
The answers are probably as varied as the wrestlers themselves, and we’re not going to try to answer of them. Instead, we’re going to stick to what we’ve heard is the primary reason many want to return to the Indies — creative freedom.
Impact has been making news lately with their rash of signing for their Knockouts division, and now that the Knockouts are one of the premier women’s divisions in all of wrestling, it’s time to turn their attention to the men’s side. And this is where the upcoming surprises at Slammiversary come into play.
For some like Michael Bennet and EC3, it’ll be a coming home party, but more than that, it’ll ignite their passionate fanbase seeing these two back. Assuming this is their destination.
They’ll have the creative freedom that was allegedly stifled in the WWE and not have to worry about being a laughing stock in a ridiculous skit.
For years, many of the Indie’s best performers were swayed by big money and the promise of greatness, but it looks like things are going to return to as they should be, and Impact may stake their claim alongside the WWE and AEW before too long.
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