Backstage Report On TNA/WWE Plans That Failed To Materialize

The partnership between WWE and TNA has brought several crossovers, with "NXT" and the stars from "Impact" competing between the two shows. Furthermore, TNA World Champion Joe Hendry also made his highly anticipated Royal Rumble debut this year, setting him up as a bigger name in wrestling while having interactions with main roster stars he wouldn't have had unless he left TNA.

However, according to a recent "Fightful Select" report, there were different plans in place, specifically for Hendry. Based on the report, former TNA Executive Producer Ariel Shnerer disagreed with the way creative was booked for Hendry in a "Raw" appearance that never happened. Shnerer was reportedly not happy with the pitch, which would presumably have seen Hendry take a loss on television, even though it would've led to a feud with former WWE Champion The Miz. Since then, WWE has instead sent over Ethan Page to TNA to do a similar creative angle, according to Fightful. 

The report claimed that these factors caused WWE to sour on Shnerer. Shnerer was one of the backstage names released from TNA recently, which included Gail Kim, who has often been hailed as the driving factor behind the Knockouts Division's success. Since then, Shrener's creative role has been replaced with Hunter "Delirious" Johnson, who was the head booker for Ring of Honor before Tony Khan's acquisition of the promotion.