- Nobody within WWE was too surprised to hear that Bobby Lashley has signed with TNA, and it was always seen as a matter of “when” and not “if.” Booker T has been a close friend of Lashley’s for pretty much his entire career, and Kurt Angle had also pushed for Lashley to come in to TNA.
TNA offered Bobby Lashley a deal similar to Kurt Angle’s where they give him the breathing room to do his MMA stuff. Lashley’s training facility is in Florida about three hours away from Universal Orlando where TNA tapes the majority of their programming. WWE does not see Lashley signing with TNA as a major loss, as opposed to how they would view someone like Rob Van Dam signing with the competition.
- The word is that Taz is in fact heading to TNA and is expected to begin working as Samoa Joe’s advisor. Sources have confirmed that Taz does in fact haave a non-compete clause with WWE, and once it expires he will be able to appear on camera. There’s no word on the length of his non-compete agreement, but he is clearly being teased for a TNA debut. Jason Powell reports that he will enter the company as an advisor or manager for Joe, and will likely make a transition to the broadcast booth as a color commentator at some point.
It remains to be seen where Don West fits into the long-term picture of the broadcast team. Multiple sources claim that Jeff Jarrett and Mike Tenay have spoken out against the idea of using a three-man broadcast team in the past. West may have more value as a backstage pitch man than a color commentator, but Jeff Jarrett has resisted past pushes from others within the company to shake up the broadcast team. More than one source has stated that while Dixie Carter likes West personally, she is not a fan of his performance as a color commentator. There also may be a chance that Jarrett and Tenay would change their tune regarding a three-man team if it meant keeping West onboard.
