Even before WWE announced the TNA-free return of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament, folks were talking about the partnership between TNA and WWE’s NXT brand. When it was launched in January 2025, we were told the “historic” alliance was “aimed at creating unprecedented crossover opportunities within WWE and TNA programming for NXT Superstars and TNA Wrestling Stars.”
And for much of last year, crossover they did. It was often one-sided, and generally clear that one partner was the star
and the other the sidekick. The partnership did seem to establish a pipeline for talent. That was two-way, but still led to WWE taking who they wanted from the TNA roster, and TNA signing whatever WWE castoffs they could — just like before the partnership, but maybe with an implied promise that Impact was a faster route back to Raw or SmackDown than AEW Dynamite.
TNA did secure its best television and streaming partner in the United States in a long while last December when it signed with AMC, and TNA president Carlos Silva said the WWE partnership was “a big part” of landing that deal.
Since then, there hasn’t been a lot of crossover. A couple of NXT women took part in a tournament on Impact to crown TNA’s new Knockouts Television champ, but neither were big factors. And that’s why there’s speculation WWE stepped away from their partner after Impact could only secure a Thursday night spot on AMC’s schedule, rather than Wednesday night opposite Dynamite.
With the Dusty Cup snub added to that list, TNA Tag champ Nic Nemeth was asked about the partnership by Adrian Hernandez. Nemeth, who in addition to sharing the Tag titles with his brother Ryan is also TNA’s World champion, replied:
“[Not being in The Dusty] doesn’t [bother him personally] because myself and my brother are comically busy at the moment. But it does — as a TNA wrestler… yeah, it does, because there’s a relationship there. We’ve had some moments where we got a lot of NXT people who were brand new, gave them a shot, gave them some TV time, got those reps in. It would be nice to see it replicated.
“But of course, it’s not always the time and place for it. There were times for months where we were going back and forth, all over NXT, our guys and gals were. And all over TNA, NXT guys and gals were. And some people were going to Raw and SmackDown, and it led to Leon Slater getting some cool moments and Joe Hendry getting some cool stuff, when he was still with us.
“So all of those moments can still happen, and they will when the time is right. It would be great to be represented out there, but also, I’m super busy right now. And I am not interested in doing NXT as the [TNA] World Champion and Tag Team Champion. But down the line, I would love to see more of an interaction if we continue that relationship because it was really fruitful for both sides.”
Spoken like the veteran face of the promotion he is.
What’s your assessment of the state of the WWE/TNA partnership?
