Bonus Rambling: The State of TNA

Read on for something of a rant about the state of TNA and what "could be"

I was looking at all the signings WWE has had in the past few years and wondered: what if they had gone to TNA instead? And that started a whole train of thought about what TNA COULD be, instead of what they are now. Looking at who they've released and who they haven't, it's somewhat depressing. TNA is pretty good now, but it could be amazing.


Here's the current TNA roster:
Abyss
AJ Styles
Austin Aries
Bobby Roode
Bully Ray (Bubba Ray Dudley)
Chavo Guerrero
Chris Sabin
Daniels
DOC (Festus/Luke Gallows)
Devon (D-Von Dudley)
Eric Young
Garett Bischoff
Gunner
Hernandez
James Storm
Jay Bradley (Ryan Braddock)
Jeff Hardy
Jessie Godderz
Joseph Park
Kazarian
Kenny King
King Mo
Knux (Mike Knox)
Kurt Angle
Magnus
Manik (Suicide/Puma/TJ Perkins)
Mr. Anderson (Mr. Kennedy)
Rampage Jackson
Rob Terry
Robbie E
Rockstar Spud
Sam Shaw
Samoa Joe
Sting
Wes Brisco
Zema Ion
--------
Gail Kim
Hannah Blossom
Holly Blossom
Lei'D Tapa
Mickie James
Miss Tessmacher (Brooke Adams)
ODB
Tara (Victoria)
Taryn Terrell (Tiffany)
Velvet Sky
---------
Other on-screen characters:
Christy Hemme
Hulk Hogan
SoCal Val

Here's the TNA roster we could have (based on who have been free agents and/or have worked for TNA in the past). Obviously not all of these people could be on the roster due to budget reasons, but look at the possibilities:
Abyss
AJ Styles
Akio Yang (Jimmy Wang Yang) 
Austin Aries
Bobby Roode
Bryan Danielson (Daniel Bryan)
Bully Ray (Bubba Ray Dudley)
Chris Hero (NXT's Kassius Ohno)
Chris Mordetsky (Chris Masters)
Christian Cage (Christian)
Christian York
Claudio Castanoli (Antonio Cesaro)
C.M. Punk
Colt Cabana
Crimson
D'Angelo Dinero (Elijah Burke)
Daniels
El Generico (NXT's Sami Zayn)
Gunner
James Storm
Jay Bradley
Jay Lethal
Jeff Hardy
Joey Ryan
Jon Moxley (Dean Ambrose)
Joseph Park
Kazarian
Kenny King
Kevin Thorn
Kid Kash
Kurt Angle
Magnus
Matt Morgan
Matt Sydal (Evan Bourne)
Robbie E
Rob Van Dam
Ron "The Truth" Killings (R-Truth)
Samoa Joe
Sarita
Shark Boy
Shelton Benjamin
Sonjay Dutt
Sterling James Keenan (NXT's Corey Graves)
Tyler Black (Seth Rollins)
Wes Brisco
Zema Ion
-------
Britani Knight (NXT's Paige)
Cheerleader Melissa (Alissa Flash, Raisha Saeed)
Davina Rose (NXT's Bayley)
Gail Kim
Ivelisse Velez (formerly NXT's Sofia Cortes)
Mercedes KV (NXT's Sasha Banks)
Mickie James
Miss April (AJ Lee)
Miss Tessmacher (Brooke Adams)
Sara Del Rey
Tara (Victoria)
Taryn Terrell (Tiffany)
Velvet Sky
Winter (Katie Lea Burchill)
-------
Other on-screen talent:
"Dirty" Dutch Mantel (Zeb Colter)
Jeff Jarrett
Karen Jarrett

As for some current or soon-to-be free agents who I haven't seen much of but are on WWE's radar:
The Briscoes
Davey Richards
Eddie Edwards
Mike Bennett

And people who haven't debuted in NXT but had a lot of buzz when signed:
Sami Callihan
Samuray del Sol

The "ideal" TNA roster is bigger than the current TNA roster, so some trimming would have to happen unless they got another TV show, but those are some of the possibilities they could have had. This is why TNA can be so frustrating.