Lance Storm Says TNA Is More Like ECW Than WWE or AEW
Summary: TNA producer Lance Storm said on The Wrestling Classic, as reported Nov. 10, that TNA is like ECW because it cannot outspend WWE or AEW and must find young stars. He named Leon Slater and Ricky Sosa as examples.
The quick version
- Lance Storm, a TNA producer, said "in a lot of ways we're more like ECW," on The Wrestling Classic, per F4W Online on Nov. 10.
- He said WWE and AEW "can pay people more money," so TNA has to find young talent who can become stars. He named Leon Slater and Ricky Sosa.
- The date of the interview was not given. This is a single-outlet report of a podcast we did not hear.
TNA producer Lance Storm said TNA is "more like ECW" than WWE or AEW because it cannot match their pay and has to build stars from young talent. F4W Online (Shounak Chakrabarti) reported his remarks from The Wrestling Classic on Tuesday, Nov. 10. The date of the interview was not given.
What he said
Storm said, per F4W: "I think in a lot of ways we're more like ECW. Obviously ECW didn't have the budget and the exposure that WWE and WCW did, but creatively and influentially and finding the youth and the new things, and having to stand out for your heart and your effort, I think TNA is more in that boat."
On pay he said: "Obviously, WWE can pay people more money, and AEW can pay people more money. So we have to find those young guys that are going to be big stars and can become big stars in TNA because, you know, Leon Slater wasn't the most known guy in the world when we first got him. And people know who he is now."
He added: "And Ricky Sosa was not the biggest well-known guy worldwide when we got him, but we got him now. And people are starting to realize what Ricky Sosa is."
F4W says Storm compared this to ECW, where few people knew who he, Chris Jericho, Dean Malenko or Rey Mysterio were, and that he told fans TNA is "like if you haven't seen it, you're missing out." He called the Knockouts and men's rosters "stacked" and said TNA is "the little engine that could."
Context
Slater is TNA World Champion. He said on Nov. 9 that TNA's ties to WWE are a partnership and not a stepping stone. See our Slater story. TNA has named a Ricky Sosa for Belgium in the World X-Cup at Destination X on Sunday, Nov. 15, in Edmonton. See our X-Cup story. F4W does not say which Sosa Storm meant, and we have not confirmed it. TNA has not commented on the remarks.
Source: F4W Online (Shounak Chakrabarti), which quotes Storm on The Wrestling Classic. We read the F4W story in full. We did not hear the podcast, so we cannot say when it was recorded. We did not contact TNA or Storm. Nothing in this story is a rumor.
Sources
- F4W Online (Shounak Chakrabarti), "Lance Storm explains how TNA competes with WWE and AEW for talent", Nov. 10, 2026, time shown as 22:30, zone not given (all Storm quotes). https://www.f4wonline.com/news/aew/lance-storm-explains-how-tna-competes-with-wwe-and-aew-for-talent/
- The Wrestling Classic, Lance Storm interview, date not given. No link: F4W did not link it and we did not find it.
- WrestlingNews.com, "Slater Says TNA Is a Partner of WWE, Not a Stepping Stone", Nov. 9, 2026. https://wrestlingnews.com/story/leon-slater-says-tna-wwe-is-a-partnership-not-a-stepping-stone/
- WrestlingNews.com, "TNA Names Sosa and Aichner in World X-Cup; 4 Entrants Known", Nov. 2026. https://wrestlingnews.com/story/tna-confirms-sosa-and-aichner-in-world-x-cup-four-entrants-known/
- WrestlingNews.com staff reporting: read the F4W story in full and checked names and dates against our earlier stories. We did not hear the interview or contact TNA.
How we credit sources: Editorial standards.