TNA News: Taz touts the new characters that TNA has created

TNA wrestler Taz spoke with Jim Varsallone of the Miami Herald about the company's new characters. "When I look at the pioneers of TNA, guys who’ve been in a TNA a long time, I’m appreciative of them," Taz said. "Like when I was in ECW, an original ECW guy, I believe in that. I believe in building that foundation and then bringing other guys and gals along to keep it rolling and keep it fresh and keep it hot. I also feel a big part of the TNA success currently is the building of newer talent.

"Guys like Samuel Shaw, who’s such a unique talent, he’s a creep; he’s a weirdo; but he’s very dangerous, calculated and cold, or someone like an EC3, Ethan Carter III, who in storyline is the nephew of TNA President Dixie Carter, is this insensitive, entitlement, rich kid, who’s got a butt load of talent and muscle mass and got a mean streak, another character within the company.

"MVP coming in as the investor, a guy with so much credibility from working in Japan and WWE. The Wolves [Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards], who doesn’t like the tag team of The Wolves? Coming out of Ring of Honor and wrestling all over the world, they bring credibility. The building of characters is a big, big thing creative in TNA is really pushing." Read the full interview at MiamiHerald.com.

Powell's POV: This is one of the real positives of TNA that I think gets overlooked by a lot of fans. The company has created a slew of new characters and I think they've done a solid job of establishing them. I see plenty of creative flaws, but the movement to create new stars was long overdue and has breathed some new life into the promotion regardless of whether it was done by design or out of necessity due to the departures of veteran talent. Taz also spoke about Sunday's Lockdown pay-per-view, why he feels WWE Network is a positive, Samoa Joe, his approach on commentary, and more. There will also be another part of the Taz interview released this week.