TNA Wrestling issued a press release this afternoon regarding the "major acquisition" of a superstar who has jumped ship from WWE. TNA President Dixie Carter was quoted, "This is the single biggest jump in TNA history .. The contract is signed, the travel is set and in my opinion, 'Genesis' just got a whole lot more intriguing."
Several reliable sources have confirmed that this "major acquisition" is none other than former WWE Intercontinental and Tag Champion, Jay "Christian" Reso.
Reso's WWE contract expired last week and he decided not to resign with the company after 8 years of service. There were reports that WWE had offered him a new contract that was considerably lower than what he had previously been earning. There was speculation that Christian would be subject to a 90-day no-compete clause. The speculation has proven to be false, as the 90-day no-compete clauses are reserved for wrestlers who are released from their contract before its expiration.
Reso will be appearing at this Sunday's TNA PPV, Genesis. At this time, it is unknown what his ring-name will be. Although Reso wrestled in Canada as "Christian Cage" long before working for Vince McMahon, WWE owns the trademark "Christian". Reso could take WWE to court and claim he owns the rights to the name "Christian" (both The Honky Tonk Man and The Ultimate Warrior had similar cases - and won), but TNA does not want any more legal troubles with WWE and it appears a new ring-name is being worked on for his debut on Sunday night.
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[Story Confirmation: Wrestling Observer]
