Former TNA World Champion Steve Maclin has opened up regarding the creative frustrations that ultimately led to his departure from TNA Wrestling following a five-year tenure with the promotion.
Creative Stagnation & Unfulfilled Championship Pitches
Speaking with TSN, Maclin detailed his growing sense of stagnation toward the end of his run, specifically noting that his attempts to elevate his storylines were frequently met with dead ends by creative:
“I kind of felt towards the end of my fifth year I was just spinning the wheels where I was throwing ideas to creative and they were taking them and then nothing would come of it. Even when I became International Champion (in April of 2025), it was like, ‘All right, cool, where are we going to? Am I going to Mexico, Japan? How are we going to make this title mean something?’ And every pitch that I threw just never came to fruition like I imagined. It just felt like I was always fighting an uphill battle where I just folded every time, like, ‘Okay, cool, whatever you guys want, then.’”
Maclin emphasized that his persistent pitches stemmed from a desire to improve the product and elevate his opponents rather than self-interest:
“For me, that’s not something I like to do, especially when I try to put every bit of me into a story to better the product, to better the company and to better the person I’m in the ring with.”
Channelling Real-Life Frustrations On-Screen
During his final major program with then-TNA World Champion Mike Santana, Maclin attempted to channel his genuine frustration over talent departures and creative decisions into his character’s motivation:
“I was trying to really dive into that story, like here I was as a guy trying to be so selfless for so long for the company and (management is) just clamouring for people getting ready to leave right away. The writing was on the wall with certain talent just leaving as to how the story was going to end… All right, cool, so how do we make the most of this story to make the product, for when they do leave, continue to move on instead of just coming to a dead stop? None of it made sense sometimes.”
While acknowledging his boundaries within company hierarchy, Maclin expressed disappointment that his input ultimately yielded little result:
“Obviously, I’m not part of the creative process. I can add my two cents, which I’m really appreciative of, where I can throw my opinion into the hat, but it just doesn’t come out of it… It was just one of those things where I was trying to take real-life situations and feelings and add that into the storyline.”
Post-TNA Career & Upcoming Match Against Adam Copeland
Maclin’s final match for TNA occurred in May on an episode of iMPACT! in a World Championship challenge against Mike Santana.
Since departing the promotion, Maclin has been active across the independent circuit, making appearances for PWE, Fight Factory, NCG, and MLP. His post-TNA momentum builds toward a major marquee bout on October 3, where he will face Adam Copeland in a first-time-ever matchup.
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