Donald Trump called out by TNA X Division Champion Tigre Uno on Twitter

Presidential hopeful Donald Trump has been dominating the headlines since he announced his bid for the Republican nomination.  Most of the controversy is from his comments he made claiming many illegal Mexican immigrants are rapists and criminals.  As expected, there was plenty of backlash for such asinine comments, including losing business partners.  One of the lesser known consequences of his words was being called out on Twitter by TNA X Division Champion Tigre Uno, who is Mexican.

ImpactWrestling.com "broke the story."  Here are the tweets concerning trump with the Twitter translations:

He estado callado demasiado tiempo! @fightbobby dile a tuamigo @realDonaldTrump que me siento orgulloso de mi país! Mi gente! Mi cultura!

— TNA TIGRE UNO XT (@tnatigreunoxt) July 9, 2015

Twitter Translation: I've been silent too long! @fightbobby tell tuamigo (your friend) @realDonaldTrump that I am proud of my country! My people! My culture!

Voy a arreglar esto yo mismo! @realDonaldTrump si usted es lo suficientemente hombre para enfrentarse conmigo me encuentro @impactwrestling

— TNA TIGRE UNO XT (@tnatigreunoxt) July 10, 2015

Twitter Translation: I'll fix this myself! @realDonaldTrump If you are the enough man to deal with me I'm @impactwrestling

And this is what the article on the TNA site said about what's next for this angle.

Following the tweets, TNA executives reached out to the usually mild-mannered Tigre to ensure the legitimacy of the posts. In addition to confirming he authored the tweets, Tigre plans to address his fans, the people of Mexico and Trump directly on the all-new episode of IMPACT WRESTLING that will air Wednesday, July 22 at 9/8c on Destination America.

This is clearly an angle by TNA to try to get a piece of the Trump action and make themselves seem relevant.  Not that I question that Tigre Uno has some legitimate opinions and anger regarding Trumps comments because many do.  But in the end, when a wrestler "calls out" a public figure that will never respond, it becomes a wrestling angle through and through.  It's the type of angle WWE has tried to run in the past, whether it be inviting Michael Sam to Raw after being released by the Cowboys or their Obama impersonator.  These are angles that usually result in only eye rolls and audible groans.  If TNA plans to get extensive with this, that'll likely be the outcome as well.

It is uncertain how this will all play out.  I checked with the Sean, who posted the spoilers for the TNA shows that go into August, to confirm there was nothing about this already filmed.  That leaves a couple possibilities:

• This could be a pre-taped interview shot backstage.  That's a very likely possibility because of all the Tigre Uno interviews I've seen, and that's not too many, he mainly speaks Spanish.  If his English is limited, a backstage interview, with a translator if necessary, will likely be the way they go.
• The other possibility is they film something in ring on July 22 prior to when this airs.  While an Impact has already been taped for that date, July 22 is their first date of new tapings.  They could do something in ring prior and edit it into the show for that night.

This very could, and probably should, end up being a one time thing because there's really no where to go afterwards.  Tigre Uno did mention Bobby Lashley in the tweets calling Trump Lashley's friend.  That's likely a reference to when Bobby Lashley represented Donald Trump in the Donald's hair vs hair feud against Vince McMahon at WrestleMania 23. So if TNA wants to run an angle with this past a single interview, they could possibly feud Tigre Uno and Bobby Lashley.  Though, that would require turning Lashley heel and running a program that would require a decent amount of talking between two guys who aren't great talkers.

A big problem with TNA running an longer angle tied into current events is the fact TNA tapes months of Impacts ahead of time.  Therefore TNA would not be able to react to the changes in those current events after which they're molding their story.  Any in ring promos or matches they have regarding a "Trump angle" would be set in stone and they'd be stuck if they needed to react to something on the fly.  Because of that, it would make sense that this is just a quick one off.  But this it TNA and you really never know.

The positive in all this may be for Tigre Uno himself.  TNA has never booked him more than a masked wrestler who wrestles and this is the first chance he has to do a some more with his character.  Hopefully he can take advantage of it.

In the end, this feels like a desperate grab for TNA to try to feel more relevant by latching onto a hot topic current event.  With ratings so important to the future of TNA given their shaking standing with Destination America, it looks like they're doing all they can to get more eyes on the product.  While that's totally understandable, it's highly unlikely this will get them those viewers they need.

More likely than not, after July 22, this will all be done.  If, however, this is kicking off some feud, possibly between Lashley and Tigre Uno, based on Trump, then that is very likely going to fall flat.  Either way, I see more risk of looking foolish than reward in this angle for TNA.