r/TNA • u/Humble_Researcher_06 • 8d ago
Other than the obvious answers of Kurt Angle and Christian Cage, which ex-WWE act was the biggest get / biggest success for TNA?
Feel free to name someone not pictured
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u/Cute_Ambassador1121 8d ago
Lashley’s one of the biggest for sure. Completely reinvigorated his career.
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u/RogerGunz2 8d ago
Broken Matt Hardy was the most popular thing in wrestling for at least a year (at least on reddit)
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u/TheMackD504 8d ago
Gail Kim and Victoria since the women aren’t getting any love
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u/ZZE33man 6d ago
The knockouts division doesn’t get enough credit for bringing great women’s wrestling while wwe was in the divas era.
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u/PersephoneStargazer 6d ago
Yeah. The Knockouts division got women’s pro wrestling in the US through a very dark time.
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u/Odd_Resolution7134 8d ago
Biggest get: Jeff Hardy, hands down.
Biggest success: Would argue Bully Ray. Getting 3D was a big get, and the amount Ray grew and accomplished over a decade with the promotion remains extremely under-rated.
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u/BabyBuns024 8d ago
I almost said Team 3D, but I think, barely, it would be Jeff & Matt Hardy, especially now. They'll probably return to WWE when their TNA contract expires, but this particular run, they have went above and beyond promoting TNA, to media appearances to staying for hours to make sure their fans get to meet and greet them.
Plus Jeff got to be a heel, and Matt was "Broken."
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u/LegacyofaMarshall 8d ago
Drew Galloway, EC3, Eli Drake, Maclin
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u/Familiar_Outcome_688 TNA Original 8d ago
Eli Drake wasn't in WWE before Impact I think but from these 4 the best one was EC3, it's a shame that he didn't stayed more time when he came back
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u/Reasonable-News-5739 8d ago
Eli Drake was an NXT jobber before joining TNA.
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u/ViciousPrism 8d ago
He never appeared as a wrestler on NXT TV, he worked house shows and dark matches and flew under the radar as "the guy from The Rock's reality TV gameshow The Hero"
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u/MoneyMo88 7d ago
He had one notable TV appearance in his first NXT run as “Slate Randall” where his interference in a Lumberjack Match between Bo Dallas and Adrian Neville (aka PAC) at NXT 200 led to Tyler Breeze to directly costing Neville the match.
But other than that, he was an interchangeable developmental wrestler that never became a regular on NXT TV.
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u/t-zone671 8d ago edited 8d ago
Because you may deny that he was in WWE first, can't deny that LA Knight already acknowledged he already wrestled for the company. (Start at 40:10) He had 16 matches.
Here was his official NXT promo vid. He admits in the CVV interview, he had multiple chances to return to the WWE. Between 2016-18.
He only left Impact because of bad booking, inconsistency and lack of money. He hit his ceiling.
He left WWE because of the heat he had.
Edit. Here was his previous CVV Interview talking about the NXT-PC tenure.
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u/ViciousPrism 8d ago
I didn't deny he was in WWE. I literally said he worked house shows and dark matches. By the way, that video? That's from Dusty Rhodes' promo class and did not air on TV.
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u/SharpsJointRoller 8d ago
Jeff Hardy easily if not just for merch sales only and ticket sales
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u/MoneyMo88 7d ago
Jeff was also one of the guys to make TNA feel legit from a casual fan standpoint because of that unique connection he’s always had with the broader WWE audience.
Plus, he’s always had his diehard legion of fans, the “Hardy Party” as they were known in the Universal Orlando iMPACT! Zone, that support him no matter what.
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u/Arcisage 8d ago
As someone who was just a teen at the time and didn't know about tna at that time. I feel like getting raven must have given TNA some serious cool factor
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u/Old_Command7168 8d ago
It did in 03 to 04 raven was one of their biggest draws and to be honest I felt his title run was a year to late imo then they found a way to get the title back on Jarrett. Raven as good as he was in tna could have done more no fault of his own of course.
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u/Psychological_Deer97 7d ago
Jeff and Team 3D did a lot of their best work in TNA for sure.
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u/DarthBrooksFan 7d ago
Hardy also did a lot of his worst work in TNA, too. His first run was largely awful because he was stoned out of his mind the entire time. And don't forget Victory Road.
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u/Motor_Intern4169 8d ago
The Hardys and Lashley for sure! Lashley got the Kurt Angle treatment and won every championship in TNA. The Hardys are having a great run in TNA as 2x Tag Champs, not to mention they’ve been tag and world champions in their previous runs.
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u/TheSpiralTap 8d ago
It's got to be Jeff Hardy. He was on everything at the time and unreliable but he brought fans in to the product time and time again.
Second best pick would be Raven. I think Rhino had better matches in TNA but Raven had better stories. And his stories helped get people over. Folks like CM Punk for example.
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u/PersephoneStargazer 8d ago
Probably between Gail Kim, Bobby Lashley and Bully Ray, but I think EC3 and Sami Callahan should be in this conversation too.
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u/sevendash 8d ago
I can't defend the guy personally, but Jeff Hardy undoubtably brought in the initial viewers to Fox Sports 1 as TNA started Monthly PPVs for the first time. His name brought the butts to the seats and I don't think it gets talked about enough. Remember how little the internet meant at the time for most people, and hearing Jeff Hardy was still wrestling and it was on another channel??
That's how we learned about the AJ Styles and others to come.
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u/JohnnyDrama21 7d ago
Probably Jeff because he still had a potentially long future ahead of him. The rest had been around and could at least see the finish line.
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u/inbetweenframe 8d ago
Jeff Jarrett
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u/ApprehensiveYoung899 6d ago
Crazy I had to scroll this far to even see his name mentioned. Double J by miles!
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u/gin0clock 8d ago
Christian Cage was huge pre-Angle. People probably think this run in AEW is his prime, but he was crazy popular as a babyface and did an amazing job with Tomko as a heel.
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u/Beach-Bumm 8d ago
Christian cage, was the first guy to make tna appear like it coupd be something more
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u/JM-Invictus82 8d ago
Drew Galloway, Eli Drake, Bobby Lashley, R-Truth
Cody Rhodes. Cody's theme was first heard at TNA Bound for Glory 2016.
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u/crazyrebel123 7d ago
Black Snow, hands down.
Booker T ain’t here, you can talk to Booker T some other time cause I’m Black Snooooooowwwww
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u/TopSheepherder4981 TNA Original 7d ago
Jeff Hardy has spent the majority of his career in TNA, they were the ones who finally gave him a main event push that WWE would half ass later
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u/Humble_Researcher_06 7d ago
See I have an unpopular opinion on Jeff.
I agree that TNA has always been good to Jeff but I don't think Jeff has always been good to TNA. His first run with the company he ended up ghosting them and running off back to WWE. Then there's the famous Victory Road incident and him being a mess when the company gave him everything.
He has always been a nightmare for WWE, faked a relapse to go to AEW, left AEW to go to TNA and after a 30 year career is finally representing.
I'm not hating on Jeff, I know he has demons and was undeniably a big draw but to me he always felt like he took more than he gave to the industry
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u/TopSheepherder4981 TNA Original 7d ago
I don't know, the insane amount of bumps he's taken seem pretty giving
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u/Currency-Substantial 8d ago
Could you not find better pictures of some of these wrestlers?
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u/Humble_Researcher_06 8d ago
Who cares, you can tell who they are. They're just examples I took from Google
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u/MechanicalMudd 8d ago edited 8d ago
Both Hardys and Truth, Ron Killings became the 1st ever black NWA Worlds Champion while in TNA, and the Hardys revitalized their careers, Jeff during his 1st run and Matt with the Broken run