10 Wrestlers Who Disappeared When TNA Became Impact

WhatCulture

TNA's switchover to Impact Wrestling meant a LOT of names fell by the wayside...

Transcript

00:00 I tell you, if you're a wrestler, you don't want to be part of a company when it changes

00:04 its name. For some reason, it always results in some people just vanishing. Yep, one day

00:09 they're here, the next who the flub knows.

00:12 We have talked about this before when the WWF became WWE, so today I am Simon from WhatCulture,

00:17 obviously, please do subscribe, and this is 10 Wrestlers Who Disappeared When TNA Became

00:23 Impact.

00:24 10. Jesse Goddard

00:25 Now you know him today as Mr. Pectacular, because he has a nice chest, who is doing

00:29 some very good work on the indie scene, as he did when he signed with TNA back in 2011.

00:33 I mean, he was a two-time tag team champion alongside Robbie E in the group known as the

00:38 Bro-Mans, so you knew instantly what you were getting.

00:42 He was there for a while too, but when parent company Anthem changed TNA to Impact in June

00:46 2017, he was gone almost instantly. Even weirder, his last match came in the March before that,

00:53 and that was filmed in January. Wrestling taping schedules are weird.

00:57 It kinda feels like he was forgotten about a bit too quickly, but yeah, afterwards he

01:01 was an OVW national champion for 522 days, so he's still smashing it. Just wasn't

01:07 really given any proper send off.

01:09 9. Chris Melendez

01:11 In August 2014, TNA thought they had something with Chris Melendez. He had a very real military

01:16 background and was basically an actual hero, so why not present him as their hot new babyface?

01:21 A fine theory with one problem, the powers that be tried to force the audience into buying

01:26 into all of this, and you know how that goes.

01:28 He clearly was putting in the work because other notable names like Bully Ray and Mr

01:31 Anderson constantly went to bat for him. Sometimes, these things just don't work out. Who knows

01:37 why? You try, you fail, you move on.

01:39 It was clear management agreed, as when the big change was coming he was never featured

01:42 again, and to be honest we haven't seen much of Melendez since. Maybe he realised

01:47 the wrestling business can be ridiculous. I think we can all understand that.

01:51 8. Rob Terry

01:52 I mean, look at this ham hock. Just insane, right? If success was based on physique this

01:56 dude would be a 10 time world champion everywhere. All the way from Wales, Rob Terry was still

02:01 featured a lot, but you could argue he was too big. I mean, picking up something looked

02:06 like it could be a struggle.

02:07 The freak was definitely a utilised player at one stage, but again, when all these talks

02:11 kicked into gear, and I suppose it was time for a reshuffle, he was forgotten about instantly.

02:16 Terry did find his way onto the indies where he's been doing okay, but I guess he never

02:20 hit the highs companies were expecting, because we see what can happen with guys of this size.

02:25 It does go to show though, the body is important, as is the look, but it's not everything.

02:30 7. Marsh Rocket

02:32 Unless you are the most hardened of TNA fans, you probably don't remember Marsh Rocket.

02:35 Starting with TNA in 2016, the idea was he could be the injection of agility the X Division

02:41 needed at the time. At one stage, those in charge even thought he could lead the thing.

02:45 It didn't really go to plan though, because this was March, and by April 2017, he was

02:50 done.

02:51 The weird tapings meant once again Rocket actually appeared on TV after he had been

02:55 released, and the real shame with this one was the promise was there. It was just never

02:59 acted upon, I would guess because all these shifts took centre stage.

03:02 Still this did feel a little unfair, we built the dude up, and then we showed him the door.

03:07 I imagine he was a little pissed off.

03:09 6. King Mo

03:10 King Mo was ahead of his time. While everybody is doing it now, he signed a deal with both

03:15 TNA and Bellator MMA in October 2012 so he could be part wrestler and part fighter. TNA

03:21 soon became obsessed with this for some reason, and while it wasn't a smash success, it

03:24 was different than in 2015 he was released.

03:27 We weren't done as 2 years later, the King was brought back to be in Bobby Lashley's

03:31 corner at Slammiversary, but that only raised more questions. If they were still able to

03:35 work together, where the hell did he go?

03:37 These days he does have a deal with MLW, and it feels like his mixed martial arts time

03:41 is done, mostly because he's 41 years old and that's just how it works. I do remember

03:46 when TNA went crazy with these crossovers though, who can forget when Tito Ortiz showed

03:52 up? My word.

03:53 5. Loki

03:54 So this is an odd one. Loki has been here, there and everywhere, and most hardcore fans

03:59 know who he is, and even after leaving TNA he was still working.

04:02 The thing is, because he had name value when he did exit, it was a bit like he'd just

04:06 vanished from any sort of wider coverage. Loki won the X Division title 5 times so he

04:11 had tenure there, but after leaving once he was brought back when Impact was born where

04:15 he lasted 4 months and he was gone again.

04:17 What?

04:18 In 2019 he then made a one night return, and outside of that MLW seems to be his home now.

04:22 It was such a strange situation though, given both sides seemed to have no idea what they

04:26 were trying to achieve. You turn up, you do a match, and you go home, and then nobody

04:32 ever talks about it again.

04:34 Before Tyrus.

04:35 The story of this guy.

04:37 Most will remember the Funkasaurus, which is still bonkers, and because most believe

04:40 he was underused in WWE, when he signed for TNA in September 2014 there was a feeling

04:45 this may pay off. Not really.

04:47 He started as an enforcer for EC3 before becoming a monster in his own right, but then Impact

04:52 came along and by August 2017 he was done too, out the door.

04:56 From there he has wrestled a few matches for the likes of the NWA, but they are infrequent

05:00 at best and he spends most of his time as a pundit on news shows. If there was any chance

05:04 of a big time return it seems like it's come and gone, and this is one of those what ifs

05:08 where the answer is, well they treated him like a dinosaur.

05:11 Only in wrestling, folks. It's one of a kind.

05:14 3. Mr. Anderson

05:15 Of all the people I thought Anthem would go after when they rebranded, Mr. Anderson was

05:20 top of that list.

05:21 Be it WWE, TNA or wherever, for years most fans believed there was something here we

05:25 hadn't allowed to develop. I mean he was a top star in both companies and a world champion

05:29 in the latter, surely there was something to at least try.

05:33 Instead in March 2016 he was fired from TNA for allegedly failing a drug test, and ever

05:37 since he's just been doing his own thing.

05:39 But today most he runs his own training school and keeps himself to himself.

05:43 I do tell you though, even in 2022 this story doesn't seem finished. For one reason or another

05:48 we never hit the heights we should have done, and it feels like it will never transpire

05:52 now and how mad is that?

05:54 Anderson was going to be revealed as Vince McMahon's son at one stage, the things that

05:58 could have been.

05:59 2. Aaron Rex

06:01 When the then Damien Sandow was let go from WWE, every single fan lost it. He had smashed

06:06 everything he had been given, even the dumb stuff, and it felt like he could be a star.

06:10 WWE felt differently.

06:12 He quickly went to TNA in August 2016 with the company shatting from the rafters this

06:16 was the signing of the summer, and then one month after Impact was born, he was gone.

06:21 This means he was active for just over a year. What the flub.

06:25 The now Aaron Rex was never really given much of anything either, and it must have had an

06:28 effect because when he was done he took a two year sabbatical.

06:32 The NWA brought him back in 2019, but I don't think this was the hope when he was supposed

06:36 to get his big chance in TNA.

06:37 It was almost a little bit like they didn't know what to do with ex-WWE guys.

06:42 Talk about it in the comments.

06:44 1. Tiga Uno

06:45 Tiga de Uno is the second longest reigning X Division Champion in TNA history.

06:50 He held that belt for 199 days, and while that was a lot shorter than Austin Aries'

06:54 301 day reign, he is still in second place so that counts.

06:58 This was from June 2015 to January 2016, so clearly TNA valued him, and then as soon as

07:04 Impact was here, he was totally lost in the shuffle and then he was gone.

07:08 What on earth happened during this period?

07:10 Given he wasn't released till December and his last match was March, he sat around for

07:13 almost a year before being let go, and many thought he would find his way into another

07:17 big company, but he didn't.

07:19 Uno has done well on the indie scene, but for some reason has never got an offer elsewhere.

07:25 Something was cursed during this changeover, and a lot of people got it in

07:41 the teeth.

07:53 Here's what's next!

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