10 WWE Rejects Immediately Pushed By TNA Impact Wrestling
'It's...HIM!'
The recent return of former WWE, WCW and TNA star Scott Steiner to Impact Wrestling put fans of the product in the mind of the mid-2000s 'boom' period for the Orlando outfit.
Whilst hardly a success in any of the traditional wrestling business metrics, the company had at least gained enough foothold through continued presence on television during those heady days to be perceived as the Number Two promotion in North America, but the small-time nature of their WWE cast-off fawning ensured that's exactly where they were destined to stay.
Constantly looking for an empty twist to send fans into a tizzy online, TNA would often herald the arrival of a former WWE performer above virtually everything else happening on the show. Commentator Don West had on-air palpitations for the appearance of a rebuffed wrestler so often, it's remarkable he's still alive and well enough to remain with the company flogging the discounted t-shirts.
Very occasionally, the shock and awe was justified. Christian's decision to sample pastures new was a huge get for TNA, and Kurt Angle's arrival was a blockbuster move that initially shot mainstream perception of the company through the roof.
Sadly, not everybody can be an Olympic Gold Medalist or Attitude Era icon. And whilst the company dragged in the likes of Val Venis, Rikishi and the Road Dogg long after their WWE shine had dimmed, some Connecticut refugees were airlifted into topline spots hot off the chopping block.
10. Mr Kennedy
Mr Kennedy was the literal and figurative definition of 'damaged goods' when he made his debut for the company at the controversial Genesis pay-per-view in January 2010.
The event was the first supercard of the divisive and ultimately destructive Hulk Hogan/Eric Bischoff era in the company, as the two former WCW doyens attempted (laughably) to elevate the organisation beyond it's unremarkable but stable position as Number Two wrestling promotion behind WWE.
As evidenced on an explosive January 4th Monday Night edition of TNA Impact, their broad philosophy was largely the same as the prior management's. Anybody with name value from any era of pro wrestling was afforded the red (and yellow) carpet treatment, at the expense of almost the entire pre-existing roster that had worked gamely to keep the product afloat during some commercially lean and creatively middling years.
Appearing as a mystery opponent in place of an injured Bobby Lashley, Kennedy (now Anderson) was promoted ludicrously beyond his station by Hogan as an industry megastar, despite the fact that his latter WWE tenure had been blighted by injuries and discontent.
His star had burned bright three years earlier, but by 2010 it was all but out. Attempting to play an obnoxious tweener but appearing more as a post-Attitude era frat-boy, TNA's typcially frenetic booking derailed what little momentum he still had within weeks, and his TNA World Title victory one year later underscored how far the company had fallen behind WWE in Hogan's maiden year.