10 Big TNA Signings That Were Completely Wasted

1. Ric Flair

Ric Flair’s most well-remembered and loved TNA moment is Jay Lethal doing an impression of him on air. Hope those hundreds of thousands of dollars spent to bring him in was worth those minutes of screen time.

In 2010, Flair joined Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff in the new era of TNA. For many fans, Flair’s involvement was more exciting than the other two, as he didn’t have a reputation for bringing down an entire wrestling company. If anything, the man was vastly underutilized for most of his late WWE run (teaming with Carlito), and most of his late WCW run. He was a guy that deserved his legend status, but often wasn’t treated that way. TNA continued that streak.

When Flair joined the company, they made the mistake of casting him as a heel. No one wanted to boo the elder statesman at that point in his career, especially after his unbelievable WWE sendoff. They also didn’t want to see him to step inside the ring. And if they did, then it would be because of a hugely anticipated, year long storyline where he’d be absolutely forced to wrestle more time...and not to take on Abyss on a random episode Impact.

TNA turned A.J. Styles into the modern Little Naitch, which was beyond embarrassing to watch. The company then briefly had the right idea when they tried to form a new Four Horsemen-like stable with Fourtune, but of course, they quickly squandered that plan when they put like 7 guys in it, had them turn on each other and then they all joined Immortal for the hell of it. It was a gigantic, horrifying mess.

Despite Flair being one of the greatest talents of all time in the wrestling industry, so few promoters have really ever known what the hell to do with him. TNA was no exception.

What a waste.