10 Forgotten TNA Appearances By Ex-WWE Stars

5. Mike Awesome

AJ Lee TNA
TNA

A bit-part player in a mini-ECW invasion of TNA at the time, mammoth former ECW World Heavyweight Champion Mike Awesome actually worked against the hardcore stars as a member of James Mitchell's Diciples Of The New Church stable.

He'd carried a turncoat reputation over from leaving the company for WCW in 2000, but his place in the group was relatively short-lived, and only included one pinfall singles victory before he resumed his All Japan Pro Wrestling duties as 'The Gladiator'.

Technically the forgotten appearance of two ex-WWE stars, an Xplosion bout between Awesome and Cliff "Deuce" Compton from 2003 was a squash to promote the monster ahead of a tables match he lost to fellow Atlanta alumni Mike Sanders one of TNA weekly pay-per-view shows later that month. Awesome, as always, looked dominant in the spot, but the brief glimpses here proved to be his last on mainstream North American television until his instant classic One Night Stand 2005 reprisal with Masato Tanaka.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett