10 Times TNA Went Way Too Far
4. New Beard, New Danger
In the most blatant storyline appropriation since WCW attempted to resurrect the Montreal Screwjob at Starrcade 1997, TNA took perennial comedy act Eric Young and transformed him into a heroic, gutsy and heavily bearded underdog right around the time that Daniel Bryan finally scored the big win at Wrestlemania XXX. Young, a fine performer in every sense of the word but never main event material before now, captured the TNA world title out of nowhere, days after Bryans Yes Movement finally propelled him to the WWE world heavyweight championship. His fanbase were thrilled that he was finally being taken seriously every other wrestling fan in the world snorted incredulously and threw heavy things at their TV. A ridiculously obvious attempt to cash-in on the Daniel Bryan story and buzz, it made no sense whatsoever, especially given that there were no storylines that had led up to it: Young became number one contender after winning a battle royal on Impact Wrestling, and won the title in the main event that same night. TNA already had a reputation for being content to push ex-WWE talent and to steal WWE ideas this was just stupid.