10 Times WWE Pleasantly Surprised Their Audience
7. Embracing TNA
For all the years TNA/Impact Wrestling pretended to be rival WWE, nothing actually sold the concept more than Vince McMahon's refusal to acknowledge their presence on television.
Through genuine ignorance towards their product or a nagging feeling every time the group gently penetrated WWE's outer-walls, TNA were largely left on a Sports Entertainment island until said island drifted so far out to sea that the organisation could no longer even see them. And now they can't they're finally willing to show the world.
An influx of former Impact Zone headliners have since made their way into the company, and WWE have thankfully furnished Network documentaries and their ilk with plenty of moments that bolster their tales. It was best illustrated by the exception Hardy Boyz retrospective last year - a subtitled scene between a drug-addicted Jeff Hardy and Eric Bischoff during the younger brother's lowest ebb was a fascinating insight into his life's darkest timeline, and it wouldn't have been made possible without the loose working relationship that exists between the groups today.
It's a shame that Impact had to fade into virtual insignificance to get there, but their nightmarish future is at least the wrestling completist's dream.