10 Wrestlers TNA/IMPACT Should've Pushed Harder

TNA/IMPACT has enjoyed a rich, controversial history of impressive creative highs and truly astounding lows since its 2002 inception.

For much of its existence, the promotion had a less than stellar reputation for giving homegrown talent the hard shaft in favour of ex-WWE Superstars. Amazingly, several former McMahon employees wound up in a similar misbooked boat as well.

The result was a frustrating mess of promising workers butting their heads against an all too familiar glass ceiling. Worse still, it prevented TNA from becoming a viable alternative to WWE when it had a punching chance more than a decade ago now.

On top of the WWE fixation, the promotion's often struggled with truly bizarre booking. Vince Russo, The Riddler of wrestling, frequently sent the oft-exciting product into the mud, hampering stars, titles and angles in ways even Tommy Wiseau would find frivolous. The likes of Hulk Hogan, Jeff Jarrett and Eric Bischoff ultimately didn't prove to be much better either.

While Don Callis and co. have been working hard to realign the promotion with is potential in recent years, there's a trail of wasted stars behind them. From jaw-dropping high flyers to burly brawlers and loudmouth mic masters, here are ten talents TNA/IMPACT seriously dropped the ball with.

The ROH stalwart had a hot start in TNA as a member of the original LAX. Presented as diabolical heels under Konnan's controversial, attention-grabbing leadership, Homicide and Hernandez were borderline evil as they cheated, connived and even stabbed (the fork is not a missed weapon in the ring these days) their way to victory.

For Homicide, it was another showcase of the hard-grafting style he'd perfected in feuds with the likes of Colt Cabana (a man he essentially tried to murder on screen with Draino) and Steve Corino. While his name and gang-oriented persona weren't particularly wholesome or mainstream marketable, his intensity and work rate was exceptional.

Boasting killer moves like the quadriplegia-risking DA Cop Killa, the vicious crowd pleaser carried himself in grounded, no-nonsense fashion. His time in ROH had frequently proved what an amazing storyteller and promo he could be and his early work in TNA showcased his mastery of tag team psychology. When LAX split, many wondered what kind of ceiling Homicide would have.

His highly-anticipated X-Division Championship reign commenced in 2009. As a work rate and cult favourite, the Nuyorican felt like a perfect fit for the title where he could piece together fast-paced, flashy showdowns with similarly minded performers. Instead, he was infamously demolished by Samoa Joe a mere month later, becoming another casualty of TNA's interminable Main Event Mafia saga.

Homicide, for all his talent, never came within sniffing distance of the upper mid-card in TNA. Simply a waste.