10 Wrestlers Who Did Their Best Work In TNA/IMPACT

Once the closest thing to a number two promotion to WWE in the western hemisphere, TNA/IMPACT has fallen hard in recent years. Beyond serving as a trusty sidekick to the new number two promotion in the western hemisphere, the promotion has become infamous in recent times for constantly losing all of their stars.

Throughout its prime years, TNA was renowned for two things: great action and bad booking. Their roster had all the talent in the world from top to bottom and the promotion concocted some genuinely great match-ups, such as Ultimate X. Unfortunately, TNA creative was often headed by the likes of Vince Russo who just loved devolving angles into Jerry Springer-esque nonsense.

There was also a key issue early on regarding Jeff Jarrett's all-consuming obsession with being king of the mountain. Despite homegrown fan favourites like AJ Styles, Samoa Joe and Abyss being on hand, Double J's title death grip refused to let up.. until a young up and comer named Sting took him down.

For former WWE talent, TNA also used to be a post-McMahon haven where they'd be treated like superstars. While some cashed in for the easy payday, others made the most of a new push to do some of the finest work of their career. Then there were those who got their start in TNA and never quite matched it anywhere else they plied their trade.

With all that being said, here are 10 talents that hit the peak of their powers in TNA/IMPACT.

MISTERRRRR ANNNNDDERRRRSSSONNNNNN...... ANNNNNNDERSONNNN wasn't quite as catchy as Mr Kennedy unless you were a major Matrix fan. Luckily for Mr Mic Check, everything else wrestling-related went much better for him in the house that Jarrett built. Treated as a main event prospect right out the gate (like seemingly all former WWE stars at the time), Anderson enjoyed the best matches of his career with Kurt Angle in 2010 and held the world title twice in 2011.

Once viewed as a future megastar by top WWE brass, a miserable cocktail of injuries, foot-in-mouth syndrome whenever PEDs came up in interviews, and dropping Randy Orton led to his downfall and release. While TNA kept him in a prominent spot on their roster throughout his initial run with them, he was never given the ball to completely run with.

Both of Anderson's world title reigns lasted a month before dropping them back to Jeff Hardy and Sting, respectively (apparently face paint is Anderson's kryptonite). The other flaw in his booking concerned his constant heel and face turns, causing him to come across as a regular-sized Big Show.

While Anderson's time in TNA wasn't exactly Ric Flair in 1989, it was a more effective showcase of his talents and credibility than WWE ever gave him.