10 Wrestlers Who Must Return To Impact Wrestling
It's time for these names to make an Impact again.
TNA/Impact Wrestling is in the midst of massive upheaval. Behind the scenes, it’s rumored John Gaburick has lost power, while Jeff Jarrett appears to be the new captain of the ship. Dutch Mantell has been brought in to lead creative, but the great unknown is that we don't know how involved the management team at Anthem is going to be.
Besides all that, the company has lost quite a few marquee names over the past few weeks. Featured acts in the Hardys, Drew Galloway, Jade, Brooke, Maria and Michael Bennett are all gone. Gone!
There are a few replacements heading Impact's way, but the perception right now is the company has continually dropped the ball when it comes to contract negotiations. They need to create a more positive image for the promotion, and one way to do that is to bring back some familiar faces that fans have been missing. Those returning wrestlers would also fill in the depth chart on the roster, which has been incredibly thin since the debut on Pop TV.
However, this step can be difficult. After all, WWE has locked up quite a few former TNA stars like Bobby Roode, Eric Young, Samoa Joe, Austin Aries and A.J. Styles. That doesn’t mean there aren’t quite a few names still available at the moment. We're going to take a look at wrestlers who could (and should) realistically return to Impact in the near future (for example, Jay Lethal and "The Bucks of Youth" would be listed here, but they are both locked up in two year deals with ROH).
10. The Hardys
You can’t really talk about wrestlers who need to come back to Impact without bringing up the Hardys.
Ever since the move to Pop TV, TNA has been experiencing their weakest ratings since their Fox Sports Friday afternoon show over a decade ago. Upon their debut at their new home, the promotion completely lacked any buzz...until Matt Hardy became “Broken.” Before that, he was doing some of the best work of his career as Big Money Matt, but he wanted to do something bolder.
He started with dyed hair and a weird accent, but it became so much more. He created his own universe, one in which sentient drones exist and a magical lake can transform a person into a past gimmick. His creation got people to tune into the show, and at Final Deletion, Impact drew its highest ratings on Pop. While those numbers began slipping back to normal levels, Matt and Jeff remained the biggest stars on the show and began picking up crossover appeal.
However, a change in management caused them to be ousted from the company because their creative freedom was going to be greatly limited. The two decided to test their luck on the independent scene, and possibly WWE down the road. While that might be the better financial move for the two, it would be a shame to see their Impact run end for good.
Over the past couple years, they’ve been one of the few success stories to speak of in the promotion, and it would be interesting to see what they would have done under new management.
There’s still time for the two sides to make up (providing their ROH deals aren't long-term), which hopefully will happen relatively soon. If nothing else, the cinematic world they’ve created deserves a better form of closure.