10 WWE Rejects Immediately Pushed By TNA Impact Wrestling
5. Billy Gunn
Billy Gunn's late-2004 release from WWE was something of a shock considering his extended tenure with the organisation.
With over a decade in the bank working for Vince McMahon, Gunn was only matched by The Undertaker as a full-timer, but had spent the final year of his contract working with fellow long-stayer Bob Holly in enhancement tag team matches and a lame singles feud with Kenzo Suzuki that saw him soundly defeated in his final pay-per-view appearance with the group at June's Great American Bash.
He had been rendered surplus to requirements by the company that had made him a star, but TNA were predictably super-keen to get him on the books as quick as possible.
Amazingly (!), he was positioned alongside Jeff Jarrett, debuting at the company's first Against All Odds pay-per-view without even being named by announcers Mike Tenay and Don West.
Simply addressed as 'formerly known as Billy Gunn in WWE' as he assaulted Kevin Nash to help 'Double J' retain the NWA World Heavyweight Title, Gunn (later The New Age Outlaw, then The Outlaw, then finally Kip James after repeated legal threats from his former employer) even wore a t-shirt sporting the phrases 'No Introduction Needed' and 'You Already Know My Name' as if to circumvent the expected criticism at his laughable arrival.