TNA Just Let Its Best Wrestler Slip Through Its Fingers... (TNA News)

Dani Luna has been granted her TNA release.

Dani Luna
TNA

In some surprising news, Dani Luna has departed TNA.

Per Fightful Select, Luna requested to be released from her TNA contract, and that request was granted over the weekend. As such, the Brit is now a free agent. Sources Fightful spoke to said that there is no bad blood between Dani and the Anthem promotion.

What makes this exit particularly surprising is that Dani Luna had been used in a prominent role recently, including earning a shot at the Knockouts Title at TNA Genesis in January. Unfortunately, visa issues meant that Luna was forced to miss Genesis, though she did eventually get that Knockouts Title shot at TNA Sacrifice last Friday, just with Ariana Grace as the Knockouts Champion now rather than Lei Ying Lee being in that role at Genesis.

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At Sacrifice, it was Dani Luna and Lei Ying Lee challenging Ariana Grace in a triple threat, and it was Grace standing tall and retaining the Knockouts Title after Lee had hit Dani with the Warriors Way, before Channing 'Stacks' Lorenzo pulled Lee out of the ring, allowing Grace to pin Luna for the win.

Dani Luna debuted in TNA - well, IMPACT Wrestling, as it was then - in mid-2023 alongside Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster as Subculture. Skip ahead to early 2024, and Luna would team up with Jody Threat to form Spitfire and become two-time TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champions by the time they went their separate ways last May. Since that split, Dani started to climb the ranks as a singles star, picking up notable wins over the likes of Threat, Lee, and, most notably, a brutal, bloody dog collar win over Indi Hartwell in December that put Luna on her way to a Knockouts Title shot.

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Prior to joining TNA, Dani Luna started to make a name for herself on the British independent scene before signing with WWE in 2020, aged just 20, and joining the NXT UK brand. When that brand went on "hiatus" in 2022, Dani was part of a mass round of releases made by the company. After that, she returned to the UK indie scene, cracking skulls in the likes of RevPro, PROGRESS, and ATTACK! She's also continued to work independent dates during her time with TNA, most recently defeating Kanji for the ATTACK! Pro Championship in Cardiff, Wales last month.

Still only 27 years of age, Dani Luna is a phenomenal worker who has a great presence and natural swagger. That TNA couldn't do more with her is tough to comprehend, especially when they'd finally managed to build her up as a genuine contender for the Knockouts Title. And just when you think the trigger might get pulled, we now instead have a landscape where Luna has opted to leave TNA.

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Already, AEW's Will Ospreay has been quick to share some support for Dani.

Of course, we were also fortunate to grab some time with Duna Luna a couple of weeks ago, where, interestingly, she made it clear that she was "done" waiting for the TNA Knockouts Title.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.