impact wrestling also known as TNA has a long history of its management creating controversy. The current product appears to be the most stable Impact ever with Scott D’Amore running the show. Previous eras saw TNA with names like Dixie Carter, Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff, Vince Russo, Jeff Jarrett, and Bruce Prichard in managerial positions.
Any company with this much polarizing talent is bound to have some talent that runs into trouble. There are some names that can even go so far as to say that their careers were damaged by someone with power in TNA. Impact is still trying to completely lose all the negative parts of its past reputation. TNA management ruined the career of each of the following wrestlers.
10 awesome kong
Most wrestling fans know today that Awesome Kong is a legend, but there were many ups and downs throughout his in-ring career. TNA was the place where Kong most found success as a dominant star by bringing a character like no other to the Knockouts division.
Kong’s career peak streak ended after she was fired for beating up Bubba the Love Sponge. Hulk Hogan’s friend had a job when he came to power and got in trouble with Kong after he made offensive comments about an earthquake in Haiti. TNA chose to fire Kong for making him violent, and her drive was never the same in any future comeback.
9 jimmy rave
The Ring of Honor era of the 2000s ushered in generational talents like CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, and Samoa Joe. One of the rare names that became a big deal in ROH and never broke out elsewhere was Jimmy Rave.
The tremendous heel job saw Rave get into heavy feuds with Punk, AJ Styles, and many others. TNA signed Rave at his ROH peak and set him up in a terrible gimmick. The band Rock n Rave Infection saw Rave and Lance Hoyt pretending to be a rock band on the cheap, while Christy Hemme was the only one present as their manager.
8 wes brisco
TNA had to work harder to build new stars than WWE, as they couldn’t trust the brand to carry them. Unfortunately, fans often hated that TNA put too much pressure on talent they didn’t care about at the expense of names they wanted to see elevated.
Wes Brisco summed that up when he received a random heel push as a member of Aces & Eights in a fight with Kurt Angle. TNA even had Angle put Brisco up, but it only made fans more upset with Wes. The rest of Brisco’s career fizzled out due to TNA management trying to force fans to care about him.
7 Sonny Siaki
Another case where TNA pushed someone too far and made them suffer for it was Sonny Siaki. The early years saw TNA trying to find young talent to build on. Siaki received a huge boost as an X-Division champion and a member of Sports Entertainment Xtreme.
TNA went too far trying to create comparisons to The Rock, as Siaki was an athletic young wrestler with a Samoan background. Management pushed Sonny too hard and saw him unable to meet expectations and fizzled out before they even reached a TV deal.
6 petey williams
Petey Williams bounced back from his down times by having a late career resurgence and was eventually signed by WWE in a producing role. However, TNA once used Williams so badly that he went from having the most finalists to getting fired for no reason.
Williams hoped that his character work as Scott Steiner’s sidekick would improve his position, but it didn’t. TNA canceled Petey by causing him to lose a loser leaves town match against Beer Money. Williams struggled to find a role in wrestling for years after TNA decided to cut the bait on him despite previous success.
5 Desmond Wolfe
Nigel McGuinness, who missed out on a WWE deal due to his injury history, prompted TNA to immediately attack. Desmond Wolfe’s new name saw him debut and instantly get into a huge rivalry with Kurt Angle to top him as a new heel.
TNA’s change in management during this time led to Wolfe suffering for Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff gaining power. Desmond’s last big moment was winning a fan poll for a world title shot. Management apparently wasn’t happy because the heel won over his favorite babyfaces and then moved Wolfe down the card.
4 crimson
One of the worst cases of TNA trying to force someone down the throat of the audience was Crimson. TNA had Crimson go undefeated for quite some time in hopes of making fans fall in love with the ride as Goldberg in WCW.
Unfortunately, Crimson wasn’t as impressive as Goldberg or 95% of the wrestlers on TV. Fans even started booing Crimson when he was still a baby. Management trying to force the Crimson into the audience caused resentment from fans to ruin his career.
3 daffney
The late Daffney had an underrated career in TNA playing her goth persona. Daffney did innovative things like having a rare women’s Monsters Ball match using various weapons that were only associated with men.
Multiple injuries, including a career-ending one, made Daffney unhappy when TNA refused to cover his medical bills for injuries in their ring against a reckless rookie wrestler. TNA expired Daffney’s contract, leading to a lawsuit and the end of his in-ring career.
2 Garett Bischoff
Nepotism is never an ideal start to a fighter’s career when thrust into their familiar status. TNA tried to give Garett Bischoff a big push as the son of Eric Bischoff. Hulk Hogan and Bischoff were already seen as not caring about the company and using it for personal gain.
Garett got into a fight with his father and made Hogan say outlandish things like he was the new face of the wrestling industry. Fans booed Garett as a face to force a heel turn joining Aces & Eights. Garett flopped badly thanks to his father and others expecting fans to care about him just because they booked him.
1 monty brown
Monty Brown was considered one of TNA’s top local stars when the company grew to land television deals with Fox Sports and Spike TV. Fans had a desire to see Brown as the right babyface to end Jeff Jarrett’s dominating reign as NWA Heavyweight Champion.
TNA walked away from any chance of that when they all went on bigger signed names at the time like Sting and Christian Cage. Monty went from being Jarrett’s main threat to his partner with a heel turn. Brown’s career was never the same, as he left for a weak run in WWE and then left the industry.