The Failed Potential of TNA Wrestling

There was a time when I really thought TNA Wrestling was going to become a serious rival for the WWE. It was around 2010 when I think TNA really reached its peak. Up until then the only real star in TNA was Jeff Jarrett. All they seemed to do was sign washed up former WWE / WCW talent to make one last final appearance or even a final run. But these matches were far from five stars. The biggest star TNA was able to bring in was definitely Sting, how they managed to sign him instead of the WWE has always shocked me. At the time Sting was still a major star and close enough to his prime to still put on some great matches. 

Meanwhile, the biggest star TNA had created of its own was AJ Styles, the man who created their X Division. With the help of Soma Joe and a few others this division is what got TNA noticed. However, it wasn’t until TNA signed Kurt Angle that they really became a threat to the WWE. At the time, Kurt Angle was arguably the best wrestler in the world, and shockingly he left the WWE to join TNA. At one point he held more gold than I had ever seen any wrestler hold, including a World title he won in Japan from Brock Lesnar… imagine if Lesnar could have also joined TNA at this time to continue his feud with Angle. Regardless, Kurt Angle needed competition in TNA and other than his feud with Jeff Jarrett, the man that stole his wife, Kurt needed something new. That meant bringing AJ Styles up from the X Division to the main event picture for some of the most exciting matches in TNA history. 

Still, this wouldn’t be enough to compete with the WWE. TNA needed more stars, better competition, better matches. Around this time Dixie Carter became the face of TNA and she hired Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff to run her company. While they did bring in a lot of other washed up talent like Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, etc. they somehow managed to bring in a couple of the most talented wrestlers in the world at the time… Jeff Hardy and Rob Van Dam. These were two of my favourite wrestlers, and they each should have been huge stars in WWE in the main event of Wrestlemania. Jeff Hardy was arguably the most over wrestler in the world at the time, he had defeated Edge and Triple H to win the WWE Championship to a huge pop. Similarly, Rob Van Dam had won the WWE and ECW Championship when he cashed in his Money In The Bank briefcase at One Night Stand and defeated John Cena. Both of these stars should have made major runs with the title but for various reasons neither would hold the title or last in the WWE long afterwards. So this was a major score for TNA. 

Some of the most memorable moments in TNA history were when Jeff Hardy showed up and climbed on the top of that strange red cage, and when Rob Van Dam made his debut in a quick upset match defeating Sting. I would easily say my favourite moment came when Rob Van Dam defeated AJ Styles to win the TNA Championship. I was sure this was going to be the defining moment for TNA and the start of a long run in the main event as the TNA Champion for RVD. Unfortunately, I was wrong. Jeff Hardy took over as TNA Champion shortly after though and this seemed to be a high point for TNA as Hardy turned heel and joined the faction Immortal. He had his own design for the championship belt and a great feud with Sting. Another favourite TNA moment of mine was when Sting made his shocking return to challenge Hardy and win the TNA Championship. I thought that would be a great feud, however, we all remember what happened at Victory Road, the lowest point in TNA history. 

The potential feuds and matches that could have happened between: Sting, Kurt Angle, AJ Styles, Jeff Hardy, and Rob Van Dam still make me sad for what could have been. I didn’t particularly care for the Main Event Mafia, or any of the other factions like Immortal or Fortune etc. I would have just preferred to see individual storylines involving these wrestlers. I think at the time when Hardy and RVD arrived they should have had a slower build up, starting out as TNA Tag Team Champions, and then each having a long run with multiple X Division Championships. This could have included matches with AJ Styles as well. Meanwhile, the main event could have still been Kurt Angle vs Sting for the most part, until eventually one by one the others made their way up to challenge for the TNA Championship. Imagine a year in TNA history when Sting drops the title to Kurt Angle, only to then pass it on to AJ Styles, who then loses it to Rob Van Dam in that epic match, who could then turn around and have a long feud with Jeff Hardy. Imagine a triple threat match in the main event between Styles, Hardy, and RVD… a ladder match, or a cage match etc. This could have really hurt WWE at the time. 

In the end, none of that potential ever really happened. TNA even managed to sign Mr. Kennedy who became Mr. Anderson, then they brought in Bobby Lashley. They had Beer Money and the Motorcity Machineguns, the Beautiful People, and eventually the Aces and Eights… but overall they just seemed to waste all of that talent and potential, never really putting any of the pieces together into anything major or memorable. I believe with the proper writing and storylines amazing feuds and matches could have come from all of this talent and TNA could have been a major wrestling company instead of a third rate NXT level promotion.