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TNA Wrestling fans have been tearing their hair out at the bad management of the company they loved so much. Last weekend, Matt Hardy finally won his first ever major title. But he surrendered it before the very next episode of Impact. Why? Because TNA had already taped multiple upcoming episodes without Matt as champion.
TNA has caused a lot of controversy over the years. So much, that we kinda just forgot about a lot of it. Here are 12 points that we don't talk about quite so much. And before you ask, they are not all from the Hogan-Bischoff Error. I said that, and the very first one is.
The Chair Shot From Hell
You don’t need to be involved with the wrestling industry to tell when some bad ideas are destined to go badly. After brain autopsies of Andrew ‘Test’ Martin and Chris Benoit became public, the WWE banned unprotected weapon shots to the head. Asking a wrestler to take an unprotected steel chair shot to the back of the skull is a really bad idea. Allowing an in-ring performer who is intoxicated to perform is also a really bad idea. Asking a wrestler to take an unprotected steel chair shot to the back of the skull from an intoxicated opponent is a special kind of stupid.
But this was what TNA asked Mr. Anderson to do. Jeff Hardy showed up to the Impact tapings heavily under the influence of drugs. Realising that he was not fit to compete, they wrote this angle instead. Hardy blasted Anderson too hard, splitting his head open and giving him a career-shortening concussion. Somehow, TNA managed to convince Anderson not to sue the company, and to return to full-time action long before he had properly recovered. They thanked him by letting him beat Hardy for the TNA Championship… oh wait, that’s not why. They gave him the title because Anderson is a very well-known Green Bay Packers fan, and they were expected to win the SuperBowl. Anderson wound up dropping the title back to Hardy just a few weeks later.
The Johnsons existed
You may vaguely remember a short-lived tag team in the WWE called ‘The Dicks’. They were two male Chippendale dancers who used the ring names Chad and James Dick. But this was nothing to a tag team that appeared in TNA at the beginning. The NWA World Tag Team Champions were repackaged as ‘The Johnsons’. They were literally meant to be wrestling penises. The Shane Twins were made to wear flesh-coloured latex outfits, and went by the name Dick and Rod Johnson. After a month of this, they left the company. Thankfully, they are better known as the failed Gymini tag team.
TNA extends an olive branch, gets sued by WWE
This one is not TNA’s fault at all. With WrestleMania 21 being held in Hollywood, Vince McMahon had become obsessed with spoofing famous movies using WWE superstars. The first was a Royal Rumble commercial spoofing ‘West Side Story’. The WWE filmed the commercial at Universal Studios, Orlando. At the time, TNA had filmed all of their shows in another lot at the same location. But let’s get one thing very clear; the WWE knew well that TNA operated there.
TNA sent a few former WWE superstars and Abyss over to welcome their rivals. However, WWE management flipped out and ordered their superstars to hide inside the studio. Only one Superstar was cool enough to come outside and talk to his friends. The WWE responded by filing a lawsuit against TNA. They demanded that TNA hand over all footage that TNA filmed in the building that day, and sign a legal document claiming that WWE legally owned the footage. Thankfully, TNA caved into pressure from fans and broadcast the footage instead, blurring out the faces of WWE talent.
Hogan and Bischoff trash TNA on their first night in charge… twice.
I promise not to overload this thread with things that Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff did wrong when they were in charge of TNA. But there are a few examples that have to be included. TNA writers asked to meet with the duo to plan out their first show, but they agreed to let TNA writers do their own thing. Then a few hours before they went on the air, Bischoff re-wrote everything without even looking at the original script. In fact, Bischoff and Hogan tore up a genuine copy of the original script and threw it into the crowd during their first on-camera segment.
A little bit later on, Jeff Jarrett had a chance to address the crowd. He thanked TNA fans for making TNA what it was. He then asked fans to support Hogan and Bischoff as they would bring major improvements to TNA. Then Hogan interrupted Jarrett to call him a liar. That’s right, Jarrett said that Hogan would improve the company, and Hogan accused him of lying. While the crowd was still feeling a heartfelt connection with TNA, Hogan proceeded to call everything that happened before his arrival “utter crapâ€. After the show ended, Hogan and Bischoff didn’t understand why TNA fans disliked them so much. They chose not to air footage of Hogan destroying the popular six-sided ring.
Why was Lex Luger there?... Oh wait…
Lex Luger appeared in TNA briefly to feud with A.J. Styles in 2003. But why? Lex Luger had become a major talking point in the media after the drug-related death of his girlfriend, wrestling personality Miss Elizabeth. When the media attention quietened down, so did Luger’s involvement with TNA.
Management blames the crowd for ruining a PPV for viewers
After the disaster of the first Impact in the Hogan-Bischoff Error, it was hard for fans to get into the first PPV, Genesis. But darn it, they tried. Fans cheered the heels and booed the babyfaces. They came up with games and chants to entertain themselves. But TNA were not having it. While viewers watched video packages, management went to the ring and told fans that they were cast members. They said it was the crowd’s responsibility to buy into the show, thus making it more believable for home viewers.
Janice and Darkness Falls
Wrestlers having signature weapons are commonplace in wrestling. These weapons are designed to distract or inflict pain on opponents, giving the user an edge. One thing they should not do is be potential murder weapons. This is where Janice and Darkness Falls was too far. Black Reign was Dustin Rhodes’ psychotic re-imagining of his Goldust gimmick. His weapon of choice was Darkness Falls, a wooden staff with a knife blade. In his earliest appearances, Reign would handcuff his opponent’s arms to the ring ropes, and scrape the blade against their face.
But this wasn’t as sick as Janice. While Abyss was very clearly based on Mankind, Janice was Abyss’ parody of Barbie. It was a board covered with deeply embedded nails. For “comedy†effect, it was named after Dixie Carter’s mother. At the closing of an August 2001 episode of Impact, Abyss finally used the weapon on an opponent. Van Dam was shown lying backstage, with his ring attire torn to shreds and lying in a huge pool of fake blood. We know that the wrestlers will never use such weapons for real. But why are they allowed these actually illegal objects around with them anyway?
Cashing in on Candido’s death
Chris Candido is possibly the greatest wrestler who never got the right break at the right time. When he did rise to the top or win a major title, interest in the company was low. When he was in a popular company, they were unwilling to push him. Candido’s career and life came to an end after suffering an injury at the first LockDown pay-per-view. Despite having successful surgery on his broken leg, Candido suffered a blot clot on the flight home. Flight staff was unable to land before he passed away.
Amazingly, TNA management kept Candido’s final paycheque. Candido was not technically married to his wife because they had a civil partnership. Of course, TNA could’ve paid the money to his next of kin, but they didn’t do that either. They held the annual Candido Cup, which was a tag team tournament pairing rookies with veterans. They never held a second Candido Cup.
Awesome Kong beats up Bubba The Love Sponge
An earthquake devastated Haiti at the beginning of 2010. Countries around the world raised millions in aid to help the poor country. Although some people felt that they had bigger problems to take care of. This was the opinion of Radio DJ and short-lived TNA announcer Bubba The Love Sponge. Bubba felt that the U.S. had millions of its own citizens in need. He believed it would be better for the U.S. Government to look after their own people first. Then when the recession-hit country was in a more stable position, then they could help other countries better. Unfortunatly, he didn’t quite phrase it like that. The words he chose were “F**k Haiti!â€.
Awesome Kong had been doing fund-raising to help victims in Haiti. She did not appreciate her new co-worker making such a statement on Twitter. She went to talk to him, but the confrontation became physical very quickly. Kong was sent home, but quit the next day. Bubba later apologised for comments on his own radio show, and openly forgave Kong for attacking him.
Hogan keeps putting down his co-workers
I promised that I would not fill this article with things Hulk Hogan and Bischoff did wrong. This will be the last time that I will mention Hogan. This will not be a list of bad storylines and booking. It will be a quick list of Hogan’s unprofessional conduct outside of production.
• Publically criticising his business partner Dixie Carter’s decisions in interviews and over Twitter.
• After the incident between BTLS and Awesome Kong, Hogan went on to Bubba’s radio show and repeatedly told him that he should have hit the woman back.
• Prior to a match with Sting, in which Hogan would “leave TNA†if he lost, Hogan openly told media outlets that it would be his final appearance, thus spoiling the match. He also insisted heavily that his poor physical health meant that the match would not be good. He closed the final Impact before this match by saying farewell, and that this would be his final appearance.
• Repeatedly burying the TNA originals in interviews and on Twitter.
• After pressuring TNA to hire his daughter Brooke, Hogan demanded that anything to do with her contract be discussed with him first. However, he refused to discuss the issue when TNA staff wanted to release her due to budget cuts (Brooke was paid more than most in-ring performers). He then criticised TNA management for releasing her without his approval.
TNA keeps messing with other company’s championships
For their first few years, TNA had a partnership with the NWA. Part of this agreement was that TNA could share the NWA’s World and Tag Team championships. If a TNA contracted star held the title, he was expected to defend it against NWA contracted talent at NWA events too. Similarly, NWA champions were expected to defend the titles against TNA talent at TNA events too. But TNA refused to acknowledge when NWA star Ray Gonzalez won the Heavyweight title, forcing the NWA to reverse the decision. Eventually, TNA stopped allowing TNA stars that held NWA titles to defend them against NWA talent.
The final straw came when the NWA heard about TNA’s plans to bury the title. Basically, the plan was for Kurt Angle and Sting to both beat NWA Champion Christian Cage in a three-way match. Because a new champion could not be determined, the NWA Championship would be discarded, and the “prestigious†TNA Championship would be introduced in its place. However, the NWA stripped Cage of the championship well in advance, and made it clear that the title match was NOT for their title. To further TNA’s embarrassment, their PPV went off the air before completing the match decision. Instead of making a joke of the NWA Championship, they ruined their own championship instead.
It wasn’t just the NWA did these games with. They would occasionally put IWGP titles on the line at TNA events without asking IWGP first. IWGP ended their partnership with TNA after they had British Invasion win their IWGP Tag Team Championship without their consent.
James Storm almost killed Mickie James
Earlier this year, Mickie James was briefly written off television when James Storm pushed her off a train platform. We are used to the hidden camera footage of backstage segments around arenas. But this footage was not at an arena, but at a train station. It was made to look like genuine CCTV footage with really good audio. After Mickie was knocked off the platform, Storm makes a quip about how far she fell. She miraculously returned from her incident without any injuries, just a little “emotionally disturbedâ€, and competed in an inter-gender tag team match.
What was so bad about this angle? It was broadcast a few days after news broke about a man who really did kill a woman by pushing her onto a train track. Okay, it may remind you of the unfortunate “terrorist†angle that the WWE accidentally did nearly 10 years ago. This was a story line in which masked men attacked Undertaker on Muhammad Hassan’s behalf, and attempted to behead him. This was filmed in London, and was broadcast on the same day as a genuine terrorist attack in London. The angle was edited off the UK version of the broadcast. But this one was different because TNA had time to pull the footage out of the show before it went to broadcast anywhere.
TNA has caused a lot of controversy over the years. So much, that we kinda just forgot about a lot of it. Here are 12 points that we don't talk about quite so much. And before you ask, they are not all from the Hogan-Bischoff Error. I said that, and the very first one is.
The Chair Shot From Hell
You don’t need to be involved with the wrestling industry to tell when some bad ideas are destined to go badly. After brain autopsies of Andrew ‘Test’ Martin and Chris Benoit became public, the WWE banned unprotected weapon shots to the head. Asking a wrestler to take an unprotected steel chair shot to the back of the skull is a really bad idea. Allowing an in-ring performer who is intoxicated to perform is also a really bad idea. Asking a wrestler to take an unprotected steel chair shot to the back of the skull from an intoxicated opponent is a special kind of stupid.
But this was what TNA asked Mr. Anderson to do. Jeff Hardy showed up to the Impact tapings heavily under the influence of drugs. Realising that he was not fit to compete, they wrote this angle instead. Hardy blasted Anderson too hard, splitting his head open and giving him a career-shortening concussion. Somehow, TNA managed to convince Anderson not to sue the company, and to return to full-time action long before he had properly recovered. They thanked him by letting him beat Hardy for the TNA Championship… oh wait, that’s not why. They gave him the title because Anderson is a very well-known Green Bay Packers fan, and they were expected to win the SuperBowl. Anderson wound up dropping the title back to Hardy just a few weeks later.
The Johnsons existed
You may vaguely remember a short-lived tag team in the WWE called ‘The Dicks’. They were two male Chippendale dancers who used the ring names Chad and James Dick. But this was nothing to a tag team that appeared in TNA at the beginning. The NWA World Tag Team Champions were repackaged as ‘The Johnsons’. They were literally meant to be wrestling penises. The Shane Twins were made to wear flesh-coloured latex outfits, and went by the name Dick and Rod Johnson. After a month of this, they left the company. Thankfully, they are better known as the failed Gymini tag team.
TNA extends an olive branch, gets sued by WWE
This one is not TNA’s fault at all. With WrestleMania 21 being held in Hollywood, Vince McMahon had become obsessed with spoofing famous movies using WWE superstars. The first was a Royal Rumble commercial spoofing ‘West Side Story’. The WWE filmed the commercial at Universal Studios, Orlando. At the time, TNA had filmed all of their shows in another lot at the same location. But let’s get one thing very clear; the WWE knew well that TNA operated there.
TNA sent a few former WWE superstars and Abyss over to welcome their rivals. However, WWE management flipped out and ordered their superstars to hide inside the studio. Only one Superstar was cool enough to come outside and talk to his friends. The WWE responded by filing a lawsuit against TNA. They demanded that TNA hand over all footage that TNA filmed in the building that day, and sign a legal document claiming that WWE legally owned the footage. Thankfully, TNA caved into pressure from fans and broadcast the footage instead, blurring out the faces of WWE talent.
Hogan and Bischoff trash TNA on their first night in charge… twice.
I promise not to overload this thread with things that Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff did wrong when they were in charge of TNA. But there are a few examples that have to be included. TNA writers asked to meet with the duo to plan out their first show, but they agreed to let TNA writers do their own thing. Then a few hours before they went on the air, Bischoff re-wrote everything without even looking at the original script. In fact, Bischoff and Hogan tore up a genuine copy of the original script and threw it into the crowd during their first on-camera segment.
A little bit later on, Jeff Jarrett had a chance to address the crowd. He thanked TNA fans for making TNA what it was. He then asked fans to support Hogan and Bischoff as they would bring major improvements to TNA. Then Hogan interrupted Jarrett to call him a liar. That’s right, Jarrett said that Hogan would improve the company, and Hogan accused him of lying. While the crowd was still feeling a heartfelt connection with TNA, Hogan proceeded to call everything that happened before his arrival “utter crapâ€. After the show ended, Hogan and Bischoff didn’t understand why TNA fans disliked them so much. They chose not to air footage of Hogan destroying the popular six-sided ring.
Why was Lex Luger there?... Oh wait…
Lex Luger appeared in TNA briefly to feud with A.J. Styles in 2003. But why? Lex Luger had become a major talking point in the media after the drug-related death of his girlfriend, wrestling personality Miss Elizabeth. When the media attention quietened down, so did Luger’s involvement with TNA.
Management blames the crowd for ruining a PPV for viewers
After the disaster of the first Impact in the Hogan-Bischoff Error, it was hard for fans to get into the first PPV, Genesis. But darn it, they tried. Fans cheered the heels and booed the babyfaces. They came up with games and chants to entertain themselves. But TNA were not having it. While viewers watched video packages, management went to the ring and told fans that they were cast members. They said it was the crowd’s responsibility to buy into the show, thus making it more believable for home viewers.
Janice and Darkness Falls
Wrestlers having signature weapons are commonplace in wrestling. These weapons are designed to distract or inflict pain on opponents, giving the user an edge. One thing they should not do is be potential murder weapons. This is where Janice and Darkness Falls was too far. Black Reign was Dustin Rhodes’ psychotic re-imagining of his Goldust gimmick. His weapon of choice was Darkness Falls, a wooden staff with a knife blade. In his earliest appearances, Reign would handcuff his opponent’s arms to the ring ropes, and scrape the blade against their face.
But this wasn’t as sick as Janice. While Abyss was very clearly based on Mankind, Janice was Abyss’ parody of Barbie. It was a board covered with deeply embedded nails. For “comedy†effect, it was named after Dixie Carter’s mother. At the closing of an August 2001 episode of Impact, Abyss finally used the weapon on an opponent. Van Dam was shown lying backstage, with his ring attire torn to shreds and lying in a huge pool of fake blood. We know that the wrestlers will never use such weapons for real. But why are they allowed these actually illegal objects around with them anyway?
Cashing in on Candido’s death
Chris Candido is possibly the greatest wrestler who never got the right break at the right time. When he did rise to the top or win a major title, interest in the company was low. When he was in a popular company, they were unwilling to push him. Candido’s career and life came to an end after suffering an injury at the first LockDown pay-per-view. Despite having successful surgery on his broken leg, Candido suffered a blot clot on the flight home. Flight staff was unable to land before he passed away.
Amazingly, TNA management kept Candido’s final paycheque. Candido was not technically married to his wife because they had a civil partnership. Of course, TNA could’ve paid the money to his next of kin, but they didn’t do that either. They held the annual Candido Cup, which was a tag team tournament pairing rookies with veterans. They never held a second Candido Cup.
Awesome Kong beats up Bubba The Love Sponge
An earthquake devastated Haiti at the beginning of 2010. Countries around the world raised millions in aid to help the poor country. Although some people felt that they had bigger problems to take care of. This was the opinion of Radio DJ and short-lived TNA announcer Bubba The Love Sponge. Bubba felt that the U.S. had millions of its own citizens in need. He believed it would be better for the U.S. Government to look after their own people first. Then when the recession-hit country was in a more stable position, then they could help other countries better. Unfortunatly, he didn’t quite phrase it like that. The words he chose were “F**k Haiti!â€.
Awesome Kong had been doing fund-raising to help victims in Haiti. She did not appreciate her new co-worker making such a statement on Twitter. She went to talk to him, but the confrontation became physical very quickly. Kong was sent home, but quit the next day. Bubba later apologised for comments on his own radio show, and openly forgave Kong for attacking him.
Hogan keeps putting down his co-workers
I promised that I would not fill this article with things Hulk Hogan and Bischoff did wrong. This will be the last time that I will mention Hogan. This will not be a list of bad storylines and booking. It will be a quick list of Hogan’s unprofessional conduct outside of production.
• Publically criticising his business partner Dixie Carter’s decisions in interviews and over Twitter.
• After the incident between BTLS and Awesome Kong, Hogan went on to Bubba’s radio show and repeatedly told him that he should have hit the woman back.
• Prior to a match with Sting, in which Hogan would “leave TNA†if he lost, Hogan openly told media outlets that it would be his final appearance, thus spoiling the match. He also insisted heavily that his poor physical health meant that the match would not be good. He closed the final Impact before this match by saying farewell, and that this would be his final appearance.
• Repeatedly burying the TNA originals in interviews and on Twitter.
• After pressuring TNA to hire his daughter Brooke, Hogan demanded that anything to do with her contract be discussed with him first. However, he refused to discuss the issue when TNA staff wanted to release her due to budget cuts (Brooke was paid more than most in-ring performers). He then criticised TNA management for releasing her without his approval.
TNA keeps messing with other company’s championships
For their first few years, TNA had a partnership with the NWA. Part of this agreement was that TNA could share the NWA’s World and Tag Team championships. If a TNA contracted star held the title, he was expected to defend it against NWA contracted talent at NWA events too. Similarly, NWA champions were expected to defend the titles against TNA talent at TNA events too. But TNA refused to acknowledge when NWA star Ray Gonzalez won the Heavyweight title, forcing the NWA to reverse the decision. Eventually, TNA stopped allowing TNA stars that held NWA titles to defend them against NWA talent.
The final straw came when the NWA heard about TNA’s plans to bury the title. Basically, the plan was for Kurt Angle and Sting to both beat NWA Champion Christian Cage in a three-way match. Because a new champion could not be determined, the NWA Championship would be discarded, and the “prestigious†TNA Championship would be introduced in its place. However, the NWA stripped Cage of the championship well in advance, and made it clear that the title match was NOT for their title. To further TNA’s embarrassment, their PPV went off the air before completing the match decision. Instead of making a joke of the NWA Championship, they ruined their own championship instead.
It wasn’t just the NWA did these games with. They would occasionally put IWGP titles on the line at TNA events without asking IWGP first. IWGP ended their partnership with TNA after they had British Invasion win their IWGP Tag Team Championship without their consent.
James Storm almost killed Mickie James
Earlier this year, Mickie James was briefly written off television when James Storm pushed her off a train platform. We are used to the hidden camera footage of backstage segments around arenas. But this footage was not at an arena, but at a train station. It was made to look like genuine CCTV footage with really good audio. After Mickie was knocked off the platform, Storm makes a quip about how far she fell. She miraculously returned from her incident without any injuries, just a little “emotionally disturbedâ€, and competed in an inter-gender tag team match.
What was so bad about this angle? It was broadcast a few days after news broke about a man who really did kill a woman by pushing her onto a train track. Okay, it may remind you of the unfortunate “terrorist†angle that the WWE accidentally did nearly 10 years ago. This was a story line in which masked men attacked Undertaker on Muhammad Hassan’s behalf, and attempted to behead him. This was filmed in London, and was broadcast on the same day as a genuine terrorist attack in London. The angle was edited off the UK version of the broadcast. But this one was different because TNA had time to pull the footage out of the show before it went to broadcast anywhere.
