10 WWE Stars Who Flopped In TNA Wrestling

They say the grass is always greener on the other side. This is not necessarily true when it comes to former WWE stars joining TNA/IMPACT Wrestling, however.

At one time, TNA was a de facto destination for such castoffs, who were drawn to the lighter schedule and healthy pay. Some talents made the best of it, either reliving their glory years or showing WWE just what they were missing.

Others, on the other hand, probably went to TNA expecting instant glory based on their established superstar status, but found themselves either poorly used, lost in the shuffle, or otherwise embarrassing themselves and actively harming their legacy.

Whenever TNA signed someone with the ‘former WWE superstar’ tag attached to them, they no doubt wanted great things from them and expected their arrivals to aid them in the fight against the world’s biggest sports entertainment juggernaut, but were often left disappointed, angry or simply bewildered by what they actually got.

These are 10 WWE Stars Who Flopped in TNA.

10. Test

It’s a bit unfair to speculate about these sorts of things, but do you think Test’s WWE career might have gone a little differently if Triple H hadn’t outsmarted him, stolen his woman away, and repeatedly and decisively beat him in televised matches?

It’s a possibility, because the big man was getting over before his legs were cut off in late 1999. He still had a good career after that main event dalliance, of course, forming a decent unit with Albert and Trish Stratus, becoming an Un-American and then messing about with Stacy Keibler and Scott Steiner.

He was released in late 2004 but returned in 2006 for the relaunched ECW, looking bigger and meaner, only to be released soon after following a failed wellness policy test.

It was even less surprising when he showed up in TNA a few months later as ‘The Punisher’ Andrew Martin. More surprising was the brevity of his run, which included a couple of IMPACT appearances and a spot in the Doomsday Chamber of Blood Cage Match at the Hard Justice pay-per-view.

The group decided to let him go after that, as they were well aware of his substance abuse issues and it turned out to be his last notable contribution to the business before his 2009 passing.

9. Val Venis

Val Venis managed to have himself quite the long WWE career before finally being given the boot in 2009.

Luckily, TNA were going through a phase of signing every reject they could, even if they had been a glorified enhancement talent for years and were about a decade removed from their Attitude Era prime.

That was good news for Val, who showed up in TNA in January 2010, wrestling under his real name Sean Morley.

He still had the towel and somewhat sexy theme music but, really, he was just a bald bloke in trunks. He debuted on the big January 4th live episode of IMPACT, which was the first one to go head-to-head with WWE Raw, appearing in a backstage segment with the Beautiful People.

From there, he explained he was now an adult film producer (rather than a star) and feuded with Christopher Daniels, beating The Fallen Angel at the Genesis pay-per-view. He also turned heel and beat Jeff Jarrett in a Falls Count Anywhere bout on IMPACT, but then quit the company a day later, citing a desire to work in Mexico.

8. Orlando Jordan

Another head-scratching acquisition during the Hogan/Bischoff era was Orlando Jordan.

Jordan’s biggest claim to fame was being JBL’s running buddy during his WWE Title run and then for being what is widely regarded as one of the worst United States Champions ever. Once he dropped the belt, he fell down the card before being released and fading into obscurity for a few years before TNA came calling.

Another January 4th, 2010 IMPACT debutant, Jordan began a feud with fellow former WWE dud D’Angelo Dinero, AKA Elijah Burke.

TNA pushed Orlando strongly, putting him over Dinero and Samoa Joe, before he went away for a month and resurfaced with an altogether new look and gimmick, starting a bisexual angle and even getting his own interview segment, ‘The O Zone’.

You couldn’t really help but take notice of Jordan, since he would appear in increasingly unique outfits and do things like squirt lotion all over his chest before matches.

The gimmick was controversial and got people talking but, truth is, OJ hadn’t improved at all in the ring and when he was released in July 2011 the whole thing felt like some sort of bizarre fever dream.

7. The Nasty Boys

The last couple of entries have looked at people that were signed at the behest of Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan when they took over during their ill-fated spell in charge and if you’re talking about Hogan’s mates getting a gig due to pure nepotism, you cannot not talk about the Nasty Boys.

Jerry Sags and Brian Knobbs were also signed in early 2010, showing up on the – you guessed it – January 4th IMPACT to start a feud with Team 3D.

The Nasty Boys were a major team in WWE and WCW in the 80s and 90s, but by the time they walked into the IMPACT Zone, they looked completely past it. In their forties, scarily out-of-shape and with an out-of-date gimmick, they were a sight for sore eyes and most fans didn’t want them there.

Yet TNA persisted and actually put them over Brother Ray and Devon in their pay-per-view bout, thanks to interference from Jimmy Hart, who debuted as the Nasty’s manager.

Who knows how far Knobbs and Sags would have went if they hadn’t been fired three months and four matches in after Knobs caused a scene with his boorish behaviour at a function where Spike TV executives were present.

6. Booker T

The signing of former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Booker T, not too long after his WWE release, should have been a major boost to TNA at a time when they were really starting to make some noise.

An experienced veteran who had genuine star power and was still in great shape, Booker was viewed as a hell of a ‘get’ for the company, a headliner who could help the likes of AJ Styles, Samoa Joe and Bobby Roode get to another level.

Things started well enough with the rapturous response he received when he was revealed as Sting’s mystery tag team partner at the 2007 Genesis pay-per-view.

His matches with the likes of Styles, Roode and Christian were fine, and he fit the bill as a member of the star-studded Main Event Mafia stable, but you couldn’t help but feel like Booker was sleepwalking through it most of the time and might have just been there because of the premium pay and easy schedule.

Because he was, as he has admitted such numerous times since, referring to his TNA run as a ‘vacation’.

The former five-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion didn’t have his heart in it, wanting to focus more on getting into acting, and the overall impression of his two-year stint is that it was a wasted opportunity that resulted in only mediocrity.

5. The Basham Brothers

Of all the duos to hold the WWE Tag Team Championships, the Basham Brothers were certainly one of them.

Debuting on WWE television alongside Shaniqua, Doug and Danny then ditched the leather and chains and joined up with JBL and Orlando Jordan in the WWE Champion’s Cabinet. That brought them another tag title reign but, once the group had run its course, the Bashams drifted and were ultimately released.

Naturally, they got the call from TNA, who brought them in as Basham (Doug) and The Damaja (Danny) to feud with the Voodoo Kin Mafia.

In the storyline, the Bashams were drafted by Christy Hemme to take on BG and Kip James, after the former Heart Throbs had failed in their task.

The Bashams brought nothing to the table, though, and only wrestled a handful of nondescript matches on IMPACT and a couple on pay-per-view before they were shown the door.

In WWE with a gimmick or a kinky manager or as a part of a stable, they worked, but in TNA they were about as exciting as a Sunday afternoon listening to Classic FM while sorting out your sock drawer and filing your tax returns.

4. Trevor Murdoch

Trevor Murdoch was probably born 40 years too late, because I reckon he’d have been a big star in the territories of the 1970s and 80s and he is currently one of the National Wrestling Alliance’s top stars and a two-time NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion.

He didn’t do badly in WWE, mind you. Along with partner Lance Cade, Murdoch won the World Tag Team Titles three times between 2005 and his 2008 release.

They were quite the handy unit and had great feuds and matches with the likes of The Hardys and Paul London & Brian Kendrick, but it was always clear that WWE saw Cade as the potential singles star and that Trevor was doomed once he went solo.

Could he achieve singles glory in TNA, though?

He showed up in Orlando almost a year after receiving his WWE pink slip as ‘The Outlaw’ Jethro Holliday, a great name for a baddie in a western B movie, but not exactly a moniker that screamed ‘World Champion’.

His highest-profile bout was a loss to Abyss at the 2009 Hard Justice pay-per-view, but he spent most of his time being jobbed out and wrestling for the Xplosion web show.

Trev never actually signed a contract with the group and was being used sporadically on a per-event basis. He departed the company after they stopped booking him in September 2009.

3. Dustin Rhodes

You’ve got to hand it to Dustin Runnels.

The man is game for anything and has had to endure some absolute dross over the years, but he’s still going strong today.

A big star in WWE as Goldust, his fortunes fell somewhat whenever he showed up in TNA. His first run there as ‘The Lone Star’ Dustin Rhodes was inoffensive if not inspiring, but his second spell a few years later was an absolute disaster.

Runnels did a split-personality gimmick where he was himself and also Black Reign, an alter ego that looked like some rubbish indie wrestler in a wig doing a knockoff Goldust gimmick.

It was sad to see, since Dustin was clearly not in a good place, looking slow and far from in the best physical condition. The creative was crap as well, because the split-personality aspect was totally unbelievable and he carried around a knife-cane thing and had a giant pet rat called Misty.

The addiction and weight issues really hampered his performances in the ring and his feuds and matches with Shark Boy, Chris Harris and Abyss were some of the worst of Runnels’s career.

He has since stated that this era was the lowest period of his life and he refuses to talk about Black Reign, a mere mention of it on social media resulting in an instant block.

2. Rikishi

Who doesn’t love Rikishi? He’s a big, thong-wearing Samoan man who wiggles his bum in people’s faces and does a little dance afterwards.

TNA were certainly interested in his services when he was released by WWE in 2004. At the time, however, ‘Kish’s wage demands were too high and TNA had to wait a few years until they could come to terms on money.

Junior Fatu debuted in TNA in September 2007 and his first couple of matches – one against Christian and a six-man tag – were decent, but it was all downhill from there.

His interviews were a trainwreck. The one where he called Bobby Roode ‘Rick Rude’ and did some bizarre impression of The Rock is actually one of the worst promos you will ever see on a major televised wrestling show.

He was also a participant in the illogical clusterb*stard that was the Reverse Battle Royal and was gone after his match with Bobby Roode, leaving the company a little over a month after arriving.

According to reports, Fatu packed his bags when they couldn’t come to terms on a pay rise.

1. Scott Hall

Though Scott Hall’s substance abuse issues began negatively affecting his behaviour and performances in the late 90s, he was still considered a star whenever he showed up in TNA.

The Bad Guy was actually on TNA’s first-ever show and hung around in the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Title scene for a brief period before leaving.

He showed up again with buddy Kevin Nash in late 2004, but only wrestled a handful of matches (in an Elvis-style jumpsuit, for some reason) before leaving once again in early 2005.

His third and final return to TNA rings (now four-sided, thanks to Hogan) came on… That’s right, the January 4th, 2010 episode of IMPACT!

Hall was one of the many stars of yesteryear who showed up to see if nostalgia could damage WWE Raw in the ratings.

Reforming his alliance with Kevin Nash and Sean Waltman as ‘The Band’, it was clear that the creative well had run dry and that the 51-year-old former Razor Ramon was nowhere near the wrestler he once was.

The matches and segments he was involved in were generally rotten and he was fired while reigning as a Tag Team Champion due to poor health and an outside-the-ring incident that saw him arrested.