10 Promising Wrestlers That Were Total Busts
Throughout its history, it’s been easy to slam TNA for not handling talent right. The long list of future stars they’ve let slip through their fingers shows that. There’s also TNA doing a terrible job pushing the wrong guys while letting more promising and popular wrestlers languish. A few still got a shot at the top, and some were actually able to make it work with multiple titles. But TNA also has a poor track record of letting up-and-coming talent languish badly.
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In some cases, it’s just unfortunate timing as these folks are around when bigger stars get the attention. Yet some people clearly were very popular and the skills to take off, but TNA didn’t give them a chance. A few may have been too raw, but the potential for success had TNA taken the time to develop them better. Here are ten promising TNA stars who sadly turned into busts for the company.
10 Trinity
Back in 2004, the Knockouts didn’t exist and women in TNA didn’t have much in-ring time. Trinity was a very promising starlet with her tough attitude, stunning looks, and incredible athleticism. She proved herself with stuff like moonsaulting off a cage and taking nasty hits.
Trinity could have been TNA’s big female star but was out of the company by the time the Knockouts started. Trinity was ahead of her time as a beautiful female wrestler who just wasn’t given enough to do by the company.
9 Aron Rex
After a fine run as Damien Sandow in WWE, Aron Rex debuted in TNA with a big fanfare. Folks expected him to return to the funny impressions that had made him a hit in WWE or just being more himself.
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Instead, TNA saddled Rex with a stupid gimmick based on Liberace. Rex was so demoralized by it that he not only quit TNA but wrestling itself. His recent return in the NWA as Aston Stevens shows the great performer that TNA missed out on.
8 Wes Brisco
When you’re the son of a wrestling legend, there are a lot of expectations on you. Wes Brisco had real promise in TNA even though he was rather young. TNA gave him a push by winning their “Gut Check” and then feuding with Aces & Eights.
Brisco then turned on Kurt Angle to join the group and even got a win over Angle. Despite his promise, fans couldn’t take to Brisco, and it wasn’t helped by how poor the entire angle was. He was kicked out and released in 2014. Maybe pushing him too far too fast ruined Brisco for TNA fans.
7 Roxxi Laveaux
WWE isn’t the only company to ignore how much fans want to see a female star take off. Roxxi Laveaux started as a weird “Voodoo Queen” teaming with the Voodoo Kin Mafia. Her quirky behavior won over crowds and challenged for the title.
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She then remade herself into the “Hardcore Knockout” with her head shaved and clicking in wild battles and feuding with the Beautiful People. Despite how much crowds liked her, TNA would never let her have that title, and a backstage incident led to her suspension and then firing. Roxxi would have been a fun champ in this time in TNA.
6 Jesse Sorensen
Granted, there are a lot of mitigating circumstances, but this still has to count. Jesse Sorensen joined TNA in 2011 and was quickly a breakout in the X Division. With his amazing abilities and handsome looks, Sorensen seemed set to rise as the new champion. At Against All Odds 2012, Sorensen took a nasty bump from Zema Ion that nearly broke his neck.
This made him a sympathetic figure with Dixie Carter proclaiming Sorensen had “a job for life” in TNA. A year later, he was cleared to wrestle... and then fired as part of a wave of layoffs. Again, there were harsh circumstances but still sad to see this promising talent ending so poorly.
5 Lance Hoyt
Lance Hoyt had some good early stuff in TNA, as he and Kid Kash held the NWA Tag team titles twice. Once he became a fan favorite, Hoyt was popular with his great looks and very athletic for his size.
Leave it to TNA to ruin that by sticking Hoyt in the terrible Rock n Rave Infection team and letting him sink. After a poor WWE run, Lance Archer became a hit in Japan and now ready to take off in AEW. TNA could have used the popular guy much better.
4 Rebel
Today, AEW fans can enjoy Tanea Brooks’ work as Britt Baker’s sidekick. But the woman was close to stardom as Rebel in TNA. At first, she was part of the bizarre Menagerie stable with Mike Knox. Rebel then started showing her stuff in the ring and major potential with her skills and wonderful looks.
She later joined with the Dollhouse and even had training in OVW. Sadly, her match with Shelly Martinez in 2016 was a disaster and a forgettable run in 2017. Rebel could have been a champion instead of a footnote.
3 Elix Skipper
One would that think the man responsible for one of the greatest moments in TNA history would get a more prominent role in the company. Elix Skipper started teaming with Christopher Daniels as XXX, holding the tag titles and an epic feud with America’s Most Wanted. It ended at Turning Point 2004, where Skipper walking the cage became an iconic TNA image.
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That should have elevated him in the X Division, but Skipper was stuck in lousy tag teams like the Diamonds in the Rough and slowed by health issues. While Daniels has gone on to be a massive star, Skipper never got the same success.
2 Matt Morgan
As hard as they tried (and boy, did they try), TNA could never get Matt Morgan to work as a main event star. It’s baffling as he had all the ingredients: Tall, handsome, a great build, and good in the ring and on the mic. Morgan should have easily taken off in the main event, but the best he could manage was holding the tag titles with Hernandez and later Crimson.
It’s hard to find a better example of a guy with everything it took to be a TNA megastar yet decided being a family man was more important than TNA’s continued mishandling of him.
1 Monty Brown
Even fifteen years after the fact, the way TNA ruined Monty Brown is simply astounding. The former NFL player was growing as an in-ring worker exploding with charisma and fans eager to see him on top. Brown could have easily been TNA’s most prominent homegrown star and NWA World champion.
But with no warning, TNA turned him heel and Brown’s career never recovered. He had a few more shots at the World title but faded for a bad WWE run before leaving wrestling. The mishandling of Brown remains one of TNA’s greatest sins.
