6 WWE flops who became successful in TNA

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is the biggest professional wrestling business in the world right now, and no other promotion comes close to reaching its level of success. This grand stature makes WWE the place to be for aspiring professional wrestlers.

WWE, currently, boasts over a 100 talented superstars on their roster. Understandably, it isn’t possible for each one of them to receive their deserving push. Many talented superstars often get lost in the shuffle and end up as jobbers or mid-carders, at best, without any solid gimmick or storyline.

However, this doesn’t mean these superstars lack the talent to make it big; it’s just some reasons such as over-saturation of talent in the company, backstage heat, involvement in unpleasant incidents and the like, due to which, they miss out on their push to the pinnacle.

The true potential of these underrated superstars is often unleashed once they leave the big leagues of WWE and join other promotions or the independent wrestling circuit. Sometimes, their huge success in smaller promotions leads them to be rehired with the pro wrestling giant.

Here, we take a look at 6 superstars whose true potentials were unlocked by TNA (Impact Wrestling).

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#6 Bubba Ray Dudley/Bully Ray

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ully Ray, or Bubba Ray Dudley, has been a tag team wrestler for most of his career, his partner in crime being D-Von Dudley.

The Dudley Boyz enjoyed a well-deserved stellar run in WWF/WWE throughout late 90s and early 2000s. Bubba Ray even got an average solo run before reuniting with Devon at Survivor Series 2002.

During Bubba's first WWE stint, he and D-Von won the tag team titles multiple times before being reduced to a beatable tag team, who traded wins and losses equally. In late 2005, Bubba left for TNA, with D-Von, and the duo were re-branded as Team 3D. Eventually, they disbanded in 2010 to pursue their singles career.

Now, a singles competitor, Bubba Ray Dudley adopted the moniker of Bully Ray. Initially, everyone thought his singles run wouldn’t last long and that Team 3D would be forced to reunite, but Bully Ray found huge success as a solo superstar in no time.

Bully transitioned into one of the flagship talents in TNA soon and, in the process, became a World Champion as well. His promos were always intriguing and entertaining. His matches with the likes of AJ Styles, Jeff Hardy, Austin Aries, etc. were legendary.

At one point, the NYC Brawler was so over with the crowd that TNA decided to put him in a rivalry with the TNA hierarchy, The Carters. This feud is one of the highlights of his singles career.

Bully Ray’s true potential as a solo competitor had been looked over for years in WWE, but, luckily, he got the opportunity to show what he is truly capable of, thanks to TNA.

#5 Evan Bourne/Matt Sydal

Matt Sydal, or Evan Bourne, had a decent run in WWE. He formed an exciting partnership with Kofi Kingston and is a former tag team champion there.

Although Bourne was appreciated by the WWE Universe for his high risk maneuvers, he never really got the chance to evolve into a big star. Despite of the fact that the high-flying superstar competed against some of the top superstars like Randy Orton and Chris Jericho, all of those matches entailed little to no build-up.

Bourne was treated like how most of the high-flyers were treated in WWE during that time; like a jobber. He was released from the company in 2014.

Bourne, then, wrestled as Matt Sydal on the independent circuit before joining Impact Wrestling in 2017. In a short period, his gimmick, in TNA, has undergone several changes and he has portrayed each change with full dedication.

Sydal has feuded with some of the biggest superstars of Impact Wrestling like Lashley, EC3, Brian Cage, etc. At one point, Sydal held both the Impact Grand Championship and X-Division Championship, making him a dual champion.

In about a year, the former WWE wrestler has grown so much in status. His in-ring work has been up to the mark and he has also improved his mic skills considerably. Now, the fans just hope Sydal continues to rise and achieve more success in Impact Wrestling.

#4 Matt Hardy

Matt Hardy as one-half of The Hardy Boyz was a prominent part of the WWE tag team division in the early 2000s. The Hardy Boyz, along with Edge & Christian and The Dudley Boyz, elevated the tag team division to unprecedented heights. The quality of their bouts was so high that it was a tough job to outshine them, even for the main-eventers.

After The Hardy Boyz split in 2002, Jeff left WWE within a year whereas Matt entered the Cruiserweight title picture and, eventually, won the title. After Matt lost that belt, his career endured a downfall as he started being used as a jobber.

Between 2003 and 2010, Matt was involved in some intense feuds with Kane, Edge, a returning Jeff Hardy, a young Drew McIntyre, etc. but he lost each and every important feud. He was released by WWE in 2010.

Matt Hardy joined Impact Wrestling in 2011, and, although his first few years were lackluster, he showed his true caliber with the onset of 2015. Afterwards, Hardy became a two-time TNA World Heavyweight Champion and became an interesting heel.

After losing the World Championship to Drew Galloway, Hardy began a feud with his brother, Jeff, which would go on to be the foundation for one of his most admired gimmicks.

Upon returning from an injury, the former WWE Cruiserweight Champion debuted his famous 'broken' alter-ego in 2016. Matt fought Jeff in a fierce rivalry and, eventually, defeated him in a 'Final Deletion' match.

The Hardy brothers reunited as a tag team and came to be known as The Broken Hardys. The 'broken' gimmick grew really over with the fans at this point, and they won the TNA Tag Team Championships, ROH Tag Team Championships and some other promotions’ tag team championships during this period.

The craze around the duo led Matt and Jeff to be rehired by WWE in 2017.

The 'broken' gimmick was Matt Hardy’s brainchild and it channeled the creative side of his perfectly. The veteran wrestler's final years in his first Impact Wrestling stint really showcased his ingenuity and innovativeness as a professional wrestler.

#3 Bobby Lashley

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obby Lashley had a dominant first run in WWE, where he performed on Smackdown and ECW. He shared an enthralling feud with Vince McMahon and became a two-time ECW World Champion during that time.

Lashley’s momentum was halted when he moved to Raw in 2007. He remained in the WWE title picture throughout the year but came up short both the times he faced the champion.

After the Dominator got injured in his title match against John Cena at The Great American Bash, he took some time off to have surgery. Later, due to some backstage issues, Lashley was released by WWE in 2008.

Lashley made his Impact Wrestiling debut in 2009, but a disappointing first year resulted in him leaving TNA to fully focus on his MMA career.

In 2014, Lashley returned to TNA and won the World Title twice, but his golden era started, two years later, when he turned heel in a match against Kurt Angle. The herculean wrestler then became a monstrous heel and went on to win his third World Championship by defeating Drew Galloway at Slammiversary 2016.

Lashley’s MMA experience played an important part in his push as the submission moves he learnt as an MMA fighter comprised a solid part of his moveset. What impressed fans the most was that Lashley not only improved his in-ring skills by enhancing his moveset, but also the leaps he made in his promo skills. He returned to WWE in early 2018.

#2 Christian Cage

After Christian’s split from Edge in WWE, he remained a prominent mid-card performer. He won the Hardcore Championship, Tag Team Championship (with Chris Jericho) and the Intercontinental Championship multiple times.

Christian was part of an embroiling feud with Chris Jericho in 2004. That was his last meaningful act in WWE as, afterwards, things only went south for Captain Charisma.

Christian became a glum jobber soon and barely featured on pay-per-views. He was, ultimately, relieved from his WWE contract in 2005.

Christian transferred to TNA later and spent nearly three years there. Throughout that time, the Canadian wrestler was featured as a main-event star. He became a multi-time World Champion and feuded with the likes of Kurt Angle, Sting, etc. and was even ranked #7 on the Top 500 Singles Wrestlers List by PWI in 2007.

There is no doubt that the Peep Show host always had the potential to be an excellent singles competitor, but WWE never realized it. However, moving to a different promotion proved right for his wrestling career in the end and gave him some much-needed momentum.

The impact he created at TNA prompted his return to WWE in 2009, where he became World Champion for the first time ever.

#1 Derrick Bateman/EC3

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ushing a semi-successful wrestler as a main-eventer isn’t that tough of a job, but finding potential in a jobber is the real challenge.

Most WWE fans might not even remember Derrick Bateman, a jobber, who occasionally used to make appearances on Smackdown and lose in a matter of minutes. He was a bright prospect as a part of NXT, under his 'pro' Daniel Bryan, but he did nothing prominent in the following months until his release in 2013.

Derrick Bateman made his TNA debut at Bound for Glory 2013 as Dixie Carter’s nephew, Ethan Carter III, and instantly rocketed to the top of the mountain. EC3 developed into an enjoyable heel and his segments proved highly entertaining. Likewise, his in-ring work improved with every single match.

In 2015, EC3 defeated Kurt Angle to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship for the first time. He raked up victories over superstars like Kurt Angle, Sting, Lashley, Matt Hardy and Drew Galloway.

EC3 returned to WWE, when he joined NXT in 2018, as a former 2-time TNA World Champion and a former TNA Grand Champion. Today, he is regarded as one of the most successful superstars to have ever worked for Impact Wrestling.