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TNA, now called Impact Wrestling, has faced its share of ups-and-downs due to internal politicking and poor decision-making. However, the company has always remained lucky in terms of their talent. Some of the best wrestlers within the independent circuit have been a part of the Impact roster.
But, unfortunately, the company has never been smart enough to utilise their talent properly and capitalise on it. So, here are top five wrestlers that Impact Wrestling regret letting go.
#5 TJ Perkins
Before winning the WWE's inaugural Cruiserweight Classic Tournament and the reinstated Cruiserweight Championship, TJ Perkins aka TJP was once a part of the Impact Wrestling roster and wrestled in the independent circuit. The high-flyer stayed with Impact Wrestling from 2004 to 2016, wrestling under the guise of Manik, which was based on his Suicide gimmick.
Perkins was looked upon by die-hard Impact Wrestling fans as a saviour of the dying X-Division but remained misused by Impact management until his release. Perkins did win the coveted X-Division Championship but lost it to Chris Sabin after holding it for just two months.
Had they invested in Perkins as a top babyface X-Division Superstar, they would've been able to bring in more fans.
#4 Xavier Woods
The four-time WWE Tag Team Champion wrestled for three years on Impact Wrestling as Consequences Creed; a character inspired by Apollo Creed from the Rocky movie series.
Creed was initially brought onto the show to serve as the third member of Team Pacman; a team consisting of controversial NFL Superstar Adam "Pacman" Jones & WWE Superstar R-Truth, then known as Ron Killings.
After the disbanding of Team Pacman, Creed aligned himself with Jay Lethal and went on to win the TNA World Tag Team Championships only to lose it three days later to the Motor City Machine Guns. After being released by Impact in 2010, Woods went on to wrestle briefly in New Japan Pro Wrestling before cementing WWE as his permanent home base.
Unlike Impact Wrestling, who never managed to capitalize on Creed's talents; the WWE, realized Creed's potential, letting him work as the primary mouthpiece of one the most successful tag teams today, The New Day. Along with a successful wrestling career, Creed also has his own YouTube Channel called UpUpDownDown, which currently has more than a million subscribers.
#3 Jay Lethal
Jay Lethal is currently signed to Ring of Hhonor and is the longest-reigning Ring of Honor World Champion. Jay Lethal wrestled for Impact Wrestling from 2005 to 2011. Impact Wrestling gave Jay Lethal a comedic gimmick in 2006 instead of allowing Lethal to be himself. The Black Machismo gimmick albeit successful for a time didn't help make Lethal the top star of the company. Jay Lethal still managed to be a six-time X division Champion as well as a Tag Team Champion with Consequences Creed, who now works for WWE as Xavier Woods.
However, after leaving Impact Wrestling, Lethal turned to the Indies and proved himself as one of the best workers in the business. Jay Lethal getting released by Impact Wrestling turned out great for him, but Impact Wrestling probably regrets letting Lethal get out of their hands.
#2 The Young Bucks
It's quite astonishing to believe that the Hosts of the Superkick Party once worked under the banner of Impact Wrestling. After making an impressive debut against The Motor City Machine Guns, The Impact creative team — without rhyme-or-reason renamed The Bucks to Generation Me. Apart from the name change, the duo was also not allowed to cut promos, which resulted in them having zero personality.
On top of all this, after competing for two years in the Tag Team Divison; the Impact management decided to break them up, a decision that the brothers were never fond of, and have been quite vocal about since they left the company.
The brothers soon cut their losses by asking for their release. After leaving Impact, the brothers went to work for New Japan, and the rest is all history.
#1 AJ Styles
A TNA Original through-and-through, AJ Styles — who's undisputedly one of the best wrestlers in the universe — remained with the company through thick-and-thin. Dubbed by fans as Mr. TNA, Styles continued producing some of his best matches with the company before he finally had to put his foot down after the company couldn't manage to foot his bills. In fact, on Stone Cold's podcast, Styles revealed that TNA asked him to take a pay cut, which justifiably upset Styles, given all that he had contributed to the company.
Styles left the company in 2013 and then later went on to wrestle in New Japan for two years before making his way to WWE. Unfortunately, Styles wasted a major bulk of his time wrestling in Impact, when he could've been in the WWE. Well, better late than never. AJ Styles currently holds the WWE Championship for SmackDown. AJ Styles may lose his WWE Championship due to being in a fatal five-way against Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Dolph Ziggler, and Baron Corbin at Fastlane.
What makes Sting special? His first AEW opponent opens up RIGHT HERE.
