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It is a surprise that TNA has been around for as long as it has been in spite of Jeff Hardy and other WWE outcasts being in their ranksImpact Wrestling moved to Tuesday nights owing to its new deal with POP TV and the promotion that had been earmarked for a swift demise ever since it burst onto the scene more than a decade ago is still refusing to lie down and die.While there have been many positives in the company’s history – notably the Kurt Angle vs Samoa Joe feud, the high flying X-Division and the various breaks they gave to talented wrestlers like Sting,Rob Van Dam, Booker.T ,The Hardys and the Dudleys.However, Impact Wrestling – or TNA – by which it was known earlier have been infamous for absurd storylines as well. Remember Sting’s Joker persona inspired by Heath Ledger or the notoriously confusing rules of the King of the Mountain match?Well, the lows far outweigh the highs. Here is a look at the top 5 worst moments in the promotions history.
#5 Blindfold steel cage match
Yup, you heard it right. Due to the sheer absurdity of the concept, this pips the electrified steel cage match that happened between Team 3D (The Dudleys) and LAX into fifth place on this list.
A blindfold match can be used for comedic value, like how the WWE did with Santino Marella or it can feature one person alone in the blindfold as some sort of punishment. But when both are blindfolded – well, they might end up hitting the referee instead.
The blindfold steel cage match had former partners in America’s Most Wanted – James Storm and Chris Harris fighting it out inside a steel cage with a piece of cloth covering their faces. How TNA expected both the wrestlers to have a wrestling match in these conditions is an actual mystery – but when you read the rest of the entries in the list, it might not surprise you.
The two spent most of the match trying to figure out the location of the other and two talented athletes who had just come off the split of one of the most popular tag teams in TNA history were booked to look like a couple of chumps. Hey – at least, there wasn’t anything on a pole for them to pick up!
#4 A match to decide the father of a baby
2012 was a pretty rotten year for Impact Wrestling – also for the intelligence of the people writing the scripts backstage. AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Dixie Carter and Claire Lynch got involved in an absurdly unbelievable angle which got weirder every week.
First there was the allegation of an affair between Styles and Dixie – which both vehemently denied. Soon, a woman named Claire Lynch appeared on the show saying that she was a recovering addict whom Styles and Dixie had helped.
The very next week, it was revealed that Lynch was pregnant with Styles’ child, which AJ denied. All this was brought about by the supreme detective work of Christopher Daniels whose weekly revelations would have had Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot bow their heads in awe!
Eventually, the feud would be settled by a match between AJ and Daniels – the stipulation being that if AJ lost the match, he would admit to being the father of the child. Else, a paternity test would be held to determine whether AJ was the father of the baby.
Wow, that does make a lot of sense!!!!!
#3 Burying younger talent in favour of Hogan and Flair
In the early 2010s, Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair made their way to TNA. While it was hoped that the arrival of the two legends would increase the legitimacy of the company already featuring the likes of Kurt Angle, what followed was a WCW esque screw up.
Hogan and Flair became on-screen authority figures and the major angles started to be centered around them despite the fact that neither could wrestle at their ages. Younger stars like AJ Styles, Bobby Roode and Frankie Kazarian were kept in the background as the two oldies took up the mic time while the legitimate wrestlers stood like dummies.
Just like his stint in WWE and WCW, Hogan put nobody over and surprisingly Flair did the same. Both had some dumb ideas as well, like stripping all wrestlers of their championships to reboot the company and the introduction of a Championship committee instead of a wrestling match to determine who becomes the No:1 contender – let the debate begin, committee!!!
Both veterans eventually jumped back to the WWE soon after, squeezing their fill out of TNA. Hogan eventually left the building after an on-screen segment which had Dixie Carter literally beg on her knees asking him not to leave.
Nice job putting wrestlers over, Hulk!!!
#2 A stoned Jeff Hardy ruins Victory Road 2011
The match that almost ended TNA happened at the Impact zone as the main event of the 2011 Victory Road PPV.
TNA World Champion Sting was supposed to defend his title against Jeff Hardy. However, Hardy arrived at the building legitimately intoxicated/ under the influence of drugs (whichever version you want to believe) and was in no condition to compete.
Eric Bischoff and co could not find a replacement in time and chose to start the original match and a visibly unwell Hardy somehow came to the ring. The match was over in 88 seconds after Sting connected with his Scorpion finisher and the fans booed the roof off the place yelling ‘bullsh**’.
Sting concurred with the fans saying ‘I agree’ before walking away in disgust.
The event was heavily criticised and TNA offered the audience who had booked tickets for the show a six-month access to TNAondemandlibrary.com. Hardy would be suspended from TNA for six months and TNA became the new jokers of the pro wrestling industry.
#1 The Reverse Battle Royal
If there is one thing that can beat the absolute ignominy of Victory Road 2011, it is the sheer ridiculousness that is the Reverse Battle Royal.
A normal battle royal is a very entertaining concept – multiple wrestlers start out in the ring and the match goes on till all but one wrestler goes over the top rope onto the floor and gets eliminated. However, TNA decided that they had to screw that up as well and introduced the Reverse Battle Royal.
In this match, superstars started outside the ring and the objective of the match is to enter the ring over the top rope!!!!
For all logical reasons, this match should get over in seconds as sane wrestlers would rush on to the ring instead of wasting time, fighting others on the outside. However, TNA decided that fans would not find it hard to believe that the wrestlers would take time to enter the ring – and at the time, TNA was using a hexagonal ring instead of a square one – thus making it all the more difficult for someone to prevent another person from entering the ring.
In addition to the mess, entering the ring was only the first part and it did not matter who reached the ring first. In fact, the first seven wrestlers who reached the ring were declared winners of the first stage of the match – yes, there are more stages on the way.
The second stage had the seven competitors fight each other in a traditional battle royal – what was the point of the reverse battle royal then? Even here, the simple formula of last man standing would not apply.
The final two would be declared co-winners of this stage before they proceeded to fight in a traditional wrestling match to determine the outright winner of the event whereas the other six would compete in a tournament to earn the right to face the winner again which was, by the way, to determine who would face the NWA World Champion – Mindboggling, Yes!!!
The 2006 edition of the concept saw the winner Abyss become the No:1 contender for the NWA title – but wait – only after beating AJ Styles who won a tournament comprising of the other six men who competed in the second stage of the match.
The 2007 edition was tweaked to allow eight men to enter the second stage and Eric Young would beat Robert Roode to eventually win the match. No opportunity at the No:1 contendership came Young’s way as the eliminations in the second stage were only used to determine the seedings for the ensuing No:1 contender’s tournament.
Young was eliminated in the first round of the tournament, making his victory at the Battle Royal count for nothing! At least, the 2006 edition was voted the Worst worked match of the year award given by Wrestling Observer.
With such luminaries on the TNA Creative team, it makes one wonder how TNA managed to stay so long without closing down.
Bayley gives us a HUGE update on a top Superstar's upcoming return RIGHT HERE.
