10 Wrestlers Who Disappeared When TNA Became Impact
TNA's switchover to Impact Wrestling meant a LOT of names fell by the wayside...
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00:00I tell you, if you're a wrestler, you don't want to be part of a company when it changes
00:04its name. For some reason, it always results in some people just vanishing. Yep, one day
00:09they're here, the next who the flub knows.
00:12We have talked about this before, when the WWF became WWE, so today I am Simon from What
00:17Culture, obviously, please do subscribe, and this is 10 Wrestlers Who Disappeared When
00:22TNA Became Impact.
00:2310. Jesse Goddard
00:25Now you know him today as Mr. Pectacular, because he has a nice chest, who is doing
00:29some very good work on the indie scene, as he did when he signed with TNA back in 2011.
00:33I mean, he was a two-time tag team champion alongside Robbie E in the group known as the
00:38Bro-Mans, so you knew instantly what you were getting.
00:42He was there for a while too, but when parent company Anthem changed TNA to Impact in June
00:462017, he was gone almost instantly. Even weirder, his last match came in the March before that,
00:53and that was filmed in January. Wrestling taping schedules are weird.
00:589. Chris Melendez
01:11In August 2014, TNA thought they had something with Chris Melendez. He had a very real military
01:16background and was basically an actual hero, so why not present him as their hot new babyface?
01:21A fine theory, with one problem. The powers that be tried to force the audience into buying
01:26into all of this, and you know how that goes. He clearly was putting in the work because
01:30other notable names like Bully Ray and Mr. Anderson constantly went to bat for him. Sometimes,
01:35these things just don't work out. Who knows why. You try, you fail, you move on.
01:39It was clear management agreed, as when the big change was coming, he was never featured
01:42again, and to be honest, we haven't seen much of Melendez since. Maybe he realised
01:47the wrestling business can be ridiculous. I think we can all understand that.
01:518. Rob Terry
01:52I mean, look at this ham hock. Just insane, right? If success was based on physique, this
01:57dude would be a 10 time world champion everywhere. All the way from Wales, Rob Terry was still
02:01featured a lot, but you could argue he was too big. I mean, picking up something looked
02:06like it could be a struggle. The freak was definitely a utilised player at one stage,
02:09but again, when all these talks kicked into gear, and I suppose it was time for a reshuffle,
02:14he was forgotten about instantly.
02:16Terry did find his way onto the indies where he's been doing okay, but I guess he never
02:20hit the highs companies were expecting, because we see what can happen with guys of this size.
02:25It does go to show though, the body is important, as is the look, but it's not everything.
02:307. Marsh Rocket
02:32Unless you are the most hardened of TNA fans, you probably don't remember Marsh Rocket.
02:36Starting with TNA in 2016, the idea was he could be the injection of agility the X Division
02:41needed at the time. At one stage, those in charge even thought he could lead the thing.
02:45It didn't really go to plan though, because this was March, and by April 2017, he was done.
02:51The weird tapings meant once again Rocket actually appeared on TV after he had been
02:55released, and the real shame with this one was the promise was there. It was just never
02:59acted upon, I would guess because all these shifts took centre stage.
03:02Still, this did feel a little unfair. We built the dude up, and then we showed him the door.
03:07I imagine he was a little pissed off.
03:096. King Mo
03:10King Mo was ahead of his time. While everybody is doing it now, he signed a deal with both
03:15TNA and Bellator MMA in October 2012 so he could be part wrestler and part fighter. TNA
03:21soon became obsessed with this for some reason, and while it wasn't a smash success, it was
03:24different than in 2015 he was released.
03:27We weren't done as two years later, the King was brought back to be in Bobby Lashley's
03:30corner at Slammiversary, but that only raised more questions. If they were still able to
03:35work together, where the hell did he go?
03:37These days he does have a deal with MLW, and it feels like his mixed martial arts time
03:41is done, mostly because he's 41 years old and that's just how it works. I do remember
03:46when TNA went crazy with these crossovers though. I mean who can forget when Tito Ortiz
03:51showed up? My word.
03:535. Loki
03:54So this is an odd one. Loki has been here, there and everywhere, and most hardcore fans
03:59know who he is, and even after leaving TNA he was still working. The thing is, because
04:03he had name value when he did exit, it was a bit like he just vanished from any sort
04:07of coverage. Loki won the X Division title 5 times so he had tenure there, but after
04:12leaving once he was brought back when Impact was born where he lasted 4 months and he was
04:16gone again. What?
04:17In 2019 he then made a one night return, and outside of that MLW seems to be his home now.
04:22It was such a strange situation though, given both sides seemed to have no idea what they
04:26were trying to achieve. You turn up, you do a match, and you go home, and then nobody
04:32ever talks about it again.
04:34Before Tyrus
04:35The story of this guy.
04:37Most will remember the Funkasaurus, which is still bonkers, and because most believe
04:40he was underused in WWE. When he signed for TNA in September 2014 there was a feeling
04:45this may pay off. Not really.
04:47He started as an enforcer for EC3 before becoming a monster in his own right, but then Impact
04:52came along and by August 2017 he was done too, out the door.
04:56From there he has wrestled a few matches for the likes of the NWA, but they are infrequent
05:00at best and he spends most of his time as a pundit on news shows. If there was any chance
05:05of a big time return, it seems like it's come and gone, and this is one of those what
05:08ifs where the answer is, well they treated him like a dinosaur, only in wrestling folks,
05:13it's one of a kind.
05:14Mr. Anderson
05:15Of all the people I thought Anthem would go after when they rebranded, Mr. Anderson was
05:20top of that list. Be it WWE, TNA or wherever, for years most fans believed there was something
05:25here we hadn't allowed to develop. He was a top star in both companies, and a world
05:29champion in the latter, surely there was something to at least try.
05:33But in March 2016 he was fired from TNA for allegedly failing a drug test, and ever since
05:37he's just been doing his own thing. But today most he runs his own training school and keeps
05:42himself to himself.
05:43I do tell you though, even in 2022 this story doesn't seem finished. For one reason or another
05:48we never hit the heights we should have done, and it feels like it will never transpire
05:52now and how mad is that? Anderson was going to be revealed as Vince McMahon's son at
05:57one stage, the things that could have been.
06:002. Aaron Rex
06:01When the then Damien Sandow was let go from WWE, every single fan lost it. He had smashed
06:06everything he had been given, even the dumb stuff, and it felt like he could be a star.
06:11WWE felt differently. He quickly went to TNA in August 2016 with the company shatting from
06:15the raft as this was the signing of the summer, and then one month after Impact was born,
06:20he was gone. This means he was active for just over a year. What the flub.
06:25But now Aaron Rex was never really given much of anything either, and it must have had an
06:28effect because when he was done, he took a two year sabbatical. The NWA brought him
06:33back in 2019, but I don't think this was the hope when he was supposed to get his big
06:36chance in TNA.
06:37It was almost a little bit like they didn't know what to do with ex-WWE guys.
06:441. Tiga Uno
06:45Tiga The Uno is the second longest reigning X-Division champion in TNA history. He held
06:51that belt for 199 days, and while that was a lot shorter than Austin Aries' 301 day
06:55reign, he is still in second place so that counts. This was from June 2015 to January
07:002016, so clearly TNA valued him, and then as soon as Impact was here, he was totally
07:06lost in the shuffle, and then he was gone. What on earth happened during this period?
07:10Given he wasn't released till December and his last match was March, he sat around for
07:13almost a year before being let go, and many thought he would find his way into another
07:17big company, but he didn't.
07:19Uno has done well on the indie scene, but for some reason has never got an offer elsewhere.
07:25Something was cursed during this changeover, and a lot of people got it in the teeth.
07:55Here's what's next!