History YMMV / TNA

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* AcceptableTargets:
** TNA is basically the red-headed stepchild of professional wrestling, even more so than WCW, and its {{Hatedom}} is much larger than its {{Fandom}}. That's not to say they don't deserve most of their hate. Though it should be noted that it's not TNA's ''roster'' that's acceptable to target -- most regard TNA's roster as filled to the brim with great talent that deserves better. What the {{Hatedom}} likes to take shots at is TNA's ''management'' (mainly Dixie Carter), for many, ''many'' reasons. It's reached a point that literally the only reason why most people aren't willing to give TNA a chance is because of the management, thanks to their history of squandering any good will that TNA manages to scrounge up. They figure that even if they were to give their support now the company will die anyway thanks to poor management, especially since it already happened to the aforementioned WCW. The weekend of October 13, 2016 vindicated this mindset, as reports came in about TNA's financial and legal troubles came in, all but stating that TNA's chances at a comeback are dead and that the company is a figurative dumpster fire at this point. Dixie, of course, is the main source of ire, as many point out that a lot of these financial and legal troubles stem from her unwillingness to sell the company even though it's blatantly obvious the company can't survive without a change in management.
** And then they did have that change in management. When Anthem bought TNA and kicked out Dixie, more people started defending them, and they briefly escaped this trope -- only to fall back into this ''again''. How? Their treatment of the Hardy Boyz, who were, prior to their departure from the company, TNA's two biggest stars and bonafide wrestling ''legends''. Allegedly, they had offered a very lucrative deal to Wrestling/JeffHardy, while offering Wrestling/MattHardy (who basically carried TNA on his back for all of 2016) a fraction of that. Then they tried to prevent them from taking the "Broken" gimmick outside of TNA, going as far as to get an ROH PPV removed from DISH Network. If that weren't enough, just when it seemed they were close to a settlement, Anthem tried to put in a clause that entitled them to a percentage of the earnings from the Hardys' work ''outside'' of TNA (including Jeff's ''artwork and music''), breaking the deal. Their actions had damn near pissed off ''everyone'' in the wrestling community, from fans to wrestlers themselves. [[note]]Promotions don't own the gimmicks of wrestlers anymore. Even WWE doesn't practice this -- they either create their own gimmick for the wrestler to use in their promotion for them to own, allowing the wrestler to return to their original gimmick on the indies if they get released, or they just allow them to use their personal gimmick and get a percentage of the merch sales.[[/note]] Right at the point some started to believe that the company was cursed, management was shuffled around a bit (exit drunken Wrestling/JeffJarrett, enter Scott D'Amore and Wrestling/DonCallis) and suddenly they completely relinquished the Broken gimmick to the Hardyz and restructured every performer's contract so they no longer own anyone's act.
* ArcFatigue: The never ending Wrestling/AJStyles[=/=]Wrestling/ChristopherDaniels feud. While the matches were amazing, the fans got sick of them feuding a while ago since it was basically rehashing the same feud over and over again (Daniels gets jealous and turns on AJ). The 2012 iteration, which was the last run of the feud, had the company's absolute low point in [[EpicFail/ProfessionalWrestling Claire Lynch]] -- the only good thing to come out of it was the formation of [[Wrestling/ChristopherDaniels Bad]] [[Wrestling/FrankieKazarian Influence]].
* AuthorsSavingThrow:
** While putting a weight limit on the X Division wasn't that well received from the hardcore TNA fans, it was an apology for putting the belt on Abyss, a move more causal TNA fans who tended to only watch for things like the X Division hated.
** The second "they" reveal on February 3rd, 2011. Originally the storyline was written for the [[DiscOneFinalBoss Main]] [[PowerStable Event]] [[TheMafia Mafia]] (or at least a baby{{face}} reincarnation thereof) to reunite. [[TooDumbToLive Despite Booker T, Sting, and Kevin Nash not even having signed back with TNA yet.]] At least two, possibly all three, of those guys recently heading for Wrestling/{{WWE}} instead, forced TNA to rewrite the story. And by God, the fans were happy. So who were "they", exactly? ''Wrestling/{{Fortune}}, [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMoments epically]] [[ConspiracyRedemption rebelling against]] Wrestling/EricBischoff [[NebulousEvilOrganization and]] [[TheIlluminati Immortal]].'' And the best part? '''The original idea would've been closer to an AssPull.'''
** Oh that's not the best part, the best part is Wrestling/AJStyles [[CallingTheOldManOut calling Bischoff out]] for turning TNA into a WWE ripoff. Why is this the best part? This is ''exactly'' what the fans had been complaining about!
** After the catastrophic mess that was the Main Event of ''Victory Road 2011'', TNA offered six months of free access to their online on-demand service if you show proof of purchase.
** TheReveal of Bully Ray as the head of Aces and Eights is also seen as this. Two weeks later, [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcovtt7Bdo9PoQayRLfnv2BPcHGXGtx0e a series of vignettes]] which [[ArcWelding arc weld]] the entire nine-month storyline up to that point and showed off its surprising amount of depth was met with critical acclaim.
** Wrestling/BobbyRoode was ''supposed'' to win at ''Bound for Glory 2011'', after receiving a huge face push for the title (Kurt Angle, then-champion, needed to drop it anyway due to injury). The reason he didn't was more or less confirmed to be that it would've overshadowed [[AttentionWhore Hulk Hogan's]] big HeelFaceTurn that night. After the outrage from the fans and the guys in the back (including, reportedly, Roode himself), TNA had no choice but to give him the belt -- Bobby would then turn heel, become a breakout star and the longest reigning champion in the company's history.
** After a DorkAge in 2017, the new-ish regime in 2018 has been seen as a vast improvement, getting rid of dead weight performers like Alberto El Patron and focusing on providing a good pure wrestling product.
* BadassDecay:
** The Shane Twins were NWA World Tag Team Champions in Peru when the NWA Board of Directors gave TNA control of the titles. They decided to have the twins vacate the belts and then job as "The Johnsons".
** '''ABYSS.''' When he's not acting like a scared child, high pitched voice and all, he's simply not winning matches. Then there was the WWE hall of fame ring that gave him power. His signature gimmick match, Monster's Ball, also went from a once a year special at "Bound For Glory" to a periodic occurrence on Impact.
** The X Division went from "go as hard as you can no limits wrestling" to "cruiserweights with a fancy name". For perspective, in WWE, heavyweight was default, cruiserweights getting their own little corner on Smackdown. In TNA, the X Division Championship was the most promoted in the promotion with ''heavyweight'' being the "other" division. Perhaps this was the result of the heavyweight title still being the [[Wrestling/NationalWrestlingAlliance NWA]]'s but TNA's constant focus on X Division action transitioning to the X Division Champion and anything related not being seen for weeks at a time or regulated to [[BShow Xplosion]] was just jarring, as was putting a weight limit on the X Division, as was making the X Division Championship a stepping stone for the Heavyweight title!
** The Knockouts Division: they went from being one of the best parts of TNA (''they even main-evented an episode of Impact!'') to becoming a shallow parody of their former glory, all in the space of a couple of years. ODB famously tweeted "What is happening to our division?" after watching a "Leather and Lace" Match on Impact in early 2010. Gail Kim's return and Karen Jarrett's departure helped mitigate the damage, but it wasn't until two years later that the Knockouts could be considered a respectable division again, with a rush of new talent debuting and the return of Awesome Kong.
** Wrestling/MickFoley went from becoming an actual psychotic berserker capable of taking the world title to being TooDumbToLive concerning his final weeks against Eric Bischoff. Though Foley's being a BunnyEarsLawyer predates TNA.
** Matt Morgan: First Wrestling/SamoaJoe came back and murdered him, then Kevin Nash got the tag team titles from him. He's moved from the [=badass=] he was into someone who's getting his ass kicked by everyone with a foot.
** After performing his HeelFaceTurn, he's reversed this and became a badass again.
** Tommy Dreamer: Lost an [[{{Determinator}} I Quit]] match to AJ Styles, hell, he's basically just lost everything to AJ Styles.
** Lacey Von Erich's hands being too small to make her attempts at using the Iron Claw believable.
** Rob Terry probably set the record. He takes two chair shots, one an unprotected shot to the head that legitimately busts him open, from Homicide, no selling both and destroying Homicide. As The Brian J of you tube put it "For 20 seconds, Rob Terry was the baddest man on the planet. And then Orlando Jordan came out, ate cherries, and squirted himself with lotion. And the moment was ruined forever." Terry could have at least been pushed as an implacable monster but instead became the victim of a stalker. Jordan would actually beat down Terry, while dressed as Janet Jackson, with his bare hands after a chair could not get it done.
** Homicide is an inter promotional example, as he is much less effective in TNA than he was in IWA Puerto Rico, Ring Of Honor or Full Impact Pro. It could be worse, all things considered, but the Rob Terry thing did him no favors either.
** No Limit's entry into TNA was earned by defeating Unione, The World Class Tag Team and Apollo 55. The enthusiasm this generated died off quickly once they were in TNA and they left with significantly fewer people caring about them. As a team they'd regain heat by running with La Ola Amarilla in CMLL but Wrestling/TetsuyaNaito would not recover as an individual until he hooked up with Rush's Los Ingoberables and brought it back to New Japan. Yujiro Takahashi bounced back more quickly, but not among fans in the USA, who still greet him lukewarmly.
* BaseBreakingCharacter:
** Wrestling/JeffHardy: Being a SpotMonkey-ish MrFanservice with drug problems is just the beginning.
** Wrestling/KurtAngle: Thanks in large part to his antics during interviews and on Twitter.
** Wrestling/HulkHogan: Did he save [=TNA=] or doom it?
** As a less dramatic example, "Stone Cold" Shark Boy. In the [[http://rspw.org/08awards.txt 2008 [=Rec.Sport.Pro-Wrestling=] Awards]], it came in 19th out of 23 in the "Best Wrestling Gimmick" category, and 3rd out of 23 in the "Worst Wrestling Gimmick" category.
** Ink Inc was a pointless pairing only put together because they both had mohawks or a horribly underused team. Adding [[Wrestling/ChristinaVonEerie Toxxin]] did nothing to piece the base back together. Most seem to like all three as individuals but as a group is where the splinters form.
** Behind the scenes, Dutch Mantell. On one hand he was behind TNA's most successful feud and the highest rated "iMPACT" segments. On the other hand, that same feud almost destroyed Samoa Joe and he was one of the more mentioned figures in TNA's injury scandals for his insistence the X division be more about daredevil stunts than technical wrestling or other less risky strategies. Time has made more people favorable to him as nostalgia for TNA's peak, such as it was, set in and the controversies accompanying it were forgotten as fresh new scandals were discussed.
* BrokenBase
** Changing from the six-sided ring to the more traditional four-sided ring. Many fans hate the change (note the "WE WANT SIX SIDES" chant on the night of said change) while others (particularly the [[SmartMark Smarks]]) see this as an improvement. Wrestlers were won over in good time, though, by noting that the mat was far less stiff to bump on. Of course they brought it back after a fan poll that was only answered by six-sides fans, resulting in a lot of backstage complaints from the wrestlers, and fans who still think it's a gimmick. Three-and-a-half years later, with the hiring of new [=EVPs=], it's gone again. And the complaints are nil, as the gimmick has played out.
** Orlando Jordan's bisexuality becoming a part of his gimmick. Even now, the arguments about whether it's a good thing or a bad thing haven't been settled in some circles.
*** Even worse, the gimmick plays into the nasty stereotype of the DepravedBisexual.
*** For a lot of people, the bisexuality isn't the problem, it's the [[BlackComedyRape sexual harassment (or implication of sexual harassment) of every single guy or girl within a four-foot radius of him]].
** Introducing two characters based on ''Series/JerseyShore'' was strike one; having one of their stars make a one night cameo for $15,000 and humiliating a legitimate wrestler in the longest segment of the night was strike two; hiring another one of them and potentially bringing the first one back is/will be strike three.
*** Doing away with one of the characters was a step in the right direction, but then TNA brought in a ''third'' ''Jersey Shore'' cast member.
** Magnus's early 2014 run as World Heavyweight Champion. On one hand, he carried himself like a confident heel champion well enough in his promos. On the other hand, his match quality had been suffering or at least stagnating for awhile and the increasing amount of interference needed for his title defenses was being roundly decried as absurd even for a heel. Hell in his first title defense against A.J. Styles he wasn't able to execute an single offensive maneuver successfully. He was only able to pin Styles after BOBBY ROODE hit his finisher.
* CaptainObviousReveal: By the time it happened, few people didn't see it coming that Bully Ray would be the president of the Aces & Eights. Not everyone even knew ''why'' it would be him or ''how''. They were just used to TNA pulling that kind of thing.
* CreativeDifferences:
** That's being charitable. Dixie Carter, John Gaburick, and/or whoever decided it would be a brilliant idea to rehire a man as a creative consultant who both your core fanbase and the network you're trying to negotiate a new deal with to stay on the air have told you they despise, and then try to hide it from everyone '''''including your own wrestlers''''', is/are probably the biggest idiot(s) in the history of pro wrestling.
** After he'd finished with his head-chopping mission (half of TNA's midcarders were shown the door) and bled the company dry with his huge salary, Hogan chose not to re-sign with them. This rarely happens once. [[{{Wrestling/WCW}} To happen twice...]]
* CreatorWorship: Billy Corgan. Yes, ''[[Music/TheSmashingPumpkins that]]'' Billy Corgan. Not only is he responsible for turning TNA around creatively after their move to Pop, making use of a versatile array of entertaining defined characters and outside-the-box on-location segments, he singlehandedly saved the company financially during the weekend of ''Slammiversary 2016'' by buying shares to give them interim funding. When he officially succeeded the widely reviled Dixie Carter as TNA President, [[AndThereWasMuchRejoicing there was much rejoicing]]. [[spoiler:And when some major financial disputes sadly ended up driving him to leave just a couple of months later, said rejoicing inevitably turned into yet more despair and frustration.]]
* CreatorsPet:
** Dixie. When you think about it you can trace when things really started going downhill to the time she started inserting herself into storylines as an on-screen character. Like Russo and Bischoff, she only wants the deal that lets her be the star of her own wrestling show because she is living a mark's dream.
** [[DumbassDJ Bubba the Love Sponge]], who was obnoxious, unfunny, racist, and had absolutely no business being anywhere near a wrestling ring except for the fact that he was a good buddy of Hogan's. It didn't do him any favors when it was reported that he abused his position as Hogan's friend to bully the talent backstage, and it '''really''' didn't help when he made disparaging comments about the victims of the devastating 2009 earthquake in Haiti. How bad was he? It's a sign of how awful he was that the only good things that ever happened involving Bubba were Wrestling/KiaStevens [[RealLifeWritesThePlot beating the shit out of him in real life]] and a genuinely pissed off Wrestling/MickFoley, who is widely known as [[BewareTheNiceOnes one of the gentlest and most easygoing people in the business]], putting a nice end to Bubba's reign of suckage by busting his face open with a right hook that was ''[[EnforcedMethodActing 100% for real]].''
** Eric Bischoff holds a victory over Wrestling/TheYoungBucks…ahem, Generation Me.
** ''Jersey Shore''-derived character Robbie E, though TNA did get the message, eventually.
** Seriously, does anybody want Wrestling/KevinNash to actually wrestle? If he's behind the mic, he's great.
** Wrestling/GailKim in her second run of this company. However, unlike the other examples mentioned above, [[TropesAreTools Tropes Are (Usually) Not Bad]], since she's a great wrestler in her own.
* [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments Crowning Moment of Heartwarming]]: Jesse Sorensen showing up at Destination X 2012 and able to walk under his own strength despite wearing a neckbrace and delivered a promo promising he'd be back in the ring. He has since returned to the ring, but not in TNA.
* DearNegativeReader: When [[WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment The Spoony One]] began his webshow ''Wrestle Wrestle!'', he naturally began by criticising ''Impact''. One of his fans posted a link to the video on Dixie Carter's Facebook page. To the surprise of everyone (including Spoony), Dixie started tweeting him in response, essentially saying he was just being mean for the hell of it. The head of a nationally broadcast wrestling promotion actually took the time to start a flame war with an internet critic. Spoony ran with it for a short time, directly addressing Dixie in the next few videos and even volunteering to join the company as a booker. Dixie realised that spending time arguing with Spoony was counter-productive and left him alone after that.
** True story: Dixie once got trolled by a fake [[Wrestling/JimRoss JR]] account. How does she ''not'' have anything better to do?
* DontShootTheMessage: Considering how hijacking has become a major hot-button issue in wrestling, particularly in WWE, it turns out that former TNA Producer Steve Small may have had a point during his speech where he called the Impact Zone audience "cast members."
* DorkAge:
** Hulk Hogan's tenure as the onscreen authority figure from 2010-2013. In fact, TNA from that point onward is often looked at in this light. Despite making large improvements since Hogan's departure, this period was so damaging to the company's finances and reputation that it has essentially been in perpetual danger of going under ever since, with issues including wrestlers getting either late or no payment and serious production flaws, causing most of their top talent (including TNA Original AJ Styles, Sting and Samoa Joe), to depart.
** The TNA Knockouts suffered one after the first departure of Wrestling/GailKim, including torrid affairs such as [[EpicFail Jenna Morasca vs Sharmell]], the infamous "lock box" title change, a FingerpokeOfDoom, Karen Jarrett playing the poor-man's Wrestling/VickieGuerrero, etc. Even after Gail returned, the decay was still ongoing (notably, Wrestling/EricYoung, a ''man'', remained one half of the Knockouts Tag Team Champions for over a ''year'' until Brooke Hogan finally forced him and his partner/wife ODB to vacate them and retire the titles altogether) -- it wasn't until the debuts of Wrestling/TarynTerrell and Havok and the return of Wrestling/AwesomeKong that the division started to reclaim its former glory.
* DracoInLeatherPants:
** Despite being a pretty brutal guy, Samoa Joe gets a lot of cheers.
** "The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero, who had to be worse than Joe to get heat during a feud with him, still got a lot of cheers
** Beer Money, Inc. TNA did end up making them into baby faces though.

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[[folder: E-M]]
* EnsembleDarkhorse:
** Wrestling/AJStyles. He's arguably the most well known and popular of the "TNA Originals." Even people who hate TNA like him. But let it be known he only qualifies thanks to Hogan & Bischoff dropping him to the midcard after a needless heel turn. Prior to that, he was the top face in the company.
** Wrestling/ChristopherDaniels[=/=]Curry Man is basically to TNA what Shelton Benjamin was to WWE. A talented worker people always wanted to see in a higher position than he was in, except for when he was part of a popular tag team.
** Eric Young, except for perhaps his "World Elite", "Kevin Nash's buddy" and "Knockout Tag Team Champion" phase. And even in the latter case, people who didn't like him holding a women's belt still seemed to like Eric Young otherwise.
** If you love great deals and low prices, what's not to love about Don West? His background in sales made him sound funny on commentary (he made a Pelé kick sound like attempted murder, for example):
--->"ABSOLUTELY CREAMED HIM, MIKE!"
** By her second appearance, there were people calling for Awesome Kong to be TNA World Heavyweight Champion, most only halfway joking, some not at all.
** Shark Boy, despite rarely being treated as a serious competitor had fans up to the uniformed troops parting their foreheads with their hands when he appeared. His ''Stone Cold'' phase was a little more divisive online, mostly because it was running at the same time as Black Machismo, but still popular in the Impact Zone.
** Tomko, despite being largely used as a heel lackey to Christian or Kurt Angle, got popular enough at the end of 2007 into 2008 during his "going independent" phase of the Coalition/Alliance schism storyline that fans would often chant his name, with the aforementioned uniformed troops even holding a wide sign approving him as "army strong".
** Wrestling/DaffneyUnger; her rare appearances on Impact were accompanied by some of the biggest pops of the night, ''even though she's a {{heel}} {{jobber}}'', which just showed how dumb TNA was in not pushing her as a face when they had the chance.
** And now we had Norv Fernum and Dewey Barnes. Anytime they had a match, the crowd seemed to cheer for them despite being jobbers.
** [[Wrestling/EC3 Ethan Carter III]] is very popular for a guy who spent almost all of his time in the ring winning disappointing {{squash match}}es, including one against the aforementioned Shark Boy.
** Rockstar Spud for being absolutely hilarious.
** Wrestling/VelvetSky was arguably the most popular Knockout during her run.
** Perhaps the most notable example of this trope is none other than the six-sided ring itself.
** Senor Benjamin, the hispanic housekeeper of Matt Hardy, has gained a solid fanbase ever since appearing in "The Final Deletion".
** Out of all the other dummies in the industry, not many can match the sheer charisma of [[CatchPhrase E-LI DRAKE]].
* EveryYearTheyFizzleOut: You can drop an atom bomb on the Impact Zone while all the talent and management is there, and TNA will stay in business somehow.
* EvilIsSexy: Ever since turning heel Sarita wears about 75% less clothing below the waist and has a wicked smile.
* FandomRivalry: TNA's harshest detractors tend to be ROH fans. The relationship [[FriendlyFandoms begins amicably]] in 2002, the year RF Video started up ROH to replace top seller ECW. The ECW fans who approved of ROH were still skeptical word of mouth and the video company would be enough to build a brand that would fill the void, so they were overjoyed when TNA came and put several wrestlers who were on ROH shows on pay per view. TNA founder Jerry Jarrett had been somewhat dismissive of ROH from the start but the fandom rivalry really started in 2004 when ROH broke away from RF Video, after RF's owner was involved in one of pro wrestling's [[RoleEndingMisdemeanor most infamous scandals]]. ROH now lacked distribution, but its wrestlers were still on pay per view so fans remained happy and hopeful. Then TNA barred the wrestlers it had under contract from returning to ROH, and heaven has no rage like love turned to hate. The rivalry continued on into the GFW rebranding, even though GFW founder Jeff Jarrett was more positive towards ROH than his father, because at this point ROH had its own pay per views and its fans were angry with GFW's parent company Anthem for removing one from Dish Network, over Matt Hardy returning to ROH with his Broken gimmick. There have been other incidents that have only fanned the flames, including Wrestling/ChristopherDaniels' spotty ROH career prior his ROH Television Championship reign, and then his permanent return to ROH after his final departure from TNA. The aforementioned Matt Hardy/DISH Network incident isn't even the first time TNA has prevented ROH from broadcasting something -- they once prevented the broadcast of a match between Wrestling/TylerBlack and Wrestling/SamoaJoe back in 2008 from airing for similar reasons.
* FanonDiscontinuity: Much of TNA's core fanbase believed that the promotion died when Wrestling/AJStyles left. Considering that several TNA mainstays such as Christopher Daniels, Kaz, Chris Sabin, Sting, and Samoa Joe all left after him, there was a vibe that it wasn't just the ''fans'' that felt that way -- not at all helped when, mere days after AJ was confirmed to be walking out the door, Jeff Jarrett, ''the founder of TNA'', announced he was leaving too.
* FashionVictimVillain: Wrestling/TheBeautifulPeople are terribly dressed. [[{{Stripperiffic}} When they're dressed, that is.]]
* FoeYay: Wrestling/TaylorWilde and [[Wrestling/SarahStock Sarita]].
* FollowTheLeader: TNA had a lot of things that WWE ''lacked'' circa 2009-2010. TNA had a solid tag division (remember the Young Bucks v MCMG matches and Beer Money v MCMG series?). They had great high-flyers in the X Division which bring fast-paced matches, very exciting. They had hardcore matches and crazy moments with barbed wire that for WWE was impossible to have with the parents groups watching.
* FranchiseOriginalSin: The signing and subsequent booking of Wrestling/KurtAngle set the dangerous precedent of putting older stars over younger, homegrown stars. However, back in the NWA-TNA era there were plenty of older wrestlers competing in the company with them even winning titles. But they were still far apart so that the younger wrestlers can still shine.
* FridgeBrilliance
** The "call girl" element to the ShoutOut involving [[Wrestling/MadisonRayne Madison Rayne's]] "Killa Queen" theme. Madison has had at least two referee seduction angles; one short-lived as a member of TBP, the second on her own and lasting long enough to get her the Knockouts title back for a few days.
** The Beautiful People's feud with Awesome Kong revolved around them trying to give Kong a makeover. They partially succeeded when they tied Kong's braids into the framework of a steel cage, her freedom from this predicament necessitating scissors. This goes beyond the Beautiful People's generally campaign against "ugly people", before wrestling for TNA, the Beautiful People's Leader, Wrestling/AngelinaLove, used to wrestle in multicolored braids similar to Kong's. Love didn't like the look because it reminded her of what she used to be. Furthermore, she'd know exactly what shouldn't be done with them from her own personal experience.
** Same for Wrestling/EC3's early SquashMatch[=/=]InformedAbility gimmick boosted by flavor of ({{kayfabe}}) {{Nepotism}}. As he lampshaded in one [=#IMPACT365=] interview, this allowed him to slowly work his way up the ladder of notoriety in TNA while constantly throwing his status in everyone's face at the same time, making it an interesting cross between using his family connections effectively yet also somewhat earning his keep. Furthermore, once a TNA babyface got sick and tired of his antics and demanded a fight with him, his boosting up the card would be all but guaranteed and the faces would have no one to blame but themselves. So basically, Dixie Carter gave him everything…but at the same time she ''didn't''.
** "The Reign That Never Ends" is a really strange title for Brittany's theme, seeing how she was basically a valet/jobber. But then, her fanning of Madison Rayne, which seemingly came out of the blue, suddenly makes sense. It wasn't in reference to her "reign" at all.
** Speaking of Madison, there's her partnership with Wrestling/GailKim which seemingly came out of nowhere upon Gail's return to TNA in 2011. The circumstances of Gail's return explain it all: she came back enlisted by Karen Jarrett, the wife of Gail's former leader in 2005-06 and Madison's boss, as well as against then-Knockouts Champion Wrestling/VelvetSky, one of Gail's arch-nemeses from her previous run and Madison's friend-turned-enemy who helped turn her into the abrasive queen bee she was. They had plenty of common ground to start with and likely hit it off from there.
* FridgeHorror
** Here's a scary thought; not many people realized that, with his tag team title victory for the Bro-Mans, there was a lengthy window of time in which Robbie E could have by some miracle won the TNA Heavyweight Title and have become a Grand Slam Champion ''in a shorter time'' than AJ Styles?!
** Speaking of AJ Styles, during the Claire Lynch storyline, the week before AJ's match to either accept the blame or get tested in the Claire Lynch storyline AJ had this to say to Kaz and Daniels backstage:
---> "You know what? You both know I was drugged. I mean, God knows I'd have to be to sleep with a foot like Claire."
*** And suddenly, that main picture that Claire, the crack addict that AJ and Dixie Carter were helping to get clean, presented as "proof" of her "illicit affair" with AJ? You know, the one in which she's posing seductively on his body while he looks dead-asleep? If Kaz and Daniels' allegations were true in any way in the storyline, that would pretty likely mean [[DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale Claire drugged and raped AJ, got pregnant from it, then somehow proceeded to perpetuate the notion with help from Kaz and Daniels that if AJ didn't stay with her and raise her child of rape then it made HIM the bad person]]. Frankly, the whole thing being a lie was the ''charitable'' version of the story.
* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff:
** TNA is very popular in the UK, often beating the top rated WWE show by anywhere from 43% to 53% in the ratings. It even got a reality show dedicated to it, ''British Bootcamp''.
** Tapes of the TNA X Division were very popular in Japan, were in that the badass decay of division and burial of hopeful Japanese stars wanting to be a part of it shushed some of the hype. Nonethless Wrestling/TheGreatMuta's enthusiasm for Seiya Sanada's entry into the division was not an act and after he took the title to Japan and the division recovering most of its prestige, it began to build back its fan base.
** TNA's popularity in India manages to gave birth to its own Indian Spin-Off promotion ''Ring Ka King'' even if it only lasted for a season before breaking off and dying.
** Any countries where TNA gets higher viewership than WWE counts, although this is mostly due to TNA being on free TV Channels compared to WWE which are on paid Cable Channels around the world.
** In 2014, TNA drew larger crowds in Japan than it did in the US.
* GirlShowGhetto: TNA's ''Knockouts Knockdown'' were the first all women pro wrestling shows to be broadcast nationally in the USA since Wrestling/{{GLOW}}. That was about thirty years in the ghetto.
* GrowingTheBeard:
** As the more ridiculous angles slowly started to fall by the wayside in 2004, leaving the company to focus more on something it was good at, which was putting on matches that weren't like whatever WWE was currently doing. Then their Fox Sports Net Deal lead to a further cut down on talking and shock value.
** The budding knockouts division had about six good wrestlers, two of which did not regularly appear, and three...not as good. Better than what WWE put on TV ''at the time'' but nothing beyond what ''Monday Night Raw'' had prior to the 2004 diva search. Then came [[{{Retcon}} Amazing]]...'''''Awesome''''' ''Kong''!
** The pay-per-views from April 2012 onward have been regarded highly by both the wrestling press and internet smarks, following nearly 10 years of TNA being a laughingstock of a wrestling promotion. This started, not coincidentally, shortly after Wrestling/VinceRusso [[AndThereWasMuchRejoicing was let go]].
** ''Impact'' has also garnered a positive reaction post-Russo, with critics praising the in-ring focus, building up angles around the titles, and going back to focusing on their current roster instead of bringing in Attitude-Era wrestlers and GM power struggles.
** This trope could pretty much be renamed "Shaving the Head" for Kazarian. His recent promo work is vastly improved, and he's just that bit better in the ring, since shaving off his hair and teaming with Wrestling/ChristopherDaniels.
** Garrett Bischoff's promo on Dixie Carter just before Slammiversary. Look at his early-2012 promos when he was stumbling over his words every few seconds. And then look at that. Fuck.
** Impact became far easier on the eyes and ears when they traded in the dead audiences and small confines of the Impact Zone at Universal Studios to the vibrant, hot crowds and (somewhat) larger arenas on the road. Unfortunately, that plan was rushed into without regard for finances and became so expensive it caused a year-and-a-half-long talent hemorrhage which sabotaged the Wrestling/AcesAndEights storyline ''and cost them Wrestling/AJStyles''.
** The focus on younger talented, such as [=EC3=], The Wolves and Samuel Shaw beginning in 2014 has been welcomed by many.
** Many fans rejoiced when the six-sided ring made a comeback as a result of a fan voting.
** While it might be too early to tell, Impact's move to Pop seems to be this, to the point the it might be a reboot of the company. The shows are better structured, a few characters have been RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap, storylines seem to been better written and everything thus far seems to have an actual point. While not a perfect show, its is far and above what they were doing at Destination America or even the last few years on Spike.
* HilariousInHindsight:
** In addition to trying to open his own dungeon, Teddy Hart talked about wanting to bring the first pro wrestling ring with more than four sides to North America. [[SmallReferencePools Not only did AAA already have one of those, six sides in particular being made for Mexican styles of wrestling and all,]] but TNA would get one as well, three months after firing Teddy.
** TNA's main house of operations for many years has been Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. During his second NWA World Heavyweight Championship reign, [[Wrestling/{{Christian}} Christian Cage]] once called himself the "Champion of the Universe", possibly as a subtle nod to this. Since then, WWE (for whom TNA is the UnknownRival) has begun calling its fanbase the Universe and as of summer 2016 the top title on its flagship show is called the Universal Championship.
** What makes the story arc of Miss Tessmacher learning to wrestle really sad is that "Miss Tessmacher" was formerly Wrestling/BrookeAdams in Wrestling/KellyKelly's "Extreme Exposé" dance squad with Kelly and Wrestling/{{Layla}} El in WWE. In a 2007 interview, she mentioned that if she ever improved as a wrestler she would love to leave Extreme Exposé and strike out on her own. Flash-forward a split and about three years later, by the time Brooke started in TNA as a receptionist, Kelly and Layla had long beaten her to the path of becoming wrestlers. Then it was inverted after a couple years when she became the Knockouts Champion and (somewhat arguably) the best wrestler of the three, while Layla had an ineffectual Divas title reign and Kelly left the company, before Layla also left.
** Wrestling/BookerT and Wrestling/ScottSteiner's first tag team experience together was far more unusual than winning the TNA tag titles while part of the [[SpotlightStealingSquad Main Event ]][[PowerStable Mafia]]. While under contract to Wrestling/{{WCW}}, where they actually often feuded, their team debut was actually an appearance on ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'', jobbing in hell to Prue and Phoebe Halliwell.
** Wrestling/ChristopherDaniels and Wrestling/FrankieKazarian at one time [[ActingForTwo shared the role]] of the {{cool mask}}ed [[RefugeeFromTVLand video game character]] [[LatexSpaceSuit Suicide]]. Originally the character was Kazarian's, but when he got hurt, Daniels ended up taking the role and doing double duty both as Suicide and as himself. They even had each other's back when Kaz reprised the role in the middle of a storyline where the Motor City Machine Guns and Lethal Consequences (Wrestling/JayLethal and [[Wrestling/XavierWoods Consequences Creed]]) were trying to unmask Suicide to prove it was Daniels. Now, the Suicide character is renamed to something less unfortunate, the Guns are both gone, and Kaz and Daniels as heels are the most well-oiled tag team TNA's had since the Guns and fellow ex-Fortune members Beer Money, Inc.
*** And in a different manner of speaking, The Guns [[http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Christopher_Daniels_(Earth-616) were right all along]] about Christopher Daniels being Suicide.
** December 17, 2012: Tommy Dreamer got his ass kicked by Wrestling/TheShield, one of the most talked-about stables in recent history in Wrestling/{{WWE}}. Exactly a month later on January 17, 2013, Dreamer got his ass kicked by Wrestling/AcesAndEights, one of the most talked-about stables in recent history in TNA.
** The name of [[Wrestling/MontelVontaviousPorter MVP]]'s latest faction, the Beat Down Clan, and especially the swagger with which he first introduced the name, immediately becomes this once you realize that ''literally every successful PowerStable in professional wrestling history has essentially been a beat down clan.''
* HoYay:
** The relationship between Wrestling/AJStyles and Wrestling/ChristopherDaniels was chock full of Ho Yay, even when they were enemies. When they were arguing over the possibility that Daniels could beat Styles, it seemed like a lover's spat that lasted for weeks. Samoa Joe acting like a jealous third party didn't help any. Keep in mind that Christopher Daniels and AJ Styles have named their kids after each other, so this is hardly a relationship that ends when the match does. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgQPgoGLSB4 On the 8/25/11 Impact broadcast]], Daniels nearly broke down into tears while explaining why he asked AJ for another rematch (closely resembling an AnguishedDeclarationOfLove) and outright hugged AJ when the rematch was accepted.
** Wrestling/KevinNash with Alex Shelley, when he managed the Paparazzi (Austin Starr often played the jealous third party). Unlike the above, this was [[Funny/ProfessionalWrestling done deliberately]].
** Kevin Nash and Wrestling/ScottHall have been this. Nearly all of Hall's brief tenures in TNA have seen these two be inseparable. One particular embrace they shared in the ring in late 2007 managed to make Hall look like Nash's girlfriend without at all being erotic. Following Hall's no-show and Wrestling/SamoaJoe's scathing promo on him in 2008, Nash even systematically befriended, mentored, and then betrayed Joe through that year's duration. Over that one promo. But then, Wrestling/TheKliq seem to revel in this kind of stuff.
** Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin could be seen as one of the most homoerotic tag teams ever prior to homoerotic campiness becoming a trend. They refer to themselves as HeterosexualLifePartners, they constantly hug and stare soulfully into each others eyes, and have some of the best coordination of any group ever. Not to mention being real life BFF's outside of [=TNA=] along with Petey Williams.
** Wrestling/RicFlair and Wrestling/HulkHogan during the first "Immortal" promo had this in spades to the point that Ric told Hogan he was going to get up very morning loving him more than he's ever loved anything else. Hogan then asked if that included his ex-wives. Ric said yes.
** The Wrestling/VelvetSky[=/=]Wrestling/AngelinaLove[=/=][[Wrestling/KatarinaWaters Winter]] triangle. Complete with [[MurderingTheHypotenuse attempted murder of the hypotenuse]] and [[{{Fanservice}} a candlelit massage]].
** The Knockouts roster can be counted as this, given how much they waffle between catfight and orgy on a regular basis. Someone must be enjoying packing as much innuendo in as possible.
** In a very subtle way, the former members of Fortune (aforementioned AJ and Daniels included). Even over a year since disbanding as a group, they just can't get enough of fighting each other.
* HolyShitQuotient:
** As one of the original X-Division members, Wrestling/AJStyles is the hallmark of [=HSQ=] for [=TNA=].
** Wrestling/ChristopherDaniels has a lot of moves and most of them are spectacular
** Elix Skipper's New School move, where he walks the ropes and delivers a frankensteiner to an oppenent seated on the turnbuckle. At Turning Point 2004 he did this while [[UpToEleven ON TOP OF A CAGE!]]
** Lance Hoyt. How many near seven footers do you know can pull off a Moonsault? And make it look good as well? Hoyt's one of them.
** Petey Williams's finisher, The Canadian Destroyer.
** Sonjay Dutt, when he decides to get serious. His finishing moves have to be seen to be believed.
** Suicide, many a wrestler capable of evoking this reaction has won the suit
** Scott D'Amore can pull off a ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCr579b2m4c Canadian Destroyer]]''.
** Wrestling/JeffHardy is still jumping off high places
** Kazarian, see Daniels
** Mr. Anderson is a daring risk taker for someone of his size. It is also unfortunately what makes him somewhat injury prone.
** Generation Me, mainly during their feud with...
** ...The Motor City Machine Guns, Wrestling/ProWrestlingZero1 decided to pair Shelley and Sabin together as representatives of TNA and magic was made.
** [[Wrestling/TheDudleyBoys Team 3-D]], one of pro wrestling's most decorated tag teams ever, got even better with Bully Ray's reinvention
** Sanada and Tigre Uno's first time as a tag team.
* [[HoYay Les Yay]]: Beyond the FauxYay, the Beautiful People have a lot of this.
** Madison Rayne, after forming a tag-team with Wrestling/GailKim.
** Tara: With Madison Rayne, until the latter became a BadBoss.
*** And Tessmacher, and most other team-mates. [[EvenTheGirlsWantHer Everybody is Tarasexual.]]
*** It's pretty much an unwritten rule that Tara has this with every tag partner she has.
** Taylor Wilde with Hamada and (previously) Sarita.
** Winter with Angelina Love, but subverted with her being pretty much [[SingleTargetSexuality Angelina-sexual]].
* ItsBeenDone: Sadly, Bischoff's TNA run solidified him as a one-trick pony. He's just like Russo in the sense that, back then, his strategies were great but in the present day are anything but. Yet that's all he knows and will ever know. All he ever knew how to do was sign established WWE names and put them on his TV. It worked with Hogan, Nash and Hall in the 90s. Then he went to TNA and tried to repeat history with guys like Hardy & RVD because again, that's all he knew. By making TNA go head-to-head with RAW he pretty much destroyed any credibility they had. To this day, they haven't recovered. (And who can forget that horrendous [[Wresting/TheMontrealScrewjob screwjob storyline]] with Angle. Good lord.) He, just like Russo, isn't any sort of wrestling mind and doesn't even understand the wrestling business, even though he is an awesome on-air character.
* MagnificentBastard: The Aces and Eights [[spoiler:especially their leader, Bully Ray.]]
* MemeticMutation:
** JOE'S GONNA KILL YOU! (Borrowed from Ring Of Honor, who got it IWA Mid-South, who got it from Taz in ECW)
** [[{{Spoonerism}} ROB DAM VAN!]] THE WHOLE SHOW FUCKIN'!
** Homicide just beat Suicide. Expect Genocide to attack Homicide backstage.
** '''[[Wrestling/{{Sting}} "I agree."]]'''
** '''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis MINUS!]] [[BrokeTheRatingScale FIVE! STARS!]]'''
** "Broken" Matt Hardy was basically a perpetual meme machine:
*** Brothah Nero! Brothah Nero! It's ovah!
*** It's a dilapidated boat!
*** DELETE! DELETE! DELETE!
** [[SoOkayItsAverage MEH TNA]] [[labelnote:Explanation]]When Anthem announced ownership, it was quickly noted that "Anthem" could spell "MEH TNA" backwards. Considering TNA's status as SnarkBait, the jokes were all but inevitable.[[/labelnote]]
* MisBlamed:
** Writer Wrestling/VinceRusso - fans frequently chant, "Fire Russo!" To be fair, Russo's not the only person involved with the booking (Dutch Mantell was also involved, and Wrestling/JeffJarrett had the final say on everything). He gets singled out because of his track record with WCW. If it had anything to do with Abyss before his BadassDecay set in, it was Dutch Mantell booking it. The first time the "Fire Russo!" chant was invoked (Destination X 2007, during the Wrestling/{{Sting}} vs. Abyss Last Rites match featuring a casket suspended from the ceiling, called a Deathbed), Mantell was later pegged as the guilty party. Here, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-8BEqC_EPs Dutch defends himself]]. After Dutch Mantell left whatever blame he would get went at Savio Vega, but, according to Awesome Kong, Vega was hardly able to do anything in the first place, not having close to the amount of influence Mantell did. Of course, despite getting a lot of flack for things he wasn't involved with, Russo is still a horrible writer. When the infamous "DQ in a Cage match" happened Russo defended it saying that there was no reason why [=DQs=] shouldn't happen in a Cage match.
** The infamous Wrestling/JeffHardy vs. Sting Match at ''Victory Road 2011'' brought almost as much hate TNA's way as it did Jeff Hardy's direction, despite the fact that in the end, Jeff Hardy was the one who showed up completely stoned out of his gourd, and TNA had to choose whether to send him out for a quick squash or cancel their headlining match (though some argue that TNA should've just replaced the latter with another match regardless so the fans would at least leave with ''something''). We can argue about whether the company making a known substance abuser champion was TemptingFate to begin with, but in the end, Jeff screwed Jeff.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: N-R]]
* {{Narm}}
** The Beautiful People, all over. Maybe having your main heels for your women's division, dress, act, and look like pornstars isn't the brightest idea when you want them to intimidate their opponents.
** The January 30th 2015 edition of "Impact" where Madison Rayne dumps Taryn Terrell and Gail Kim from the top rope to floor and then attempts to smash their heads with the steel steps. It'd be frightening stuff if the fans weren't {{c|rowdchant}}hanting "We want puppies!"
* NarmCharm: Abyss clearly was dipped in this as a kid. To have such an obviously {{Narm}}y character get such great responses from the crowd every single time is either a sign of this or stupidity on the crowd's part.
* NeverLiveItDown:
** [[EpicFail Jenna Morasca vs Sharmell]]. A clip of this match is a permanent part of Botchamania's opening ''to this very day''. If you want to know why people forget TNA's part in the mainstream rise of women's wrestling, look no further than here.
** The Immortal/Fortune stuff along with the Hardy heel turn really watered down the product. In fact, most of the Hogan/Bischoff era gets this treatment -- while it did have some good material, it's ostensibly the DorkAge of the company and even now TNA struggles to get out of its shadow.
** The day Dixie went through a table. [[TakeThatScrappy Most of the crowd enjoyed it due to her being so detestable in and out of kayfabe]], but that probably just makes it worse due to how badly it reflects on the woman herself.
** [[Wrestling/JeffHardy Showing up on drugs to a Pay-Per-View? Which you happened to be MAIN-EVENTING!]]
** Wrestling/JamesStorm throwing Wrestling/MickieJames onto train tracks.
** The Wrestling/VinceRusso debacle that got TNA canceled by Spike.
** The Wrestling/AJStyles incident, where TNA tried to throw him under the bus right before his rumored WWE debut at the 2016 Royal Rumble.
** Their name changes. The former TNA went through no less than three name changes over the course of 2017 ''alone'', as first they drop the TNA name for "Impact Wrestling" (finally completing a shift that had begun during the Hogan era), then they adopt the GFW name from Jeff Jarrett's post-TNA start-up (that never really got off the ground) when they bring him back, only to quietly drop it after he's suspended then let go a few months later, leaving them right back with the Impact Wrestling name.
* NightmareRetardant: Abyss. He looks like Scarecrow from ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'' after a botched plastic surgery. Surprisingly he managed to make it work for a bit. Then they had him ''talk''. It went way downhill from there.
* NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity:
** When Dixie Carter does anything, it frequently ends up embarrassing the company. For one such example, see WithUsOrAgainstUs below. Eric Bischoff and Matt Hardy upped the ante on their Website/{{Twitter}} accounts at one point in 2011.
** This line of thinking bit them in the ass when they decided they were getting on the Wrestling/AJStyles hype train no matter what and posted a statement on the TNA website about his contract negotiations with them during the December of 2015, two days before the 2016 Wrestling/RoyalRumble, where AJ was rumored to make his WWE debut. For more on that, see UnintentionallyUnsympathetic. Prior to this, the rumor of AJ going to WWE was in no way seen as embarrassing for TNA -- AJ had been gone from their promotion for two years and all anyone was talking about were his awesome runs in Wrestling/{{NJPW}} and Wrestling/{{ROH}}, and the possibility of his debut in WWE. TNA was regarded as a non-factor, and many believed that unless TNA broke the bank it was highly unlikely that AJ would sign back with them. After they posted the statement, TNA caught a lot of heat with the fans and the wrestling community at large for their actions, and it erased a lot of the good will they had gotten for their improved writing after moving to Pop.
** Josh Mathews' embarrassing internet antics led to many fans calling for TNA to fire him. Instead, he was made a heel on television.
* OlderThanTheyThink: Many of the complaints people make about the "changes" TNA made around 2010 had deeper roots. Women stripping? Treating the X-division like glorified cruiser weights? Huge stables? Takeover angels? Celebrity guest spots? That had all happened before, but when TNA finally decided to go head to head against ''Raw'', critics all around the internet acted as if it was all new and proof WWE was going to kill TNA, when that all failed to kill TNA before. Apparently Hulk Hogan's presence was going to be the deciding factor this time for those who did have an idea but he had been used to build TNA angles before (if not showing up in person). As long as they had Panda they were fine.
* OvershadowedByControversy: TNA is capable of showcasing great matches and has provided many of various styles over the years. Their problem is creating buzz for those matches and keeping it from being drowned out by complaints of their blunders (both onscreen and off) when they do.
* ProtectionFromEditors
** Vince Russo is to pro wrestling booking what a shotgun is to target practice: just firing a gajillion ideas out and hoping something hits. In WWE, and his early run with WCW, he worked WITH a team of other writers with careful oversight, so the target was essentially a chain-link fence: 1 in 100 ideas "hit", while the rest of the garbage went flying by. TNA found itself with only one other writer besides Russo, Matt Conway, and, well... The chain link fence became the broad side of a barn. And whatever he said, goes. And he says a lot of weird shit.
** In late July of 2014, [[http://www.cagesideseats.com/tna-impact/2014/7/15/5903265/vince-russo-comes-clean-creative-consultant-tna-mike-johnson Russo accidentally CC'd]] ''Pro Wrestling Insider'' writer Mike Johnson's name (Johnson being one of the main pushers of the "Russo-is-secretly-back-with-TNA" theory) into a confidential email message sent to Mike Tenay and Taz informing them of how he wanted them to do the voiceovers for a recently taped ''Impact''. Johnson, immediately capitalizing on this, revealed in an article that he had received the email and has proof Russo is working for TNA. Russo briefly attempted to play it off as a swerve, only to back down once Johnson threatened to reveal the contents of said email and admit he was secretly back with them as a confidential consultant.\\\
Shortly after this, it came out that Creator/SpikeTV executives called Dixie Carter up and informed her of their decision to [[http://www.tmz.com/2014/07/27/impact-wrestling-cancelled-spike-tv-tna/ terminate all negotiation on a new broadcasting deal with TNA]] (the current deal ends in October), letting them know that ''Impact Wrestling'' had only three months max left on the network. The Russo lie was [[http://www.cagesideseats.com/tna-impact/2014/7/20/5920175/spike-tv-hates-vince-russo-tna quickly identified as possibly the last straw that broke the camel's back]], as Spike's staff reportedly hate Russo with a passion.\\\
Furthermore, it seems that the company's working relationship with Wrestling/TheGreatMuta and his promotion WRESTLE-1 was initially put in jeopardy by the Russo return rumors ''and a lack of straight answers about it backstage'' — at least, until "Big" John Gaburick [[note]]TNA's now-former Vice President of Creative and Talent Relations, at the time established as running the show behind the scenes since Hogan's exodus[[/note]] admitted to Muta that yes, Russo was back, but assured him that Russo was only a consultant and wouldn't be doing to the WRESTLE-1 talent what he'd done to Yujiro and Naito of No Limit in 2009[[note]]along with every other Mexican or Japanese cruiserweight he'd ever written for creatively in either Wrestling/{{WCW}} or TNA[[/note]]. In addition to this, TNA may have soured the morale backstage even further[[note]]which was already struggling as a result of the money and talent hemorrhage caused by Hogan and Bischoff's taking-Impact-on-the-road idea grossly backfiring[[/note]], as they apparently ''lied to the very wrestlers whose livelihoods are at the discretion of both creative and the fans'' in order to keep the secret from leaking out.\\\
Tl:Dr: By secretly being re-added ot the payroll, lying about it to everyone, and getting caught at a critical time for the company's future, '''''Russo, along with Dixie Carter and John Gaburick, may have actually just killed TNA'''''. At the very least, the move from Spike lowered buy rates and cut off over half their viewers.
* WMG/PoisonOakEpilepticTrees:
** Many fans now believe that [[TheMole Hulk Hogan was secretly sent by Vince McMahon in a plot to kill TNA]]. Many thought the same about Nash/Hall/Russo after they turned up in WCW. ''Ehehehehehehehe'' [[ThePerfectCrime it's a smark-proof plan]].
** Speaking of Russo, many believe he's back with TNA due to some recent examples of stunt booking. In fact, despite his continuous denial of this it's treated as CommonKnowledge. (The Knockouts actually squealed, "'''''[[AscendedMeme SWERVE!]]'''''" at one point.) In [[StupidCrooks true stupidity]]--regardless of how you feel about TNA's booking--this was ''accidentally confirmed to be true by Russo himself.''
* TheProblemWithLicensedGames: The ''TNA iMPACT!'' console game by Creator/MidwayGames wasn't too bad, but it had it share of glaring flaws (the [[CharacterCustomization CAW mode]] was quite limited, half of the roster was locked from the start so you have to play through Story Mode just to unlock them.) But the ''TNA Wrestling iMPACT!'' mobile game by Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment was utterly horrible. The fighting was way too slow, all the wrestlers look freakishly thin (even big guys such as Abyss and Hernandez), the CAW mode was worse than the previous game, and it lacked variety in terms of match types. Worst of all, it was a PAID app.
* ReplacementScrappy
** Arguably, the ''promotion'' itself, for WCW.
** Mexican America for Latin American Exchange.
* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap:
** Velvet Sky passed from an useless "Diva" who only serves as fanservice to a very competent Knockout.
** Roxxi became popular as soon as she stopped gyrating or using voodoo.
** Robbie E was hated since his debut because of his stale ''Jersey Shore'' gimmick. It took teaming up with mutual scrappy Robbie Terry to become a better superstar.
** Jessie Godderz. He started as a wasted slot because of his Big Brother fame. The solution? Put him with the already rescued Robbie E to form the [=BroMans=] and he's now a good talent.
** This company also takes part in polishing the so called ''[[FanNickname 'E-Jects]]'' who were considered useless at first (except Jeff Hardy, Mickie James, Mr. Anderson, Lashley and MVP. Believe it or not, Mickie James and MVP were TNA Originals in the past as Alexis Laree and Antonio Banks respectively, while Jeff Hardy is one of the inaugural superstars in the roster) and making them as decent superstars in comparison to their previous iterations in WWE.
** You couldn't convince anyone that Tyson "Problem Solver" Tomko had drawing potential if you only showed them his work in WWE. TNA may have eventually "ruined" him, but that they got as much out of him as they did is still commendable.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: S-Z]]
* ShockingSwerve:
** So many times that they're no longer shocking and are often considered senseless.
** However, some actually do manage to come off well. One of the best examples of this going right was the big [[TheReveal reveal]] of Bully Ray being the leader of the Aces & Eights after him winning the heavyweight title. At the time, it seemed like a very [[Wrestling/VinceRusso Russo-esque]] swerve for the sake of shock value, since in storyline, Bully had been married to Brooke Hogan and was a firm Face and constant opponent of the Aces & Eights for several months and as such, his FaceHeelTurn was fairly crapped on by the fans. But then two weeks later on Impact, Bully was in a number of monologue segments that had him walking through story arcs and seemingly unrelated events over the past nine months that laid out his master plan from start to finish, showing that the whole plan had a rather astonishing level of thought put into it, even covering Wes Brisco's Gut Check challenge several months prior to the big payoff that had nothing to do with the ongoing Aces & Eights storyline... until it was revealed that [[Wrestling/DLoBrown D'Lo Brown]], who later was revealed as the club V.P., had filled in as a Gut Check judge following an injury to Wrestling/AlSnow and voted to bring Brisco in. Not only that, but Brisco's opponent, Garrett Bischoff, was also later shown to be an Aces & Eights member, making the entire series of events one where a [=TNA=] executive had wormed his way onto the judging panel to vote in a new member of his rogue faction after a tryout match where he was the first one to beat an existing [=TNA=] wrestler, who was also a member of said faction who arguably took a fall to make his new comrade-in-arms look good. Events like this and many more were shown and explained in what is probably the most in-depth and drawn-out wrestling storyline in the past few years. And just in case people were wondering how far ahead the angle was thought up, Devon posted [[https://twitter.com/TestifyDVon/status/316340944901378048 this]].
* SmallReferencePools: While calling TNA the second largest wrestling company in the United States may be right, fan sites at one point liked to call TNA the second largest wrestling company in the world, even though they were regularly outdrawn by NJPW, CMLL, AAA and sometimes by WWC. Not that TNA has never drawn similar numbers as them, but it's hardly a clear cut case.
* SnarkBait: Despite Wrestling/VinceRusso being employed there for so long, TNA didn't really succeed Wrestling/{{WCW}} in this role until Wrestling/HulkHogan and Wrestling/EricBischoff came in. People got sick of it after a while since they had [[Literature/TheDeathOfWCW already seen it before]] and went back to ribbing on WWEPG, only to return with a vengeance after Hogan and Bischoff left and TNA went into a complete nosedive business-wise thanks to Dixie Carter's poor management. These days, they don't function as this anymore, mainly because people have forgotten they still exist.
* SoBadItsGood: Final Deletion! You wouldn't find a less grounded in reality anything anywhere else outside of ''Wrestling/KaijuBigBattel'', but it wasn't just a match, but the pay off to the then latest Matt vs Jeff Hardy feud that had gone in a new, strange direction when Matt woke up from the hospital Jeff put him in "broken". When viewed as a piece to a whole, it worked for many people.
* StrawmanHasAPoint:
** Jackie Moore and ODB came back [[{{Kayfabe}} without contracts]] and started beating the crap out of Velvet Sky because they believe that the reason they were fired was the [[BadassDecay gradual change of focus]] in the Knockouts division from the {{action girl}}s to the [[MsFanservice eye candy]].
** Dixie Carter may very well be the most hated woman in wrestling, and Bully Ray was only hunting her down to put her through a table because she'd done it to him first, but one couldn't fault Ethan Carter III for wanting to protect his auntie from Bully Ray—especially after MVP and his crew stopped trying to consolidate power with Team Dixie, taking Bully's mission from "Put Dixie, Spud, [=EC3=], Lashley, Kenny King and MVP through tables" to "Put Dixie Carter through a table and that'll be good" with Spud and Ethan also getting dropped through tables on the way there.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: [[Administrivia/RenamedTropes This used to be called]] "The Jimmy Hart Version". It could just as easily have been called "The Dale Oliver Version". Specifically, most TNA acquisitions who are either former WWE stars or popular independent wrestlers get variations of their previous themes, like [[Wrestling/{{Christian}} Christian Cage]], [[Wrestling/TheDudleyBoys Team 3D]], Wrestling/AngelinaLove, Wrestling/ChristopherDaniels, etc.
* TakeThatScrappy: Admit it, you cheered when [[Wrestling/TheDudleyBoys Bully Ray]] put [[TheScrappy Dixie Carter]] through the table. This is done surprisingly because no one likes her disastrous antics.
* TheScrappy:
** Jeff Jarrett early on, though his position was usurped by Dixie Carter after she became a regular onscreen figure.
** The British Invasion to fans outside of the UK. Brutus Magnus would eventually become somewhat respected as a wrestler but his world championship run was so bad even the fans in the UK turned on him. Rob Terry is somewhat liked in his masked role "The Freak" but that's it.
** When people start calling Knockouts "Divas", they're usually referring to Rhaka Khan, Velvet Sky, Lacey Von Erich, Shelly Martinez, and Brooke Tessmacher or more rarely, Cookie, [[NeverLiveItDown Jenna Morasca and Sharmell]]. Though Velvet is very popular in Orlando and Tessmacher shook it off completely.
** Madison Rayne has gone through periods of what one could call "ShootTheMessenger". There are few complaints about her compared to complaints about what TNA has had her do, starting with being the whipping girl of the Beautiful People and flowing steadily on, "killing" Roxxi Laveaux's career being a particularly disliked moment.
** All of Mexican America, except Sarita. Hernandez was okay in the eyes of the fandom immediately before the group formed and immediately after it broke up. Rosita got a lot of crap [[PrejudicedForPecs for being short]] [[NewMeat and inexperienced]]. People just wanted Anarquia to begone entirely, and they got their wish.
** Referee Earl Hebner in [[Wrestling/MontrealScrewJob Can]][[NeverLiveItDown ada]].
** Adam "Pacman" Jones, especially after it was revealed he had a 'No Contact' clause in his contract. Even more so after he "won" a tag team title belt. Why they hired him in first place? Simply, to [[IntendedAudienceReaction infaurate the fanbase]].
** A certain Russo remained as such well after he was mercifully taken off screen, which became doubly so when TNA's injury scandals and lawsuits got out as he is well known for arguing dangerous spots and gimmicks are necessary for his "story lines".
** Sometime after leaving TNA, Shelly Martinez rededicated herself to training and consistently had good matches, [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap redeeming her]] in the eyes of pro wrestling fans. However, her return to TNA lead to a horrible match with Rebel, meaning Shelly stayed here among TNA's general fan base.
* TearJerker: After The Naturals defeated AMW to regain the NWA tag titles one of the last images was of them and their manager Wrestling/ChrisCandido clutching the belts with a [[SoProudOfYou smile on his face proud of their accomplishment]] despite being in severe pain due to an real life injury he suffered at the first Lockdown PPV the Sunday before the taping. A few days later he died due to complications from surgery.
* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: The initial reaction to TNA's changeover in 2010 to a traditional four-sided ring, after having been using a six-sided ring for over five years. It can be argued all day as to whether the six-sided ring was gimmickry to begin with, but the fact that the company changed the work environment of a very dangerous profession without informing their employees or production staff beforehand, in order to apparently cater to Hulk Hogan and his friends' wrestling style, makes the hate at least a little justified.
* TheyCopiedItSoItSucks: TNA was originally billed as an alternative to WWE, but over the years, it has [[FollowTheLeader gradually become WWE Lite]]. Or worse, Wrestling/{{WCW}} Lite. Perhaps the biggest example of this is their "3.3.11" promo. About the only thing different from the [[Wrestling/TheUndertaker "2.21.11"]] promo was the color. FridgeBrilliance may apply here: rumours still last that the 2.21.11 affair was to hype Wrestling/{{Sting}}'s Wrestling/{{WWE}} debut, most likely for a match at ''Wrestling/{{WrestleMania}}'' against Wrestling/TheUndertaker, but when Sting re-signed with TNA, they had to change it. The 3.3.11 promo could well have been a we've-got-Sting-and-you-haven't style jab at the WWE. Too bad Sting staying around led to the pathetic "match" with a drugged-up Jeff Hardy at ''Victory Road.''
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter:
** Wrestling/AJStyles. A dedicated company man and one of the best wrestlers of his generation (see his matches with [[Wrestling/KazuchikaOkada Okada]] or [[Wrestling/HiroshiTanahashi Tanahashi]] in [[Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling NJPW]]), he was nonetheless badly treated by TNA management despite being TheFace of the company. His departure in 2015 started an exodus of other big TNA stars like Wrestling/SamoaJoe and Wrestling/ChristopherDaniels.
** In hindsight, it seems TNA was experimenting with bringing back WCW valets in the same manner as WCW digging up former WWE talents (Miss Elizabeth and others) for ''Nitro.'' [[Wrestling/DaffneyUnger Daffney]] was generally considered one of the unluckier people who got picked. As the "ugly" Knockout of the bunch, she rarely got booked despite grossing high ratings during her appearances on iMPACT. (It was apparent even during her lock box challenge "strip tease"...which made the whole thing even more uncomfortable.) And most of her injuries occurred in non-televised matches as the network didn't allow any depictions of man-on-female violence. She was persuaded to take a bumps through wooden objects full of thumbtacks or wrapped in barbed wire, but the footage never got aired.
** Russo is a leading cause. For example, had little use for the most decorated amateur athlete to come out of the United States, proven draw for UsefulNotes/UltimateFightingChampionship and NWA World Heavyweight Champion Wrestling/DanSevern. Wrestling/KenShamrock was right there, but rather than building towards a pay-per-view rematch, Severn was instead put in a referee shirt. No wait, that was WWF/E, he didn't even have the patience to wait for Serven to show up in TNA.
** Velvet Sky has been given the power to make any match she wants with the Knockouts champion and [[WeUsedToBeFriends former]] best friend Angelina Love? Any match at all, any stipulation? Does she give herself a title shot? No, no she does not.
** So House of Hardcore is name dropped on Impact. Does this lead to a crossover with HOH or Family Wrestling Entertainment? In a way, yes, but it didn't result in any stars from either promotion getting national television exposure -- at least not anyone who had not had it already. In fact, it only resulted in two wrestlers new to TNA, neither from HOH or FWE, and both gone almost as soon as they arrived. In this case, the plot wasn't bad, but it could have done more with the people available.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot
** Much was made about the fact that Morgan stole a golden cape that Hulk Hogan used to wear. He wore it to the ring for several months, never actually addressed the fact that he still had it, and was let go before anything could come of it.
** ''Current'' (at the time) WWE Intercontinental Champion Christian is going to appear on one of your pay per views? Do you try to turn an angle out of it? Promote it at all? No? Alright, then. (That said, it's uncertain whether they would be allowed to do so.)
** Remember that plot about a Samoa someone, a van and ninjas? That's alright, because there was no plot that came of it.
* UncannyValley: Angelina Love's makeup and outright [[BrainwashedAndCrazy entranced demeanor]] had her looking this way more and more during the middle stretch of her angle with Winter.
* UnintentionallySympathetic:
** For a couple of months, half of Immortal. Wrestling/{{Fortune}} was led by [[RedBaron "The Nature Boy"]] [[Wrestling/RicFlair Ric]] [[MemeticMutation "God!"]] [[Wrestling/RicFlair Flair]] and consisted of several wrestlers the likes of which have helped build TNA from the ground up yet had a very good case to say that they've been DemotedToExtra for any latest big name veteran fads that may go through the place. When they turned on Immortal using the same exact character premise, the crowd exploded in joy.
** Then there are the Jarretts; despite being portrayed as a CardCarryingVillain and his {{Golddigger}} wife, both with a chronic case of SmallNameBigEgo, Jeff and Karen have had fans supporting them over Kurt because it's been documented on-screen and speculated off-screen that Kurt treated Karen like shit during their marriage, not to mention he usurped Jarrett's SpotlightStealingSquad power and then invoked Jeff's children into their previous feud. The Jarretts managed to be FauxAffablyEvil enough to wear this down in good time, though, especially after filming the kids at home on air to demonstrate what a "perfect family" they were as part of their feud with Kurt.
** Then there are ODB and Wrestling/{{Jacqueline}}, who had legitimate gripe with being ousted from the Knockouts in favor of the current scantly clad, barely talented pieces of eye candy that currently populate the division. The pair claimed intent to "clean up the Knockouts", and THANK GOD, they were the faces in this feud, [[ALighterShadeOfGrey even if Sky was supposed to be the bigger face]].
*** The glaring disconnect of Velvet Sky suddenly cutting "I busted my butt to belong here" promos yet still bending her butt over and getting it kicked the exact same way as when she rolled as an AlphaBitch with Wrestling/TheBeautifulPeople (aside from the occasional blowoff DDT and pin, essentially ''winning less believably than Wrestling/JohnCena'') did not help this.
** There have been attempts to turn Wrestling/AJStyles into a {{Heel}}, and they've never really worked. He's simply too much of a nice guy to be a believable villain. Alternately, those heel turns ''did'' work, but rather than giving him heat, they worked in that they gave him CharacterDevelopment, which added some luster to him as a face. It also didn't hurt that TrueCompanions tended to be involved. Prime example would be Fortune, listed above.
** When [[Wrestling/{{Rhyno}} Rhino]] [[FaceHeelTurn turned heel]], he told Tommy Dreamer that he was only [[IDidWhatIHadToDo doing what he had to do]] to keep his job, and explicitly mentioned that he had to provide for his children. Understandable even in the best of times, and when the economy is as bad as it was, that's about as sympathetic as "heel" motives get.
** Dreamer's own heel turn about a half a year later at first saw Bully Ray gleefully forcing his hand in a way that was very much implied to be the same situation. Then he decided AJ and the fans were all {{Ungrateful Bastard}}s and worked with Bully Ray willingly before leaving weeks later.
** Wrestling/AustinAries has pulled this off later. Following Wrestling/JeffHardy's match with Bobby Roode before Bound for Glory, he came out and cut a promo (apparently completely different from what was scripted) calling out the TNA back room for giving Jeff Hardy preferential treatment, even though Austin was the defending [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/tna/tna-h.html TNA Champion]]. Come Bound for Glory, it appeared he had done the impossible once again, by getting the fans to boo Jeff Hardy.
* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic:
** Velvet Sky in the eyes of some fans, particularly during the "being bullied" angle she had going on at the start of her face turn. It didn't help that the angle was seen as a source of SnarkBait given ''her'' bullying of other knockouts as a part of [[GirlPosse The Beautiful People]] for nearly her entire career in TNA beforehand and was [[DesignatedHero only a face because her friends had turned against her]]. She became more of a true face later on after taking some time on a bus (and helping people in need following Hurricane Sandy in the meantime before TheBusCameBack).
** TNA got hit with this trope when they posted this [[http://impactwrestling.com/aj-styles/ statement]] on their website two days before the 2016 Wrestling/RoyalRumble, where it was rumored Wrestling/AJStyles was to make his WWE debut. The fans, instead of seeing AJ as a backstabber, saw TNA management as a bunch of incompetent, unprofessional dolts who were trying to screw over a wrestler that they had mistreated, who had been loyal to them for years. TNA was then put on blast by the entire Internet, including numerous wrestling personalities such as Wrestling/{{Tazz}}, for making themselves the laughingstock of the wrestling community once again.
* WereStillRelevantDammit: The Robbie E gimmick, initially. By 2012, it had been mostly divorced from ''Jersey Shore'' and thus gotten more bearable.
* WinTheCrowd: Wrestling/BobbyLashley's 2014 reign as TNA Champion was initially maligned by many a TNA fan due to being a muscular former WWE guy lacking in mic skills who only recently returned to action in TNA yet being given the championship over Eric Young. Since then, he hasn't been able to completely do away with his BrokenBase, but a lot more of it's on his side now as opposed to the other way around. He has quickly progressed through his reign as a beast mode monster heel fighting champion, with stellar main event title defenses against EY, Wrestling/JeffHardy, and Wrestling/AustinAries — all ''clean victories'' at that — during his first month with the belt. As for the talking, [[Wrestling/MontelVontaviousPorter MVP]] was there to take care of that when necessary, putting Lashley over like a million bucks every time. Furthermore, by being a less-talk, more-action titleholder, Lashley served as a perfect launching pad for TNA's latest attempt to return to its roots as the wrestling-based alternative (as opposed to wannabe competition) to WWE. He eventually lost the championship and exited the title picture as a face in 2015, but then won it back in 2016 in another monster heel push which saw him regarded as the best thing in the company next to Decay and Broken Matt Hardy, not only for being a complete badass juggernaut as a heel but also for his own much improved mic skills portraying the [[ArrogantKungFuGuy arrogant fighting champion]].
* WinBackTheCrowd: Lashley's title reign has also done this for the angle surrounding MVP's return and PowerStable. When MVP turned heel on EY and declared his challenge for Young's title, then formed his faction with Lashley and Kenny King, fans immediately jumped on TNA for rehashing their HostileShowTakeover formula ''yet again'', with MVP's "Era of the Wrestler" talk as the face who drove Dixie Carter out of power being promptly declared false. Then [[RealLifeWritesThePlot MVP blew out his knee]], Slammiversary became a straightforward wrestling show, and MVP's scheme was delayed until the following Impact where Lashley got the title instead, with MVP getting stripped of his power as well and becoming largely a mouthpiece for Lashley and a guide/occasional partner to King. While Lashley inevitably turned face and MVP became the leader of what became known as the Beat Down Clan, this iteration of the takeover plot was much better received due to the RealitySubtext of the members' friendships and the depth the storyline developed — until it gradually lost most of its key members and then abruptly came to an end due to a bad contract.
* TheWoobie:
** Wrestling/JeffJarrett, after Hogan buried him and his wife died.
** Wrestling/AJStyles, thanks to a pretty rough 2012, which not only saw him become the victim of a complicated scheme by Wrestling/ChristopherDaniels and Wrestling/FrankieKazarian to destroy his reputation via a woman named Claire Lynch, but also saw him become locked out of the TNA title scene until Bound For Glory 2013.
** Eric Young, due to head trauma related "idiot" phases
** Tommy Dreamer, but it wouldn't be Dreamer if he didn't suffer a little.
* XPacHeat:
** Applied to Wrestling/JeffJarrett in 2005, when fans were pleading him to "DROP THE TITLE!" He was [[FanNickname called "Triple J" by anti-fans]] due to comparisons to Wrestling/TripleH. This pretty much vanished around the time his wife died and he took less of an on-screen role with the company.
** He made fun of this at least once by actually [[ExactWords dropping the title on the mat]] during a promo.
*** This also helped go away after two more things: first, the notorious lumberjack strap match where, whenever he was out of the ring, he would promptly be beaten down by sixteen fans with leather belts (some of them ''actual'' fans) AND Wrestling/SamoaJoe. Second, for the smarks at least, Wrestling/HulkHogan's presence has helped to dull the hate, especially after he essentially buried Jarrett on-screen in a way that almost made Jarrett sympathetic. When he returned to in-ring action, he didn't even have any ''[[JobberEntrance entrance music]]'' for the first few months.
** Chris Sabin, Sonjay Dutt and Jay Lethal all got it when they were given a collective ''Series/{{Jackass}}'' FanBoy gimmick. Petey Williams and [[Wrestling/LowKi Senshi]] got it when they in turn sold the jackass pranks.
** Since Immortal began, several of the members (Hogan, Bischoff, and Jarrett) has been building X-Pac heat due to overexposure and really asinine moments (such as Hogan's "No more kayfabe" promo).
** Bubba The Love Sponge had this, chiefly because he was a barely-known radio show host who got into the company thanks to being friends with Hulk Hogan. When he got fired, pretty much the entire IWC exploded in joy.
** Chanting "You can't wrestle" at Garrett Bischoff.
** Dixie Carter won the 2013 PWI "Get Off My Screen Award", getting more votes than Wrestling/JohnCena and Wrestling/TheAuthority combined.
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