Top 10 Misconceptions About TNA/Impact Wrestling By Hakeem Fullerton

Intro: Thanks to the rise of the internet and the fact that a large number of journalists in wrestling can report and say almost anything they want.

So, it's unsurprising that TNA now known as Impact Wrestling has been seen by many in the industry or in the wrestling community as a bumbling mess of a company, who somehow have managed to avoid death thanks to the dedication of it's fans, the hard work and resolve of it's wrestlers/ employees and quite possibly a whole lot of luck.

However many tend to forget that the company in it's past and present form has been responsible for things that have not only helped to shape the industry into what it is today, but also set the template and foundation that other promotions like NXT, NWA, MLW and...yes even AEW.

While those in the industry who have a bigger platform than most like to report on the company's failings as oppose to the positive stuff they've done...and there's a lot, there have also been a number of misconceptions that fans have had about TNA/Impact thanks to shoot interviews from disgruntled ex-employees and those who looked down on the promotion to beginning with.

So, today I'm be talking about 10 Misconceptions About TNA/Impact Wrestling.

10. The Hogan/Bischoff Era Was The Worse Period In Company History

Now, I wouldn't lie to you and say that this period was the greatest as they've been a lot of things that have happened during the Hogan/Bischoff regime that halted the momentum the company had built for itself since it's 2002 debut.

However, that doesn't mean that the promotion completely fell apart during this period as a number of wrestlers saw their careers get elevated, not to mention that pay per views like Bound For Glory and Slammiversary produced some of the most memorable and iconic moments in the company's history like Jeff Hardy turning heel at BFG 2010 to the culmination of his redemption story by winning the TNA world title at BFG 2012, Sting being the first inductee into the TNA/Impact Hall of Fame at Slammiversary 2012, Kurt Angle getting inducted into the Hall of Fame a year later and so much more.

On top of this, the creation of things like the Bound For Glory Series Tournament, the short lived "TNA Reaction" T.V. show, and the successes of Destination X 2011 and 2012 lead to the birth of "Option C" which has become a staple in the history of the promotion but, also lead to a new wave in the X Division as wrestlers like TJP, Kenny King, Zema Ion, Douglas Williams and Austin Aries help to transition Impact's high flying division into becoming future stars both in and outside of TNA.

Plus, with the ability of hindsight and the period that was the GFW era in 2017, it's safe to say that the Hogan/Bischoff regime from 2010 to early 2014 wasn't all bad.

Did Bischoff and Hogan help in creating the problems that would plague the promotion years later?...yes, but they also did a number of previously mentioned things that did more good than a lot of people remember.

9. Dixie Carter Helped In Destroying The Company Rather Than Building It

When people aren't cursing out Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff for creating the problems that would consume the promotion for much of the mid 2010's, their pointing there fingers and laughing at former TNA president Dixie Carter, a women who thanks to shoot interviews from names like AJ Styles and specifically Jim Cornette have portrayed Dixie as a clueless millionaire in charge of a wrestling business.

Now TNA didn't fully go into WCW later 90's/ early 2000's era of bad, but things certainly weren't pretty.

However, those who only remember Dixie's role to the company as nothing more than a delusional pariah is not only disingenuous, but also not completely accurate.

If not for Dixie Carter's willingness to keep the company alive during one of it's most troubling periods then it's mostly likely that the former TNA Wrestling would of ended up like the original ECW and WCW: closed down and eventually added in the WWE revisionist history books.

And if not for Dixie's determination then the promotion would not be experiencing the boom period it faces today under the management of Scott D'Amore and Don Callis; But, Perhaps Dixie's greatest contribution to the company would have to be the fact that if not for her and her family's money then TNA would of have never have lasted as long as it has.

As the story goes, a company called HealthSouth Corporations was looking to finance the promotion during the NWA TNA days but pulled out at the last second leaving the company without any financial backing.

According to reports names like Jeff Jarrett, Scott Hall and Sean Waltman not only convinced Dixie put her family's money into the promotion but to have the Carter's purchase it through their own company, Panda Energy; As a result, TNA would be secure financially by the Carter's company until 2016.

So while we make funny of her for the decisions she's made during her time in power, It can't be argued that Dixie Carter is less of a pariah but more of an unsung hero in the company's existence.

8. The WWE Has Never Stolen Ideas Or Gimmicks From TNA/Impact

One of the many claims to infamy that the company has garnered throughout it's existence is that they copy the ideas or gimmicks from the WWE all while trying to pass it off as there own, and while there is proof to back that up, a lot of wrestling fans fail to mention the numerous times that the WWE themselves have also blatantly ripped off the ideas and gimmicks that have made TNA/Impact so successful.

From the current version of NXT to the creation of the WWE Women's Tag Team Titles and the Evolution pay per view to Corporate Kane being a knockoff version of Joseph Parks to the multiple attempts the WWE has done to tried and failed remake the infamous Claire Lynch storyline, the WWE has been guilty of copying TNA/Impact Wrestling just as much.

So why is it that no one mentions? Well as the old saying goes "History is written by the victors" and when it comes to the WWE, no promotion in wrestling is the biggest victor then them in regards to their popularity and influence in the world of wrestling and media.

7. They Were Never A True Alternative

Another false accusation people will use when talking about TNA/Impact is that the promotion never really were a true alternative to the WWE in the same breath that promotions like the original ECW and WCW was?...expect that couldn't be any farther from the truth.

The term 'Alternative' is defined as being "One or more things available as another possibility".

For starters, TNA was the first promotion since the old WWF Rock n' Wrestling days to make women's wrestling actually feel and become an aspect in the sport while other promotions never really made female athletes competing against each other in the ring feel like something of great importance.

The company has also spent much of it's existence as an edgier product than it's contemporaries all while giving it's wrestlers the freedom to experiment with new ideas and gimmicks that prove to be successful.

Impact has also given it's fans the opportunity to enjoy various styles of wrestling whether it's the high flying antics that helped to make the X Division what it is, the hardcore mentally shown by names like Abyss and Sami Callihan or even the B-movie style of storytelling that launched names like "Broken" Matt Hardy, Su Yung and Rosemary into popularity.

People tend to look at promotions like AEW or NJPW as a "True Alternative" when in reality every promotion in wrestling is a alterative to the WWE, it all depends on your taste.

6. The Company Can't Make New Stars

If you take away the usual names like AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Eric Young, Gail Kim, Abyss, EC3, James Storm, Bobby Roode, and Samoa Joe you'll hear people say how Impact in it's current form "Can't Make Any New Stars" before adding some kind of gif or emoji on social media in an attempt to make their point across.

So with that said, here's a list wrestlers that have created or established thanks to Impact Wrestling in last couple of years: Taya Valkyrie, Rosemary, Moose, The Lucha Brothers, Santana and Ortiz, Rockstar Spud, Allie, Laurel Van Ness/Chelsea Green, Rich Swann, Ace Austin, Killer Kross, Scarlett Bordeaux, Mia Yim, Eli Drake and the list goes on and on and on.

Plus, names like Brian Cage, Mia Yim, Angel Garza/Garza Jr., Tessa Blanchard, Sami Callihan, The Young Bucks, Ethan Page, John Morrison/Johnny Impact and even Okada have mentioned or credited TNA/Impact for helping them to break into the mainstream world of Pro Wrestling whilst creating gimmicks that have helped to establish their legacies and popularity in the sport.

Besides, why would other companies be interested in signing many of these names onto their roster, if not for the work Impact Wrestling made into making these wrestlers into stars.

5. Impact Has Never Done Anything Better Than The WWE

WWE may be bigger than Impact Wrestling in a myriad of ways but, that doesn't mean that wrestling's greatest underdog hasn't done better than the WWE throughout it's existence.

In 2017, Impact Wrestling went to India to airing it's weekly episodic content in the country, making them the first and to date only wrestling promotion to do so (something that unsurprisingly people don't like to talk about as it paints Impact in a positive light).

In 2019, Impact Wrestling managed to acquired various TV Deals in the Philippines, Africa, Ireland and the U.K. with the company airing it's content on channels like e.tv and Tap Digital Media Venture Corp. or TAPDMV for short.

Not contend with having a better channel in the U.K. than the WWE, Impact has also managed to have better ratings than episodes of Raw and Smackdown on multiple occasions.

In short, Impact may not compare to the WWE when it comes to the business side of things but when it comes to providing a wrestling product that'll have you coming back for more than Impact Wrestling is simply second to none both in the United States and International.

4. Wrestling You Tubers and Journalists Always Report "The Truth" About TNA/Impact

Depending on how old you are, it's probably safe to say that your view points on Impact Wrestling and it's current product have been provided to you by names like Dave Meltzer, Bryan Alvarez, Jim Cornette, Ryan Satin and even channels like Whatculture Wrestling are responsible for spreading and propagandizing the negative perception that TNA/Impact Wrestling is a promotion that can do no right and that their a company that shouldn't be seen in the same light as other promotions who continuous improve and change the wrestling world.

Whenever reports talking about the company are made, they always tend to portray Impact as if it's always the truth.

Stories like Brian Cage signing with another promotion or the allegations against Tessa Blanchard have either been prove false or they don't have the entire story published when the truth is clearing out there and this only feeds the negativity perception of Impact Wrestling.

Words of advice, if a journalist, YouTuber or wrestling personality has a history of talking about a certain company in a negative light more than positive...then it's best to take everything they say with a large grain of salt.

Instead, you can watch the product for a couple of weeks and afterwards you can create your own opinions on whether the brand is really as good or bad as everyone says it is.

3. The Company Doesn't Get People Talking (Unless It's Negative)

How many times have you read an article or watched a video mentioning Impact and it usually talks about a scandal, a controversy or embarrassing blunder that has occurred with the company and it's the first recent piece of Impact related news you've read or heard about in months if not years.

So you then begin to wonder if there any positive stories or reports about the company and there is...the only thing is you have to find it on your own and you begin to realize that a lot of reports or videos aren't made discussing them.

This has created a misconception that the company can't get fans or anyone to talk about them unless the story is negative; While those with an agenda don't tend to mention it a whole lot, Impact Wrestling has actually done things over the last couple of years that deserve to be mentioned in video or article form like Impact and it's parent company, Anthem Sports purchasing AXS TV, to the number of TV deals they have in various countries around the global to Impact being the fifth most trending topic not once but twice in 2019 to even Tessa Blanchard being the first woman to win a World Championship in a Major U.S. wrestling promotion.

As I said before, the truth about what happens with a certain promotion is out there, it's just unfortunate that the truth in Impact's case isn't as interesting to hear as it is their short comings.

2. Pushing Establish Names Over Their Own Home Grown Talent

This use to be the Achilles heel when discussing TNA/Impact as the company sign names like the Nasty Boys, Orlando Jordan, Alberto El Patron, Aron Rex, Bruce Pritchard, Booker T among many other washed up or established names who have been portrayed more dominantly than the wrestlers who have been the with the company since day one.

This stigma plagued the company for quite some time especially during the Hogan/Bischoff era.

However, since the late 2010's into the new decade more and more wrestling companies are becoming more guilty of using aging and establish names from yesteryear to generate ratings at they expense of the young and hungry talent that they should be creating, while Impact has been creating new stars over the years.

What makes it more laughable, is that many of those establish names are people that wrestled in TNA/Impact for years: AJ Styles, Jay Lethal, Samoa Joe, Christopher Daniels, Bobby Roode, James Storm and even recent names like the Lucha Brothers, Killer Kross, Eli Drake, Santana and Ortiz and many others have become the main or important stars in promotions like NWA, NJPW, AEW, ROH, MLW and of course the WWE.

Maybe there's reason why this misconception doesn't get mentioned when discussing the issues regarding the current Impact Wrestling product anymore.

1. They Were Never Competition To The WWE

And here it is...the biggest misconception in TNA/Impact Wrestling history; You will heard "experts" write in articles or report in videos that TNA/Impact was never really competition to the WWE which of course as well all know is completely untrue.

The WWE has always seen TNA/Impact as competition, whether their stealing the company's ideas and gimmicks to that time the WWE deliberately brought back Bret "The Hitman" Hart in 2010 because TNA was airing their show with Hulk Hogan on Monday Nights to the rise of the Divas/Women's revolution in 2015" to even that scripted remark made by then Raw GM Kurt Angle in 2018 when he told Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn "I heard that TNA is hiring".

This myth about TNA/Impact never being competition to the WWE like all they other misconceptions on this list have been proven false and remember it's better to watch the show for yourself and created your own opinions about a wrestling promotion rather than listening and following the herd aka the Internet Wrestling Community.

If you enjoyed my article/ blog, please leave your thoughts below and follow me on Blogger, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

And for more Wrestling Related Lists like this one, here are the links to some of them down below:

Impact Wrestling Archives: Dan Severn and The 1st NWA TNA PPV:
https://blogofwrestling52.blogspot.com/2020/03/impact-wrestling-archives-dan-severn.html

11 Forgotten Old School Wrestling Scandals:
https://blogofwrestling52.blogspot.com/2020/03/11-forgotten-old-school-wrestling.html

Top 10 Best Things Under The Dixie Carter Regime:

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Top 10 Misconceptions About TNA/Impact Wrestling By Hakeem Fullerton

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