10 WWE Stars TNA/IMPACT Wrestling Failed To Sign

Before AEW came along, the main alternative for one-time WWE wrestlers in a post-ECW and WCW world was TNA Wrestling.

Though the promotion was rarely what you would call ‘stable’, it was always a place for established stars to ply their trade and many made the jump over the years. Many, but not all, because try as Dixie Carter and co. might, there were just some talents who they wanted but just couldn’t have.

Some of them came close but, eventually, decided against life in the IMPACT Zone.

Alas, TNA Wrestling’s ability to compete with WWE for top talent would fall away as the 2010s wore on, but IMPACT Wrestling continues to this day, producing a weekly show that should be watched by more people.

Check out 10 WWE stars that TNA failed to sign below!

10. Edge

Outside of a couple of early-day enhancement matches for WCW, Edge has basically been a WWE lifer.

After making their names on the indies, he and best friend Christian were signed by WWE in the late 90s, grinded their way through Dory Funk Jr’s training camp before being brought to television, ultimately becoming two of the breakout stars of the Attitude Era.

Captain Charisma eventually left WWE for TNA in 2005, frustrated with his lack of main event opportunities, while Edge stayed and became the Rated-R WWE Champion.

A few years later, however, the Ultimate Opportunist did consider an opportunity with WWE’s then-closest competition.

Edge revealed during a 2017 podcast appearance that his contract was coming up in either 2008 or 09 and somebody from TNA Wrestling reached out to him to discuss money and schedule. The idea of working fewer dates for decent pay was appealing to the Canadian, whose beaten-up body was very much feeling the effects of a taxing career.

He was also attracted by the possibility of working with fresh opponents and meeting back up with Christian, but in the end, turned it down as WWE felt like home.

9. Shelton Benjamin

There was a time – when he was getting big victories over Triple H in the main event of Raw before having a long reign with the Intercontinental Title – that it looked as though Shelton Benjamin would break through and become a top-tier WWE superstar.

It never quite happened, though, as the Gold Standard had a damn good run – winning the IC, United States and WWE Tag Team titles – but never broke out into that main-eventers club.

When he was released in 2010, it was expected that he would be a man in high demand.

And so it came to be, with the former amateur standout getting plenty of work for groups like Ring of Honor, as well as in Japan for New Japan Pro-Wrestling and Pro Wrestling NOAH.

People likely expected him to show up in TNA, but it didn’t transpire. After getting badgered with questions about it via social media, Benjamin addressed the situation on Twitter in 2015, writing that the two sides did have discussions and were eager to do business together, but that a ‘mutually satisfactory agreement’ could not be reached.

8. Jim Ross

TNA didn’t just try to sign wrestlers who had worked for WWE.

Over time, they also welcomed into the fold former WWE referees, managers, production staff, and writers in a bid to improve their product.

One person they tried to bring over who would have made a huge difference is Jim Ross.

Good Ol’ JR was synonymous with the WWE product, having worked backstage as the top dog in talent relations and on-camera as the lead announcer of both Raw and SmackDown. His time in the company had, at times, been tumultuous, however, with a couple of high-profile firings and some televised ‘ribbing’ that had to rankle.

TNA made a play for him in the early 2010s, with Eric Bischoff passing on the Hall of Famer’s details to Dixie Carter, who flew him to the family ranch in Texas for talks.

As Ross explained on his podcast, he enjoyed socialising with the Carters and did consider their offer, but ultimately declined because he left the meeting unsure about his job description, company structure, and the backstage atmosphere he was walking into.

7. Rey Mysterio

When Rey Mysterio received his WWE release in 2015, every other wrestling organisation in the world was salivating at the prospect of booking one of the top luchadors in the world.

TNA were naturally interested and reached out to Rey about coming in. The two sides held talks and Mysterio was receptive to working some matches, but didn’t want to be tied down to a contract.

That didn’t work for TNA, who obviously wanted him locked into an exclusive deal. So the master of the 619 did the indie and international thing instead, before showing up in Lucha Underground.

A few years later, IMPACT were still trying to get their man and were negotiating to bring him in for their April 2018 tapings.

However, according to reports, there was a snag during the finalisation of the deal when Rey’s representative Konnan got involved and the Biggest Little Man was back in WWE full-time by the end of the year.

6. Ultimate Warrior

When TNA was looking to launch in the summer of 2002, Jeff Jarrett tried to get in as many major stars as he could in a bid to draw interest.

The likes of Sean ‘X-Pac’ Waltman, Scott Hall, Ken Shamrock and BG ‘Road Dogg’ James were all on board, but Double J reached out to many more performers who had been major deals in previous eras.

Such as Sid, who was prepping to make a comeback following the gruesome leg injury he suffered in a WCW ring, as well as big names like Chyna and Randy Savage.

Jarrett also had a couple of conversations with the Ultimate Warrior, who hadn’t been seen in the business since his disastrous run with WCW almost four years earlier.

His pitch was the same one given to other talents such as Curt Hennig and Rick Steiner, that TNA was a startup and they weren’t looking for a long-term commitment, at that point simply attempting to do one show per week for six months.

Warrior listened but passed, deciding to put all of his energy into his infamous public speaking career.

5. Paul Heyman

According to Paul Heyman himself, TNA had been trying to get him on the phone since the day he left WWE in December of 2006.

The man behind ECW didn’t take their calls, though, wishing instead to divorce himself temporarily from the wrestling business in order to focus on other endeavours.

With the help of Spike TV, TNA finally managed to speak with Heyman in 2010. They were interested in bringing him in to help with the booking and creative direction of the company.

Heyman was also interested in getting back into wrestling, but as he revealed in later interviews, had some demands before he would sign up. According to him, he wanted complete control of the brand’s direction, as well as a stake in the company and the ability to, should the time come, take the company public.

The Carter family was ready and willing to acquiesce, but baulked at Heyman’s proposal to make TNA a more youth-oriented promotion and get rid of everyone on the roster over the age of 40.

With the likes of Sting, Kurt Angle, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair and other influential figures on the roster at the time, Dixie wasn’t prepared to sanction that and the two sides went their separate ways.

4. Ryback

You forget that Ryback was, at one point in time, quite the big deal.

These days he’s more likely to be mocked online rather than anything positive he’s done in the ring, but he was on fire back in 2012 and had a hell of a run in WWE.

Ryback, however, eventually got tired of WWE and left the company in 2016, with the gut reaction from many sections of the fanbase being that the Big Guy could be a big fish in a smaller pond, with TNA being the natural destination in their minds.

Post-WWE, though, Ryback hasn’t really done much wrestling at all, working a handful of indies but otherwise choosing to focus on his other business ventures. Although he has claimed he is planning an in-ring return at some point soon.

TNA were interested in 2016, though, with Ryback stating that they did make an offer to him but he had no interest with everything else that was going on at the time.

3. CM Punk

CM Punk did actually work for TNA during their early years, before he decided to choose Ring of Honor over them when TNA issued an ‘us or them’ edict in 2004. One of the ones that got away, the Straight-Edge Superstar went on to become a massive star in WWE, before sensationally walking out and quitting in early 2014.

Fancying their chances over a decade on from Punk saying goodbye to them, TNA made a play for his services in late 2014. According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, the deal (sent via an intermediary) was almost ‘Hogan-esque.’

As became obvious in the years after the Second City Saint’s WWE walkout, Punk was definitely not in the place to consider a return to the business at that point and didn’t put pen to paper.

Punk would ultimately come back to pro wrestling in 2021 as part of AEW.

2. Chris Jericho

Though Chris Jericho has been loyal to and had a strong relationship with Vince McMahon for over 20 years, he has also shown that he’s not afraid to move on and work for someone else when necessary.

He’s shown up in New Japan and now flies the AEW flag, but things might have been different and he could have been singing the praises of Dixie Carter instead.

When Jericho left WWE in the summer of 2005, TNA were rapidly gaining momentum and were soon able to attract plenty of big-time stars like Christian Cage, Sting, and Kurt Angle.

With Y2J no longer tied to a WWE contract, publicly praising up-and-comers like Samoa Joe and AJ Styles and living on the doorstep of TNA’s home base of Universal Studios in Orlando, it was a no-brainer that TNA would attempt to bring him in.

Fuel was added to the fire when TNA licensed a Fozzy song to use on a promotional video and Jericho put a TNA logo on his website. Though Jericho met Dixie Carter and Jeff Jarrett for lunch in Tampa, he knew in his heart and mind that he would always go back to WWE and politely turned down their offer.

1. Goldberg

When TNA were on the rise and trying their best to get as close to WWE as possible, a prevailing theory was that they just needed that one major mainstream star to take them to the next level.

The idea being that if a Steve Austin or Brock Lesnar showed up in the IMPACT Zone that the fans would flock and the money would roll in. They could never afford either of those, of course, but they did try their luck with Goldberg several times over the years.

They first pitched him in 2005, as they were about to start on Spike TV, with rumours a year later claiming that Da Man was on his way in for a feud with Samoa Joe. There was mutual interest there, but they couldn’t agree on terms and talks quietened down for a few years.

Then during the Hogan-Bischoff era, they tried again, but Goldberg turned them down once more because he viewed the promotion as ‘minor league’ and didn’t want to tarnish his legacy.

One final push came in 2015 but also fell on deaf ears, and Goldberg was back in WWE not too long after.