The 10 Most Overpushed TNA Wrestlers Each Year In The 2000s
TNA starting in 2002 provided a new promotion for the wrestlers on the free-agent market outside of WWE. Jeff Jarrett’s concept created a company that is still going today after various rebranding efforts. The 2000s were the time frame where fans had the most belief in TNA to become a strong alternative to WWE after WCW went out of business.
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Unfortunately, TNA spent a lot of time putting effort into booking the wrong wrestlers into important roles. There were enough negative instances of talents getting used too strong despite other better choices existing on the roster. In the 2000s, TNA overpushed a handful of wrestlers who could have gone without such a huge spotlight.
8 2002: R-Truth
TNA used the first year to figure out which wrestlers were the ones to build the company around. R-Truth was an early TNA signing after his first WWE run as K-Kwik ended in disappointment. TNA used him under his real name of Ron Killings.
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The NWA World Heavyweight Championship was the title used by TNA as their main championship. R-Truth defeated Ken Shamrock to become the second champion in the company. The push didn’t match the results as R-Truth didn’t stand out as much as other rising stars like AJ Styles, Low Ki, and others at the time.
7 2003: Glenn Gilberti
Disco Inferno continued wrestling after WCW under his real name of Glenn Gilberti. WWE had zero interest in Gilberti and he made his way to TNA thanks to some of his best friends working in the company in the early years.
2003 saw Vince Russo joining the company and coming up with the Sports Entertainment Xtreme faction. Gilberti was pushed way too hard in the group and even received a world title shot against AJ Styles. Any promotion putting the former Disco Inferno in a world title match clearly overrated him.
6 2004: Jeff Jarrett
The biggest complaint about TNA as they attempted to grow was that Jeff Jarrett was getting pushed too hard. Any scenario with a promoter putting himself in the world title spot is bound to create controversy among wrestlers and fans.
Jarrett won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in June of 2004 and held it for the rest of the year. Wrestling fans compared Jarrett’s title run to Triple H’s reign of terror in WWE. TNA would not start to truly grow until Jarrett was removed from the title picture.
5 2005: Kevin Nash
Kevin Nash joining TNA gave them another former star from WWE and WCW. The older age of Nash made it a poor decision to push him as hard as they did. Nash was the face TNA wanted to feud with Jeff Jarrett after their short faction with Scott Hall ended.
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Various injuries prevented Nash from appearing at TNA’s two biggest events of the year. TNA made a horrible call putting Nash in the main event of the first Bound for Glory which was meant to be their biggest show of the year. 2006 saw TNA realizing Nash was better in a secondary role instead of a face of the company.
4 2006: Scott Steiner
The WWE failure of Scott Steiner saw him taking a relaxed schedule for almost two years before joining TNA. Steiner debuted for TNA in a huge fashion, brutally attacking Sting and becoming part of Jeff Jarrett’s faction Planet Jarrett.
The addition of Steiner saw him placed into the main event picture with Jarrett, Sting, Christian Cage, and Samoa Joe. Steiner was over the hill and could no longer perform at the highest level. TNA found more success with Steiner as a tag team wrestler or upper mid-carder where he added depth to the roster.
3 2007: Kurt Angle
Kurt Angle is clearly going to be the best overall talent on the list, but TNA spent a little too much building him up in 2007. The debut for the company in late 2006 provided huge excitement. TNA didn’t even pretend to wait before elevating Angle above everyone else.
Angle’s storyline of winning every male TNA title showed just how bad the push was getting. The act grew stale faster than expected and Angle would have a better 2008 when turning face. TNA booking Angle above every other in 2007 just hurt the rising stars having to take a backseat.
2 2008: Booker T
The free agent signing of Booker T in late 2007 was meant to be a huge addition to the company on the level of Kurt Angle, Sting, and Christian Cage. Booker had less motivation than those names when joining TNA with his wife Sharmell.
The radio show of Booker has seen him admit he treated TNA like a paid vacation to confirm rumors he didn’t care as much. Booker was Samoa Joe’s top rival for the TNA World Championship and the feud hurt Joe’s reign greatly. The signing of Booker turned out to be a negative as he represented the fear of veterans taking TNA’s money with little care for the product.
1 2009: Mick Foley
Mick Foley joining TNA was a positive move when he played a face authority figure adding another major star to the roster. However, TNA convinced Foley to come out of retirement and receive a big push in 2009.
Foley defeated Sting to win the TNA World Championship in a desperate move to create interest. The programs with Kurt Angle, Kevin Nash, and Abyss all missed the mark throughout the year. Foley had no business being in the ring at his age following the injuries and it led to TNA hurting their future by making him a top competitor again.
