Impact Wrestling has been struggling for quite some time as it has undergone management changes, name changes, and a significant roster overhaul. In the past year alone, the company has lost some of its biggest stars in Bobby Lashley, EC3, the Hardy Boyz, and Rockstar Spud, among others. Similarly, other wrestlers have simply decided to leave the company seemingly out of nowhere to seek opportunities elsewhere. It's hard to fault them, considering the state of the company, although there have been some promising signs moving forward. Impact recently signed Austin Aries and has since made him its champion, while it has also added promising young independent wrestlers and established stars like Rich Swann. It has also undertaken other actions to interest fans like unveiling new championship belts.

While any growth is going to be slow, there have at least been positive signs as of late. The May 17 episode of Impact Wrestling was watched by 326,000 viewers om Pop TV, which was up from the 295,000 who watched the week prior. Last year's May 18 episode was watched by 272,000 people. With that in mind, you have to believe the company intends on maintaining that momentum by adding established names - both former WWE wrestlers and up-and-coming talents - to its roster.

16 Want To Sign: James Ellsworth

It might seem silly to the average wrestling fan that anybody would want to sign James Ellsworth, but he has WWE name recognition and that goes a long way with secondary promotions. While he's hardly a polished in-ring performer, he has been wrestling for more than a decade and knows how the industry works. He doesn't have to work in serious matches as a believable competitor, either - he just has to provide an element of comedy and he has certainly done that during his time in WWE. Moreover, since being released by WWE, Ellsworth has carved out a niche on the independent circuit as the Inter-gender Champion. Something similar could work in Impact, which often needs to employ non-traditional means of drawing an audience.

Ellsworth actually made his Impact debut in May during the One Night Only: Cali Combat show, although he has still yet to be signed to a contract. In fact, instead of having him booked in comedic fashion, he actually scored a victory over the much larger Kal Jack via a low blow and some No Chin Music. Remember, "Any man with two hands has a fighting chance." After the match, Ellsworth hinted at working with Impact again in the future.

15 Staying Away From: Adam Rose

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If you were in a coma or just stopped watching WWE altogether for whatever reason from 2014 to 2016, consider yourself lucky. While you might have missed some quality matches, you also missed the entirety of Adam Rose's run in the WWE. The 38 year old South African debuted on the Raw after WrestleMania XXX and was soon after followed by one of his Rosebuds, The Bunny, which was an actual dude wrestling in a bunny suit. The whole thing resulted in inter-species matches and ridiculous storylines, while Rose himself gained a less than impressive reputation behind the scenes. He was arrested in 2016 for domestic violence and subsequently suspended and released by the company.

Wrestling as Krugar, Rose continues to be active on the independent circuit and has recently worked for promotions such as MCW Pro Wrestling, Atomic Wrestling Entertainment, and Superstars of Wrestling Federation, despite stating a year ago he was retiring from the industry. While he would bring decent name recognition to Impact, there's no indication that the company is - or would be - interested in him and with good reason. He has a concerning history with domestic violence and isn't much of a draw anymore - not that he ever really was.

14 Want To Sign: Davey Boy Smith Jr.

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Bloodline is an important thing in the world of professional wrestling. For starters, being the son or daughter of a wrestler immediately gives you an edge given you would have grown up in the industry and, beyond that, it helps your draw. That applied to Davey Boy Smith Jr., who had the privilege of being trained by the likes of his father, Bruce Hart, and Chris Benoit, among others. After cutting his teeth in New Japan, he was signed by WWE in 2006 and made his main roster debut that same year, although he didn't experience much success until 2009 as a member of The Hart Dynasty. He was a two-time Tag Team Champion with Tyson Kidd and is now a member of the Canadian Wrestling Hall of Fame.

While he has been out of the WWE since 2011, he continues to wrestle in New Japan, where he is a three-time IWGP Tag Team Champion with Lance Archer. He's still only 32 years old and could significantly bolster Impact's roster given his name alone. However, his return to the United States might be a little complicated. Jake "The Snake" Roberts previously filed charges against Smith Jr. for throwing coffee at him after Roberts made a comment about his father. Roberts has since dropped the charges, but the New Orleans Police department recently released the following statement:

"Since this is a municipal charge, the victim can withdraw all charges by going through the city attorney's office once the perpetrator has been located and either arrested or issued a summons. As far as we are aware, Smith is still wanted at this time."

13 Staying Away From: Simon Gotch

Just because someone was in WWE doesn't always make them a worthy signing. Usually there's a reason Vince McMahon let someone go, whether it be poor draw, a lack of ability or willingness to improve, or a poor attitude. Simon Gotch is a mixture of all three, which is why the 35 year old California native is working shows for lower-tier promotions. The former NXT Tag Team Champion as the Vaudevillains alongside Aiden English appeared in three Ring of Honor shows toward the end of 2017, but has since been limited to lesser known promotions like Major League Wrestling, Zero Pro Wrestling, and FEST Wrestling, and Xtreme Intense Championship Wrestling.

In an interview following his release, Gotch stated he was OK with the WWE's decision to release him as he was unhappy with his role:

"Aiden English is getting an opportunity to show himself as a solid singles competitor. I'm going to get the opportunity to show that I'm capable of more than just being the character. Realistically speaking, both of our careers will be better for it. It played out the best it could have."

After a period of stagnation, English has now filled a vital role as the mouthpiece for Rusev, while it's impossible to argue Gotch's career has gone the way he expected. Impact would gain nothing by signing him.

12 Want To Sign: The Colons

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Primo and Epico Colon will be out of a contract by the end of the year considering how the WWE has used the talented tag team in the past year or so. In fact, the team has hardly been on TV at all save for being used in a gauntlet match and, if you were a casual fan of the WWE you might have thought they were already released and working elsewhere. While they have continued to wrestle at live events, they have only been on SmackDown Live three times since the 2017 Superstar Shakeup.

Prior to that, the team was given opportunities as the Shining Stars, Los Matadores, and simply as Primo and Epico. Clearly there has to be a point where McMahon is ready to finally move on, even if they represent the company's sole Puerto Rican presence. "They're extremely talented, but it’s all about finding the right avenue for them," said Carlito in a recent Sports Illustrated interview. "There are a lot of guys there like that. There is a lot of talent there, and you need to find the right way to exploit it." That hasn't happened due primarily to fan apathy, but Impact could certainly use their in-ring talent.

11 Staying Away From: Rosa Mendes

Impact could certainly use an influx of female talent, especially given the sudden departure of the promising Laurel Van Ness. It recently signed Rich Swann and his wife, Yu Sung, who quickly became the promotion's Knockouts Champion. But there's still plenty of work to do in building the women's division. With that said, one wrestler even Impact needs to stay away from is Rosa Mendes. The 38 year old Canadian worked in a variety of roles with WWE from 2006 to 2017, during which time she primarily worked in valet roles and didn't really amount to much in the ring, although she is a former OVW Women's Champion. While she might bring name recognition to Impact, she's not worth the headache.

Despite retiring in 2017, she's on the comeback trail in 2018 and sounds similar to Lana in her ambitions:

"I want to make history as a woman that was known as just a pretty face and garnish to a fierce in-ring competitor, and I won’t stop until I make that happen." She said she plans on wrestle independent shows every weekend and eventually sign with a major promotion, but her troubled past and lack of in-ring ability wouldn't be all that attractive to any promotion, let alone one with a relatively decent reputation.

10 Want To Sign: Emma

One woman Impact should consider for its Knockouts division is Emma who, unlike Rosa Mendes, has a great reputation and is quite talented in the ring. In fact, her release from WWE was actually quite surprising given she looked impressive in a pair of defeats against the debuting Asuka and did exactly what she was expected to do. The 29 year old was with the company since 2011 and, while she didn't win a championship, had some memorable matches and earned recognition as the No. 31 ranked wrestler on the PWI Female 50 in 2015.

Emma is now competing in Ring of Honor under her real name Tenille Dashwood and is largely there due to advice received from Cody Rhodes: "With WWE you don’t always get to do things the way you like to do them, so now he said to remember that I'm in control and can do things my way. To be doing things for a reason and to wrestle around the world. And not to do it for job, but to do it because you love and enjoy it and travel and meet people and wrestle. It was to remember all that."

She may not be able to have that same type of control in Impact, but money talks and she's almost certain to earn a bigger contract there. There's already a relationship there as, in January, she wrestled for an Impact show streaming on Twitch.

9 Staying Away From: Damien Sandow

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Damien Sandow, or Damien Mizdow if you remember him better as The Miz's stunt double, worked in WWE's developmental system from 2003 to 2007 and later returned in 2010, ending up on the main roster in 2012 and staying there until 2016. During that time, he was a one-time WWE Tag Team Champion and winner of the 2013 Money in the Bank contract, although he became the second wrestler to unsuccessfully cash in on his contract. Upon being released from WWE, he worked for TNA/Impact, but was never officially signed to a contract, instead working on a week-by-week basis. He left in April to focus on his acting career.

"I don't know if this is going to be it for me, because you know I'm no longer with Impact," he told Title Match Wrestling. Ending on this note is not a bad thing. I'm not saying that I'm never going to get in the ring again, but this is pretty cool and I'd much rather have people remember me for all the good stuff than to... try and hang on. I've had an awesome, awesome career."

He hasn't been accepting bookings since leaving Impact, but he clarified he isn't officially retired yet. Still, he's clearly not dedicated to wrestling anymore; it would be a mistake for Impact to try to convince him to return.

8 Want To Sign: Jeff Cobb

Jeff Cobb might not be one of the most well-known names on the independent circuit, but he's a super talented in-ring performer who is in demand by seemingly every promotion not named WWE. He has been working with Lucha Underground as "The Monster" Matanza Cueto since 2015 and is also affiliated with New Japan, Progress Wrestling, and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, where he is a former Tag Team Champion with the highly-coveted Matt Riddle. It should be no surprise, then, that Cobb is being sought after by Impact Wrestling. The 35 year old native of Hawaii apparently wants to work more frequently with New Japan, but the Wrestling Observer Newsletter recently reported that he had been in talks with Impact Wrestling.

Impact had reportedly wanted him under contract for its early 2018 tapings, but a deal couldn't be worked out. In 2014, he had an unsuccessful tryout with WWE, which he said fueled him to get better:

"I left there saying 'OK, you know what? I'm going to prove them wrong that I am a good commodity to have.' So, I took it as a challenge and I think after 2014 when I left the tryout, I think I made the correct decision and put a little more buzz in my stock. If they come around again we'll see where it takes me."

Signing with Impact would definitely get WWE's attention. Just ask half the WWE roster.

7 Staying Away From: MVP

A former WWE Tag Team Champion and two-time United States Champion, Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) worked with the company from 2005 to 2010 and later resurfaced in TNA/Impact in 2014 and spent a year there in the main event picture before being released as a result of a contract dispute between TNA and Lucha Underground. Despite being 44 years old, MVP has spoken in the past about a desire to return to WWE in the right circumstance and has even based TNA/Impact management and, although there's new bosses in town, it's unlikely they're willing to bring back someone with a negative history in the company.

"I’ll tell you exactly what happened to me. An executive there made a bad decision," MVP said during a 2017 interview. "He screwed up and fired me for his mistake. I've always said that I don't have any animosity towards TNA; the production crew, the locker room, everybody was great. You just have some really poor management. People in positions that didn’t know what they were doing."

He also called TNA/Impact "RC Cola," whereas WWE is "Coca Cola." If that ain't a damning indictment of a company than I don't know what is. We're definitely more likely to see him back in WWE before he steps foot in an Impact ring again.

6 Want To Sign: Teddy Hart

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A quick look to Twitter gives you an idea of where Teddy Hart is in his career right now. The 38 year old's handle is @TeddyHartIsBACK, although "back" in this case really refers to him wrestling on the independent circuit and with AAA; in fact, the troubled superstar hasn't been all that relevant since he worked for Ring of Honor in 2009, but he's working to change that. Before that, he gained fame as the youngest wrestler ever signed to WWE when he was signed at 18 years old in 1998, although he never made it to the main roster and was released due to attitude problems that have since followed him throughout his career. In late 2017, he spent time in jail following an arrest resulting from a DUI in which he also attempted to evade law enforcement.

He worked for TNA/Impact in 2003 and recently stated in an interview with SLAM! Wrestling that he would be interested in working for the promotion once again:

"I still love wrestling. When promoters and fans meet me, they realize a lot of the stuff said about me is bull----. I am getting more bookings than at almost any other time in my career and I have been having talks with Impact Wrestling." That was proven true when he wrestled a tag team match with Scott Steiner at the Impact/Lucha Underground show in New Orleans on April 4. His name value alone can draw some eyeballs to the product.

5 Staying Away From: Dulce Maria García Rivas

Dulce Maria García Rivas is a 35 year old Mexican superstar who has competed as Sexy Star in AAA/Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide for a number of years and also wrestled in Lucha Underground and Shimmer Women Athletics. She's regarded as a talented in-ring worker as evidenced by the fact she's a three-time AAA Reina de Reinas Champion and was ranked No. 9 on the PWI Female 50 in 2016. Based on talent alone, the masked superstar would be an incredible addition to Impact Wrestling, but there's a few problems with that potential scenario. At TripleMania in 2017, she was facing Impact star Rosemary and purposely injured her arm with a legitimate armbar toward the end of the match. Not only would her working in Impact be a slap in the face to Rosemary, but it would be a poor decision in general as few promotions want to work with Sexy Star.

Sexy Star herself disputes the alleged injury:

"I didn’t worry about the situation because I repeat, and I saw her with my own two eyes, I did not see that she was injured and that she wasn’t being tended to by medical personnel, much less need to have the use of medical equipment if she was injured. In my professional wrestling career, I have seen injuries, and I have been victim to accidents and believe me, nothing of the sort happened at the Reina de Reinas title match that night at TripleMania XXV." However, her reputation has ultimately been tarnished.

4 Want To Sign: Enzo Amore

It's hard to really get a grasp on what Impact is trying to do at times because they have apparently had talks with troubled superstars like Teddy Hart and others, but they show no interest in otherwise talented wrestlers with no baggage. In this case, they're interested in a wrestler who, while cleared of all charges, remains one of the most controversial figures in the industry. Enzo Amore was a lightning rod in the WWE and, while he was decent on the mic (he wasn't as great as everyone suggested), he isn't that great of a talent in regard to his in-ring work. Moreover, beyond the assault charge that has since been dropped, he's been known to be a handful backstage, whether it's from running his mouth or inviting women into the locker room. In just over one year on the main roster, he made Enzo Amore heat replace X-Pac heat.

You might think, given all that information, that Impact would take a pass on the former WWE superstar, but he has actually been rumored to sign there and Impact co-executive VP didn't necessarily shoot those rumors down:

"Never say never. You evaluate talent based on need and what you're looking to do. We have a long term plan for how we engage with talent in terms of who's gonna be on the roster, what roster spots we need filled, etcetera. It's not as much of a random thing. So you know... as with any other talent, I think time will tell."

3 Staying Away From: Ryback

Ryback has often been described as one of the most complex and strange individuals in WWE history by those who know him well and if you've seen him on Table for 3 you would know what those people were talking about. The Big Guy worked for WWE and its developmental territories from 2004 to 2016, during which time he was a one-time Intercontinental Champion and had multiple World Championship opportunities. He's long been a polarizing figure given his reputation and perceived in-ring ability; for instance, in 2012 he was awarded Most Overrated by Wrestling Observer Newsletter and Most Improved Wrestler by Pro Wrestling Illustrated.

While he would generate buzz for Impact on name recognition alone, it's unlikely he ends up there given his poor reputation in regard to working safe. He also hasn't been all that complimentary of the company on his Conversation With The Big Guy podcast:

"It's not the same when they were TNA. At one point they were at a level where they could have been considered the number two company; they're not the number two company anymore. I don't even know who number two is. Anthem has a lot of money, but their personnel doesn't know how to run a pro wrestling company. That is not to say that people involved aren't trying their best, but I don't know."

2 Want To Sign: Hideo Itami

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You have to feel for Hideo Itami. The 37 year old Japanese wrestler arrived in NXT in 2014 after a decorated career with Pro Wrestling Noah and Ring of Honor with lofty expectations, but was sidelined regularly with injuries and thus unable to gain any momentum. Still, perhaps simply due to obligation, he was promoted to the 205 Live roster, which some might see as a demotion considering the success and reputation of NXT. In February, he hinted at a return to Japan with a tweet that simply read, "It's Over." Many suggested he was referring to his WWE career, but he followed that up hours later with "But Not Done Yet."

The truth of the matter is he's hardly in a good place considering 205 Live is only available on the WWE Network and doesn't have great viewership. Add in the fact that he's limited to competing for the Cruiserweight Championship and it's unlikely he re-signs with WWE when his contract expires. Itami still has a few more years left in his prime, so it wouldn't be shocking to see him sign elsewhere for a significant run. Ring of Honor might reach out to ask about a potential return, but Impact would be wise to sign him and allow him to prove WWE wrong for their handling of him.

1 Staying Away From: Alberto Del Rio

If you haven't been paying attention, you probably still think Alberto Del Rio (El Patron) is still in Impact, but the former GFW Global Champion is currently signed to AAA after being released by Impact in April. The decision was made after he all but sealed his own fate by no-showing the Lucha Underground vs Impact Wrestling event in New Orleans on WrestleMania weekend. Given his ties to WWE, it wasn't surprising to see Impact sign the former four-time WWE World Champion to a contract, but he simply didn't prove his worth. In fact, he caused more headaches for Impact executives than what it was worth to keep him around.

"It was obviously an unfortunate situation," said Impact executive Scott D'Amore. "When Alberto failed to show up to the event, we made our decision on a new main event for the show. It was important for us to give our fans, in a capacity crowd at the Sugar Mill in New Orleans, a great event, and we did not want them to focus on someone who wasn't there. We wanted them to focus on the match we were giving." That didn't stop fans from booing El Patron. The Mexican superstar has now burned bridges with WWE and Impact.