One of the more interesting innovations introduced by TNA (now known as Impact Wrestling), Gut Check started out in 2004 as a series of untelevised tryouts, but eventually became a televised segment on the weekly Impact Wrestling in 2012 and 2013. Gut Check was a bit like the game show era of NXT, but without the challenges as Impact hopefuls wrestled matches and then a tribunal of judges would vote on whether or not the contestant gets a contract.
Gut Check offered a few memorable moments like Joey Ryan getting rejected and subsequently feuding with Al Snow until he finally got a contract, or Ric Flair going off script and voting yes to give Alex Silva a shot. But there were also a number of men and women involved in the competition whose competition fans may have forgotten about.
10 Wes Brisco
Released from WWE developmental in 2011, Wes Brisco is best remembered by fans for his role in the stables Aces & Eights and for addressing Hulk Hogan as “Hawk Hogan” in a promo. But he actually made his initial debut on Gut Check. Participants in the 2012 edition had to wrestle Impact roster members, with Brisco beating Garett Bischoff to become the first contestant to actually win a match. From there, Brisco aligned with Kurt Angle while Aces & Eights were staging their invasion of the Impact Zone, only to turn heel and join the group.
9 Samuel Shaw (a.k.a. Dexter Lumis)
Sam Shaw made appearances for the company in 2010 but got a big shot taking part in the 2012 edition of Gut Check. Shaw was attacked by Aces & Eights the first time he tried to compete, so he was given a second chance where he lost to Doug Williams. Despite that, he got the votes to earn a contract, went to Ohio Valley Wrestling for developmental, and debuted in 2013 as Samuel Shaw, sporting a gimmick that would carry over to his time as Dexter Lumis in NXT.
8 Ivelisse
The second year of Gut Check, in 2013, had pairs of Impact hopefuls wrestling one another, with one of the two chosen to be subjected to the tribunal of judges -- and not necessarily the winner. Fresh off a release from NXT, Ivelisse (a.k.a. Sofia Cortez) took on Lei’D Tapa in her Gut Check match, winning the bout but not earning the opportunity to go in front of the judges.
Despite that, Ivelisse did make some appearances for the company that year, taking part in the One Night Only: Knockouts Knockdown PPV and working as a member of Aces & Eights on One Night Only: World Cup. In the following year, she’d really establish herself as a part of Lucha Underground.
7 Jay Bradley
Former WWE talent Ryan Braddock, who made occasional appearances on SmackDown and ECW before his release in 2003, was one of the first contestants on the 2013 edition of Gut Check, beating Brian Cage in his tryout match and earning a developmental contract from the judges. Bradley would get another opportunity following that, winning a tournament over several other Gut Check guys to enter the 2013 Bound For Glory Series. However, Bradley lost all his BFG matches -- New Japan Young Lion Style -- and got released in 2014. He would later appear for the company in 2015 and 2016 under the name Aiden O’Shea.
6 Christian York
A regular in ECW from 2000 to the company’s end in early 2001, Christian York was also in a tag team with Joey Mercury and have the distinction of losing to The Dupps on Impact’s very first weekly PPV show. He would show up again a decade later for Gut Check, where he’d lose to Zema Ion (a.k.a. NXT’s Joaquin Wilde) but successfully earn a contract. York wrestled for the company throughout late 2012 and early 2013, including an unsuccessful challenge to Rob Van Dam’s X Division Title at Genesis 2013, but would get released over the summer.
5 Crimson
As previously established, some Impact roster members actually took part in Gut Check tryouts before it became a televised segment, with Crimson being one such wrestler. Originally wrestling under the name Tommy Mercer, Crimson was introduced on Impact television as Amazing Red’s kid brother Little Red (seriously) before reinventing himself as Crimson. During his two-year run with the company, he enjoyed a three-month reign as Tag Team Champion alongside Matt Morgan and has made one-off appearances over the years, most recently on a June 2020 episode of Xplosion.
4 Brian Cage
Brian Cage is the only Gut Check contestant to actually become a World Champion in Impact Wrestling -- which is funny because, as stated, he lost to Jay Bradley in his tryout match and didn’t even get the chance to be voted on. Despite that, he showed up in 2014 on the Destination X special of Impact, taking part in a three-way match with Sanada and Crazzy Steve.
After making a name for himself on the indies and Lucha Underground, Cage officially joined the roster in 2018, becoming X Division Champion and World Champion before leaving in 2020 to sign with All Elite Wrestling.
3 Lei’D Tapa
A three-time OVW Women’s Champion and the niece of The Barbarian, Lei’D Tapa lost to Ivelisse in her tryout but ended up getting the votes from the judges to earn a contract. After some appearances at One Night Only PPVs -- including one where she got a win back over Ivelisse -- vignettes for her main roster debut started appearing in September 2013. Despite being pushed as a dominant monster heel character with her debut in November, Lei’D Tapa was released in the spring of 2014 but made a handful of appearances for Impact the following year.
2 Taeler Hendrix
A 2012 Gut Check participant, Taeler Hendrix lost to Tara in her tryout match but scored a contract with the company anyway. If you include that match, Hendrix only ended up wrestling four matches with the company before getting released the following year. However, she’d become a staple of indie promotions like Queens of Combat and SHIMMER. In 2015, she signed with Ring of Honor, joining Truth Martini’s House of Truth stable but wrestling even fewer televised matches during her ROH run at a whopping two.
1 Adam Pearce
Some fans may not know that current WWE authority figure Adam Pearce was a wrestler -- and a five-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion to boot -- so even fewer might be aware that he also took part in Gut Check. In his only ever match for Impact Wrestling, Pearce took on luchador Magno, who somehow got to go in front of the judges despite wrestling a sloppy match and losing. When rejected by management on-screen, Pearce stormed off, never to be seen on Impact television again.