The history of TNA World Champions features some tremendous wrestlers who had legendary careers. Quite a few talents had great runs in WWE before coming over like Kurt Angle and Jeff Hardy. Others ended up moving to WWE after their TNA stints with AJ Styles and Samoa Joe becoming major stars. However, not every talent will get to WWE after reaching top TNA success.
Quite a few wrestlers had strong TNA careers without ever having a real run in WWE. There are also the stories of former TNA champions making the move to WWE and completely flopping. Find out what caused the scenarios to unfold for the talents who didn’t thrive in WWE.
10 Never Made It To WWE: Eddie Edwards
The success of Eddie Edwards made him one of the top stars in Impact Wrestling history. Edwards has been around since his time in the American Wolves tag team with Davey Richards. TNA initially viewed Richard as the bigger star due to his prior singles success, but Edwards thrived more in the company.
The singles push of Edwards saw him having two TNA World Championship reigns, including one in 2020. WWE could have benefited from having Eddie on the roster, but he missed out on his one chance when he and Davey picked TNA over the bigger company.
9 Flopped: Sami Callihan
Sami Callihan received a WWE opportunity before he even signed with TNA. The run as Solomon Crowe saw him trying to introduce a hacker gimmick in NXT. Things didn’t work out for him with other talents like Kevin Owens and Finn Balor appearing to be on another level.
Callihan requested his release when realizing he was not perceived at that level. WWE accepted his request and saw him leaving NXT after flopping. Callihan rebuilt his career in TNA by becoming a top heel and winning the TNA World Championship.
8 Never Made It To WWE: Tessa Blanchard
The rise of Tessa Blanchard started in the Knockouts division for Impact Wrestling. Blanchard got over at the highest level and became one of the most over stars on the entire show. The decision was made to place her in intergender matches due to her experience with that on the indie circuit.
Tessa won the TNA World Championship and made history as the first woman to do so. The time away during quarantine saw Blanchard having an ugly ending with Impact. Tessa is now a free agent, but WWE has not shown interest likely due to various controversial stories about her behind the scenes.
7 Flopped: Eric Young
Eric Young was one of the best TNA wrestlers by finding success in just about every form from face to heel, main event to mid-card, serious to comedy, and everything else possible. The long road paid off when Young won the TNA World Championship in an underdog storyline.
WWE signed Young when starting to add more TNA wrestlers to the roster. NXT saw Young become a solid contributor in the SAnitY faction, but he flopped on the main roster. Young trashed WWE for not using him after his 2020 release and ended up back in TNA winning the world title as a heel this time.
6 Never Made It To WWE: Brian Cage
The rise of Brian Cage in PWG and Lucha Underground saw him getting a big push in TNA when starting off there. Cage always stood out as a massive athlete who could fly around the ring mixing both strength and agility.
The end of the Impact run saw Cage having a lot of momentum after his world title reign ended. AEW reached out with an offer likely due to Cage’s connections working with the EVPs in the past. WWE didn’t provide a bigger contract.
5 Flopped: Rich Swann
The WWE run of Rich Swann saw him getting signed after a strong run on the independent circuit. Swann struggled with finding a spot in NXT and was eventually placed in the cruiserweight division as part of the 205 Live brand.
WWE eventually parted ways with Swann after charges were made against him in his personal life. Swann was cleared and received his release to head to Impact Wrestling. The recent storyline of Swann overcoming an injury saw him defeating Eric Young to win the world title for the first time in his career.
4 Never Made It WWE: Chris Sabin
Chris Sabin is one of the greatest TNA stars who never made it to WWE despite all the highs in his career. The incredible runs in the X-Division and in the tag division with the Motor City Machine Guns helped the company immensely.
Sabin finally won the TNA World Championship when defeating Bully Ray for a short reign. WWE never signed Sabin likely due to his injuries slowing down his momentum. Sabin is now back in Impact reuniting MCMG with Alex Shelley and working backstage as a producer.
3 Flopped: EC3
The signing of EC3 from TNA saw him turning his career around after the lackluster stint as Derrick Bateman. TNA had a new vision for him as the nephew of Dixie Carter trying to take over with an undefeated winning streak.
EC3 became a top superstar and won the TNA World Championship having huge wins over Kurt Angle, Sting, Jeff Hardy, and other top faces. WWE re-signed EC3 under his new name for an NXT run. The call-up to the main roster saw him flopping there for the second time in his career. EC3 has since returned to Impact and debuted for Ring of Honor.
2 Never Made It To WWE: Magnus
Magnus was someone that many fans expected to make it to WWE at his TNA run ended. The start in TNA saw him becoming an effective heel working his way from the tag division to mid-card success to the main event picture.
A huge win over AJ Styles saw Magnus winning the TNA World Championship for the one time in his career. Magnus eventually left TNA and started working under his real name of Nick Aldis. NWA saw him become the face of the brand, but WWE just never made a serious offer to add him. Recent public insults exchanged with Bruce Prichard will likely see him never joining the company.
1 Flopped: Austin Aries
The rise of Austin Aries in TNA saw him dominating the X-Division and making his way to the main event picture. TNA delivered a great story of Aries cashing in his X-Division Championship for a title match against Bobby Roode that he eventually won.
Aries had a lot of momentum when leaving TNA and ended up signing a WWE deal for NXT. The run turned out to be a huge disappointment that resulted in Aries joining 205 Live. Aries worked in the cruiserweight division for a few months before getting released and never won the title.