The history of wrestlers to spend time in TNA features performers of every kind. Many talented young wrestlers received their first major break in TNA. The company had a reputation for underutilizing the performers that could have been bigger stars. TNA also doubled down on consistently trying to add wrestlers with name value from WWE. They ranged from people the fans cared about and wanted to see to those that lost all relevance by the time they joined the promotion.
Quite a few wrestlers have had quiet aftermaths in the next chapter of their careers after leaving TNA. We will look at the two different sides of their careers. Many will surprise the average fan to realize they are still wrestling elsewhere in the industry today. Others have quietly retired from the business without much fanfare. Both will be featured here with five TNA wrestlers that are still wrestling along with five that are surprisingly retired.
10 Still Wrestling: Shark Boy
The comedic wrestling style of Shark Boy made him a fun addition to the TNA roster for the early portion. Shark Boy played a half-man/half-shark character meant to amuse the audience with laughs rather than becoming a main event star.
A change would see him play “Stone Cold” Shark Boy, delivering a Steve Austin impression. The career of Shark Boy has ended in terms of wrestling on television, but he still performs on the independent circuit. Shark Boy recently wrestled on Joey Ryan’s WrestleCon show during WrestleMania weekend losing to Ultimo Dragon in a six-man match.
9 Surprisingly Retired: Traci Brooks
Traci Brooks was the first and only female performer on TNA roster at the start of the Fox Sports chapter. Other ladies would get hired with the women’s division forming on Spike TV, but Brooks played a huge role in early TNA in the rare women’s matches.
The wrestling career of Brooks has ended following her final match back in 2012. Traci does still have a presence in the wrestling business as she’s married to AEW star Frankie Kazarian. There have been a few instances of her watching him wrestle, but she has retired from the ring herself.
8 Still Wrestling: D’Angelo Dinero
The TNA run of D’Angelo Dinero featured a short run of main event relevance. WWE fans remember him as Elijah Burke, but he developed the new name of Dinero along with The Pope gimmick in TNA. His short main event run featured him falling short to AJ Styles for the TNA Championship on PPV.
Dinero would transition into the mid-card before leaving the company. TNA brought him back years later as a color commentator until the changes would see Don Callis replace him. Dinero still wrestles on the independent circuit with his most recent match coming against Wes Brisco in Florida.
7 Surprisingly Retired: Amazing Red
Amazing Red had an incredible run of delivering groundbreaking work in the wrestling ring. Many of the moves and ideas to come from Red’s mind would be replicated by bigger stars now in WWE and AEW. Red retired in early 2019 after suffering injuries throughout his career.
The run has ended for Red, but the wrestling world is still grateful for his incredible work. Quite a few wrestlers on WWE’s roster joined Ali in putting together a video thanking Red for all he contributed to the wrestling industry.
6 Still Wrestling: Jimmy Rave
Jimmy Rave developed a reputation for being one of the best technical wrestlers in the world when joining the TNA roster. An impressive run in Ring of Honor featured classic matches against AJ Styles, CM Punk, Homicide, and many others.
Unfortunately, TNA placed Raven in a comedic tag team with Lance Hoyt and Christy Hemme known as the Rock and Rave Infection. Rave never went too far in TNA, but he still wrestles on the independent circuit today with recent appearances in promotions like CZW and GCW.
5 Surprisingly Retired: Monty Brown
The potential of Monty Brown made fans believe TNA might try to build around him as a future world champion. Brown developed a fan following in the early years of TNA, but they stopped booking him that strongly when bigger names like Sting and Christian Cage joined the company.
This led to Brown leaving TNA for a run in WWE as Marques Cor Von. Once that ended abruptly, Brown left the wrestling business to focus on a new career path as a personal trainer. Bobby Roode recently shared a picture of Brown visiting him backstage at a WWE show.
4 Still Wrestling: Raven
Raven joining TNA in the early stages was a huge addition to the roster given his name value from runs in WWE, WCW and ECW. TNA even made Raven their World Champion when the NWA Championship was their major title.
The return of Raven to the TNA came in 2019 in segments with Eddie Edwards in an asylum. Raven did not wrestle in his TNA return, but he does work on the independent circuit in his older age. Smaller promotions like AWF, ARW and CLASH Wrestling have booked Raven to bring in the old school fans.
3 Surprisingly Retired: Taylor Wilde
Taylor Wilde received a huge push when joining TNA in the late 2000s. The talented young performer showed potential to become a top star. TNA utilized this by having her defeat major names like Awesome Kong and members of The Beautiful People during her reign as Knockouts Champion.
The pay from TNA at the time saw her working at a sunglasses kiosk at the mall which inspired a career change. Wilde retired from wrestling in 2011 to find a new career path as a firefighter. She did recently appear at TNA’s Rebellion event to visit old friends.
2 Still Wrestling: Scott Steiner
The run of Scott Steiner featured many different chapters from tag team to singles action in his prime. Steiner’s TNA run featured a bit more comedy to his game whether he planned it or not. Some of the legendary backstage promos made Steiner a bigger name with today’s audience for his hilarious nature.
Steiner still wrestles on independent wrestling shows and takes bookings at conventions despite his daily job of operating a Shoney’s restaurant location. A couple of noteworthy opponents for Steiner so far in 2019 have been Joey Ryan, Hornswoggle and Nick Gage.
1 Surprisingly Retired: Elix Skipper
Elix Skipper showed incredible potential to become a wrestling star at the end of WCW as part of Team Canada with Lance Storm. The start of TNA gave Skipper his best chance as he delivered great matches teaming with Christopher Daniels and Low Ki in the Triple X faction.
Fans still talk about Skipper’s tightrope walk at the top of the cage before hitting a hurricanrana. Unfortunately, Skipper lost his spot in TNA as different regimes phased out certain talents and ultimately retired. The final match of Skipper came in 2009 against Seth Rollins. Skipper now manages an Applebee's location in Georgia away from the ring.