The legacy of TNA aka Impact Wrestling sees fans still talking about what could have been and why they always fell short of reaching that level of WCW and even AEW today as WWE’s challenger. There have been plenty of instances of TNA creating uncertainty with fans not being sure if they’re watching someone breaking script.
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Impact Wrestling having a smaller but invested audience makes it easier to book worked shoot programs. Certain memories see fans thinking of some shocking moments as being unscripted. Even though TNA did have some of those, there were plenty that went according to plan. The following instances show that there were times when Impact scripted something that fans thought were real.
10 Eric Bischoff Ripping Up Script
The debut of Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff was a massive night for TNA. A bold move saw them having the live show on a Monday night and trying to challenge Raw with Bret Hart’s return. The first segment for Hogan and Bischoff saw Bischoff ripping up a script to show how unpredictable the new TNA would be.
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Bischoff admitted on his podcast that this was part of the creative plan, and it wasn’t actually him tearing up a script written by other TNA creative minds. That would have been disrespectful to new levels even though fans bought someone of his personality doing it.
9 Vince Russo Cursing Out Mike Tenay
The early years of TNA featured a lot of controversy regarding the creative process both on-screen and backstage. TNA tried to create scripted tension during a sit-down interview of Mike Tenay asking Vince Russo some critical questions.
Russo talked about his real role as the lead writer of the show for TNA. Tenay asked questions about Russo’s WCW failure and called out things he did that caused fans to turn away. The tension was all scripted with Russo yelling and cursing out Tenay for criticizing his career.
8 Samoa Joe's Shoot Promo
The infamous shoot promo of Samoa Joe targeting Scott Hall led to huge sparks in real life. Hall no showed a PPV main event that was to see him team with Joe and Kevin Nash against the heels Kurt Angle, AJ Styles and Tyson Tomko.
Joe cut a promo running down Hall and any other legends trying to take advantage of TNA. The real falling out of Nash slapping Joe backstage made fans believe this shoot promo was real. Joe was scripted to cut a promo that sounded real, but he did go further than anyone expected, including Nash.
7 Jay Lethal Doing Elbow Drops During Ric Flair Promo
TNA had a legendary moment that still gets talked about today when Jay Lethal did his impression of Ric Flair during a promo battle with Flair. Lethal feuding with Flair’s Fortune faction led to him interrupting Flair’s group and impersonating him the entire time.
The following years would see Lethal and Flair both remembering it fondly to the point of Lethal being picked to be part of Flair’s last match. Flair said on his podcast that one of the few things agreed before was Lethal doing the signature elbow drops on his jacket.
6 Voodoo Kin Mafia Burying DX
The desperation from TNA to get WWE’s attention may have peaked when the Voodoo Kin Mafia took aim at their former WWE faction. Shawn Michaels and Triple H reunited D-Generation X in 2006 as one of WWE’s top angles of that year.
Voodoo Kin Mafia started cutting promos insulting DX and even impersonated them. Many fans thought a lot of these promos and comments were real given the personal nature involved. Road Dogg and Billy Gunn were just following the script and didn’t have it hurt them too much when WWE rehired both.
5 AJ Styles' Pipebomb Promo
TNA used some reality when AJ Styles’ contract was expiring, and he underwent a character change. A worked shoot promo drew comparisons to CM Punk’s WWE pipe bomb promo calling out Vince McMahon and the company’s management.
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Styles basically did the same thing in TNA calling out Dixie Carter for her mistakes ahead of her heel turn. Quite a few viewers thought this was unscripted since AJ didn’t re-sign with TNA at the end of the angle. That was more about financial disagreements, as the on-screen portion was all part of the plan.
4 Kurt Angle & Jeff Jarrett Promo Exchanges
The real life scandalous story of Karen Jarrett marrying Jeff Jarrett after the marriage with Kurt Angle ended became a huge talking point in the wrestling world. TNA tried to take advantage of that a few years later when Karen returned to the on-screen product.
Personal promo exchanges between Kurt and Jeff made their rivalry quite intense. However, it was merely both legends trying to be professional and going along with the script. All the tense moments were scripted since fans viewed them as real enemies.
3 Mick Foley Punching Bubba The Love Sponge
Hulk Hogan helped his close friend at the time Bubba the Love Sponge get hired by TNA for a broadcasting role due to his radio background. Most of the TNA locker room hated Bubba after he made offensive comments and Awesome Kong was fired for their confrontation.
This led to many fans and even wrestlers wondering how scripted it was when Mick Foley punched him in the face during his farewell moment. Foley was scripted to hit Bubba, but there is still some that wonder if he did it harder than usual for a receipt.
2 CookieGate
No one knew what to make out of the whole CookieGate drama involving TNA wrestlers confronting WWE talents. Universal Studios was the setting of WWE filming a PPV commercial in the same area where TNA filmed their weekly shows.
Road Dogg led a group of TNA wrestlers with novelty gifts like balloons and cookies to approach the WWE talents. Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero were filmed with their faces blurred while showing love to the TNA wrestlers. TNA management came up with the idea and scripted it rather than how some fans believe that the wrestlers did it themselves for the attention.
1 Hulk Hogan Insulting ECW
The heel turns of both Hulk Hogan and Jeff Hardy each were the biggest dominos to fall in the heel faction Immortal forming. Hogan became a ruthless heel on the microphone again and took some personal shots at the ECW wrestlers on the roster.
TNA running an ECW reunion PPV months earlier saw Hogan praising it. The now heel Hogan later stated that it was a low point of his career putting over the ECW originals and their impact on the business. It felt real enough to be Hogan speaking from the heart, but he was just following the script.
