From its humble beginnings in 2002 into the present Impact Wrestling has seen some of the most talented men and women create fantastic matches, moments and legacies that have stood the test of time but while names like AJ Styles, Beer Money Inc., Gail Kim among others have been celebrated by the company and its fan base for revolutionizing the business, there are a handful of names that have come and gone through TNA/Impact that are just as responsible for creating history in the company’s long and storied tenure but sadly their work and influence has been forgotten. But today, I’ll be giving these 10 forgotten Men and Women the recognition they rightfully deserve when it comes to their work in TNA/Impact Wrestling like Kid Kash, Elix Skipper, Trinity and more. – 10 Forgotten Impact Stars.
10 Forgotten Impact Stars – 10. Kid Kash
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The X Division has been the home to so many talented high flyers in professional wrestling over the years with many of them having their accolades being forgotten.
An example of this is Kid Kash, who wrestled in TNA/Impact Wrestling first from 2002-05 and then from 2010-13. During his first run with the company Kash battled with some of the most well-respected legends of the industry from Dusty Rhodes to “Rowdy” Roddy Piper to Ricky Morton of the Rock n’ Roll Express, he also won the X Division Championship from Sonny Siaski in February of 2003 feuding with names like Amazing Red and AJ Styles.
One of the more lesser-known parts of his career at this time, saw Kash teaming with Dallas aka Lance Hoyt aka Lance Archer to become two times NWA Tag Team Champions with both reigns lasting a combined total of 57 days. Kash would leave TNA in 2005 and would wrestle in the WWE from 05-06 where he won the cruiserweight championship and as well as forming a tag team with Jamie Noble called “The Pitbulls” a gimmick that was first used in the original ECW.
Speaking of ECW, after the 2010 Hardcore Justice PPV which was meant to celebrate the legacy of the ECW originals, Kash would eventually get re-signed with the company in 2011 where his most notable work saw him wrestle a dark match with Okada (which saw the Japanese Superstar victorious), feuding with a young pro wrestler named Jesse Sorensen, battle with Austin Aries for the X Division Championship at Final Resolution 2011 and even faced against Hernandez at Slammiversary 2012 to a losing effort.
Kash would be gone from the company in 2013 and has been seen wrestling in the independent scene for some time however he did reappear in Impact Wrestling as recently as March of 2020 when he went one-on-one with Moose on an episode of Impact as well as participating in a tag team that saw Kash team with Johnny Swinger against former X Division Champions, Suicide and TJP.
10 Forgotten Impact Stars – 9. Douglas Williams
While he’s best known in his home country of England, Douglas “Doug” Williams’ work in Impact has been overlooked in the company’s history and it’s kinda easy to see why he’s been forgotten about.
First appearing on Xplosion in a match against “Cowboy” James Storm, Doug Williams was sporadically seen in TNA in the late 2000s during the company’s various tours to the United Kingdom not to mention his participation in various X Division matches and the 2008 World X Cup tournament.
But it was his association with the all heel British trio ‘The British Invasion” alongside Magnus and Rob Terry that really propelled him into the minds of mainstream fans. Williams would win the TNA World Tag Team Championship and well as the IWGP Tag Team Titles with Magnus, however it was this reign with the New Japan tag titles that proved to be controversial and was seen as one of the many reasons as to why the partnership between TNA and NJPW would come to an end.
In the early 2010’s the British Invasion was split up leaving the Magnus to become a regular on TNA Xplosion, Rob Terry would win the TNA Global Championship and Doug Williams would defeat Amazing Red to become the TNA X Division Champion and it was during this time when Williams started to come into his own as a singles competitor.
During this point in time, the technically savvy British wrestler would begin to wage war on the entire X Division by calling them a bunch of flying monkeys or acrobats jumping around in a circus and it was up to him to make the belt feel more like a war course championship (similar to the WWE Intercontinental title back in the day).
Williams would become a two time X Division before losing the belt to Jay Lethal on a 2010 episode of Impact. Williams would temporarily join the faction known as Fortune before turning babyface on them and beginning a feud with AJ Styles for the newly renamed TNA T.V. Championship including an impeccable matchup between the two men at Final Resolution 2010, which saw Williams become the champion.
While the following years would see Williams make sporadic appearances on Impact T.V., he was able to create quite a career for himself in TNA’s mid-card and X division, sadly due to the company’s inconsistency and mishandling of their mid-card title, Williams time in TNA is usually overlooked, however, if you want to see the man’s work during this time in the company I would advertise you watch it on the Impact Plus app.
10 Forgotten Impact Stars – 8. Jacqueline “Jackie” Moore
Ask any Impact fans: Who was Gail Kim’s greatest rival? and they’ll respond with the obvious answers of Awesome Kong, Angelina Love and Taryn Terrell; however there is one person who needs to be in that discussion and that would be the former WWF/E Women’s and Cruiserweight Champion, Jacqueline Moore.
Arriving in TNA in the mid-2000’s Jacqueline also referred to as Jackie was among one of the most popular female wrestlers during a time when women’s wrestling was about TNA (and I mean the Tits N Ass variety).
Soon enough she would go on to become the new valet for a newly heeled “Cowboy” James Storm as “The Pride of Tennessee”, of course, caused problems as Gail Kim was Storm’s previous valet and she didn’t take kindly to Storm berating and replacing her which led to Gail and Jackie competing in a series of matches in the early stages of what would eventually become the Knockouts Division’s.
From their street fights and mix tag team matches on Impact television to their steel cage match at Lockdown 2007, Gail and Jackie showed wrestling fans a glimpse of what women’s wrestling could become long before WWE’s women revolution would happen almost a decade later.
But Miss Jackie’s contributions to the company don’t just end there as she was also an important part of Beer Money Inc.’s success as tag team champions from 2008-09 with her interference and distractions causing either James Storm or Bobby Roode to pick up the win and retain their tag team titles. Jackie would return to the company in 2013 working with and wrestling against former Knockouts Champion, ODB in a number of sporadic appearances. Sadly, the WWE Hall of Famer has been forgotten in Impacts history.
10 Forgotten Impact Stars – 7. Jerry Lynn
AJ Styles is credited like many of his contemporaries during the early days of the company’s existence for making the X Division into what it is today, however, AJ’s rise to popularity wouldn’t have happened (in Kayfabe) without the help of his former tag team partner and rival, Jerry Lynn.
Following the shut down of the original ECW and a brief stint in the WWE, Jerry would join TNA (then known as NWA TNA) and compete in the promotion’s first-ever match back in 2002 when he, AJ and Low-Ki took on the Flying Elvis in a six-man tag team match…believe me despite the silly name of their opponents the match itself was a classic from beginning to end with every man bringing their all into the match, in fact, if you watch the match nowadays it doesn’t look out of place with the style of wrestling we see today.
Jerry and AJ would become tag team champions and soon afterwards rivals throughout the early days of the company’s history facing off in various matches like iron man matches and ladder matches which helped to demonstrate the skills that would turn AJ Styles into not only the face of TNA Wrestling but also the face of WWE’s Smackdown roster during the late 2010s.
Unfortunately, Lynn would suffer a shoulder injury in February 2003 after Juventud Guerrera delivered a botch Juvi driver; This led to Jerry becoming a road agent for TNA while also appearing in various roles before officially returning to the ring in January of 2007 where took on names like Chris Sabin, Christopher Daniels, and Kevin Nash before asking for his release from the company in August of the same year.
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Lynn would return in 2011 and would revitalize his feud with Rob Van Dam having a number of classic matches at Destination X 2011, Bound For Glory 2011 and a One Night Only TNA PPV match in 2013 as a part of Lynn’s pro wrestling retirement tour.
While Christopher Daniels and Samoa Joe are regarded as AJ’s greatest rivals in the X Division (it makes sense as the three of them got the company a five-star match in 2005) Jerry Lynn was not only one of the most important figures AJ Styles faced when the company started but also one of the most important figures in the X Division’s history. Whilst not forgotten about, his time in Impact wasn’t memorable to new fans.
10 Forgotten Impact Stars – 6. Taylor Wilde
Gail Kim is often seen as Awesome Kong’s greatest rivalry in TNA and one of the most decorated Canadian female athletes in pro wrestling history. While Gail is certainly the most iconic, there was another female Canadian pro wrestler who gave the Awesome One a run for her money and was also a decorated wrestler during her time and that woman was Taylor Wilde.
In the summer of 2008, Taylor Wilde appeared as a “regular fan” in the crowd during a time when Awesome Kong along with her manager, Raisha Saeed began issuing an open challenge to any women 18 or older who would be crazy enough to step in the ring with Kong, in doing so they would be given a Knockouts title match right on the spot as well the chance to win $250,000.
Taylor would answer the challenge and on July 15th 2008, Taylor shocked the world when she defeated Kong to not only win the $250,000 but the Knockouts Championship in one the best endings to an episode of Impact during the TNA era. Kong would be hell-bent on reclaiming back the Knockouts championship however the blonde haired Canadian would find a way to win at almost every turn until she dropped the belt back to Kong on the October 23rd 2008 episode of Impact.
Following this, Taylor would feud with the Beautiful People which saw the debut of future five-time Knockouts Champion Madison Rayne to the company; By mid-2009, Wilde would be involved in another feud, this time with former WCW Cruiserweight Champion, Daffney in back-to-back monster’s ball matches at the Sacrifice and Slammiversary PPV’s with many seeing this as a turning point in the progression of the Knockouts Division.
In September of 2009, Taylor Wilde alongside her partner Sarita defeated the Beautiful People to become the inaugural TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champions, making Taylor the first woman in the company’s history to have held the TNA Knockouts singles and Tag Team Championships. Following a heel turn and a short-lived feud by her partner Sarita, Taylor Wilde would quietly retire from TNA and the professional wrestling business in 2011. Considering this happened at a time when the internet wrestling community wasn’t as smarky and news-hungry as it is today, it’s no surprise that Wilde’s exit from the business was completely forgotten about.
Conveniently though, Gail Kim would return to the TNA/Impact Wrestling in late 2011 and would resume her role as the face of the Knockouts Division until her Hall of Fame Induction and in-ring retirement in 2016 and 2019 respectively.
10 Forgotten Impact Stars – 5. Elix Skipper
Elix Skipper is probably best known as the guy who tiptoed walked his way off the top of a steel cage while hitting a hurricanrana on one half of American’s Most Wanted during a tag team match at Turning Point 2004, the moment itself has been regarded by Impact Wrestling fans and management alike as the most iconic moment in company history. Sadly, this means his other work was forgotten.
Skipper like so many other wrestlers following the shutdown and purchase of WCW in 2001, would appear and eventually sign with TNA during the early stages of the company; Skipper would compete in various matches with names like Ron “The Truth” Killings, Amazing Red, Low-Ki and “The Alpha Male” Monty Brown before becoming part of the legendary faction known as Triple X (a group that consisted of Christopher Daniels, Elix Skipper and Low-Ki).
During his time as a member of Triple X, Skipper would feud with James Storm and Chris Harris of American’s Most Wanted, leading to Skipper winning the NWA Tag Team Championship three times before the feud culminated in the aforementioned steel cage match at Turning Point which saw the losing team being forced to disband; AMW would win the match and Triple X would split up as a result.
In 2007, Triple X reformed and most notably face off against LAX in tag team Ultimate X match at that year’s Bound For Glory PPV; After the kayfabe and real-life departures of Christopher Daniels and Low-Ki from the company respectively, Skipper would appear in various matches including a match on Xplosion which marked the first and only TNA/Impact Wrestling appearance of Japanese and NXT star, Shinsuke Nakamura. Yeah. You’d forgotten about Shinsuke in TNA, didn’t you?
Elix would be released from his contract in May of 2008 before quietly retiring from professional wrestling soon afterwards. Just like the previously mentioned Taylor Wilde, Skipper left the wrestling business at a time when the ICW fans were a few and far between thus leading to his accomplishments in the company to be forgotten… but at least his 1-2 walk off the top of a steel cage has kept his legacy alive and that’s all that really matters.
10 Forgotten Impact Stars – 4. Roxxi Laveaux
Nicole Raczynski, better known under her ring name of Roxxi was a member of the TNA Knockouts Division from 2007-10 and was seen as a hard-working athlete who sadly never got the chance to become a bigger star within the division. A Strange time for Impact Wrestling/TNA, many of the ‘other’ Knockouts have been forgotten from this era.
She did have a memorable if not outlandish gimmick as “The Voodoo Queen” but characters like Su Yung and Rosemary have managed to take the creepy and mysterious gimmick and make their own, she did wrestle in a series of matches for the Knockouts Championship but failed to win any of them, she feuded with names like Awesome Kong and The Beautiful but Gail Kim and Taylor Wilde are best remembered as being their greatest rivals; In other words, Roxxi was pretty much overshadowed in her entire mainstream wrestling career.
With that said, Roxxi’s time in the company is important in a way as her conflict with Velvet Sky and Angelina Love did indeed lead to the creation of ‘The Beautiful People’ one of most iconic all-female stables in wrestling history; During this feud, Roxxi would defeat a number of knockouts including Angelina Love in the first-ever Queen of the Cage match at Lockdown 2008 however, the Beautiful People would get their revenge about a month later.
At the Sacrifice PPV, the Knockouts competed in a reverse battle royal which would result in the final two competing in a ladder match immediately afterwards with the winner becoming the number one contender to the Knockouts Championship and the loser would get their head shaved bald. Due to the interference of Angelina and Velvet, Gail not only won the match but in the most memorable part of her entire career, Roxxi Laveaux would get her head shaved bald in front of a live pay per view audience in Orlando Florida. Yeah, we’d forgotten about that too.
Roxxi would adapt the gimmick of the “Hardcore Knockout” and would go on to feud with the Beautiful People and Awesome Kong and Raisha Saeed in various tag team matches with Gail Kim, ODB and Taylor Wilde; Unfortunately, a backstage altercation involving former Knockout, Rhaka Khan led to Roxxi being released from the company. She would return in a tournament to crowd new Knockouts Tag Team Champions but a broken ankle prevented her from progressing further and she was released again in March of 2010.
She would return to feud with Madison Rayne for the Knockouts Championship a few months later which led to Roxxi’s career being on the line at Slammiversary 2010 only to see her lose and leave the company again for the third time; she made one more appearance in 2011 to challenge for Madison Rayne’s KO Championship which she lost once again.
Although she was made an offer to appear for the inaugural all-female TNA PPV event “Knockouts Knockdown” she refused; She spent the remainder of her career wrestling in the independent scene where she wrestled her last match at Lucky Pro Wrestling before retiring in 2013 to focus on her career of running a fitness company. Gone from Wrestling, Sadly Forgotten.
10 Forgotten Impact Stars – 3. The Naturals
TNA/Impact Wrestling has had no shortening of legendary tag teams but one of the teams that don’t get mentioned a lot is “The Naturals”; The duo of Chase Stevens and Andy Douglas was first seen as The Naturals in NWA TNA in late 2003 where they shocked the fans when they defeated AMW to become the new NWA TNA Tag Team Champions in a match that lasted twelve seconds.
The duo would get managed by Chris Candido which helped The Naturals become two-time tag team champions on the April 26th 2005 episode of Impact; Sadly a leg injury suffered by Candido at Lockdown in 2005 would eventually lead to his death due to complications from the surgery. Gone, but not forgotten.
The pair continued on with “The Mouth of The South” Jimmy Hart as their advisor and began a rivalry with Team Canada which forced The Naturals and AMW to work together at the 2005 Sacrifice PPV in an eight-person tag team match which saw the Canadians win thanks to animosity between AMW and The Naturals.
The feud between the Naturals and America’s Most Wanted would go on for months and months eventually culminating with Storm and Harris defeating Chase and Stevens at Bound For Glory 2005; By June of 2006, Shane Douglas became the manager of The Naturals, which led to victories over teams like Diamonds In The Rough and Team 3D but by 2007 the company was done with the duo and they were released in May of that same year.
While Andy Douglas has since retired from the sport in 2010, Chase Stevens stills wrestles even making an appearance in March of 2020 wrestling in Impact against names like Shawn Hernandez and Moose. In terms of TNA Tag Team Wrestling, The Naturals where naturally forgotten about when Generation Me (Young Bucks) came around.
10 Forgotten Impact Stars – 2. Matt Bentley
When your only remembered by modern fans as the wrestler who had to change his name due to legal threats made by the WWE then you know something seriously wrong, such was the case with Michael Shane later known as Matt Bentley. Professional Wrestling greatness is in his blood, you might’ve forgotten that he’s the cousin of Shawn Michaels.
Joining TNA in 2003, Michael Shane became the new X Division Champion after defeating Chris Sabin and Frankie Kazarian in a Triple Threat Ultimate X on the August 30th 2003 episode of Impact (which also was the first Ultimate X Match in company history).
Shane would later make alliances with names like Shane Douglas, Traci Brooks and Kazarian who became Co-X Division champion after he and Michael Shane both pulled down the title in another Ultimate X match but, the duo would lose the belt two weeks later before Kazarian left the company in 2005.
By 2005, both Traci and Shane would-be rivals and later allies again after series of mixed tag team matches involving wrestlers like Christopher Daniels, Chris Sabin and Trinity from PPV’s like Hard Justice and the inaugural Slammiversary event. However, by mid-2005 Michael Shane was hit with legal action by the WWE as the name Mike Shane was trademarked by one of the wrestlers who were currently working with the WWE and thus, he chose the new name of ‘Matt Bentley’. Sadly, the new name didn’t make him less forgotten to the Wrestling World.
Under his new name, Bentley would join various groups most notably “Serotonin” which was a version of Raven’s Nest like a group that included former friend and partner Frankie Kazarian; Following this, Bentley would be gone from the company in 2007 before making a number of appearances for the promotion in 2011 and 2013.
10 Forgotten Impact Stars – 1. Stephanie Trinity
Stephanie Trinity isn’t well remembered by Impact fans today but her in-ring contributions to the company are important as it helped to introduced intergender wrestling as a mainstay in the promotion but her work also helped in the creation of what would be the Knockouts Division. You’d forgotten she was there for this long.
After appearing as a valet in late 2002 for the company, Trinity would officially make her debut in a mixed tag team match which saw her team up with Kid Kash against Sonny Siaski and Desire and in the end, her team was victorious. She would move on to wrestle other female competitors including two young female athletes who would later shoot to fame in TNA under the names ODB and Angelina Love.
Trinity then made history on March 19th 2003 as she was the first woman in the company to wrestle for a male championship as she faced off against Kid Kash and Amazing Red in a Triple Threat Match for the TNA X Division Championship on an episode of Impact but she was unable to win the title. It’d been forgotten by the next year as in 2004, she became a heel after attacking backstage interviewer, Goldylocks and she formed a stable known as the “New York Connection” or NYC with names like Disco Inferno and Johnny Swinger.
Her greatest work came in April of 2004 when Desire returned from a back injury caused by Trinity in a dark match thus leading to the two ladies competing in a series of matches that actually pre-date the Knockouts Division by a couple of years.
Trinity would also leave her mark on PPV as she was the first opponent for a debuting Jackie Moore at Victory Road 2004, she also feuded with Traci Brooks in a series of tag team matches from Destination 2005 and Hard Justice 2005; Not to mention she delivered a spectacular moonsault from the top of a steel cage onto a collection male wrestlers at Lockdown 2005.
Trinity would leave the promotion in 2005 and retire from wrestling 2007 until she would return to in-ring competition in 2013 at the One Night Only Knockouts Knockdown event where she ironically competed against and lost to ODB in a single match to finish off her career before heading back into retirement.
While her name is maybe forgotten by present-day Impact fans her influence can best be seen in names like ODB and Tessa Blanchard who compete in high profiled intergender matches but also the continuing growth of the company’s Knockouts Division which is still running strong today.
