2022 marks the twentieth anniversary for Impact Wrestling, with TNA launching in 2002, a milestone that many never thought the company would ever reach. Despite their ups and downs, Impact has persisted and has cultivated its own hardcore, niche audience.
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While TNA/Impact Wrestling has had some genuinely great in-ring wrestlers over the course of their 20-year history, the company has also featured a number of hilarious comedy acts. From Christopher Daniels creating Curry Man, to a shark-based character doing a Stone Cold Steve Austin impersonation, Impact Wrestling has had some of the best comedy wrestlers of the modern era.
10 Rock N' Rave Infection
Depending on who you ask, Lance Hoyt and Jimmy Rave's time as the Rock N' Rave Infection was either incredibly bad or so bad, that it became good. While Hoyt and Rave were solid wrestlers at the time, TNA never seemed to take them seriously, as they were given a gimmick that saw them come out with Guitar Hero controllers and asking the crowd, "Who wants to be infected?", while Lance would make out with their valet, Christy Hemme.
For as dumb as it sounds, Hoyt and Rave were always committed to the bit and seemed to put their all into the comedy characters. The team would last from 2007 until early 2009, when they would be forced out of TNA after losing to Beer Money.
9 Cookie & Robbie E
Despite being controversial for a number of reasons, The Jersey Shore is still certainly a show that people talk about, still in 2022. TNA, doing what they often tried to do best during this specific era, by trying to get some mainstream attention, by debuting the duo of Robbie E and Cookie, a Jersey Shore-inspired couple. Together, they would have a program with JWoww from the actual show, with Cookie having a cat fight with her on TV.
Unfortunately for E and Cookie, their act as being a Jersey Shore parody was extremely shallow and had a short shelf life. Debuting in the summer of 2010, the duo would last until the following summer, with Cookie not having her contract renewed. Robbie would remain with the company for some time before moving on to NXT as Robert Stone, another comedy character.
8 Consequences Creed
Known by most as Xavier Woods in WWE, Austin Creed spend some time in TNA as Consequences Creed, a parody of Apollo Creed from the Rocky franchise. Consequences Creed was primarily a charicature gimmick with little depth that saw him wearing gear similar to Apollo's USA boxing get-up from the Rocky films.
Creed would eventually find some success during his TNA run after joining the Frontline faction alongside AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Petey Williams, Eric Young, ODB, The Motor City Machine Guns, and Jay Lethal, the latter of whom Creed would win the TNA World Tag Team Championship with.
7 Eric Young
One of the most decorated wrestlers in TNA/Impact Wrestling history, Eric Young's TNA career certainly had its ups and downs, ranging from the lovable dork Super Eric, to part of the Main Event Mafia, to the problematic mentally challenged gimmick. It is through his pairing with ODB and his time as Super Eric that Young got to show off his comedic skills properly.
After spending over a decade in the TNA system, jumping from serious to silly characters, Young would leave the company in 2016 for a run in WWE. Nowadays, Eric Young finds himself back in Impact Wrestling, though in a much more serious role than most of his other characters in TNA, as the leader of Violent By Design, even winning the Impact World Championship in 2020.
6 Little Petey Pump
In one of the most random occurrences of greatness in TNA, X Division star Petey Williams would find himself in a feud with Scott Steiner over the Feast or Fired briefcases. After a singles match between the two, Steiner would end up becoming a mentor for Petey, getting him to adopt the Big Poppa Pump gimmick in the process as his own impersonator.
For fans of the Steiner match promo, Little Petey Pump was featured in it, donning the chainmail headpiece as Scott cut an infamously legendary promo. Scott Steiner would eventually turn on Petey, in favor or rejoining the Main Event Mafia, ending the comedy pairings time in the spotlight.
5 Booker T
While Booker T is known by fans mostly for his work in both WWE and WCW, his run in TNA did provide for some of the funniest work of Booker's entire career. Joining The Main Event Mafia in 2008, Booker T would get the chance to really show off his comedic skills during this period.
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Whether it be commentating with a live microphone while beating up X Division competitors in the ring, parodying Apollo Creed from Rocky during a brief program with Consequences Creed, or just generally being an over-the-top, comedic heel, Booker T delivered in spades during his TNA run.
4 Shark Boy
Debuting in 2002, Shark Boy is by all means a TNA original and has been treated like such in recent years, making sporadic nostalgia cameos for Impact Wrestling. Beginning as a tag team wrestler with the likes of New Jack and Mad Mikey, Shark Boy would disappear for a few years before returning in 2008 with a kayfabe explanation being that he was in a coma.
Upon his return to TNA, Shark Boy had adopted a Stone Cold Steve Austin impersonator gimmick, replacing the beer with Clam Juice and "Oh Hell Yeah" with "Oh Shell Yeah". Despite his popularity, Sharboy would somewhat shockingly never be given a championship run during his time with TNA.
3 Black Machismo
In terms of a comedy character becoming an actual star, Jay Lethal's stiny as Black Machismo is as good as it gets. After impressing with his own Macho Man impression backstage, Lethal adopted the Black Machismo gimmick in TNA, and saw a significant rise in popularity.
Through this impersonator gimmick, Lethal would find success in TNA, winning his first X Division Championship after beating Chris Sabin, but only for a brief run. In a much bigger and more memorable moment, Kurt Angle would be upset by the Black Machismo, winning the X Division Championship again in one of the biggest upsets in TNA History.
2 Johnny Swinger
Despite being a TNA original, even winning the NWA World Tag Team Championship, Johnny Swinger's best run in TNA/Impact Wrestling, has been his latest, as the seasoned-veteran-turned-comedy-jobber character. At 46 years old, the self-proclaimed Swing Daddy is putting in some of the best work of his career.
Currently in an alliance with fellow comedy act, Zicky Dice, the duo have hosted their own "Chump Chump Challenges", a parody on Deonna Purrazzo's Champ Champ Challenge, and have also featured in zany Swinger's Dungeon training segments. For those who have not seen Swinger's recent work, it warrants a YouTube search to just see the ridiculousness of his segments.
1 Curry Man
After being storyline fired through the Feast or Fired Match, Christopher Daniels would find himself bringing a former gimmick of his to TNA television, donning the Curry Man costume and becoming the spiciest wrestler in TNA. Forming a tag-team with other famed comedy act, Shark Boy, the two would take the company by storm as a comedy team, with a highlight being the Fish Market Street Fight against Team 3D.
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If the gimmick itself wasn't funny enough to begin with, TNA would establish a new short-lived stable, The Prince Justice Brotherhood, a superhero faction consisting of Super Eric, Shark Boy, and Curry Man. In the end, Curry Man would be treated to the same fate as Christopher Daniels, getting "fired" via the Feast or Fired match, which then sent Daniels down his next random path in TNA, as the masked wrestler Suicide.
