For the first 12 years of the company's existence, Mike Tenay was the voice of TNA Wrestling. Alongside his broadcast colleague, the late Don West, Tenay was the play-by-play commentator for TNA until 2015 when the company's flagship show, "TNA Impact," moved from Spike TV to Destination America. The period of time where Tenay was in TNA was recently documented on the newest season of "Dark Side of the Ring," but "The Professor" was nowhere to be found.On the latest edition of "Wrestling Observer Radio," Dave Meltzer gave his thoughts on the two episodes that aired on July 7, while also noting that several people, including Tenay, turned down the chance to appear. "Dixie [Carter, former TNA President] was asked to be on the thing, she refused to do it or she turned it down. Tenay [also] turned it down."Tenay can be both seen and heard in the two episodes that have aired so far thanks to the archive footage of TNA that was used to help tell the story of the company's beginnings, as well as Jeff Jarrett's battle for control behind the scenes. Tenay will also not feature in the third and final part of the Jarrett/TNA trilogy which is set to air on July 14.Tenay's work with the company hasn't been forgotten though, as in 2023 at the company's annual Bound For Glory event, both Tenay and Don West were inducted into the TNA Hall of Fame by former company President Scott D'Amore. With the induction, Tenay and West became only the second and third non-wrestlers to be inducted into the Hall of Fame after the former senior referee of TNA, Earl Hebner, was inducted in 2015.Please credit "Wrestling Observer Radio" when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
