10 Things WWE & Impact Wrestling Fans Forgot About Tyson Tomko

One of the many Ruthless Aggression era WWE stars that fans may have taken for granted if they didn’t completely forget about him, Tyson Tomko was a solid enforcer character whose biggest claim to fame was serving as backup for Christian from 2004 to 2005. In 2006, Tomko showed up in Impact Wrestling to resume his business relationship with Christian.

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That said, Tyson Tomko — sometimes known as Travis Tomko or simply Tomko — stuck around in the pro wrestling business for 14 years, so there are aspects of his career that fans might not be aware of. Let’s take a look at some of these forgotten exploits, which include his time in WWE, Impact, and beyond.

10 Member Of Disciples Of Sinn In OVW

In 2002, Tyson Tomko signed to WWE and debuted for its developmental promotion at the time, Ohio Valley Wrestling. With the ring name Travis Bane, Tomko became part of the spooky faction Disciples of Synn alongside Seven (a.k.a. Kevin Thorn or Mordecai) and Leviathan (a.k.a. Batista), among others. Alongside Seven, Travis Bane defeated Rene Dupree and Lance Cade for the vacant OVW Southern Tag Team Championship, which they’d drop after 36 days to WWE main roster stars Farooq and Bradshaw as The APA.

9 Paired With Trish Stratus On The WWE Main Roster

When Tyson Tomko was paired with Christian as an enforcer, Christian, Chris Jericho, and Trish Stratus were embroiled in a love triangle storyline that involved Stratus betraying Jericho for Christian. Unfortunately, Christian hurt his back in the middle of the storyline, forcing WWE to make some changes. As a result, Tomko subbed in for his injured boss in some matches with Jericho, and functioned as Trish Stratus’ bodyguard. Tomko even teamed up with Stratus in a mixed tag team match against Lita and Matt Hardy.

8 Singles Run On Raw

Of course, no relationship in wrestling ever lasts, and eventually Christian and Tyson Tomko were separated, albeit via the WWE draft. Now a singles wrestler on Raw, Tomko seemed set for a dominant heel run, which happened to a small extent.

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Featured on Sunday Night Heat and sometimes Raw, Tomko mostly took out jobbers, though he did manage to score wins over wrestlers like Rosey and Tajiri while regularly losing to Viscera in singles matches.

7 Tag Team With Snitsky

The Christian-free Tomko on the WWE main roster wasn’t just a singles guy, however. Venturing into the tag team division, Tomko joined forces with fellow forgotten Ruthless Aggression character Snitsky, albeit to little success. Snitsky and Tomko had two unsuccessful shots at the World Tag Team Title, including a four-way, but those bouts lasted mere minutes. Otherwise, the two wrestled on Heat, where they were able to get some wins over teams like The Heart Throbs and Val Venis and Viscera.

6 IWGP Tag Team Champion With Giant Bernard

After leaving WWE in 2006, Tomko — now working under his real name of Travis Tomko — made his way to New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where he actually did find success in the tag team division. Teaming with Giant Bernard — otherwise known as Albert, A-Train, and Tensai in WWE — Tomko was able to capture the IWGP Tag Team Championship, which they held for an impressive 343-day run. They also entered the G1 Tag League Tournament, becoming semifinalists in 2006 and then winning it in 2007.

5 Member Of BLACK and RISE in NJPW

New Japan, for the most part, is divided into stables, and Tomko was a member of two groups during his time with the promotion. First, Tomko and Giant Bernard were members of BLACK, Masahiro Chono’s heel faction that aimed to stage a hostile takeover of the company, as he did with NWO Japan and TEAM 2000. Eventually Chono ditched the group and Shinsuke Nakamura took over, renaming it RISE. Tomko and Bernard stuck around for this iteration as well, with teammates including Hirooki Goto and Prince Devitt (a.k.a. Finn Balor).

4 Tried To Get A Title Shot Out Of Christian Cage In Impact

Tomko — sans first name — debuted in the Impact Zone in fall of 2006 by interfering in a bout on behalf of his old boss Christian Cage, who ironically gained a last name. Tomko resumed functioning as Cage’s bodyguard and enforcer, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t have big aspirations of his own.

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After defeating #1 Contender Samoa Joe in a match, Tomko demanded a shot at Christian Cage’s NWA World Heavyweight Championship, going as far as withholding service and not joining Cage’s team for the Lethal Lockdown match. Despite all that, Cage never gave Tomko his title shot, and Tomko joined his Lockdown team anyway.

3 Tag Team With Scott Steiner

Longtime Impact Wrestling fans may remember AJ Styles and Tomko having a successful tag team and even capturing the tag championship together, but before that Tomko teamed with a different member of Christian’s Coalition. In the spring of 2007, Scott Steiner teamed up with Tomko to attempt to dethrone Team 3D of the NWA World Tag Team Title, but LAX ended up costing them the match. As a result, Tomko and Steiner challenged for the belts at Sacrifice in a three-way with LAX, Team 3D still retained.

2 Only Had One Singles Match With Christian Cage

Much like in WWE, Tomko’s alliance with Christian Cage in the Impact Zone didn’t last, as Tomko and AJ Styles began to align with Kurt Angle, resulting in a rivalry between Angle and Cage and Tomko increasingly wanting nothing to do with any of these people. After Tomko led his own team against Christian’s for a Lethal Lockdown match in April 2008, the two finally had a singles match the following month as a qualifying bout to take part in the King of the Mountain match, with Cage winning over his ex-bodyguard.

1 Brief Feud With AJ Styles

Tomko ended up leaving Impact Wrestling in 2010, but made a return to the promotion in late 2009. After weeks of mysterious attacks on AJ Styles, Tomko revealed himself as the attacker, leading to a match between the former rivals in which Styles successfully defended the Impact World Title against Tomko in a little more than four minutes. It was a mere pit stop during Styles’ ongoing feud with Kurt Angle, but at least Tomko finally got his title shot.

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