On May 27, 2009, Burke defeated Shawn Spears in a tryout dark match for TNA at their "TNA Impact!" television tapings. On July 29, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that Burke had signed a contract with TNA. On the August 6 episode of "Impact!" a vignette was aired that announced that Burke would be debuting under the ring name D'Angelo Dinero at Hard Justice. Burke made his debut as a heel on August 16 in the Steel Asylum match, which was won by Daniels. On August 20, 2009, he made his "Impact!" debut and defeated Consequences Creed before he was attacked by Suicide, who had lost the Steel Asylum match because of Dinero's interference. On the September 17 episode of "Impact!", Dinero defeated Suicide. At No Surrender, Dinero defeated Suicide once again, this time in a "falls count anywhere" match. The following week on "Impact!" Suicide finally defeated Dinero, by pinning him in a street fight.