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TNA, or Impact Wrestling as they are known, are having a hard time at the moment. In fact, they have been having a hard time a lot in recent years, from wrestlers leaving the company to bad business decisions or poor attendance. But now and in the past, they've had one hell of a roster that has given us some of the greatest matches and moments over the last 16 years.
That brings me to this list of the Top 10 greatest feuds in the history of TNA Impact Wrestling.
#10 Kurt Angle vs. Sting
Kurt Angle and Sting was a dream match and feud that WWE really wished they could have promoted, in fact, they almost did, back in early 2002 when Sting was close to agreeing terms with WWE. They had planned on a match between the two at WrestleMania XVIII, but plans obviously changed when Sting declined WWE's offer at the eleventh hour.
The Icon came out of retirement in early 2006 and joined TNA as a part-time performer. Kurt Angle would join TNA in September 2006, and thus hopes were raised for the match to finally happen, and it did. The first match between the two occurred in April 2007 on Impact, but quickly ended in a double disqualification following interference from Christian Cage, Tomko and AJ Styles.
Kurt turned heel shortly thereafter and briefly held the TNA Tag Team Championship with Sting in the summer in 2007, before turning on him and attacking him, officially setting up their feud. Sting would defeat Kurt for the TNA World Championship in The Icon's best match in about a decade, at Bound For Glory.
Their feud ended the following month, but was reignited in 2009, during a power struggle over leadership in the Main Event Mafia. Angle and Sting would feud once more in 2011, which would see Sting lose the World title to Kurt at Hardcore Justice.
#9 America's Most Wanted vs. Triple X
America's Most Wanted, James Storm and Chris Harris, and Triple X, Christopher Daniels and Elix Skipper, had perhaps the best tag team matches in TNA Impact Wrestling history. These two teams feuded on and off for just about 2 years, before it finally ended when one of the teams were literately forced to break up as a result of a match loss.
The two traded the Tag Team titles on several different occasions and had both the first ever tag team cage match in TNA history and the very first 6 sided cage match in TNA history. It was on the latter where the stipulation was that the losing team would have to break up. AMW defeated Triple X in what is regarded as one of the best matches in TNA history, the best cage match in TNA history and one of the best cages matches in wrestling history.
#8 The Main Event Mafia vs. The TNA Frontline
The Main Event Mafia faction officially joined together in October 2008. The seeds for the group had been planted in the summer, during separate feuds of AJ Styles vs. Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe vs. Sting.
The angle started with Sting having a growing frustration that all the young guys in TNA had no respect for the Legends, such as he. The group officially joined together on the October 23 episode of Impact in 2008, in a segment between Nash, Booker T, Angle and Sting. They would later be joined by Scott Steiner. The group ruled over TNA for almost a year, feuding with the young stars of TNA for the majority of it.
The faction they feuded with, led by AJ Styles and Samoa Joe, would be known as the TNA Originals. However, since most of the people in the group were not actually company originals, they became known as the TNA Frontline. AJ and Joe would be joined by Rhino, Team 3D, and Christopher Daniels, while others such as Jay Lethal, Alex Shelly, Chris Sabin and more would play smaller roles. Samoa Joe eventually turned on the group and joined the Main Event Mafia.
The angle came to an end without an official conclusion after just about a year. Sting had turned face and left the group months prior, Booker T left TNA after Bound For Glory, Kurt Angle was being cheered in his matches so much that he unintentionally turned face and Kevin Nash began a solo angle with Mick Foley. Samoa Joe quietly left the group too, which just left Scott Steiner.
#7 James Storm vs. Bobby Roode
obby Roode and James Storm were thrown together as a short-term tag team in 2008. However, they meshed together so well that TNA decided to keep them together. Over the next 3 years, Beer Money Inc. as they had become known, would become multi-time TNA Tag Team Champions and have some of the best tag team matches in company history.
After Roode unsuccessfully challenged Kurt Angle for the TNA World Championship at Bound For Glory 2011, James Storm was given an opportunity and then went on to defeat Angle to become the new World Heavyweight Champion. Roode defeated Storm to win the World Heavyweight Championship, after hitting him with his own beer bottle, ending Beer Money, Inc. and turning heel in the process on the November 3 episode of Impact Wrestling.
The two would have some pretty solid promos and segments over the next few months. Bobby would retain the title over Storm several times, including a memorable cage match at Lockdown 2012. The feud seemed to have ended here, but was then reignited out of the blue when, after not being seen for several weeks, Roode returned on September 9 at No Surrender, costing James Storm his Bound for Glory Series semifinal match against Bully Ray. The rivalry between Roode and Storm culminated on October 14 at Bound for Glory in a memorable and bloody Street Fight, which was won by Storm.
#6 AJ Styles vs. Kurt Angle
After being aligned with Christian Cage for the majority of 2007 and the beginning of 2008, AJ Styles turned on Cage and joined forces with Kurt Angle.
AJ would develop a crush on Kurt's then-wife Karen, and accidentally married her on Impact in February 2008, immediately creating tension between him and Kurt. With Kurt constantly accusing Styles and Karen of an affair and both denying anything beyond friendship, Styles quit Kurt's Angle Alliance faction.
Kurt and AJ would have some excellent matches, trading victories on Impact, which included AJ winning Kurt's Olympic Gold Medal before AJ defeated him at Slammiversary, and in a memorable and excellent Last Man Standing at Hard Justice. AJ won their feud-ending ladder match on Impact in August 2008.
The two feuded again during the Main Event Mafia vs. TNA Frontline feud, although it wouldn't feature many matches between them. They would also feud in 2010, when AJ would turn heel on Kurt at Genesis, joining up with Ric Flair. The feud didn't continue after that, however.
#5 TNA vs. Aces & Eights
The Aces & Eights angle began on the June 14, 2012, episode of Impact Wrestling, when three masked men attacked Sting during a segment. Inspired by the hit TV series The Sons of Anarchy, they were a group of invading bikers.
Each week they would attack all the big names in TNA, including General Manager Hulk Hogan. TNA did pretty well with unveiling several members. While D-Lo Brown, Garett Bischoff, Wes Briscoe, Doc Gallows and Knux were leaked out, the unveilings of Devon, Taz and eventual leader Bully Ray, were all handled excellently.
Overall, the stable didn't overstay their welcome and ended at the right time, in November 2013, and unlike the Main Event Mafia, Fortune and Immortal factions, they were given a proper conclusion.
#4 Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong
TNA tried to one-up WWE in 2007 by putting a lot of focus on their women's division, and it worked. Long before the Women's Revolution came into full swing in WWE, the TNA Knockouts were having thrilling encounters every week in TNA Impact Wrestling.
All the women in the company deserve credit for this, but it was one particular feud that started it all, Awesome Kong, and the inaugural TNA Impact Knockout's Champion, Gail Kim. Their first encounter occurred on December 2 at Turning Point, which resulted in Kim retaining the title due to a disqualification by Kong.
Kim defeated Kong in an acclaimed second encounter to retain the championship under no disqualification rules on January 6, 2008 at Final Resolution. In their third and final encounter in the main event of the January 10 episode of TNA Impact!, Kong defeated Kim to win the TNA Women's Knockout Championship, also suffering a concussion at the hands of Kong after being powerbombed in the ring three times.
Their feud reopened in the form of tag team matches on Impact and pay-per-view, before Gail left TNA in late 2008. Kim and Kong would also briefly team together and feud in 2015.
#3 AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels
AJ Styles vs Christopher Daniels was almost the greatest feud in company history, and that is on their matches alone. AJ and Daniels feuded on and off for seven years, from 2005 - 2012.
The two mainly feuded over the X Division Championship over their first year, which included two 30-minute Iron Man matches at Against All Odds and Bound For Glory in 2005. Samoa Joe was then inserted into the feud, which provided the best matches in company history. Following this, AJ and Daniels formed a very successful and popular tag team in 2006 where they held the NWA Tag Team Championship twice. In 2009, they advanced up the card and feuded for AJ's World Heavyweight Championship.
The two began feuding again in 2011. Daniels became frustrated after AJ defeated him in the main event of the first ever all X Division pay-per-view, Destination X 2011. AJ would defeat Daniels several more times on Impact and in an I Quit match at Bound For Glory that year. By this point, you could still consider this to be the best feud in TNA Impact history, that is until they re-opened it one last time. Daniels revealed a series of photographs insinuating a relationship between Styles and then TNA president Dixie Carter. Styles and Carter revealed they were not having an affair, but were helping an addicted pregnant woman named Claire Lynch overcome her problems.
This, along with AJ being the father of her unborn baby, became known as the 'Claire Lynch Saga', the worst angle in TNA history. While the matches between AJ and Daniels remained thrilling, everything with Claire Lynch was too horrible to overlook. Daniels defeated AJ at Final Resolution 2012, in what was billed as their "final match".
#2 Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe
Kurt Angle made his TNA debut on October 19 as a face, confronting Samoa Joe after Joe refused to relinquish the NWA World Heavyweight Championship belt that he had stolen from Champion Jeff Jarrett. Kurt headbutted Joe in what was dubbed the 'Headbutt heard around the world', to officially kick-start their feud.
To TNA's credit, Angle and Joe gave the most believable pull-apart brawls in wrestling history, in such a short amount of time, they really made you believe they wanted to destroy each other. Kurt would defeat Joe at Genesis, ending Joe's 18-month undefeated streak in one-on-one competition. After initially refusing, Kurt granted Joe a rematch at Turning Point the following month, where Joe evened the score, defeating Kurt.
The two had many more believable brawls and segments, before Kurt defeated Joe three falls to two, in a 30 minute Iron Man at Final Resolution. Angle and Joe later re-opened their feud in the summer of 2007, where they had a 'Winner Take All'' match for every Championship in TNA, won by Angle. They feuded once more in 2008, where Joe defeated Kurt for the TNA World Championship at Lockdown 2008.
#1 Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Jarrett
Kurt Angle and TNA founder Jeff Jarrett began feuding in the late summer in 2008. For what seemed like no reason, Jeff aided AJ Styles in a ladder match with Kurt on Impact. Jeff later revealed he had grown angry with Kurt in his absence, for not leading TNA in the right direction. The feud quickly escalated when Jarrett hit Angle with his guitar, a match that involved him, Christian Cage and Samoa Joe for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.
The feud briefly turned into a shoot, when an irate Jarrett went off script during a segment on Impact, slamming Kurt for speaking highly of WWE and Vince McMahon and teasing a return to WWE, in an interview during a media tour for TNA. Jeff would then defeat Kurt at Bound For Glory. Kurt would later defeat Jeff in a rematch at Genesis, and the feud would continue as a part of the Main Event Mafia vs the TNA Frontline.
The real-life issues between Kurt and Jeff were brought into the storyline in late 2010. Angle came out to make his retirement speech, after his failed attempt to win the World Heavyweight Championship, but was interrupted by Jarrett, who announced that he had made a deal with Hogan and Bischoff in order to end Angle's career.
Kurt's ex-wife Karen Jarrett would soon join the feud, aiding her new real-life husband Jeff, and Jeff and Kurt would have a deep and personal feud on TNA TV for the next 6 months, 5 of which they fought on pay-per-view in some exciting and emotional performances. The incredible feud ended in June 2011 on an episode of Impact, where Kurt defeated Jeff in a Parking Lot Brawl, that forced Jeff off TNA TV for several months.
