The longest-running weekly non-WWE pro wrestling television show in the United States, Impact! It premiered on June 4, 2004, and this Saturday, September 9, will be recording its 1000th episode.
Over more than 19 years of history, the Impact Wrestling (formerly TNA) program has aired on channels such as Fox Sports Net (2004-2005), Spike TV (2005-2004), Destination America (2015) and the station’s channels Anthem Sports & Entertainment (since 2017) and has been on every day of the week except Sunday, but it has been on Thursdays that it has been most successful, especially between 2006 and 2014.
Although the show tends more towards promoting the pay-per-views and special events that follow than hosting spectacular fights, there has also been room for electrifying duels throughout the thousand-plus episodes of Impact!
It is therefore worth remembering our list of the ten best fights, in chronological order.
Impact! (April 13, 2006); TNA X Division Championship :
Christopher Daniels (c) vs. Samoa Joe
At Against All Odds, Samoa Joe retained the title against Christopher Daniels and AJ Styles by laying down Styles after a Muscle Buster. At the following pay-per-view, Destination X, Christopher Daniels won the TNA X Division Championship in an Ultimate X match. On the March 25 episode of Impact! , Larry Zbyszko announced that Samoa Joe would be removed from the X Division at the Lockdown event.
However, on the April 1 episode, Joe beat Alex Shelley, Sonjay Dutt and Chris Sabin to earn the right to face champion Christopher Daniels for the TNA X Division Championship almost two weeks later, at the first Impact! on a Thursday night, April 13th.
Impact! (October 15, 2009): Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles
At the No Surrender pay-per-view in September, AJ Styles won the TNA World Heavyweight Championship from Kurt Angle in a five-way match that also involved Matt Morgan, Sting and Hernandez. Four days later, on Impact! , Angle said that he was not defeated by AJ Styles but was plotted by Matt Morgan, a supposed ally of Angle who gave him a Big Boot during the match at the No Surrender pay-per-view.
On the October 8 episode, Angle accused Sting and Styles of combining the result at the No Surrender pay-per-view , as Sting stepped aside so that Styles could make the settlement in Angle , to face each other in the main event of Bound For Glory for the title. Meanwhile, Angle attacked Sting and locked him in an Ankle Lock , but Styles made the save . However, Angle challenged Styles to a match the following week, just three days before Bound For Glory .
Impact! (January 4, 2010)
TNA World Heavyweight Championship: AJ Styles (c) vs. Kurt Angle
No Impact! On October 15, 2009, the fight between AJ Styles and Kurt Angle ended in a draw, after the 20-minute limit was reached, at a time when Styles seemed just seconds away from giving up at a time when he was trapped in an Ankle Lock .
However, both followed parallel paths. AJ Styles retained the TNA World Heavyweight Championship with triumphs over Sting, Christopher Daniels and Samoa Joe , while Kurt Angle went on a winning streak.
In late 2009, Angle recalled Styles that not only had Styles not yet defeated him, but Angle had not lost a match since September, which led to a world title match between the two being scheduled for Genesis, scheduled for January 17, 2010. However, during the 4 January of Impact! , General Manager Eric Bischoff announced that the title fight has been brought forward to that night.
Impact! : The Whole F’n Show (August 12, 2010)
Two-out-of-three falls match for the TNA World Tag Team Championship :
The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin) (c) vs. Beer Money, Inc. (James Storm and Robert Roode )
On the June 17, 2010 episode of Impact! , The Band (Eric Young, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall) were left without the TNA World Tag Team Championship due to Scott Hall’s legal problems.
To determine the new champions, a tournament was held between four teams, with the winners of that tournament facing The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin) , who were the main candidates for the title until it became vacant, at Victory Road . Beer Money, Inc. won the tournament after beating Team 3D ( Brother Ray and Brother Devon) in the semifinals and Ink Inc. (Jesse Neal and Shannon Moore) in the final.
On Victory Road, the Motor City Machine Guns won the TNA World Tag Team Championship after defeating Beer Money . After that pay-per-view , the two teams entered a series of best-of-five matches, with the tag team titles on the line.
Beer Money won the first two matches of the best-of-five series for the TNA World Tag Team Championship , a ladder match and a Street Fight. However, the champions emerged victorious from the two duels that followed, a Steel Cage match and an Ultimate X match .
The fifth and final fight, a best-of-three duel, took place on a special episode of Impact! on August 12th, The Whole F’n Show.
Impact! (May 24, 2012)
TNA World Heavyweight Championship : Bobby Roode (c) vs. AJ Styles
At Sacrifice , Bobby Roode defeated Rob Van Dam in a ladder match to retain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship . In the episode of Impact! that followed, General Manager Hulk Hogan scheduled a series of matches to determine that four fighters would be considered for a title match the following week. That night, Bully Ray beat Rob Van Dam , AJ Styles won a Battle Royal, Jeff Hardy beat Mr. Anderson and Kurt Angle beat Samoa Joe .
A week later, Hogan gave the Ray , Styles , Hardy and Angle the possibility of arguing why they should face Roode for the title . After listening to the four, the Hulkster eliminated Bully Ray from the equation. He later also eliminated Jeff Hardy , having announced that AJ Styles would compete for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship immediately before the title match .
Impact! (1st August 2013): Austin Aries vs. AJ Styles
On the June 6, 2013 episode of Impact Wrestling , TNA announced a 12-man tournament to determine the top contender for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship for Bound For Glory , thus continuing the previously held Bound for Glory Series in 2011 and 2012.
AJ Styles , Magnus, Austin Aries , Bobby Roode , Jeff Hardy , Christopher Daniels , Kazarian, Samoa Joe , Mr. Anderson, Joseph Park , Hernandez and Jay Bradley were the participants in the tournament, with wins by settlement to are worth seven points, by countoutfive points, for disqualification three points, while draws gave each fighter two points and losses due to disqualification cost the loss of ten points. A match between Austin Aries and AJ Styles was scheduled for the August 1 episode , with Aries referring to that match as a match that “everyone dreams about” since he joined TNA.
Impact Wrestling : No Surrender (September 17, 2014)
Ladder match for the TNA World Tag Team Championship :
The Wolves (Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards) (c) vs. The Hardys (Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy) vs. Team 3D (Bully Ray and Devon)
At Hardcore Justice 2014, Kurt Angle announced that the Wolves, the Hardys and Team 3D would face each other in a series of three matches, with the winner of the first match being able to choose the stipulation of the next match.
In the first match between the three teams, on the August 27 episode of Impact Wrestling , Team 3D prevailed and decided that the next match would be a tables match .
On the September 10, 2014 episode of Impact! , the Hardys won the tables match and decided that the next match would be a ladder match, with it being announced that this third match would take place at the Impact Wrestling : No Surrender event , the following week, with the Wolves’ TNA World Tag Team Championship on the line.
Impact! (October 8, 2014)
Full Metal Mayhem match for the TNA World Tag Team Championship :
The Wolves (Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards) (c) vs. The Hardys (Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy) vs. Team 3D (Bully Ray and Devon)
After a victory for each team in the three-match series concluded at the No Surrender event , a teaser was announced for the October 8 episode of Impact! , again with the Wolves’ TNA World Tag Team Championship on the line, but this time in a Full Metal Mayhem match (similar to the tables, ladders and chairs match ).
Impact! (March 20, 2015)
TNA World Heavyweight Championship : Bobby Lashley (c) vs. Kurt Angle
On the January 7, 2015 episode of Impact! , Bobby Lashley won the TNA World Heavyweight Championship by beating then-champion Bobby Roode thanks to the help of MVP, Kenny King, Samoa Joe , Low Ki and Eric Young, despite Kurt Angle trying to avoid interference. That same night, Kurt Angle had returned to the ring after more than half a year of absence and defeated Lashley’s main ally, MVP, with whom he had had a verbal confrontation moments before.
The following week, MVP wanted to take the credit for Lashley’s victory, but the new world champion didn’t like it, which led to a disagreement between them and even physical confrontations. On the January 23 episode, Kurt Angle and Bobby Roode rushed to Lashley’s aid as he was attacked by MVP, Kenny King, Samoa Joe , Low Ki and Eric Young of The Beat Down Clan (BDC).
This set of incidents led to a feud between a faction led by Angle and the BDC. Lashley refused to join either group, but ended up teaming up with Team Angle , also consisting of Austin Aries and Gunner, who defeated BDC at Lockdown. However, the tension between Lashley and Angle did not disappear, with both having a confrontation after losing a tag team match against MVP and Samoa Joe on Impact! of February 13th.
Three weeks later, on the March 6 episode, Kurt Angle beat Eric Young and Bobby Roode to become the top contender for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship .
Impact! (June 30, 2022): Chris Sabin vs. Frankie Kazarian
On the May 26, 2022 episode, Frankie Kazarian returned to Impact Wrestling to face his old rival Chris Sabin, as part of the promoter’s 20th anniversary celebrations. However, Honor No More interrupted the match, which ended in a no contest.
However, both Kazarian and Sabin were part of the Impact Originals faction, which defeated Honor No More at Slammiversary. In the episode of Impact! After the pay-per-view, on June 23, Kazarian challenged Sabin to a fight the following week, in order to end the duel that remained unfinished four weeks earlier.