Where to start?

[Lee]

Having been a WWF/E fan for 20 years, I didn't get much into the whole WCW thing, recently I've been rewaing some old WCW stuff and I liked it.

What does this have to do with TNA? Well I caught Impact on Bravo the other day and it's had me intrigued, it's a different product that's for sure. Some areas are better, some a lot worse. Now from what I can find, this company has a seven year histpry...so I want to have a look at some of the best matches/feuds of the best. This is where I need your help!

I need you guys, who know your TNA stuff, to give esome matches in the past, whether it be Impact, PPVs etc. Give me reasons as well, don't just list them as
A) That's spam
B) I want to be interested in looking at them.

Your help is appreciated greatly.

Lee

 

[jrhonaker]

AJ Styles vs Christopher Daniels vs Samoa Joe from unbreakable 2005.

This match symbolizes everything TNA was at its best, as i dont personally like their new product so much. It showcased two of the guys in daniels and styles that put tna on theri backs and carried it through much of the eraly years.

Its fast paced, high flying, and yet a very technical display.

I dont think its even up for debate, this is the greatest match tna has ever had. Bar none.

 

[Michael Miracle]

Honestly, if you want to start out with the best TNA has to offer, buy the Best of The X Division 1 and 2 DVD's, as they have some of the greatest matches in TNA history on those. I also really like TNA's Best of the Bloodiest Brawls DVD, it has my favorite TNA match of all time, Abyss vs AJ Styles for the NWA World Title Number One Contendership at Lockdown (2005 I believe...)

 

[obamartins]

TNA Unbreakable 2005 - AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Samoa Joe
Amazing wrestling match, got to admit first time i watched it my jaw dropped. Great techincal high flying wrestling action.

TNA Bound for Glory 2005 - Rhino vs. Abyss vs. Sabu vs. Jeff Hardy (Monsters Ball Match)

Amazing weapon filled brawl with huge stunts (especially from Jeff Hardy)

TNA Turning Point 2005 - Sabu vs. Abyss (Barbwire Massacare)

Ring Ropes have been replaced by barbwire plus there is many other barwire gimmicks such as boards,baseball bats & Chairs wrapped in barbwire. This is a brutal & bloody encounter.

TNA Slammiversary 2006 - Samoa Joe vs. Scott Steiner

Good Match & Big Match Atmosphere.

TNA Genesis 2006 - Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe

Kurt Angles TNA Wrestling Debut & once agin it was a good Match with a Big Match Atmosphere.

TNA Lockdown 2007 - Kurt Angle,Sting,Jeff Jarrett,Rhino & Samoa Joe vs. Christian Cage,AJ Styles,Tomko, Abyss & Scott Steiner (Lethal LockDown)

Lethal Lockdown is basically a cage with a roof on top. Non Stop action, Stunts & weapons including a guitar with thumbtacks inside!

TNA Bound for Glory 2007 - Sting vs. Kurt Angle

Two of the biggest stars in the history of the wrestling industry meet for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship at TNAs biggest event of the year. Sting put in one of his best performances in years.

TNA Lockdown 2008 - Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe (MMA Style Match)

Inside the confides of the six sides of steel Angle & Joe slug it out in an unique extremley hard hitting match up. Samoa Joe captures his first TNA World Heavyweight Championship - Which some people feel was long overdue.

TNA Bound for Glory 2008 - Jeff Jarrett vs. Kurt Angle (Mick Foley is Guest Enforcer)

Just a good straight forward wrestling match.

TNA Bound for Glory 2008 - Samoa Joe vs. Sting

The Main Event of TNAs biggest PPV of the Year. Samoa Joe takes a crazy bump.

TNA Turning Point 2008 - Abyss vs. Kurt Angle

When i saw this match a few months ago it was one of the best matches i had seen i a long time. I really enjoyed this match.



Please respect the fact that i did this at 10 past 12 at night & off the top of my head after being knackered off work. By the way im from THE TOON aswell!!!!! TNA has had many other good matches & i did not even list any fueds or angles but oh well. Check those matches out they are all good & if anyone disagrees they can FUCK OFF! Honestly they are all very good matches.

 

[JGlass]

I've never liked TNA. I watched it a couple times, and all the matches I've seen have been slow paced or the wrestlers looked weak, the promos sucked or the characters just bothered me.

That being said, I just watched that match that was suggested, AJ Styles vs Samoa Joe vs Christopher Daniels... WOW! I must have watched on the wrong day. That was one of the most amazing and skillful matches I've ever seen. I never thought I'd say this, but I think I'm gonna start following TNA. I mean, I'm not going to start watching Impact instead of The Office on Thursdays, but I'm definitely going to watch some of their PPV's and catch highlights online.

One question I have is how would you describe TNA's tag division compared to WWE's and who are the best teams to watch?

 

[Buford]

AJ Styles vs Christopher Daniels vs Samoa Joe from unbreakable 2005.

This match symbolizes everything TNA was at its best, as i dont personally like their new product so much. It showcased two of the guys in daniels and styles that put tna on theri backs and carried it through much of the eraly years.

Its fast paced, high flying, and yet a very technical display.

I dont think its even up for debate, this is the greatest match tna has ever had. Bar none.

I agree, hands down the best match TNA has ever had.

Chris Harris vs. James Storm from Sacrifice 2007 is a good one.

AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe from the end of December 2005.

King of the Mountain 2005 was good with Raven winning the belt.

Chris Daniels vs. Samoa Joe from the first Thursday Impact.

Kaz vs. Christian Cage from Genesis 2007.

AJ Styles vs. Chris Daniels from Against All Odds 2005 30 Minute Ironman Match.

 

[a0161613]

I think the key is AJ Styles. The guy is awesome and has been involved in some of the best American matches in recent years. He can go at it with giants or cruisers, technicians or brawlers and has featured in every type of match to back it up.

AJ vs Joe vs Daniels has already been suggested but the Unbreakable match was that damn good. KB has their rematch in his Vintage Video thread. Joe is a beast and Daniels is severely underrated. All three deserve massive credit for that and the whole thing was brilliantly written as a triple threat feud can be awkward to book but it was expertly done.

IMO 2005 was the last great year of the X Division and it was due in no small part to the fact AJ was being booked there. (In light of the tournament coming soon, Sam has AJ on his list and is bound to post a lot of good stuff in his favour.)

Not to say the heavyweight division wasn't interesting. Hardy had a great feud with Abyss, Jarrett dominated (HHH-like) until Raven broke it up and had a good short reign that featured a decent feud with Rhyno.

The tag division is significantlly better than WWE. Beer Money and before that Team Canada, the Naturals and AMW were really the teams that put it on the map. I think it is simply because they book it strongly and the talent backs it up in ring.

The thing with TNA is, you will be frustrated at how they do things, the booking of meaningless feuds and titles reigns, pretty much the things that are discussed on the site regularly, but when they get it right, they do very well and sometimes better than WWE.

 

[ExtremeSwagga93]

I'd start with a lot of the classic TNA stuff, mostly because the last two years of TNA have been worthless in my opinion.

America's Most Want vs. Triple X- Steel Cage Match
This match took place in 2003 at a weekly PPV if my memory serves me correctly. Great match, fast pace, back and forth action, and a killer spot at the end of the match. Triple X vs. AMW is one of TNA's all time best feuds, makes me miss when TNA was all about having good teams in their company. I mean right now the only good team is Beer Money, considering LAX isn't a full time team anymore. But that's another subject. If you want good TNA action, check this one out first.

America's Most Wanted vs. Triple X- Six Sides of Steel match
One of, if not the last match these two teams had was one of the best. The stipulation in this match was that the loosing team had to disband. The above mentioned match was a better match, but this one was great as well. I don't want to give to much away, but lets just say, I've never seen someone walk the top of the cage, considering TNA's six sides of steel cages are so thin on top. Check out this match for sure.

Kurt vs. Samoa Joe Matches
Without fail the best of what I'll call "Modern" TNA feuds. Starting at Genesis 2006 in a normal one on one match, then at Final Resolution 2006 in an Iron Man Match, Turning Point and finally at Hard Justice. The first three were probably the best of them all. Pitting two of the best wrestlers in the game right now against each other with no gimmicks, just wrestling, which is rare in TNA, but beautiful when it happens. Not much more to add, these are just great matches.

Abyss vs. AJ Styles Six Sides of Steel
Lockdown 2005. Really good match. AJ styles face past style vs. Abyss' hardcore style. There is good use of tacks in this match that could make anyone cringe, some stiff shots from the cage door, and some nice spots.

Against All Odds 2005
30-Minute Ironman Match- X-Division Title
AJ Styles(c) VS Christopher Daniels
Best Iron man match ever period. It's extremely fast paced. The match is incredible and the ending is absoultely great. I'm not gonna get into too much detail because I don't wanna spoil it.

AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe- X-Division title match
Great stuff here, one of Joe's early matches in TNA, during one of his first real TNA feuds against AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels. This took place at Turning Point 05 (?). There are some good high flying moves from Styles, nothing absoultely crazy about this match, but it is an enjoyable match put on by two of the best home grown TNA talent.

AJ Styles
vs Christopher Daniels vs Samoa Joe from unbreakable 2005.

This match symbolizes everything TNA was at its best, as i dont personally like their new product so much. It showcased two of the guys in daniels and styles that put tna on theri backs and carried it through much of the early years.



Its fast paced, high flying, and yet a very technical display.

I dont think its even up for debate, this is the greatest match tna has ever had. Bar none.

LAX vs. AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels- NWA Tag team title match
I'll go out and say it, the last good Tag team title match in TNA. It happened at the 2006 Bound for Glory event. It took match of the year for that year, so you know it's good. Two great teams going at it with no holds barred. Good spots from AJ and Daniels as well as LAX. Just a great match overall.

I could go on and on and on, but there isn't enough time. I suggest going to your local video store and buy these DVD's.

Best of the X-Division Volume 1
Best of the X-Division Volume 2
50 Greatest Moments in TNA history
Best of Abyss
Phenomenal: The Best of AJ Styles
Phenomenal: The Best of AJ Styles Volume 2
Best of the Bloodiest Brawls Volume one and two
History of TNA Year one

Those will show you pretty much everything you missed.

 

[Uncle Sam]

Looks like everyone has already listed the matches I would have. I'll just highlight which ones I think you should really watch then.

LAX vs. Christopher Daniels & AJ Styles - Six Sides of Steel, Bound For Glory 2006
My favourite tag match of all time. I think it reasonably demonstrated why the two are my favourite teams of all time, or near enough. Brutal and brilliant in equal amounts.

Joe vs. AJ vs. Daniels - Unbreakable 2005
The match that got me into TNA. Really, really good match. Haven't seen it in a while. 'Tis real good shit.

Kaz vs. Christian Cage - Whenever that happened
The greatest modern example of a great wrestler making a mediocre one look fantastic. See if you can guess which is which.

Samoa Joe vs. Kurt Angle - Lockdown 2008
The last time the two met (so far), I believe. Probably their finest match. I thought it could well be revolutionary. TNA creative obviously felt differently. Completely different to any other match you'll ever see, it really is something to watch.

Jarrett vs. Angle II - Genesis 2009
In my opinion, their better match. Rivals the Lockdown match for Kurt's best match in TNA. I suppose it's because Jarrett has a very WWE-like quality about him, bringing out the best in Kurt. If there were a video of the match between these two I saw live, I'd recommend that one.

Anything Kurt does a Somersault Plancha in
You won't believe your eyes. His third match with AJ and his match with Abyss at Turning Point are notable examples.

Otherwise, the early three-ways between Lynn, Styles and Low Ki are highly enjoyable spot fests.

 

[Yotsuba Snake]

No love for Ultimate X?

Anyway I'd say, Ultimate X6: Final Resolution 2005 AJ vs. Chris Sabin vs. Petey Williams. Great match, phenomenal spots but the finish is kinda lackluster.

Ultimate X12: Victory Road 2007 This one was a gauntlet match but it has one of the best spots ever done in the history of Crusierweight wrestling (in my opinon.)

Beer Money vs. The MCMG: Turning Point 2008.

Last weeks match between the Guns and Lethal Consequences.

 

[Buford]

I totally forgot about the XXX/AMW six sides of steel from Turning Point 2005. The best cage match in TNA history.

Also when talking about great tag team matches, and great UX matches. AJ Styles & Chris Daniels vs. LAX from Unbreakable 2006 was great as well, one of, if not the best match that year.

 

[The Hiphopapotamus]

Victory Road 200710 man Ultimate x gauntlet.Some of the most memorable moments in Tna like Kaz's diamond cutter from the top rope on the hanging daniels.

Hard Justice 2007Joe vs. Angle.One hell of a match with great wrestling and a good twist.

Sacrifice 2007Texas death match Chris Harris vs. James Storm.Brutal and Brilliant.They bled like crazy.

Slammiversary 2007King of The Mountain

Against all odds 2008Abyss vs. Judas Mesias Barbed wire massacre.

Most ultimate x matches are great but i can't remember the exact moments

 

[z99zazn]

Lee, I'm so glad you made this thread. I am in the exact same boat as you are when it comes to TNA, and although I might be a little late in discussing this thread, I just feel obligated to say thank you to everyone for the matches that were recommended. So far I've watched maybe 3 or 4 of the recommended matches, but the match between Joe, The Fallen Angel, and AJ really stands out. From a modern standpoint of the past few years, that match and the HBK/Taker match at WM25 are my personal favorites. But after watching iMPACT and checking out some of these matches, I think TNA might have just gained a huge fan!