The Great Eight: The Top 8 TNA World Champions

When WCW was sold to the WWF, it created a hole in the business. At that point, if you weren’t in the WWF/E you were hustling on the independent scene trying to make a living.

Jeff and Jerry Jarrett attempted to fill that void when they started TNA in 2002. At the start, they were part of the NWA and used their championships. But following disagreements stemming from TNA booking title changes without approval, they would leave the alliance. So, at the 2007 Sacrifice, the first TNA World Heavyweight Championship was crowned.

19 years later, TNA is still going strong. They’ve navigated multiple owners, cancelled TV shows, and some horrific booking. But somehow they still survive. I was a TNA fan during its Spike TV run, but fell off as it became harder to watch. I still read the live reports and should probably start watching again, since they are on AMC+.

Even with some of their more head-scratching decisions, I enjoyed the product, and the wrestling world is better for TNA’s existence. It gave a platform for guys like AJ Styles and Samoa Joe to grow their name. It gave Christian Cage a chance to prove he could carry a promotion. Kurt Angle had some of his best matches in TNA. And current WWE producers like Bobby Roode, Petey Williams, Chris Parks,  and Jeremy Borash all made their names in TNA.

With TNA going into its 23rd year, let’s take a moment to celebrate the top eight TNA World Champions!

Fun Facts:

In its 19 years as an active championship, there have been 65 reigns held by 39 individuals.

Tessa Blanchard is the only woman to hold the TNA World Championship.

Kurt Angle holds the record for most reigns and most time spent as champion.

Josh Alexander holds the record for both the shortest and longest single reigns.

Ranking Explanation:

As with all my championship rankings, I weigh the amount and length of reigns the most. This is because the more you are given the title, the more the company has faith in you to carry it and sell tickets. After that, I look at how good the reign was from an in-ring and promo standpoint. And lastly, I look at the important moments during their reigns.

Plugs

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Disclaimer:

This is my list; if you don’t like it or have a different list, awesome! Please share your own list and opinions in the comments section. I welcome open discourse about this wacky art we all love. It is an art form, so it is subjective; we all have our opinions on it, and all of them are valid. So, if you want to share your thoughts and opinions, don’t insult others for their opinion. There is already enough negativity in the world; let’s not add to it. And with that, on to the list!

The List

Honorable Mentions:

Jeff Hardy, Alex Shelley, Trick Williams, and Magnus

8: Magnus

Our current SmackDown GM made his name in TNA. He spent five years working his way up from the lower card and tag team ranks. It would take siding with Dixie Carter for him to finally become a World Champion.

He beat Samoa Joe and Kurt Angle to advance to the finals of a tournament for the vacant World Championship. And at the 2013 Destination X, he would beat Jeff Hardy to win the title.

Magnus is an underrated performer. He has an old-school NWA vibe, and it works well for him. He carried the title during an uncertain time, as TNA lost AJ Styles and would start its final year on Spike TV.

But Magnus helped to navigate the company at the beginning of 2014. He couldn’t do much to change the booking, but he was at least able to show that the company was willing to take chances on homegrown talent. It gave us fans at the time hope for change.

That hope didn’t pay off, but you have to give it up for Magnus for breaking through as a star during a time when it was rare to see in TNA.

7: Samoa Joe

Speaking of guys who gave us hope. And also an example of the rarely cracked TNA Glass Ceiling. Samoa Joe is a guy who should have been a multi-time champion. He should have been the unstoppable force at the top of the company.

Instead, he had one reign and then ran around with a sword for a bit. Looking back at the 2000s era of wrestling, Joe was a can’t-miss prospect to lead your company. He had looked like a killer, and he was both agile and a powerhouse. He was that era’s Guther or Jacob Fatu.

But TNA is going to TNA, and so he was only given one six-month reign and was never really given another shot. If the booking was behind him, he would have been number one. Because Joe, in his prime, was untouchable, and I still can’t fathom how they messed up his booking so much.

6: Lashley

Our first non-homegrown World Champion on the list. Lashley came into TNA while still fighting for Bellator. That legitimacy propelled him to being tied with Sting for second on the list of most reigns. He also has the second-most days spent as champion at 403 days.

We also got a proto-Hurt Business, The Beat Down Clan. The BDC featured Lashley, MVP, and Kenny King. And their alliance worked to help Lashley stay on top. MVP and Lashley would eventually feud before both headed back to the WWE.

Lashley was presented as a huge deal, as he should be, and as Joe should have been. And his time champion is unfortunately overlooked, due to TNA having moved off Spike during the bulk of his time as champion. If you can find it online, I recommend going back and watching his stuff from 2015.

5: Bobby Roode

.Back to homegrown stars. I’ve followed Bobby Roode’s career since he first showed up as part of Team Canada. It’s crazy to think that Roode, Petey Williams, and Eric Young have had the careers they did after starting as a World Cup team and getting over enough to stick around.

Roode would move on to form a pretty famous tag team, Beer! Money! Which were just so much fun. The TNA Tag Team division during their time was on fire, and it gave fans a true alternative to what the WWE was giving us for tag teams.

That time really honed Roode’s talents both in the ring and on the mic, and it was only natural he would find himself at the top of the company. He would beat James Storm for the title and then go on to have a hell of a run.

His 256 days as champion solidified him as a main event player. And his second reign was just as good, as he feuded with our last entrant during 2014 and 2015. He would end up heading to the WWE in 2016. But his time in TNA and as World Champion is something I will always be grateful to have watch.

4: AJ Styles

Oh, what could have been, if TNA had actually treated Style as the Face of TNA, and not just called him that. While he did have more reigns than Joe, Styles deserved far more. In my opinion, Styles should have the most reigns, and Joe should have the longest reign.

As it stands, AJ Styles has two reigns as TNA World Champion, and together they only come in at 220 days. Constantly passed over for the flavor of the month, turned into a Flair Jr., and that isn’t mentioning his terribly booked feuds.

Styles is the guy who should be first, but lands at fourth because of his importance (despite TNA’s continued efforts to downplay it) to the company. Styles represented the new era of wrestling that TNA was supposed to be. He defined the X-Division and should have defined the entire company.

3: Sting

Sting brought legitimacy to TNA and to the TNA World Champion. Sting was WCW, and funny enough, his WCW career was very similar to Styles’s run in TNA. Sting was set up as the face of WCW and was always passed over for the shiny new toys and given terrible booking.

But this is about TNA. As mentioned, Sting is tied with Lashley for the second most reigns, and sits third in most time spent as champion. And also as mentioned, Sting brought his legacy with him when he joined TNA.

Aside from Angle, Sting was probably the best big name brought in during the early days of the company. He was there to play ball, and he could still go in the ring. He lent his prestige to put over both the Championship and the roster. Without stars like Sting and Kurt Angle, TNA may have been kicked off Spike a lot sooner.

His impact on the company and the work he put in make him more than deserving of this spot.

2: Josh Alexander

The only modern TNA World Champion to make the list (and yes, it was Impact, not TNA during his time as champion). Josh Alexander is another great example of a homegrown talent finally making it to the top.

Alexander came in as part of The North with Ethan Page. The team would become the longest reigning Tag Team Champions before breaking up when Page left the company. Alexander would then cut his teeth as a singles star in the X Division. He would win the X Division Championship and eventually invoke Option C, relinquishing the title to challenge Christian Cage for the, at the time, Impact World Championship.

Even though he would beat Cage, he would then lose to Moose right after. But his second reign is what gets him the number two spot. The longest-reigning TNA World Champion ruled over TNA for 335 days.

He would spend those days having great defenses against anyone and everyone: Jacob Fatu, Tomohiro Ishii, Joe Doering, Alex Shelley, Frankie Kazarian, Mike Bailey, Alexander Hammerstone, and Kevin Blackwood.

Unfortunately, his reign would end with an injury. If he hadn’t torn his triceps, he most likely would have had a reign that lasted over a year. Despite the end of his reign being abrupt, Alexander is probably the best homegrown TNA World Champion. He really helped to grow the popularity of the company during his reign and is more than deserving of his placement here.

1: Kurt Angle

The most reigns with 6, the most days as champion with 608. I don’t think anyone else could really take this spot. Angle came into TNA as the biggest signing they ever had. He was already a multi-time World Champion from his time with the WWE. And getting to mix it up with a whole new roster seemed to revitalize him.

It is unfortunate that outside the ring, he was struggling heavily with drugs. And there were some really scary years during that time. We wondered if Angle was going to be another statistic. Thankfully, he was able to overcome his addictions and had a brief return to the WWE, which included a marquee match teaming with Ronda Rousey to face Triple H and Stephanie McMahon.

But we are here to talk about his time as TNA World Champion. He was the first, and over the next eight years, he helped to keep the company going. While the young roster was cutting its teeth and working its way up, Angle and Sting were bringing in the viewers.

Angle put on bangers with Joe, Styles, and Nigel McGuinness. (To name just a few). Without Angle, I don’t know if TNA would have survived as long as they have. They had been on Spike for a few years, but Angle coming in raised the bar. He presided over some of the highest ratings that TNA ever had, and he did it all with a broken freakin’ neck!

Preview:

Tune in next week when we cover the top eight TNA Knockouts Champions!