Pro Wrestling Countdown: The 10 Greatest TNA Matches of All Time

Watch The Match:
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rGIMZ55lnU
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVFqygLsfa8&feature=related

This match was brutal. After being one of the greatest tag teams to never step foot in a WWE ring, Americas Most Wanted (AMW) finally disbanded after losing a match to the Latin American Xchange. If they lost they would have to split up. They did lose and after the match Storm hit Harris in the eye with a beer bottle.

This would eventually lead to this Texas Death Match at Sacrifice. The match was brutal. They used just about every weapon they could get their hands on and both kicked out of each others' finishing moves. Just as it looked like Harris was about to win Jackie Moore jumped in the ring and kicked Chris Harris to the outside where she attacked him. When all hope for Harris seemed lost Gail Kim ran down to the ring and aided Harris.

In the ring JStorm had a beer bottle and looked poised to finish Harris off. Just before Storm hit Harris with the bottle "The Wildcat" hit Storm with a beer bottle of his own. This allowed Harris to get the three-count and the 10 count for the victory. By matches end these two former partners had been bloodied and nearly lifeless.

A great match.

Watch The Match:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6ft6r0jaQI&feature=fvw

This was the rematch that Samoa Joe demanded of Kurt Angle after Angle handed Joe his first lose at Genesis. Joe was pissed that his nearly 2 year undefeated streak was ended and wanted retribution in the worst way. This match had high expectation and the two men exceeded them with flying colors.

The first part of the match was kind of slow. The two men were feeling each other out. They were both calculating each other’s moves. Angle would not let Joe stay on the offensive for long. Every time Samoa Joe tried to mount an offense Angle found a way to keep Joe grounded during the first third of the match.

The two were virtually at a stale mate in the first half of this match trading blow after blow. Angle continued to keep Joe grounded as the match approached the midway point. This match really showcased Joe and Angle’s superior mat wrestling.

The pace of the match really started to pick up in the second half of the contest when Angle and Samoa Joe started hitting high impact suplexes and slams. At one point Angle tried to hit the Olympic Slam, but Joe countered and tried to lock in the chock, but Angle reversed again and locked in the Angle Lock. Joe whips Angle into the turnbuckle and sits him up for the Muscle Buster, but angle rolls off Joe’s shoulders and locks in the Angle Lock yet again.

The pace continues to race as Angle hits the Olympic Slam for a two-count. Angle continues to wear down Joe by locking in the Angle Lock over and over again. The continues to wrestle on the match trading submission moves and wearing each other down. The crowd is really into this match.

The match ends when Angle tries to use a chair to take Joe out. Angle misses Joe and Joe locks in the Coquina Clutch for the victory.

This match was even better than their first encounter and set the bar high for their future matches with one another. Mat wrestling at its best.

Watch The Match:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgOCjfmRCEs

After "The Undefeated" Samoa Joe took out A.J. Styles best friend, Christopher Daniels, "The Phenomenal One" challenged Joe to an X Division title match at Turning Point.

They spent the first half of the match kicking the crap out of each other and landing brutal shot after brutal shot. Joe did a great job of dominating Styles for the majority of the match, but Styles somehow managed to hang on. The way that Samoa Joe kept Styles from gaining any offense really helped tell a great story .

The fans were really into this match. It had a perfect balance of high impact moves and submissions moves to keep everything in check. There is a great spot where AJ jumps of the top rope into the ring and lands on Samoa Joe, but Joe catches him and turns it into a power bomb. This is why I use to love TNA. Joe and Styles have great pacing and this match really showcase their fantastic ability. It also showcased some amazing high flying moves like A.J.’s back flip over the top rope onto Samoa Joe midway through the match.

The TNA fans showed the two guys the ultimate amount of respect when they began the chant “this is awesome”. After all the high impact moves both men began bleeding from their mouth. In the second half, Styles finally fought back and got some offense in.

Styles would not lose here and at one point started screaming in anger that he could not put Joe away. Near the end of the match Styles finally hit the Styles Clash on Joe but only got a two-count. In the end Samoa Joe finally caught Styles in the Coquina Clutch and passed out.

Joe won the X Division title, kept his unbeaten streak alive, and had one of the greatest TNA matches of all time. Not a bad night for the "Samoan Submission Machine."

Watch The Match:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYhojbmK6fw

This was a three way for the X Division title between 3 of TNA’s most talented athletes. Petey Williams, Chris Sabin, and A.J. Styles squared off in the greatest Ultimate X match ever.

The match begins with all three men squaring off in the ring and the crowd can feel the electricity in the air. They know something awesome is going to happen. Styles and Sabin team up on Williams in the beginning.
Sabin and Styles begin work on each other as Williams is knocked to the outside.

All three men begin to wear each other down and one up one another. About five minutes into the match A.J. dives to the outside on top of his two opponents. Chants of "TNA" and "Holy Sh*t" begin.

Styles is the first to go up to the rope, but Sabin catches him. Both men are perched on the top rope as Sabin jumps up and drop kicks A.J. into the steal pillar right behind the top rope. Sabin then tries to scale the rope to the X Division Championship but is pulled down by Scott D’more, Team Canada’s leader. He is then thrown out from ringside.

With his manager gone Petey has a fire lit under his a** and begin to take the offense to Styles and Sabin. The pace of this match refuses to slow down as all three men continue with the fast paced offense. Styles enters the ring again and scales the wire, but is tanked down by Williams.

Sabin is kept on the outside as Williams and Styles continue to do battle. Styles hits the Pele on Petey. The match continues to race at an uncontrollable pace.

At one point Chris Sabin is on top of Styles shoulders and Petey is scaling the wire and Williams jumps down into a hurricanrana on both A.J. and Sabin. Williams continues to dominate the match has he desperately tries to retain his X Division title.

Williams again scales the wire and just as he is about to win A.J. Styles jumps of the top rope and hits Williams with a flying arm bar to knock him away from the title back onto the mat below.

The finish came when both Williams and Sabin had unhooked the belt and when pulling it back and forth and out of nowhere A.J. Jumps from the top rope and knocks the belt down onto the floor to win the match and the X Division Championship.

This match is what TNA was supposed to be about. This is why I love TNA. The X Division use to be the best part of TNA and this match is a great example.

Watch The Match:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2212499012679040253

Kaz finally did battle with Christian Cage in the finals of the Fight for the Right in a ladder match. A one on one ladder match is very rare in TNA and this one was for the No. 1 Contendership for the TNA World Championship. The ladder match is Christian Cage's match and this was a fantastic match even though the two seemed to be a miss match.

This match was Kaz's shot at the main event. Christian Cage dominates the early going. Kaz tries to go for the ladder early, but Cage doesn’t let him get that far.

Kaz makes and opening for himself when he does a springboard back flip off the ropes on top Christian who was holding a ladder! Christian is already bleeding. Kaz throws a ladder into the ring as the pace of this contest begins to pick up.

Christian sets a ladder up between the apron of the ring and the rail. He lays Kaz on the ladder and goes to the top rope! Christian hits the Frog Splash on Kaz as he lays helpless on the ladder. The chants of "that was awesome" began. Christian is the first to climb the ladder and tries to grab the contract. Kaz catches him.

The two spend the whole match trying to find ways to wear each other down using the ladders as weapons. The momentum shifts back and forth. The two men are drained of energy when A.J. Styles comes down to the ring to cheer on his leader even though Christian told him to stay backstage.

The ladder falls over and hits the ropes and Christian falls on top of A.J. and Tomko. Kaz uses his foot to push off the top rope and sit up the ladder to win the match.

The distraction of Styles and Tomko allows Kaz to gain the victory.

This match proved that TNA could do a traditional ladder match without all the crazy gimmicks. It was the biggest win of Kaz's career and a great match for Christian Cage.

*I could not find the video for this match, sorry*

This match is often forgotten because it was a match held on Impact! Back in 2006 after Christian had turned heel and began feuding with the freshly returned Sting. This match was held back when Impact! Was only a one hour show and the match took up that entire hour.

The match was brutal. Cage and Sting fought tooth and nail with neither men letting up. This whole edition of TNA Impact! Was devoted to this match and this was one of the first times I had seen Sting in the ring since his match with Ric Flair on the last WCW show.

A much underrated hour-long contest. I can't remember who won because it was so long ago, but I do remember being blown away by the twos showings.

Watch The Match:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4_dSzYPQAs

This match was more than just about TNA Tag Team Championship. This was personal. LAX was walking in as the champions and A.J. and Daniels are trying to take back their titles. On top of everything else this was an Ultimate X Match.

Hernandez controls Styles and Daniels as Homicide tries to climb the wire to get the title. He is quickly pulled down. Styles and Daniels use the same tactic as Styles cales the wire and Daniels fends of LAX. The tactic fails once again.

Homicide brings in the chair and misses "The Fallen Angel." He then sends Daniels to the outside where he dives on top of him. The crowd begins the "TNA" chant. As Homicide stirs on the outside he gains the attention of Styles, who performs a Fosbury Flop to the outside.

As all the competitors re-enter the ring LAX begins to dominate. Hernandez brings in the ladder to try and pull the belt down as Styles and Daniels regain the momentum. The challengers attempt to get up on the wire to try and grab the belt, but LAX stops them and once again dominate the Styles and Daniels. Homicide uses the steal chair on Daniels.

Both Homicide and Styles are on the wire and the knock each other off in a nasty landing. Daniels knocks down Homicide as Hernandez is scaling the wire Styles bounces of the rope and knocks Hernandez off the wire and onto his partner!

After the two teams trade the momentum back and forth Conan brings out a table and sets it up on the outside.

It looks like Hernandez is going for the Border Cross on A.J. to the table set up on the outside. With Hernandez out A.J. hits a frog Splash and then Daniels performs a moonsault followed by a Spinal Tape from Styles to make sure Hernandez is down and out.
Styles and Homicide battle on the apron near the table. Styles sets up the Styles Clash and goes through the table!

The match ends when Daniels manages finally gets the TNA Tag Team Championship down from the wire.

This was a fasted paced thriller of a match. One of the greatest tag team bouts in TNA history.

Watch The Match:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTN89mc-iTI

This was a tag team match in the Six Sides of Steel. These two team had been feuding for nearly two years and this was considered the climax of their never ending feud. The losing team had to disband.

The two teams spent the early going trying to wear one another down. AMW dominate the early moments of the match. "The Fallen Angel" begins bleeding after AMW rakes his head across the side of the cage.
The two teams continue to use innovative moves on one another in addition to using the entire cage to beat the shit out of each other. AMW tries to hit their finishing move, Death Sentence, on Elix Skipper but Daniels breaks it up.

After wearing down Chris Harris, Elix Skipper hand cuffs the member of AMW to the turnbuckle. With Harris trapped in the turnbuckle Triple X is able to isolate Storm. After being dominated by Triple X both member of AMW begin to bleed. Harris is still helpless in the corner. He eventually gets free and the match momentum begins to shift again.

Later on in the match Daniels is grabbed Chris Harris who is sitting on top of the steel cage and Elix Skipper walks the top of the cage and performs a hurricanrana on Harris back into the ring!! The Daniels climbs to the top of the cage and lands a flying elbow on the downed Chris Harris.
This was the very first Six Sides of Steel and I think that TNA was so impressed with these two teams that they brought it back for a whole PPV.

The match ended when AMW handcuffed Daniels to the turnbuckle and finished off "Prime Time" to get the victory.

During the match the crowd could be heard chanting "Everybody is awesome." A true testament to the greatest tag team match in TNA history.

Watch The Match:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGnlHvK_7uE

Many say that this is the greatest match in TNA history while it may come close I do believe there is one contest that surpasses it. A little on that later.

The match begins with the two using kicks and punches to wear each other down. Angle tries for the Angle Lock early on, but Joe quickly gets to the rope to break the submission. Angle tries to keep Joe on the ground in the early going a lot like in past matches the two have had.

Angle continues to hold the pace down slow to wear Joe down. Angle doesn't allow Joe to get up as he stay on top the "Samoan Submission Machine" as he begins to lock in the submission move after submission move on the big Samoan.

Joe spends the whole match trying to gain momentum, but is continuously kept on the mat by Angle. Finally Joe gains the momentum and locks in several submission moves on Angle. Kurt Angle finally found a way out of the submission move and lands a Olympic Slam on Joe for a two-count.

The two continue to use submission moves and try their finishing maneuvers, but had no luck. The match finally ended when Joe sat Angle up for the Muscle Buster for the three-count and his first TNA World Championship.
It was a defining moment in the career for Samoa Joe and the history of TNA.

Watch The Match:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X64B7SK4-XQ&feature=channel_page

This match is the greatest match in TNA history for two reasons. First, It commands everything that TNA use to be about. Christopher Daniels, Styles, and Samoa Joe get the spot light that they deserve in the main event of Unbreakable. Second, they have the most fact paced, high impact match in the seven-year history of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.

The triple threat match is for the X Division Title that is currently held by Christopher Daniels. Styles and Joe team up on the champion early on in the match before they take the offense to each other. All three men trade momentum in the early going of the match.

After the three men trade blows back and forth the high impact moves begin. Both Samoa Joe and A.J. went flying over the top rope in the first 10 minutes of the contest. There was a great spot where Daniels monkey flips A.J. into Joe where he performs a hurricanrana!!!

This match rolls on and the three competitors continue to use high impact moves to try and win the X Division Championship. Samoa Joe regains control of the match when he performs a suicide dive onto Daniels and Styles who are doing battle on the outside.

Joe hits the Muscle Buster on Styles and looks to have the match won, but Daniels enters the ring holding the X Division Championship and Daniels tries to use it on Joe, but Samoa Joe has it spotted.

Daniels gets up and kicks the belt into Joe's head knocking him out of the ring. Know it's just Styles and Daniels. After a back and forth Styles hits the Styles Clash on "The Fallen Angel" and get a long two count thanks to Samoa Joe.

Daniels sends Joe back to the outside and locks in the Angels Wings on Styles, but Styles reverses the move into a pin and got the three count to end the phenomenal match!

This match is what I thought TNA was all about and I loved it.

There is not a better match in TNA history then the "Unbreakable Three Way."