The TNA career of Kurt Angle deserves a lot of credit for his best work in the wrestling business. Everyone remembers the WWE time more since he became a breakout star there and formed a Hall of Fame legacy. However, Angle even says he feels his best years were in TNA, and he wishes more fans could have seen it.TNA signing Angle created a huge moment for the company’s trajectory and was viewed as their biggest free agent acquisition. The first year of Angle absolutely helped the momentum and ensured he’d be a major player. Each of the first ten PPV matches of Angle held importance and will be ranked from the worst to best.
10 Kurt Angle Vs Scott Steiner (Destination X 2007)
TNA placed Kurt Angle in a match with a first-time opponent at Destination X 2007 when facing Scott Steiner. The main event of Samoa Joe challenging Christian Cage for the NWA Heavyweight Championship meant Angle needed a new opponent outside those two for the first time on PPV.
Steiner becoming an enforcer for Christian made sense to have him feud with Angle based off their previous drama. The match was just okay, but it was one of the better Steiner bouts of that time carried by Angle.
9 Kurt Angle & Samoa Joe Vs Team 3D (Victory Road 2007)
TNA decided to have a wild stipulation of putting all the major male champs in the same match. TNA Tag Team Champions Team 3D faced the makeshift duo of X-Division Champion Samoa Joe and TNA World Champion Kurt Angle with the winner gaining the opponents’ titles.
Angle and Joe scoring a victory together gave them the tag titles in unlikely fashion.
The match was not anything special, but the stakes involved created interest. Joe and Angle had one of their worst PPV matches of the year in the mediocre win.
8 Kurt Angle Vs Samoa Joe (Hard Justice 2007)
The payoff of Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe winning the TNA Tag Team Championship set up a bigger singles match between the two at Hard Justice 2007. All the titles held by both men were on the line in a massive winner takes all situation.
Karen Angle was involved in the storyline with the marriage issues involving Kurt placing her in Joe’s corner. The predictable swerve saw Karen helping cheat Joe out of the titles for Kurt to win all the gold in a lackluster match for their rivalry.
7 Kurt Angle Vs Sting Vs Christian Cage (Sacrifice 2007)
TNA placed their three biggest names into a triple threat for the NWA Heavyweight Championship at Sacrifice 2007. Christian Cage defended the belt against the challengers of Kurt Angle and Sting as they transitioned it to the TNA World Championship after this night.
Angle won the match, but it was an intentionally controversial finish to vacate the title afterwards. Regardless, the match itself was solid with all three wrestlers having the crowd interest. Angle had much better matches around this time to make it a forgotten early one from his TNA career.
6 Kurt Angle Vs Samoa Joe - Iron Man Match (Final Resolution 2007)
Kurt Angle’s first few months in TNA featured a trilogy with Samoa Joe that culminated at Final Resolution 2007. The two stellar performers had a couple of great singles matches before this one to set up the tie-breaking Iron Man match here.
Unfortunately, it was the least well-received bout of the series and felt like overkill. Angle won the match to win the feud and sadly leave fans a bit disappointed. Even though the match wasn’t as great as expected, it was still a good one worth watching back.
5 Kurt Angle Vs Christian Cage (Against All Odds 2007)
The Iron Man match victory of Kurt Angle over Samoa Joe made him the #1 contender to Christian Cage’s NWA Heavyweight Championship. Both former WWE stars enjoyed working together and had their first main event match against each other at Against All Odds 2007.
The match was as good as anyone would expect between two tremendous workers. Fans didn’t enjoy the finish of Tomko and Scott Steiner interfering for Cage to cheat to win by using a steel pipe knocking out Angle.
4 Team Angle Vs Team Cage - Lethal Lockdown (Lockdown 2007)
The rivalry between Kurt Angle and Christian Cage played out at Lockdown 2007 in a Lethal Lockdown match. Cage formed the heel squad of Scott Steiner, AJ Styles, Tomko and Abyss as predictable members. Angle added Samoa Joe, Rhino, Sting and teased a big mystery partner as the final choice.
Jeff Jarrett made his TNA return after many months away as a face character to change things up. TNA’s version of WarGames created a fun concept and turned into violent entertainment. Jarrett allowed Sting to score the pin to receive a world title shot as part of the stipulation and to show he was a changed man.
3 Kurt Angle Vs Samoa Joe (Genesis 2006)
Kurt Angle’s debut match was a huge selling point to help TNA score their greatest overall buy rate at Genesis 2006. TNA did not want to risk wasting too much time by going to the dream match of Samoa Joe vs Angle on the first show.
Joe’s undefeated streak on the line against Angle in his first TNA match made fans genuinely unsure of who would win. Angle ended up getting the victory to end Joe’s streak in a great match that lived up to the hype, even if the finish upset some fans.
2 Kurt Angle Vs Samoa Joe Vs AJ Styles Vs Chris Harris Vs Christian Cage (Slammiversary 2007)
The TNA World Championship debuted at Slammiversary 2007 to crown a new champ after the NWA Heavyweight Championship was vacated and removed from the company. A star-studded main event saw Kurt Angle, Christian Cage, Samoa Joe, AJ Styles and Chris Harris in a King of the Mountain match.
The stipulations were confusing with pin falls needed, a penalty box, and the reverse ladder match rules of hanging the title above the ring. Luckily, all five wrestlers did a superb job making up for the flaws by having an instant classic. Angle scored the victory to become the first TNA World Champion less than a year into his debut.
1 Kurt Angle Vs Samoa Joe (Turning Point 2006)
The second match between Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe took place at Turning Point 2006 with Joe looking to get his win back. TNA enjoyed the buy rate success so much for the first match that they went right back to the rematch one month later.
This one was even better as Joe scored the victory to even up their series and prove he could beat a top legend. Angle was also better here showing why many viewed him as the best in-ring worker of the 2000s. Joe and Angle worked well together to deliver an all-time great TNA match here.