The past decade of TNA has seen the promotion go through many changes. It started with hopes of competing with WWE. Dixie Carter gave control to Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff with their past track record of thriving in WCW. However, things would get worse as Hogan and Bischoff destroyed their final chance to compete with WWE. Other regimes would come in with names like Vince Russo and Jeff Jarrett in power.
Impact finally has stability now, with their parent company buying AXS TV with plans to air the show there starting the next decade. We will look at the wrestlers that played a crucial role in the company surviving the hardships to even get to this moment. These talents did their best to make Impact a good product when times were toughest.
10 Tessa Blanchard
Tessa Blanchard has only been in TNA for a few years, but she has already made history. The talent of Blanchard made her a huge signing right away. Impact Wrestling did not waste any time pushing her, as Tessa quickly won the Knockouts Championship and became the face of the division.
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Impact would place Tessa in the male division to mix it up with some of the top overall stars in the company. Many fans hope Blanchard can win the Impact World Championship before the decade ends.
9 Samoa Joe
The consistency of Samoa Joe helped TNA in the first half of the decade. Joe was always underutilized to some extent during his time in the company. The fact that Joe is considered arguably the greatest star in TNA history yet only won the World Championship once is shocking.
Joe had a great run in the Beat Down Clan faction before TNA ruined that. An eventual departure would see Joe leave TNA to find a new path. WWE came calling and he is now one of the upper card names on the roster there.
8 EC3
TNA made a bold move when signing EC3 and giving him a huge push right away. WWE failed to utilize him well during his stint under the name Derrick Bateman. TNA saw something special in him and debuted him with the gimmick of being Dixie Carter’s nephew.
EC3 did a great job getting over, with his character work allowing him to stand out. TNA made him one of their stronger young talents, with huge wins over the likes of Sting, Kurt Angle and Jeff Hardy. EC3 remained a main-eventer for most of his run with a World Championship reign, before heading back to WWE for another disappointing run.
7 Austin Aries
The start of the decade went well for Austin Aries in TNA. Aries was dominating the X-Division and used a cash-in option to trade it in for a World Championship title shot. The match saw Aries defeat Bobby Roode to become TNA World Champion for the first time in his career.
Aries did great work as the champion before losing it in a great match to Jeff Hardy. More success would come when teaming with Roode in the Dirty Heels tag team. Aries returned to Impact Wrestling in 2018 for another strong world title reign, before leaving the company in controversial fashion.
6 LAX
The tag team of Santana and Ortiz received the honor of continuing the name of legendary TNA tag team LAX. Konnan was their manager to introduce the young team to the TNA audience and a huge push given to them (as the company needed new stars).
Santana and Ortiz had one of the best tag team runs in company history. Classic matches against the Lucha Brothers, the OG LAX and others made for must-see television for Impact fans. LAX recently ended their run with Impact before heading to AEW.
5 Brian Cage
Another recent success story for Impact Wrestling is Brian Cage. The career of Cage has seen him consistently having good matches, in promotions like PWG and Lucha Underground. Impact Wrestling was the first company to really invest in Cage as someone to build around.
Cage had a dominant start that culminated in him winning the Impact Championship. The run of Cage is still going strong and he’s become arguably the most dominant champion of the past decade for the company. Cage is a top face Impact wants to continue building around as they start television on AXS.
4 Gail Kim
The incredible work of Gail Kim has made her one of the most important people in TNA history. Kim spent the start of the decade in WWE, before things ended in disappointment again. TNA welcomed her back in 2011 and she started another legendary chapter of her career.
Great feuds with Brooke Adams, Taryn Terrell, Maria Kanellis and many others helped showcase Kim as the face of the Knockouts division. Gail was inducted into the TNA Hall of Fame and retired towards the end of the decade. The retirement was broken for Kim to face Tessa Blanchard.
3 Eddie Edwards
Eddie Edwards joined TNA in 2014 and has been the most consistent wrestler on the roster since then. The original signing featured Edwards and his tag team partner Davey Richards joining TNA as the American Wolves, during their run as a hot act on the free agent market.
Edwards eventually had his own run in singles action which featured him winning the Impact Championship and entering a personal feud with Richards. The in-ring work of Edwards is always strong and he’s improved on the character side. It’s now hard to imagine Impact without Edwards.
2 Matt Hardy
Matt Hardy had two runs in TNA throughout the 2010s. The first one was lackluster, with a short run in the Immortal faction. However, a return would see Matt get his act together, ready to do something special. This led to the character change starting the “Broken” universe.
Both Matt and Jeff Hardy endured the wild character change that featured them having unique matches along the way. The battles at the Hardy compound created the most memorable TNA moments of the decade. Matt had a tremendous run in TNA and won the World Championship during this decade.
1 Bobby Lashley
The return of Bobby Lashley in 2014 gave TNA one of their biggest stars in company history. Lashley had a prior disappointing run in TNA, but this stint featured a Lashley who was ready to thrive. TNA booked him as a top star and Lashley dominated in the main event picture.
Matches against EC3, Drew Galloway, Eddie Edwards and many others often stole the show. Lashley would have the second-most Impact World Championship reigns and the second-most total days holding the title. WWE eventually signed him away from Impact, but Lashley dominated TNA throughout most of the 2010s.