Even more so than other oft-mocked promotions like WCW, TNA (now known as Impact Wrestling) has had seemingly countless missteps, bad ideas, and blunders that fans have lampooned over the nearly 20 years of the company’s existence. Obviously, a lot of it is totally warranted, like the reverse battle royal or the infamous Sharmell vs. Jenna Morasca match that’s considered one of the worst matches ever recorded.
Conversely, there are also a number of criticized things about Impact Wrestling that have become overblown over the years. It goes against popular opinion, but there was actually some stuff in Impact that isn’t as bad as it’s been made out to be.
10 The Asylum Years
Before the Impact Zone was a thing, the first few years of Impact’s weekly PPVs happened at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds, which was dubbed by the promotion as the “TNA Asylum.” These early days were heavy on baffling booking decisions, all kinds of Vince Russo-isms, and berserk stuff like a gun-toting little person.
But there were also some great things about these early years, particularly as it relates to the X Division. Guys like AJ Styles, Jerry Lynn, Christopher Daniels, Low-Ki, and Elix Skipper were there from the beginning, putting on really fun, athletic matches.
9 The Beat Down Clan
Former WWE star MVP came to Impact in 2014 as an authority figure/investor in the company, but soon put together his own stable, The Beat Down Clan. Some fans have trashed the unit, but they were a pretty great stable -- and a precursor to The Hurt Business in WWE -- featuring talent like Bobby Lashley, Kenny King, and Samoa Joe.
The only real problem with it was that there were a number of lineup changes due to the company’s own tumultuousness, so the stable eventually fizzled.
8 Kurt Angle Beats Samoa Joe
One of Impact’s most maligned booking decisions had Samoa Joe’s 18th month undefeated streak come to an end with the arrival of Kurt Angle in the main event of Genesis in 2006. In the years since, it’s become one of the more high profile examples of the promotion’s preference of ex-WWE guys over young, homegrown talent.
Outside of that context -- and the questionable booking of Samoa Joe in the years following -- the match legitimately rules. It’s a great bout between two equal talents, with Joe accepting his loss. When Angle turns down a handshake and a rematch, it’s hard not to root for Joe when he basically says, “Okay, so we’re doing this the hard way.”
7 Booker T
Out of the various former WWE guys who came into Impact, Booker T is one who many fans put in the failure column. During his run lasting from 2007 to 2009, Booker T actually put on some good matches with AJ Styles and Samoa Joe, but he was a GREAT character.
For an example of this, look no further than the 1/29/2009 episode of Impact. There, Booker and Kevin Nash -- as “Black Snow” and “Chet Lemon,” respectively -- took over commentary duties for the show, which led to the infamous clip of the inaugural Legends Champion beating down dudes while doing play-by-play for himself.
6 Sting Attacks RVD
It’s not THAT much of a stretch to say that most wrestling fans on the Internet have likely seen that gif of Rob Van Dam high-fiving fans at ringside only to get attacked by a guy in a Sting mask, who removes the mask to reveal that he is, in fact, the real Sting.
It’s one of those moments that makes too many “Worst of TNA” lists despite the fact that it’s legitimately hilarious. It’s a rehash of something Sting did in WCW, but the absolute pro wrestling absurdity is too strong to resist.
5 Mike Tenay & Don West
Mike Tenay can be a pretty divisive commentator for many fans. It’s generally accepted that he really showed off an expertise when it came to Japanese and Mexican wrestling in WCW, but his maligned stretch of Impact commentating alongside Taz may have tainted his reputation.
The two simply weren’t a good fit together, but before that Tenay had a great commentary partnership with Don West from 2002 to 2009. Tenay was a solid play-by-play guy who was bolstered by West’s enthusiasm. As a TV pitch man for home shopping channels, West was an expert at making any pro wrestling move sound like a million bucks, while Tenay knew what the name of the move was.
4 Suicide
Impact can certainly boast a number of masked characters, including Abyss, Shark Boy, Curry Man, and Rellik. But one of the most enduring was Suicide, an original character created for an Impact video game that ended up incorporated onto television, capturing three X Division titles over the course of his existence.
Fans have mocked the character -- after all, they could never put the word Suicide on toy packaging -- but the gimmick itself is a great way to bring in new high flying talent.
3 AJ Styles Vs. Christopher Daniels in 2012
More than anything, the infamous Claire Lynch storyline is a great case study in how a simple pro wrestling angle can go remarkably off the rails. First Christopher Daniels was trying to reveal an affair between Dixie Carter and AJ Styles, but then they decided to pivot the story to be about a pregnant drug addict who may have been carrying AJ’s baby, until it was revealed it was all a ruse -- all plot twists forced by backstage issues.
Outside of that legendary angle, fans got legitimately great matches between Daniels and Styles, including a Last Man Standing bout at Destination X and their final singles match ever at Final Resolution.
2 Bobby Lashley
For a good long while, Bobby Lashley was the shining example of WWE pushing hyper-muscular dudes over pretty much everyone else. From 2006-2007, Lashley was ECW Champion, representing the celebrity babyface in the Battle of the Billionaires, and opposing evil boss Vince McMahon.
That overpush has caused fans to overlook his 2014-2018 run in Impact, where he showed a ton of improvement in great matches with Drew Galloway, Eddie Edwards, and Kurt Angle. Lashley won a ton of gold with the company during this stint, but it felt totally earned.
1 Aces & Eights
The big Aces & Eights invasion storyline of 2012-2013 just might get more hate than it actually deserves. There’s a lot to criticize about it -- it’s nWo without the star power -- some things about even those aspects work in its favor, as Aces & Eights were a traditional heel group rather than a group that was too cool to sincerely hate.
To its credit, the storyline had some good moments like Mr. Anderson winning an all Aces battle royale using only finger guns, not to mention the fact that, unlike the nWo storyline, the Aces & Eights angle actually came to a decisive conclusion.