With 18 years of history, TNA has many major events in the books. TNA has a mixed history of great and terrible moments, but there is no arguing they’ve had incredible talent on the roster. Homegrown talents like AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, and Bobby Roode had their first taste of main event success in TNA. Legendary names like Sting, Kurt Angle, and Mick Foley also had matches.
Let's take a look at TNA's PPV main events that held great importance at the time but were quickly forgotten. The matches weren’t always great, but the star power on paper should have made these bouts far bigger deals. It features a combination of star power, tremendous talents, and just appealing matches. Find out which main events you may have missed out on from TNA.
10 Kurt Angle vs. Mick Foley (Victory Road 2009)
The first-ever singles match between Kurt Angle and Mick Foley did not happen in a WWE ring. Angle and Foley did have many WWE interactions, but they came when Foley was the Commissioner who often caught Angle’s dastardly heel plans.
TNA had the match between the two at Victory Road 2009 for the TNA Championship. Angle retained the title via submission by using the Ankle Lock. Foley was significantly past his prime and didn’t have much left in the tank to make it memorable.
9 Rob Van Dam vs. Sting (Slammiversary 2010)
Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff viewed Rob Van Dam as the savior of the company when TNA signed him in 2010. Van Dam won the TNA Championship by defeating AJ Styles and had a lengthy reign with the belt. Sting attacked RVD in a rare heel act that was later revealed as a face action since he knew Hogan and Bischoff were heels.
Van Dam, unfortunately, got tricked into aligning with the duo. The big singles match came at Slammiversary between WCW’s biggest star and ECW’s biggest star. Both guys were a bit too old to turn back the clock and the match didn’t live up to the hype.
8 Drew McIntyre vs. Bobby Lashley (Slammiversary 2016)
Two of WWE’s current main eventers reinvented their careers during the Impact Wrestling stints. TNA’s rebranded Bobby Lashley and Drew McIntyre as two of the main eventers after the older stars began to fade out.
Both guys proved they still had a lot to offer the wrestling business after their prior WWE runs failed. Matches like this main event helped WWE realize that McIntyre and Lashley both deserved another chance. WWE now has Drew ready for a WrestleMania match against Brock Lesnar.
7 Jeff Jarrett vs. Diamond Dallas Page (Destination X 2005)
One of the first huge TNA main events on PPV saw the company bringing back the old WCW rivalry between Jeff Jarrett and Diamond Dallas Page. Page's TNA run was quite short, but it convinced quite a few fans to give him another shot.
Jarrett was the dominant heel champion in TNA for many years. DDP facing him at Destination X 2005 allowed fans of their 2000 WCW rivalry to get one more match. Jarrett retained in a solid main event, but Page was getting close to retirement.
6 AJ Styles vs. Sting (Bound for Glory 2009)
The name value of AJ Styles vs Sting alone, along with the perk of main eventing the company’s biggest event, should have had more importance. TNA did try to market it as a dream match, but the company always fell just short of getting the feud over.
Styles defeated Sting in a very good contest that was implied as a potential retirement match for Sting. This could have been the biggest match in TNA history, but it was just another show since they never won over the audience.
5 Bobby Roode vs. James Storm (Lockdown 2012)
One rare program to connect with the wrestling world saw former Beer Money partners Bobby Roode and James Storm feuding over the TNA Championship. Storm surprisingly won the title first, leading to a jealous Roode to cheat against his friend to steal the title.
The feud culminated with Roode surviving a great yet violent match. TNA still struggled to market its events, consequently, this PPV didn't even attract the interest of a lower-tier WWE show. Even their best programs led to underachieving moments.
4 Jeff Jarrett vs. Samoa Joe (No Surrender 2006)
TNA saw Samoa Joe become their hottest star in 2006 with the fans falling in love with his work. Joe's undefeated streak was on the line in a non-title match against NWA Champion Jeff Jarrett in the main event of No Surrender.
Fans were situated ringside and given belts to whip Jarrett if he left the ring. Joe won the match to continue his undefeated streak in his first match against an established main eventer. TNA was struggling to build their audience around this time before Kurt Angle signed.
3 Rob Van Dam vs AJ Styles (Sacrifice 2010)
The dream match of Rob Van Dam vs AJ Styles was one everyone talked about when the former signed with the company. TNA booked RVD to end Styles' long TNA Championship reign during an episode of Impact that created a great moment
The rematch at Sacrifice 2010 had even more hype since the two workers would get more time to have a classic. It somehow wasn’t as good as the shorter television match. Styles revealed in a Highspots shoot interview that he didn’t like working with Van Dam due to his ego, which played a role in the disappointing match.
2 Samoa Joe vs. Christian Cage vs. Kurt Angle (No Surrender 2008)
Samoa Joe, Christian Cage, and Kurt Angle were arguably three of the top TNA wrestlers at the time, with only AJ Styles excluded from this match. All three top names faced off at No Surrender 2008 with the TNA Championship on the line.
Joe's title reign continued with arguably his most impressive title defense yet. Joe would lose it the following month to Sting in a match that killed his credibility, but this night made fans believe he was now the true face of TNA Wrestling.
1 Sting vs. Mick Foley (Lockdown 2009)
TNA tried to bring back the magic from a rare WCW feud that saw Mick Foley and Sting facing off. Both guys had great chemistry together in the early '90s and created a few WCW classics. Foley was an even bigger star in TNA than WCW since he was coming off an iconic WWE run.
The older ages of both Sting and Foley mean they couldn’t work at the same pace. Lockdown 2009 saw Foley pull off the upset to end Sting’s run and win the TNA World Championship despite the disappointing match.