In the history of TNA (now known as Impact Wrestling), the company has had two major world titles: first the NWA World Heavyweight Championship (from 2002 to 2007) and then its own title, the Impact World Championship. Over the years, the world title (both iterations) has been held by pretty much every major wrestler in the company, at least once -- including Jeff Jarrett, who held it six times.
The World Title has been held by a nice mix of stars, including ex-WWE stars and home-grown talent, with varying in-ring skills. So let’s take a look at 10 of those champions, ranking them according to their wrestling ability.
10 Magnus
These days, Nick Aldis is the NWA World Heavyweight Champion, enjoying a reign with one of wrestling’s most historically prestigious titles that’s lasted over two years, and is nearing three.
But in 2013 he was a rising star on the Impact roster who wasn’t quite proving to fans that he could be the top guy, even after major victories like beating Sting at Bound for Glory. However, he found his groove with a heel turn and a subsequently captured the top title in the company.
9 EC3
After a run in WWE that didn’t reach the heights it should have, the former Derrick Bateman debuted in Impact in 2013 as EC3, the privileged nephew of Impact boss Dixie Carter.
EC3 isn’t a particularly flashy in-ring performer, but he’s solid as a no-frills heel wrestler, which managed to earn him two runs with the Impact World Title, before he departed the company in 2018, returning to WWE for an even more disastrous run.
8 Bobby Lashley
It’s easy to underrate Bobby Lashley, as many fans had written him off due to his initial WWE run where he was overpushed as the next top guy, only to ditch the promotion in 2008. He was never bad, but Lashley’s second run in Impact Wrestling, lasting from 2014 to 2018, revealed a much improved competitor.
It was during this run with Impact that Lashley delivered some of his best matches, taking on Drew Galloway (Drew McIntyre), Kurt Angle, and Eddie Edwards, winning pretty much every title in the company, before returning to WWE and finally winning their top championship.
7 Chris Sabin
While typically a tag team specialist alongside Alex Shelly as The Motor City Machine Guns, one of Impact’s best-ever teams, Chris Sabin became Impact World Champion for about a month in 2013, using the “Option C” feature of the X Division title, exchanging the belt for a shot at World Title holder Bully Ray.
Being basically an X Division guy working singles matches in an era when the promotion cared the least about those kinds of wrestlers, it’s easy to take Sabin for granted.
6 Eddie Edwards
Another tag specialist, Eddie Edwards was one half of the highly decorated team The American Wolves with Davey Richards, but betrayal led them to pursue singles careers in Impact, with Edwards sticking around after Richards' departure and becoming a two-time Impact World Champion, most recently in 2020.
Originally a more fast-paced, hard-hitting flyer, Edwards has slowed down and grounded his style so that he’s more of a grungy hardcore brawler than a clean-cut athletic jock -- a style that has suited him perfectly.
5 Rich Swann
Rich Swann was a well-liked indie guy relegated to WWE’s cruiserweight division in the late 2010s, where he briefly held the Cruiserweight Championship before departing the company in 2018.
After heading over to Impact, he found success in the X Division, winning that title before moving on to the World Title scene, beating Eric Young for the belt at Bound for Glory 2020. Despite his size, the high-flying Swann has proven adept at believably taking on larger opponents like Moose and even Kenny Omega.
4 Pentagon Jr.
Lucha Underground may have introduced the wrestler known as Pentagon Jr. (or Penta El Zero M) to the world, but in 2018 he found himself debuting for Impact Wrestling, where he quickly dethroned Austin Aries to become Impact World Champion in a three-way match with his brother Rey Fenix.
More than just a cool costume, Pentagon is considered one of the most must-see wrestlers to come out of Mexico, as he combines vicious strikes and submission wrestling, with the requisite high-flying fans tend to expect from masked wrestlers.
3 Samoa Joe
The higher these rankings get, the more stiff the competition becomes, to the point where it feels like more of a multi-way tie than a clear ranking.
Samoa Joe unfortunately had only one run with the Impact World Title, which is criminal, because most fans agree he was one of the best in-ring performers in the company, consistently putting on great matches with the likes of AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, and Kurt Angle, who he beat for the top prize at Lockdown 2008.
2 AJ Styles
Before achieving international fame as a member of New Japan’s Bullet Club and making a huge splash in WWE in the late 2010s, AJ Styles was the homegrown face of Impact Wrestling, capturing two Impact World Titles and three NWA World Heavyweight Titles before that.
Many fans regard him as one of the best wrestlers in the world, a supremely gifted athletic performer who could pull off mind-blowing moves in his younger days, but also possessed the tools to pull off great bouts in the main event scene against a variety of opponents.
1 Kenny Omega
Another wrestler considered among the best in the world -- if not THE best -- Kenny Omega established his reputation as a superlative in-ring competitor mostly in Japan, at first wrestling for DDT before reaching the pinnacle of New Japan Pro Wrestling, winning the IWGP Heavyweight Title in what’s been called the best match ever.
As Impact World Champion -- a belt he took from Rich Swann at 2021’s Rebellion -- Omega is more of a traditional heel who relies on interference and cheating, but it’s undeniable that he is one of the greatest ring workers ever.