Once upon a time, it seemed like wrestlers who worked for TNA (now known as Impact Wrestling) were largely persona non grata in WWE. Before the mid-2010s, plenty of fans were convinced that there was zero chance of guys like Samoa Joe and AJ Styles wrestling under Vince McMahon. That’s obviously changed, and in the years since there have been numerous bouts that would have been WWE vs. TNA dream matches in the past, like AJ Styles vs. John Cena or Samoa Joe vs. Brock Lesnar.

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That said, there are also some WWE vs. TNA matches that never happened, some of which were actually possible, while others were not. But all the TNA vs WWE dream bouts have one thing in common -- they could have been awesome.

10 Kevin Owens vs. Sting

Kevin Owens vs. Sting

Given that Sting finally worked for WWE from 2014 to 2015, there was strong potential for interesting matchups. Kevin Owens debuted on the main roster in 2015 but was busy in a feud with John Cena and it likely didn’t make sense to pair a legend up with a relative newcomer. But the hypothetical match between them would have been a blast, as Sting’s a classic pure babyface and Kevin Owens is one of the great modern heels. It would be Owens vs. Sami Zayn all over again, but with face paint.

9 The Usos vs. Motor City Machine Guns

The Usos vs. Motor City Machine Guns

TNA had some truly magical tag teams, including Chris Sabin and Alex Shelly, collectively known as The Motor City Machine Guns. The best pairing for Shelley and Sabin in WWE would certainly be The Usos, who are neck-in-neck with The New Day as WWE’s best tag team. But “Uso Penitentiary” era Usos bring an intensity to their bouts that would make them perfect for a fast-paced team like Motor City Machine Guns.

8 Shawn Michaels vs. James Storm

Shawn Michaels vs. James Storm

Considered one of the greatest WWE stars of all time by many fans, Shawn Michaels is one of those guys who could seemingly have a great match with anyone. “Cowboy” James Storm did his best work as a tag team specialist but has proven to be a solid singles wrestler in his own right.

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It’s such a shame that Michaels and Storm never interacted because they’re such similar characters and even both use a Superkick as a finisher. They would have had an amazing storyline where they’d form a tag team, only to break up and feud because they were too similar.

7 Daniel Bryan vs. Kurt Angle

Kurt Angle and Daniel Bryan

Kurt Angle’s final run with WWE resulted in less than 20 televised matches, with a couple of strong efforts among them including matches against Drew McIntyre, Dolph Ziggler, and Chad Gable. It’s a legitimate travesty, however, that at no point did Kurt Angle and Daniel Bryan get to have a match against one another. Angle recently went on record to say that he requested it, but a masterpiece between two of the greatest technicians of their eras sadly never materialized.

6 The New Day vs. Bad Influence

The New Day vs. Bad Influence

Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian taking on any configuration of Big E, Xavier Woods, and Kofi Kingston would be a blast as both teams are among the best tag teams of their respective promotions. But part of the fun of a New Day/Bad Influence matchup would also have been the build to the match, as both teams are great at trolling and shenanigans. The backstage skits alone would be worth the price of admission.

5 Charlotte Flair vs. Awesome Kong

Charlotte Flair and Awesome Kong

Awesome Kong, after changing the game with Gail Kim, very briefly wrestled for WWE in the early 2010s under the ring name Kharma and was presented as an “anti-Diva” who was out to crush all the former models who fancied themselves to be wrestlers of the Divas Division at the time. The perfect opponent for that character would be Charlotte Flair, a wrestler who fits the classic “Diva” mold in a lot of ways. Of course, Kong would soon find out that she was underestimating Charlotte once the bell rang.

4 Fit Finlay vs. Samoa Joe

Fit Finlay vs. Samoa Joe

A stiff brawler with technical skills, the Irish star Fit Finlay departed WWE in 2010 and wrestled on the indies before retiring in 2012, during which time he wrestled a couple of notables like Kevin Owens, Sami Callihan, and Roderick Strong. But it’s a shame he didn’t make a pitstop in TNA to take on Samoa Joe.

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Given that Joe is a strong striker with technical acumen, the two would have made for a great matchup. Samoa Joe wasn’t utilized to his best at the time, so it would have been nice to have this random gem in a not-great period.

3 Bayley vs. Gail Kim

Bayley vs. Gail Kim

In 2008, Gail Kim delivered some game-changing women’s wrestling matches alongside Awesome Kong in TNA that still hold up today. Bayley continued that tradition in NXT in the mid-2010s, wrestling some of the best WWE women’s matches ever against friend/rival Sasha Banks. As an innovator and a living legend, Kim would have been a great opponent for Bayley to prove herself. It’s a shame that Kim’s WWE runs predate Bayley, and now Kim is pretty devoted to working backstage at Impact Wrestling.

2 Edge vs. AJ Styles

Edge vs. AJ Styles

AJ Styles has been wrestling for WWE since 2016, so a number of WWE vs. TNA dream matches have already happened, including bouts against John Cena, Randy Orton, and Brock Lesnar. But one potentially cool match that hasn’t happened is against Edge, who had been retired since 2011 before returning in 2020. It’s still a match that could happen since they’re currently co-workers, but Edge seems to get injured a lot and Styles hasn’t been a consistent main eventer in a while, so it seems unlikely.

1 John Cena vs. Abyss

John Cena vs. Abyss

As far as TNA vs. WWE dream matches go, it’s important to be realistic sometimes and consider who WOULD fight, rather than who SHOULD fight. Abyss was the TNA equivalent of Kane but with more hardcore wrestling in his blood, so he was often a pretty vicious heel in his time. Therefore, he would have to wrestle the face of WWE.

The ideal Abyss vs. John Cena match would, of course, be a Monster’s Ball Match, which would need to involve a thumbtack spot so Big Match John could go full Super Cena and Attitude Adjust Abyss into some barbed wire.

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