Top 10 TNA Impact Wrestling Stars of All Time
By Tim Sherry
WWE.com
2. Kurt Angle
Make no mistake about it, when TNA signed Kurt Angle in September 2006 he was immediately seen as the biggest free agent signing in TNA history, and still is. Sure, Sting was a major signing when he came to the brand permanently in 2005 but being well into his 40’s at the time, The Stinger’s best days were behind him. Angle, on the other hand, had just come from the WWE where he was a 6-time World champion and the fifth member of the WWE Grand Slam Championship club. This was a huge deal in the wrestling world and suddenly made TNA very relevant.
Angle came to TNA and immediately made an impact snatching up the very first TNA World Heavyweight Championship after they seceded their titles from the NWA. From there Angle went on to do it all while becoming a legend in TNA. All in all, he won 6 world titles, 2 tag team titles, an X-Division title, and 2 King of the Mountain titles, while partaking in some of the greatest feuds and matches in the company’s history. His wars with AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, and Desmond Wolfe among many others carried TNA for the better part of 10 years and there is an argument that can be made that he’s the reason the brand lasted as long as it has.
The Olympic Hero was very clearly the shot in the arm TNA needed. Well, any time you bring a guy who’s potentially the best wrestler on the planet you expect big things and Angle delivered in a big way. Angle made the WWE look foolish for giving up on a guy that had plenty left in the tank as he continued to churn out classics well into his 40’s. With Angle’s WWE Hall of Fame coronation on the horizon is there a chance that the WWE will look to get one more masterpiece out of him? If his TNA run is any indication of what he can still do, that would be a sight to see.