Impact Wrestling: The Top 10 Champions in Impact History

Impact Wrestling has a long history of champions featuring some of the biggest names in the industry.

The Impact World championship has been through many changes over the last ten years. For example, the championship started as the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, then became the GFW Global Championship, and now it’s the Impact World Championship. Regardless of all the drama and company name changes, this title has been carried by some of the greatest wrestlers in the world of professional wrestling. Here is a look back at the top-ten names to ever hold any iteration of Impact’s most important title.

10. Magus

When AJ Styles left Impact Wrestling in 2013, many fans were wondering who would step up and be that top guy for the company. The person who would answer the call is the current NWA world champ Nick Aldis who went by Magus in Impact wrestling. When Magus became world champ in Impact, it felt like a new era in Impact wrestling because we were getting someone who worked from the bottom to the top and became a victorious world champ. Even though the reign lasted 128 days, he made sure to carry that belt with honor and made anyone who stepped in the ring with him understand who the best was at that time.

9. Jeff Hardy

When it comes to Jeff Hardy’s time in Impact wrestling, he had more good moments than bad moments, even though the bad moments are what is talked about the most. Jeff Hardy had three reigns as Impact champion, with each one showing a different side of Jeff, whether if it was the heel Jeff from the Immortal faction or the babyface crowd loving Jeff we all grew to love.  Even though every match when he was champ didn’t live up to the hype, he still was able to draw attention to the company and get people talking. Jeff Hardy’s title reigns in Impact wrestling created some of the biggest moments in the company’s history, which is why he is on this list.

8. Austin Aries

Austin Aries was the first Impact wrestler to introduce option C, which was a concept that was created to allow the X Division champion to cash in their title for an opportunity at the World title. At the time, I didn’t really like the idea, but now looking back, I believe it was smart to do. When it comes to Austin Aries’s reign as champion, he didn’t really do anything great, but I blame the storylines he was put in for that.

7. Sting

The Icon Sting is considered by many as the greatest wrestler ever. When WCW closed, Sting took some years off before coming to TNA. When Sting first signed with TNA Wrestling, he was making limited appearances before signing a full-time deal that leads to some amazing feuds. Sting first won the Impact world title at Bound for Glory 2007 in a classic wrestling match against Kurt Angle.

6. Samoa Joe

I wish Samoa Joe would have been able to hold the world title in Impact more than once because when he first came to Impact wrestling, he was the reason many people watched that company. Joe went undefeated for a full year in Impact Wrestling and eventually lost to Kurt angle in Kurt’s debut. Looking back, I’m not sure if that was the right decision, but who am I to judge.  Joe only had one reign as Impact World champion, and the reign lasted 182 days. The match that Joe won it in was a  title vs. career MMA style steel cage match that is one of the greatest matches in Impact Wrestling history.  I believe that even though Joe wasn’t booked the best, he still had a good run as world champion in TNA.

5. EC3

The first time EC3 left WWE was the best decision ever made for him because it allowed him to go to Impact and become a star. From his arrival in 2013, he made sure his presence was felt in that company. There was no denying that EC3 was a star because of his mic work and inside of the ring ability. EC3 won the world title from Kurt’s angle, which was the perfect choice because EC3 and Kurt delivered a good match that helped EC3 get to that next level.

4. Bobby Lashley

The Bobby Lashley we see now on Raw and the Bobby we got in Impact wrestling are two different monsters.  Bobby Lashley won the Impact world title four different times and was a destructive force in that ring.  The Bobby Lashley reign that stands out the most to me was his 2016 reign when he became the company’s most important wrestler. That year alone, he was able to capture all the company’s male titles.

3. Kurt Angle

Kurt Angle has held the Impact World championship on six separate occasions, which when you combine them, it’s 608 days. With each reign, Kurt provided fans with some of his best matches ever. Not only does Kurt hold the record for most reigns, but he was also the first Impact world champion when TNA ended its partnership with the NWA it left TNA with no choice but to create their legacy. Kurt Angle was the perfect person to make as your companies first world champion because it gave the title credibility because of who he was. That’s why I believe it was very important for AEW to make Y2J their first champion. It gives the title importance when an established wrestler wins that main title first.

2. AJ Styles

No matter who is at the top of this company, AJ Styles will always be Mr. TNA/Impact wrestling he was in that company from the very beginning.  AJ Styles was Impact Wrestling’s very first X Division champion, and he was the one that put that company on the map. AJ had won the NWA heavyweight champion when TNA and NWA were working together, but he didn’t win the Impact wrestling championship until 2009 at the No Surrender pay-per-view; it felt like a long-overdue moment that should have happened at Impact wrestling Bound for Glory pay-per-view so that it could have been a huge moment. AJ styles held the title for a second time, which was the best run he had as a champion because the storyline was based on AJ leaving the company. Impact told the story was perfect because it led to Magnus stepping up as the company guy.

1.Bobby Roode

It’s a real shame that Bobby Roode hasn’t held the Universal or WWE world titles yet because we all know that he would be a great heel world champion in that company. When Bobby Roode finally became Impact world champion, it was a great moment because Roode had been in Impact wrestling for so long. He was in Team Canada first and then went on to be in the tag team Beer Money, which is considered as one of Impact wrestling’s best tag team champions. Roode road to the world title was legendary because Impact built him up the right way by having him in 2011 Bound for Glory series.  Roode won the tournament, but his heel turn on his partner James Storm is what made that one of the greatest moments from his Impact career.  Roode had a 256-day title reign that is still the longest in Impact wrestling history.