10 Best Kurt Angle TNA Matches

As of Sunday, April 7, 2019, Kurt Angle has wrestled for the final time. Angle is arguably the greatest in-ring performer in the history of professional wrestling. He quickly adapted amateur and Olympic style wrestling to professional wrestling like a hand goes to a glove. The 'Olympic Hero' has wrestled some of the greatest matches in history of WWE with the likes of The Rock, Steve Austin, The Undertaker, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Edge, Eddie Guerrero, Brock Lesnar and many more.

However, not all of Angle's best matches have come from working under Vince McMahon. Between late 2006 until early 2016, Kurt Angle wrestled some of the best matches ever witnessed in TNA Impact Wrestling. Angle took TNA to all new heights when he joined them and the Nashville based group were never the same again. Angle brought out the best in the original Impact performers there before him and former WWE stars who came after.

As I previously looked over the top 10 best matches Kurt Angle ever had in WWE, I have decided to celebrate his retirement by looking over the top 10 best TNA Impact Wrestling matches in the career of Kurt Angle. It's true, it's damn true!

#10 Kurt Angle vs. Rhino vs. Christian Cage - TNA Impact June 28, 2007

Hailing from the Impact Zone in Orlando, this triple threat World Championship match pitting Champion Kurt Angle against Rhino and Christian Cage, lasted almost the entire episode.

This was back when Impact was just one hour long, and with the opening videos packages and commercials taken into account, that left this match lasting just over 30 minutes. In my opinion, this is probably the best wrestling match in weekly Impact history, excluding the wacky 'Deletion' episodes of course.

Each man got his time to shine. Some double team from Cage and Rhino on Angle and Cage and Angle on Rhino, each man hit their key moves, with interference from Samoa Joe, Abyss, AJ Styles, Tomko, Chris Harris and Sting. Angle pinned Rhino with an Angle Slam to retain his Championship.

#9 Kurt Angle vs. Jay Lethal - TNA No Surrender 2007

Kurt Angle has actually referred to this match as the best match he ever had in TNA. This match really showed that Lethal had a bright future in wrestling and could hold his own with the top talents in the company. Angle had actually entered this match as the reigning X Division Champion, having won it, the TNA Tag Team titles and TNA Heavyweight Championship all in the one match at the previous pay-per-view.

Angle started off No Surrender by dropping the tag team gold, but would it happen with the X Division and to someone who at the time wouldn't have been considered to be in Angle's league? Angle tried to out wrestle Lethal at the beginning. Lethal eventually fought back with various counters, which frustrated Angle.

After Angle gave a serious of suplexes, Lethal responded with some of his Randy Savage tribute moves. We got some convincing near falls from lethal, which got the crowd hot and very much in his favor. Finally, Lethal would counter the Ankle Lock into a roll up to win the match and X Division Championship.

#8 Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles - Genesis 2010

Genesis 2010 was the dawn of a new era in TNA, at least in pay-per-view form. It had only been 3 weeks earlier that Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff arrived in the Impact Zone and there were going to be big changes ahead.

Some would argue that the wrestling in TNA took a bit of a decline upon the booking of Hogan and Bischoff, and they are probably right. The wrestling in this match though was still pretty on point. They started it off getting a feel for each other, mimicking the same moves one after the other. Angle tried to out wrestle Styles but the 'Phenomenal One' put up a great fight.

Like Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho in WWE, it was almost like these guys were wrestling themselves. Kurt Angle was a suplex machine while AJ pulled off some moves he hadn't done in a while. Ric Flair wandered out to get a closer look at the match. Angle would hit Styles with his own Styles Clash to a close near fall while Styles hit Angle with his Angle Slam for a two count.

A sick Angle Slam from the top rope and Ankle Lock looked like it would be the end for Styles before Flair attacked the referee and tossed Styles the title which he used to hit Angle and get the three. The wrestling here was great, but people weren't a fan of Styles' heel turn at the end, as he had only just worked his way up as being the face of the company just previously coming off a lengthy heel run, so this turn felt too soon.

#7 Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe - Genesis 2006

Although the build-up to this match was just a little over a month, it quickly became the most hyped match in the four years of TNA's existence. TNA labelled this a 'dream match' and although that is up for debate as Joe wasn't a huge star at the time, wrestling wise, they were kind of right.

Kurt is arguably the best wrestler of all time and Samoa Joe was one of the best in the world at the time. The build up to the match had been excellent with the most believable pull apart brawls you will ever see in wrestling, the build up was so good that this was quickly becoming the best feud in the company's history, before the match itself took place.

While the match itself was under 15 minutes, they made the most out of it and it was quite frankly a great match. The atmosphere in the Impact Zone had never been quite like it was, which made it even more special. The action featured a series of submissions, reversals, and power moves, it was beautiful. Joe hit Angle with a sick swinging powerbomb into the barricade and displayed great high flying skill. After more submissions and brawling, a very bloody Angle forced Joe to tap for the hard earned victory.

#6 Kurt Angle vs. Sting - Bound For Glory 2007

Kurt Angle vs. Sting was a dream match that WWE would have loved to have booked, and very nearly did at one point in 2002 but never happened when WWE and Sting's brief negotiations came to an end. WWE had hoped to book the match for WrestleMania X8.

The plans for Kurt Angle vs. Sting immediately came into play when Kurt Angle signed with TNA in 2006, the same year that Sting had months earlier. The first one-on-one meeting between the two was saved for TNA's biggest event of the year, Bound For Glory, in 2007.

The build up to the bout was well executed and when it was all said and done, we were left with the best match Sting had wrestled since the late 90's. It had that ‘big match’ feel to it and the crowd loved it. Everything was well paced and was just overall exciting. The match had a nice back and forth feel to it, while Angle seemed to out wrestle the Stinger for a while.

Some vintage moves from both man's playbooks, convincing false finishes, well timed interference from Kevin Nash and great heel work from Angle. Sting pinned Kurt to lift his second World Championship in TNA.

#5 Kurt Angle vs. Abyss - Turning Point 2008

I don't think anyone was expecting this to be a bad match. Heading into it, everyone was expecting at least a decent brawl. What we ended up getting was one of the best TNA matches of 2008 and easily the best one-on-one match in the career of Abyss.

They take it to the floor early on for a good brawl all over the Impact Zone. They fought up the ramp, and as Abyss was just past the commentary booth beneath the stage, Angle dived off the stage with an insane somersault. They fought through one of the stage walls and came through another stage wall on the other side. Back in the ring we have some weapons introduced, chairs and chains among them.

Angle attempted a moonsault but landed right on a chair, and was shortly followed by a Black Hole Slam for a two count. They fought their way back to the outside and up some scaffolding, which saw Angle kick Abyss down through the Spanish announce table, and that was enough for the three.

#4 Kurt Angle vs. Desmond Wolfe - Turning Point 2009

Nigel McGuinness made his TNA debut in late 2009 as Desmond Wolfe and was immediately put into a big feud with Kurt Angle. Wolfe got some victories on Impact over Angle which led to this match at Turning Point. It was a tremendous technical match, probably the best technical match to ever happen in TNA. Some dueling chain wrestling from each man started it off. Angle seemed intent on teaching Wole a wrestling lesson, but Wolfe hung with him every step of the way.

The technical aspect here was just fantastic. They eventually broke away from it for a few minutes with a series of stiff lariats from both and suplexes from Angle. Both men countered each others signature moves several times, Angle hit a perfect Frog Splash that would have made Eddie Guerrero proud, but still just brought a two count. After some more dueling submissions, Wolfe escaped the Ankle Lock once more only to be caught in a Triangle Choke, and surprisingly submitted to it.

#3 Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Jarrett - Genesis 2009

The feud between Kurt Angle and Jeff Jarrett is probably the greatest storyline in TNA Impact Wrestling history. The two fought several times on and off from 2007 through 2011, and the very best match of it came from their second ever encounter at Genesis 2009. They had their first match, which TNA had labelled a 'Dream Match' at Bound For Glory three months earlier, and it was good, but merely an appetizer for this solid No DQ bout.

Jarrett controlled the first couple of minutes, but Angle came back with a forearm that knocked Jeff off the guardrail and onto the guardrail at ringside. Angle went for the Angle Slam, but Jarrett avoided it and backdropped him over the top rope to ringside in a big spot, which would lead to a rough botch when Jarrett attempted a dive through the ropes, only for his knee to get caught and drop him hard on the floor.

Both men were busted open pretty bad just 10 minutes into it. Angle hit Jarrett with an Angle Slam off the stage through a table in a big spot. Jarrett hit The Stroke for a close near fall, which was soon followed by an Angle Slam for another close call. Angle nailed Jarrett with a chair for another close one, as did Jarrett. As Jarrett laid across Angle for the cover, Angle hooked his arms for the three.

#2 Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe - Lockdown 2008

This was a very different and unique cage match to all other cage matches we had seen in TNA previously, mostly because it had more of an MMA feel to it.

Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe just had amazing chemistry together, and they always put on a clinic when they got in the ring with each other. And out of the dozens of great matches they had together, this one was easily the best. Angle has talked about this match before, calling it very difficult to do at the time, but he should be very proud because they put on an unforgettable performance.

The match featured a series of submissions, reversals to other submissions, strong style kicks, forceful punches, mat wrestling and a nice blend of standard Joe and Angle move sets. Joe pinned Angle after a Muscle Buster to lift the only TNA Heavyweight Championship he would ever win.

#1 Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles - Hard Justice 2008

This Last Man Standing match between Kurt Angle and AJ Styles was so good, even Shane McMahon admitted he watched it and thought it was awesome.

This was done in Texas Death style rules, which meant they had to pin each other for a three count before the count to ten could begin. Styles chased Angle around the ring only to be caught by him, but Styles quickly countered him. Some high flying moves from Styles in and out of the ring, including one off the barricade which Angle caught and suplexed him into the barricade.

Angle attempted an Angle Slam off the stage but Styles countered it when he hit the floor, which led Angle hitting a stunning somersault off the stage, similar to the aforementioned match with Abyss. A great mixture of chain wrestling, submissions, brawling a reversals all within the next few minutes. This all led to some very convincing near ten counts too. Angle hit a stunning German suplex from the top rope, soon followed by a sick top rope DDT from Styles, which led to the huge win for the 'Phenomenal One'.

Edited by Israel Lutete