I’m in the mood to list things, and after writing this weeks grocery list (eggs came in top, followed by cheese, ham and milk) I decided to shift from life to wrestling. Seeing as we’re approaching the seven year anniversary of TNA, here are my personal top five most memorable moments from TNA history.
(Honorable mentions)
Toby Keith gets no sold by Jarrett/Jeff’s elimination from the first show gauntlet match. This was during TNA’s first PPV, Jeff was heeling it up all night long bitching about how he shouldn’t be #1 in the gauntlet match to crown the new NWA champion. Later in the night, Toby Keith preforms one of his songs and gets interrupted by Jarrett on his way to the ring. Later in the match, Keith gets pissed, enters himself, suplexes Jarrett and throws him out of the match. This was the original “anything can happen” moment in TNA.
The debut of the “Canadian Destroyer” ‘Nuff said
AMW vs XXX part 1. Best way to cap off the feud. Lock them both in a steel cage and let them beat the fuck out of each other. This match included the sickest spot in TNA history at the time. Chris Harris delivers the Death Sentence off the top of the cage.
Ultimate X. Every ultimate X match has given us a spot to remember it by. AJ’s huge inverted bump, Fallen angels/suicide’s suicide dive across the X, Johnny Devine landing right on his head…TWICE, then taking a table bump to the outside from the top of a ladder, then BOUNCING off the tables.
..And now, the TOP 5 MOMENTS EVAR!!! (cue opening titles, pyro and ballyhoo)
5. The debut of Jeff Hardy. (TNA 2nd year anniversary) Although Jeff may not have had the best run of his career in TNA, mostly due to the ”personal demons” he was battling at the time, his debut was completely out of the blue. TNA did a really good job of keeping this secret, which is hard to do in today’s Internet driven world. He got the loudest reaction from any TNA event in the asylum and had a phenomenal (pun intended) match with AJ Styles.
4. Samoa Joe vs Daniels vs AJ Styles. (Unbreakable 2005) The ONLY match in TNA to get a five star rating from Metzer. This match was the pure showcase of the X division at the time. These three went out there, left it all in the ring and arguably gave us the greatest match of 2005.
3. Bound for Glory 2006. This was TNA’s first PPV on the road. Although the under card lacked, we had a great X division match with Chris Sabin and Senshi, one of the best cage matches with LAX and the phenomenal angels (which was brutal) and the return of Sting from a random hiatus to “discover himself” to face Jeff Jarrett for the title. Although not the best PPV from TNA, it was a HUGE milestone for the company, delivered some real memorable moments, and got Jeff Jarrett off our screens for 6 months.
2. AMW vs XXX part 2. (Turning Point 2004) The final PPV of 2004 gave us the single most talked about thing in wrestling that year. AMW took on XXX in a cage match where the losing team had to disband. We then had a 20 minute all out bloodbath which was capped off by Elix Skippers massive tightrope hurricanrana off the top of the cage. Ususlly, he crotches his opponent on one turnbuckle, climbs the opposite, walks across the top rope and ‘ranas him. This time….he did it ON TOP OF THE CAGE!! Everyone watching was chanting the same thing: “Please don’t die!”
1. (tie) Team 3d vs Beer! Money! / The Samoa Joe vs Kurt Angle series. (Lockdown 2009/Various PPV’s in 2006 plus Lockdown 2008) This one was so hard for me to choose, so I had to go for a tie. The 3d vs Beer Money match was easily the most memorable tag match for a long time. From the chemistry between the two teams, to the sheer noise coming from the Philly crowd. This match got first place because of that, and the fact that 3d had Philly in their hands the entire match, even going as far as getting the entire crowd (easily 4000 people) instructing D-Von go get the tables..in unison.
Next was the Samoa Joe/Kurt Angle series. Each one of these matches was a technical classic. You could feel the emotion in these matches and you were on the edge of your seat for every minute of it. Every match excelled the others on the card to the point where the fans were screaming for more at the end of each one. It’s just a shame that after their final match, Samoa Joe got the shit booked out of him to the point where he was getting X Pac heat for the biggest part of his title reign. Silly TNA

