The legacy of Kurt Angle will likely be remembered most for his WWE moments, but the TNA run was just as important. Angle often reveals in interviews that he felt his best work came in TNA, and he wishes more fans were able to witness it. The drastic change saw Angle joining TNA in 2006 after having an ugly falling out with WWE.
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Angle spent about a decade with TNA through various ups and downs before leaving by choice. The various title reigns to come from Angle during his time in TNA showed how decorated of an athlete he was. Find out which ones stood out for different reasons. Every title reign from Angle in TNA will be ranked from worst to best.
10 TNA World Champion (1st reign)
Kurt Angle was the first person to win the TNA World Championship when TNA finally decided to get rid of the NWA Championship as their world title. It always seemed strange that TNA’s world title had the name of another promotion until Angle won this new belt.
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The title reign only lasted one day when there was confusion over a double pin in the match he won over Christian Cage and Sting. TNA vacated the title and had a match at the following PPV with a new belt design introduced.
9 Tag Team Champion (With Sting)
TNA ran the common storyline of two enemies, becoming tag team partners and having to work together. The entire story was a huge mess with Angle winning tag titles on his own and Sting becoming his partner after winning a fatal four-way.
Angle and Sting failed to work together and saw their reign as tag champs end after a few weeks. The embarrassing booking decision saw controversial NFL star Pacman Jones and R-Truth defeating the legends even though Pacman wasn’t allowed to wrestle.
8 TNA World Champion (5th reign)
Kurt Angle’s second to last TNA World Championship reign saw him having a solid reign as a heel. One noteworthy aspect of this title run was Angle working through a painful injury and still putting out great performances.
Angle held the title for about three months and had a strong feud with Bobby Roode. Fans were shocked when Angle defeated Roode at Bound for Glory in the main event. Angle lost the title to James Storm within a few seconds to put him over strong as the next champion.
7 X-Division Champion
Kurt Angle had one X-Division Championship reign when defeating Samoa Joe in a winner take all match for every male TNA title. The X-Division title run for Angle only lasted a month, but he made the most of it.
Jay Lethal scored the biggest win of his career up to that point when Angle put him over in a great match. The performance of Angle should have elevated Lethal to a higher level in the company, but TNA’s booking dropped the ball.
6 TNA World Champion (4th reign)
The strange decision of Mick Foley winning the TNA World Championship ended when Kurt Angle defeat him and four others in a King of the Mountain match. Angle had his fourth title reign come as a heel character.
The title reign saw him leading the Main Event Mafia while having the most important prize in the company. Angle held the title for about three months before dropping it to AJ Styles in a multi-man match.
5 TNA World Champion (6th and final reign)
The final TNA World Championship reign of Kurt Angle was a special one since fans knew he was inching towards the end of his career. Angle received a huge ovation when defeating Bobby Lashley to win the belt in front of a red-hot United Kingdom crowd.
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TNA did a good job booking Angle as a legend to make fans realize this was likely the last title run of his career. Angle worked his tail off to have a strong five-month title reign before dropping the belt to rising star EC3, which put him over as a top heel.
4 IWGP Heavyweight Champion
The working relationship between TNA and New Japan allowed Kurt Angle to win the top international wrestling title outside of the United States as the IWGP Heavyweight Champion. Another Japanese promotion IWF used the title when Brock Lesnar controversially refused to lose the belt to Shinsuke Nakamura.
Angle defeated his former foe Lesnar to win the title and brought it to TNA for a few months. The championship provided another accolade to make Angle come off as an even bigger star. Angle eventually dropped the belt to Nakamura to help NJPW get their big moment.
3 TNA World Champion (3rd reign)
The third TNA World Championship reign of Kurt Angle may have been his most dominant. Angle held the title for about six months as the top heel in the company. TNA built back up Samoa Joe around this time to set up a huge match between the two.
Angle and Joe had a classic cage match that ended with Joe getting the rub of defeating the top star. The lengthy reign proved that Angle was still one of the best wrestlers in the world after leaving WWE.
2 Tag Team Champion (With AJ Styles)
The makeshift tag team of AJ Styles and Kurt Angle had a very short run with the gold, but they created some memorable moments. Angle and Styles teamed up against the common enemies of Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian.
The TNA Tag Team Championship reign of Styles and Angle only lasted about three weeks, but they had great matches. Both top stars enjoyed the short change of pace, getting to come up with new concepts as a duo.
1 TNA World Champion (2nd reign)
Kurt Angle’s first TNA World Championship reign only lasted a day, but he was able to win it back a few weeks later. TNA’s King of the Mountain ladder match saw Angle defeating Christian Cage, Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, and Chris Harris in a classic.
The title reign lasted about four months and saw Angle turning heel for the first time in TNA. Angle became the top villain, with fans desperately wanting someone to dethrone him. Sting defeated Angle in one of the biggest matches in TNA history to end the title reign in grand fashion.
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