10 Times The Main Event Was The Worst Match On A TNA PPV
Ethan Hayes
Published Mar 27, 2026
Impact Wrestling has been a major presence in the wrestling world for over fifteen years, and TNA has spent roughly a decade as the clear number two North American wrestling promotion. There were some truly great TNA matches, and it was a company where eventual WWE standouts like AJ Styles and Samoa Joe honed their craft. It’s also where legends of yesteryear like Sting and Kurt Angle added late chapters to their careers.
Related: 10 Big TNA Matches That Only Ever Happened On Free TV
While TNA certainly had its moments, the company also had its missteps. The main events didn’t always deliver, including some nights when the last bout TNA put on was actually its weakest offering.
10 Victory Road 2011
Victory Road 2011 may be the most infamous PPV in TNA history, and that all traces back to the main event. On paper, Sting and Jeff Hardy battling over the world title had a lot of promise, if only for marquee value and the intrigue of this clash between generations. However, Hardy came to the ring in no condition to perform.
Related: 5 Ways Jeff Hardy Was Better In TNA (& 5 Ways He Was In WWE)
Hardy was visibly impaired due to substance use. After a minute of stalling, Sting hit a Scorpion Death Drop and pinned Hardy to cap off the ugly scene. Under the circumstances, it made sense not to work a proper match, but rather to end things quickly to keep everyone safe. Still, the main event left a terrible taste in fans’ mouths and was one of Sting's worst moments in TNA.
9 Hard Justice 2006
The Hard Justice 2006 main event between Jeff Jarrett and Sting represented much of what TNA got wrong in its early years. The PPV had a number of good matches featuring young talent down the card. But here in the main event Sting, well past his prime, and Jarrett, who simply wasn’t over as the kind of legendary figure TNA tried to sell him as.
Worse yet, this match hinged on Sting’s cornerman, Christian Cage, betraying him. It was a swerve for a swerve’s sake—the kind of surprise heel turn that didn’t feel organic, but also didn’t feel all that shocking because TNA pulled these kinds of turns with reckless abandon.
8 Destination X 2010
Things were changing in TNA in early 2010, as Hulk Hogan took a stronger foothold. Seeing AJ Styles and Abyss work a main event, world title match felt promising though for honoring a bit of the company’s tradition with two stalwart, homegrown talents in the spotlight.
The match was well worked up to its finish, which saw Abyss chokeslam Styles straight through the mat. This spot had been done before and done better in other settings. All the worse, it forced a no contest, and while the ring falling apart would feel like a reasonable enough cause to end a lower profile match, it felt deeply dissatisfying in a main event like this. Things only got worse as Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair took center stage to brawl after the final bell--one of the worst altercations of their storied rivalry.
7 Against All Odds 2005
TNA had its share of main events that fell flat on account of poor booking or a bad finish. Against All Odds marked an occasion when there was never much for the match itself. Jeff Jarrett defended the world title, against Kevin Nash.
Nash had been a legitimate main eventer from the mid-to-late 1990s. A poor WWE run in 2003 thoroughly confirmed he didn’t have any business main eventing anymore, though. Fast forward two years and we saw one of the worst versions of Nash. Billy Gunn, The Road Dogg, and Sean Waltman all got involved in the chaotic mess, made worse by a particularly badly botched spot using a cello as a weapon.
6 Victory Road 2009
The match: Kurt Angle vs. Mick Foley. At first glance, this one might sound like an interesting attraction for the caliber of stars involved and the clash of styles. However, a more critical eye would reveal Foley was a superstar main eventing well past his prime.
Related: Every Version Of Kurt Angle Ranked From Worst To Best
By 2009, Foley had no business working high-profile wrestling matches. While Angle was still performing at a very high level, he was working hurt and he couldn’t redeem this scenario. The two made this match about as good as it could have been for all of the challenges they were up against but wasn’t enough to make it a good main event.
5 Slammiversary 2006
It says something when fans fill the ring with trash at the end of match. The impassioned display of anger can be a good thing, like the heat that Hulk Hogan drew when he turned heel at Bash at the Beach 1996. However, the garbage can also signal that the fans are simply upset at a bad outcome.
The King of the Mountain Match at Slammiversary 2006 wasn’t necessarily bad on the whole. The rules of the gimmick match themselves were too complicated for their own good, but the collective talent of Christian Cage, Ron Killings, Sting, Abyss, and Jeff Jarrett wasn’t going to set up an objectively bad match. This one took a nosedive on its finish though, as referee Earl Hebner made all the difference, pushing Sting and Cage off a ladder to set up Jarrett for a terribly contrived, cheap win that really undermined the match and sent no one home happy.
4 Bound For Glory 2008
In 2008, Samoa Joe walked into the biggest PPV of the year as world champion for the first time, defending against Sting. It was an intergenerational dream match, worthy of top billing at the biggest show of the year, and a pairing that stood to offer Joe a proving ground.
The match itself was thoroughly underwhelming, though, and went from bad to worse when Kevin Nash helped Sting win. The Main Event Mafia--one of TNA's best factions--followed, but it was thoroughly disappointing to see fresh top star Joe dethroned and to see Nash engage in his umpteenth big match “swerve” of his career.
3 Victory Road 2004
Victory Road 2004 was an uneven PPV, headlined by a Ladder Match between Jeff Jarrett and Jeff Hardy. Unfortunately, this match did the show no favors, with lowlights including multiple botches by Hardy—missing Jarrett on a see-saw spot with a ladder and then twice bungling a powerbomb attempt.
In addition to the lackluster execution, overbooking came into play with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall interfering heavily on Jarrett’s behalf. In the end, the match itself got overshadowed by the debut of Randy Savage, to stand up to the heels. The Macho Man’s arrival wasn’t enough to keep the end of this show from feeling like a disaster.
2 Genesis 2010
It’s hard to imagine AJ Styles and Kurt Angle putting on the worst match on any show. In a vacuum, this outing wasn’t terrible, but the creative was about all anyone remembered.
The big story coming out of this match was Styles turning heel to retain his title, joining forces with Ric Flair as his manager. The heel turn came out of nowhere and was a poor fit for the athletic style and homegrown pedigree that made The Phenomenal One popular. Instead, he got shoehorned into a Flair impersonator gimmick that threw the whole main event scene off course. It all started at Genesis.
1 Bound For Glory 2011
There are no two ways about it—Bound For Glory 2011 was set up to be Bobby Roode’s night. He’d won his way to a world title opportunity and the show was centered around him rising up to challenge Kurt Angle. Roode was the underdog on paper, but at the biggest show of the year, paying off Roode’s years of loyalty to TNA and his groundswell of fan support felt like a no-brainer.
Instead, Angle won cleanly via pin. While this solution was arguably better than the overused swerve option, it was a demoralizing loss for the faithful audience. Roode would end up champion a couple of weeks later—when he turned heel to defeat former partner James Storm, who had since taken the title off Angle. The whole angle felt way overcomplicated and only turned off fans from the product.
