10 Greatest NWA World Heavyweight Champions

'The King of the Mountain' drew a lot of hate for his insistence on being on top in the early days of TNA. His roster boasted exciting young innovators like AJ Styles and Samoa Joe as well as veteran megastars like Sting and Kevin Nash. Somehow, the gold always wound up on wrestling's biggest country music fan though.

While his lengthy, guitar-breaking shenanigans-laden title bouts were often a lower point of TNA's wild mid-noughties shows, Jarrett was arguably the NWA World Heavyweight Championship's saviour. Thanks to the death of the territories and Shane Douglas throwing the belt to the curb in the early '90s, the once essential NWA World Heavyweight Championship had lost its prestige and become, at best, a prop.

TNA iMPACT, while not a super draw for ratings, was easily the biggest non-WWE wrestling show in the world at the time. The NWA Title's return to prominence and 'Double J's insistence on treating it like the most important thing in the universe greatly rose its stock for the first time since the '80s.

Better still, as a head booker, Steve Austin's least favourite wrestler ensured everyone else did the same. Look no further than the ring swarming celebration when Christian Cage upset him for the belt at Against All Odds 2006. For all of his flaws during his time as the leading star of the Impact Zone, Jeff Jarrett put some respect back on the NWA name and for that, he deserves props.