10 Moments When TNA Was The Hottest Wrestling Company In The World

7. Broken Brilliance

Kurt Angle Samoa Joe
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The creative collusion of Matt Hardy and Jeremy Borash brought the #BROKEN universe to life in an angle many consider to be TNA's greatest ever storyline several years after the company had fallen out of the mainstream spotlight. That it strayed away from just about every conventional wrestling rule only paid tribute to the strength of the characters and keen eye for detail that made the ludicrous narrative so absorbing.

Matt's personal descent to madness following a hefty beating from his brother was an exciting character shift, but when he moved his jagged portrayal to the pre-taped haven of the Hardy compound, the story took on new life.

A 'Final Deletion' brawl with brother Jeff defied odds in not only delivering a morbidly entertaining presentation but also capturing the wrestling zeitgeist during the usual summer downtime for WWE. The angle took on greater prominence when Jeff himself became 'broken', assuming the 'Brother Nero' name Matt had given him when he first took a turn for the weird.

The skits became knowingly daft, and the evergreen brothers were suddenly the hottest babyfaces in wrestling once again. United, they scooped the TNA Tag Team Titles as Matt began a quest for more gold that took them to Ring of Honor, and ultimately, WWE.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett