10 Precise Moments TNA Was The Best Wrestling Show On Earth
1. Kurt Angle Vs Samoa Joe - Lockdown 2008
In the darkened UFC-adjacent Six Sides Of Steel, Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe resumed violent hostilities from years prior to draw the company's greatest every buyrate and crown a new Champion in a manner that resembled that of a genuine rocket-strapping.
Capturing just enough of what people loved about MMA in a way WWE were nowhere near achieving, the build and match itself pared back virtually every bit of bullsh*t that had come between the two since Angle's 2006 debut.
Very much booked as Joe's last chance to win the big one and beat the man that had normalised him in the company, the story was entirely one of physical prowess above all else. The cage - as with UFC - served only to contain the action rather than to feed into it, as Joe outwrestled, outmuscled and outfought the man that was as good as the industry's all-time greatest all-rounder.
As a star-making night it was a hit, but for TNA, it served as the peak of their drawing powers. Doing 55,000 buys, it dwarfed all buyrates in the company's history apart from two - Angle's supercard bow at Bound For Glory 2006, and his in-ring debut (against Joe) at Genesis the following month.
Quiz: Kevin Nash's Time In TNA - How Much Do You Remember?
