40 Greatest Stories Wrestling Ever Told

Great wrestling matches hit different when they're backed by a story you care about, have invested in and want some payoff on going in. That's a general rule. Cold matches aplenty have thrilled audiences around the globe for generations, but story really is king in this biz. The good news is that skilled workers can tell one without words. Sometimes. Not often, but sometimes.

Why take the risk though? The art of the humble promo is right there and waiting for those brave enough to grab the mic and spill their intentions to everyone listening. Toss in some soap opera style drama, a healthy bit of friction/bad blood, and BANG! You've got a story people salivate about before tripping over themselves to see what happens on the next big pay-per-view/PLE.

Selling blockbusters, larger than life characters and the idea of 2 (or more) talents fighting it out in the end has been part of wrestling since the beginning. That'll never change, and boy has there ever been some absolute scorchers for everyone to sink their teeth into across WWE, AEW, WCW, ECW, TNA, New Japan and more.

This collection aims to bring together the greatest stories that the medium has ever told us. The earliest happened way back in the early-1980s, and there's a lot of time travel right up until the modern era. In the interest of fairness and variety, this isn't just WWE's best WrestleMania builds.

Wrestling deserves better than that. There's so much to enjoy everywhere you look; there are stories still to be told and classics reflected on. Here's to the past, present and the future!

Pop Quiz: Was Kurt Angle's TNA theme better than his WWE one? That has absolutely nothing to do with this entry really, but here's another, broader question: Was Angle's Impact run as good as his WWF/WWE one? Ask anyone who watched him jump ship in 2006 then get right up in the face of one Samoa Joe and they'd turn into Bryan Danielson by enthusiastically yelling, "YES! YES! YES!".

Joe was a wrestling machine on a rampage in October '06 when Kurt showed face in the Impact Zone for the first time. The Samoan was on an undefeated 18-month run, and it didn't look like anyone could stop him. Enter an Olympian, one who had fought through agony to win World Titles with a broken freakin' neck.

TNA's announcers laid it bare. Only Angle could stop Joe and hand him that elusive, seemingly impossible loss. At Genesis on 19 November, Kurt achieved what few thought anybody could. He beat Samoa Joe in a bout TNA dubbed "Dream Match Of The Decade". They weren't lying. This was WWE's incoming best against a dude who'd ruled the independents before coming to TNA.

Kurt's submission win chipped away at Joe's aura without brutalising it, which is important. They'd have numerous classics over the coming years before Angle's in-ring career began winding down. TNA found the perfect worker to come in and briefly dominate Joe without crushing his momentum completely. It was one of the greatest stories the company would ever tell.

Perhaps the best, come to think of it.