8 Times TNA Turned Trash Into Treasure
6. Kurt Angle: From Main Event Mafia To Desmond Wolfe
The days of Kurt Angle having world-class contests with Samoa Joe were over. Battling through lingering injuries, he assembled a team of legends around him to conquer TNA: The Main Event Mafia.
Yes, after a shambolic rivalry with Jeff Jarrett, but before an overbooked mess of a feud with Mr. Anderson, there was the Main Event Mafia: Booker T, Scott Steiner, Kevin Nash, Sting, and Angle, all holding gold. At Slammiversary, Angle won his fourth TNA World title thanks to an ill-advised and unnecessary Samoa Joe heel turn.
It was a cool idea that could have been used to get over younger talent, but instead became another in a long line of bad TNA calls allowing ageing stars to steal the spotlight from more deserving company stalwarts.
Angle did eventually come around and start praising younger talents (AJ Styles and Matt Morgan in particular), leaving the MEM behind.
He immediately ran into a major threat when he was assaulted by Desmond Wolfe. Known to ROH fans as Nigel McGuinness, Desmond Wolfe debuted and absolutely decimated the Olympic hero. Angle was firmly in his wrestling machine persona at this point, so seeing someone dismantle him move by move - then win a street fight by knockout the following week! - was a revelation.
The rivalry felt new and fresh, and although TNA ran through the feud far too quickly, it was a truly memorable few months. This was the closest Angle got to another Samoa Joe-quality program for the rest of his time in the company.