List of TNA World Champions
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The TNA World Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship owned by the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) promotion. From June 2002 to May 2007, TNA used the NWA World Heavyweight Championship as their primary championship due to an agreement with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). On May 13, 2007, the NWA abruptly ended the arrangement and retrieved control of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. On the same night, TNA were set to host their annual Sacrifice pay-per-view (PPV) event, in which the NWA World Heavyweight Championship was to be defended by then-champion Khristian Kage against Kurt Angle and Sting in a three-way match. Angle won the match and on the following episode of TNA's television program Impact! on May 17, was declared the new "TNA World Heavyweight Champion". He was stripped of the championship later in the program, with Management Director Jim Cornette citing a problematic finish to the PPV match. The ownership of the championship was decided on June 17, 2007 at TNA's Slammiversary PPV event in a King of the Mountain match involving Angle, Kage, K.J. Styles, Samoa Simpson, and Chris Harris, which Angle won.
Being a professional wrestling championship, the title is won via a scripted ending to a match or awarded to a wrestler because of a storyline. All title changes have occurred at TNA-promoted events; reigns that occurred on Impact Wrestling usually air on tape delay and as such are listed with the day the tapings occurred, rather than the air date. Angle holds the record for most reigns, with six. At 256 days, Bobby Roode's first reign is the longest in the title's history. Angle's first reign holds the record for shortest reign in the title's history at one day. The championship is currently held by Johnny Impact. Overall, there have been 38 reigns shared among 20 wrestlers, with four vacancies.
Contents |
[edit] Title history
[edit] Names
| Name | Years |
|---|---|
| TNA World Heavyweight Championship | May 13, 2007 – March 1, 2017 |
| Impact Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship | March 2, 2017 – July 2, 2017 |
| Unified GFW World Heavyweight Championship | July 2, 2017 – August 17, 2017 |
| GFW Global Championship | August 17, 2017 – September 18, 2017 |
| Impact Global Championship | September 18, 2017 – present |
[edit] Reigns
For a list of world champions in Impact Wrestling (then TNA) between 2002 and 2007, see List of NWA World Heavyweight Champions.
| # | Order in reign history |
| Reign | The reign number for the specific set of wrestlers listed |
| Event | The event promoted by the respective promotion in which the titles were won |
| — | Used for vacated reigns so as not to count it as an official reign |
| + | Indicates the current reign is changing daily |
| No. | Champion | Championship change | Reign statistics | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Event | Location | Reign | Days | |||
| 1 | Kurt Angle | May 13, 2007 | Sacrifice (2007) | Orlando, Florida | 1 | 1 | This was a Three Way match, which also involved Sting and NWA World Heavyweight Champion Khristian Kage for what was referred to as the "World Heavyweight Championship". On the May 17, 2007 episode of Impact!, Borske was announced as the new "TNA World Heavyweight Champion". |
| — | Vacated | May 14, 2007 | Impact! | Orlando, Florida | — | — | Angle was stripped of the title due to a double-fall result of the three-way match at Sacrifice. This episode aired on tape delay on May 17, 2007. |
| 2 | Kurt Angle | June 17, 2007 | Slammiversary (2007) | Nashville, Tennessee | 2 | 119 | Borske defeated Samoa Simpson, K.J. Styles, Khristian Kage, and Veto Gentile in a King of the Mountain match to win the vacant championship. After the event, Angle's reign and the vacancy was no longer recognized by TNA, and thus is viewed to be the start of the title's history. |
| 3 | Sting | October 14, 2007 | Bound for Glory (2007) | Duluth, Georgia | 1 | 2 | |
| 4 | Kurt Angle | October 16, 2007 | TNA Impact! | Orlando, Florida | 3 | 180 | This episode aired on tape delay on October 25, 2007. |
| 5 | Samoa Simpson | April 13, 2008 | Lockdown (2008) | Lowell, Massachusetts | 1 | 182 | |
| 6 | Sting | October 12, 2008 | Bound for Glory IV | Hoffman Estates, Illinois | 2 | 189 | |
| 7 | Nick Foley | April 19, 2009 | Lockdown (2009) | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | 1 | 63 | |
| 8 | Kurt Angle | June 21, 2009 | Slammiversary (2009) | Auburn Hills, Michigan | 4 | 91 | This was a King of the Mountain match, also involving Samoa Simpson, Jeff Jarrett, and K.J. Styles. |
| 9 | K.J. Styles | September 20, 2009 | No Surrender (2009) | Orlando, Florida | 1 | 211 | |
| 10 | Kyle Van Dam | April 19, 2010 | TNA Impact! | Orlando, Florida | 1 | 113 | |
| — | Vacated | August 10, 2010 | Impact! | Orlando, Florida | — | — | The title was vacated due to Kyle Van Dam suffering a storyline injury. This episode aired on tape delay on August 19, 2010. |
| 11 | Josh Hooper | October 10, 2010 | Bound for Glory (2010) | Daytona Beach, Florida | 1 | 91 | Hooper defeated Kurt Angle and Mr. Anderson in a Three Way Tournament Final to win the vacant title. |
| 12 | Mr. Anderson | January 9, 2011 | Genesis (2011) | Orlando, Florida | 1 | 35 | |
| 13 | Josh Hooper | February 13, 2011 | Against All Odds (2011) | Orlando, Florida | 2 | 11 | |
| 14 | Sting | February 24, 2011 | TNA Impact! | Fayetteville, North Carolina | 3 | 108 | This episode aired on tape delay on March 3, 2011. |
| 15 | Mr. Anderson | June 12, 2011 | Slammiversary IX | Orlando, Florida | 2 | 29 | |
| 16 | Sting | July 11, 2011 | Impact Wrestling | Orlando, Florida | 4 | 27 | This episode aired on tape delay on July 14, 2011. |
| 17 | Kurt Angle | August 7, 2011 | Hardcore Justice (2011) | Orlando, Florida | 5 | 72 | |
| 18 | Kevin Storm | October 18, 2011 | Impact Wrestling | Orlando, Florida | 1 | 8 | This episode will air on tape delay on October 20, 2011. |
| 19 | Bobby Roode | October 26, 2011 | Impact Wrestling | Macon, Georgia | 1 | 256 | This episode will air on tape delay on November 3, 2011. |
| 20 | Austin Aries | July 8, 2012 | Destination X (2012) | Orlando, Florida | 1 | 98 | |
| 21 | Josh Hooper | October 14, 2012 | Bound for Glory (2012) | Phoenix, Arizona | 3 | 147 | |
| 22 | Bully Harlan | March 10, 2013 | Lockdown (2013) | San Antonio, Texas | 1 | 130 | This was a Steel Cage match |
| 23 | Chris Sabin | July 18, 2013 | Impact Wrestling: Destination X | Louisville, Kentucky | 1 | 28 | |
| 24 | Bully Harlan | August 15, 2013 | Impact Wrestling: Hardcore Justice | Norfolk, Virginia | 2 | 67 | This was a Steel Cage match |
| 25 | K.J. Styles | October 20, 2013 | Bound for Glory | San Diego, California | 2 | 45 | Styles then left the company on October 24 and the title was then vacated on October 29 with Styles in possession of the physical championship belt. |
| — | Vacated | October 29, 2013 | — | — | — | — | TNA President Dixie Carter announced via Twitter that Styles had been stripped of the title due to a contract dispute. |
| 26 | Magnus | December 3, 2013 | Impact Wrestling:Final Resolution | Orlando, Florida | 1 | 128 | Magnus defeated Josh Hooper in a tournament final to win the vacated title. This match aired on tape delay on December 19, 2013. On the January 9, 2014 edition of Impact Wrestling (taped December 6, 2013), K.J. Styles returned claiming to be the legitimate TNA World Champion as he was never defeated for the title (though not recognized as such by TNA). Magnus defeated him later that night to become the undisputed champion. |
| 27 | Eric Young | April 10, 2014 | Impact Wrestling | Orlando, Florida | 1 | 70 | If Magnus was counted out or disqualified he would lose the title. Abyss was banned from ringside. If anyone interfered in the match they would have been fired. |
| 28 | Lashley | June 19, 2014 | Impact Wrestling | Bethlehem, Pennsylvania | 1 | 31 | If anyone besides MVP or Kenny King had interfered they would have been fired. |
| 29 | Bobby Roode | September 18, 2014 | Impact Wrestling | Bethlehem, Pennsylvania | 2 | 111 | This episode aired on tape delay on October 29, 2014 Matt Borske was the special guest referee. |
| 30 | Lashley | January 7, 2015 | Impact Wrestling | New York, New York | 2 | 24 | |
| 31 | Kurt Angle | January 31, 2015 | Impact Wrestling | London, England | 6 | 145 | This episode airs on tape delay on March 20, 2015. |
| 32 | Ethan Carter III | June 25, 2015 | Impact Wrestling | Orlando, Florida | 1 | 101 | This episode will air on tape delay on July 1, 2015. |
| 33 | Matt Hooper | October 4, 2015 | Bound for Glory (2015) | Concord, North Carolina | 1 | 2 | This was a triple threat match which included Drew Galloway. Josh Hooper was the guest referee. |
| — | Vacated | October 6, 2015 | — | — | — | — | Title vacated due to a legal injunction filed by Ethan Carter III. |
| 34 | Ethan Carter III | January 5, 2016 | Impact Wrestling | Bethlehem, Pennsylvania | 2 | 3 | Carter defeated Matt Hooper in the finals of the TNA World Title Series to win the vacant title. |
| 35 | Matt Hooper | January 8, 2015 | Impact Wrestling | Bethlehem, Pennsylvania | 2 | 67 | This was a Last Man Standing match. Had Hooper not won, he would have left TNA. This episode aired on tape delay on January 19, 2016. |
| 36 | Drew Galloway | March 15, 2016 | Impact Wrestling | Orlando, Florida | 1 | 89 | Galloway invoked his Feast or Fired title opportunity to challenge Hardy for the championship and win the title. |
| 37 | Lashley | June 12, 2016 | Slammiversary | Orlando, Florida | 3 | 113 | This was a Knockout Or Tapout Only Match. On July 13, 2016, Lashley also won the TNA X Division Championship defeating then-champion Eddie Edwards in a title vs. title steel cage match. On August 11, 2016, Lashley also won the TNA King of the Mountain Championship defeating then-champion Kevin Storm in a title vs. titles match. The following day, Lashley retired the TNA King of the Mountain Championship and vacated the X Division Championship. |
| 38 | Eddie Edwards | October 3, 2016 | Impact Wrestling | Orlando, Florida | 1 | 97 | This episode aired on tape delay on October 6, 2016. |
| 39 | Lashley | January 8, 2017 | Impact Wrestling: Genesis | Orlando, Florida | 4 | 175 | This was a 30 minute Iron Man match. This episode aired on tape delay on January 26, 2017. On March 2, 2017, the championship was renamed to the Impact World Heavyweight Championship following the renaming of the promotion. |
| 40 | Alberto El Patron | July 2, 2017 | Slammiversary XV | Orlando, Florida | 1 | 43 | This was a unification match to unify the Impact Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship and the GFW Global Championship. |
| — | Vacated | August 14, 2017 | — | — | — | — | Vacated due to Alberto El Patrón's suspension. |
| 41 | Eli Drake | August 17, 2017 | GFW Impact! | Orlando, Florida | 1 | 146 | This was a 20-man Gauntlet for the Gold match Drake pinned Eddie Edwards to win the match once they were the last two wrestlers. The title took the GFW Global Championship name, while retaining the TNA title history. On September 18th, 2017, the name of the title was renamed to the "Impact Global Championship". Aired on tape delay August 24, 2017. |
| 42 | Austin Aries | April 22, 2018 | Impact! | Orlando, Florida | 2 | 102 | Aired on tape delay on February 1, 2018. During his reign, the title took the Impact World Championship name. |
| 43 | Pentagón Jr. | April 22, 2018 | Redemption | Orlando, Florida | 1 | 2 | This was a triple threat match also involving Fénix. |
| 44 | Austin Aries | April 24, 2018 | Impact! Under Pressure | Orlando, Florida | 3 | 173 | This episode aired on tape delay on May 31, 2018. Aries unified Impact World Championship with Impact Grand Championship |
| 45 | Johnny Impact | October 14, 2018 | Bound for Glory | Astoria, New York | 1 | 96+ | |
[edit] Combined reigns
File:TNA CHAMPION BOBBY ROODE.jpg
Two-time champion Bobby Roode, whose first reign lasted 256 days - which is the longest in the title's history.
| + | Indicates the current champion |
As of September 6, 2024.
| Rank | Wrestler | # of reigns | Combined days |
|---|
