10 Most Insane Spots In TNA History

The late, great TNA colour commentator Don West would shout “YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!”  whenever something mental went down in the IMPACT Zone. He often had good cause to flex his vocal cords when it came to some of the outrageous spots TNA’s stars would unleash. 

Whether it was in six sides or four sides, TNA’s finest pushed the limits in an effort to get the wrestling world talking. 

These are the 10 Most INSANE Spots in TNA History. 

10. AJ Styles at Lockdown 2009

AJ Styles had a habit of stealing the show in just about every match he was in, regardless of how many people were in it or what the stipulation was.

So when it came to Lethal Lockdown – TNA’s answer to WarGames – it didn’t really matter that the Phenomenal One was confined to a cage or that he had to share the spotlight with seven of his co-workers. 

He’d taken bumps off the side of the steel, had delivered a big splash off a support beam and through a table on top of it and, most spectacularly of all, had even jumped through the hole in the top of it.

In 2009’s iteration of the event, Styles literally ran and jumped through a gap not much bigger than himself to take out the trio of Kurt Angle, Booker T and Scott Steiner, kissing the edge of it on the way down.

However, the Main Event Mafia men did such a poor job of breaking AJ’s fall that he basically took the brunt of it on his knees while they clumsily fell over.

9. Tommy Dreamer's nightmare at Hardcore Justice

When TNA got in on the act and ran their own ECW tribute show – without actually calling it ECW or using ‘Extreme’ in any way, lest WWE’s lawyer Jerry McDevitt send a small army of attorneys to Dixie Carter’s house – there was every expectation that things would get a little nutty. 

Not every match at Hardcore Justice was a gorefest, but eternal enemies Tommy Dreamer and Raven were determined to bring a slice of blood-soaked Philadelphia violence to Orlando. 

With Mick Foley serving as special guest referee, Dreamer and Raven sought to emulate Foley’s notorious 1999 Royal Rumble I Quit match with The Rock in the worst possible way. 

Handcuffing the Innovator of Violence’s hands behind his back, Raven swung a chair at his rival’s head. Thankfully it was just the once and not the 14 The Great One gave to Mrs Foley’s Baby Boy over a decade before, but this was ill-advised, to say the least. 

8. Kurt Angle's moonsault at Lockdown 2010

Kurt Angle has often said that, though most fans will always remember him based on his WWE career, he actually had some of his greatest matches and moments while under TNA’s employ. 

It’s true that the Olympic gold medallist gave his all for the promotion and never put in a performance that felt like he was phoning it in. 

Angle was all too happy to push the envelope inside (and outside) of the squared circle if it helped his matches, too, and it wasn’t an unfamiliar sight to see him perform diving flips off the stage and other high-risk stunts.

One of his riskiest was actually a repeat of something he had tried in WWE nine years prior. 

At the culmination of his outstanding cage match with Ken Anderson at Lockdown 2010, Kurt laid his opponent out with a top-rope German suplex before positioning him near the corner and beginning the big climb. 

Crossing his heart before jumping even higher in the air, the Wrestling Machine came crashing down with one of the damnedest moonsaults you’re likely to see anywhere. 

7. AJ Styles' flip at Final Resolution 2005

The undisputed MVP of golden era TNA was AJ Styles. Present from the very first show, the inaugural X-Division Champion routinely put his physical wellbeing at stake in order to create memorable matches and moments. 

Some of the most memorable bouts from early day TNA were of the inventive Ultimate X variety, with multiple stars aiming to retrieve the prize from the middle of the crisscrossed cables suspended above the ring.

One of the very best of the bunch was the X-Division Title affair between Styles, Chris Sabin and reigning champion Petey Williams at Final Resolution 2005.

In a match full of breathtaking moves, spots and sequences, one stood out above the rest. 

As the Phenomenal One was shimmying his way across to grab the belt, Sabin surprised him with a springboard missile dropkick to the midsection. 

Now, there are numerous ways to sell such a move like landing on your back or landing on your front, but AJ opted for the spectacular and turned himself inside-out with an incredibly risky inward flip. 

A one-time deal that hasn’t been replicated since, there was such a fine margin for error, but he pulled it off with style. 

6. Jeff Hardy's swanton at Bound For Glory 2005

If there’s a platform, ledge, ladder or, well, anything within climbing distance, Jeff Hardy will find a way to do a Swanton Bomb off it. We saw him do it countless times in WWE and he brought the act with him when he joined TNA. 

In 2005 alone, the Charismatic Enigma performed the feat off the top of a cage through a table, off the IMPACT set and off some beams backstage, but he saved his best and most insane leap for TNA’s biggest show of the year. 

Competing with Sabu, Abyss and Rhino in a Monster’s Ball match at Bound for Glory, Hardy pulled out all the stops in his bed to steal the show. 

Placing Abyss on a table on the concrete floor of the IMPACT Zone, Jeff went to the very top of the set and flew a solid 15ft, clearing the ramp and the Monster’s manager Father James Mitchell, crashing with an almighty thud. 

5. Christopher Daniels at Bound For Glory 2009

And once again we go to the potential death trap that is Ultimate X.

When you think about what this match actually entails – climbing huge steel support columns to criss-crossing ropes that you will then have to pull yourself across, inevitably either falling or (more likely) being knocked off them from a considerable height – it’s a minor miracle that there haven’t been more injuries associated with the gimmick. 

That’s not to say there haven’t been some close calls. X-Division mainstay Christopher Daniels came close to having his career ended when he and the lamentably named Suicide (portrayed here by Frankie Kazarian) took a terrifying plunge from the middle of the X at Bound for Glory 2009. 

According to Daniels, the idea was he would hit a Flatliner while they were both up there, but his legs got tangled up and the two of them ended up hurtling awkwardly towards the ring. 

The Fallen Angel came frighteningly close to spiking right on top of his head, something that would have no doubt put an end to his wrestling days.

When he got backstage, Daniels was confronted by an angry Samoa Joe who warned him never to do anything like that again.

4. Abyss goes through a flaming table at Bound For Glory IV

Along with AJ Styles, another TNA mainstay who did everything he could to help the company was Abyss. 

The Monster was more than willing to suffer for the cause and made his eagerness to take a pounding one of his calling cards. 

Whether it was tables, chairs, tacks or barbed wire, the big man was in his comfort zone working with plunder. Fire, on the other hand, is a bit of a different beast altogether. 

Teaming with Matt Morgan to challenge Beer Money for the Tag Team Titles in a Monster’s Ball Match also featuring Team 3D and LAX at 2008’s Bound for Glory, Abyss found out first-hand just how unpredictable fire could be when Brother Ray and Brother D-Von gave him a chokeslam off the stage through a flaming table. 

Team 3D had done similar spots in the past, but this time the bump itself didn’t quite extinguish the flames. On the contrary, Abyss’s boiler suit was momentarily set ablaze and it took a couple of tries with a nearby extinguisher to finally put the flames out. 

3. Frankie Kazarian's ultimate cutter at Victory Road 2007

If AJ’s inward flip in Ultimate X had a very fine margin of error, the margins on this one were even worse. 

Kicking off 2007’s Victory Road pay-per-view was an Ultimate X gauntlet match featuring Christopher Daniels, Homicide, Senshi, Jay Lethal, Frankie Kazarian, Petey Williams, Puma, Sonjay Dutt, Elix Skipper and Shark Boy. 

The rules of the match saw wrestlers enter the fray at timed intervals, with eliminations occurring when someone was thrown over the top rope to the floor. 

The competitors left after the entire field had entered were then eligible to climb up for the giant X.

With a shot at the X-Division Title on the line, the 10 men reached deep into their bag of tricks and the insanity peaked about five minutes from the finish with the sickest cutter you are liable to ever see. 

Daniels was hanging upside down from the truss when Kaz jumped forward off the top rope and caught The Fallen Angel perfectly with the move.

2. Samoa Joe's flying stairs kick at Bound For Glory 2008

If Samoa Joe decided to never leave his feet, nobody could bat an eyelid.

Joe could have been the type of wrestler who rarely gets knocked down, but the surprisingly agile superheavyweight was a big-bumping big man and had no qualms getting picked up and thrown around.

He was also game for flying down a flight of stairs and landing on jagged concrete, if it meant connecting with a kick. 

Defending his TNA World Title against Sting in the main event of Bound for Glory 2008, the Samoan Submission Machine had to ‘call an audible’ when the two were fighting in the crowd at the Sears Centre in Illinois. 

What was supposed to be a relatively simple flying forearm was modified into this ludicrous two-footer because Sting had moved further down the stairs than he was supposed to be. 

The bump looked like it could have been a career-ender and rumours persisted for years that Joe was forced to modify his style after it, but he has since dispelled that as a mere myth. 

1. Elix Skipper's cage walk at Turning Point 2004

Placed above the title matches and Macho Man Randy Savage’s final match ever at Turning Point 2004 was the Six Sides of Steel grudge match between America’s Most Wanted and Triple X.  

And with good reason, because not only was it a genuinely great match and a worthy sequel to the one they’d had on an Asylum Era weekly pay-per-view 18 months earlier, but it featured one of the most astonishing spots in wrestling history. 

With Christopher Daniels holding Chris Harris in place, Elix Skipper stood on top of the perilously thin steel panel and proceeded to walk the length of it before hitting The Wildcat with a picture-perfect hurricanrana to the mat below.

Primetime had done his tightrope act on the actual ropes before, but never in these circumstances. He’d actually wanted to try it in their previous cage match, but was put off due to the heat in the building causing extra perspiration and sensibly predicting that one errant slip could well be the end of him. 

On this night, however, it was perfect and will rightfully live on the highlight reel for eternity.