10 Worst TNA Matches

TNA stands for Total Nonstop Action but sometimes all you wanted was for the action to stop, because the promotion has produced some absolutely shocking matches since Jeff Jarrett and co. founded the company in 2002. 

We have already written about the 10 Best TNA Wrestling Moments but these are the 10 Worst TNA Matches Ever. 

10. Raven Vs. Larry Zbyszko - Victory Road 2006

A match between Raven and Larry Zbyszko could have been passable, if not entertaining, if only it had taken place about 10 years earlier. When the two legends met at TNA Victory Road in 2006, they were both long past their prime and even the Hair vs. Hair stipulation couldn’t raise the interest levels in this encounter. 

It wasn’t like TNA didn’t put effort into the feud, with a Zbyszko vs. Raven contest being built up for several months ever since the TNA Director of Authority officially recognised Jeff Jarrett defeating Raven for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Title at a Border City Wrestling show in September 2005 despite interference from America’s Most Wanted. 

Raven had already defeated Justin Credible and Kanyon on his quest to get his hands on Zbyszko, but he lost to Sean Waltman at Final Resolution 2006 which led to Raven being banished from TNA, only to return at Lockdown three months later.

Father Time was against both men at Victory Road, with a 42-year-old Raven looking and moving far older than he was, while Zbyszko was 54. The match only lasted four minutes and featured a referee bump from a spinning toehold of all moves. This allowed Zbyszko to cheat with a Lowblow and small package but Raven kicked out before connecting with his Evenflow DDT for the win. 

The post-match antics of Zbyszko trying to run away and then being brought back for the head shaving, lasted about as long as the match itself.

As an aside, TNA only booked the stipulation because Larry was scheduled for hair restoration surgery and needed to shave his head anyway.

9. AJ Styles Vs. Frank Trigg - No Surrender 2008

The Phenomenal One was TNA’s MVP for several years, putting on some of the company’s best matches in the X-Division, tag and world title scenes. His match against Frank Trigg was not one of his many stellar outings, however. 

Frank Trigg was a decent enough MMA fighter who had fought in promotions like UFC and Pride. He was brought into TNA in 2008 and aligned himself with Kurt Angle, who used his passing resemblance to Trigg for storyline purposes. 

Trigg’s bout with Styles was contested under ‘MMA Rules’, which meant there would be three five-minute rounds and the only way to win would be via submission. After several minutes of badly worked MMA, with tentative punches, kicks galore, and a slap on the bottom for some reason, the fans in Ontario turned on the match, loudly chanting ‘We want wrestling!’, ‘This is bullsh*t!’, and ‘Fire Russo!’

Fans trying to watch the match at home didn’t have a great experience either. The PPV feed for the match went down at one point, only to return with a pornographic film playing instead of No Surrender for a few seconds before the issue was fixed. Fans then had to unfortunately watch the rest of AJ Styles vs. Frank Trigg.

The bout finally came to an end after six minutes when AJ accidentally kneed his opponent in the groin, resulting in a ‘no contest’. 

8. Team 3D Vs. LAX - Lockdown 2007

AJ Styles vs. Frank Trigg was not the first time TNA fans had requested that Vince Russo receive his marching orders. The 6,000 who attended the Family Arena in Missouri for Lockdown 2007 were far from happy with the writer, who got blamed for everything dodgy by default.

The all-cage spectacular was a show that had a few good matches on it that were unfortunately offset by a bunch of nonsense, and it doesn’t get much more nonsensical than the Electric Cage Match for the NWA World Tag Team Titles between LAX and Team 3D. 

Under normal circumstances, a match between these two teams would have likely been pretty good, but they were completely hamstrung by not just the stipulation, but the presentation of the stipulation they had been handed. It was just so unbelievably hokey, with the wrestlers wearing rubber boots and gloves to avoid getting shocked by a cage that was clearly not electrified. 

Rather than have some pyro or sound effects to make it appear like it was, TNA opted to play with the arena light switch instead. 

The stipulation went over so poorly with the fans in attendance that D-Von, who was pouring with blood, being thrown into the cage and shaking himself around like a fish out of water only led to “Fire Russo!” chants. D-Von was then fine after being electrocuted as he and Bully Ray combined for a Doomsday Device for a near fall. 

For the finish, Hernandez took an age to put on rubber gloves before he climbed the cage, jumped off it, and went smashing through a pile of tables. A botched 3D off the cage to Homicide scored the win for the Dudleys but fans were past the point of caring. 

7. Hermie Sadler Vs. K-Krush - TNA Weekly PPV #4

The very early days of TNA were very dark ones indeed, especially when you consider fans were presented with the Johnsons and Cheex. You also had TNA doing whatever they could to expand their fanbase, which is why Jeff Jarrett brought in celebrity pals like country music star Toby Keith and NASCAR driver Hermie Sadler. 

Instead of just bringing them, though, TNA booked Hermie Sadler to actually wrestle and he squared off with K-Krush, AKA Ron Killings/R-Truth, on the fourth TNA weekly pay-per-view. While obviously not a full-time wrestler, Sadler looked so weak out there and it was ridiculous that he had anything resembling a competitive match with the future NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion.

The match lasted five minutes and K-Krush got the win due to his feet being on the ropes. Having cheated, though, the referee reversed the decision, handing the win to Sadler. 

Sadler remained a part of TNA following his win, teaming with BG James against Jeff Jarrett and Bruce (AKA Kwee Wee) in another awful in-ring contest that he, once again, won when he pinned Bruce. 

Sadler’s love of pro wrestling was evident, though, as he later started his own independent wrestling promotion in the UWF (not that one) with Earl and Dave Hebner. The company ran shows from 2006 until May of 2008.

Sadler then hosted a web show for TNA and was notably involved in the infamous All Wheels Wrestling pilot episode in 2011. He was also part of Jeff Jarrett’s Global Force Wrestling during its brief existence, sitting on the Board of Directors. 

6. Sting Vs. Jeff Hardy - Victory Road 2011

One of the most infamous matches in TNA history, no very worst TNA outings list would be complete without discussing the fiasco that was Sting vs. Jeff Hardy at Victory Road 2011.

Sting was set to defend his TNA World Heavyweight Title against Hardy in a No Disqualification match, but the Charismatic Enigma had gone AWOL earlier in the day and only showed up right before he was set to make his entrance. Jeff was clearly in no fit condition to wrestle after abusing drugs and alcohol in the hours before the match. 

With no one in authority around, however, Eric Bischoff called an audible and had Sting hit Hardy with a Scorpion Death Drop before Sting shoot pinned Hardy to end the match in 88 seconds. 

The fans in attendance, watching at home, and Sting himself were furious over what had just transpired. TNA apologised to the fans following the show and offered six months of free access to their on-demand service to anyone who purchased Victory Road. 

Jeff Hardy, meanwhile, was sent home and went to rehab for 120 days. The popular star continued to struggle with alcohol abuse for several years after the show, but he is thankfully sober today.

5. Christy Hemme Vs. Big Fat Oily Guy - Against All Odds 2007

Horrific misogyny led to this match at TNA Against All Odds 2007 as Christy Hemme - who had been standing up for women’s rights - went one-on-one with a man called ‘Big Fat Oily Guy’, a parody of WWE’s Big Dick Johnson. 

Hemme and her feminist ways somehow made her the heel as Kip James called her every sexist name under the sun. This prompted authority figure Jim Cornette to give Hemme the opportunity to defend women’s honour in a Tuxedo Match at the pay-per-view. 

Oily Guy - who was billed from Stamford, Connecticut - and Hemme faced off in a contest which consisted of horrendous-looking punches, clothes ripping, and Oily Guy countering a sunset flip by sitting on Hemme’s face.

As Don West pointed out, this was like watching bad adult videos. And then Christy ripped Oily Guy’s pants off, leaving him in just his little red thong to win the match.

Kip James then arrived post-match and yanked Christy’s top off to end a match and segment that was booed out of the building. 

4. Monty Brown Vs. Trytan - Destination X 2005

Fans were ‘treated’ to the spectacle of Trytan’s debut at Destination X 2005 and the moment has not lived long in the memory. Trytan was the new gimmick for Ryan Wilson, who had previously been a member of the Red Shirt Security team. 

Weeks of video packages led to his debut in early 2005 with a gimmick clearly inspired by The Terminator to the point that Trytan wore black leather, sunglasses, and used some of Arnold Schwarzenegger's mannerisms. Trytan’s finisher was even called the T-3.

His match with the ultra-charismatic Monty Brown was then set up for Destination X after Trytan began stalking Brown for some reason. 

It was, to put it mildly, a total and utter failure filled with botches and mistimed moves that killed the Trytan character stone-dead right out of the gate. For the finish, the lights in the IMPACT Zone went out as Monty Brown was about to hit his Pounce finisher. Then, when the lights returned, Brown pounced a random man in a black mask, who turned out to be Dennis ‘Mideon’ Knight, and then pinned the man who wasn’t Trytan for the win. 

Following this disaster, Trytan’s push was scrapped and he left TNA later that year when his deal expired. Ryan Wilson then joined WWE and spent time in OVW as Jacob Duncan, a woodsman with a mild case of psychosis, before he was released in 2007. 

3. Chris Harris Vs. James Storm - Lockdown 2007

For years, the America’s Most Wanted tag team of ‘Wildcat’ Chris Harris and ‘Cowboy’ James Storm were the standard-bearers for the division. When they broke up in 2007 and embarked upon a bitter blood feud, fans who had seen them light up the tag scene as teammates expected them to produce the same magic as opponents. 

That isn’t what happened, though, and they were most definitely hampered by the stipulation. After Storm blinded Harris in one eye, TNA booked the two men to have their first outing under ‘blindfold’ match rules inside a steel cage since it was Lockdown. 

What transpired was every blindfold match you’ve ever seen in your life, though, somehow, this one was even more dull as Storm and Harris did everything but make contact with one another during this pitiful pantomime. 

The match featured “We want wrestling”, “Boring”, “Fire Russo”, and “Goldberg” chants during the nine-minute contest. It even reached the point of watching the two men stumble around without making contact, during which their hoods kept falling off too, that fans shouted “Someone end this” and “End this now.” 

Eventually, Harris locked in a Sharpshooter on the referee, only to let go when he realised the person who he had a submission on was wearing pants. Storm, having removed his hood, then flipped off Harris and hit a Superkick before covering his tag team partner for the win. 

This match was so bad that it was awarded -2 stars by Dave Meltzer and voted by many as the worst of the year. 

2. Rebel Vs. Shelly Martinez - One Night Only: Knockouts Knockdown 2016

Sometimes a wrestler will have an off night, but there is also the rare occasion when a match is so bad it has fans questioning if a wrestler should be allowed to ever wrestle again. Rebel and Shelly Martinez had a night like that at TNA’s 2016 One Night Only: Knockouts Knockdown show. 

Everything that could go wrong seemed to and they looked incapable of executing the most rudimentary moves and sequences. Even an eye poke looked like something that someone on their first day of wrestling training would do. They also made a mess of an abdominal stretch and a flying headscissors. To make matters worse, Martinez sold Rebel’s moves by shouting “My Vag!” over and over again. 

For the finish, Shelly, who, it should be noted had dedicated this match to her late grandmother in a pre-match promo, whiffed on an attempted dive that left her hung up in the ropes upside down like a piñata. She was then pinned with one of the worst covers of all time. 

1. Sharmell Vs. Jenna Morasca - Victory Road 2009

The match so bad it was awarded -4 stars by Dave Meltzer and made Shelly vs. Rebel look like Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat at WrestleMania III. 

Sharmell, while a very good manager, was not a good wrestler, while Jenna Morasca was famous for stripping on the reality show Survivor which led to her doing a naked pictorial in Playboy. 

Morasca vs. Sharmell is so bad it is considered by many to be the worst match in the history of professional wrestling. An insult to everyone who ordered the show, Jenna vs. Sharmell defined ‘negative chemistry’ and ably demonstrated just what can happen when you put two non-wrestlers in the ring. 

We realise Morasca had never been in a ring before this, but after watching this disaster we're convinced she’d never seen a wrestling match or even knew what wrestling was. Jenna Morasca won after five minutes in a match with precisely zero so-bad-it's-good moments.