Who Did They Beat For Their First World Title?

During the early years of Impact Wrestling, the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) had an agreement with the company to allow the usage of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship as Impact's primary world title. In 2007, Impact debuted a new world belt, the TNA World Championship (now known as Impact Wrestling World Championship, of course).

It may not have a legacy like the NWA Championship, but since its inception, many of the biggest names in Impact have won the title including AJ Styles and Kurt Angle. This list will remind fans who these 10 wrestling icons defeated to gain their first Impact Wrestling World Championship.

10 Sting Defeated Kurt Angle

Sting was one of the few Impact wrestlers who didn't compete in WWE before arriving to the company. He joined in 2003 and stayed until 2014. He held the Impact World Championship four different times.

He earned his first Impact World Championship at Bound For Glory 2007 defeating Kurt Angle. It was also the first win Sting ever scored over Angle, but the title reign that followed was short-lived. Angle won the belt back two days later on an episode of Impact!

9 Rob Van Dam Defeated AJ Styles

By the time Rob Van Dam arrived in Impact in 2010 he was already a massive wrestling star. There were high expectations for Van Dam and many "dream matches" fans were excited to finally see. One of the dream pairings was Van Dam against AJ Styles.

The two ended up battling for the Impact World Championship on an episode of TNA Impact. RVD won, but the title ended up being vacated after Van Dam suffered a storyline injury. It ended up being Van Dam's only run with the title.

8 Kenny Omega Defeated Rich Swann

Kenny Omega achieved a massive feat in 2021. At one point, he held the AEW Championship, the Impact World Championship, and the AAA Mega Championship simultaneously. It's a feat that will rarely be replicated and helped Omega become PWI's "Wrestler of the Year."

At Wrestling Rebellion 2021, Omega defeated Rich Swann in a match for both the AEW and Impact World titles. He defended the title twice before losing it to Christian Cage on the first episode of Rampage.

7 Jeff Hardy Defeated Kurt Angle And Mr. Anderson

Jeff Hardy was one of the biggest names on the Impact roster in 2010. At Bound for Glory, Hardy, Kurt Angle, and Mr. Anderson competed in a Three-Way Dance for the vacant Impact World Heavyweight Championship.

The match was full of drama featuring an appearance from Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan. Hardy took one of Hogan's crutches and used it to help him secure a victory in the match. He would go on to hold the title two more times during his Impact career.

6 Kurt Angle Defeated Sting And Christian Cage

Angle vs Sting vs Christian Sacrifice 2007

Kurt Angle helped give Impact Wrestling a huge jolt of stardom when he arrived at the company in 2006. He was instantly one of the most important wrestlers on the roster and at one point held every single title at the company simultaneously.

It seemed only natural that Angle would also become the inaugural Impact World Heavyweight Champion in 2007. At Sacrifice, Angle defeated Sting and Christian Cage in a three-way match to become the new champion after NWA's Executive Director, Robert Trobich, stripped Christian of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and ended NWA's business relationship with Impact Wrestling the same day. He would go on to hold the title seven different times.

5 Drew Galloway Defeated Matt Hardy

After he had a below-average run in the WWE as Drew McIntyre, Drew Galloway arrived in Impact and became a force. He was only with the company for a little over a year before he entered the main event title scene at Impact.

Galloway cashed in his Feast or Fired briefcase on Matt Hardy and won the title from him on an episode of Impact. He held the title for three months before Lashley defeated Galloway at Slammiversary XIV. It was his first and only run with the Impact title.

4 Mick Foley Defeated Sting

Mick Foley was no stranger to being an "unlikely world champion" when he won the Impact World Championship in 2009. He and Sting competed in a Six Sides of Steel Cage match for the Impact World Heavyweight Championship.

Their match at Lockdown 2009 was the best match of the night and led to a two-month championship reign that ended up being the last world title run of Mick Foley's career.

3 Mr. Anderson Defeated Jeff Hardy

Mr. Anderson (aka Mr. Kennedy) will always be remembered as one of the biggest "what if superstars" in WWE history. He arrived in Impact in 2010 and was instantly a huge name there. He won his first Impact World Heavyweight Championship at Genesis 2011 in a match against Jeff Hardy.

The bout between the two former WWE stars was easily one of the best of Anderson's Impact run. Anderson defeated Hardy and held up Hardy's polarizing version of the Impact title after his win. He would have two title reigns before the end of 2011.

2 Samoa Joe Defeated Kurt Angle

Although he had an up-and-down career in WWE, Samoa Joe was a huge star in TNA. Many fans still wonder how big he could have been if his 19-month undefeated streak at the company wasn't handled so poorly at the end.

Still, Samoa Joe did hold the Impact World Heavyweight Championship for 180 days after he defeated Kurt Angle. Being able to defeat Angle in 2008 was a huge deal and Joe accomplished it in a steel cage match at Lockdown 2008.

1 AJ Styles Defeated Hernandez, Kurt Angle, Matt Morgan, and Sting

Although he's a global wrestling star and former WWE Champion now, AJ Styles launched his career at Impact. He is arguably the biggest star Impact is directly responsible for and is also one of the longest reigning Impact World Heavyweight Champions of all time.

Styles was the fifth person to earn the title after Angle, Sting, Samoa Joe, and Mick Foley. He held the NWA title three times in the company and held the Impact World Heavyweight Championship twice. At No Surrender 2009, AJ competed in a Five Way Match and earned his first Impact Championship.