With Slammiversary behind us eyes now turn to Emergence, which like most TNA Plus Specials tend to be hastily booked and yet somehow gives us some of the best wrestling we’ve ever seen,

While shows like Under Siege tend to have a stellar record when it comes to producing some quality matches on a yearly basis, Emergence is no stranger to that either as these ten entries will attest…These are the 10 Best Emergence Matches in TNA Wrestling.

#10. Trinity vs. Deonna Purrazzo (Emergence 2023)

Trinity’s run in TNA from April of 2023 until Janaury of 2024 saw the former WWE Women’s Champion go on a undefeated streak and share the ring with some of the best women’s wrestlers outside of the WWE like KiLynn King, Gisele Shaw, Mickie James and Jordynne Grace.

Another achievement Trinity aka Naomi had during this time period was that she got to wrestle in the semi-main event against Deonna Purrazzo for the Knockouts World Championship and the best way to describe this match is….It was fine.

No disrespect to either lady but when you consider how much the company hyped up this first ever meeting you were probably expecting a classic, instead we got a run of the mill match that wouldn’t have looked place outside of WWE Superstars or whatever C-list wrestling show the WWE is currently airing.

Naturally ‘The Virtusoa’ invoked her rematch with the two facing off in the main event of that year’s Emergence event and it this was a far cry from their first encounter…Purrazzo’s submission style paired well with Trinity’s high flying offense this time around with action even heading to the outside with Deonna nailing Trinity with a piledriver which was perhaps the “biggest” holy shit moment of the entire bout.

A rematch that more than makes up for the lackluster first outing and a good way close out the show.

#9. Bully Ray, Brian Myers, Lio Rush and Moose vs. Josh Alexander and Time Machine (Emergence 2023)

Before Trinity and Deonna’s rematch took place in the main event, the fans inside the Rebel Complex in Toronto Canada got to see an eight man tag team bout as the semi-main event.

The team of Bully Ray, Moose, Brian Myers and then X Division Champion, Lio Rush took on the team of Chris Sabin, Alex Shelley, Kushida and Josh Alexander who was having his first match on a major show since his shocking return from injury at Slammiversary.

A lot of storylines feuds all collided into one for this bout and when you factor in the names involved it probably shouldn’t surprise you to find out that this match was awesome; Moose and Bully Ray were the big men on the heels side and thus used their strength to try put away their more high flying opponents, Josh Alexander meanwhile used his techinical wrestling and power moves to counter act most the heel teams antics before allowing his partners to come in to deliver some offense

This match would’ve been higher but the run in from PCO, a shock return from Steve Maclin and some miscommunication between Josh Alexander and Alex Shelley almost took you out of the whole thing…overbooked madness aside, it was a more than worthy multi-man tag match and definitely earns a spot on this list.

#8. Ace Austin vs. Chris Sabin vs. Sami Callihan vs. Moose (Emergence 2021)

A few years before they faced off in an eight man tag team match, Moose and Chris Sabin faced each other as well as Sami Callihan and Ace Austin in a number one contender’s match to fight a returning Christian Cage for the IMPACT World Championship.

All four men took turns beating each other up with moments of double and triple teaming happening throughout.

What makes this match tuly enjoyable is the roles every wrestler plays in the match: Moose is the near unstoppable monster, Sabin and Austin are the lighting fast high flyers, Sami is the wildy oppertunist and Madman Fulton provides assistance and distraction when need be.

Thanks to a steel chair to the head by Callihan on the outside, Ace Austin to pin Moose to become the new number contender with that world title match taking place at the next IMPACT Plus Special, Victory Road.

#7. Sami Callihan vs. Steve Maclin (Emergence 2022)

One year after losing the four way number one contender’s match, ‘The Draw’ Sami Callihan would be in another high profiled match at Emergence this time against the company’s rising upstart, Steve Maclin.

After costing him his Slammiversary rematch with Moose at Against All Odds, Sami was looking for revenge thus a match was made for Emergence. The bad blood was seen through the night as both men brawled both in and outside of the ring leading to their singles bout becoming a No Disqualification match later in the night and as you can imagine it was a bloody, violent wreck of a match.

Yes, also a year before he infamously was coated in his own blood in the main event of Under Siege 2023, Steve Maclin was get busted open during this match and saw an unrelenting amount of pain inflicted by both Maclin and Callihan using everything from chairs, zip ties, the ring post and more.

Callihan would get his revenge after a zip tied Maclin got droppeb with the Cactus Piledrivier for the three count; An standout match in both men’s careers.

#6. The Motor City Machine Guns vs. The North (Emergence 2020 Night One)

Emergence 2020 was the first and only time an IMPACT Plus Special became a two week event and night one didn’t have much on the card that stood out except for the main event.

After defeating the franken-team of Sami Callihan and Ken Shamrock to retain their IMPACT World Tag Team Titles at Slammiversary, Ethan Page and Josh Alexander aka The North were interrupted by The Motor City Machine Guns who had made their return to the company earlier in the night; Sabin and Shelley issued a challenge to the North for the tag titles and by Emergence the match got underway.

Much like their iconic bouts with Generation Me, Team 3D and Beer Money, this tag title match was another example of why the Motor City Machine Guns are one of the best tag teams of all time as the high flying duo become perfect foils to the North’s no nonsense style of wrestling.

Great tag team psychology is the theme throughout with a whole bunch of near falls as well, however it’s the seasoned veterans in Sabin and Shelley who come out on top and as the new World Tag Team Champions.

#5. Honor No More vs. The Bullet Club (Emergence 2022)

Honor No More, consisting of Mike Bennett, Matt Taven, Maria Kanellis, Vincent, PCO, and later members Eddie Edwards and Kenny King terrorized the IMPACT locker room for the majority of 2022, but there was also another group that the ROH alumnis ran afoul of and that would be the Bullet Club.

This led to series of multi man tag team matches including this one from Emergence 2022 where Honor No More took on The Good Brothers, Hikuleo, Chris Bey and Ace Austin with added stipulation being if HNM wins then they got a shot a the world tag team titles but if they lose then group mus disband.

Chaos ensues as bodies are flying in and out of the ring, Ace Austin hits a mega version of his finisher ‘The Fold’, then the weapons get involved which further adds a level of destruction as everyone get hits with something that’s not nailed down.

By the end, Honor No More defeat the Bullet Club to not only keep their jobs in the company but also score a tag title oppertunity which eventually say Bennett and Taven walk out as the new champions.

#4. The Rascalz vs. Subculture (Emergence 2023)

2023 saw a renaissance within the tag team division and part of that can be credited to both The Rascalz and Subculture; The team of Trey Miguel and a returning Zachary Wentz put the tag division on notice whilst Flash Morgan Webster and Dani Luna were making their debuts alongside a returning Mark Andrews with Webster and Andrews quickly becoming the new World Tag Team Champions at that year’s Slammiversary PPV.

Soon a tournament was made to crown new number one contender’s for the belts which the Racalz won and set the stage for this title bout with this match seeing everything from chain wrestling to high flying theatrics and some double teaming with both teams looking evenly matched throughout, even Dani Luna gets a moment to shine towards the end.

While Subculture put on the match of the night with The Rascalz, sadly for the boys from Wales it was Trey Miguel and Zachary Wentz who walked out as the new IMPACT World Tag Team champions.

#3. Jordynne Grace vs. Deonna Purrazzo: Iron Man Match (Emergence 2020 Night Two)

While her run in the WWE was underwelming and the jury is still out on what her time in AEW will be like, it’s unlikely you will hear anyone say that Deonna Purrazzo’s return to IMPACT from 2020-23 was nothing short of excellent which may have something to do with the opponents she faced at the time, most notably Jordynne Grace.

Almost a month after defeating Grace to become the new Knockouts World Champion at Slammiversary, both ‘The Virtusoa’ and ‘Thick Mama Pump’ got another chance to put on a classic when they competed in the first ever 30 minute Iron man match in the main event of Emergence Night Two.

As to be expected, the chemistry between these two was stellar but unlike their bout at Slammiversary, Deonna would dominate most of the match due her targeting the left arm and hand of Jordynne Grace for the majority of the match.

It’s not until we’ve passed 26 minutes when we finally get some points on the board with Grace making Purrazzo passing out to a rear naked choke; Deonna would should retaliate by hitting Grace with the belt to score her first point in the match before making Jordynne submit to her fujiwara armbar with mere seconds left on the clock to remain the champion.

Another solid bout in one of the greatest rivarlies in both TNA Wrestling and women’s wrestling as a whole.

#2. Josh Alexander vs. Jake Something (Emergence 2021)

Josh Alexander’s rise in TNA has been nothing short but tremendous after some fans believed he would be relegated as the other guy in his tag team with Ethan Page; While ‘All Ego’s’ post TNA run hasn’t exactly been great (At least until he joined NXT) Alexander ended up becoming the biggest star in pro wrestling outside of WWE and AEW.

Alexander’s push to the top first saw ‘The Walking Weapon‘ getting involved in the X Division where he would win the championship at Rebellion 2021 and go on to have one of the greatest single title reigns in the belts history since Rohit Raju or Mustafa Ali as he defended against Ace Austin, El Phantasmo, TJP and Black Taurus among others before stepping in the ring with Jake Something at that year’s Emergence event.

On paper this match might seem like a standard hoss fight but both Josh Alexander and Jake Something are almost mirror images of each other in terms of strength, resilience and a willingness to not give up.

The fans are almost split on who to cheer for in this match as Something’s brute force takes on Alexander’s calculated intensity with each man finding a way to counter each others moves as the contest could go either way.

Ultimately, Alexander is able to put Something away to keep the X Division Title in what might be one of the best IMPACT/TNA matches in 2021.

#1. Josh Alexander vs. Alex Shelley (Emergence 2022)

Both gold and sliver medals go to ‘The Walking Weapon’ on this list as he managed to have the best match on the Emergence card two years in a row with his second outing seeing him defend another title (this time the IMPACT World Championship) against Alex Shelley in the main event of Emergence 2022.

After beating his friend and tag partner, Chris Sabin in a number one contender’s match and following an intense contract signing between Shelley and Alexander on the go home episode of IMPACT!, fans bared witness to half an hour of some incredible in-ring action.

Phrases like ‘battle of attrition’ could accurately be used to describe this match as both men by the 20-25 minute mark as just exerting every ounce of strenght they can muster with repeated uses of signature and finishing moves toward the ends.

By all rights Shelley’s performance in this bout might just be one of the best in his career, however it was not his night with Josh Alexander retaining the gold in an amazing first time ever match.

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