| No. | Champion | Championship change | Reign statistics | Notes | Ref. |
| Date | Event | Location | Reign | Days |
| | Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) |
| 1 | Kurt Angle | May 13, 2007 | Sacrifice | Orlando, FL | 1 | 1 | Angle defeated former NWA Champion Christian Cage and Sting in a three-way match. NWA had stripped Cage of the title earlier that day. After the matchup Kurt Angle was given the rights of being crowned the title of being the inaugural TNA World Heavyweight Champion due to NWA’s agreement with TNA ending that exact day later that night. | |
| — | Vacated | May 14, 2007 | Impact! | Orlando, FL | — | — | Angle was stripped of the championship 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 | Nashville, TN | 2 | 119 | This was a King of the Mountain match also involving A.J. Styles, Chris Harris, Christian Cage and Samoa Joe. After the event, Angle's reign and the vacancy were no longer recognized and thus is viewed to be the start of the title's history. TNA counted Angle's previous reign to his credit without detailing why, giving loose recognition towards that reign. | |
| 3 | Sting | October 14, 2007 | Bound for Glory | Duluth, GA | 1 | 2 | | |
| 4 | Kurt Angle | October 16, 2007 | Impact! | Orlando, FL | 3 | 180 | This episode aired on tape delay on October 25, 2007. | |
| 5 | Samoa Joe | April 13, 2008 | Lockdown | Lowell, MA | 1 | 182 | This was a six sides of steel cage title vs. career match. | |
| 6 | Sting | October 12, 2008 | Bound for Glory IV | Hoffman Estates, IL | 2 | 189 | This was a no countout match. | |
| 7 | Mick Foley | April 19, 2009 | Lockdown | Philadelphia, PA | 1 | 63 | This was a six sides of steel cage match. | |
| 8 | Kurt Angle | June 21, 2009 | Slammiversary | Auburn Hills, MI | 4 | 91 | This was a King of the Mountain match also involving A.J. Styles, Jeff Jarrett and Samoa Joe. | |
| 9 | Styles | September 20, 2009 | No Surrender | Orlando, FL | 1 | 211 | This was a five-way match also involving Hernandez, Matt Morgan and Sting. | |
| 10 | Rob Van Dam | April 19, 2010 | Impact! | Orlando, FL | 1 | 113 | | |
| — | Vacated | August 10, 2010 | Impact! | Orlando, FL | — | — | The championship was vacated due to Rob Van Dam suffering a storyline injury.This episode aired on tape delay on August 19, 2010. | |
| 11 | Jeff Hardy | October 10, 2010 | Bound for Glory | Daytona Beach, FL | 1 | 91 | Hardy defeated Kurt Angle and Mr. Anderson in a three-way tournament final to win the vacant title. Per the pre-match stipulation, Angle (in storyline) was forced to retire. | |
| 12 | Mr. Anderson | January 9, 2011 | Genesis | Orlando, FL | 1 | 35 | | |
| 13 | Jeff Hardy | February 13, 2011 | Against All Odds | Orlando, FL | 2 | 11 | This was a ladder match. | |
| 14 | Sting | February 24, 2011 | Impact! | Fayetteville, NC | 3 | 108 | This episode aired on tape delay on March 3, 2011. On the May 3, 2011 tapings of TNA Impact it was announced that TNA will be re-branded as Impact Wrestling. A day prior TNA purchased the website impactwrestling.com (The episode aired on May 12, 2011 on a tape delay.) | |
| | Impact Wrestling |
| 15 | Mr. Anderson | June 12, 2011 | Slammiversary IX | Orlando, FL | 2 | 29 | | |
| 16 | Sting | July 11, 2011 | Impact! | Orlando, FL | 4 | 27 | This episode aired on tape delay on July 14, 2011. | |
| 17 | Kurt Angle | August 7, 2011 | Hardcore Justice | Orlando, FL | 5 | 72 | | |
| 18 | James Storm | October 18, 2011 | Impact! | Orlando, FL | 1 | 8 | This episode aired on tape delay on October 20, 2011. | |
| 19 | Bobby Roode | October 26, 2011 | Impact! | Macon, GA | 1 | 256 | This episode aired on tape delay on November 3, 2011. | |
| 20 | Austin Aries | July 8, 2012 | Destination X | Orlando, FL | 1 | 98 | Aries voluntarily vacated the X Division Championship in exchange for a TNA World Heavyweight Championship match at the event. | |
| 21 | Jeff Hardy | October 14, 2012 | Bound for Glory | Phoenix, AZ | 3 | 147 | | |
| 22 | Bully Ray | March 10, 2013 | Lockdown | San Antonio, TX | 1 | 130 | This was a steel cage match. | |
| 23 | Chris Sabin | July 18, 2013 | Impact: Destination X | Louisville, KY | 1 | 28 | Sabin voluntarily vacated the X Division Championship in exchange for a TNA World Heavyweight Championship match at the event. | |
| 24 | Bully Ray | August 15, 2013 | Impact: Hardcore Justice | Norfolk, VA | 2 | 66 | This was a steel cage match. | |
| 25 | Styles | October 20, 2013 | Bound for Glory | San Diego, CA | 2 | 9 | This was a no disqualification match. | |
| — | Vacated | October 29, 2013 | — | — | — | — | TNA President Dixie Carter announced via Twitter that A.J. Styles had been stripped of the championship due to a contract dispute. Styles continued to carry around the championship belt proclaiming himself champion in the storyline. | |
| 26 | Magnus | December 3, 2013 | Impact: Final Resolution | Orlando, FL | 1 | 128 | Defeated Jeff Hardy in a tournament final to win the vacant title. This was a Dixieland match which aired on tape delay on December 19, 2013.On the January 9, 2014 episode of Impact Wrestling (taped December 6, 2013), A.J. Styles returned claiming to be the legitimate TNA World Heavyweight Champion as he was never defeated for the championship (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! | Orlando, FL | 1 | 70 | If Magnus had been counted out or disqualified, he would have lost the title.If anyone had interfered in the match, they would have been fired. | |
| 28 | Lashley | June 19, 2014 | Impact! | Bethlehem, PA | 1 | 91 | If anyone besides MVP or Kenny King had interfered, they would have been fired. | |
| 29 | Bobby Roode | September 18, 2014 | Impact! | Bethlehem, PA | 2 | 111 | This episode aired on tape delay on October 29, 2014. Kurt Angle was the special guest referee. | |
| 30 | Lashley | January 7, 2015 | Impact! | New York, NY | 2 | 24 | | |
| 31 | Kurt Angle | January 31, 2015 | Impact! | London, England | 6 | 145 | This episode aired on tape delay on March 20, 2015. | |
| 32 | Ethan Carter III | June 25, 2015 | Impact! | Orlando, FL | 1 | 101 | This episode aired on tape delay on July 1, 2015. | |
| 33 | Matt Hardy | October 4, 2015 | Bound for Glory | Concord, NC | 1 | 2 | This was a three-way match also involving Drew Galloway who Matt pinned. Jeff Hardy was the special guest referee. | |
| — | Vacated | October 6, 2015 | — | — | — | — | Vacated due to a legal injunction filed by Ethan Carter III as part of the storyline. | |
| 34 | Ethan Carter III | January 5, 2016 | Impact! | Bethlehem, PA | 2 | 3 | Carter III defeated Matt Hardy in the finals of the TNA World Title Series to win the vacant title. | |
| 35 | Matt Hardy | January 8, 2016 | Impact! | Bethlehem, PA | 2 | 67 | This was a last man standing match. Had Hardy not won, he would have left TNA. This episode aired on tape delay on January 19, 2016. | |
| 36 | Drew Galloway | March 15, 2016 | Impact! | Orlando, FL | 1 | 89 | Galloway invoked his Feast or Fired championship opportunity to challenge Matt Hardy for the championship and win the title. | |
| 37 | Lashley | June 12, 2016 | Slammiversary | Orlando, FL | 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 by defeating then-champion James 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! | Orlando, FL | 1 | 97 | This episode aired on tape delay on October 6, 2016. | |
| 39 | Lashley | January 8, 2017 | Impact: Genesis | Orlando, FL | 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 Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship following the renaming of the promotion. | |
| | Global Force Wrestling (GFW) |
| 40 | Alberto El Patrón | July 2, 2017 | Slammiversary XV | Orlando, FL | 1 | 43 | This was a unification match to unify the Impact Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship and the original GFW Global Championship. The championship was renamed to the Unified GFW World Heavyweight Championship. | |
| — | Vacated | August 14, 2017 | — | — | — | — | Vacated due to Alberto El Patrón's suspension. | |
