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Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
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Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) is an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Jeff Jarrett and his father Jerry Jarrett in May 2002. The current majority share owner is Panda Energy International.[1] The company, which trades as TNA Entertainment, LLC, operates out of Nashville, Tennessee, with an office in Orlando, Florida.
TNA showcases Lucha Libre style Cruiserweight action under the X Division, while also concentrating on the heavyweight division, featuring heavyweights such as Samoa Joe, Booker T, Scott Steiner and Kurt Angle, primarily under a sports entertainment style. Recently, several shoot-style matches have been featured.
Upon its formation, TNA was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance, with the company known as NWA Total Nonstop Action. TNA was granted exclusive rights to both the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and the NWA World Tag Team Championship. TNA withdrew from the NWA in 2004, but was permitted to continue to use the championships until the NWA abrogated the agreement in May 2007.[2]
TNA is the first American promotion to use a hexagonal wrestling ring exclusively as opposed to the more conventional four-sided ring. The organization also employed the unconventional rule that a championship can change hands as the result of a disqualification or countout. This rule has since been slowly phased out. For shows taking place in the TNA Impact! Zone, two separate entrance ramps are used for heels and faces.
History
Formation of the Company
The concept of TNA Wrestling started on a fishing trip between Bob Ryder, Jeff Jarrett, and Jerry Jarrett, where they were contemplating their futures in the business of wrestling. World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) was the only wrestling product on television (following WWE's March 2001 purchase of World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy that same year), which Ryder felt led many stations to believe that wrestling was bad for business. Ryder suggested a company that does not need television, but rather just goes straight to pay-per-view.
Jeff Jarrett was the only one of the three who took the discussion seriously (the other two thought of it as "just fishing talk"), and began formulating the business plan in his head 24/7. His first goal was to get former World Championship Wrestling people, such as Jeremy Borash, into the project. In the DVD The History of TNA: Year 1, Borash described the early company as "a skeleton crew, and there wasn't any specific job titles. It was 'Who's gonna cover this? Who's gonna cover this? Who's gonna cover this,' and we all just kind of slid into our roles."
Jeff Jarrett argues in The History of TNA: Year 1 that the hardest part of formulating the company was finding financial backing. In his own words, "You're asking people to invest... um... not small change... a substantial investment into an idea... into a theory, versus something that's tangible, that's up and running. That's how the normal course of business goes. This was a completely different sell."
Almost just as difficult was selling the weekly pay-per-view concept to the pay-per-view companies. In his own words, "That was something that In Demand, DirecTV had never even considered, a weekly pay-per-view wrestling series for ten dollars every Wednesday night! That in and of itself was a gigantic mountain to overcome, selling it to the pay-per-view companies."
The Jarretts found the help they needed, however, and the company had its first show on June 19, 2002. This night, however, they needed help in a different manner, because in a dark match just before they went on the air, a 450 lb. wrestler named Cheex hit the ropes with so much force that one of them broke. The estimated repair time was 30-60 minutes, which they did not have because they were about to go live in a few minutes, whether the ring was ready or not. Backstage, the producers shuffled the schedule so that some non-wrestling segments went first to give the ring crew some more time, but they did not have many of them. Fortunately, the ring crew came up with a creative way to fix the rope, and everyone went live hoping for the best.
Weekly pay-per-view shows
The original TNA business model was different from that employed by WWE in several key ways. By not touring like other major federations have done, TNA was able to keep costs down. Until the introduction of the syndicated show, TNA Xplosion, in late 2002, TNA's weekly show was provided over pay-per-view to act as their main source of revenue, in place of monthly pay-per-view events used by other promotions.[3] These shows started on June 19, 2002 and were held mostly at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds in Nashville to lower production costs.[4] Although the weekly TNA shows were priced at much less than the monthly WWE events, they achieved low buy ratescitation needed. After 27 months, TNA felt that they had a fanbase that would support three-hour pay-per-views and ceased their weekly shows on September 8, 2004.[5] TNA held its first three-hour monthly pay-per-view, Victory Road, on November 7, 2004.
TNA Impact!
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Main article: TNA Impact!
The Impact! Zone, where TNA currently holds most of its televised shows
TNA began airing TNA Impact! (official typeset "TNA iMPACT!") on June 4, 2004 on Fox Sports Net and it soon replaced the weekly pay-per-views as their primary broadcast while the monthly events became the main source of revenue.[6] The contract was not renewed one year later with the show getting consistent low ratings. This left TNA with no television deal other than the monthly pay-per-views, so on July 1, 2005, TNA turned to broadcasting iMPACT! from their official website, while seeking a new television outlet.[7][8] TNA would finally secure a deal with Spike TV and air its first episode on October 1, 2005.[9] Since the move, Impact! achieved considerably higher ratings and was moved twice, now having a primetime slot on Thursdays. IMPACT! expanded to a two-hour format on October 4, 2007.[10]
In the UK, Impact! is shown on Bravo on Saturday nights at 9 p.m.
Expansion
Apart from their weekly shows, TNA started running house shows on March 17, 2006[11] and in October, TNA started holding some of their monthly pay-per-views outside of their central filming location. TNA has also expanded into other areas with the development of a video game with Midway Games, titled TNA Impact!, released in 2008.[12] In April 2006, TNA announced a partnership with YouTube that would see TNA supply YouTube with exclusive video content in exchange for hosting, leading to the production of internet shows. In January 2007, TNA's mobile content deal with New Motion, Inc. led to the introduction of TNA Mobile and mobile fan voting.[13] TNA has also launched the TNA U program to help promote the brand and has started airing podcasts through YouTube which they call TNA U TV,[14] as well as the TNA Addicts Show, which consists of promotions for the upcoming Impact as well as Q&A sessions from the fans to the hosts.
In August 2007, live events coordinator Craig Jenkins stated that TNA intended to stage eight pay-per-views and 96 house shows outside Orlando, Florida in 2008.[15]
Celebrity involvement
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Since its inception, several celebrities have appeared with TNA in a variety of roles.
2002
2004
2005
2007
2008
Unique features
Ring shape and locations
Different from other United States professional wrestling promotions, TNA utilizes a hexagonal ring as opposed to the traditional square ring. Steel cage matches are also held in the ring, and referred to as Six Sides of Steel matches; in addition, the promotion holds a now annual pay-per-view called Lockdown which features every match on the card inside the cage. Also, although TNA runs some house shows and a few PPV events in arenas, TNA holds most of its events at a set location (Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida) as opposed to an arena, presenting more of a regional promotion atmosphere.
X Division
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The high-flying, high risk style of wrestling had been one of the features of WCW and ECW. Rather than emphasizing the fact that most wrestlers who perform this style are under 220 lb (100 kg) by calling it a cruiserweight division, TNA decided to emphasize the high risk nature of the moves that these wrestlers perform. There is no upper weight limit on the X Division or its title, though in practice, most of the wrestlers in this division have been cruiserweights, with Sonny Siaki, Samoa Joe, and Kurt Angle, being notable exceptions. To further emphasize this point, the slogan "It's not about weight limits, it's about no limits" is used to describe the division. Although it was de-emphasized throughout 2004, the X Division is generally regarded as one of the key attractions of TNA and was replicated in several independent promotions.
Shoot style matches
Capitalizing on the popularity of mixed martial arts, TNA has begun to incorporate shoot style matches into their product. The main event of the Lockdown 2008 event, a match between Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe, was held in a six-sided-steel cage under a technical, shoot wrestling style. AJ Styles vs Scott Steiner met in a shoot-style Collegiate Wrestling match on iMPACT!. Another shoot style match was Kurt Angle vs Tomko (who was cut on the eye during the match) in a shoot sparring match on iMPACT!; whether this match was legitimately a shoot or simply shoot-style is unclear.
Championships
TNA originally recognized the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) World Heavyweight and World Tag Team Championships, in addition to the X Division Championship, the only championship created and owned exclusively by TNA. Traditionally, NWA World Champions regularly defended their titles against local contenders in the various NWA territories. This was rarely the case when TNA used the titles, with TNA leasing the titles from the NWA in order to free the champion from these obligations. Wrestlers who win all three titles are said to have won the TNA Triple Crown.
On May 13, 2007, the NWA withdrew recognition of TNA's champions, leaving the two NWA titles vacant.[2] New titles, the TNA World Heavyweight Championship and the TNA World Tag Team Championship, were created and unveiled later in that week. Wrestlers who held the NWA World Heavyweight and World Tag Team championships are credited with being former TNA champions; for example, Ron Killings is billed as a two-time TNA World Champion, yet his two reigns were of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Along with this, TNA redesigned the X Division title belt. The TNA Women's World Championship was created on October 14, 2007. Gail Kim won a 10-woman gauntlet match to become the first Women's Champion in TNA. She is also the first to hold both the TNA Women's World Championship and the WWE Women's Championship.
Current Champions
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Creative team
The creative team is headed by Jeff Jarrett and consists of Dutch Mantel and Vince Russo.[28] Prior to this, booking power was typically vested in the hands of a small number of people. Jeff and Jerry Jarrett were initially responsible for booking, followed by Dusty Rhodes, while Russo focused more on writing. At times, the position of booker has been coterminous with the on-screen position of Director of Authority.
Authority figures
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When TNA first launched, the on-air authority figure was billed as a representative appointed by the National Wrestling Alliance. However, this was done for storyline purposes only and the actual "representatives" already worked in some capacity for TNA.
From February 19, 2003, TNA had no active authority figure until July 23, 2003 when Erik Watts made his return to TNA as the Director of Authority.[29] Watts started feuding with Don Callis, who was billed as TNA Management Consultant, ending with Watts forced to quit. On February 18, 2004, TNA named Vince Russo the new Directory of Authority, a position he would hold until November 7, 2004 when he was defeated and replaced by Dusty Rhodes.
The NWA Championship Committee, established in 2004, was a group of wrestling veterans who acted as arbitrators, determining a winner in the event of a time-limit draw. The committee consisted of Harley Race, Larry Zbyszko and Terry Funk, with Funk later being replaced by Roddy Piper without ever having appeared on TNA television. After Race and Piper left TNA, the Committee essentially ceased to exist as a physical on-screen body, although Zbyszko continued to be referred to as a member of the committee while simultaneously acting as on-screen authority figure, booking matches and giving title shots.
In October 2005, Larry Zbyszko began to repeatedly reference an ambiguous authority within TNA known only as "TNA Management". "TNA Management" has, in the past, been represented by "special referee" Earl Hebner, "consultant" Dave Hebner and "messenger" Christy Hemme. The current face of "TNA Management" was revealed at Slammiversary 2006 to be Jim Cornette, who has been called the "Management Director" in press releases following that pay-per-view.
References
- ^ Keller, Wade (2005-05-23). "TNA News: New group makes offer to buy controlling interest in TNA from Panda Energy". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved on 2007-01-01.
- ^ a b "NWA/Trobich strips TNA/Cage/Team 3-D of NWA branded Championships". National Wrestling Alliance (2007-05-13). Retrieved on 2007-05-14.
- ^ "Press Release: Jarretts and NWA announce weekly PPVs". Lords of Pain (2002-05-09). Retrieved on 2007-03-10.
- ^ "Austin removed from video game cover, NWA/TNA moving to a new arena, more". Lords of Pain (2002-07-18). Retrieved on 2007-03-10.
- ^ Wojcik, Alan (2004-10-27). "Interview with Jerry Jarrett". Retrieved on 2007-02-01.
- ^ Gray, Richard (2004-05-05). "NWA: TNA’s TV deal officially signed, Latest on Hirohito angle, WWE trademarks". Lords of Pain. Retrieved on 2007-03-10.
- ^ "TNA Officially via Bit Torrent" (2005-06-25). Retrieved on 2007-03-19.
- ^ "TNA Reaches Deal With Real Broadcast Network To Stream "iMPACT!" News" (2005-06-30). Retrieved on 2007-03-19.
- ^ Cantor, Brian (2005-07-21). "Breaking News: Spike TV confirms deal with TNA in press release". Lords of Pain. Retrieved on 2007-03-10.
- ^ "TNA Wrestling Goes Two Hours On SpikeTV Starting October 4". Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2007-09-09). Retrieved on 2007-09-16.
- ^ "TNA Announces First Ever House Show". Pro-Wrestling News Direct (2006-01-17). Retrieved on 2007-03-20.
- ^ "Midway Acquires Exclusive Worldwide Videogame Rights to TNA Wrestling". Midway (2005-11-07). Retrieved on 2007-01-12.
- ^ "TNA Wrestling Announces Mobile Content Deal - Details". Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2007-01-12). Retrieved on 2007-01-12.
- ^ "Info on TNA U". TNA Wrestling.com (2007-11-30). Retrieved on 2008-03-13.
- ^ Marvez, A. (2007-08-03). "Benoit case could slam promoter growth plans". South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved on 2007-08-04.
- ^ a b Johnson, S. (2004-07-09). "Impact looks to hook racing fans". Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved on 2007-07-31.
- ^ a b Abreu, D. (2003-03-26). "Pacman Catching up on NWA-TNA". Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved on 2007-07-31.
- ^ Wheeler, N. (2004-01-29). "NWA TNA Preview". WrestlingWire.net. Retrieved on 2007-08-08.
- ^ Waldman, J. (2005-05-13). "Countdown to TNA Hard Justice". Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved on 2007-08-01.
- ^ Waldman, J. (2005-10-21). "Countdown to TNA Bound for Glory". Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved on 2007-08-01.
- ^ Sokol, C. (2005-12-10). "Impact: Baseball becomes basebrawl". Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved on 2007-07-31.
- ^ Baines, T. (2005-12-18). "Orton used to running with big dogs". Ottawa Sun. Retrieved on 2007-07-31.
- ^ Sokol, C. (2007-02-11). "Christian retains belt Against All Odds". Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved on 2007-07-31.
- ^ Sokol, C. (2007-02-23). "Impact: Ladders and a Belting Pot". Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved on 2007-07-31.
- ^ "Pacman Jones, TNA apparently close to deal". Canadian Online Explorer (2007-07-30). Retrieved on 2007-07-31.
- ^ "Titans intend to block Pacman's wrestling appearance", ESPN (2007-08-10). Retrieved on 2007-08-10.
- ^ "Titans, Jones agree to modified wrestling restrictions". ESPN (2007-08-11). Retrieved on 2007-08-11.
- ^ "Update On The TNA Creative Team, & More Notes". TNA Wrestling News (2007-04-02). Retrieved on 2007-04-02.
- ^ Adam Martin (2003-07-24). "Full NWA TNA PPV Results - 7/23/03". WrestleView. Retrieved on 2007-05-31.
External links
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Total Nonstop Action Wrestling |
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Championships and
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 Professional wrestling in the United States |
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Active promotions
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| Notable independent promotions |
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| Governing bodies and interpromotional alliances |
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Defunct promotions
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| National promotions |
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| Notable former independent promotions and wrestling territories |
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