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{{Infobox company
|name = TNA Entertainment LLC
|logo = ]
|type = ]
|foundation = May 10, 2002
|founder = ]<br/>]
|location_city = ]
|key_people = ]<small> ]</small><br/>Jeff Jarrett <small>]</small></br>Dean Broadhead <small>]</small><ref name="HOR" /></br>Andy Barton <small>], Licensing and International television</small><ref name="HOR">{{cite web|url=http://oversight.house.gov/documents/20081231140812.pdf| title=Interview of: Dixie Carter|publisher=]|date=2007-12-06|accessdate=2008-04-26}}</ref><br/>] <small>Director of Talent Relations</small> <ref name="HOR" />
|industry = ]<br/>]<br>]<br>]
|parent = ]
|homepage =
}}
'''Total Nonstop Action Wrestling''' ('''TNA''') is a privately-controlled ] founded by ] and ] in 2002. The company is active in the ], broadcasting its events on ] and the ]. TNA also gains ] from live events, product licensing, and direct product sales. ] is the ] of the company and co-founder ] is the ].<ref>{{Cite web| url=http://espn.go.com/chicago/radio/story?page=ringpost060502|title=TNA Wrestling - Innovative, Indelible, Insanity|last= Hood|first=Johnathan|publisher= ESPN|accessdate=2010-02-18|date=December 8, 2006}}</ref> In 2002, ] purchased a controlling share in TNA.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/other/story/1204243.html |title=Not just whistling Dixie: Carter's impact on TNA iMPACT|accessdate=2009-11-06|date=2009-08-27| last=Varsallone|first=Jim| publisher=Miami Herald}}</ref>

The company has its headquarters in ]; its trading company TNA Entertainment, ] operates out of ]. The company previously bore the name "NWA Total Nonstop Action" — at the time of its formation it belonged to the ] (NWA). TNA was granted exclusive rights to both the ] and the ]. 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.<ref name="NWAtitles">{{cite web|url= http://one.revver.com/watch/267425/flv/affiliate/87879|title=NWA/Trobich strips TNA/Cage/Team 3-D of NWA branded Championships| publisher=]|date=2007-05-13|accessdate=2007-05-14}}</ref>

TNA became the first American promotion to make exclusive use of a ]al ] (as opposed to the more conventional four-sided ring). The organization also employed the unconventional rule that a ] can change hands as the result of a ] or ], but has slowly phased out this rule. TNA is currently the second largest ] in the ].

==History==
===Formation===
]
The concept of TNA originated shortly after the end of ] (WCW) in 2001. Bob Ryder, ], and ] went on a fishing trip and contemplated their futures in the ] of wrestling. The ] (WWF) remained the only wrestling product on U.S. national ] — WWF had purchased WCW in March 2001, and ] had filed for ] in April 2001. Ryder felt that this situation led many television stations to regard wrestling as bad for business and suggested a company that does not need television, but rather just goes straight to ]. Of the three, only Jeff Jarrett took the discussion seriously (the other two thought of it as "just fishing talk").
The Jarretts found the help they needed, and the company put on its first show on June 19, 2002. This night, however, in a ] just before they went on the air, a 450] wrestler named Cheex hit the ropes with so much force that one of them broke. The estimated repair time was 30–60 ]s,which they did not have because the schedule called for them 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. The ring crew fixed the rope with the help of ], and everyone went live hoping for the best.<ref>{{cite video|title=The History of TNA: Year 1|medium=DVD|publisher=TNA Home Video|date=2006}}</ref>

===Expansion===
In October 2006, TNA started holding some of its monthly pay-per-views outside of its central filming location. TNA has also expanded into other areas with the development of a ] with ], titled '']'', released in 2008.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.midway.com/rxpage/mpr_3634.html|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20071015015909/http://www.midway.com/rxpage/mpr_3634.html|title=Midway Acquires Exclusive Worldwide Videogame Rights to TNA Wrestling|archivedate=2007-10-15|accessdate=2007-01-12|date=2005-11-07|publisher=Midway}}</ref> In April 2006, TNA announced a partnership with ] where TNA supplied YouTube with exclusive video content in exchange for ], leading to the production of internet shows. In January 2007, TNA's mobile content deal with ] led to the introduction of TNA Mobile and mobile fan voting.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tnawrestling.com/news/fullnews2.php?all=1126|title=TNA Wrestling Announces Mobile Content Deal - Details|accessdate=2007-01-12|date=2007-01-12| publisher=Total Nonstop Action Wrestling }}</ref> TNA has also launched the TNA U program to help promote the brand and has started airing ]s through YouTube which they call TNA U TV.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tnawrestling.com/content/view/11/100/| title=Info on TNA U|accessdate=2008-03-13|date=2007-11-30|publisher=TNA Wrestling.com}}
</ref>

TNA footage appears in the wrestling documentary, '']''.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.tnawrestlingnews.com/headlines/244343207.shtml| title=In mainstream media|accessdate=2009-05-18|date=2007-11-30| publisher=TNA Wrestling News.com}}</ref> On June 21, TNA launched an online video vault subscription service, where subscribers could watch past pay-per-views by choosing either one of three payment options.<ref name=tnavideoservice>{{cite web|url= http://www.multichannel.com/article/295409-TNA_Jumps_Into_the_Broadband_Ring.php?rssid=20061&q=TNA+Wrestling|title=TNA Jumps Into the Broadband Ring|date=2009-06-22|first=R. Thomas|last=Umstead|accessdate=2009-06-21}}</ref>

==Television==
===Current programming===
Pay-per-view events are a major revenue source for the promotion. Currently, TNA holds one pay-per-view event per month. The first three-hour monthly pay-per-view, ], was held on November 7, 2004.

TNA began airing '']'' (officially typeset "TNA iMPACT!" and often referred to as "TNA Monday Night Impact!") on June 4, 2004 on ]. After TNA's contract with Fox Sports Net was not renewed the following year, TNA was forced to broadcast ''Impact!'' from their official website, while seeking a new television outlet.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.johng.co.uk/2005/06/25/tna-officially-via-bit-torrent/|title=TNA Officially via Bit Torrent|accessdate=2007-03-19|date=2005-06-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://prowrestlingimpact.blogspot.com/2005/06/tna-reaches-deal-with-real-broadcast.html|title=TNA Reaches Deal With Real Broadcast Network To Stream "iMPACT!" News|accessdate=2007-03-19| date=2005-06-30}}</ref> TNA later secured a deal with ] and aired its first episode on October 1, 2005.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lordsofpain.net/news/2005_/articles/1121963008.php| title=Breaking News: Spike TV confirms deal with TNA in press release|accessdate=2007-03-10|date=2005-07-21|last=Cantor|first=Brian|publisher=Lords of Pain}}</ref> ''Impact!'' expanded to a two-hour format on October 4, 2007.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tnawrestling.com/news/fullnews2.php?all=1522|title= TNA Wrestling Goes Two Hours On SpikeTV Starting October 4|accessdate=2007-09-16|date=2007-09-09 |publisher=Total Nonstop Action Wrestling}}</ref>
On February 15, 2010, TNA made a new deal with ] which moved ''Impact!'' to Monday nights. The first episode took place March 8, 2010.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tnawrestling.com/news/item/1772-impact-moves-to-mondays-on-march-8|title=TNA Wrestling Moves To Monday Nights Starting March 8th 2010|accessdate=2010-02-26|date=2010-02-16|publisher=Total Nonstop Action Wrestling}}</ref>

In December 2009, Dixie Carter announced in an interview that ], which had recently aired its first season exclusively in the ], would be debuting in the United States in January of 2010. The second season began on Thursday, January 14, 2010. ''TNA Epics'' showcases matches and events from the history of TNA Wrestling, much like ] does for ]. The show is hosted by ], and airs on one Thursday each month on Spike TV.

On April 12, 2010, TNA Wrestling debuted their new show ], which is a documentary-style show that presents an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the stars of TNA speaking about taking on their rivals. This series is primarily used to build up to TNA iMPACT, which comes on immediately after.

On May 3, 2010, TNA announced that TNA Impact! will be moved back to Thursday nights re-branded as "Thursday Night Impact!".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/TNA_News_1/article_41077.shtml| title=TNA News: TNA rebranding Impact on Thursday nights; "Reaction" start date announced in press release on Thursday move|last=Caldwell|first=James|date=2010-05-03|accessdate=2010-05-04|publisher=Pro Wrestling Torch}}</ref>

===Former programming===
Initially, TNA's weekly pay-per-view show operated as the company's main source of revenue, in place of monthly pay-per-view events used by other promotions. These shows started on June 19, 2002 and were held mostly at the ] in Nashville, Tennessee. After 27 months and 111 PPVs, TNA felt that they had enough of a fanbase to begin holding a weekly television show and monthly three-hour pay-per-views. The last weekly PPV was held on September 8, 2004.
]
'']'' was launched on November 27, 2002 as TNA's first regular cable show and featured exclusive matches from the ] as well as exclusive ]s with ]. On November 18, 2004, the show became a recap show of the previous week's ''Impact!'' in light of alterations in the taping schedule. However, '']'' resumed airing exclusive matches (billed as "Xplosion Xclusives") once more on October 7, 2005 in addition to recapping ''Impact!''. The "Xplosion Xclusives" also aired on the now-ceased '']'' internet show. Airing of ''Xplosion'' in the United States ceased at the end of 2006 although some of the exclusive matches can be seen on '']''.

==House shows and touring==
Apart from their weekly shows, TNA started running ]s on March 17, 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://prowrestlingnewsdirect.com/archives/tna-announces-first-ever-house-show/|title=TNA Announces First Ever House Show| accessdate=2007-03-20|date=2006-01-17|publisher=Pro-Wrestling News Direct}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Marvez">{{cite web|url=http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/spotlight_columnists/article/0,2777,DRMN_23962_5656488,00.html|title=Benoit case could slam promoter growth plans |last=Marvez|first=Alex|publisher=]|accessdate=2007-08-04|date=2007-08-03}}</ref> In 2008 TNA conducted its first tour of the UK, with most shows selling out. 2009 saw the promotion first touring ].

==Features==

===Ranking System===

On April 26, 2010, ] appeared on iMPACT! to unveil the long-awaited TNA Championship ranking system. According to Bischoff, the system combines several factors to determine the #1 contender for the TNA Heavyweight Championship. These factors include the overall performance and achievements throughout a wrestler's career, the win/loss record of the wrestler, and online voting by the fans, which takes place on the promotion's website. It was also announced that a "TNA Championship Committee" had been set up to make the final decision based on these factors. The committee currently consists of TNA President ], ], and Bischoff himself.

Starting on April 27, 2010, monthly rounds of fan voting will be held on TNA's website . The first round of voting is scheduled to conclude on May 17th, with the first number one contender being announced on iMPACT that night. The 10 wrestlers chosen to appear on the first ballot are ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], and ].<ref>http://www.tnawrestling.com/news/item/1746-new-tna-ranking-system-vote-now</ref>

==Personnel==
===Creative team===
Currently, ] serves as head ] of TNA with the collaboration of ] and ]. Former bookers, whether temporary or semi-permanent, include ], ], ], ], ], ] and ]. At times, the position of booker has been coterminous with the on-screen position of Director of Authority.

===Authority figures===
{{Main|Professional wrestling authority figures#Total Nonstop Action Wrestling authority figures|l1=Total Nonstop Action Wrestling authority figures}}
],The Original founder of TNA]]
When TNA first launched, it billed the on-air authority figure as a representative appointed by the National Wrestling Alliance. It did this for storyline purposes only, however, 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 ] made his return to TNA as the Director of Authority.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wrestleview.com/news/1059024602.shtml|title=Full NWA TNA PPV Results - 7/23/03|date=2003-07-24|accessdate=2007-05-31|first=Adam|last=Martin|publisher=WrestleView}}</ref> Watts started feuding with ] (TNA Management Consultant), ending with Watts forced to quit. On February 18, 2004, TNA named Vince Russo the new Director of Authority, a position he held until November 7, 2004 when ] defeated and replaced him.

The NWA Championship Committee, established in 2004, comprised a group of wrestling veterans who acted as arbitrators, determining a winner in the event of a time-limit draw. The committee consisted of ], ] and ], with Funk later replaced by ] 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 ] shots.

In October 2005, ] began to repeatedly reference an ambiguous authority within TNA known only as "TNA Management". "TNA Management" has, in the past, appeared in the form of "special referee" ], "consultant" ] and "messenger" ]. At ], ] emerged as the face of "TNA Management", being referred to as the "Management Director" in press releases following that pay-per-view. On October 23, 2008, on the first ] episode of ''Impact!'', TNA announced that ] had become TNA's Executive Shareholder. In January 2010, ] and ] enunciated their on-air co-partnership in running TNA.

==Championships==
TNA originally recognized the ] (NWA) ] and ] Championships, in addition to the ], the only championship controlled and owned exclusively by TNA. Traditionally, NWA World Champions regularly defended their titles against local contenders in the various ]. This did not often happen 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 have won the ].

On May 13, 2007, the NWA withdrew recognition of TNA's champions, leaving the two NWA titles vacant.<ref name="NWAtitles" /> TNA invented new titles, the ] and the ], and unveiled them later in that week. TNA credits wrestlers who held the NWA World Heavyweight and World Tag Team championships as former TNA champions; for example, during his stint in the company, ] was billed as a two-time TNA World Champion, yet his two reigns involved the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Along with this, TNA redesigned the X Division title belt.

The ] commenced on October 14, 2007 at ]. ] 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 ]. On October 23, 2008 on a live edition of '']'' from Las Vegas, ] opened a briefcase and revealed the "TNA Legends Championship" and declared himself the first champion. Later, after the belt was won by Eric Young it was renamed the ]. TNA also recognizes when their wrestlers hold a Championship sanctioned by ]. On the August 20 episode of ''Impact!'', TNA announced plans to create a ], which were later won by the team of ] and ].

===Current champions===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Championship
!Champion
!Date won
!Date aired
!Event
!Previous Champion
|-
|]
|]
|April 19, 2010
|April 19, 2010
|]
|]
|-
|]
|]
|January 27, 2010
|N/A
|]
|]
|-
|]
|]<sup>*</sup>
|January 17, 2010
|January 17, 2010
|]
|]<br><small>(] and ])</small>
|-
|]
|]
|April 18, 2010
|April 18, 2010
|]
|Vacant<sup>**</sup>
|-
|]
|]
|April 18, 2010
|April 18, 2010
|]
|]
|-
|]
|]<br><small>(], ], and ])</small><sup>***</sup>
|March 8, 2010
|March 8, 2010
|''Impact!''
|Vacant
|}

<sup>*</sup> This title was originally won by Matt Morgan and ]. However, as Hernandez is presently inactive, he has been stripped of the title. Morgan co-holds both titles and may nominate someone to co-hold the title with him.

<sup>**</sup> The title had been taken off ] due to his inability to make the show, oweing to a flight ban in Western Europe.

<sup>***</sup> Rayne and Sky won the title, but all three members of The Beautiful People are recognized as the Knockout Tag Team Champions, and any two members can defend the title. This type of title defense is known as the ].

===Former championships===
====Sanctioned====
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Former Title
!Last TNA holder
!Date won
!Date aired
!Event
!Previous champion
|-
|]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/PPV_Reports_5/article_18914.shtml| title=CALDWELL'S FINAL RESOLUTION PPV REPORT 1/14: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of live PPV|last=Caldwell|first=James|date= 2007-01-14|work=PWTorch|accessdate=2010-02-03}}</ref>
|]
|January 14, 2007
|January 14, 2007
|]
|]
|-
|]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/PPV_Reports_5/article_20015.shtml| title=KELLER'S TNA LOCKDOWN PPV 4/15: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of live event|last=Keller|first=Wade|date=2007-04-15|work= PWTorch|accessdate=2010-02-03}}</ref>
|] (] and ])
|April 15, 2007
|April 15, 2007
|]
|] (], and ])
|-
|}

====Unsanctioned====
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Championship
!Last TNA holder
!Date won
!Date aired
!Event
!Previous champion
|-
|TNA World Beer Drinking Championship
|]
|February 25, 2008
|February 28, 2008
|]
|]
|}

===Other accomplishments===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Accomplishments
!Latest Winner
!Date won
!Event
!Previous Champion
|-
|]
|]
|April 19, 2009
|]
|] (])
|-
|]
|]
|June 21, 2009
|]
|] (])
|}

==See also==
{{Portal|Professional wrestling|break=yes}}
*]
*]
*]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Total Nonstop Action Wrestling}}
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* at ]
* at ]
* at ]
* at ]
* at ]
* at ]

{{Navboxes|
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{{TNA Wrestling}}
{{Total Nonstop Action Wrestling employees}}
{{TNA Tournaments}}
{{TNAPPV}}
{{Professional wrestling in the United States}}
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Revision as of 05:24, 4 May 2010

TNA Entertainment LLC
File:Tnalogo.png
Company typelimited liability company
IndustryProfessional wrestling
Lucha libre
Hardcore wrestling
Sports entertainment
FoundedMay 10, 2002
FounderJeff Jarrett
Jerry Jarrett
HeadquartersNashville, Tennessee
Key peopleDixie Carter President
Jeff Jarrett Founder
Dean Broadhead CEO
Andy Barton senior vice president, Licensing and International television
Terry Taylor Director of Talent Relations
ParentPanda Energy International
WebsiteTNAwrestling.com

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) is a privately-controlled professional wrestling promotion founded by Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Jarrett in 2002. The company is active in the integrated-media industry, broadcasting its events on television and the Internet. TNA also gains revenue from live events, product licensing, and direct product sales. Dixie Carter is the President of the company and co-founder Jeff Jarrett is the Vice President. In 2002, Panda Energy International purchased a controlling share in TNA.

The company has its headquarters in Orlando, Florida; its trading company TNA Entertainment, LLC operates out of Nashville, Tennessee. The company previously bore the name "NWA Total Nonstop Action" — at the time of its formation it belonged to the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). 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.

TNA became the first American promotion to make exclusive use of a hexagonal wrestling-ring (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, but has slowly phased out this rule. TNA is currently the second largest professional wrestling promotion in the United States.

History

Formation

File:TNA logo 2005.png
TNA Wrestling second logo,2003-2010.

The concept of TNA originated shortly after the end of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 2001. Bob Ryder, Jeff Jarrett, and Jerry Jarrett went on a fishing trip and contemplated their futures in the business of wrestling. The World Wrestling Federation (WWF) remained the only wrestling product on U.S. national television — WWF had purchased WCW in March 2001, and Extreme Championship Wrestling had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April 2001. Ryder felt that this situation led many television stations to regard wrestling as bad for business and suggested a company that does not need television, but rather just goes straight to pay-per-view. Of the three, only Jeff Jarrett took the discussion seriously (the other two thought of it as "just fishing talk"). The Jarretts found the help they needed, and the company put on its first show on June 19, 2002. This night, however, in a dark match just before they went on the air, a 450lb 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 the schedule called for them 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. The ring crew fixed the rope with the help of Ron and Don Harris, and everyone went live hoping for the best.

Expansion

In October 2006, TNA started holding some of its monthly pay-per-views outside of its 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. In April 2006, TNA announced a partnership with YouTube where TNA supplied 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. 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.

TNA footage appears in the wrestling documentary, Bloodstained Memoirs. On June 21, TNA launched an online video vault subscription service, where subscribers could watch past pay-per-views by choosing either one of three payment options.

Television

Current programming

Pay-per-view events are a major revenue source for the promotion. Currently, TNA holds one pay-per-view event per month. The first three-hour monthly pay-per-view, Victory Road, was held on November 7, 2004.

TNA began airing TNA Impact! (officially typeset "TNA iMPACT!" and often referred to as "TNA Monday Night Impact!") on June 4, 2004 on Fox Sports Net. After TNA's contract with Fox Sports Net was not renewed the following year, TNA was forced to broadcast Impact! from their official website, while seeking a new television outlet. TNA later secured a deal with Spike TV and aired its first episode on October 1, 2005. Impact! expanded to a two-hour format on October 4, 2007. On February 15, 2010, TNA made a new deal with Spike TV which moved Impact! to Monday nights. The first episode took place March 8, 2010.

In December 2009, Dixie Carter announced in an interview that TNA Epics, which had recently aired its first season exclusively in the United Kingdom, would be debuting in the United States in January of 2010. The second season began on Thursday, January 14, 2010. TNA Epics showcases matches and events from the history of TNA Wrestling, much like WWE Vintage Collection does for WWE. The show is hosted by Mick Foley, and airs on one Thursday each month on Spike TV.

On April 12, 2010, TNA Wrestling debuted their new show TNA Reaction, which is a documentary-style show that presents an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the stars of TNA speaking about taking on their rivals. This series is primarily used to build up to TNA iMPACT, which comes on immediately after.

On May 3, 2010, TNA announced that TNA Impact! will be moved back to Thursday nights re-branded as "Thursday Night Impact!".

Former programming

Initially, TNA's weekly pay-per-view show operated as the company's main source of revenue, in place of monthly pay-per-view events used by other promotions. These shows started on June 19, 2002 and were held mostly at the Asylum in Nashville, Tennessee. After 27 months and 111 PPVs, TNA felt that they had enough of a fanbase to begin holding a weekly television show and monthly three-hour pay-per-views. The last weekly PPV was held on September 8, 2004.

File:TNA HD Logo.png
TNA Wrestling HD Logo

TNA Xplosion was launched on November 27, 2002 as TNA's first regular cable show and featured exclusive matches from the TNA Asylum as well as exclusive interviews with TNA Superstars. On November 18, 2004, the show became a recap show of the previous week's Impact! in light of alterations in the taping schedule. However, Xplosion resumed airing exclusive matches (billed as "Xplosion Xclusives") once more on October 7, 2005 in addition to recapping Impact!. The "Xplosion Xclusives" also aired on the now-ceased TNA Global Impact! internet show. Airing of Xplosion in the United States ceased at the end of 2006 although some of the exclusive matches can be seen on TNA Today.

House shows and touring

Apart from their weekly shows, TNA started running house shows on March 17, 2006. 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. In 2008 TNA conducted its first tour of the UK, with most shows selling out. 2009 saw the promotion first touring Germany.

Features

Ranking System

On April 26, 2010, Eric Bischoff appeared on iMPACT! to unveil the long-awaited TNA Championship ranking system. According to Bischoff, the system combines several factors to determine the #1 contender for the TNA Heavyweight Championship. These factors include the overall performance and achievements throughout a wrestler's career, the win/loss record of the wrestler, and online voting by the fans, which takes place on the promotion's website. It was also announced that a "TNA Championship Committee" had been set up to make the final decision based on these factors. The committee currently consists of TNA President Dixie Carter, Hulk Hogan, and Bischoff himself.

Starting on April 27, 2010, monthly rounds of fan voting will be held on TNA's website . The first round of voting is scheduled to conclude on May 17th, with the first number one contender being announced on iMPACT that night. The 10 wrestlers chosen to appear on the first ballot are Kurt Angle, Jeff Hardy, Mr. Anderson, The Pope, Sting, Jeff Jarrett, Abyss, Rob Terry, Desmond Wolfe, and AJ Styles.

Personnel

Creative team

Currently, Vince Russo serves as head booker of TNA with the collaboration of Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff. Former bookers, whether temporary or semi-permanent, include Jeff Jarrett, Jerry Jarrett, Jeremy Borash, Mike Tenay, Abyss, Dutch Mantell and Ed Ferrara. At times, the position of booker has been coterminous with the on-screen position of Director of Authority.

Authority figures

Main article: Total Nonstop Action Wrestling authority figures
Jeff Jarrett,The Original founder of TNA

When TNA first launched, it billed the on-air authority figure as a representative appointed by the National Wrestling Alliance. It did this for storyline purposes only, however, 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. Watts started feuding with Don Callis (TNA Management Consultant), ending with Watts forced to quit. On February 18, 2004, TNA named Vince Russo the new Director of Authority, a position he held until November 7, 2004 when Dusty Rhodes defeated and replaced him.

The NWA Championship Committee, established in 2004, comprised 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 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, appeared in the form of "special referee" Earl Hebner, "consultant" Dave Hebner and "messenger" Christy Hemme. At Slammiversary 2006, Jim Cornette emerged as the face of "TNA Management", being referred to as the "Management Director" in press releases following that pay-per-view. On October 23, 2008, on the first high-definition episode of Impact!, TNA announced that Mick Foley had become TNA's Executive Shareholder. In January 2010, Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff enunciated their on-air co-partnership in running TNA.

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 controlled and owned exclusively by TNA. Traditionally, NWA World Champions regularly defended their titles against local contenders in the various NWA territories. This did not often happen 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 have won the TNA Triple Crown.

On May 13, 2007, the NWA withdrew recognition of TNA's champions, leaving the two NWA titles vacant. TNA invented new titles, the TNA World Heavyweight Championship and the TNA World Tag Team Championship, and unveiled them later in that week. TNA credits wrestlers who held the NWA World Heavyweight and World Tag Team championships as former TNA champions; for example, during his stint in the company, Ron Killings was billed as a two-time TNA World Champion, yet his two reigns involved the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Along with this, TNA redesigned the X Division title belt.

The TNA Women's World Championship commenced on October 14, 2007 at Bound for Glory. 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. On October 23, 2008 on a live edition of Impact! from Las Vegas, Booker T opened a briefcase and revealed the "TNA Legends Championship" and declared himself the first champion. Later, after the belt was won by Eric Young it was renamed the TNA Global Championship. TNA also recognizes when their wrestlers hold a Championship sanctioned by New Japan Pro Wrestling. On the August 20 episode of Impact!, TNA announced plans to create a Knockouts' Tag Team Championship, which were later won by the team of Taylor Wilde and Sarita.

Current champions

Championship Champion Date won Date aired Event Previous Champion
TNA World Heavyweight Championship Rob Van Dam April 19, 2010 April 19, 2010 TNA Impact AJ Styles
TNA Global Championship Rob Terry January 27, 2010 N/A Live Event Eric Young
TNA World Tag Team Championship Matt Morgan January 17, 2010 January 17, 2010 Genesis (2010) The British Invasion
(Brutus Magnus and Doug Williams)
TNA X Division Championship Kazarian April 18, 2010 April 18, 2010 Lockdown (2010) Vacant
TNA Knockouts Championship Madison Rayne April 18, 2010 April 18, 2010 Lockdown (2010) Angelina Love
TNA Knockout Tag Team Championship The Beautiful People
(Madison Rayne, Velvet Sky, and Lacey Von Erich) 		March 8, 2010 March 8, 2010 Impact! Vacant

This title was originally won by Matt Morgan and Hernandez. However, as Hernandez is presently inactive, he has been stripped of the title. Morgan co-holds both titles and may nominate someone to co-hold the title with him.

The title had been taken off Douglas Williams due to his inability to make the show, oweing to a flight ban in Western Europe.

Rayne and Sky won the title, but all three members of The Beautiful People are recognized as the Knockout Tag Team Champions, and any two members can defend the title. This type of title defense is known as the Freebird Rule.

Former championships

Sanctioned

Former Title Last TNA holder Date won Date aired Event Previous champion
NWA World Heavyweight Championship Christian Cage January 14, 2007 January 14, 2007 Final Resolution Abyss
NWA World Tag Team Championship Team 3D (Brother Ray and Brother Devon) April 15, 2007 April 15, 2007 Lockdown The Latin American Xchange (Homicide, and Hernandez)

Unsanctioned

Championship Last TNA holder Date won Date aired Event Previous champion
TNA World Beer Drinking Championship James Storm February 25, 2008 February 28, 2008 TNA Impact! Eric Young

Other accomplishments

Accomplishments Latest Winner Date won Event Previous Champion
Queen of the Cage ODB April 19, 2009 Lockdown (2009) Roxxi Laveaux (Lockdown (2008))
King of the Mountain Kurt Angle June 21, 2009 Slammiversary (2009) Suicide (Slammiversary (2009))

See also

References

  1. ^ "Interview of: Dixie Carter" (PDF). United States House of Representatives. 2007-12-06. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
  2. Hood, Johnathan (December 8, 2006). "TNA Wrestling - Innovative, Indelible, Insanity". ESPN. Retrieved 2010-02-18.
  3. Varsallone, Jim (2009-08-27). "Not just whistling Dixie: Carter's impact on TNA iMPACT". Miami Herald. Retrieved 2009-11-06.
  4. ^ "NWA/Trobich strips TNA/Cage/Team 3-D of NWA branded Championships". National Wrestling Alliance. 2007-05-13. Retrieved 2007-05-14.
  5. The History of TNA: Year 1 (DVD). TNA Home Video. 2006.
  6. "Midway Acquires Exclusive Worldwide Videogame Rights to TNA Wrestling". Midway. 2005-11-07. Archived from the original on 2007-10-15. Retrieved 2007-01-12.
  7. "TNA Wrestling Announces Mobile Content Deal - Details". Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. 2007-01-12. Retrieved 2007-01-12.
  8. "Info on TNA U". TNA Wrestling.com. 2007-11-30. Retrieved 2008-03-13.
  9. "In mainstream media". TNA Wrestling News.com. 2007-11-30. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
  10. Umstead, R. Thomas (2009-06-22). "TNA Jumps Into the Broadband Ring". Retrieved 2009-06-21.
  11. "TNA Officially via Bit Torrent". 2005-06-25. Retrieved 2007-03-19.
  12. "TNA Reaches Deal With Real Broadcast Network To Stream "iMPACT!" News". 2005-06-30. Retrieved 2007-03-19.
  13. Cantor, Brian (2005-07-21). "Breaking News: Spike TV confirms deal with TNA in press release". Lords of Pain. Retrieved 2007-03-10.
  14. "TNA Wrestling Goes Two Hours On SpikeTV Starting October 4". Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. 2007-09-09. Retrieved 2007-09-16.
  15. "TNA Wrestling Moves To Monday Nights Starting March 8th 2010". Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. 2010-02-16. Retrieved 2010-02-26.
  16. Caldwell, James (2010-05-03). "TNA News: TNA rebranding Impact on Thursday nights; "Reaction" start date announced in press release on Thursday move". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2010-05-04.
  17. "TNA Announces First Ever House Show". Pro-Wrestling News Direct. 2006-01-17. Retrieved 2007-03-20.
  18. Marvez, Alex (2007-08-03). "Benoit case could slam promoter growth plans". South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved 2007-08-04.
  19. http://www.tnawrestling.com/news/item/1746-new-tna-ranking-system-vote-now
  20. Martin, Adam (2003-07-24). "Full NWA TNA PPV Results - 7/23/03". WrestleView. Retrieved 2007-05-31.
  21. Caldwell, James (2007-01-14). "CALDWELL'S FINAL RESOLUTION PPV REPORT 1/14: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of live PPV". PWTorch. Retrieved 2010-02-03.
  22. Keller, Wade (2007-04-15). "KELLER'S TNA LOCKDOWN PPV 4/15: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of live event". PWTorch. Retrieved 2010-02-03.

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