Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

TNA Entertainment LLC
Type limited liability company
Industry Professional wrestling
Sports entertainment
Founded May 10, 2002
Founder(s) Jeff Jarrett
Jerry Jarrett
Headquarters Nashville, Tennessee
Area served Worldwide
Key people

Dixie Carter
President
Andy Barton[1]
Executive Vice President of Licensing and International television distribution
Chris Sobol[2]
Vice President of Operations
Mike Weber[3]
Vice President of Marketing
Dean Broadhead[4]
Chief Financial Officer
Steve Allison[1]

Chief Marketing Officer
Revenue $15 million (2007)[5]
Owner(s) Robert W. Carter
Parent Panda Energy International
Website TNAwrestling.com

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) is a privately held professional wrestling promotion founded by Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Jarrett. 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.[6] In 2002, Panda Energy International purchased a controlling share in TNA.[7]

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.[8]

TNA became the first American promotion to make exclusive use of a six sided wrestling-ring (as opposed to the more conventional four-sided ring). However, in 2010, the company reverted back to the standard 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 since phased out this rule.

Contents

History

Formation

TNA Wrestling 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.[9]

Expansion

In November 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.[10] 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.[11] 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.[12]

TNA footage appears in the wrestling documentary, Bloodstained Memoirs.[13] 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.[14]

On October 23, 2008, TNA made the transition to HD and since then all Impacts! and pay-per-views are broadcast in High Definition.[15] In addition,TNA introduced a new HD set that included new lighting and several very large high-resolution screens, this set is currently used for all Impacts! and pay-per-views.[16] [17]

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.

TNA Wrestling HD Logo 2008-2010

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.

Current programming

TNA began airing TNA Impact! (officially typeset "TNA iMPACT!" and often referred to as "TNA Thursdays") 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.[18] Impact! expanded to a two-hour format on October 4, 2007.[19] 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.[20]

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 2010. The second season began on Thursday, January 14, 2010. TNA Epics showcased matches and events from the history of TNA Wrestling, much like WWE Vintage Collection does for WWE. The show was hosted by Mick Foley, and aired on one Thursday each month on Spike, until April 2010.

On April 12, 2010, TNA Wrestling aired a pilot episode of 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.

On May 3, 2010, TNA announced that TNA Impact! will be moved back to Thursday nights re-branded as "TNA Thursdays".[21] At the same time the company also announced that Spike had picked up Reaction, which would start airing weekly prior to each episode of Impact!, starting June 24.[22] The premiere date for Reaction was later changed to July 15, when it would start airing after Impact! instead of before it.[23] However, in late June Reaction was pulled from Spike's schedule.[24] On August 3, 2010, TNA announced that Reaction would premiere on August 12 and air every Thursday following Impact! on 11pm ET/10C.[25] Also in June, TNA revamped Xplosion, still airing on international markets, making it more of an original program instead of a highlight show.[26][27] TNA Impact! is currently the highest rated and most watched show on Spike TV.

House shows and touring

Apart from their weekly shows in Universal Studios, TNA started running house shows on March 17, 2006.[28] 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.[29] In 2008 TNA conducted its first tour of the UK, with most shows selling out. 2009 saw the promotion first touring Germany. On July 2, 2010, MCU Park hosted a live Total Nonstop Action Wrestling house show, which also has broke TNA attendance record and is currently the most attended live TNA house show in the USA with a almost capacity crowd of 5,550 TNA fans.[30]

Features

From 2004-2010, TNA used a hexagonal ring

Ring shape and locations

Different from other United States professional wrestling promotions, TNA utilized a hexagonal ring as opposed to the traditional square ring. In 2010, it returned to using a four-sided ring.

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

High-flying, high risk moves are a centerpiece of the X Division

Since its origin, TNA has featured a high-flying, high risk style of wrestling called its X Division. 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 Samoa Joe, billed at 280 pounds, and Kurt Angle, billed at 230 pounds, 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 2007 , the X Division is generally regarded as one of the key attractions of TNA and was replicated in several independent promotions.

Ranking system

On April 26, 2010, Eric Bischoff appeared on Impact! to unveil the 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 TNA 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.[31]

The ten wrestlers chosen to appear on the first ballot were Kurt Angle, Jeff Hardy, Mr. Anderson, D'Angelo Dinero, Sting, Jeff Jarrett, Abyss, Rob Terry, Desmond Wolfe, and A.J. Styles. The first round of voting ended on May 3 and was won by Desmond Wolfe, who received his title shot that night on Impact! against Rob Van Dam.[32] The second round started that same night. New names included in the new poll are Matt Morgan, Brother Ray, Brother Devon, Rhino and Hernandez.[33] The first Top 10 ranking was revealed on May 20, with Sting claiming the number one spot.[34] On the second Top 10 ranking Abyss, Jeff Hardy, and Mr. Anderson were tied for the top three spots.[35] A month later Abyss claimed the top spot.[36]

Personnel

Creative team

Jeff Jarrett, The Original founder of TNA

Vince Russo had served as head booker of TNA until May 2010, 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, and Dutch Mantel. At times, the position of booker has been coterminous with the on-screen position of Director of Authority.

Authority figures

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.[37] 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.

TNA contracts

TNA wrestlers are forbidden by contract from working for WWE, but are free to work for any other independent wrestling promotion, domestic or international.[38] Many TNA wrestlers perform regularly for various promotions on the independent circuit in addition to TNA's weekly shows. The majority of TNA wrestlers are paid on a per appearance basis.[39]

Like World Wrestling Entertainment, TNA wrestlers are classified as independent contractors and are not entitled to form workers' unions or employer health coverage.[38]

Championships

Current champions

Former championships

Sanctioned

Former Title Last TNA holder Date won Date aired Event Previous champion
NWA World Heavyweight Championship[40] Christian Cage January 14, 2007 January 14, 2007 Final Resolution Abyss
NWA World Tag Team Championship[41] Team 3D (Brother Ray and Brother Devon) April 15, 2007 April 15, 2007 Lockdown The Latin American Xchange (Homicide, and Hernandez)
IWGP World Heavyweight Championship[42] Kurt Angle June 29, 2007 June 29, 2007 Fighting Now Bom-Ba-Ye Brock Lesnar
IWGP World Tag Team Championship[43] Team 3D (Brother Devon and Brother Ray) October 18, 2009 October 18, 2009 Bound for Glory The British Invasion (Brutus Magnus and Doug Williams)
IWGP Junior Tag Team Championship[43] The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin) January 4, 2009 January 4, 2009 Wrestle Kingdom III in Tokyo Dome No Limit (Tetsuya Naitō and Yujiro)

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
The Dupp Cup "Hardcore Midget" Teo 2002 2002 TNA IMPACT! The Dupps
TNA Sports Entertainment Xtreme Australian Heavyweight Championship S.E.X. 2003 2003 TNA IMPACT! None

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) Samoa Joe (Slammiversary (2008))
X Division King of the Mountain Suicide June 21, 2009 Slammiversary (2009) Kaz (June 5, 2008 edition of iMPACT!)
Mr. TNA A.J. Styles 2005 2005 None

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://www.tnawrestling.com/news/item/1216-southpeak-to-publish-tna-video-games
  2. ↑ "Retro book review: Early days of TNA extra relevant now". Canadian Online Explorer. 2007-12-06. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/Reviews/2007/11/27/4690673.html. Retrieved 2008-11-20. 
  3. ↑ http://www.pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/TNA_News_1/article_32961.shtml
  4. ↑ http://oversight.house.gov/documents/20081231140812.pdf
  5. ↑ p.13
  6. ↑ Hood, Johnathan (December 8, 2006). "TNA Wrestling - Innovative, Indelible, Insanity". ESPN. http://espn.go.com/chicago/radio/story?page=ringpost060502. Retrieved 2010-02-18. 
  7. ↑ Varsallone, Jim (2009-08-27). "Not just whistling Dixie: Carter's impact on TNA iMPACT". Miami Herald. http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/other/story/1204243.html. Retrieved 2009-11-06. 
  8. ↑ "NWA/Trobich strips TNA/Cage/Team 3-D of NWA branded Championships". National Wrestling Alliance. 2007-05-13. http://one.revver.com/watch/267425/flv/affiliate/87879. Retrieved 2007-05-14. 
  9. ↑ The History of TNA: Year 1. [DVD]. TNA Home Video. 2006. 
  10. ↑ "Midway Acquires Exclusive Worldwide Videogame Rights to TNA Wrestling". Midway. 2005-11-07. Archived from the original on 2007-10-15. http://web.archive.org/web/20071015015909/http://www.midway.com/rxpage/mpr_3634.html. Retrieved 2007-01-12. 
  11. ↑ "TNA Wrestling Announces Mobile Content Deal - Details". Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. 2007-01-12. http://www.tnawrestling.com/news/fullnews2.php?all=1126. Retrieved 2007-01-12. 
  12. ↑ "Info on TNA U". TNA Wrestling.com. 2007-11-30. http://www.tnawrestling.com/content/view/11/100/. Retrieved 2008-03-13. 
  13. ↑ "In mainstream media". TNA Wrestling News.com. 2007-11-30. http://www.tnawrestlingnews.com/headlines/244343207.shtml. Retrieved 2009-05-18. 
  14. ↑ Umstead, R. Thomas (2009-06-22). "TNA Jumps Into the Broadband Ring". http://www.multichannel.com/article/295409-TNA_Jumps_Into_the_Broadband_Ring.php?rssid=20061&q=TNA+Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-06-21. 
  15. ↑ TNA
  16. ↑ TNA
  17. ↑ File:TNA Impact Zone.jpg
  18. ↑ Cantor, Brian (2005-07-21). "Breaking News: Spike TV confirms deal with TNA in press release". Lords of Pain. http://www.lordsofpain.net/news/2005_/articles/1121963008.php. Retrieved 2007-03-10. 
  19. ↑ "TNA Wrestling Goes Two Hours On SpikeTV Starting October 4". Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. 2007-09-09. http://www.tnawrestling.com/news/fullnews2.php?all=1522. Retrieved 2007-09-16. 
  20. ↑ "TNA Wrestling Moves To Monday Nights Starting March 8th 2010". Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. 2010-02-16. http://www.tnawrestling.com/news/item/1772-impact-moves-to-mondays-on-march-8. Retrieved 2010-02-26. 
  21. ↑ http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/06/12/1676534/tna-trying-to-take-another-step.html
  22. ↑ 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. http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/TNA_News_1/article_41077.shtml. Retrieved 2010-05-04. 
  23. ↑ Gerweck, Steve (2010-06-16). "Spike TV Moves TNA‏ Reaction". WrestleView. http://wrestleview.com/viewnews.php?id=1276729793. Retrieved 2010-06-17. 
  24. ↑ Martin, Adam (2010-06-24). "Spike TV pulls Reaction, original plans for Thursday". WrestleView. http://www.wrestleview.com/viewnews.php?id=1277413653. Retrieved 2010-07-12. 
  25. ↑ Martin, Adam (2010-08-03). "Press release: TNA Reaction returns August 12". WrestleView. http://wrestleview.com/viewnews.php?id=1280853624. Retrieved 2010-08-03. 
  26. ↑ Caldwell, James (2010-06-14). "TNA News: TNA revamping Xplosion show with new format and lead announcer". Pro Wrestling Torch. http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/TNA_News_1/article_41951.shtml. Retrieved 2010-07-12. 
  27. ↑ "TNA Relaunches "Xplosion" Program". TNAwrestling.com. http://www.tnawrestling.com/news/item/2010-tna-relaunches-xplosion-program. Retrieved 2010-07-12. 
  28. ↑ "TNA Announces First Ever House Show". Pro-Wrestling News Direct. 2006-01-17. http://prowrestlingnewsdirect.com/archives/tna-announces-first-ever-house-show/. Retrieved 2007-03-20. 
  29. ↑ Marvez, Alex (2007-08-03). "Benoit case could slam promoter growth plans". South Florida Sun-Sentinel. http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/spotlight_columnists/article/0,2777,DRMN_23962_5656488,00.html. Retrieved 2007-08-04. 
  30. ↑ Martin, Adam (2010-07-06). "TNA sets company attendance record in Brooklyn". WrestleView. http://wrestleview.com/viewnews.php?id=1278441316. Retrieved 2010-07-06. 
  31. ↑ Caldwell, James (2010-04-26). "TNA News: Full details on new Championship Ranking system announced". Pro Wrestling Torch. http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/TNA_News_1/article_40923.shtml. Retrieved 2010-05-05. 
  32. ↑ Keller, Wade (2010-05-03). "TNA Impact Results 5/3: Keller's ongoing "virtual time" coverage of live show from Orlando". Pro Wrestling Torch. http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/wwerawreport/article_41070.shtml. Retrieved 2010-05-05. 
  33. ↑ "New TNA Ranking Voting Now Online". Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. 2010-05-03. http://www.tnawrestling.com/news/item/1746-new-tna-ranking-system-vote-now. Retrieved 2010-05-05. 
  34. ↑ Keller, Wade (2010-05-20). "TNA Impact Results 5/20: Keller's ongoing "virtual time" coverage of show on Spike TV including Top Ten Contenders revealed". Pro Wrestling Torch. http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/tnaimpact/article_41456.shtml. Retrieved 2010-05-21. 
  35. ↑ Caldwell, James (2010-06-17). "Caldwell's TNA Impact results 6/17: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Impact on Spike TV". Pro Wrestling Torch. http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/tnaimpact/article_42023.shtml. Retrieved 2010-07-28. 
  36. ↑ Boutwell, Josh (2010-07-15). "Impact Results - 7/15/10". WrestleView. http://www.wrestleview.com/viewnews.php?id=1279252015. Retrieved 2010-07-28. 
  37. ↑ Martin, Adam (2003-07-24). "Full NWA TNA PPV Results - 7/23/03". WrestleView. http://www.wrestleview.com/news/1059024602.shtml. Retrieved 2007-05-31. 
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 Dixie Carter - p. 9
  39. ↑ p. 17
  40. ↑ Caldwell, James (2007-01-14). "CALDWELL'S FINAL RESOLUTION PPV REPORT 1/14: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of live PPV". PWTorch. http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/PPV_Reports_5/article_18914.shtml. Retrieved 2010-02-03. 
  41. ↑ Keller, Wade (2007-04-15). "KELLER'S TNA LOCKDOWN PPV 4/15: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of live event". PWTorch. http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/PPV_Reports_5/article_20015.shtml. Retrieved 2010-02-03. 
  42. ↑ Martin, Adam (2007-08-12). "Hard Justice PPV Results - 8/12/07 - Orlando, FL ("Winner Takes All")". WrestleView. http://www.wrestleview.com/news2006/1186974191.shtml. Retrieved 2010-06-27. 
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 Martin, Adam (2009-04-19). "Lockdown PPV Results - 4/19/09". WrestleView. http://www.wrestleview.com/news2009/1240196272.php. Retrieved 2010-06-27. 

External links