 | |
| Type | Privately held limited liability company |
| Founded | May 10, 2002 |
| Headquarters | Nashville, Tennessee, USA |
| Key people | Dixie Carter, President Jeff Jarrett, Vice President Chris Sobol, Vice President of Operations |
| Industry | Professional wrestling Sports entertainment |
| Parent | Panda Energy International |
| Slogan | "We Are Wrestling" |
| Website | TNAwrestling.com |
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. The company, which trades as TNA Entertainment, LLC, operates out of Nashville, Tennessee, with an office in Orlando, Florida.
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.
TNA is the first American promotion to exclusively use a hexagonal wrestling ring as opposed to the more conventional four-sided ring. The organization also employs the unconventional rule that a championship can change hands as the result of a disqualification or countout. In addition, two separate entrance ramps are used for heels and faces.
TNA is currently under investigation by the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform regarding their talent wellness policy, after the death of Chris Benoit possibly being linked to steroid abuse. In September 2007, TNA announced to its talent that they would be having their first drug test. TNA told its talent that if they will not be able to pass the test to tell management ahead of time. It is not known whether failing the test will result in a suspension.
| |
History
Weekly pay-per-view shows
After World Championship Wrestling was purchased by Vince McMahon and Extreme Championship Wrestling filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, TNA became the largest and most influential professional wrestling company in the United States. This prompted Jerry Jarrett and his son Jeff Jarrett to start a new wrestling company, named JSports & Entertainment, in May 2002 in conjunction with the National Wrestling Alliance and with HealthSouth as their financing partner. In October 2002, Panda Energy International bought the controlling interest in the project and replaced HealthSouth after they pulled out due to financial problems. The company was renamed TNA Entertainment.
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. These shows started on June 19, 2002 and were held mostly at the Nashville Fairgrounds to lower production costs. Although the weekly TNA shows were priced at much less than the other federations monthly events, they achieved low buy rates. 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. TNA held its first three-hour monthly pay-per-view, Victory Road, on November 7, 2004.
TNA Impact!
TNA began airing 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. 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. TNA would finally secure a deal with Spike TV and air its first episode on October 1, 2005. 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.
Expansion
Apart from their weekly shows, TNA started running house shows on March 17, 2006 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!, scheduled for release in 2008. 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.
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.
Celebrity involvement
Since its inception, several celebrities have appeared with TNA in a variety of roles.
- The inaugural show featured country musician Toby Keith and NASCAR drivers Hermie Sadler and Sterling Marlin, with Sadler later wrestling several matches.
- September 2002 – Actor Dustin Diamond competed in a boxing bout.
- October 2002 – Comedian Chris Rock, who was at the TNA Asylum filming a scene for Head of State, was interviewed.
- January 2004 – Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher intervening in a match.
- July 2004 – NASCAR on FOX personality Jeff Hammond became a color commentator and wrestled two matches before departing in 2005. Basketball player Dennis Rodman accompanied the 3Live Kru to ringside during an episode of Impact!.
- May 2005 – Mixed martial artist Tito Ortiz refereed a bout at Hard Justice. He returned in October 2005, refereeing a second match at Bound for Glory.
- December 2005 – Major League Baseball catcher A.J. Pierzynski served as a manager at Turning Point where he and outfielder Johnny Damon intervened in a match. Pierzynski returned in January 2007, beginning a brief "feud" with shortstop David Eckstein. Pierzynski also represented TNA on an episode of Cold Pizza in October 2006.
- February 2007 – Actor Steve Schirripa appeared as a purported relative of Team 3D. Wide receiver Andre Rison promoted Pros vs Joes in an in-ring interview before being "attacked" by Abyss.
- June 2007 – Football players Frank Wycheck and Kyle Vanden Bosch appeared at Slammiversary, with Wycheck wrestling.
- July 2007 – Suspended National Football League player Adam "Pacman" Jones signed a contract with the promotion. In response, the Titans organization sought a restraining order barring him from working with the company. The Titans and TNA had since came to an agreement on Jones participating with TNA, and Jones even won one half of the TNA World Tag Team Championship during his brief tenure with the company.
Unique features
Storyline/Roster
TNA uses storylines of sports entertainment with a balance of storylines and wrestling, popularized during the 1980s. The pay-per-view events often serve as a conclusion to storylines developed over the preceding weekly shows. The TNA roster is divided into the typical heavyweight, tag team and woman divisions and the X Division, all represented by respective championships.
Ring shape and locations
Different from other United States professional wrestling promotions, TNA utilizes a hexagonal ring as opposed to the traditional square 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
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 Samoa Joe, billed at 280 pounds, and Kurt Angle, billed at 250 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 2004, the X Division is generally regarded as one of the key attractions of TNA and was replicated in several independent promotions.
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. 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 women gauntlant match to become the first Women's Champion in TNA.
Current champions
| Championship | Current champion(s) | Date won | Date aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| TNA World Heavyweight Championship | Kurt Angle | October 16, 2007 | October 25, 2007 |
| TNA X Division Championship | Jay Lethal | September 9, 2007 | September 9, 2007 |
| TNA World Tag Team Championship | A.J. Styles and Tomko | October 14, 2007 | October 14, 2007 |
| TNA Women's World Championship | Gail Kim | October 14, 2007 | October 14, 2007 |
Creative team
The creative team is headed by Jeff Jarrett and consists of Dutch Mantel and Vince Russo. 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, whilst 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
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. 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.
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.
On-air personalities
- Jim Cornette - Management Director (July 16, 2006 – present)
- Matt Morgan – Bodyguard/Enforcer (August 9, 2007 – present)
Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_Nonstop_Action_Wrestling
Post a Comment