TNA
TNA (Total Nonstop Action) is the Nashville, Tennessee-based promotion that was headed up by Jeff Jarrett and his father, Jerry Jarrett in June 2002. They started running the business using a Pay-Per-View model across cable outlets all over the country, charging $9.95 for a live weekly 3-hour telecast from the Nashville Fairgrounds, formerly known as the Mid-South Coliseum. However, seeing as they were losing money on an almost weekly basis and with no television sponsorship to vouch as it was being broadcast on Pay-Per-View, the Jarretts brought in the Carters and Panda Energy to become majority investors in the promotion.
They were able to parlay that into a weekly show on Fox Sports Net called TNA iMPACT!. TNA was given a time slot of Friday afternoons at 3:00 PM. However, because of random scheduling by FSN and their affiliates, iMPACT! were sometimes shown later in the day, the following day, or in some cases, were not even broadcast at all. A contract dispute would arise in the summer of 2004 and FSN pulled iMPACT! from their schedules. It was around this time that then-NWA World Heavyweight Champion, Jeff Jarrett, lost the championship to Raven, and focused on trying to get their primary show back into a national presence. Enter Spike TV.
Spike TV, who had recently announced themselves that they could not afford the WWE's demands of a hefty rights fee to carry Monday Night RAW, had originally intended go on without a viable wrestling program. Instead, they did a 180 turn and announced that iMPACT! would be a part of Spike TV's lineup. A drastic upgrade, indeed, for the Carters and the Jarretts. Spike TV placed iMPACT to be aired every Saturday night from 11:00 pm to 12:00 am, then added a replay of the show to be aired at 12:00 am on Tuesdays.
Through it all, TNA never gave up to be a viable alternative to what the WWE was giving their fans. While WWE were sometimes re-hashing storylines that were introduced some 10 years ago, TNA got to work on building a solid foundation not only for their prized X Division, but for the TNA roster in general. TNA came up with a new twist to professional wrestling -- the Six-Sided Ring. TNA also introduced the King of the Mountain match, the World X Cup, the Ultimate X match, and the ever-infamous, yet thrilling Six Sides of Steel Cage match.
