50 Fun Facts About TNA Wrestling

What unusual ring shape did TNA adopt when its Impact television show premiered in June 2004?

The six-sided ring, a design occasionally used by Mexico's AAA, was retired in 2010 and then voted back by fans in 2014.

Which 1980s WWF megastar joined TNA as a consultant and first appeared on Impact in January 2010?

Hulk Hogan arrived with former WCW president Eric Bischoff, who joined the creative team, and stayed until his contract expired in October 2013.

Which rock band's frontman became president of TNA in August 2016 after making loans to the company?

Smashing Pumpkins singer Billy Corgan sued over his unpaid loans that October and was removed as president weeks later, before a new owner settled the debt.

Which Tennessee city is home to the state fairgrounds arena where TNA staged most of its early weekly shows?

Nashville hosted the early weekly pay-per-views at a fairgrounds arena nicknamed the TNA Asylum, though most television tapings later moved out of state.

Which former WCW world champion became the first inductee into the TNA Hall of Fame in 2012?

Sting was named the first inductee in June 2012 and formally enshrined that October, the year after winning the world title there at the age of 52.

In 2010 TNA moved Impact to a new night to go head-to-head with which rival show?

TNA's challenge to WWE Raw echoed the WCW Monday Nitro era but was brief: Impact went back to Thursday nights within two months.

TNA's long-time TV home, nicknamed the Impact Zone, was inside which Orlando theme park?

Universal Studios Florida leased Soundstage 21 to the promotion from 2004, the same stage WCW had used for its syndicated tapings in the 1990s.

Which wrestler left WWE in 2006 and became the first TNA World Heavyweight Champion?

Kurt Angle won his 1996 Olympic gold with a broken neck, and in TNA he went on to hold the world title six times.

Which wrestler was TNA's first X Division Champion and left in 2013 rather than take a 60% pay cut?

AJ Styles won the new title in a four-way match at the promotion's second weekly show and stayed eleven years, later winning the world title too.

Which 2016 TNA match saw 'Broken' Matt Hardy fight his brother Jeff at their North Carolina home?

The Final Deletion put the Hardy brand itself on the line, and the losing brother had to give up the surname and answer to 'Brother Nero'.

Which cable network was home to TNA Impact from October 2005 until the end of 2014?

Spike TV reached more than 97 million homes when the deal ended, well above the 59 million of the smaller channel Impact moved to in 2015.

TNA created a spin-off promotion called Ring Ka King for television viewers in which country?

India's Ring Ka King ran for 26 episodes in 2012, and the parent promotion returned in 2017 to tape episodes of Impact there.

Which four-time WCW champion co-founded TNA in 2002 with his father after a fishing-trip brainstorm?

Jeff Jarrett hatched the idea with his father Jerry and Bob Ryder on a fishing trip, planning a promotion that skipped television for weekly pay-per-view.

Which third-generation wrestler became the first woman to win TNA's top world title in January 2020?

Tessa Blanchard, daughter of 1980s star Tully Blanchard, beat Sami Callihan for the title but was stripped of it that June after a long absence.

Which wrestler won a ten-woman gauntlet match in 2007 to become the first TNA Knockouts Champion?

Gail Kim went on to hold the title seven times, including one reign that lasted just 18 hours before she vacated it to retire.

Which signature TNA X Division match hangs the prize from two cables crossed high above the ring?

Ultimate X debuted in 2003 with ladders banned, and the first match used bare steel wires that bounced so much the belt tore off twice.

Which TNA match has a penalty box and is won by hanging the title belt above the ring?

King of the Mountain is effectively a ladder match in reverse, and a wrestler must first score a pin or submission just to become eligible to win.

Which wrestler won the TNA world title in March 2013 and revealed himself as leader of a biker gang?

Bully Ray had posed as the gang's enemy for months, then beat Jeff Hardy with help from Aces & Eights and unveiled himself as their president.

Which TNA Knockouts Champion later played Tammé 'The Welfare Queen' Dawson in Netflix's GLOW?

Awesome Kong, real name Kia Stevens, ran a $25,000 open challenge for her title that planted audience members kept losing, until Taylor Wilde beat her.

Which executive became TNA president in 2003 after her parents' energy firm bought control?

Dixie Carter was handling the promotion's publicity when a key backer pulled out, so she pitched her parents, the owners of Dallas-based Panda Energy.

Which TNA tag team of James Storm and Bobby Roode won the World Tag Team Championship five times?

Beer Money, Inc. grew out of two broken-up groups, Storm's America's Most Wanted and Roode's Team Canada, and became a regular pairing in 2008.

Which TNA pay-per-view was created in 2005 as its flagship event, an answer to WrestleMania?

Bound for Glory left the studio in 2006, when a Michigan arena hosted the first monthly TNA pay-per-view staged away from its usual soundstage.

Which TNA event debuted in 2005 with every match on the card inside a steel cage?

Lockdown was originally meant to feature only two cage matches, but grew into a fully caged card with a team finale modelled on WCW's WarGames.

Which wrestler cashed in a Feast or Fired briefcase to win the TNA world title in 2016?

Drew Galloway, better known in WWE as Drew McIntyre, took the belt from Matt Hardy and became the first Scottish-born holder of the title.

Which Bellator MMA fighter returned to TNA in 2014 and went on to win its world title four times?

Bobby Lashley fought five times for Bellator while wrestling for TNA and won them all, before heading back to WWE in 2018.

Which TNA stable of veteran former world champions formed in 2008 to battle the younger 'Frontline'?

The Main Event Mafia united Kevin Nash, Booker T and Scott Steiner with two fellow former world champions, and between them won the world, tag team and Legends titles.

Which masked TNA wrestler began appearing unmasked in 2012 as his own 'brother', Joseph Park?

Abyss played both roles, with Park 'searching' for his missing brother, until Eric Young tore off the mask mid-match and exposed the secret.

Which legend joined TNA in January 2010 and led Fortune, a stable modelled on his Four Horsemen?

Ric Flair's group was first spelled 'Fourtune', and the name was tweaked once its membership expanded later in 2010.

Which former WWE star was TNA's last NWA World Heavyweight Champion before the two split in 2007?

Christian Cage was stripped by the NWA on the day of a title defence, ostensibly for refusing to face challengers from its other territories.

Which UFC pioneer won the main event of TNA's very first show to claim the NWA world title?

Ken Shamrock beat Malice at the end of a twenty-man Gauntlet for the Gold, with Ricky Steamboat as the guest referee.

Which regional cable group became the first broadcaster of TNA Impact when it launched in 2004?

Fox Sports Net's contract ran out after a year, leaving Impact to survive on webcasts until a new cable deal arrived that autumn.

Which reigning Knockouts Champion from TNA, then called Impact, entered WWE's 2022 Royal Rumble?

Mickie James was announced for the match on SmackDown, and WWE openly acknowledged her as the champion of a rival promotion.

Which X Division Champion traded the belt for a world title shot in 2012, creating TNA's 'Option C'?

Austin Aries agreed to vacate the title only on condition that every future X Division Champion be offered the same deal.

Which future New Japan star was sent to TNA on excursion and dressed as a Green Hornet sidekick?

Kazuchika Okada's treatment strained relations with New Japan, and TNA's later management apologised for it on behalf of the earlier regime.

Which manager was TNA's on-screen Management Director when its own title belts debuted in 2007?

Jim Cornette's storyline reason for the new belts was TNA's growing worldwide exposure, when in reality the NWA had just reclaimed its titles.

Which writer joined TNA in July 2002 and says he coined the name Total Nonstop Action as a pun?

Vince Russo has said the initials were a deliberate play on words, fitting a pay-per-view-only product meant to be edgier than WWE.

Which Canadian media company, owner of the Fight Network, bought control of TNA in 2017?

Anthem Sports & Entertainment first stepped in with a credit facility to keep the promotion out of bankruptcy, then took a majority stake.

TNA briefly rebranded in 2017 under the name of which newer promotion started by its own co-founder?

Global Force Wrestling was supposed to merge with the company, but the deal was never completed, the name was dropped that October and a lawsuit followed.

Which promotion became TNA's official developmental territory in 2011, a deal revived in 2019?

Ohio Valley Wrestling's first spell as the feeder system lasted two years, ending in November 2013, before the pair reunited.

Which Discovery-owned channel became the new home of TNA Impact in January 2015?

Destination America credited Impact for its best-ever first quarter, yet cancelled the two companion wrestling shows that May.

Which 2005 TNA pay-per-view's three-way main event earned the promotion its first five-star rating?

Unbreakable's main event saw Christopher Daniels defend the X Division title against two rivals, and journalist Dave Meltzer gave it a rare five stars.

With WWE owning their old name, the Dudley Boyz wrestled in TNA from 2005 under which new name?

Team 3D took the name from their finishing move, the Dudley Death Drop, and the pair became Brother Ray and Brother Devon.

Which AEW World Champion also held TNA's top title, then called the Impact world title, in 2021?

Kenny Omega was a triple champion that year, holding the AEW, Impact and Mexican AAA Mega titles at the same time during a cross-promotion deal.

Which publisher released the TNA Impact video game in 2008 but ran into trouble before a sequel?

Midway Games sold 1.5 million copies of the game, whose story-mode hero, Suicide, was then brought to television as a real wrestler.

Which TNA Knockouts faction, inspired by Paris Hilton, put paper bags over opponents' heads?

The Beautiful People were the idea of original members Angelina Love and Velvet Sky, who had started out in TNA as a fan-favourite duo.

Which ex-WCW announcer was TNA's lead voice from 2002 and entered its Hall of Fame with Don West?

Mike Tenay was dubbed 'The Professor' in WCW by Tony Schiavone for his deep knowledge of wrestling history, and remained with TNA until 2016.

Which November 2004 show was TNA's first monthly pay-per-view after two years of weekly events?

Victory Road replaced a run of 111 weekly pay-per-views, and its card included the first Monster's Ball match.

The TNA biker faction Aces & Eights took its name from which notorious holding in poker?

Dead man's hand is the nickname for a pair of aces and a pair of eights, and the gang sent a photo of those cards as a calling card in 2012.

Which wrestler joined TNA in June 2005 and went undefeated for roughly a year and a half?

Samoa Joe kept the streak alive even while losing the X Division title, because that defeat came in a match with no pinfalls or submissions.

Which TNA wrestler, billed as the owner's spoiled nephew, went unpinned from 2013 until April 2016?

EC3 even lost the world title without being pinned, as his challenger beat a third man in a three-way match, and Mike Bennett finally ended the run.