by Michael Kelly

Created on: August 28, 2006   Last Updated: May 09, 2007

What started out as a branch of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), Total Nonstop Action is now the forefront of the NWA and now represents all territories around the USA. TNA is ran by Jerry Jarrett and his son Jeff Jarrett. Although they run it, Panda Energy provides its financial backing and Dixie Carter makes the final decisions as CEO.

TNA started out on Wednesday nights on Pay-Per-Views in 2002. The only way to watch the show was to pay $10 every week. It eventually got a television deal with Fox Sports, but the show was later relegated to the company's official website at TNAwrestling.com. Soon after, TNA landed a television deal with SpikeTV after WWE's departure from the network. Now airing weekly on Saturday nights the show features many superstars such as Jeff Jarrett, AJ Styles, Abyss, Raven, Jim Cornette, Sting, Scott Steiner, Kevin Nash, Samoa Joe, and many others.

TNA has had quite a bit of success, being able to hold highly acclaimed monthly Pay-Per-View's and sell a plethora of merchandise. The company has many DVD's on its product line including T-Shirts and compilation videos. Its biggest success may come from the fact that many wrestlers from WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment), have jumped over to TNA. When Christian's contract expired in WWE he jumped to TNA the very next week. Other superstars such as Rhino, The Dudley Boys, Raven, Jim Cornette, Christy Hemme, Gail Kim, Jeff Hardy, and many more have found success in TNA thus far. Raven, Rhino, and Christian have all captured TNA's Heavyweight Championship, which is the official World Title of the National Wrestling Alliance.

TNA considers itself to be an alternative to WWE's "sports entertainment". It boasts many unique traits, such as a six sided ring, a unique "X Division" which involves high risk maneuvers, original matches such as the "Ultimate X", and a passionate fan base. Most of the events are held in the "Impact Zone" at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. The weekly "IMPACT!" television show is taped two episodes at a time, giving the wrestlers an opportunity to rest and travel less often. Even though most wrestlers are under contract, they are usually allowed to compete for other companies such as Ring of Honor.

TNA fans are passionate and chant for all of the opponents in the matches. They love the X Division and enjoy the innovation. While WWE doesn't view TNA as competition at this time, both TNA and SpikeTV are driven to go head to head with WWE in the near future. Many TNA stars have spoken out against WWE. One such occasion featured Rhino throwing his ECW Championship in the trash and burning it in protest of the new ECW. He claimed that WWE offered him a contract and he rejected it, as have many former ECW stars.

TNA has been able to boast featuring many major wrestling stars in the past such as Dusty Rhodes, Hulk Hogan, Sting, Kevin Nash, Sabu, Scott Steiner, Randy Savage, Diamond Dallas Page, Raven, The Dudley Boys(Team 3-D), Konnan, Scott Hall, X-Pac, and many others.

The future seems bright for this up and coming wrestling company, but only time will tell if it can give WWE a run for its money.

For more information on this wrestling company visit its official website at www.tnawrestling.com. The site features wrestler profiles, photos, merchandise, articles, history, and more.

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