Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling is an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Jeff Jarrett and his father Jerry Jarrett in May 2002. The company operates out of Nashville, with offices in Orlando and Manhattan. TNA Wrestling was originally a member of the National Wrestling Alliance and was also known as NWA: TNA. TNA withdrew from the NWA in 2004, but acquired the rights to use the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and NWA World Tag Team Championship title belts until the year 2014.

Business model

The original TNA business model was different from that employed by WWE in several key ways. By not touring like other major federations have done, TNA was able to keep costs down. TNA's original system of programming comprised weekly cable pay-per-views.

Related Topics:
Cable - Pay-per-views

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While most major promotions had aired monthly PPVs, not having a weekly network, syndicated, or cable show from the outset was a radical departure from the norm. The weekly TNA PPVs were priced at $9.95 per week, much less than the monthly WWE PPVs. The weekly events were also transmitted free - albeit with a six-month delay - on The Wrestling Channel starting March, 2004; this being the company's first foray into the international market.

Related Topics:
$ - The Wrestling Channel - March - 2004

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Initial estimates by TNA showed that about 50,000 PPV buys would be needed each week for TNA to break even. Actual buys, according to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, ranged from anywhere between 5,000-15,000 on a weekly basis. After 111 weeks, TNA ceased their weekly PPVs on September 8, 2004. On Sunday November 7, 2004 TNA Wrestling held their first three hour PPV, Victory Road, with buys for the PPV estimated to be in the low 10,000s.

Related Topics:
Dave Meltzer - September 8 - 2004 - November 7 - Victory Road

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TNA began airing TNA iMPACT! on June 4, 2004 on FOX Sports Net. iMPACT! was taped on Tuesdays in Soundstage 21 at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, and then broadcast between 4:00pm and 5:00pm on Fridays on FSN in most markets (iMPACT! was also syndicated throughout Europe and Asia). TNA purchased the one hour time slot from FSN at the cost of $30,000 a week, http://www.sunherald.com/mld/thesunherald/entertainment/11962025.htm with the weekly PPV earnings being their main source of revenue.

Related Topics:
TNA iMPACT! - June 4 - 2004 - FOX Sports Net - Universal Studios - Orlando, Florida - Europe - Asia

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Since December 2004, reports have surfaced that several workers have been shorted in pay, with Sean Waltman in particular claiming that he had not been adequately paid. However, TNA is known to have a policy of paying wrestlers for scheduled dates regardless of whether they actually wrestled or not. Two instances of this would be when the taping schedule for iMPACT! changed and after TNA's TV deal with FSN lapsed.

Related Topics:
December 2004 - Sean Waltman

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On May 27, 2005 TNA aired its final episode of iMPACT! on Fox Sports Net. iMPACT! averaged a 0.2 household rating over the course of its existence. This left TNA with no television deal other than the monthly PPVs, so on July 1 TNA teamed up with RealNetworks to stream iMPACT! from their official website via RealPlayer. They also enabled people to download iMPACT! through BitTorrent. At the same time, TNA began seeking a more profitable television outlet. TNA first began negotiations with WGN, with a proposed Monday evening timeslot running parallel to WWE RAW, but they could not come to an agreement. TNA then began negotiations with Spike TV for a rumored Saturday night timeslot, a traditional wrestling timeslot dating back to the days of Clash of the Champions and the Saturday Night Main Event. On July 21, TNA announced that they had secured a deal with Spike TV to air iMPACT! as part of Spike TV's Slammin' Saturday Night block, beginning in the autumn of 2005. TNA will tape two episodes every other Tuesday as of September 27, and will begin broadcasting in October 2005. Unlike the Fox Sports deal, TNA will not be paying for the timeslot; instead, Spike will handle the advertising (and take the majority of the revenue from such), with TNA providing the content in exchange for national exposure.

Related Topics:
May 27 - 2005 - July 1 - RealNetworks - Stream - RealPlayer - Download - BitTorrent - WGN - WWE RAW - Spike TV - July 21 - September 27 - October 2005

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TNA has become extremely popular in Canada, where a French-language iMPACT! appears on RDS, thanks in large part to the TNA incarnation of Team Canada. They even have a separate Canadian TNA website hosted by Team Canada.

Related Topics:
Canada - RDS - Team Canada

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TNA has expressed an intention to begin touring in 2006.

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Pay-Per Views

See List of TNA pay-per-view events

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