horrorfan_1986

On June 19th, 2002, a small start up company would hold it's very first ppv. On that night, we saw three Elvis', some midgets, a Mexicool teaming with an America's Most Wanted against a pair of dicks, and finally former WWE IC Champion, Ken Shamrock defeat former WCW monster, Malice (aka The Wall) to become the first NWA World Champion of the NWA-TNA era.

Since then, we've seen the explosion of the X-Division where it wasn't about weight limits, but no limits.Wrestlers such as AJ Styles, Low-Ki, Chris Sabin, The Amazing Red, Michael Shane, Petey Williams. Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian, Samoa Joe and Jay Lethal gain their first real exposure outside of the indy circuit. The X-Division also provided means for former stars to regain their popularity with Jerry Lynn, Kid Kash and Sean Waltman putting on modern day classics with their young conterparts.

Although tag team wrestling quietly died out in the beginning of the decade, TNA seemed insistent of bringing it back. The long standing Triple X vs AMW feud being the frontrunner of single handly bringing it back. Meanwhile, teams such as The Naturals, The New Church, The Harris Brothers, Team 3D, Team Canada, LAX, and the numerous tag teams of AJ Styles (w/ D-Lo Brown, Christopher Daniels and Jerry Lynn).

While the WWE kept releasing wrestlers with the general feeling that they were now useless, TNA found use for them. Whether it was Raven exploding onto the scene in early 2003, Jeff Hardy's shocking 2004 debut, Rhino's gore in 2005 or the complete shock of Kurt Angle in 2006, TNA has been the home of rebuilding one's career. Who could forget some of the fantastic matches that D-Lo Brown put on for the company? Here's a guy who wasn't even good enough to be a low carder in the WWE and yet as soon as he debuted, his matches improved dramatically.

TNA through out it's 6 years existence has also been the place for legends to return, even if it's for one night. One of the final matches of the Road Warriors happened in a pre-six sided rings. The Outsiders would come in a few times and make waves before leaving again. At their very first 3 hour PPV, Randy Savage made his debut. In TNA's first year, they found out exactly why Roddy Piper is dangerous to have around on a live show. In 2007, we saw the unlikely team of Road Warrior Animal team with Rick Steiner taking on Team 3D. Even international stars couldn't stay away when The Great Muta made an appearance prior to Destination X in '07.

More than anything, TNA has been Jeff Jarrett's attempt at creating a new company that one day could bring forth a new Monday Night War with the WWE. Although they're still a long ways away, they have made some major steps to one day being that second company.


On this 6th year anniversary, what has been some of your favorite matches, feuds, moments and which stars do you wish would return?

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Twist of Suffy

I wish they would stop sucking.

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Tommy Platinum

I only got into the product in mid 2006. I had taken a break from all wrestling and had not been aware of TNA beforehand. I had previously been a WWE fan exclusively, but on the recommendation of a friend, I checked out some TNA, which I THINK I found on The Wrestling Channel. I immediately saw Raven, who I had been a fan of in WWE, and I had seen in ECW. He drew me in, along with the mysterious Abyss, who reminded me of my favourite wrestler as a mark, Kane. AJ Styles and Samoa Joe were also big reasons for my immediate appreciation of the product. The rest of the former WWE guys also helped me to get into the product, because I was already familiar with them.

AJ Styles, Joe and Abyss are still my favourite TNA wrestlers, and I have since learned a lot more about their careers and with the help of dvds and downloads, seen a lot of their best matches. AJ Styles has been the most entertaining and important wrestler in TNA's 6 years, and although I did not see the early days, I have watched a lot of matches and I don't think many would disagree.

I became disillusioned with the product for a long time as I saw more and more gimmick matches seemingly thrown in for no reason, excessive amounts of wrestlers signed for apparently no reason other to have more people on the roster, and storylines with potential go to shit (such as Abyss/Sting). TNA has always been something I have loved at times and hated at others. I loved the way they debuted Mesias, but then they went right ahead and ruined it. However, TNA has always been ENTERTAINING when I have watched it. Even when they screw things up and make the product look like a joke, there is always something to enjoy and it remains an alternative to WWE to a degree. I do not go along with the idea that they book the same way WWE do. There are similarities, perhaps too many, but TNA is still TNA and retains its own identity.

I have got into the product again recently due to the face push of AJ, a man who, while great as a heel, I prefer as a face. Also, Joe winning the title, Abyss returning, and the successful pushing of Kaz have made me a fan again.

As for who I would like to return, I was very disappointed that Raven quietly left the company without any sort of angle whatsoever. I was hoping he would get one last major run, and a really good exit storyline, but it wasn't to be. I would love Raven back for a couple of appearances because he has always been one of my favourites.

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neXus

King Steventon

My favourite moment from the company, hands down, Raven winning the title in the King Of The Mountain match. Such an emotional moment. Havent watched it in ages, but if I am correct it was during an angle where Raven was "walking out" on TNA, and at the same time Jarrett was banned from the match and on the spot the decision was made to put Raven in it.

The image of a bloody Raven holding the belt surrounded by fans basking in his glory is the defining TNA moment for me.


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horrorfan_1986

That right there is why TNA brings in former WWE wrestlers and why anyone who has an issue with it clearly doesn't understand TNA.



I started watching TNA in Feb 2003. So like 9 months into the company. At the time, S.E.X. was running around trying to be the new nWo. I really didn't care about that much though. The main people who got me into the company was The Amazing Red, AJ Styles, AMW (To a lesser extent) and finally Raven. Seeing Raven finally being used well was the main thing that entertained me. My third TNA ppv that I ordered was Jeff Jarrett vs Raven for the NWA title. Unlike WWE tv main events, TNA main events were given typically 20 minutes or longer. That increased the overall quality of the show incredibly. Although there was plenty of crap, there was plenty to make the price of 10 bucks a show be worth it. Not to mention, for one ppv a month in the WWE, it would cost 35 bucks. That's for only 3 hours. Just getting 2 ppvs per month from TNA made it 20 bucks for 6 hours!

Around the time money got tight, TNA started airing iMPACT on Fox Sports Net. With that, I was no longer kept in the dark of what was going on just because I didn't have the money for the ppvs. These early iMPACTS may of not been the best, but they gave out plenty of info of what happened on the weekly ppvs, said what was going to happen that Wednesday and provided decent matches.

Early 2005 was when I couldn't get enough of TNA. I ordered Final Resolution, Against All Odds, Destination X, Lockdown and Slamiversary. Meanwhile, I bought several TNA dvds from their site (best of AMW, 3LK, Styles and Victory Road 2002 to name a few). Sadly, I wasn't able to buy any more ppvs during that time due to being at college. But I tried to dl as many matches as I could to stay interested. I can remember watching iMPACT online on my roommates computer (I didn't have my Mac at the time) to watch the great veterans and young stars tag tournament for Chris Candido. Even in the worst of times I was loving TNA in 2005.

2006 was when my interest really started to slow down. I was still enjoying matches and feuds, but there was just something missing from TNA at that point. As the months and years went on, I lost even more interest to the point I'm at now with not even wanting to watch TNA anymore.

Some of my favorite matches would include AMW vs Triple X (the first steel cage match), most of the early Jerry Lynn/AJ Styles matches and Raven vs Jeff Jarrett.

The one guy I would actually watch TNA again for is The Amazing Red. Even though he hasn't been the same since the knee injury, I always mark out when I saw the guy.

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King Steventon

Well I got into TNA in 2003, my interest in the wwe had floundered quite alot and whilest in retrospect it was actually pretty decent, at the time I had grown bored of it. Luckily for me we have a wrestling channel over here, and it quickly became one of my favourite channels as it offered TNA, ROH, CZW and various others for free. I started watching various promotions on there and obviously the one that held my attention the most was TNA due to several recognizeable names and the fact that it was just something different to the wwe. I remember the first match I saw was a ladder match between Sabu and Ken Shamrock from one of the very first shows, the match ended when Malice interered and stole the belt before laying both men out.

Many wrestlers throughout the years helped me remian interested in the product, wether it was the X-Division likes of Michael Shane, Kid Kiash, Amazing Red and Chris Sabin, the tag team wars between AMW, Triple X, Team Canada and The Naturals, to the more hardcore bralwers of Rhino, Raven and Abyss, they all seemed to offer something that the wwe was lacking in.

I've fell out of TNA really since 2006 around about the time they brought in Christian Cage. Before that I had had no problem with them usually established stars, but there was something about the way they seemed to use Cage's fame from the wwe rather than to build him up as one of their own that grated on me. This annoyance grew throughout 2006 and 2007 as they seemed to bring in new stars every month on the basis of they had wrestled for the wwe. When Kurt Angle debuted, an basically spat in the faces of the wwe fans in an interview, then got pushed into a rushed fued with Samoa Joe I really just gave up on the show.

I am starting to watch TNA more now, mostly because of the same reason I watched them in the first place. I have grown tired of alot of the wwe's routine and TNA offers alot they do not have, a good tag team division, some fun parody charactors and a womens division that is more than T&A.

Theres alot of guys I'd like to see return, Jerry Lynn, Kid Kash, Michael Shane, The Naturals and Amazing Red are all at the top of the list.

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Twist of Suffy

I miss the Naturals they need to come back and dominate somewhere, whether it be TNA, WWE or ROH.

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Savage_Animal

how i stumbled on to tna was through the web. i read on the web that raven was in tna. So i checked out a few shows on the wed. i liked it. I saw my first tna impact on fox durring the sex era at my grandparents house. I didn't have satlite and i still don't. i was over there and i was looking for something to watch and i found impact. first star i see when i tune in is kid kash defending trinity i think. next thing i remember seeing in dusty rhoads calling out nikta koloff(i already know i botched the spelling). Then I saw Jarret vs Daniels and I like the product. the only cheesy thing i did not like was mike tenay leaving the anounce booth to tell jarret the importance of tradition or something like that. then end of the show i see raven steal the nwa title from jarret.

since then i watched it. i became more of a fan of kid kash. i liked his persona. kash played heel great in tna with his gimick. i was quite happy when sabu came to tna. he gave his all and helped tna get higher. another thing that glued me was seeing dustin rhoads. no goldust/black reign/ seven gimick just dustin. he looked in great shape he put on good matches. raven becoming nwa champ one of the top moments in tna history.

things that bugged me about tna was overselling an injury. ex sting got gas or mace in his eyes and comes back to finish the match with half his face covered in a cloth. then too many gimick matches. i thought it wasn't bad when tna got nash, christian, steiner and sting. because they didn't win the title right off the bat. they didn't bury guys but i felt because of christian's arrival monty browns push got haulted. another thing that really bugged me is tna impact debut show on spike and raven doesn't come in as champ where as jeff does. i felt raven should of carried the belt durring tna's first impact.

tna doing jackass angle was terrible. was garabage. kurt angle becoming the focus of tna was quite annoying. ever single moment was spent of kurt. tna has improved since last year. i just hope tna can grow from their mistakes

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Kizza

When you stop and think about it, TNA have made massive leaps and bounds. How long did it take
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to gain worldwide exposure? 20-30 years? it's taken TNA 6 to be broadcasted around the world. Granted it's easier to do now then back in the days of Bruno Sammartino and Stan Stasiak, wrestling has come along way.

It all started with Hulk Hogan in 1984, making a base for WWF to jump off of, using his momentum, his charisma to propel into a worldwide company. They became household names, and Hulk, Andre and others became stars. At the beginning of the 1990's, it was changing. There were younger guys coming in, like Shawn Michaels, the Hart's, guys like that, who would lead the WWE through the 1990's, through the war with WCW. Whether it was the controversial Montreal Screwjob, which is still talked about 11 years on, or DX getting up to their antics, things were changing.

Wrestlers like Steve Austin, The Rock, Triple H and The Undertaker were making the company huge. This period was huge for the business. People could relate to Steve Austin, the blue collar worker who drunk beer and hated his boss. People loved The Rock, who had the wittiest catch phrases. People hated Triple H, how he always won through dubious antics. People wondered about The Undertaker, a dark, mysterious figure barely spoke.

Then, 2002 rolled around. We saw wrestlers who had talent. Guys that people had never heard about. It was a place that people who craved more wrestling and less antics watched. Guys like AJ, Low Ki, Jerry Lynn and The Amazing Red created the X Division. Guys like Raven, Jeff Jarrett, Konnan, Ken Shamrock, Sabu and BG James brought in guys who had seen them in WWE/ECW/WCW and were interested.

Then they really gained star power. Not saying that it was a good period, but they got Christian, Samoa Joe, Homicide, Kurt Angle, Jay Lethal, Booker T, Rhino, Motor City Machine Guns and others have signed since.

TNA have really risen to fame quickly, but still have a long way to go before being able to challenge even ECW, WWE's C show. Even though they are creeping up, they have to give it a fair few more years to be close to Smackdown/RAW. But I believe that they will get there eventually.

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