Inside TNA Wrestling – Part 1
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling is the second most popular form of Professional Wrestling in the world today. Coming from humble roots to filling arenas and pay-per-views, TNA is seen as the only legitimate competition to the behemoth that is World Wrestling Entertainment.
Formed in May 2002 by former WWE and WCW wrestler Jeff Jarrett and his father Jerry, TNA was initially a member of the storied NWA (National Wrestling Alliance), before forming its own identity and franchise base in 2004. Operating out of Nashville, Tennessee, TNA focuses most of its promotion and live events around the TNA Impact set at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida.
In 2004, TNA began broadcasting “TNA Impact!” as a weekly show along the lines of WWE’s RAW and Smackdown. Despite rating difficulties early on, which eventually led to the Fox Sports Net, the original broadcaster to drop the show. It has now found a home at WWE’s former base, Spike TV. TNA also broadcasts overseas into countries such as the UK and Australia.
TNA also runs monthly pay-per-view shows that culminate with Bound for Glory (TNAs equivalent of Wrestlemania), the showpiece of TNA Wrestling. These monthly pay-per-views have allowed TNA to move out of their Florida home and to take the TNA brand both across America and internationally, having completed successful tours of Asia and the UK in 2007 and 2008.
TNA has established an identity quite different from that of WWE. The first marked difference and something that shapes everything in the company, from the narrative flow through to the actual structure of the presentation, is the six-sided ring. Usual wrestling events feature a standard boxing-sized four sided ring, but TNA uses a hexagonal ring which gives the wrestling a completely different complexity from WWE.
This six-sided ring is accompanied by a Six Sides of Steel match, very similar in style to the standard steel cage match, but with the addition of two more steel sides. TNA is also well known for pushing sports entertainment to the extreme, especially in the X Division, their Cruiserweight League.
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