page_title: Impact Wrestling
section_title: Formation and early history (2002–2004)
hierarchical_section_title: Impact Wrestling / History / Formation and early history (2002–2004)
caption_attribution_description: English: This image shows professional wrestler and professional wrestling promoter Jeff Jarrett at a Global Force Wrestling (GFW) show in June 2015.
context_page_description: Impact Wrestling is an American professional wrestling promotion founded in Nashville, Tennessee. The promotion operates via its parent company Anthem Wrestling Exhibitions, LLC, a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment.
  Founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett in 2002, the promotion was initially known as NWA: Total Nonstop Action and was associated with the National Wrestling Alliance, though not actually a member of that governing body. In 2004, the promotion became known as Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, but it continued to use the NWA World Heavyweight and Tag Team championships as part of its agreement with the NWA. After the agreement ended in 2007, the company created its own TNA World Heavyweight and TNA World Tag Team championships. The promotion was purchased by Anthem at the beginning of 2017 and, in March of that year, was fully rebranded under its current name after its main television series.
  From its inception, the promotion had been considered the second-largest in the United States behind WWE.
context_section_description: The concept of TNA originated shortly after World Championship Wrestling (WCW) ended in 2001. Bob Ryder, Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Jarrett went on a fishing trip and contemplated their futures in the professional wrestling business. Only one wrestling product remained on United States national television: the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, later WWE). Ryder felt that this situation led many television stations to regard professional wrestling as bad for business, so he suggested a company not reliant on television, but rather one going straight to pay-per-view. In July 2002, Vince Russo joined Jeff and Jerry Jarrett's NWA-TNA promotion as a creative writer and would assist in the writing and production of the shows. Russo states that he coined the name "Total Nonstop Action", the initials of the company "TNA" being a play on "T&A". The original intention, as they were exclusive to pay-per-view, was to be viewed as an edgier product than WWE.
  The Jarretts found the financial backing they needed and the company put on its first show on June 19, 2002. That night, however, in a dark match just before they went on the air, a 450 lb wrestler named Cheex hit the ropes with so much force that one of them broke. The estimated repair time was 30–60 minutes, which they did not have because the schedule called for them to go live in a few minutes, whether the ring was ready or not. Backstage, the producers shuffled the schedule so that some non-wrestling segments went first to give the ring crew some more time, but they did not have many of them. The ring crew fixed the rope with the help of Ron and Don Harris, and everyone went live hoping for the best.
  Initially, TNA's weekly pay-per-view show operated as the company's main source of revenue, in place of monthly pay-per-view events used by other promotions. These shows took place mostly at the Tennessee State Fairground Sports Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, nicknamed the "TNA Asylum".
  In October 2002, Panda Energy purchased a controlling interest (72%) of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Xplosion launched on November 27, 2002, as TNA's first regular cable show and featured exclusive matches taped at the TNA Asylum as well as exclusive interviews with TNA wrestlers.
  After 27 months and 111 pay-per-view events, TNA began producing a weekly television show and monthly three-hour pay-per-views. The last weekly pay-per-view took place on September 8, 2004.
caption: Jeff Jarrett, one of the founders of Impact Wrestling (then TNA), Hall of Famer and six-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion
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