Disciples of The New Church The Disciples of the New Church , also known as the New Church Disciples or simply The New Church , were a professional wrestling stable in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ( TNA ) from June 19 , 2002 to October 1 , 2003 . History . Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ( 2002 - 2003 ) . Originally , The Disciples of the New Church formed as a heel stable consisting of Tempest , Slash , and Malice , along with Father James Mitchell as their manager . They were all introduced in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ( TNA ) on June 19 , 2002 when they competed in the Gauntlet for the Gold : an over - the - top rope elimination match in which the final two competitors face off in a one - fall singles match to crown the first NWA World Heavyweight Champion of the TNA era . Malice and Ken Shamrock were the last two remaining in the Gauntlet for the gold match , with Ken Shamrock winning via pinfall , thus leading up to a feud between him and The New Church . On the next PPV , the following week , The New Church interrupted a speech by Ken Shamrock . James Mitchell challenged Shamrock to a match with his Disciple , Malice , for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship , and Ken Shamrock agreed . Then Malice attacked Shamrock from behind in the ring and gave him a chokeslam . On July 3 , Ken Shamrock was attacked by Malice backstage before their match even started , but Ken Shamrock competed to face Malice in the ring regardless and retained his NWA World Title after he defeated Malice in a singles match . On July 10 , Slash and Tempest got a shot at the Tag Team Titles against A . J . Styles and Jerry Lynn but were defeated . Malice had another chance at a shot at the NWA title , when he faced Sabu in a number one contenders ladder match on July 17 , but lost . On July 24 , Malice stole the NWA World Heavyweight Championship from Ken Shamrock after he retained it in a ladder match with Sabu , but on July 31 , Shamrock got it back when TNA security Don Harris interrupted after a match involving Malice and Apolo , taking the NWA World Heavyweight Championship away from Malice to bring it to its rightful owner , Ken Shamrock . After Malice ' s brief feud with Ken Shamrock , he started feuding with Don Harris . On August 7 , Malice and Harris wrestled each other in a first blood match , and then on August 14 , they wrestled again in a last man standing match . After their last man standing match , both of them shook hands in respect for their match together . Malice then left The Disciples of the New Church . Cobain then became apart of the stable , and made a tag team with Slash . Cobain and Slash wrestled together as tag teams in TNA throughout August and September 2002 , but then made a short disappearance . " The Disciples of the New Church " returned to TNA on October 30 , 2002 . Brian Lee became the newest member after their return and made a tag team with Slash , along with James Mitchell and BellaDonna as their manager . They attacked the then current NWA World Tag Team Champions , America ' s Most Wanted ( James Storm and Chris Harris ) demanding a shot at the NWA Tag Team Championships . On November 6 , " The New Church " members Slash and Brian Lee wrestled against America ' s Most Wanted in a tag team match for the NWA Tag Titles , but lost via disqualification . The New Church members Brian Lee and Slash , however , defeated America ' s Most Wanted the following week on November 13 , in another tag team match , becoming the new NWA World Tag Team Champions . On November 20 , America ' s Most Wanted wrestled against The New Church in a rematch , but lost . The New Church successfully defended their titles throughout December 2002 before dropping the titles back to AMW in their final encounter on January 8 , 2003 PPV in a match that was so good , it , of all their matches , made it onto " The History of TNA : Year 1 " DVD ( the only tag team match to do so ) . Bella Donna then left The Disciples of the New Church . " The Disciples of the New Church " turned babyfaces when they joined the battle with Team Extreme ( Sandman , Perry Saturn and New Jack ) and the NWA against Sports Entertainment Xtreme ( S . E . X . ) . On April 9 , Disciples turned on Team Extreme in a three - way tag team match by attacking them through a fireball in Sandman ' s face . They battled Team Extreme throughout the entire year before they were disbanded by James Mitchell on October 1 after Disciples members Sinn , Slash and Vampiro lost to 3Live Kru ( Konnan , Ron Killings and B . G . James ) in a six - man tag team match .