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WRESTLING COLUMNS

The Success Of NWA-TNA
April 5, 2004 by Chris Chambers


Well to start off with this column I would like to give big props and give thanks that the question I sent was put on the site and answered very nicely. Here is the exact link..

NWA is a legendary promotion that has had many and many very great wrestlers that has graced professional wrestling. The NWA was based on traditional style of wrestling and through the years it branched out with several different promotions still carrying the NWA name. Promotions like NWA - Wildside, NWA - Southwest, NWA - CWF, NWA - Florida, NWA - Main Event, NWA - Missouri, NWA - Rocky Mountain, NWA - Wisconsin, NWA - Alabama, NWA - East, NWA - Hawaii, NWA - Mid Atlantic, NWA - New South, NWA - Tri-State, NWA - Zero One, NWA - Battle Zone (Mississippi), NWA - CW from Florida, NWA - Ireland, NWA - Mid-South, NWA - Oklahoma, NWA - Pacific Northwest, NWA - UK, NWA - Bluegrass, NWA - Kansas, NWA - Midwest, NWA - Virgina, and of course NWA - TNA are all centered around the legacy and tradition of NWA.

NWA - TNA began June 19th, 2002 as a new face so to speak in the wrestling business. The first episode of NWA - TNA had two very huge events IMO....the 6 man X tag match and the gauntlet for the gold tournament. The announcers for NWA - TNA at the beginning were Mike Tenay (a man I have tons of respect for and a man that I have been a fan of since wcw), Don West (cool guy but I really don't know alot about him), and Ed Ferrara....but now its just Mike Tenay & Don West (which isn't a bad thing. The first big event was up and it was a very good match IMO. It was AJ Styles/Low-Ki/Jerry Lynn versus the Flying Elvis'. This match was back and forth and new and inventive moves were shown. The Flying Elvis' ended up winning the first ever Big X Division Match. The second of the two big events on the first episode of NWA - TNA was tremendously awesome as it had many great and good wrestlers in the gauntlet. The Final two that lasted the whole thing were Ken Shamrock and the late Malice (R.I.P). Ken Shamrock and Malice had a very very physical battle for the NWA - TNA Title and I enjoyed it from beginning to end. The winner of the Gauntlet For The Gold ended up being "The Worlds Most Dangerous Man" Ken Shamrock.

Throughout the first year there were tons of great X Division Matches and surprises or shall I say "Shock Value" that made TNA very exciting to watch. Amongst the surprises, there were appearances of Roddy Piper, Dusty Rhodes, Percy Pringle (aka Paul Bearer), and many more. At the beginning of the first year, AJ Styles (a very phenomonal wrestler IMO as well as others) made history in becoming the First Ever X Division Champion. He won the title by defeating 3 other great wrestlers in a Double Elimination Match. The participants were AJ Styles, Psicosis, Low - Ki, and legendary Jerry Lynn. This match is basically what started the Popularity of NWA - TNA imo. The one awesome thing about TNA is that it doesn't hold down the light weights, TNA is centered around the X Division and has had many X Division Main Events. One X Division Main Event that has made a very big impact was the Triple Ladder Triple Threat Match for the X Division Title between AJ Styles, Low - Ki, and Jerry Lynn. That match reached new heights and new uses for the dreaded Ladder.

NWA - TNA First Anniversary finally happened and it was very awesome. NWA - TNA having such success in the first year proved the critics wrong. Most people at first were kinda pessimistic of what NWA - TNA would be capable of but when the First Anniversary happened it laid the pessimistism to rest with surviving the first year. On the first Anniversary Episode, It showcased none other than the man known as Sting. NWA - TNA has had many aspects of wrestling, as it had Sports Entertainment Xtreme, it has had barbaric cage matches, and many other that has given TNA the success that it has gained. What made and makes TNA so versatile is that it has mixed storylines from different promotions and somehow made it work into their own style and has worked very well. For instance, take S.E.X, it was a branching of WCW's New Blood era. Vince Russo was the head of S.E.X as he tried to take over the tradition of NWA and showcase S.E.X to the fullest. This era of TNA, IMO was played off very well and had some tweaks in it to make it more better and popular amongst wrestling fans.

NWA - TNA nowadays, is getting very intresting with the X Division and the Tag Division and the Heavyweight Division as well. The X Division is getting very intresting with the concept of the X Cup and also the Ultimate X Match. There have been a couple of Ultimate X Matches that were very exciting and very good. The X Cups have been very good with different teams showcasing talent from their styles of wrestling. So far there has been Team TNA, Team AAA, Team Canada, Team Japan, and very soon Team UK. The rules of the X Cup are very unique and very intresting.

THE RULES:
ONE NIGHT INTER-PROMOTIONAL PAY-PER-VIEW TO DETERMINE THE AMERICAS X CUP TITLEHOLDERS - DEFENDING CHAMPIONS TEAM MEXICO FROM THE AAA PROMOTION OR TEAM UNITED KINGDOM (UK) MANAGED BY BRITISH WRESTLING LEGEND DAVE TAYLOR. POINT SYSTEM BASED - INCLUDING THE BIG EIGHT MAN ELIMINATION MAIN EVENT!

THE MATCHES:
FOUR (4) SINGLES MATCHES
TWO (2) TAG TEAM MATCHES
BRITISH X-STYLE VS. LUCHA LIBRE!!!

THE FINAL SHOWDOWN - AN EIGHT MAN ELIMINATION MATCH - MEXICO VS. THE UNITED KINGDOM (UK) - ALL EIGHT SUPERSTARS IN A BRITISH X-STYLE AND LUCHA LIBRE ELIMINATION MATCH TO DETERMINE FINAL POINT STANDINGS!

As for the Tag Team Division there has been a tourney to crown New Tag Champions. The Final two teams of the tourney are Kid Kash and Dallas & Low Ki and The Fallen Angel. This match should be very intresting and I can pretty much guarantee it will be an awesome match. As for the Heavyweight Title, there has been a "Road To The Cage" type tourney to crown a number one contender for the title. The final two competitiors that are left to vie for the number one contendership are Raven and Chris Harris. The winner between the two will go on and face Triple J (lol just kiddin)....I mean Double J for the title in a cage.

Well loyal readers this is the conclusion of my column and I just want to say good luck to NWA - TNA in the future and I hope NWA - TNA will get a TV deal so TNA will be more kick ass than it already is. I also want to give a shout out to NWA - TNA's announcers/commentators and say keep up the very good work. I also wanna give a shout out to the guys at Wrestling News Live and of course the guys at SabinSection.com for making NWA - TNA more enjoyable. WNL makes TNA more enjoyable for me because they get lots of interviews with the stars of TNA and Sabin Section makes TNA more enjoyable with various signs they make and some of them if not most of them gets air time on TNA.

Credits: OnlineWorldofWrestling.com & WIA Wrestling for information about various branches of NWA, True wrestling fans in the chat rooms for talking about wrestling with me daily.

by Chris Chambers..


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