Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) is an American promotion founded by Jeff Jarrett and his father Jerry Jarrett in May 2002. The current majority share owner is Panda Energy International. The company, which trades as TNA Entertainment, LLC, operates out of Nashville, Tennessee, with an office in Orlando, Florida.

TNA was originally a member of the National Wrestling Alliance, with the company known as NWA-TNA, but withdrew from them in 2004, in the process acquiring the rights to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and the NWA World Tag Team Championship until 2014.

TNA is the first American promotion to exclusively use a hexagonal ring as opposed to the more conventional four-sided ring. The organization also formerly (Pre TNA World &amp; Tag Team Championships) employed the NWA rule that a title could change hands as the result of a disqualification, although the rule was only enforced on occasion. In addition, two separate entrance ramps are used for heels and faces.

Championship history
TNA originally recognized the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) World Heavyweight and World Tag Team Championships, in addition to the X Division Championship, the only championship created and owned exclusively by TNA. Traditionally, NWA World Champions regularly defended their titles against local contenders in the various NWA territories. This was rarely the case when TNA used the titles, with TNA leasing the titles from the NWA in order to free the champion from these obligations. Wrestlers who win all three titles are said to have won the TNA Triple Crown.

On May 13, 2007, the NWA withdrew recognition of TNA's champions, leaving the two NWA titles vacant. New titles, the TNA World Heavyweight Championship and the TNA World Tag Team Championship, were created and unveiled later in that week. Wrestlers who held the NWA World Heavyweight and World Tag Team championships are credited with being former TNA champions; for example, Ron Killings is billed as a two-time TNA World Champion, yet his two reigns were of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Along with this, TNA redesigned the X Division title belt. The TNA Women's World Championship was created on October 14, 2007. Gail Kim won a 10-woman gauntlet match to become the first Women's Champion in TNA. She is also the first to hold both the TNA Women's World Championship and the WWE Women's Championship. In 2008, the female performers of TNA were rechristened the TNA Knockouts, and both the division and the title were renamed accordingly.

External links and references

 * TNAwrestling.com (Official Website)
 * TNAEurope.com (TNA Europe fansite)
 * TNA action figures database
 * Total Nonstop Action Wrestling at CAGEMATCH.net