149-635: Ring Ka King ( transl. King of the Ring ) was an Indian professional wrestling brand of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). Filming for the promotion's television product began in December 2011 with the backing of Endemol and debuted on India's The Colors Network on 28 January 2012. The first season of 26 episodes concluded on 22 April. Jeff Jarrett was in charge of the promotion, working alongside Dave Lagana, Sonjay Dutt and Jeremy Borash . Savio Vega and Nick Dinsmore were responsible for training
298-514: A Lethal Lockdown match by EV 2.0 at Bound for Glory . On the following episode of Impact! , Fortune formed an alliance with Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff's new stable, Immortal . At Turning Point , Fortune defeated EV 2.0 in a ten-man tag team match and, as a result, EV 2.0's Sabu was released from TNA. The following month at Final Resolution , Styles lost the Television Championship to Douglas Williams, who had turned on Fortune. On
447-450: A PWG Championship number one contender match at the promotion's All-Star Weekend – Day 1. The following night on Day 2 of All-Star Weekend, Styles successfully challenged Super Dragon for the title. Styles defended the title until August 6 at Zombies Shouldn't Run, where he lost it to Kevin Steen . On September 3, Styles entered the 2005 Battle of Los Angeles tournament but was defeated in
596-460: A tables match which was won by Styles. In October, Styles began feuding with Petey Williams (who by then was the TNA X Division Champion) and on November 7 at Victory Road , the first monthly pay-per-view event held by TNA, Styles failed to regain the title from Williams. At Final Resolution , Styles won the X Division Championship for a fourth time in an Ultimate X match, defeating Chris Sabin and
745-574: A tag team , which was named Air Raid. The team's gimmick saw both men dress in G-suits , with Air Raid also appearing on Thunder . On the March 5, 2001, episode of Nitro , they were entered into a tournament for the newly created WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship but were eliminated in the first round by eventual winners Elix Skipper and Kid Romeo . On July 9, 2001, Styles had his first WWF tryout match against his trainer, Rick Michaels , before
894-591: A ten-tag team gauntlet match to earn a tag team title match at Bound for Glory against Team Pacman ( Adam Jones and Ron Killings), where they defeated them to win the TNA World Tag Team Championship . They successfully defended against LAX on the November 1 episode of Impact! and at Genesis against The Steiner Brothers ( Rick and Scott Steiner ). Later that night, Styles and Tomko inadvertently cost Cage his match and helped Kurt Angle retain
1043-542: A 60% cut in pay and TNA founder Jeff Jarrett would resign from the company, but remained as minority shareholder until his temporary return on June 24, 2015, with the deal for his return including the transfer of his minority stake to Dixie Carter, making her sole shareholder. The following year Jarrett revealed plans to start a new professional wrestling promotion, Global Force Wrestling . Further departures in 2014 included TNA veterans Sting , Chris Sabin , Hernandez , Christopher Daniels and Kazarian all leaving
1192-496: A chain. On the May 26 episode of the newly rebranded Impact Wrestling , Styles and Daniels defeated Ray and Dreamer in a no disqualification street fight match, with Styles pinning Dreamer to avenge his loss at Sacrifice. The feud ended at Slammiversary IX , where Ray defeated Styles in a Last Man Standing match. Styles then defeated fellow Fortune member Christopher Daniels in the main event of Destination X . After weeks of asking for
1341-432: A championship steel cage match against Jarret on April 21, where he won his second world title. He successfully defended the title in matches with Ron Killings, Raven and Chris Harris, and on May 19 he defended against all three men in a four-way title match. Styles lost the title to Killings after Jarrett interfered in the match, hitting him with a guitar. Styles returned to the X Division shortly thereafter, winning
1490-523: A championship. At A Night of Tribute, Styles faced Christopher Daniels and Matt Sydal in a three-way match , which Daniels won. On the first show of 2006, Styles wrestled and defeated Matt Sydal, after which the two agreed to form a tag team and challenge for the ROH Tag Team Championship, which was held by Sydal's Generation Next teammates Austin Aries and Roderick Strong . Before receiving a shot at
1639-512: 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. 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
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#17330932165091788-405: A critically lauded three-way match to become the X Division Champion for a fifth time. At Bound for Glory , Styles successfully defended the title against Christopher Daniels in the second thirty-minute Iron Man. The following month at Genesis , Styles successfully defended the title against Petey Williams. Styles then started a feud with Joe, claiming that he had broken the unwritten "code of
1937-688: A deal with Pop TV to air Impact Wrestling , where it premiered on Tuesday, January 5, 2016, in a live special held at the Sands Hotel and Casino in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania . With this move to Pop, Impact Wrestling introduced a new HD set, graphics and theme music. This show saw the semi-finals and finals of the TNA World Title Series , which was won by Ethan Carter III . Husband and wife team Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis would debut soon after. Subsequent shows would include episodes taped during
2086-628: A deal with New Motion, Inc. which led to the introduction of TNA Mobile service. TNA has also launched "TNA U TV"; podcasts aired through YouTube to help promote the company. In August 2007, live-events coordinator Craig Jenkins stated that TNA intended to stage eight pay-per-views and 96 house shows outside Orlando, Florida, in 2008. From 2007 to 2008, TNA first toured Europe, hosting two shows at Porto and Lisbon in Portugal , with TNA later conducting its first tour of England , with most shows selling out which later broke TNA's attendance records with
2235-604: A developmental deal contract, which would require Styles to relocate to Cincinnati, Ohio, where the Heartland Wrestling Association (HWA) developmental territory was located. Styles ultimately declined the deal, as the move would interfere with his wife's college plans. Despite this, Styles wrestled one non-contracted match for HWA, on February 19 against Matt Stryker in a losing effort. On October 26, 2001, Styles participated in All Pro Wrestling 's King of
2384-433: A double elimination match to become the inaugural TNA X Division Champion . He won a second title on the third TNA pay-per-view, teaming with Lynn and defeating Bruce and Lenny Lane in the finals of a tournament for the vacant NWA World Tag Team Championship . Styles successfully defended both titles in the following weeks but began to bicker with the veteran Lynn during their matches together. On August 7, Styles lost
2533-455: A draw after both men scored three pinfalls . On August 28, Low Ki defended the X Division Championship against Lynn and Styles in a ladder match and lost the title to Lynn. Recruiting Mortimer Plumtree and Sonny Siaki as allies, Styles continued to feud with Lynn in successive weeks. On October 23, he defeated Syxx-Pac for the X Division Championship, but lost the title to Lynn on November 6 and tried unsuccessfully to regain it throughout
2682-465: A four-way match to become the number one contender to the X Division Championship on the June 4 episode of Impact! . On June 9, he defeated Frankie Kazarian to become a three-time X Division Champion. In the following weeks, Styles feuded with Kid Kash and Dallas , while successfully defending the title in matches with Kazarian and Mr. Águila . An additional match on June 23 with the debuting Jeff Hardy
2831-401: A lien on TNA for unpaid taxes. Anthem Sports & Entertainment , parent company of Impact Wrestling ' s Canadian broadcaster, Fight Network , offered to help TNA and repay Corgan for the loans, while also offering additional financial assistance to TNA to help keep them from filing for bankruptcy. On October 31, Corgan lost his injunction that kept TNA from selling the company, but TNA
2980-642: A live house show at MCU Park , which also broke the TNA domestic attendance record at the time and being the most attended live TNA house show in the United States, with a capacity crowd of 5,550. During the May 3, 2011, Impact! television tapings, the show would change its name to Impact Wrestling . On November 7, 2011, TNA revealed that Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) would become TNA's official developmental territory . In December 2011, TNA debuted their new India-based subsidiary promotion Ring Ka King . On May 31, 2012, Impact Wrestling began airing live at
3129-563: A loan to Carter. Then on August 12, Billy Corgan became the promotion's new president, while Carter transitioned from president to the company's new chairwoman and chief strategy officer. It was reported on September 16 by the New York Post that Canada's Fight Network, through its parent company, Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corporation, had taken a stake in TNA. On October 13, Corgan sued TNA due to unpaid debt which Corgan claimed TNA had defaulted on. The State of Tennessee also put
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#17330932165093278-485: A majority stake of TNA, re-organizing TNA's parent company with Aroluxe having 10 percent while Carter retaining a five percent minority stake in the company, but resigned as chairwoman after 14 years with the company, while joining the advisory board of Fight Media Group. The promotion's parent company, TNA Entertainment, was changed firstly to Impact Ventures and then to Anthem Wrestling Exhibitions, LLC., with Anthem's Executive Vice President Ed Nordholm becoming President of
3427-695: A master toy license agreement with Toy Biz , with various action figures and playsets releasing between 2005 and 2007. TNA would subsequently discontinue producing weekly pay-per-views in favor of a traditional monthly pay-per-view schedule, beginning with Victory Road in November 2004. TNA's television contract with Fox Sports expired in May 2005. Without television exposure, Impact! would continue to air through webcasts – originally made available via BitTorrent and eventually via RealPlayer – and replace Xplosion' s timeslot on Urban America Television . On September 11, 2005, TNA held its Unbreakable pay-per-view. Unbreakable
3576-525: A match to determine the sole owner of the tag team championship by disqualification after Jarrett interfered, but his victory was overturned by Callis, leading to another match the following week which was won by Abyss after Lex Luger interfered, thus granting Abyss sole control of the tag team championship. On March 17, Abyss defeated Styles to become the number one contender to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Russo granted Styles
3725-496: A new start time of 8 p.m. EST on Thursday nights. The live schedule would continue throughout 2012. In 2012, Panda Energy divested itself of its stake in TNA. Dixie Carter , the daughter of Panda Energy founder Robert Carter, who had been serving as TNA's president, acquired that stake, making her TNA's majority shareholder. In March 2013, TNA began taping Impact from different venues around the United States and terminated its lease with Universal Studios . On March 14, TNA introduced
3874-505: A new universal HD stage which would be used for all weekly programming. On November 2, TNA ended its relationship with OVW. TNA formed a relationship with Japanese promotion Wrestle-1 beginning in July 2013 with a meeting between TNA founder Jeff Jarrett and Wrestle-1 head Keiji Mutoh . It was arranged for Jarrett to wrestle for W-1 in October 2013. In November, A.J. Styles successfully defended
4023-537: A partnership where the streaming service will distribute select non-live shows in most countries except the United States, South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa . On May 8, 2023, Impact announced their first ever Australian shows named Down Under Tour , a four-day tour with two marquee wrestling shows that took part on June 30 and July 1 in Wagga Wagga , New South Wales . At the conclusion of Bound for Glory on October 21, 2023, Impact announced that it would revive
4172-419: A post-match beatdown. On May 31, Styles defeated Daniels in the main event of the first live episode of Impact Wrestling , after which Daniels and Kazarian played audio of a phone conversation to prove an affair between Styles and Carter. At Slammiversary , Styles and Angle defeated Daniels and Kazarian to win their TNA World Tag Team Championship. On the following episode of Impact Wrestling , Styles entered
4321-583: A pre-taped promo , Styles said he would be taking several months off from ROH following the match; however, ROH commentators continually referred to the match as his final match and even played a special tribute to him after it. In May 2002, Styles was signed to a non-exclusive contract by NWA: Total Nonstop Action (NWA-TNA). He appeared on the first weekly TNA pay-per-view, teaming with Low Ki and Jerry Lynn and losing to The Flying Elvises ( Jimmy Yang , Jorge Estrada and Sonny Siaki ). The following week, Styles defeated Low Ki, Jerry Lynn and Psicosis in
4470-453: A rematch, Styles finally granted Daniels one on the September 1 episode of Impact Wrestling , where Daniels won and refused to shake hands with Styles. At Bound for Glory , Styles defeated Daniels in an "I Quit" match . After defeating Daniels again on the November 10 episode of Impact Wrestling , Styles entered into a feud with TNA World Heavyweight Champion Bobby Roode, failing to capture
4619-547: A report on August 7, TNA filed a new business name of Impact Ventures, LLC. Destination America gained over 41.94 million viewers over the course of 2015's first quarter, making this the channel's best first quarter ever, followed by their best May ever in prime time. In both cases, Discovery Communications touted Impact Wrestling as one of the reasons for the increase in viewers. Despite this success, Discovery Communications dropped Unlocked and Greatest Matches from their programming in May 2015. On November 19, TNA signed
Ring Ka King - Misplaced Pages Continue
4768-690: A semi-final tournament match then later defeated The Mexican Powers (Crazy Boy, Joe Líder and Juventud Guerrera ) in the finals. On December 20, 2007, as part of TNA's working relationship with the Inoki Genome Federation (IGF), Styles competed in the promotion's third event, defeating fellow TNA star Senshi . During a partnership between TNA and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), Styles made four appearances for NJPW in 2008, starting on January 4 at Wrestle Kingdom II , where Styles teamed with Christian Cage and Petey Williams to defeat RISE ( Milano Collection AT , Minoru and Prince Devitt ) in
4917-551: A series presenting the best matches in the company's history. From December 2014 to March 2015, several employees re-signed with TNA, including Kurt Angle , Jeff Hardy, Gail Kim , Mr. Anderson, Abyss and Matt Hardy . Awesome Kong also re-joined the company following several years of absence. During this period, veteran Samoa Joe and commentator Tazz left the company by mutual consent. On April 27, 2015, Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan joined TNA as senior producer of creative and talent development. According to
5066-399: A six-man tag team match. On February 17, Styles lost to Hiroshi Tanahashi on Day 8 of New Japan's ISM Tour. On August 15, Styles teamed with Shinjiro Otani to face Kurt Angle and Masahiro Chono on Day 5 of New Japan's G1 Climax – Heroes of Supremacy event, in a losing effort. The following day on Day 6 of New Japan's G1 Climax – Heroes of Supremacy show, Styles teamed with Tanahashi to face
5215-555: A six-way cruiserweight survival elimination match , in a losing effort. On April 10, Styles faced Jerry Lynn and Super Nova in a three-way-dance , in a losing effort. On April 12, Styles defeated Nova in a tournament semi-final match at The Eruption for the International Cruiserweight Championship . Styles progressed to the final later that night in which he defeated Jerry Lynn to win the title, which he vacated soon after. On March 2, Styles debuted in
5364-453: A steel chair, after which Daniels admitted that Styles and Carter had told the truth about Claire, but claimed that they had left out the part about Styles being the father of her unborn baby. Styles defeated Daniels in a Last Man Standing match at Destination X , and again in a Bound for Glory Series match and, per the pre-match stipulations, earned the right to get a paternity test on Claire's baby. The following week on Impact Wrestling it
5513-617: A tables match, where Styles was injured ( kayfabe ). At Against All Odds , Styles returned by attacking Booker T and stealing his TNA Legends Championship . Styles defeated Booker T to become Legends Champion (and the first TNA Grand Slam Champion ) at Destination X , and he retained in a rematch at Sacrifice . At Slammiversary , Styles competed in the King of the Mountain match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, but
5662-410: A three-way match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship (becoming the first TNA Triple Crown ) on June 11 with assistance from Russo. Throughout July 2003, Styles successfully defended the title in matches against D'Lo Brown and a myriad selection of opponents before dropping the title back to Jarrett on October 22. Following his loss, Styles reverted to being a fan favorite while Jarrett became
5811-485: A three-way match for the title. On October 4, Styles debuted in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), unsuccessfully challenging PWG Champion Frankie Kazarian and Christopher Daniels for the title. On November 7, Styles returned to IWA: Mid-South to take part in the promotions annual Ted Petty Invitational , which saw Styles defeating Todd Sexton is his first-round match. The following night, he defeated Jerry Lynn in
5960-658: A three-way street fight match on March 10, where Styles was pinned by his former mentor, with assistance from Hardy. At Victory Road , Styles defeated Hardy in a singles match, despite interference from Flair. On the following episode of Impact! , Styles was sidelined with a storyline injury after Flair helped Bully Ray perform a powerbomb on him off the entrance stage through a table. Styles made his return on April 17 at Lockdown , attacking Bully Ray and helping Fortune defeat Immortal. He then feuded with Tommy Dreamer, who joined Immortal to save his job; Ray cost Styles his match against Dreamer at Sacrifice by hitting him with
6109-580: A title shot for the ROH Tag Team Championship . He chose Amazing Red as his partner, and the two defeated The Prophecy (Christopher Daniels and Xavier) to win the championship. Styles then feuded with London, who was upset that he had chosen Red as his partner, wrestling to a draw at Night of the Grudges. Styles and Red then defeated The Briscoe Brothers ( Jay and Mark Briscoe ) on three separate occasions, but lost to The Prophecy. At Wrath of
Ring Ka King - Misplaced Pages Continue
6258-504: A tour of England, which would be the last TNA appearances for Kurt Angle . TNA returned to taping Impact Wrestling at the Impact Zone at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, beginning with a live Impact Wrestling on March 15. On March 19, longtime TNA wrestlers Eric Young and Bobby Roode left the promotion after 12 years. On April 22, Velvet Sky , another longtime TNA wrestler, left
6407-480: A tournament to crown the new TNA World Heavyweight Champion), with Styles challenging Magnus to a title unification match on next weeks episode of Impact Wrestling , which Magnus accepted. On December 5 taping of Impact Wrestling which aired on tape delay on January 9, Magnus won to unify both titles after interference from eight other wrestlers on Magnus' behalf and Sting interfering on Styles' behalf in what would be Styles' final match with TNA. On December 8, it
6556-676: A villain. On November 12, he teamed with Sting to defeat Lex Luger and Jeff Jarrett, though his bid for the title on December 3 was unsuccessful due to interference from Kid Kash . Styles feuded with Abyss and Jeff Jarrett throughout January, and on February 4, 2004, after Styles demanded a title shot, Jarrett's ally Don Callis forced him to team with Abyss in a match with the NWA World Tag Team Champions, Kevin Northcutt and Legend , which Styles' won, despite being abandoned by Abyss. The following week, Styles defeated Abyss in
6705-451: A winning effort, capturing the title. On April 17, Styles successfully defended the title against Homicide , and on May 8 he did so again against Christopher Daniels. On September 17, Styles returned to IWA: Mid-South, entering the promotions 2004 Ted Petty Invitational . Styles defeated Jimmy Rave in his first-round match. The following night, Styles defeated Matt Sydal in the quarter-finals. Later that night, Styles defeated Arik Cannon in
6854-533: Is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment . Founded by Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Jarrett in 2002, following the end of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 2001, the promotion was initially known as NWA: Total Nonstop Action ( NWA-TNA ) and was affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) governing body. The promotion dropped the "NWA" brand from its name in 2004, becoming Total Nonstop Action Wrestling . TNA continued to use
7003-654: Is a two-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion and the United Kingdom based Revolution Pro Wrestling (RevPro), where he is a former RPW British Heavyweight Champion . Jones first appeared in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in 2002, but declined a developmental contract . He returned to the company in 2016, and won the WWE Championship twice. With his second victory in Manchester, England , Jones
7152-682: Is recognized by WWE as the first wrestler to win the title outside North America . At 371 days, he is tied with Randy Savage for the eighth-longest reign in title history. He also won the United States Championship three times, the Intercontinental Championship and the Raw Tag Team Championship once each, becoming the second wrestler (after Kurt Angle ) to become a TNA and WWE Triple Crown winner and first Grand Slam champion in both promotions, as well as
7301-523: Is remembered for the three-way match main event for the TNA X Division Championship , between AJ Styles , Christopher Daniels , and Samoa Joe , which received a rare 5 Star match rating from wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer , the first one the company received. Later that year, TNA would secure a television deal with Spike TV ; Impact! debuted on the network on October 1, 2005. The episode saw Team 3D make their TNA debut. TNA would gain attention for
7450-514: The Calf Killer submission hold as his new finisher, which he used to defeat James Storm in his first match back. Styles, who remained silent in the following weeks, began feuding with Kurt Angle after refusing to tell Angle whether or not he was with the Aces & Eights stable. His new gimmick was nicknamed "The Lone Wolf", since he rejected joining Aces & Eights. At Slammiversary XI , Styles
7599-615: The TNA Impact ! video game . On October 23, 2008, TNA began producing its programming in HD . In addition, a new HD set for Impact was introduced, including new lighting, and large high-resolution screens. On June 21, 2009, TNA launched an online video-vault subscription-service where subscribers could watch past pay-per-views by choosing one of three payment options. In October 2009, TNA President Dixie Carter hired Hulk Hogan and former WCW President Eric Bischoff . Hulk Hogan first appeared on
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#17330932165097748-538: The 2012 Bound for Glory Series , where he was eliminated in the opening gauntlet match by Daniels. On the June 21 episode of Impact Wrestling , Styles and Carter revealed their secret—they were not having an affair but were helping an addicted pregnant woman named Claire Lynch overcome her problems. The following week on Impact Wrestling , Styles and Angle lost the TNA World Tag Team Championship back to Daniels and Kazarian when Kazarian hit Styles with
7897-610: The East Coast Wrestling Association (ECWA), entering the promotion's 6th annual Super 8 tournament . He defeated Xavier in the first round, as well as The Amazing Red in his semi-finals match, but was defeated in the final by Donovan Morgan . On June 15, Styles debuted in Game Changer Wrestling, entering the Jersey-J Cup tournament. In the first round, Styles defeated Qenaan Creed, he then progressed to
8046-457: The Georgia -based National Championship Wrestling (NCW) promotion he wrestled as Mr. Olympia, a masked wrestler, losing to Michael Brooks in his first singles match . By August 1999, he had won the promotion's Television Championship. From 1999 to 2001, he generally competed in less notable independent promotions . In December 1999, NCW merged with NWA Georgia to form NWA Wildside , and Jones
8195-830: The ROH World Championship at Honor Invades Boston). After failing to win the title, he became the first holder of the Number One Contender's Trophy, which was viewed within the promotion as a secondary championship at the time. At the First Anniversary Show in February 2003, Styles competed against Low Ki and Paul London in a three-way match, which was won by London. After this, Styles competed by himself and defeated The Backseat Boyz ( Johnny Kashmere and Trent Acid ), The Carnage Crew ( HC Loc and Tony DeVito ), and The S.A.T. (Joel and Jose Maximo), to receive
8344-564: The TNA World Heavyweight Championship at a Wrestle-1 show in Japan. From the period of 2013 to 2014, many well-known names or veterans of the company left TNA. In October 2013, Hulk Hogan 's contract with TNA expired, ending his time as creative consultant with the company. In December, AJ Styles left TNA after his contract expired. Styles later said that he could not accept TNA's new contract offer, which would see him take
8493-690: The Tennessee State Fairground Sports Arena in Nashville , nicknamed the "TNA Asylum". In October 2002, Panda Energy International purchased a controlling interest (72%) of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling from Jerry Jarrett. TNA (which originally traded as "J Sports and Entertainment") was re-organized as "TNA Entertainment", LLC, in the process. Dixie Carter was appointed president of TNA Entertainment in spring 2003. Xplosion launched on November 27, 2002, as TNA's first regular cable show and featured exclusive matches taped at
8642-415: The "Impact Zone", at Universal Studios Florida and broadcast on Fox Sports Net (FSN). With the show's première, TNA introduced a six-sided wrestling ring, the implementation of the "Fox Box" displaying competitors and timekeeping for the match and a generally more sports-like style than the sports entertainment style exemplified by WWE. In June 2004, TNA issued a press release stating it had signed
8791-694: The "TNA Asylum". There were a total of 111 weekly pay-per-views. AJ Styles Allen Neal Jones (born June 2, 1977), better known by his ring name AJ Styles , is an American professional wrestler . He is signed to WWE , where he performs on the SmackDown brand . Jones debuted in 1998 and competed for various independent promotions before gaining initial mainstream exposure in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 2001. He gained prominence after signing with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) having been described as "the cornerstone of
8940-406: The $ 2.7 million debt that was owed to him by TNA and, as such, he was considering suing, as well as converting the debt into a 36 percent stake. As the result of a settlement between Corgan and TNA, Anthem Sports & Entertainment acquired the loans Corgan made to Carter in the process. Anthem Sports & Entertainment , a company owned by former Canwest CEO Leonard Asper , purchased
9089-467: The August 20 episode of Impact! , Styles was talked out of retiring by Sting, who said he had chosen Styles to carry the torch after him. At No Surrender , Styles won the TNA World Heavyweight Championship in a five-way match against Matt Morgan, Sting, Hernandez and defending champion Kurt Angle. At Bound for Glory , Styles retained the title against Sting, ending his undefeated streak at Bound for Glory in
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#17330932165099238-504: The December 22 episode of Impact! , Styles and Samoa Joe defeated Rhino and Kurt Angle . Rhino then defeated Styles in a Last Man Standing match at Final Resolution and at Destination X in an Elevation X match . Styles aligned with Christian Cage for Lockdown , forming Team Cage (later Christian's Coalition ), who were defeated by Team Angle at Lockdown. Styles teamed with Tomko to face Sting and Abyss at Victory Road , but were defeated. At No Surrender , Styles and Tomko won
9387-475: The February 3 episode of Impact! , Fortune turned face by attacking Immortal, when they interfered in a TNA World Heavyweight Championship match between Mr. Anderson and Jeff Hardy. Flair, who did not take part in Fortune's turn due to an injury, returned on the February 17 episode of Impact! , turning on Fortune during a match between Styles and Matt Hardy and jumping to Immortal. Styles faced Flair and Hardy in
9536-565: The February 9 episode of Impact Wrestling , Kazarian, now seemingly a reluctant associate of Daniels, helped him defeat Styles in a singles match. Three days later at Against All Odds , Styles was defeated by Kazarian in a singles match. On the March 3 episode of Impact Wrestling , Kazarian defeated Styles in a gauntlet match; had Styles been successful, Kazarian would have to explain his alliance with Daniels. Mr. Anderson then returned and aligned with Styles to defeat Daniels and Kazarian in tag team match at Victory Road and at Lockdown , where
9685-498: The GFW rights; the lawsuit was ultimately settled out of court. Don Callis and Scott D'Amore became executive vice presidents in January 2018, taking charge of Impact Wrestling's day-to-day operations. At the first tapings under their tenure, the company reverted to a traditional four-sided ring, and the show also saw the return of former World Heavyweight Champion Austin Aries , as well
9834-566: The Impact (abbreviated as BTI ), and Xplosion was canceled after 19 years the following month. During No Surrender Impact announced a new partnership with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Don Callis' time as Impact executive vice president and on-air talent ended in May. Slammiversary 2021 marked the return of in-person spectators for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. That month, BTI and Impact! would crossover for
9983-532: The Indian talent at Ohio Valley Wrestling . In 2011, TNA announced a project in India. The project was revealed to be an original televised wrestling program intended for the Indian market, titled Ring Ka King. The promotion was managed by Jeff Jarrett. Jeremy Borash, Dave Lagana and Sonjay Dutt helped Jarrett with management. Ring Ka King was taped in India, and featured both Indian and non-Indian wrestlers performing on
10132-627: The Indies tournament, defeating Jardi Frantz in his first-round match but was eliminated by Christopher Daniels in the quarter-finals the following night. On November 13, 2001, Styles debuted in Xcitement Wrestling Federation (XWF), competing in a battle royal against Billy Fives, Christopher Daniels, Juventud Guerrera , Kid Kash , Prince Iaukea , Psicosis and Quick Kick for the XWF Cruiserweight Championship, but
10281-456: The January 4, 2010, episode of Impact! and against Tomko, who had been revealed as his mystery attacker, on the January 14 episode of Impact! . At Genesis , Styles defeated Angle in a Last Chance match to again retain the championship with assistance from Ric Flair , turning heel in the process. On the January 21 episode of Impact! , Flair announced that he had aligned himself with Styles and christened Styles "The New Nature Boy", but on
10430-470: The January 4, 2010, episode of Impact! . Both obtained a position behind the scenes; with Bischoff part of creative and Hogan as a consultant. Under their tenure, TNA would see several revamps in 2010. Beginning with Genesis in January, TNA returned to using a four-sided ring. That month, Jakks Pacific announced a five-year agreement to produce TNA action figures. Impact! would also begin airing on Monday nights directly opposite of WWE Raw , marking
10579-625: The July 22 episode of Impact! , Styles defeated Terry to win the Global Championship (formerly the Legends Championship) for the second time. The following week on Impact! , Styles renamed the title the TNA Television Championship. Fourtune (soon renamed Fortune) then feuded with EV 2.0 and Styles defeated EV 2.0 leader Tommy Dreamer in a non-title "I Quit" match at No Surrender , although Fortune were defeated in
10728-435: The Mountain qualifying match against Booker T , turning Styles face . At Slammiversary , Styles defeated Angle after a distraction by Karen, but was beat-down by Angle and Tomko after the match. The feud continued through Hard Justice , where he defeated Angle in a Last Man Standing match . They continued trading wins and on the following episode of Impact! he defeated Angle for his Olympic gold medal . Styles also won
10877-529: The NWA World Heavyweight and Tag Team championships until this agreement ended in 2007; after which, the company would create its own World Heavyweight and World Tag Team championships. The promotion was purchased by Anthem at the beginning of 2017. In March of that year, it was rebranded to Impact Wrestling after its weekly flagship television show , but returned to the TNA branding in January 2024. From its inception, TNA had been considered
11026-544: The NWA World Tag Team Championship. After losing to America's Most Wanted in title matches on two occasions, Styles and Daniels won the NWA World Tag Team Championship at Slammiversary . They successfully retained against The Latin American Xchange (Homicide and Hernandez ) (LAX) at Hard Justice , only to lose the title to them in a Border Brawl on the August 24 episode of Impact! . They regained
11175-493: The November 19 episode. The final episodes of 2014 were Best of TNA clip shows. On January 7, 2015, Impact Wrestling moved to Destination America , with a live debut from The Manhattan Center 's Grand Ballroom in New York City. In addition to Impact Wrestling , which was now airing on Friday nights, two new shows produced were Impact Wrestling: Unlocked , hosted by Mike Tenay , and TNA Wrestling's Greatest Matches ,
11324-538: The October 30 episode of Impact! , Styles and Joe formed a faction of younger wrestlers known as The TNA Front Line to combat The Main Event Mafia, who recruited Scott Steiner. Styles challenged Sting for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship at Turning Point and again in an eight-man tag team match at Final Resolution , but was unsuccessful each time. On the January 22, 2009, episode of Impact! , Angle vowed to end Styles' career and later that night beat Styles in
11473-618: The Racket, Christopher Daniels and Dan Maff put Red out of action and Styles picked Homicide as his replacement partner. Styles and Homicide beat The Prophecy, but Styles had to vacate the title due to Red being sidelined by a legitimate injury. After his reign as ROH Tag Team Champion, Styles took Jimmy Rave as his protégé and attempted to become the ROH World Champion, defeating Bryan Danielson at Main Event Spectacles to become
11622-519: The TNA Asylum as well as exclusive interviews with TNA wrestlers and the promotion's original weekly pay-per-view shows took place mostly at the Tennessee State Fairground Sports Arena in Nashville, Tennessee . The last weekly pay-per-view took place on September 8, 2004, with a total of 111 weekly pay-per-views. In May 2004, TNA introduced its second weekly television program, Impact! (stylized as iMPACT! ), produced at Soundstage 21 , nicknamed
11771-522: The Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) name. From October 26 to 28, Impact held events in Scotland and England , marking their first United Kingdom tour since 2015. In December 2023, the promotion announced it had signed a new toy license with PowerTown, to release its first line of product in August 2024. The name change to TNA took effect in January 2024, with the first event under
11920-553: The World Wrestling Federation (WWF, later WWE ) gaining a monopoly on the industry. While on a fishing trip, Bob Ryder , Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Jarrett contemplated their futures in the professional wrestling business under a parent company known as J Sports & Entertainment, LLC. Ryder 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
12069-431: The X Division title to Low Ki in a three-way dance also involving Lynn. The following week, he and Lynn fought Jeff Jarrett and Ron Killings to a no contest , and the tag team title was held-up as a result. The following week, he and Lynn fought one another in a Falls Count Anywhere match (which was won by Lynn), a no disqualification match (which was won by Styles) and a ten-minute Iron Man match , which ended in
12218-407: The X Division" by brutally beating Daniels. At Turning Point , Styles lost the X Division Championship to Joe. Styles was unsuccessful in retaining the title in a triple threat match, also featuring Daniels, at Against All Odds , and in an Ultimate X match at Destination X , which Daniels won. After Daniels lost the title back to Joe, Styles joined Daniels to challenge America's Most Wanted for
12367-704: The annual Pro Wrestling Illustrated 500 in 2010, the first TNA wrestler to do so, was voted PWI Wrestler of the Year three times between 2016 and 2018, and Wrestler of the Decade in 2020. He also won 10 Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards, including Wrestler of the Year in 2015 and 2016, and was inducted in their Hall of Fame in 2017. Allen Neal Jones was born at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina , on June 2, 1977. He grew up in poverty with an abusive, alcoholic father. The family's poverty
12516-609: The championship at Turning Point , tying him in an Iron-Man Match at Final Resolution , but losing the sudden-death tie-breaker on the following Impact Wrestling . During the following episodes of Impact Wrestling , Styles and Kazarian, the last two members of Fortune, made it to the finals of the Wild Card Tournament . During the final match against Magnus and Samoa Joe on the January 5, 2012, episode of Impact Wrestling , Kazarian abandoned Styles and aligned himself with Christopher Daniels, effectively ending Fortune. On
12665-469: The company during this period. In April 2017, it was announced on Impact! that the promotion would "merge" with Jarrett's newer Global Force Wrestling (GFW) promotion. In the lead-up to the Slammiversary ;XV PPV, Anthem officially announced its intent to acquire GFW to formalize the merger. The company subsequently announced that they were re-branding again and taking the GFW name in June;
12814-558: The company in that year, and the contracts of TNA Hall of Famers Bully Ray and Devon reportedly expired in October 2014, with TNA moving them to the alumni section of their roster in January 2015. In late July, the TMZ website reported that Spike TV was not renewing Impact Wrestling beyond October. TNA would refute the report, stating that negotiations were still ongoing. On August 14, Impact Wrestling moved to Wednesday nights. On August 20, TNA signed an extension with Spike TV until
12963-507: The company overall. Styles made his first televised title defense on the following episode of Impact Wrestling , defeating Ray in a rematch after interference from Mr. Anderson, after which he refused Carter's new contract offer and walked out of TNA with the title. On October 29, TNA vacated the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. On the December 2 taping of Impact Wrestling which aired on January 2, 2014, Styles returned to TNA with his championship to confront Carter and Magnus (who had won
13112-673: The company since its inception"; he won the TNA World Heavyweight Championship twice , the NWA World Heavyweight Championship three times , and was the inaugural titleholder of the X Division Championship , which he won six times . He is also the first TNA Triple Crown and Grand Slam champion. Jones simultaneously appeared in Ring of Honor (ROH) from 2002 to 2006, where he became the inaugural ROH Pure Champion . Jones has also wrestled extensively internationally, in promotions such as New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), where he
13261-427: The company. It was reported near the beginning of 2016 that Aroluxe Marketing, a Brentwood, Tennessee–based marketing agency, had taken a stake in TNA at the start of 2016 in return for providing partial funding, as well as taking over TNA's production operations. It was reported in June 2016 that Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan acquired a minority stake in TNA from Dixie Carter, but he had instead provided
13410-514: The debuts of Karl Anderson and Heath Slater . After the events of AEW Winter Is Coming on December 2, 2020, Impact began a partnership with All Elite Wrestling (AEW), which lasted until Bound for Glory 2021 . AEW-contracted wrestlers Kenny Omega and Christian Cage held the Impact World Championship during this time; this marked Cage's first in-ring return to the promotion since 2008. In February 2021, Impact launched Before
13559-529: The debuts of new wrestlers such as Kiera Hogan , Su Yung , Pentagón Jr. , Fénix and Brian Cage . The company also announced a partnership with live streaming service Twitch to produce content for their platform, starting with Brace for Impact , which was co-promoted with New Jersey–based promotion WrestlePro. Their first live show was Impact vs. Lucha Underground , a co-promoted show with Lucha Underground . Impact! subsequently moved to Pursuit Channel beginning January 11, 2019. Two months later,
13708-433: The end of 2014. In November 2014, TNA announced a new agreement with Discovery Communications to distribute its programming in the United States on Destination America and to selected international markets. Spike's outreach at the time was estimated to be more than 97 million homes while Destination America was estimated to reach 59 million households. Impact Wrestling ceased airing new televised events on Spike after
13857-442: The finals by Chris Bosh . During his stay in TNA, Styles worked in various Japanese and Mexican promotions due to a partnership with TNA. On September 17, 2006, at Verano de Escándalo , Styles made his debut for Mexican promotion AAA , as part of a cross promotion deal between TNA and AAA. Team TNA (Styles, Homicide, Low Ki, and Samoa Joe) defeated Vipers Revolution ( Abismo Negro , Charly Manson, Electroshock and Histeria) in
14006-602: The first time that two major professional wrestling promotions would go head to head since the launch of WCW Monday Nitro in 1995. The show would permanently move to Mondays on March 8, 2010, Spike would keep the Thursday night slot open for repeats of the Monday night shows. During this time, Ric Flair , Rob Van Dam , Mr. Anderson would make their debuts, while Jeff Hardy would make his return. Impact! would later return to Thursday nights on May 3. On July 2, 2010, TNA hosted
14155-435: The first time, when Josh Alexander faced T. J. Perkins for the X Division Championship in Impact's first-ever 60-minute Iron man match , which began on BTI and concluded in the opening minutes of Impact! . Impact subsequently announced the end of their partnership with Twitch that August and launched a new YouTube membership program called "Impact Wrestling Insiders". In November 2022, Impact and DAZN signed
14304-437: The following episode of Impact Wrestling , Styles said that he was tired of doing the right thing and that he was going to do his own thing from there on. Beginning in February 2013, TNA began airing videos at Styles' home interviewing his wife, a friend, and even attempting to interview Styles himself before he angrily forced them to leave. Styles, now sporting a beard, unkempt hair, and all-black attire, returned to TNA with
14453-478: The following episode of Impact! , Flair, who had aligned himself with Styles, Desmond Wolfe, Kazarian, Robert Roode and James Storm , announced that he would reform the Four Horsemen under the new name Fourtune , stating that each of them would have to earn their spots in the group. Styles and Kazarian earned their spots by defeating Samoa Joe and Rob Terry due to outside interference from Desmond Wolfe. On
14602-535: The highest ranked title in the promotion . RKK hosted a tournament to crown the first champion. The RKK Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team championship in the Ring Ka King promotion . RKK hosted a tournament to crown the first champions. Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (abbreviated as TNA Wrestling or TNA ) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee . It
14751-486: The ladder rematch the following week to end their feud, but he was later asked to give Angle back his gold medal by Jeff Jarrett in an effort to try to mend things with Angle. At Bound for Glory IV , Styles faced Christian Cage and Booker T in a three-way match in which Booker T won. Shortly after that, Booker T, Kurt Angle, Kevin Nash and Sting formed The Main Event Mafia , and Styles teamed up with Samoa Joe to fight them. On
14900-549: The many high-profile talent that would join the promotion during the show's run on Spike. From 2005 to 2009, these include Kevin Nash , Rhino , Christian Cage , Sting (who made appearances at previous "Asylum" shows), Scott Steiner , Kurt Angle , Booker T , and Mick Foley . In April 2006, TNA launched a YouTube channel, featuring clips from Impact and exclusive content. Beginning with Bound for Glory in October 2006, TNA began holding select pay-per-view events outside of Orlando, Florida. In January 2007, TNA announced
15049-494: The new parent company. Shortly after Anthem's acquisition of TNA, it was re-branded to Impact Wrestling. On January 5, 2017 Jeff Jarrett was brought back by Anthem to serve as a consultant and later promoted to executive producer and chief creative officer. Anthem re-branded the promotion as Impact Wrestling, after its primary television series two months later. Wrestlers Drew Galloway , Matt Hardy , Jeff Hardy , Jade , Crazzy Steve , Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis left
15198-605: The number one contender. At War of the Wire, Styles unsuccessfully challenged Samoa Joe for the title. He then defeated CM Punk , Jimmy Rave, and Matt Stryker in a one-night tournament at the Second Anniversary Show to become the first ROH Pure Wrestling Champion . Styles defeated Punk in a rematch with Ricky Steamboat as the guest referee at At Our Best for his final match for ROH in 2004, as TNA withdrew all of its contracted wrestlers from all ROH events and ROH vacated
15347-404: The pandemic, the promotion cancelled its planned TNA: There's No Place Like Home event, and Tessa Blanchard , who became the first woman to win the promotion's World Championship earlier that year at Hard to Kill , was fired and stripped of the championship after a long absence. Slammiversary saw the returns of The Motor City Machine Guns , Eric Young , Doc Gallows and EC3 , as well as
15496-431: The process. Styles was mysteriously attacked by an anonymous assailant backstage leading him to believe it was Samoa Joe or Christopher Daniels, both of whom he faced the following month at Turning Point to retain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. Styles continued to successfully defend the title against Desmond Wolfe on the December 10 episode of Impact! , against Daniels at Final Resolution , against Angle on
15645-604: The promotion announced that Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) would serve as its developmental territory once again. In May, Impact Plus replaced the Global Wrestling Network as the official streaming app for the promotion. Impact! began airing on Anthem-owned AXS TV after Bound for Glory in October. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , Impact would hold events behind closed doors at Skyway Studios in Nashville. During
15794-599: The promotion later touring in Germany , Scotland and Ireland in 2009, France , Wales and the United Arab Emirates in 2010 and Belgium in 2012. In February 2008, Jakks Pacific announced it had signed a multi-year master toy license agreement with TNA, to release products starting in 2010. In March 2008, Tristar Productions acquired an exclusive license deal to produce and distribute TNA trading cards and memorabilia. On September 9, 2008, Midway Games released
15943-432: The promotion such as AJ Styles and Samoa Joe . (Some of whom would later be signed by WWE during the mid to late 2010s as TNA suffered financial issues). From 2015 to 2017, the promotion was viewed by some to have fallen behind longtime rival Ring of Honor ; with the loss of their U.S. television contract with Spike in 2014, as well as monetary and personnel issues, being noted as factors to their decline. By 2019,
16092-712: The promotion was viewed to have recovered through its sustained international distribution, and the purchase by its parent company of AXS TV ; which subsequently began carrying the promotion's programming. TNA is currently viewed as being the third-largest wrestling promotion in the United States; following the establishment of All Elite Wrestling (AEW) in 2019, and its current television deals with Warner Bros. Discovery 's TNT and TBS (both of which are seen in more households than AXS). Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s The concept of TNA originated shortly after World Championship Wrestling (WCW) ended in 2001, with
16241-692: The quarter-final, defeating Colt Cabana . In the semi-final, he was defeated by Reckless Youth and was eliminated from the tournament. In October, Styles traveled to the UK, debuting in the Frontier Wrestling Alliance (FWA) on October 13, suffering a loss to Jonny Storm in his debut match at FWA: British Uprising. On October 15, Styles was defeated in an FWA British Heavyweight Championship number one contender round-robin challenge three-way match by Doug Williams and Jerry Lynn at FWA: Seasons Beatings. Later that night, Styles defeated Jody Fleisch in
16390-408: The quarter-finals, but later that night would be eliminated by Danny Daniels in the semi-finals. On March 20, 2004, Styles returned to IWC, entering the promotions Super Indy Survivor Showdown tournament. Styles' first match in the tournament was in the semi-finals due to unknown reasons, in which he defeated CM Punk . Later that night, Styles faced IWC Super Indy Champion Colt Cabana in the final in
16539-545: The re-branding was short-lived as they severed ties with Jarrett that October and the deal for Anthem to acquire GFW was never completed. During that time, Anthem launched the Global Wrestling Network , a new streaming service which featured content from to their tape library and other sources. Jarrett subsequently filed a lawsuit against Anthem in the District Court of Tennessee for copyright infringement over
16688-454: The reigning champion Petey Williams. Styles faced Christopher Daniels for the first time on January 21, 2005, and after failing to defeat him in ten minutes, qualified for a thirty-minute Iron Man match for the championship at Against All Odds , where Styles defeated Daniels to retain the title after initial tying and going into " sudden death " rules. The feud between Styles and Daniels continued and at Destination X on March 13, Styles lost
16837-467: The reinstated TNA banner being Hard To Kill . On February 7, Anthem Sports & Entertainment announced that Scott D'Amore's contract with TNA was terminated , with D'Amore being removed from his position as President of TNA, later being replaced by Anthony Cicione. From June 2002 until September 2004, the promotion's original weekly pay-per-view shows took place mostly at the Tennessee State Fairground Sports Arena in Nashville, Tennessee , nicknamed
16986-402: The remainder of the year. In 2003, Styles began focusing on the NWA World Heavyweight Championship when, after defeating David Flair on January 15 to become the number one contender, he recruited the help of Larry Zbyszko and associated himself with Vince Russo 's Sports Entertainment Xtreme (S.E.X.) stable . Styles faced NWA World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Jarrett on February 19, but
17135-432: The same episode Hulk Hogan announced a Genesis rematch, where if Flair were to interfere, Styles would be stripped of the title and awarded to Angle. During the match, Angle applied his signature move, the ankle lock , on Styles, who reversed it and applied the same move to Angle, when suddenly referee Earl Hebner , paid off by Flair, called for the bell although Angle did not submit. At Against All Odds , Styles retained
17284-467: The same round-robin challenge. On November 1, Styles debuted in IWA: Mid-South , taking part in the promotions annual Ted Petty Invitational tournament, but was defeated by Christopher Daniels in the first round. Styles debuted in Ring of Honor (ROH) at its third show, 2002's A Night of Appreciation, and quickly became a main eventer (e.g., performing in main event matches against Low Ki for
17433-568: The second-largest in the United States behind WWE a position it would hold for most of the 2000s and early 2010s. The promotion was known for featuring former top talent from WCW, WWE, and ECW , such as Raven , Jeff Jarrett , and Sting , free agents that were released from the WWE such as Kurt Angle , Jeff Hardy , and Mr. Kennedy (who wrestled as Mr. Anderson in TNA), as well as more homegrown wrestlers who had not appeared in WWE yet and mainly performed for
17582-521: The semi-final match on the November 9 Impact! but was pinned in the finals by Abyss. On the November 16 episode of Impact! , Styles lost the X Division Championship to Daniels in a three-way match when Daniels scored the roll-up pinfall on Sabin. At Genesis , Styles lost to Christian Cage , which Styles blamed on Daniels, who had tried to intervene on his behalf. Styles would then turn heel and feuded with Rhino for attempting to reconcile him with Daniels and at Turning Point he beat Rhino, and on
17731-426: The semi-finals, as well as defeating Bryan Danielson and Samoa Joe in the final to win the 2004 Ted Petty Invitational. On October 21, Styles won the vacant IWA: Mid-South Heavyweight Championship, defeating Chris Sabin, Christopher Daniels, and Petey Williams in a four-way dance match. Two days later on October 23, Styles lost the title to CM Punk. On April 1, 2005, Styles returned to PWG, defeating Samoa Joe in
17880-446: The show. A majority of the non-Indian wrestlers were under contract with TNA; this included Zema Ion, Scott Steiner, and Abyss, among others. Independent wrestlers Sonjay Dutt, Isaiah Cash and American Adonis were also featured on the show. After the first season of Ring Ka King , TNA expressed doubts that a second would be produced. The RKK World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling heavyweight championship and
18029-561: The stipulation that the loser could no longer use the Rave / Styles Clash in Ring of Honor. At This Means War, he defeated Generation Next leader Austin Aries , who was attacked by The Embassy following the show. At Vendetta, Styles had his final match against The Embassy when he, along with Austin Aries, Jack Evans and Matt Sydal were defeated by Abyss , Alex Shelley , Jimmy Rave, and Prince Nana in an eight-man tag match . Following his feud with The Embassy, Styles set his sights on winning
18178-570: The tag team title, Styles received a shot at the ROH World Championship when he was handpicked by Bryan Danielson, but he was unsuccessful. At the Fourth Anniversary Show, Styles and Sydal received their shot at the ROH Tag Team Championship, but were unable to defeat the champions. After an absence, Styles returned at Death Before Dishonor IV, defeating Davey Richards . Styles returned at Time to Man Up, losing to Samoa Joe. In
18327-444: The taping of Raw. Styles won with a Shooting Star Press but was not offered a contract. Styles made two more appearances for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 2002: on the January 26 episode of Metal (taped on January 21), in a losing effort against The Hurricane , and a dark match before the January 27 episode of SmackDown! (taped on January 22), where he was defeated by Rico Constantino . After these matches, WWF offered Styles
18476-399: The team of Kurt Angle and Shinsuke Nakamura , again in a losing effort. On July 26, 2008, Styles made his debut for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), taking part in the promotion's last annual 16-man elimination International Gran Prix tournament, representing Team International. Styles would defeat Rey Bucanero of Team Mexico in his first match, but would later be eliminated from
18625-441: The third man (after Brock Lesnar and Angle) to be both IWGP and WWE Champion. Jones has been thought of as a pillar of the wrestling industry for over two decades, being respected by fans and co-workers, and is considered one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. He has headlined numerous pay-per-view events, including the respective premier events of WWE and TNA, WrestleMania and Bound for Glory . He ranked atop
18774-652: The title against D'Angelo Dinero in a steel cage match. The following day on Impact! , Styles dropped the TNA World Heavyweight Championship to Rob Van Dam , ending his reign at a then-record 211 days. Styles faced Van Dam in a rematch at Sacrifice , but was defeated again. With these shortcomings, Flair adopted Kazarian as his newest protégé, thus causing Styles to become jealous and tried to impress his mentor, but after failing to defeat Jay Lethal , Flair ordered him to "go home". At Slammiversary VIII , Styles attempted to win Flair back by defeating Lethal, but lost again. On
18923-432: The title against Samoa Joe, with help from Flair, in a match refereed by Eric Bischoff . On the March 8 episode of Impact! , Styles teamed up with Ric Flair in a tag team match , in a losing effort against Abyss and Hulk Hogan. Styles defended the title against Abyss at Destination X in a match that went to no contest after Abyss hit Styles with a chokeslam through the ring. At Lockdown , Styles successfully defended
19072-498: The title at No Surrender , but dropped them back to LAX at Bound for Glory in a Six Sides of Steel match. On the November 2 episode of Impact! , Styles pinned Chris Sabin to begin his sixth reign as the new X Division Champion. The match was also the quarter-finals of the Fight for the Right tournament for number one contendership to Sting's NWA World Heavyweight Championship; Styles won
19221-441: The title to him in an Ultimate X Challenge also featuring Ron Killings and Elix Skipper. After defeating Abyss at Lockdown to become the number one contender to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, Styles won his third world championship from Jeff Jarrett at Hard Justice , which he lost to Raven in a King of the Mountain match at Slammiversary . Styles then entered the TNA 2005 Super X Cup Tournament , which granted
19370-700: The title, but again was unsuccessful. On April 12, Styles debuted in Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), competing at the promotions 3rd Best of the Best event. Styles teamed with Jason Cross to face Jay Briscoe and Jimmy Rave, in a losing effort. On July 20, at CZW: Deja Vu II, Styles successfully defended the NWA World Heavyweight Championship against Rave. On September 12, Styles debuted in Maximum Pro Wrestling (MXPW), successfully challenging MXPW Television Champion Chris Sabin and Christopher Daniels in
19519-662: The title. Styles returned to Ring of Honor at the Third Anniversary Celebration: Part Two to wrestle Jimmy Rave, who accused him of stealing the Styles Clash (which he called the Rave Clash ) from him, though he was unsuccessful in defeating Rave. During his feud with Rave and The Embassy , Styles formed an alliance with Generation Next , who were also feuding with The Embassy. At Glory by Honor IV, Styles defeated Rave with Mick Foley in his corner, with
19668-451: The title. On April 13, Styles defended the title in a rematch against Hentai, but the match ended in a no contest, meaning Styles retained the title. On May 10, Styles vacated the title. On August 23, Styles unsuccessfully challenged the new Super Indy Champion Colt Cabana after the match ended at a twenty-minute time limit draw, meaning Cabana retained the title. On December 12 at IWC: Call to Arms, Styles would once again challenge Cabana for
19817-578: The tournament by Último Guerrero . Guerrero went on to lose to Team International member Alex Shelley later in the night, with Shelley winning the tournament for Team International. Styles returned to AAA on December 16, 2011, at Guerra de Titanes , as part of the TNA invasion storyline. He faced El Mesías in a match to earn a shot at the AAA World Heavyweight Championship , but was unsuccessful. On November 3, 2013, Styles would once again return to AAA, this time to successfully defend
19966-532: The two duos were on opposing teams in the annual Lethal Lockdown match. On the May 10 episode of Impact Wrestling , Kazarian revealed that he originally aligned himself with Daniels to keep him from revealing Styles' secret, but changed his mind after learning what the secret was, at which point Daniels revealed a series of photographs insinuating a relationship between Styles and TNA president Dixie Carter . At Sacrifice , Daniels and Kazarian cost Styles his match against Kurt Angle, who nonetheless saved Styles from
20115-406: The winner a shot at the X Division Championship. Styles defeated Matt Bentley in the quarter-finals and Petey Williams in the semi-finals, but lost to Samoa Joe at Sacrifice . As Christopher Daniels (the reigning X Division champion) had interfered in the match, TNA Director of Authority Larry Zbyszko added Styles to the resultant title bout. At Unbreakable , Styles defeated Samoa Joe and Daniels in
20264-567: The world championship. Over the next few weeks, Styles struggled to choose between aligning Cage and Angle, until he joined The Angle Alliance at Final Resolution . In February 2008, Styles was involved in a storyline in which he became accidentally married to Karen Angle . Meanwhile, Styles and Tomko lost the TNA World Tag Team Championship to Kaz and Super Eric . With Kurt constantly accusing Styles and Karen of an affair and both denying anything beyond friendship, Styles quit The Angle Alliance. In retaliation, Tomko cost Styles his King of
20413-477: Was defeated by Angle in a singles match, but he defeated him in a rematch to earn the final spot in the 2013 Bound for Glory Series . Throughout the following weeks, Styles participated in the Bound For Glory Series, winning the tournament and becoming the number one contender for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship at Bound for Glory . The following week on Impact Wrestling , Styles claimed that he
20562-401: Was defeated. In the course of the match, Styles became a fan favorite , attacking S.E.X. as they tried to interfere on his behalf because he did not want to win in that manner. Styles briefly teamed with D'Lo Brown , but disbanded for their world title aspirations, challenging each other on June 4 in a number one contenders match which was won by Styles. Styles defeated Jarrett and Raven in
20711-400: Was interrupted by Kash and Dallas. On July 28, he defended the title against Kazarian and Michael Shane in an Ultimate X match . After Kash struck Styles with a crutch , Shane and Kazarian simultaneously retrieved the title belt and became co-X Division Champions. After several abortive attempts to regain the title, Styles fought Kash in a number of matches, culminating on September 8 in
20860-453: Was no longer under contract with TNA and insulted Dixie Carter, who responded by saying that Styles was not a great wrestler. In the weeks leading up to Bound for Glory, Styles continued to appear on Impact Wrestling , despite not having a contract with the company, but he would defeat Bully Ray at Bound for Glory, despite interference from Aces & Eights and Carter, to win his second TNA World Heavyweight Championship and fifth world title in
21009-421: Was on a wrestling scholarship , and studying physical education. He was then invited by some of his friends to try professional wrestling. He entered a professional wrestling school because his friends were doing it and to find out whether he had a natural aptitude for it. To supplement his income, he worked by mowing lawns and driving an ambulance. Jones was trained by Rick Michaels and debuted in 1998. In
21158-405: Was pinned by James Storm in a three-way number one contender's match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship at Turning Point , also involving Bobby Roode, preventing him from receiving another title opportunity until Bound for Glory 2013 as per the pre-match stipulation. On December 9 at Final Resolution , Styles was defeated by Christopher Daniels in what was billed as their "final match". On
21307-493: Was renamed A.J. Styles. He appeared sporadically even after signing with NWA-TNA, and is a former NWA Georgia Heavyweight Champion , having defeated Rick Michaels for the title on December 22, 2001, at Christmas Chaos. Atlanta -based World Championship Wrestling (WCW) had observed Styles' and Air Paris ' program in NWA Wildside and offered each a contract in early 2001. Styles (renamed Air Styles) and Paris were placed in
21456-481: Was reported that contract negotiations between Styles and TNA had broken down and that Styles would be leaving the promotion, becoming a free agent effective December 17 and ending his near twelve-year association with the company. According to Styles he left the promotion since they made him an offer which reduced his salary about 60%. On March 14, Styles returned to International Wrestling Cartel (IWC) and successfully challenged IWC Super Indy Champion Super Hentai for
21605-463: Was required to pay Corgan back by November 1. It was possible that one of the other minority owners could pay Corgan, effectively making them the majority owner of TNA. On November 3, the company revealed that Anthem Sports & Entertainment provided a credit facility to fund operations for TNA and that Corgan was removed as the promotion's president. However, Corgan himself stated that neither TNA nor Anthem Sports & Entertainment had yet repaid
21754-416: Was revealed that Claire was not pregnant after all and her attorney revealed Daniels' and Kazarian's plot to blackmail Styles. On the August 30 episode of Impact Wrestling , Styles was eliminated in the 2012 Bound for Glory Series after losing to Samoa Joe. At No Surrender and Bound for Glory , Styles and Angle unsuccessfully challenged Daniels and Kazarian for the TNA World Tag Team Championship. Styles
21903-573: Was such that they could not afford cable television, which resulted in Jones being unable to watch professional wrestling, his childhood passion. He attended Johnson High School in Gainesville, Georgia , graduating in the class of 1996. Jones took up amateur wrestling in high school and became a two-time state wrestling champion. Jones then attended Anderson University in Anderson, South Carolina , where he
22052-494: Was unsuccessful after Samoa Joe turned on The Front Line and helped Angle win. Nash won Styles' Legends Championship at Victory Road . Following the loss, Styles began a "Best of Three Series" against Matt Morgan for entry into the TNA World Heavyweight Championship match with Sting and Angle at Hard Justice , which saw Styles winning the first match, but losing the following two, resulting in Morgan advancing to Hard Justice. On
22201-518: Was unsuccessful in winning the title. Later that night, Styles defeated Josh Mathews in a match taped for XWF television. The following night, Styles was defeated by Daniels, again in a match taped for the XWF television program. Styles debuted for Australian promotion World Wrestling All-Stars (WWA) on February 24, 2002, making his pay-per-view debut at The Revolution against Christopher Daniels, Low Ki , Shark Boy , Super Nova and Tony Mamaluke in
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