Tag Archives: IMPACT 20

20 Years of IMPACT: 2014

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2014 started with two TNA World Heavyweight Champions: AJ Styles and Magnus. Both men had a claim to the title – Styles defeated Bully Ray at Bound For Glory while Magnus won a tournament in his absence. However, there could only be one true TNA World Heavyweight Champion. Styles and Magnus faced off in January to crown a true champion. After interference from all of Magnus and Dixie’s goons, Magnus was crowned the undisputed champion. Sting tried to school his old Main Event Mafia associate and was willing to put his TNA career on the line to get a title shot: in a similar story, with help from a lot of outside interference Magnus retained and cast Sting out of TNA.

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20 Years of IMPACT: 2013

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Invading forces were nothing new to TNA – between Sports Entertainment Xtreme, The Main Event Mafia and Immortal, groups coming together seeking power and control was commonplace. What was unusual though was not even knowing the identity of the attackers. That was what made the masked Aces and 8s attackers so sinister – knowing they could attack from anywhere and could easily hide in plain sight made them all the more menacing. When Devon was revealed as a member of Aces and 8s, the pieces began to click into place. Over the coming months more and more members were revealed including Mr. Anderson, Knux, Garett Bischoff, Wes Briscoe, D’Lo Brown and DOC. The question of what they wanted in TNA still loomed large though.

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20 Years of IMPACT: 2012

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Austin Aries won a TNA contract at Destination X in 2011 and the whirlwind year to follow was beyond anybody’s expectations. Having overcome Low Ki, Jack Evans and Zema Ion to get a TNA contract before swiftly beating Brian Kendrick for the X-Division Title – Austin Aries quickly ruled the roost in the X-Division. With successful title defenses against Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, Kid Kash and Zema Ion – Aries was looking to step it up a level and prove he could compete with the very toughest in TNA. A dispute with Bully Ray resulted in an intense match at Sacrifice where Aries improbably dropped Bully with a Brainbuster to win. Aries then made a successful title defense against former TNA Champion Samoa Joe at Slammiversary, proving beyond all doubt that he was ready.

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20 Years of IMPACT: 2011

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Sting, feeling TNA didn’t heed his warnings about Hulk Hogan and Immortal in 2010, vanished for much of the start of 2011. The tide began to turn in February when Fortune broke off from Immortal to stand alone and oppose them. This time Scott Steiner was the harbinger of change announcing “They” were coming as AJ Styles, Bobby Roode, James Storm and Kazarian stood up for TNA. They were soon bolstered as the returning Sting defeated Jeff Hardy to become World Champion in March. Immortal would maintain momentum with new members like Matt Hardy and Kurt Angle but the core dispute to be resolved centered around Hogan and Sting. The two legends of pro wrestling facing off was inevitable.

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20 Years of IMPACT: 2010

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The game changed on January 4, 2010. Hulk Hogan arrived in TNA. In one of the most hotly anticipated episodes of IMPACT ever, the world was watching as “The Immortal” Hulk Hogan stepped inside the IMPACT Zone for the first time. On the same night as “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair also made his debut and “The Charismatic Enigma” Jeff Hardy returned for the first time since 2006, Hulk Hogan walked out to both an explosive reaction from the crowd and an explosive amount of pyro. TNA would never be the same again as Scott Hall and Sean Waltman confronted Hogan, which drew out Kevin Nash and yet another new face – Eric Bischoff. Unresolved issues from the past 15 years of wrestling were once again rearing their head and it would dominate TNA for the years to come.

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20 Years of IMPACT: 2009

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Feeling that they didn’t get the respect they deserved, The Main Event Mafia decided to take it by force in 2009. Sting, Kurt Angle, Booker T, Kevin Nash and Scott Steiner declared war on the young stars of TNA. AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, The Motor City Machine Guns, Eric Young, Petey Williams and more banded together with the support of Team 3D to form the TNA Frontline – the first wall of defense against the Main Event Mafia. Angle and company used mob tactics to attack the TNA originals, including taking out Petey Williams. This didn’t align with Sting’s vision of the Main Event Mafia however. While Sting was willing to fight for the respect he felt they had earned as legends, Angle’s willingness to push the violence too far left him uneasy. The Main Event Mafia took over IMPACT on January 29, with Booker T and Kevin Nash on commentary as well as Scott Steiner as ring announcer.

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20 Years of IMPACT: 2008

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You know they say that all years of TNA are created equal, but you look at 2008 and you look at all the other years and you can see that statement is not true. See, normally if you go one on one with another year, you got a 50/50 chance of winning. But 2008 is a genetic freak and it’s not normal! So you got a 25%, AT BEST, at beating 2008. Then you add all other years to the mix, your chances of winning drastic go down. See the 3 way at Sacrifice, you got a 33 1/3 chance of winning, but I, I got a 66 and 2/3 chance of winning, because all other years KNOWS they can’t beat 2008 and they’re not even gonna try!

So all other years, you take your 33 1/3 chance, minus 2008’s 25% chance and you got an 8 1/3 chance of winning at Sacrifice. But then you take 2008’s 75% chance of winning, if we was to go one on one, and then add 66 2/3 per cents, 2008 has got 141 2/3 chance of winning at Sacrifice. See all other years, the numbers don’t lie, and they spell disaster for you at Sacrifice.

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20 Years of IMPACT: 2007

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The Knockouts Division was born in 2007. After years of the likes of Gail Kim, Traci Brooks, Roxxi, Trinity, Alexis Laree, Desire, Jackie Moore, Christy Hemme and more fighting for the right to a division, the Knockouts Championship was finally introduced at Bound For Glory. That night ten women including staples like Gail, Jackie, Traci, Christy and Roxxi as well as newcomers like Angelina Love, Velvet Sky, ODB and Awesome Kong competed in a Gauntlet for the right to make history. Gail Kim ultimately pinned Roxxi to become the first ever Knockouts Champion but a rivalry with Awesome Kong was looming. The monstrous and imposing Kong defeated Gail in her debut prior to Bound For Glory and proved to be the first Champion’s greatest opponent. Their matches were pure dynamite as the underdog Gail fought for her life against the dominant Kong. Their matches defined what the Knockouts Division would be all about.

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20 Years of IMPACT: 2006

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Sting arrived in TNA to rapturous applause at Final Resolution. The building absolutely exploded as Sting teamed with Christian Cage to face Jeff Jarrett and Monty Brown. The iMPACT! Zone erupted into chants of “You’ve still got it!” as The Stinger looked like he was never gone. That match would be the springboard to help Christian defeat Jarrett to become NWA World Champion the following month at Against All Odds. The fans rushed the ring to hold their new hero on their shoulders as the iMPACT! Zone truly became the Peep’s Zone.

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20 Years of IMPACT: 2005

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The X-Division reached another level in 2005. AJ Styles recaptured the X-Division Championship in an all-time classic Ultimate X match against Petey Williams and Chris Sabin at Final Resolution, as all three took the high-wire spectacle to new limits with death-defying high risk moves. From there one of the defining feuds of not just 2005 but all of TNA history began. AJ Styles defended the title against Christopher Daniels in a 30 Minute Iron Match at Against All Odds.

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