For 20 years, Total Nonstop Action wrestling, known as Impact Wrestling today, has been one of the top wrestling promotions in the United States. In 2002, the world of professional wrestling found itself in a unique situation. WWE stood tall as the number one wrestling promotion in the world after acquiring WCW and ECW.
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With WCW and ECW no longer in business, wrestling fans were hungry for an alternative from WWE. This is where TNA came in. During their first year, TNA created a unique atmosphere with a combination of well-known wrestlers from the 1990s and new wrestlers who were doing things in the ring that some fans had never seen before.
10 Gauntlet For The Gold Battle Royal
On their debut show, TNA hosted a battle royal to crown a new NWA World Champion. While it is well-known Ken Shamrock became champion on the first TNA show, the way he got the championship is not.
In the main event of their first show, TNA held a “Gauntlet for the Gold.” This match is similar to WWE’s Royal Rumble, but the final two participants compete in a standard match. This battle royal featured popular wrestlers such as Jeff Jarrett, Scott Hall, Gangrel, Rick Steiner, Steve Corino, and Konnan. Besides Shamrock, Malice was the other finalist. Shamrock won the title after defeating Malice in a match with special guest referee Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat.
9 First TNA X Title Match
One of the biggest reasons TNA managed to be a success in their early days was their unique X Division. Unlike the cruiserweight division in WCW, the X Division was not about weight limits, it was about no limits.
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The X Division was home to some of the most exciting matches in the United States in the 2000s. On the second TNA show, they crowned their first champion of the division. In a four-way double elimination watch, meaning each person had to be pinned twice to be eliminated. The match featured AJ Styles, Jerry Lynn, Psicosis, and Low Ki. Ultimately, Styles won the match and became the first champion.
8 AJ Styles' Multiple Title Wins
“The Phenomenal” AJ Styles was a shining star right at the start of TNA. Right away, Styles was producing amazing performances and winning multiple titles.
During the first year of TNA, the X Division title was treated like a hot potato having changed hands 10 times. While Styles held the X Division title a couple of times, he also won the NWA tag titles. On the third TNA show, the team of Styles and Jerry Lynn won the titles after defeating The Rainbow Express. Styles and Lynn would go on to be one of the most prominent rivalries in early TNA having been both partners and opponents on many occasions.
7 The Briscoe Brothers
TNA was not the only major promotion to start in 2002. The company Ring of Honor also began running shows that year. When talking about the history of ROH, you must mention the most dominant tag team in that promotion's history, the Briscoe Brothers. However, the brothers also wrestled for TNA that year.
During the first year of TNA, Jay and Mark Briscoe wrestled three times for the promotion, and only two of those matches were televised. The brothers never managed to earn a win in the promotion and left after their second television loss.
6 Ron Killings’ Main Event Run
Ron “The Truth” Killings was one of the top stars in TNA during their first year. Killings, who wrestles as R-Truth in WWE, was the second man to hold the NWA World Championship in the promotion.
Killings defeated Ken Shamrock for the NWA title on the eighth TNA show in August 2002. He held the title for over two months before losing it to Jeff Jarrett.
Killings worked as a heel during his title run. Arguably, Killings' most success has come as being a bag guy. As a heel, he also won the NWA title in 2004. In WWE, he headlined pay-per-views against John Cena and The Rock while working as a villain.
5 Screech
Dustin Diamond, who played the character Screech on the hit show Saved by the Bell, competed in a boxing match during the first year of TNA.
On the 13th TNA pay-per-view special, in September 2002, Diamond competed in a boxing match against Tiny the Bellkeeper. Screech managed to defeat his opponent in less than a minute.
This would not be Diamond's only stint in the world of professional wrestling. In 2008, he would compete on Hulk Hogan’s Celebrity Championship Wrestling reality show, which was ultimately won by NBA legend Dennis Rodman.
4 Syxx-Pac Won The X Title
Among the many names to win the X Division title during TNA’s first year was Syxx-Pac. He won the belt in a ladder match after the title went vacant due to Jerry Lynn suffering an injury.
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Syxx-Pac was portrayed by WWE Hall of Famer Sean Waltman. The name Syxx-Pac was a combination of his names from WCW and WWE. In WCW, he was simply known as Syxx. While in WWE, he was known as X-Pac. He held the title for two weeks before losing it to AJ Styles.
3 Ron Killings Fought Curt Hennig
During his two-month title reign, Ron “The Truth” Killings defended his title on multiple occasions, but among the most shocking names he faced during his reign was Curt Hennig.
On the 17th TNA weekly pay-per-view, Hennig, who wrestled in WWE as Mr. Perfect, challenged for the NWA title. Despite failing to win the title, Hennig wrestled for the NWA title occasionally against Killings and Jeff Jarrett. Many of Hennig’s final matches took place in TNA before he tragically passed away in 2003.
2 Road Warrior
Throughout the history of TNA, there have been many main events featuring wrestlers you may have never realized wrestled each other. Possibly the most shocking main event in the history of the company may have taken place on the 28th weekly TNA pay-per-view.
In January 2013, in an eight-man tag match, the team of Triple X and Vince Russo wrestled the team of Jeff Jarrett, Dusty Rhodes, and the Road Warriors. It is shocking enough to realize the legendary Road Warriors wrestled in TNA, but to realize they wrestled a team featuring Christopher Daniels, Elix Skipper, Low Ki, and Russo takes it to a whole different level.
This would be the only time the Road Warriors competed as a team for TNA, but Road Warrior Animal would appear years later. Rhodes also stayed with the promotion for a few years and was the lead authority figure on TNA’s weekly shows.
1 AJ Styles Fought Larry Zbyszko
In another TNA match that is shocking to believe actually happened, “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles wrestled “The Living Legend” Larry Zbyszko.
During their encounter in January 2002, the rules of the match were that Styles needed to pin Zbyszko twice in 10 minutes. Unfortunately, Styles was only able to beat him once. As a result, Styles had to let Zbyszko be his manager for a short period of time. Zbyszko would make appearances for TNA from 2003 until 2006.
