The Birth of NWA-TNA
On 2002-02-08, J Sports & Entertainment (JSE) was founded in Nashville, TN by former long-time promoter Jerry Jarrett and his son Jeff Jarrett, a former star of his father’s promotion, as well as WWF and WCW.
NWA and JSE made an announcement on 05-09 that NWA was now allowing “Total Nonstop Action Wrestling” (NWA-TNA), a new promotion operated by JSE, to use the NWA trademark and world titles in the heavyweight and tag team divisions. Its main television program would be a weekly pay-per-view show.
World heavyweight champion Dan Severn was stripped of his title by the NWA on 05-29 when TNA demanded to have a tournament to crown a new champion. The official reason was that Severn was unable to participate in the tournament due to a prior commitment.
NWA-TNA’s first weekly PPV event was held on 06-19 at the Von Braun Civic Center in Huntsville, AL. After Ken Shamrock and Malice became the two finalists of a battle royal, Shamrock defeated Malice in a singles match to win the vacant world heavyweight title.
Press Release:
Nashville, TN (May 10, 2002) – Jerry Jarrett, CEO of J Sports & Entertainment, commenting today on the announcement of the launch of the new weekly NWA: Total Nonstop Action wrestling series, talked about the importance of the NWA name being attached to the show.
“We’re thrilled to be using the NWA name for our program,” said Jarrett. “The National Wrestling Alliance has a long and prestigious history and was at one time the dominant name in the professional wrestling industry. We believe it’s important for our company to be affiliated with a name that fans will recognize and we believe the NWA name is a familiar one to most fans of professional wrestling.”
NWA President Jim Miller was equally excited, saying, “This is a win-win for everybody involved. I’m very excited about the prospects of working with J Sports & Entertainment to make NWA: Total Nonstop Action a tremendous success. The pay-per-view broadcasts will expose the NWA to fans in a way that hasn’t been possible before and the opportunities for our member organizations will be better than ever.”
J Sports President Jeff Jarrett added, “The NWA name is the foundation that sports entertainment was built on. We plan to build on that foundation with the cutting edge characters and revolutionary concepts expected by today’s wrestling audience. Total Nonstop Action will be more than the name of the show, it’s what we want our fans to think of every time they watch our program.”
NWA: Total Nonstop Action will broadcast every Wednesday night at 8pm Eastern and will be available on cable and satellite at a suggested retail price of $9.95.