WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog at JRsBarBQ.com with thoughts on Samoa Joe’s main roster debut and pretty big bombshell about Impact Wrestling officially dropping the letters “TNA.”
“My sources tell me that Impact Wrestling is going to permanently ditch the TNA initials and that their TV tapings going forward in Orlando will be done in four day increments which will make the talents and crew happier and more productive.”
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TNA was founded in 2004 and at the time the initials TNA (standing for Total Nonstop Action) were designed to be a clever and edgy nod to T and A (hopefully you know what that means). 12 years later, the initials feel dated and a bit trashy. TNA first adopted the name Impact Wrestling on May 3, 2011, at the tapings of the May 12 edition of Impact where they adopted the slogan “Where Wrestling Matters”, with the color scheme changing from red and black to blue, white and gray. This led to the URL of TNA Wrestling’s website, tnawrestling.com, to be renamed impactwrestling.com.
Unfortunately, they kept the TNA name and basically never held to the “Wrestling Matters” slogan, which led to a lot of brand confusion. Impact has always had great talent and a desirable taping schedule, but the common wrestling consumer has never really been given a clear definition of what Impact could offer that they couldn’t find at the WWE.
As Comicbook.com is located in Nashville, we reached out to our source at Impact Wrestling who confirmed the rumor to be true. With Dixie Carter out and Jeff Jarrett back in, we can also confirm that Impact Wrestling will be looking to go in a new creative direction as the company seeks to offer a viable alternative to WWE’s myriad of programming.
You can listen to Comicbook.com’s Over The Ropes podcast discussing the Royal Rumble, Undertaker’s Wrestlemania plans and Seth Rollins’ knee injury below:
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