CROSS THE LINE

TNA WRESTLING: 2007 - 2009

The period between 2007 and 2009 was a transformative, high-octane, and often controversial era for Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling. During these years, the promotion transitioned from a hungry alternative to a star-studded roster featuring some of the biggest names in the history of the business.

Enter the Impact Zone
2007

The Move to Two Hours

The biggest shift in 2007 was Impact! moving to a two-hour time slot on Spike TV. This allowed for more character development but also signaled the beginning of a heavy reliance on established legends.

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    The Angle Era Kurt Angle dominated the year, at one point holding every active championship in the company simultaneously (the TNA World, X-Division, and Tag Team titles).
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    The Knockouts Revolution In October 2007, TNA officially established the Knockouts Championship. This was a turning point for women’s wrestling, as Gail Kim, Awesome Kong, and others were given serious TV time and main-evented several shows.
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    Tag Team Excellence The feud between The Latin American Xchange (LAX) and America’s Most Wanted (and later AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels) kept the tag division world-class.

Championship Dominance (2007)

Percentage of Main Event appearances by established stars vs originals.

2008

The Main Event Mafia vs. The Frontline

Faction Power Struggle (2008)

Win/Loss ratio of MEM vs Frontline in PPV Main Events.

2008 saw the birth of one of the most famous storylines in the company’s history. The narrative focused on the "respect" (or lack thereof) between the established legends and the young "TNA Originals."

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    The Main Event Mafia (MEM) Formed in late 2008, this faction consisted of Kurt Angle, Sting, Kevin Nash, Booker T, and Scott Steiner. Their goal was to "teach respect" to the younger roster.
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    The TNA Frontline AJ Styles and Samoa Joe led the resistance against the veterans. While the matches were high-quality, critics often pointed out that the veterans frequently went over the younger stars.
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    Samoa Joe’s Title Reign Joe finally won the TNA World Heavyweight Championship at Lockdown 2008 in a classic Steel Cage match against Kurt Angle.
2009

Evolution and the Arrival of Hogan

The tension between the MEM and the Frontline culminated in 2009, leading to significant roster shifts and the eventual announcement that would change the company forever.

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    AJ Styles Reaches the Top At No Surrender 2009, AJ Styles won the World Heavyweight Title in a five-way match. His subsequent reign—and his mentorship under Ric Flair shortly after—solidified him as the "Face of TNA."
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    The X-Division Pulse Despite the heavy focus on the main event, the X-Division remained a highlight with the emergence of Suicide and the continued excellence of stars like Jay Lethal (and his "Black Machismo" gimmick) and Alex Shelley.
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    The October 27th Announcement On this date, TNA announced that Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff had signed with the company. This news sent shockwaves through the industry, marking the end of the "Spike Era" and the beginning of the "Hogan Era" (which officially kicked off on Jan 4, 2010).

Roster Evolution (2009)

X-Division match time vs Heavyweight match time.

Key Figures of the Era

Top Stars

The Main Event Picture

Heavyweights

  • Kurt Angle
  • Sting
  • AJ Styles
  • Samoa Joe
  • Jeff Jarrett

Knockouts

Revolutionizing Women's Wrestling

The Division

  • Gail Kim
  • Awesome Kong
  • Taylor Wilde
  • The Beautiful People
  • ODB

Tag Teams

World Class Division

Top Teams

  • Beer Money, Inc.
  • Motor City Machine Guns
  • Team 3D
  • LAX
  • Styles & Daniels