What if Ken Shamrock never left WWE?

#3 TNA’s Early Struggles Worsen

In the early days of Impact Wrestling, the company founded as TNA, broadcast its show via a weekly PPV format. Founded by industry veteran Jeff Jarrett, who had family roots in the pro-wrestling business, the company understood the importance the element of legitimacy brings, early on.

This led to brokering a deal to feature the National Wrestling Alliance World Championship as their featured title. This also meant signing Ken Shamrock as one of the early top stars of the company.

Indeed, in TNA’s first PPV, Shamrock won the vacant championship to become the company's early standard bearer. His time on top would be short lived, but Shamrock’s name recognition and credentials from WWE and UFC, did help put TNA on the map.

TNA has, more often than not, had a rough go of making ends meet. It’s an underdog company founded in the shadow of WWE buying out WCW, largely built out of a love for the business. Without someone like Shamrock to push the product early on, those first broadcasts may have drawn even fewer viewers, and it’s possible the promotion would have died before it even registered on most fans’ radars.