10 Best TNA Wrestling Moments

7. IMPACT debuts on Spike TV

After they’d sorted out the whole monthly pay-per-view thing, IMPACT next needed to remedy their television situation. 

Between June of 2004 and 2005, IMPACT had aired on Fox Sports Net in an undesirable one-hour Friday Afternoon time slot. 

After leaving FSN, IMPACT successfully negotiated with Spike TV for a more appealing Saturday night slot. The first episode of IMPACT on Spike debuted on October 1, 2005 – five days after WWE Raw had left Spike to go back to the USA Network. 

Outside of a handful of matches featuring some of the company’s favourites, the big news to come out of the show was the surprise debut of Team 3D, AKA the Dudley Boys. 

IMPACT would go from strength to strength on Spike TV, increasing the momentum the promotion had built up and heightening the sense of optimism amongst fans.

A major step in the right direction, the show’s one-hour duration soon grew to become two hours and the ratings were so strong that Spike ended up moving them from Sundays to Thursdays and then to a coveted primetime slot.

It cannot be overstated just how important IMPACT starting on Spike TV was in terms of the company’s survival and growth.