TNA Genesis, Curtis Culwell Center, Garland, TX, January 2025
TNA Wrestling: From Rebrand to Resurgence
“They are doing everything right. It’s unbelievable. They’re selling out arenas. They’re selling out, most places are going. They had 4,000 people down in El Paso. They are doing everything right.”
Pro wrestling fans know Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling, a dynamic alternative brand founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett in 2002. The first wrestling company to introduce a unique six-sided ring, TNA’s reputation for innovation precedes it—legends like Kurt Angle, Hulk Hogan, Sting, Gail Kim, AJ Styles, Kevin Nash, Scott Steiner, Eric Bischoff, Samoa Joe, Awesome Kong, and Bobby Roode have all been part of the promotion throughout its storied history.
Over the years, TNA has undergone several transformations, including a sale to Anthem Sports, rebranding to Impact Wrestling in 2017, and proudly reclaiming the TNA name in January 2024.
Coinciding with the rebrand, the company launched TNA+, an SVOD service powered by Endeavor Streaming’s Vesper platform which was designed to give fans everything TNA Wrestling in one place. Additionally, the brand had a clear opportunity for growth on the live events side of the business, which was averaging under 500 fans in attendance during TV tapings in early 2024.
With TNA’s US TV distribution limited to AXS, our marketing approach had to lean on the strengths the company already had, including the incredible work of TNA’s talent and creative team, who continually deliver engaging storylines and high-quality performances.
The goal: generate more brand heat and get fans to once again CROSS THE LINE.
The plan
We got to work in April 2024. Together our team created a comprehensive go-to-market plan that focused on:
Packaging and pricing exercises to ‘right-size’ the streaming service to meet fans where they were, how they wanted to consume content, and ways they interacted with one another.
Promoting TNA’s content and wrestling storylines to shift fan interest from historical moments to current events.
Driving sign-ups and live event ticket sales through various marketing channels (owned assets, social media, Google, Meta, TikTok, terrestrial TV, streaming TV, and unique marketing partnerships).
Building a test-and-learn approach to develop targeted, effective fan promotions.
Developing high-impact partnerships to grow TNA’s cultural cachet both within and outside its fandom (paid, collaborations, venues, creators).
TNA Sacrifice, March 2024
TNA Genesis, January 2025
It takes a village
We also understood early on that TNA’s wrestlers were the core of the brand’s appeal. They are the real stars, and our efforts would ultimately reflect their work and be built on the foundation they created.
Names like Nic Nemeth (fka Dolph Ziggler), Matt and Jeff Hardy, Moose, AJ Francis, Tessa Blanchard, Mike Santana, JDC (fka Fandango), Elijah (fka Elias), Ash By Elegance (fka Dana Brooke), Alisha Edwards, and many others collectively amassed 29.3M total likes, follows, and subscribes across Instagram and X — a staggering amount of fandom.
Talent also brought a network of friends, family, and personal connections we could work with, provided we were good teammates, respectful of the business, and thoughtful in our approach. Ensuring a collaborative relationship across talent and creative was key to a successful outcome.
This massive, engaged audience provided both direct promotional opportunities and a level of positive unpredictability that required us to stay ready for big moments and ensure fans could engage with the brand when they happened.
Beyond having a solid streaming partner in our corner that could handle high volumes of traffic to prepare, we also:
Moved iMPACT! from an on-demand time slot on TNA+ at 10pm ET to 8pm ET, coinciding with the AXS TV broadcast of TNA’s flagship show. This gave new and old fans globally a chance to watch in real-time with TNA’s limited distribution and second-screen with their friends across X, Reddit, and other communities.
Formalized a YouTube strategy aimed at allowing new fans to discover TNA for free through our channel, while focusing full-event experiences on TNA+ where an email address and first-party data was required to sign-up — building our email list, allowing us to market more effectively, and creating a flywheel around storylines where all roads lead to a fan being exposed to TNA programming.
Onboarded a vendor capable of responding to viral moments with immediately available merchandise, ensuring we could capture excitement and interest in real-time.
These efforts ensured TNA was ready whenever big moments happened — from Joe Hendry’s viral success and Jordynne Grace’s NXT appearance, to John Cena’s Instagram post promoting the brand.
The wildcards
Throughout it all, our guiding principle was that good ideas could come from anywhere, and we should ‘ride the wave’ when they did. This approach lead to impactful initiatives from talent like AJ Francis, Alisha Edwards, Tom Hannifan, Sami Callihan, Steph De Lander, and PCO among others that included:
A collaboration with Twitch Creators, allowing them to cover AJ Francis’ Digital Media Championship reign during the lead up to his match against PCO at Slammiversary 2024.
Post-event WhatNot memorabilia auctions, organized and hosted by Alisha Edwards, Gia Miller, and Rosemary.
Character-focused event collaborations like the PCO Burger at La Belle et Le Boeuf restaurant in Montreal to promote his homecoming match.
A brand creative campaign to promote Bound For Glory 2024 in Detroit, Michigan
Sponsored social media capsules like “Do the Work,” which allowed talent to discuss how they stayed fit on the road, sponsored by Rest When Dead apparel.
Free access codes for TNA Head Referee Daniel Spencer’s podcast “Ref’in it Up” with Former WWE referees Brian Hebner and Jimmy Korderas to cover TNA Events.
Twitch Streamer Collaboration
Bound For Glory 2024 Brand Campaign
“You can tell that TNA is really doing everything right right now because we’re hitting all these markets that we haven’t been to in so many years. ...TNA has been white hot recently and we’re very happy and proud to be part of this great resurgence TNA is having right now.”
The results
Our modern marketing playbook helped take TNA to new record-breaking heights and in the discussion for the globe’s #2 wrestling promotion, all without major traditional US TV distribution.
100% subscriber growth of TNA+ in year one with a 4.55 all-in partnership LTV/CAC ratio in 2024 (users returned 4.55x the revenue to the partnership it cost to acquire them)
80%+ increase in live event attendance (TV tapings, TNA+ Live Specials and Pay-Per-Views)
500% email list growth (13M newsletters sent in less than a year)
High-profile brand partnerships (VitaCoco, BLCKSMTH)
Strategic media buys that contributed to eight consecutive live event sellouts in 2024-25, alongside a powerful existing PR, venue selection, and local grassroots machine lead by Ross Forman, Rafael Morffi, and Greg Bagarozy.
Most importantly, our plan created executive-level confidence to:Broadcast TNA’s flagship show iMPACT! live for the first time in eight years.
Book major arenas (5,000+ attendance) for pay-per-view events, including Long Island New York’s UBS Arena and USC’s Galen Center in 2025.
Close a ground-breaking talent-sharing and marketing partnership with WWE / TKO.
Make bigger investments in talent and production quality.
The Playbook
TNA’s growth wasn’t an accident. It came down to knowing the game and executing flawlessly. Here’s what worked:
Digital-First Engagement: Repositioning TNA+ to feel live, relevant, and exclusive.
Marketing Flywheel: Leveraging viral moments from the locker room and community to boost engagement and drive subscriptions.
Strategic Partnerships: Collaborations with brands like VitaCoco and BLCKSMTH Apparel that elevated TNA’s visibility and legitimacy.
Teamwork: Connecting with and listening to creative minds across the organization to take promotions to the next level.
Precision Targeting: Understanding where the audience was and meeting them there—whether it was AEW, WWE, or independent fans craving something different.
Non-Traditional Distribution: Creating buzz without relying on major US TV distribution, proving success is about reach and relevance, not just networks.
The results were loud. The conversations were even louder. The best part? This all happened within a year.
Want to try something bigger? Feel free to reach out. romy.glazer@gmail.com
“The show that we had had Slammiversary is the biggest show that TNA did in the last decade. The show that we had for Bound For Glory was the biggest show in America that we’ve had in the last decade. So we’re on the rise. We’re the hottest company in wrestling. ”
