Professional wrestling is all about trial and error. Some things manage to work, such as the Royal Rumble or Elimination Chamber. Other gimmick matches, however, are just boring concepts that fans do not latch on to. Enter the Impact Grand Championship, a short-lived title that existed in TNA for a couple of years. It was a midcard title that TNA had tried to push early under the Billy Corgan era in the promotion. And while sometimes it is commendable to try and introduce something new, this was something that was never going to work in TNA. In the end, the concept of the championship was terrible and not something that needed to be created.
The Impact Grand Championship Was Based On The European Rounds System
Billy Corgan Introduced The Title To TNA
- Matches for the Impact Grand Championship had three rounds.
- Rounds lasted three minutes each.
- TNA judges determined winners if there was no pinfall or submission.
Now, the origins of the rules for the Impact Grand Championship were not something brand new. In fact, it was actually based on the European rounds system in professional wrestling. While there are some variations of it, the same basic concept applies. There are a certain number of rounds in a match that last a few minutes each. In the end, if there is no pinfall or submission victory, a group of judges would determine the winner of the match based on points that were awarded. It was actually something that was also used in the AWF, a defunct promotion that existed from 1994-1996. And it also did not work there either.
In the case of TNA, there were three rounds per match. Each round would last three minutes. TNA judges for the matches judged based on three categories. Those included physicality, aggressiveness, and controlling the action. The Impact Grand Championship was intended to be something new for the company at a time when it was truly struggling. There were numerous name changes and management switch-ups back then. However, it failed at that very thing.
Some Of TNA’s Biggest Names Held The Impact Grand Championship
Aron Rex Was The First Impact Grand Champion
|
First Champion |
Aron Rex |
|
Last Champion |
Austin Aries |
|
Most Reigns |
Moose (2x) |
Corgan had initially introduced the Impact Grand Championship as the replacement for the TNA King of the Mountain Championship, a belt that had been renamed on more than one occasion. TNA hosted a tournament with eight competitors who vied to become the inaugural holder of the belt. In the end, it was Aron Rex who came out on top and became the first to hold it. And while Rex is certainly talented and had just come into TNA, there were other names who could have been better picks to be the first titleholder. This includes tournament competitors Eli Drake (WWE’s LA Knight), Drew Galloway (WWE’s Drew McIntyre), and Eddie Edwards.
As time went on, the title was held by some of TNA’s top stars at the time. Moose, Galloway, and EC3 all went on to carry the gold. However, it also began to lose prestige when Matt Sydal simply just gave the title to Josh Matthews. With Sydal’s winning of the title from EC3, the title then abandoned the rounds system rules that the championship had been built on in the very first place.
The Impact Grand Championship Was Never Going To Succeed
It Was A Silly Concept Invented By Billy Corgan
- Rounds disrupt the momentum of a wrestling match.
- The title lost its identity when rounds were done away with.
- The Impact Grand Championship was retired in 2018.
There were a number of problems with the Impact Grand Championship. Firstly, round system type wrestling causes strange breaks in the momentum of a match. While they are totally valid in boxing and MMA, it does not fit into professional wrestling. A match is based on suspension of disbelief and the story that a match is trying to tell. The rounds system did not do anything to enhance the match.
In addition, the identity of the title was something that it struggled with as time went on. With the abandonment of the rounds system rules, it lacked the one thing that at least made it unique. It was just another midcard title that ultimately felt like it did not mean much. The X-Division Championship was far more interesting and did a lot more for TNA and had a distinct identity. The Digital Media Championship has an identity as being an intergender, sort of Television Championship-type title. Both of these titles have been far better displayed than the Impact Grand Championship.
In the end, TNA ended up unifying and merging the Impact Grand Championship and the TNA World Championship together. The last officially recognized titleholder of the belt was Austin Aries. Moose went on to be the most successful Impact Grand Champion during the title’s existence. He held the title twice for a combined 264 days in total. It was best for TNA to move on from the title. The rounds system was something that was never going to catch on, especially in this modern age of professional wrestling.
