Original segments Global Impact! originated in TNA in 2005. Segments displayed the worldwide "Impact!" of TNA, with an unseen Jeremy Borash providing a voice-over. These segments included TNA performers appearing in promotions and tours of different countries, and various happenings in TNA.
Online show On April 24, 2006, TNA announced that it would be converting
Global Impact! into a weekly
webcast show as of May 3, 2006 as part of an agreement between TNA and
YouTube. Jeremy Borash was announced as the onscreen host, with Christy Hemme to co-host the inaugural broadcast. TNA website manager Bill Banks (who helped launch similar online shows such as
WWE Byte This! and
WCW Reload), was expected to have a large behind-the-scenes role. This agreement would be short-lived after high viewership caused the YouTube
server to crash, future episodes were hosted on TNA's official website. On August 19, 2006, the show was put on hold with no real reason given. Instead, TNA switched to providing information in the form of an audio
podcast.
Television revival On December 14, 2007,
Spike TV issued a press release which indicated that TNA would hold a one-hour special in January of the following year entitled "Global Impact!". The show would feature taped matches involving TNA wrestlers competing at the
Wrestle Kingdom II New Japan Pro-Wrestling Tokyo Dome show on January 4, including
Kurt Angle facing
Yuji Nagata for the
IGF's version of the
IWGP Heavyweight Championship. The show aired on Thursday, January 17, 2008 at 11:00pm
EST following the weekly episode of TNA Impact!. According to TNA's recent contract renewal with Spike TV, it is expected that this will be the first of several occasional special-airing shows.
DVD release On February 28, 2008, TNA released the first Global Impact! special from Japan on DVD. Unlike the on-air broadcast, it contains the 7 full-length-matches that TNA stars participated in during the January 4 Tokyo Dome Event. It also contained backstage interviews from before and after the event. A full DVD Review can be read at the following link:
Global Impact 2: Japan On December 14, 2008, TNA Wrestling.com officially announced Global Impact 2: Japan. The show aired on Spike TV on October 8, 2009. It featured taped matches involving TNA wrestlers competing at the
Wrestle Kingdom III New Japan Pro-Wrestling Tokyo Dome show on January 4.
The Motor City Machine Guns (
Alex Shelley and
Chris Sabin) defeating
No Limit (
Tetsuya Naito and
Yujiro) for the
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship,
Kurt Angle,
Kevin Nash,
Masahiro Chono, and
Riki Choshu defeating
Giant Bernard,
Takashi Iizuka,
Tomohiro Ishii, and
Karl Anderson, and
Team 3D (
Brother Devon and
Brother Ray) defeating
The Most Violent Players (
Togi Makabe and
Toru Yano) in a
Hardcore match for the
IWGP Tag Team Championship.
Global Impact 3 Global Impact 3 debuted on
pay-per-view on February 24, 2011, and featured matches involving TNA wrestlers from the January 4, 2011, New Japan Pro-Wrestling show
Wrestle Kingdom V in Tokyo Dome which aired live on pay-per-view in Japan. The matches included saw
Beer Money, Inc. (
James Storm and
Robert Roode) unsuccessfully challenging
Bad Intentions (Giant Bernard and Karl Anderson) for the IWGP Tag Team Championship in a three–way tag team match, which also included Muscle Orchestra (
Manabu Nakanishi and
Strong Man),
Rob Van Dam defeating Toru Yano in a hardcore match and
Jeff Hardy successfully defending the
TNA World Heavyweight Championship against Tetsuya Naito. ==References==