TNA King of the Mountain Championship

The TNA King of the Mountain Championship is a championship owned by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). It was introduced on the October 23, 2008 episode of TNA's television program TNA Impact! as the "TNA Legends Championship". It since has also been known as the "TNA Global Championship" and the "TNA Television Championship".

History[]

Legends Title[]

The title was introduced during a storyline that pitted young talent within the company (The TNA Front Line) against veterans of professional wrestling (The Main Event Mafia). In the weeks leading up to the unveiling of the physical belt, Booker T carried around a steel briefcase. On the October 23, 2008 episode of TNA Impact!, Booker T introduced the belt by removing it from the steel briefcase, announcing its name as the "TNA Legends Championship", and declaring himself the first champion. He went on to state that the championship was his and that he would defend it when he saw fit; this meant that the championship was unsanctioned by TNA in the storyline.

At TNA Destination X 2009 pay-per-view (PPV) event, A.J. Styles defeated Booker T to win the championship. Afterwards on the March 19, 2009 episode of TNA Impact!, Styles was credited as becoming the first-ever TNA Grand Slam Champion, by winning the World Heavyweight (NWA or TNA), the World Tag Team (NWA or TNA), and the TNA X Division Championship along with the Legends Championship. Management Director Jim Cornette then announced that the TNA Legends Championship had become an official TNA sanctioned championship thanks to Styles defeating Booker T for it legally via the contract the two had signed to make the match official (in storyline terms).

Global Title[]

On the October 29, 2009 episode of Impact!, then-champion Eric Young renamed the title the "TNA Global Championship". He went on to declare that he was not going to defend it against any American wrestlers nor on American soil. However, Young's first defense was on the December 10, 2009 episode of Impact! in Orlando, Florida against Japanese female wrestler Hamada. Young's second, third and fourth defenses lived up to his earlier decree, when he defended against Suicide in Glasgow, Hamada in Bournemouth, and - unsuccessfully - against Welsh wrestler Rob Terry in Cardiff, Wales at a live event on January 27, 2010.

TV Title[]

On the July 22, 2010 episode of Impact!, Terry lost the Global Championship to A.J. Styles. Styles then renamed the title the "TNA Television Championship" on the episode of July 29, 2010 of Impact!.

On the April 19, 2012 episode of Impact Wrestling, TNA General Manager Hulk Hogan ordered that the TNA Television Championship must be defended every week. The weekly title defenses lasted until the June 21, 2012, episode of Impact Wrestling. On July 3, 2014, TNA Executive Director Kurt Angle declared the championship inactive.[14]

KotM Title[]

On June 28, 2015, TNA announced that at TNA Slammiversary 2015, the title would be reactivated as the "King of the Mountain Championship", and that a new champion would be crowned at the event in a King of the Mountain match.