Source: Jonathan Batuello of the News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne

It will be exactly eight years since Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling was founded when it comes to Memorial Coliseum at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

The experience for fans begins when the doors open at 6:30 p.m., which has been one of the trademarks for the organization since it started.

“Wrestling fans are the ones who put groceries on my table … and at the end of the day it’s all about your fan base. Without them professional wrestling doesn’t exist,” said co-founder and TNA wrestler Jeff Jarrett.

This fan interaction has become a trademark for TNA Wrestling. Fans will see two or three wrestlers at the doors and throughout the venue signing autographs and talking to fans. The same occurs at intermission. At the end of the live event, fans can get in the ring and take pictures with their favorite professional wrestlers.

TNA also has taken advantage of social-networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. TNA’s ring announce, Jeremy Borash, will announce through Twitter where he has hidden a backstage pass for fans to try to find. TNA also has almost all its wrestlers use Facebook to connect with its audience.

“People with phones, they arrive at the building, and literally when the doors open, it’s unlike any other event,” Jarrett said. “It’s a great scene, people going through the doors, to the top row or behind the merchandise stand.”

TNA Wrestling started as a pay-per-view online wrestling format in 2002. It has expanded to more than 100 live events a year.

It has also gained enough attention to get a broadcast contract with the cable network Spike TV in the U.S. and be broadcast in more than 100 countries.

It has expanded to include more than 60 people on its roster, including superstars such as Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Jarrett, Sting, Kurt Angle and its current World Champ, Rob Van Dam.

The organization’s first live event in Fort Wayne includes appearances by Jeff Hardy, Shannon Moore, AJ Styles and TNA’s Knockouts Division (the female division) champion Madison Rayne. Tickets for the event start at $20, but as Jarrett reminds fans, TNA offers more than just watching professional wrestlers.

“It’s not just fan-friendly, but fan-interactive,” he said. “TNA stars are far and away the best in-ring performers, with the talent of the professional wrestling certainly the best around. It will be a cool, fun night, and everyone that comes to our shows, we blow them away with our experience.”