Global iMPACT! was a free online

Internet

The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...

 professional wrestling

Professional wrestling

Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...

 show produced by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling is a privately held professional wrestling promotion founded by Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Jarrett. The company broadcasts its events on television and the Internet fifty two weeks a year with over a million weekly viewers on its primary television program, Impact...

 (TNA) that existed in 2006. Global iMPACT!, which was hosted by TNA interviewers Jeremy Borash

Jeremy Borash

Jeremy Borash , is an American professional wrestling play-by-play commentator, announcer, ring announcer, booker, interviewer, producer and website designer...

 and Christy Hemme

Christy Hemme

Christina Lee "Christy" Hemme is an American actress, singer, model, professional wrestling valet and former professional wrestler. Hemme is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, as a backstage interviewer and ring announcer.-Early life:Hemme was born in Poway, California, but she...

, featured "exclusive footage, interviews, news updates, matches and more".

Original segments

Global iMPACT! originated in TNA in 2005 as segments displaying the worldwide "iMPACT!" of TNA, with an unseen Jeremy Borash providing a voiceover. 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

Webcast

A webcast is a media presentation distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology to distribute a single content source to many simultaneous listeners/viewers. A webcast may either be distributed live or on demand...

 show as of May 3, 2006 as part of an agreement between TNA and YouTube

YouTube

YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....

. 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

Server (computing)

In the context of client-server architecture, a server is a computer program running to serve the requests of other programs, the "clients". Thus, the "server" performs some computational task on behalf of "clients"...

 to crash, future episodes were hosted on TNA's official website. On August 19, 2006, the show has been put on hold with no real reason given. Instead, TNA switched to providing information in the form of an audio podcast

Podcast

A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...

.

Television Revival

On December 14, 2007, Spike TV issued a press release which included the fact that TNA will have a one-hour special in January entitled "Global iMPACT!". The show would feature taped matches involving TNA wrestlers competing at the Wrestle Kingdom II New Japan Pro Wrestling

New Japan Pro Wrestling

is a major professional wrestling promotion in Japan, founded by Antonio Inoki in June 1972 and owned by Yuke's since 2005, when Inoki sold the promotion. Naoki Sugabayashi is the current President of the promotion and has held that position from 2007. Owing to its TV program aired on TV Asahi, it...

 Tokyo Dome

Tokyo Dome

Tokyo Dome is a 55,000-seat baseball stadium located in Bunkyo Ward of Tokyo, Japan.The stadium opened for business on March 17, 1988. It was built on the site of the Velodrome which was next door to the site of the predecessor ballpark, Kōrakuen Stadium...

 show on January 4, including Kurt Angle

Kurt Angle

Kurt Steven Angle is an American professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, and 1996 Olympic gold medalist. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he is recognized as a 15-time World Heavyweight Champion...

 facing Yugi Nagata for the IGF

Inoki Genome Federation

Inoki Genome Federation is a professional wrestling promotion in Japan founded by Antonio Inoki in 2007.The IGF is now also the official National Wrestling Alliance territory of Japan, since Antonio Inoki is the person who holds those rights and transferred them to IGF from New Japan Pro...

's version of the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.

The show aired on Thursday, January 17, 2008 at 11:00pm EST

Eastern Time Zone

The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...

 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 4th Tokyo Dome Event. It also contains 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

New Japan Pro Wrestling

is a major professional wrestling promotion in Japan, founded by Antonio Inoki in June 1972 and owned by Yuke's since 2005, when Inoki sold the promotion. Naoki Sugabayashi is the current President of the promotion and has held that position from 2007. Owing to its TV program aired on TV Asahi, it...

 Tokyo Dome

Tokyo Dome

Tokyo Dome is a 55,000-seat baseball stadium located in Bunkyo Ward of Tokyo, Japan.The stadium opened for business on March 17, 1988. It was built on the site of the Velodrome which was next door to the site of the predecessor ballpark, Kōrakuen Stadium...

 show on January 4. The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley

Alex Shelley

Patrick Martin , is an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Alex Shelley. He wrestles for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he currently teams with Chris Sabin as The Motor City Machine Guns. He previously gained fame on the independent circuit, working most notably for...

 and Chris Sabin

Chris Sabin

Joshua Harter is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Chris Sabin. He is currently working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , where he currently teams with Alex Shelley as The Motor City Machine Guns.After being trained by Scott D'Amore, Sabin debuted in 2000 for...

) defeating No Limit (Tetsuya Naitō

Tetsuya Naitō

is a Japanese professional wrestler trained by and currently performing for New Japan Pro Wrestling , where he is a former IWGP Tag Team and IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion with former partner Yujiro Takahashi, with whom he teamed as No Limit....

 and Yujiro

Yujiro Takahashi

, also known by his shortened ring name is a Japanese professional wrestler trained by and currently performing for New Japan Pro Wrestling , where he is a former IWGP Tag Team and IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion with former partner Tetsuya Naitō, with whom he teamed as No...

) for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship

The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling tag team championship owned by the New Japan Pro Wrestling promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the International Wrestling Grand Prix. The title was introduced on August 8, 1998 at a NJPW live event...

, Kurt Angle

Kurt Angle

Kurt Steven Angle is an American professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, and 1996 Olympic gold medalist. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he is recognized as a 15-time World Heavyweight Champion...

, Kevin Nash

Kevin Nash

Kevin Scott Nash is an American professional wrestler and actor. As of 2011, Nash is signed to a five year contract with WWE under their WWE Legends program and appears as part of their Raw brand roster...

, Masahiro Chono

Masahiro Chono

, is a Japanese professional wrestler. He primarily wrestles for New Japan Pro Wrestling , but has also made appearances for the now defunct World Championship Wrestling, as a member of the New World Order. Chono was also known as Mister Black Jack when he first started as a villain. He is a...

, and Riki Chōshū

Riki Choshu

Mitsuo Yoshida , better known by his stage name Riki Chōshū , is a Korean-Japanese professional wrestler who is most known for his longtime work in New Japan Pro Wrestling as a wrestler and a booker...

 defeating Giant Bernard, Takashi Iizuka, Tomohiro Ishii, and Karl Anderson

Karl Anderson

Chad Allegra is an American professional wrestler better known by his stage name Karl "Machine Gun" Anderson currently working for New Japan Pro Wrestling, where he is currently one half of the IWGP and GHC Tag Team Champions with partner Giant Bernard.-Personal life:Allegra grew up in Asheville,...

, and Team 3D

Dudley Boyz

Team 3D was a professional wrestling tag team, consisting of Brother Ray and Brother Devon, formerly sporadically joined into a stable by Brother Runt on several intervals...

 (Brother Devon and Brother Ray) defeating The Most Violent Players (Togi Makabe

Togi Makabe

, better known by his ring name is a Japanese professional wrestler, trained by and currently performing for New Japan Pro Wrestling , where he is a former IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Tag Team Champion....

 and Toru Yano

Toru Yano

, is a Japanese professional wrestler, trained by and currently signed to New Japan Pro Wrestling , where he is a former IWGP Tag Team Champion.-New Japan Pro Wrestling :...

) in a Hardcore match for the IWGP Tag Team Championship.

Global Impact 3

Global Impact 3 debuted on pay-per-view

Pay-per-view

Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...

 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. The matches included saw Beer Money, Inc.

Beer Money, Inc.

Beer Money, Inc. was a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Robert "Bobby" Roode and James Storm in the professional wrestling promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , where they are former four-time TNA World Tag Team Champions, while also holding the record for the longest reign as...

 (James Storm

James Storm

James Allen Cox is an American professional wrestler who competes under the ring name "The Cowboy" James Storm. Since 2002, Storm has been employed by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he, along with A.J...

 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

Manabu Nakanishi

is a Japanese professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler who competed in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. He currently works for New Japan Pro Wrestling. He is a former IWGP Heavyweight Champion.-Amateur wrestling career:...

 and Strong Man

Jon Andersen

Jon Andersen Reel, normally referred to simply as Jon Andersen is an American bodybuilder, strongman competitor and professional wrestler. Anderson currently splits his time between working for Pro Wrestling Revolution in California and Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre in Mexico...

), Rob Van Dam

Rob Van Dam

Robert Alexander "Rob" Szatkowski , better known by his ring name Rob Van Dam , is an American professional wrestler and actor who is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ....

 defeating Toru Yano in a hardcore match and Jeff Hardy

Jeff Hardy

Jeffrey Nero "Jeff" Hardy is an American professional wrestler, who is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , where he is a former two–time TNA World Heavyweight Champion...

 successfully defending the TNA World Heavyweight Championship

TNA World Heavyweight Championship

The TNA World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship owned by the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promotion. It is currently the highest ranked championship in TNA and is primarily defended in TNA's heavyweight division...

against Tetsuya Naitō.