The Main Event Mafia
Encyclopedia
The Main Event Mafia was a heel
stable in the professional wrestling promotion
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
(TNA). The group included leader Kurt Angle
, Sting (who had temporarily led the Main Event Mafia before being ousted), Kevin Nash
(with Survivor: The Amazon
winner Jenna Morasca
), Booker T
(with his real-life wife Sharmell), Scott Steiner
, Samoa Joe
, and Traci Brooks
. All the male members of the stable were multiple time world champions of multiple companies, TNA included, with extensive experience in main event matches. The MEM at one time held all the male titles TNA had to offer, with unsuccessful aspirations to acquire TNA's women's championships as well.
The group formed in late 2008 and had since been largely successful, with Sting and Kurt Angle being TNA World Heavyweight Champions
, Booker T introducing a new championship
into TNA called the TNA Legends Championship
and declaring himself the first official champion with Kevin Nash going on to win the belt as well and Booker T and Scott Steiner holding the TNA World Tag Team Championship
. The group's formation was the result of TNA introducing a new storyline in which the veterans began a rivalry with younger talent within the company (who call themselves The TNA Front Line
); with the MEM being the villains
of the storyline as the veterans modelling themselves after the Mafia
, portrayed as being upset at the disrespect being shown by the younger wrestlers.
Victory Road
during a bout between the fan favorite
Samoa Joe
and villainous
Booker T
for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship
, Joe went on a storyline rampage and attacked referees
, security, and Booker T without on-screen
mercy. Sting, who was also a fan favorite, then entered the arena and stopped Joe's assault, however, Joe gave Sting the middle finger
and continued his assault on Booker T. This angered Sting to a point in which he grabbed Joe and hit him with a baseball bat, which he held in his hand thus, turning Heel in the process. Following the event, Sting did not appear on TNA's primary television program TNA Impact!
in a wrestling role or to explain his actions at the event, instead he was only seen standing in the rafters on each episode. As a result of Sting's actions at the event, a storyline within the company began that saw a possible alliance between Booker T and Sting.
It began on the July 31 episode of Impact!, while Joe was brawling with Booker T, a baseball bat fell from the ceiling hanging by a wire; Booker T grabbed it and smashed Joe over the back with it. At TNA's August pay-per-view Hard Justice
, Sting attacked A.J. Styles
, an on-screen ally of Joe's, after Styles had just attacked Kurt Angle
following their encounter. The reasons Sting's actions were eventually revealed on the August 14 episode of Impact!, in which he stated that he attacked Joe and Styles because they were not showing respect for veterans such as Angle and Booker T by doing what they did at the events. Sting being a veteran of the sport himself went on to say when he was Styles' and Joe's age, if he had a match with a veteran, he pinned and walked away, not adding insult to injury by trying to end their careers, like Styles and Joe were trying to do. This sparked a rivalry between the three, which later involved Angle and Booker T.
At TNA's September pay-per-view No Surrender
, Sting announced that at TNA's October pay-per-view Bound for Glory IV
, he would challenge Joe for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship; later in the event during a match between Christian Cage
, Angle, and Joe, Jeff Jarrett
made his on-screen return to the promotion after not being seen in TNA since late May 2007, by siding with and helping Joe retain the World Heavyweight Championship. Jarrett went on to Bound for Glory to defeat Angle in a standard match with Mick Foley
as Special Guest Ringside Enforcer. Also at Bound for Glory, Sting defeated Joe after Kevin Nash
struck Joe with a baseball bat while the referee wasn't looking to allow Sting to take the advantage and pin Joe after a Scorpion Death Drop. Nash's actions were explained on the October 16 episode of Impact!, when he said that Joe disrespected him and his long time real-life friend Scott Hall
in late 2007 when Joe insulted Hall for not showing up at TNA's December pay-per-view Turning Point.
, where Angle announced that the four had joined together to form a group of legends called "The Main Event Mafia". The goal of the group was to start a "war" against the younger talent to take what they deserved: respect. The following week, they added Scott Steiner
to the Mafia as he made his return from an injury and attacked Joe, Styles, and their allies. Steiner notably spared using his lead pipe on his protégé
, Petey Williams
, who backed off as soon as he saw him.
At Turning Point
, Booker T successfully defeated Christian Cage to retain the Legends Championship. As per the stipulation, Cage was forced to join the MEM, however, the MEM attacked Cage and kicked him out of the group because they believed he was leaving TNA (later proven to be true). MEM proceeded to go on a rampage, assaulting Brother Ray, Samoa Joe
, Petey Williams
(Steiner doing the deed, finally severing the ties between the two), B.G. James
, Rhino
, Jeff Jarrett and A.J. Styles, injuring all in their "hits." At Genesis, Kevin Nash could not make it to the event due to a legitimate staph infection
in his left elbow. When it came time for his tag team match, Booker T announced that they had found a suitable replacement in Kip James
. Kip was not intended to be a long-term addition to the team, as he quickly disappeared from the main event scene as the original five members of the Main Event Mafia resumed their positions. At Destination X
, Booker T lost the Legends Championship to A.J. Styles while Sting retained the TNA World title against Angle with Jeff Jarrett as the special guest referee and Mick Foley
was the Special Guest enforcer. At Lockdown
, Sting lost the TNA World Heavyweight title to Mick Foley and the rest of the Main Event Mafia (Nash, Steiner, Booker T and Angle) lost to Team Jarrett, which consisted of Jeff Jarrett, Samoa Joe, A.J. Styles and Christopher Daniels
. At Sacrifice
, Sting pinned Angle in an Ultimate Sacrifice match also involving Mick Foley and Jeff Jarrett to become the new Godfather of the Main Event Mafia. Sting immediately made his new leadership felt, as on the May 28, 2009, edition of Impact!, he dismissed Sharmell, Jenna Morasca
and Angle's security men Big Rocco
and Sally Boy
from the alliance as part of his new leadership. Rocco and Sally promptly signed on to be Mick Foley
's security the following week.
Heading into Slammiversary
, Matt Morgan expressed his wishes to join the Mafia. This would lead to Angle facing Morgan in a singles match on Impact! which Angle would win. After the match Angle shook Morgan's hand showing that he would want him in the Mafia. On the following weeks Impact! during a King of the Mountain
qualification match between Angle and Sting, Morgan interfered helping Angle win. After the match Angle gave out to Morgan for helping him win. Morgan would go on and ask Sting to let him become a member of the Mafia. Sting agreed to a match at Slammiversary between Morgan where if Morgan won he could join the group. Sting went on to defeat Morgan at the pay-per-view. In the final match of the pay-per-view, Angle won the King of the Mountain match to win the World Title after Samoa Joe
helped him, thus rendering Joe a heel
and the newest member of the Mafia, also betraying the TNA Front Line. On the June 25 edition of Impact!, it was explained that Joe was invested into and paid by the Mafia to join them due to being unable to defeat him. The Mafia as well as Morgan attacked Sting in disapproval of his leadership, with Angle claiming to once again become the leader of the Mafia. The following week, Sting saved A.J. Styles
from a beatdown from his former stable mates, attacking each member of the Mafia with his baseball bat and stealing Angle's TNA World Heavyweight Championship
. The following week, Sting confronted Samoa Joe, claiming to unveil Joe's mystery adviser before Victory Road
, where he would be facing Samoa Joe. Later on in the show, Sting disguised himself as Joe and nearly dragged out Joe's adviser from his car, before Joe stopped him, choking him out with the Coquina Clutch and his signature tribal knife. Joe then took back the World Championship, returning it to Angle during the beatdown on Mick Foley
at the end of the show. At Victory Road, The Mafia gained all power in TNA as Nash won the Legends Championship
from A.J. Styles to bring the title back to the Mafia. At the same event, Booker and Steiner defeated Beer Money, Inc.
for the World Tag Team Championship
, Angle defeated Foley to retain the World Heavyweight Title and Taz
was also revealed to be Joe's adviser; Taz would later state that he was just an ally of the MEM. On the July 30 episode of Impact! Kevin Nash lost the Legends Championship to Mick Foley in a tag team match with Kurt Angle against Bobby Lashley and Mick Foley.
, a stable consisting of Eric Young
, Sheik Abdul Bashir
, Kiyoshi
, Brutus Magnus
, Doug Williams
and Rob Terry
to form a super faction. At Hard Justice
the Main Event Mafia further solidified their dominance with Kevin Nash regaining the Legends Championship, Samoa Joe winning the X Division Championship
, and Booker T, Scott Steiner, and Kurt Angle retaining the World Tag Team and World Heavyweight Championships. By Hard Justice 2009, the Main Event Mafia controlled every male championship in TNA. At No Surrender
Angle lost the World Heavyweight Championship to A.J. Styles. On the October 1 edition of Impact! the alliance between Main Event Mafia and World Elite came to an end in an all out brawl between the two factions. The following week Joe lost the X Division Championship to Amazing Red
after Bobby Lashley interfered in the match. Main Event Mafia's Championship match losing streak continued at Bound for Glory
where Nash lost the Legends title to World Elite leader Eric Young and Booker and Steiner lost the TNA World Tag Team titles to Doug Williams and Brutus Magnus, also of the World Elite. At the same PPV Angle narrowly defeated long-time foe Matt Morgan and afterwards shook his hand. On the following edition of Impact! the stable's future was thrown into question, when Booker was announced as having left the company and Angle admitted that he had been wrong all along about the younger talent of the company and praised the likes of A.J. Styles and Matt Morgan, thus becoming a face. However, Scott Steiner still wore the Main Event Mafia clothing and said that the group was still alive as long as he was involved and that he did not take orders from Kurt Angle
. He still maintained that the young talent did not show respect to the veterans of the professional wrestling business. However, in February 2010, Steiner left TNA, effectively ending the Main Event Mafia.
. Scott Steiner returned to the promotion on the January 27 edition of Impact! and aligned himself with Kurt Angle, but on January 30 Booker T and Kevin Nash instead made surprise returns to World Wrestling Entertainment
(WWE) to compete at the Royal Rumble
pay-per-view, forcing TNA to change their plans and abandon the storyline.
Heel (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a heel is a villain character. In non-wrestling jargon, heels are the "bad guys" in professional wrestling; the term heel coming from the term take to you heels, which means to run away which heel champions tend to do to avoid losing their titles.storylines...
stable in the professional wrestling promotion
Professional wrestling promotion
A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling. Promotion also describes a role which entails management, advertising and logistics of running a wrestling event...
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). The group included leader 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...
, Sting (who had temporarily led the Main Event Mafia before being ousted), 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...
(with Survivor: The Amazon
Survivor: The Amazon
Survivor: The Amazon is the sixth season of the United States reality show Survivor. It was filmed in 2002 and 13 episodes aired weekly in the United States on CBS from February 13 - May 11, 2003....
winner Jenna Morasca
Jenna Morasca
Jenna Morasca is an American actress, former swimsuit model and American reality TV contestant who was the million-dollar grand prize winner of Survivor: The Amazon and previously worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling....
), Booker T
Booker Huffman
Robert Booker Tio Huffman , better known by his ring name Booker T, is a semi-retired American professional wrestler and currently signed to WWE, on its SmackDown brand, as part of the announcing team. Booker is best known for his time in both the World Wrestling Entertainment and World...
(with his real-life wife Sharmell), Scott Steiner
Scott Steiner
Scott Carl Rechsteiner is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Scott Steiner. Steiner is perhaps best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling alongside his older brother Rick as the Steiner Brothers and as a member of the New World Order...
, Samoa Joe
Samoa Joe
Nuufolau Joel "Joe" Seanoa is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Samoa Joe. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling....
, and Traci Brooks
Tracy Brookshaw
Tracy Brookshaw is a Canadian professional wrestler, professional wrestling valet and professional wrestling referee, better known by her ring name Traci Brooks. She is currently working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , where she has spent most of her career.-Early life:Brookshaw grew up on a...
. All the male members of the stable were multiple time world champions of multiple companies, TNA included, with extensive experience in main event matches. The MEM at one time held all the male titles TNA had to offer, with unsuccessful aspirations to acquire TNA's women's championships as well.
The group formed in late 2008 and had since been largely successful, with Sting and Kurt Angle being TNA World Heavyweight Champions
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...
, Booker T introducing a new championship
Championship (professional wrestling)
A Championship or "title" in professional wrestling is a recognition promoted by professional wrestling organizations.Championship reigns are determined by professional wrestling matches, in which competitors are involved in scripted rivalries...
into TNA called the TNA Legends Championship
TNA Legends Championship
The TNA Television Championship is a professional wrestling championship owned by the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promotion. It was introduced on the October 23, 2008 episode of TNA's television program TNA Impact! as the "TNA Legends Championship"...
and declaring himself the first official champion with Kevin Nash going on to win the belt as well and Booker T and Scott Steiner holding the TNA World Tag Team Championship
TNA World Tag Team Championship
The TNA World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship owned by the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promotion. It is primarily contested within TNA's tag team division. It was created and debuted on May 14, 2007 at the taping of TNA's primary television program,...
. The group's formation was the result of TNA introducing a new storyline in which the veterans began a rivalry with younger talent within the company (who call themselves The TNA Front Line
The TNA Front Line
The TNA Front Line was a heroic alliance in the professional wrestling promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...
); with the MEM being the villains
Heel (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a heel is a villain character. In non-wrestling jargon, heels are the "bad guys" in professional wrestling; the term heel coming from the term take to you heels, which means to run away which heel champions tend to do to avoid losing their titles.storylines...
of the storyline as the veterans modelling themselves after the Mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
, portrayed as being upset at the disrespect being shown by the younger wrestlers.
Background
In the summer of 2008 at TNA's July pay-per-viewPay-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...
Victory Road
Victory Road (2008)
Victory Road was the fourth Victory Road professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by American promotion, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...
during a bout between the fan favorite
Face (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a babyface or face or in simple words, a fan favorite is a character who is portrayed as a heroic relative to the heel wrestlers, who are analogous to villains...
Samoa Joe
Samoa Joe
Nuufolau Joel "Joe" Seanoa is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Samoa Joe. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling....
and villainous
Heel (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a heel is a villain character. In non-wrestling jargon, heels are the "bad guys" in professional wrestling; the term heel coming from the term take to you heels, which means to run away which heel champions tend to do to avoid losing their titles.storylines...
Booker T
Booker Huffman
Robert Booker Tio Huffman , better known by his ring name Booker T, is a semi-retired American professional wrestler and currently signed to WWE, on its SmackDown brand, as part of the announcing team. Booker is best known for his time in both the World Wrestling Entertainment and World...
for 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...
, Joe went on a storyline rampage and attacked referees
Referee (professional wrestling)
A professional wrestling referee is the official figure that makes sure that wrestling matches move smoothly in an attempt to maintain kayfabe. The referee also has the ultimate power in the ring...
, security, and Booker T without on-screen
Kayfabe
In professional wrestling, kayfabe is the portrayal of events within the industry as "real" or "true". Specifically, the portrayal of professional wrestling, in particular the competition and rivalries between participants, as being genuine or not of a worked nature...
mercy. Sting, who was also a fan favorite, then entered the arena and stopped Joe's assault, however, Joe gave Sting the middle finger
Finger (gesture)
In Western culture, the finger , also known as the middle finger, is an obscene hand gesture, often meaning the phrases "fuck off" , "fuck you" or "up yours"...
and continued his assault on Booker T. This angered Sting to a point in which he grabbed Joe and hit him with a baseball bat, which he held in his hand thus, turning Heel in the process. Following the event, Sting did not appear on TNA's primary television program TNA Impact!
TNA iMPACT!
Impact Wrestling is a professional wrestling television program for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling that currently airs in the United States and Canada on Spike...
in a wrestling role or to explain his actions at the event, instead he was only seen standing in the rafters on each episode. As a result of Sting's actions at the event, a storyline within the company began that saw a possible alliance between Booker T and Sting.
It began on the July 31 episode of Impact!, while Joe was brawling with Booker T, a baseball bat fell from the ceiling hanging by a wire; Booker T grabbed it and smashed Joe over the back with it. At TNA's August pay-per-view Hard Justice
Hard Justice (2008)
Hard Justice was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , which took place on August 10, 2008 at the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, New Jersey. It was the fourth annual event under the Hard Justice chronology...
, Sting attacked A.J. Styles
A.J. Styles
Allen Neal Jones , better known by his ring name A.J. Styles is an American professional wrestler currently working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...
, an on-screen ally of Joe's, after Styles had just attacked 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...
following their encounter. The reasons Sting's actions were eventually revealed on the August 14 episode of Impact!, in which he stated that he attacked Joe and Styles because they were not showing respect for veterans such as Angle and Booker T by doing what they did at the events. Sting being a veteran of the sport himself went on to say when he was Styles' and Joe's age, if he had a match with a veteran, he pinned and walked away, not adding insult to injury by trying to end their careers, like Styles and Joe were trying to do. This sparked a rivalry between the three, which later involved Angle and Booker T.
At TNA's September pay-per-view No Surrender
No Surrender (2008)
No Surrender was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , which took place on September 14, 2008 at the General Motors Centre in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada...
, Sting announced that at TNA's October pay-per-view Bound for Glory IV
Bound for Glory IV
Bound for Glory IV was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , which took place on October 12, 2008 at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. It was the fourth annual Bound for Glory event and the first to be referred to in roman numerals...
, he would challenge Joe for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship; later in the event during a match between Christian Cage
Jason Reso
William Jason Reso is a Canadian professional wrestler and actor, better known by his ring names Christian and Christian Cage...
, Angle, and Joe, Jeff Jarrett
Jeff Jarrett
Jeffrey Leonard Jarrett is an American professional wrestler and wrestling promoter. He is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , an organization he co-founded along with his father and in which he holds some stock but not total control...
made his on-screen return to the promotion after not being seen in TNA since late May 2007, by siding with and helping Joe retain the World Heavyweight Championship. Jarrett went on to Bound for Glory to defeat Angle in a standard match with Mick Foley
Mick Foley
Michael Francis "Mick" Foley, Sr. is an American semi-retired professional wrestler, author, comedian, actor, voice actor and former color commentator. He has worked for many wrestling promotions, including WWE, WCW, ECW and TNA. He is often referred to as "The Hardcore Legend", a nickname he...
as Special Guest Ringside Enforcer. Also at Bound for Glory, Sting defeated Joe after 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...
struck Joe with a baseball bat while the referee wasn't looking to allow Sting to take the advantage and pin Joe after a Scorpion Death Drop. Nash's actions were explained on the October 16 episode of Impact!, when he said that Joe disrespected him and his long time real-life friend Scott Hall
Scott Hall
Scott Hall is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure with the World Wrestling Federation in the early and mid 1990s under the ring name Razor Ramon, as well as for his period in the mid 1990s and early 2000s with World Championship Wrestling under his real name...
in late 2007 when Joe insulted Hall for not showing up at TNA's December pay-per-view Turning Point.
Feud with TNA Frontline (2008–2009)
The group officially joined together on the October 23 episode of Impact!, in a segment between Nash, Booker T, Angle, Sting, and Jeremy BorashJeremy Borash
Jeremy Borash , is an American professional wrestling play-by-play commentator, announcer, ring announcer, booker, interviewer, producer and website designer...
, where Angle announced that the four had joined together to form a group of legends called "The Main Event Mafia". The goal of the group was to start a "war" against the younger talent to take what they deserved: respect. The following week, they added Scott Steiner
Scott Steiner
Scott Carl Rechsteiner is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Scott Steiner. Steiner is perhaps best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling alongside his older brother Rick as the Steiner Brothers and as a member of the New World Order...
to the Mafia as he made his return from an injury and attacked Joe, Styles, and their allies. Steiner notably spared using his lead pipe on his protégé
Mentorship
Mentorship refers to a personal developmental relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps a less experienced or less knowledgeable person....
, Petey Williams
Petey Williams
Peter "Petey" Williams III is a Canadian professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he is a two time X Division Champion and a former captain of Team Canada. Williams Currently Wrestles for Lucha Libre USA...
, who backed off as soon as he saw him.
At Turning Point
Turning Point (2008)
Turning Point was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promotion, which took place on November 9, 2008 at the TNA Impact! Zone in Orlando, Florida. It was the fourth event under the Turning Point chronology and first event under the name to...
, Booker T successfully defeated Christian Cage to retain the Legends Championship. As per the stipulation, Cage was forced to join the MEM, however, the MEM attacked Cage and kicked him out of the group because they believed he was leaving TNA (later proven to be true). MEM proceeded to go on a rampage, assaulting Brother Ray, Samoa Joe
Samoa Joe
Nuufolau Joel "Joe" Seanoa is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Samoa Joe. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling....
, Petey Williams
Petey Williams
Peter "Petey" Williams III is a Canadian professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he is a two time X Division Champion and a former captain of Team Canada. Williams Currently Wrestles for Lucha Libre USA...
(Steiner doing the deed, finally severing the ties between the two), B.G. James
Brian Gerard James
Brian Gerard James is an American professional wrestler, currently signed to WWE as an agent and producer. He is best known for his tenure with the World Wrestling Federation as "The Road Dogg" Jesse James or simply Road Dogg...
, Rhino
Terry Gerin
Terrance "Terry" Gerin is an American professional wrestler and actor, better known by the ring name Rhino . He is best known for his career in Extreme Championship Wrestling, World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...
, Jeff Jarrett and A.J. Styles, injuring all in their "hits." At Genesis, Kevin Nash could not make it to the event due to a legitimate staph infection
Staphylococcal infection
Staphylococcus is a genus of Gram-positive bacteria which includes several species that can cause a wide variety of infections in humans and other animals through either toxin production or invasion....
in his left elbow. When it came time for his tag team match, Booker T announced that they had found a suitable replacement in Kip James
Monty Sopp
Monty Kip Sopp is an American professional wrestler, best known as Billy Gunn during his tenure for World Wrestling Entertainment. He is probably best known as one of the members of the New Age Outlaws. He also worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name Kip James...
. Kip was not intended to be a long-term addition to the team, as he quickly disappeared from the main event scene as the original five members of the Main Event Mafia resumed their positions. At Destination X
Destination X (2009)
Destination X was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , which took place on March 15, 2009 at the TNA Impact Zone in Orlando, Florida...
, Booker T lost the Legends Championship to A.J. Styles while Sting retained the TNA World title against Angle with Jeff Jarrett as the special guest referee and Mick Foley
Mick Foley
Michael Francis "Mick" Foley, Sr. is an American semi-retired professional wrestler, author, comedian, actor, voice actor and former color commentator. He has worked for many wrestling promotions, including WWE, WCW, ECW and TNA. He is often referred to as "The Hardcore Legend", a nickname he...
was the Special Guest enforcer. At Lockdown
Lockdown (2009)
Lockdown was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promotion, which took place on April 19, 2009 at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was the fifth event under the Lockdown chronology...
, Sting lost the TNA World Heavyweight title to Mick Foley and the rest of the Main Event Mafia (Nash, Steiner, Booker T and Angle) lost to Team Jarrett, which consisted of Jeff Jarrett, Samoa Joe, A.J. Styles and Christopher Daniels
Christopher Daniels
Daniel Christopher Covell is an American professional wrestler, best known in the United States by his ring name "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels. He is also known for performing under the ring name Curry Man. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , while also...
. At Sacrifice
Sacrifice (2009)
-Pre-show:Before the show was broadcasted live, there was a match that aired on TNA's Web site and for free on television, which pitted Amazing Red against Kiyoshi...
, Sting pinned Angle in an Ultimate Sacrifice match also involving Mick Foley and Jeff Jarrett to become the new Godfather of the Main Event Mafia. Sting immediately made his new leadership felt, as on the May 28, 2009, edition of Impact!, he dismissed Sharmell, Jenna Morasca
Jenna Morasca
Jenna Morasca is an American actress, former swimsuit model and American reality TV contestant who was the million-dollar grand prize winner of Survivor: The Amazon and previously worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling....
and Angle's security men Big Rocco
Big Tilly
James Tilquist is an American professional wrestler better known by the ring name Big Tilly. He is best known for being a member of the tag team Phi Delta Slam as well as his appearances in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...
and Sally Boy
Bruno Sassi
Bruno Sassi is an American professional wrestler best known for being a member of the tag team Phi Delta Slam, as well as his appearances in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...
from the alliance as part of his new leadership. Rocco and Sally promptly signed on to be Mick Foley
Mick Foley
Michael Francis "Mick" Foley, Sr. is an American semi-retired professional wrestler, author, comedian, actor, voice actor and former color commentator. He has worked for many wrestling promotions, including WWE, WCW, ECW and TNA. He is often referred to as "The Hardcore Legend", a nickname he...
's security the following week.
Heading into Slammiversary
Slammiversary (2009)
Slammiversary was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , which took place on June 21, 2009 at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It was the fifth event under the Slammiversary chronology and used to commemorate the seventh...
, Matt Morgan expressed his wishes to join the Mafia. This would lead to Angle facing Morgan in a singles match on Impact! which Angle would win. After the match Angle shook Morgan's hand showing that he would want him in the Mafia. On the following weeks Impact! during a King of the Mountain
King of the Mountain match
The King of the Mountain match is a professional wrestling match exclusive to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling . It consists of five competitors competing for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship or the TNA X Division Championship as of Slammiversary 2009...
qualification match between Angle and Sting, Morgan interfered helping Angle win. After the match Angle gave out to Morgan for helping him win. Morgan would go on and ask Sting to let him become a member of the Mafia. Sting agreed to a match at Slammiversary between Morgan where if Morgan won he could join the group. Sting went on to defeat Morgan at the pay-per-view. In the final match of the pay-per-view, Angle won the King of the Mountain match to win the World Title after Samoa Joe
Samoa Joe
Nuufolau Joel "Joe" Seanoa is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Samoa Joe. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling....
helped him, thus rendering Joe a heel
Heel (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a heel is a villain character. In non-wrestling jargon, heels are the "bad guys" in professional wrestling; the term heel coming from the term take to you heels, which means to run away which heel champions tend to do to avoid losing their titles.storylines...
and the newest member of the Mafia, also betraying the TNA Front Line. On the June 25 edition of Impact!, it was explained that Joe was invested into and paid by the Mafia to join them due to being unable to defeat him. The Mafia as well as Morgan attacked Sting in disapproval of his leadership, with Angle claiming to once again become the leader of the Mafia. The following week, Sting saved A.J. Styles
A.J. Styles
Allen Neal Jones , better known by his ring name A.J. Styles is an American professional wrestler currently working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...
from a beatdown from his former stable mates, attacking each member of the Mafia with his baseball bat and stealing Angle's 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...
. The following week, Sting confronted Samoa Joe, claiming to unveil Joe's mystery adviser before Victory Road
Victory Road (2009)
Victory Road was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , which took place on July 19, 2009 at the TNA Impact! Zone in Orlando, Florida...
, where he would be facing Samoa Joe. Later on in the show, Sting disguised himself as Joe and nearly dragged out Joe's adviser from his car, before Joe stopped him, choking him out with the Coquina Clutch and his signature tribal knife. Joe then took back the World Championship, returning it to Angle during the beatdown on Mick Foley
Mick Foley
Michael Francis "Mick" Foley, Sr. is an American semi-retired professional wrestler, author, comedian, actor, voice actor and former color commentator. He has worked for many wrestling promotions, including WWE, WCW, ECW and TNA. He is often referred to as "The Hardcore Legend", a nickname he...
at the end of the show. At Victory Road, The Mafia gained all power in TNA as Nash won the Legends Championship
TNA Legends Championship
The TNA Television Championship is a professional wrestling championship owned by the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promotion. It was introduced on the October 23, 2008 episode of TNA's television program TNA Impact! as the "TNA Legends Championship"...
from A.J. Styles to bring the title back to the Mafia. At the same event, Booker and Steiner defeated 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...
for the World Tag Team Championship
TNA World Tag Team Championship
The TNA World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship owned by the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promotion. It is primarily contested within TNA's tag team division. It was created and debuted on May 14, 2007 at the taping of TNA's primary television program,...
, Angle defeated Foley to retain the World Heavyweight Title and Taz
Tazz
Peter Senerchia is a retired American professional wrestler and current color commentator best known by his ring name Tazz, originally Tazmaniac and later shortened to simply Taz...
was also revealed to be Joe's adviser; Taz would later state that he was just an ally of the MEM. On the July 30 episode of Impact! Kevin Nash lost the Legends Championship to Mick Foley in a tag team match with Kurt Angle against Bobby Lashley and Mick Foley.
World Elite and dissolution (2009)
On the August 6 episode of Impact! it was revealed the Main Event Mafia (M.E.M.) would join forces with World EliteWorld Elite
World Elite was a villainous professional wrestling alliance in the American promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling . The group consisted of multicultural wrestlers, representing various countries around the world...
, a stable consisting of Eric Young
Eric Young (wrestler)
Jeremy Fritz is a Canadian professional wrestler, best known under his ring name Eric Young. He currently performs for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he has gained popularity using a variety of comic relief gimmicks....
, Sheik Abdul Bashir
Shawn Daivari
Dara Daivari is an Iranian American professional wrestler, currently performing on the American independent circuit as Shawn Daivari. He is best known for his work with World Wrestling Entertainment as simply Daivari and with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as Sheik Abdul Bashir.-Career:Daivari...
, Kiyoshi
Akira Raijin
is a Japanese professional wrestler, who formerly competed in North America for the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promotion under the ring name Kiyoshi and previously worked under a mask as Suicide...
, Brutus Magnus
Nick Aldis
Nicholas Harry "Nick" Aldis is an English professional wrestler and actor. He is currently working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name Magnus, where he is a one time World Tag Team Champion with Doug Williams...
, Doug Williams
Doug Williams (wrestler)
Douglas Clayton Durdle is an English professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Doug Williams. He is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name Douglas Williams...
and Rob Terry
Rob Terry
Robert "Rob" Terry is a Welsh professional wrestler and bodybuilder. He is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling . Before signing with TNA, he was under contract with World Wrestling Entertainment and competed in the company's developmental territory, Florida Championship...
to form a super faction. At Hard Justice
Hard Justice (2009)
Hard Justice was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promotion, which took place on August 16, 2009 at the TNA Impact! Zone in Orlando, Florida. It was the fifth event under the Hard Justice chronology....
the Main Event Mafia further solidified their dominance with Kevin Nash regaining the Legends Championship, Samoa Joe winning the X Division Championship
TNA X Division Championship
The TNA X Division Championship is a professional wrestling championship owned by the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promotion. It is primarily defended in TNA's X Division—a style based on a fast-paced, daredevil type of wrestling...
, and Booker T, Scott Steiner, and Kurt Angle retaining the World Tag Team and World Heavyweight Championships. By Hard Justice 2009, the Main Event Mafia controlled every male championship in TNA. At No Surrender
No Surrender (2009)
No Surrender was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promotion, which took place on September 20, 2009 at the TNA Impact! Zone in Orlando, Florida...
Angle lost the World Heavyweight Championship to A.J. Styles. On the October 1 edition of Impact! the alliance between Main Event Mafia and World Elite came to an end in an all out brawl between the two factions. The following week Joe lost the X Division Championship to Amazing Red
Amazing Red
Jonathan Figueroa is a professional wrestler better known by his ring name, Amazing Red, or simply Red for short. He is best known for working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he is a former three-time X Division Champion, while also working on the American independent circuit...
after Bobby Lashley interfered in the match. Main Event Mafia's Championship match losing streak continued at Bound for Glory
Bound for Glory (2009)
Bound for Glory was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promotion, which took place on October 18, 2009 at the Bren Events Center in Irvine, California. It was the fifth event under the Bound for Glory chronology. The Event was the Premiere...
where Nash lost the Legends title to World Elite leader Eric Young and Booker and Steiner lost the TNA World Tag Team titles to Doug Williams and Brutus Magnus, also of the World Elite. At the same PPV Angle narrowly defeated long-time foe Matt Morgan and afterwards shook his hand. On the following edition of Impact! the stable's future was thrown into question, when Booker was announced as having left the company and Angle admitted that he had been wrong all along about the younger talent of the company and praised the likes of A.J. Styles and Matt Morgan, thus becoming a face. However, Scott Steiner still wore the Main Event Mafia clothing and said that the group was still alive as long as he was involved and that he did not take orders from 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...
. He still maintained that the young talent did not show respect to the veterans of the professional wrestling business. However, in February 2010, Steiner left TNA, effectively ending the Main Event Mafia.
Abandoned return (2011)
In January 2011 TNA started a storyline aiming to bring back the Main Event Mafia as a face group on the February 3, 2011, edition of Impact! to feud with ImmortalImmortal (professional wrestling)
Immortal is a villainous professional wrestling alliance in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling . It currently consists of Eric Bischoff, Bully Ray, Gunner, TNA founder and AAA World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Jarrett, his wife and valet Karen Jarrett, Kurt Angle, Ric Flair and Scott Steiner...
. Scott Steiner returned to the promotion on the January 27 edition of Impact! and aligned himself with Kurt Angle, but on January 30 Booker T and Kevin Nash instead made surprise returns to World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
(WWE) to compete at the Royal Rumble
Royal Rumble (2011)
Royal Rumble was the 24th annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment , which took place on January 30, 2011 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts....
pay-per-view, forcing TNA to change their plans and abandon the storyline.
Members
MEM members were:- Kurt AngleKurt AngleKurt 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...
(Original leader and again became leader after expelling Sting from the group) - StingSting (wrestler)Steven James "Steve" Borden , better known by his ring name Sting, is an American semi-retired professional wrestler, currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...
(Became leader after he defeated Kurt Angle at Sacrifice 2009) - Kevin NashKevin NashKevin 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...
- Booker TBooker HuffmanRobert Booker Tio Huffman , better known by his ring name Booker T, is a semi-retired American professional wrestler and currently signed to WWE, on its SmackDown brand, as part of the announcing team. Booker is best known for his time in both the World Wrestling Entertainment and World...
- Scott SteinerScott SteinerScott Carl Rechsteiner is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Scott Steiner. Steiner is perhaps best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling alongside his older brother Rick as the Steiner Brothers and as a member of the New World Order...
- Sharmell (Booker T's valet)
- Samoa JoeSamoa JoeNuufolau Joel "Joe" Seanoa is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Samoa Joe. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling....
- Traci BrooksTracy BrookshawTracy Brookshaw is a Canadian professional wrestler, professional wrestling valet and professional wrestling referee, better known by her ring name Traci Brooks. She is currently working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , where she has spent most of her career.-Early life:Brookshaw grew up on a...
(TNA KnockoutTNA KnockoutKnockout is a term used by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling to refer to its female talent. The term is applied universally to wrestlers, backstage interviewers, and managers/valets. They are analogous to the Divas of rival WWE.-History:...
representative) - Jenna MorascaJenna MorascaJenna Morasca is an American actress, former swimsuit model and American reality TV contestant who was the million-dollar grand prize winner of Survivor: The Amazon and previously worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling....
(Kevin Nash's valet) - Kip James (One Night Only)
- TazTazzPeter Senerchia is a retired American professional wrestler and current color commentator best known by his ring name Tazz, originally Tazmaniac and later shortened to simply Taz...
(Samoa Joe's advisor) - Sally BoyBruno SassiBruno Sassi is an American professional wrestler best known for being a member of the tag team Phi Delta Slam, as well as his appearances in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...
(Security guard) - Big RoccoBig TillyJames Tilquist is an American professional wrestler better known by the ring name Big Tilly. He is best known for being a member of the tag team Phi Delta Slam as well as his appearances in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...
(Security guard) - Masahiro ChonoMasahiro 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...
(honorary member) - Riki ChōshūRiki ChoshuMitsuo 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...
(honorary member)
In wrestling
- Double-team finishing moves
- Bearhug (Steiner) / Jumping calf kick (Booker) combination
- Double chokeslam (Booker and Steiner)
- Entrance themesMusic in professional wrestlingMusic in professional wrestling serves a variety of purposes. The most common uses of music in professional wrestling is that of the entrance theme, a song or piece of instrumental music which plays as a performer approaches the ring...
- "Main Event Mafia" by Dale OliverDale OliverDale Byron Oliver is an American music composer who works for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Formerly a guitarist in BackHawk , Oliver serves mainly as a composer of theme music used in professional wrestling.-Music composer for TNA:Since 2003, Oliver writes, records, and produces music under...
- "Main Event Mafia" by Dale Oliver
Championships and accomplishments
- Total Nonstop Action WrestlingTotal Nonstop Action WrestlingTotal 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 Legends ChampionshipTNA Legends ChampionshipThe TNA Television Championship is a professional wrestling championship owned by the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promotion. It was introduced on the October 23, 2008 episode of TNA's television program TNA Impact! as the "TNA Legends Championship"...
(3 times) – Booker T (1), Kevin Nash (2) - TNA World Heavyweight ChampionshipTNA World Heavyweight ChampionshipThe 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...
(2 times) – Sting (1), Kurt Angle (1) - TNA World Tag Team ChampionshipTNA World Tag Team ChampionshipThe TNA World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship owned by the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promotion. It is primarily contested within TNA's tag team division. It was created and debuted on May 14, 2007 at the taping of TNA's primary television program,...
(1 time) – Booker T and Scott Steiner - TNA X Division ChampionshipTNA X Division ChampionshipThe TNA X Division Championship is a professional wrestling championship owned by the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promotion. It is primarily defended in TNA's X Division—a style based on a fast-paced, daredevil type of wrestling...
(1 time) – Samoa Joe - King of the MountainKing of the Mountain matchThe King of the Mountain match is a professional wrestling match exclusive to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling . It consists of five competitors competing for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship or the TNA X Division Championship as of Slammiversary 2009...
(2009) – Kurt Angle
- TNA Legends Championship
See also
- Millionaire's Club
- New World Order (professional wrestling)New World Order (professional wrestling)The New World Order was a professional wrestling stable that originally wrestled for World Championship Wrestling . The group later appeared in the World Wrestling Federation after the purchase of WCW by the WWF...
- The TNA Front LineThe TNA Front LineThe TNA Front Line was a heroic alliance in the professional wrestling promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...