After Ken Shamrock packed up his ring gear in 1999 in favor of continuing his career in UFC, he would return to professional wrestling just three years later, in an incredibly short-lived stint at the newly created Total Nonstop Action (TNA) promotion in 2002. The promotion's inaugural Gauntlet for the Gold match saw Shamrock outlast Scott Hall, Rick Steiner, Steve Corino and Jeff Jarrett, making it to the final two with Malice, with Shamrock winning the final match, subsequently gaining his first NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Although he signed a year contract with TNA, Shamrock would go on to feud with Malice for the title for a few weeks, before leaving the promotion within its second month of existence. Clearly they had plans of basing the promotion around Ken Shamrock as he's a great competitor, and one of the only wrestlers on the 2002 roster that wasn't a washed up ECW or WCW alumni, or a green independent wrestler. The only thing more surprising than Ken's impromptu rise and fall as NWA World Heavyweight Champion itself, is who he eventually lost the belt to.
Sam is an experienced Film, Gaming and Wrestling writer, critic and journalist who was written for a vast number of different entertainment websites. Follow him on twitter at @Sams_Reel_Views.
