The superstars of Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling will invade the University of Massachusetts campus on Saturday, Dec. 5 at 7:30 p.m. TNA Live! will take place at the Mullins Center, featuring many of the top stars of the hit Spike TV show, “TNA Wrestling iMPACT!” which airs on Thursdays at 9 p.m.

The stars scheduled to appear are Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle, TNA World Heavyweight Champion “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles, “The Monster” Abyss, The Beautiful People’s Velvet Sky, tag team Beer Money, Inc. and Fairfield, Connecticut’s own, “The Blueprint,” Matt Morgan, to name a few.

Tickets went on sale last Friday and are priced at $53, $38 and $23 and are available at the Mullins Center Box Office or Ticketmaster.com. UMass faculty, staff, students and military personnel can get discounted tickets on the $38 and $23 priced seats with a valid ID presented at the Mullins Center Box Office.

UMass sports management alumnus Brian Wittenstein was responsible for bringing professional wrestling back to UMass in 2007 after an eight-year draught, when he and a fellow student ran their own independent wrestling event at the Mullins Center. He now works at TNA Wrestling as the Live Event and Talent Relations Coordinator.

“When I was accepted into the UMass sports management program, I already had my career goal set and was hoping that UMass was the key,” Wittenstein said in an interview. “UMass gave me the opportunity to run my own professional wrestling event and gain the experience needed to make me a more valuable employee. Four days before graduation, I interviewed with TNA Wrestling and was hired,” he said.

Wittenstein said that bringing TNA to UMass amounts to bringing his professional and personal pursuits full circle.

“This is truly an example of how everything comes full circle,” he said. “All I ever wanted to do was work in pro wrestling. I saw UMass as a school that could help me gain the skills needed to achieve my goal, and now I get to come back to UMass with TNA Wrestling, my dream fulfilled.”

Last week, TNA Wrestling made waves throughout the entertainment world by announcing a partnership with Hulk Hogan in a press conference at Madison Square Garden, which is often referred to as the Mecca of professional wrestling. Hogan was joined in the press conference by TNA Entertainment President Dixie Carter and Spike TV President Kevin Kay. Hogan commented that Madison Square Garden was “the house that he built.”

Hulkamania was born on January 23, 1984 when Hulk Hogan defeated The Iron Sheik at MSG for his first heavyweight wrestling championship.

“It looks like Hulkamania has finally come to Spike TV,” Kevin Kay said during the press conference. “And we couldn’t be more thrilled.”

“In my opinion, I believe we have the best talent in the business – the best men and women who wrestle for TNA every week,” Carter said during the press conference. “There is no single name that defines an industry more than Hulk Hogan. He is a pop icon. To have this man join us will be an incredible thing for us.”

“This is the company that is leading the way into the future, I guarantee that,” Hogan said during the press conference. “Whatcha’ gonna do, Hulkamaniacs, when the greatest network of all time, Spike TV, my new partner Dixie Carter and Hulk Hogan run wild on you?”

With this announcement, it appears that TNA Wrestling will be dawning a new era. Even though Hogan will not be at the Mullins Center, UMass students can be a part of the new era of TNA Wrestling if they have what it takes to ‘Cross the Line.’

For more information on this event and TNA Wrestling, visit the TNA website at Tnawrestling.com or follow TNA on Twitter at Twitter.com/tnaonline.

Ryan Damon can be reached at [email protected].