James debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under his birth name B.G. James. In July 2003, he formed a stable with Konnan and Ron "The Truth" Killings known as The 3Live Kru (3LK). The trio went on to become fan favorites and eventually won the NWA World Tag Team Championship on two occasions, which they defended collectively under the Freebird Rule. Billy Gunn debuted in TNA at Against All Odds on February 13, 2005, interfering in the NWA World Heavyweight Championship bout between Jeff Jarrett and the challenging Kevin Nash. Gunn struck Nash with a chair, but he was able to kick out of Jarrett's subsequent pin attempt. After Gunn seized the NWA World Heavyweight Championship belt in order to strike Nash with it, B.G. James ran to the ring and wrestled it away from him. B.G. James and Gunn, now renamed The New Age Outlaw (later shortened to just The Outlaw), came into conflict once more on April 24, at Lockdown, when Jarrett, The Outlaw and Monty Brown faced Diamond Dallas Page, Sean Waltman and B.G. James (who was replacing an injured Kevin Nash) in a Lethal Lockdown match. Page, Waltman and James were victorious, although during the match James and The Outlaw refrained from fighting one another. Through October and November 2005, "The Outlaw" (now using the name Kip James, due to threats from the WWE that "The Outlaw" sounded too similar to their trademarked New Age Outlaws name) helped 3LK numerous times during their feud with Team Canada. Although he was obviously helping the Kru at every turn, Konnan refused to trust Kip. On the November 26 episode of TNA Impact!, and even though Konnan had his doubts, 3LK inducted Kip into the group and renamed themselves the 4Live Kru. At Turning Point, however, Konnan turned on the group, eventually forming his own group, The Latin American Xchange (LAX). Killings also went out on his own afterward, leaving only Kip and B.G. together. The James Gang (2006) On January 14, 2006 Kip James and B.G. James, now calling themselves The James Gang, announced that they had reunited in the face of Konnan and his new group after LAX attacked B.G.'s real-life father "Bullet" Bob Armstrong. Their official in-ring reunion took place the next night at Final Resolution, where they defeated The Diamonds in the Rough. Their feud with LAX continued and included several more appearances by "Bullet"