McNeely, as Onyx, made his debut for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling on the August 27, 2003 episode of "Xplosion", where he and Matt Sydal lost to The Gathering (Julio Dinero and CM Punk). On June 14, 2004, Onyx was brought in by TNA as a member of The Elite Guard and debuted as a member of the faction with Hotstuff Hernandez and Chad Collyer. They were brought in to help Jeff Jarrett in his feud against the 3Live Kru. Two days later, the two factions wrestled on the TNA weekly pay-per-view in a six-man tag team match, which the Kru won after Killings pinned Hernandez. In order to even the odds, the Kru gained Ken Shamrock as an ally to feud with Jarrett and the Guard.