https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mQkNSXF37c

TNA president Billy Corgan has openly stated that he wants to purchase the company, but one person in his way is Dixie Carter. TNA’s shareholders currently consist of Carter, Corgan, and Aroluxe Productions. The latter two shareholders got their stakes by providing emergency funding for tapings and a pay-per-view. Without their funding, the shows wouldn’t have happened and TNA could have gone under. The cost for TNA to run a set of tapings falls in the ballpark of three quarters of a million dollars.

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dixie Carter wants at least $4 million for her share of the company. Aroluxe tried putting together a deal to buy out the company this summer, but they weren’t able to raise the funds.

Corgan indicated in a recent Facebook live chat that he plans to take full control of the company and use his celebrity status to build better relationships with advertisers. One of the issues TNA currently faces is a lack of advertising revenue.

WWE had originally hoped that Randy Orton would be cleared to return to the ring in time for Backlash. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that if he would have been cleared, they likely never would have announced the news of his concussion.

While Orton has been in the mix on TV and downplaying his injury, he hasn’t done much physically since SummerSlam. Orton didn’t take much offense during his tag match at a house show on Monday where his partner, John cena, carried most of the match. Some sources say that Orton even taking the bump of an RKO could be hurtful to his brain while suffering from a concussion.

Kane ended up replacing Orton and defeating Bray Wyatt at Backlash. Kane was reportedly always the back-up plan if Orton didn’t get cleared.

WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus posted a reflective message on Instagram on the 10 year anniversary of her WWE retirement. It’s amazing to think she’s been away for that long, but she made a huge impact on the business and is arguably one of the most successful female wrestlers of all time.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BKeCy2Dh4A3/

WWE Superstar Emma is back after undergoing surgery in May to repair a ruptured disk in her back.

Emma appeared the RAW brand’s live event from Louisville on Friday night. She served as the special guest referee for the 6-woman tag team match involving Sasha Banks, Bayley and Alicia Fox vs Charlotte, Dana Brooke and Nia Jax match.

It’s not known at this time if Emma has been medically cleared to wrestle, but it looks like she’ll be joining the RAW brand when she does return full time.

Best ref ever @EmmaWWE #WWELouisville pic.twitter.com/EYkVsU0ogy

— Patrick Emmert (@Castlevania86) September 16, 2016

.@EmmaWWE returned last night as a special guest referee. #WWELouisville pic.twitter.com/P0GJO1krkG

— PWStream (@PWStream) September 17, 2016

TNA Wrestling is for sale and the company is fielding offers from some familiar competitors. According to the New York Post, both WWE and Sinclair Broadcast Group (Ring of Honor’s parent company) are rumored to have made recent offers to buy TNA.

Over the past year or so, WWE has acquired the talent that defined TNA over the past decade, including AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Bobby Roode and Eric Young. The real value for WWE would be acquiring TNA’s tape library to enhance the WWE Network archives. How much would that cost? The Post speculates TNA would sell for $40 million, but industry insider Dave Meltzer says that figure is far too high. “Nobody is paying $40 million. Take one zero off.”

In addition to majority owner and Chairwoman Dixie Carter, Billy Corgan, Aroluxe Marketing and Canada’s Fight Network all have equity stakes. This is the first time we’ve seen the Fight Network’s stake in TNA publicly acknowledged.

With TNA’s long standing financial struggles and Billy Corgan taking over Dixie Carter’s role as the leader of Impact Wrestling, Corgan hopes to expedite a sale and get on with the next chapter of TNA’s story. “I would love nothing better than to stand up in front of everyone and give a clear picture of where this company is and where it’s going,” he said.

RAW Superstar Johnny Gargano was married to Candice LeRae this weekend at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa in Anaheim.

Gargano will wrestle his wife in a 2 of 3 Falls Match for his final indy match on 10/23 in Cleveland for AIW.

https://twitter.com/aiwrestling/status/775498237478395904

Congratulations to the newlyweds.

The Lucha Underground season 3 premiere on El Rey drew a total of 234,000 viewers – 227,000 for the first airing and 7,000 for the replay.

This week’s episode drew a total of 154,000 viewers, down from last week. The first airing drew 99,000 viewers while the replay drew 55,000 viewers.

Below are video highlights from this week and the full Weapons of Mass Destruction match with Killshot vs. Marty The Moth:

Source: PWTorch

– More gameplay footage from WWE 2K17 has hit the web. 2K Sports developers uploaded the above video that shows what it looks like to fight backstage in the game. The clip shows Roman Reigns and Sami Zayn brawling through the hallways of the arena and in the locker rooms.

– JBL appeared on FOX News on Saturday morning to discuss the stock market and the American presidential race. The former WWE Champion predicted that if interest rates go up before the election, it would be a good thing for candidate Donald Trump’s chances. Layfield said he thinks both candidates are very unlikable and that he was disappointed that out of all the possible candidates — Trump and Clinton are the two he has to choose from. JBL went on to say that while he feels the economy is currently in bad shape, he doesn’t think it’s a depression because the stock market still thrives. When asked what stock people should buy, Layfield predicted that GoPro (GPRO) will do well.

– Emma, who has been out of action since May with a back injury, was on the road with WWE this week. She returned this weekend at WWE’s live event in Louisville, KY when she performed as the special referee for a six-woman tag match. The match saw Sasha Banks, Bayley and Alicia Fox defeat Charlotte, Dana Brooke and Nia Jax.

Best ref ever @EmmaWWE #WWELouisville pic.twitter.com/EYkVsU0ogy

— Patrick Emmert (@Castlevania86) September 16, 2016

https://youtu.be/QAdPIlkE_Cg

The CW network has released a new extended trailer for the upcoming season of Arrow, the hit super hero show starring SummerSlam 2015 celebrity competitor Stephen Amell. Former WWE Superstar Cody Rhodes will have a guest role on the upcoming season, portraying a villain out to destroy Amell’s character.

• Cody Rhodes’ Wife Brandi Signs With Impact Wrestling

Back in July at the Heroes & Villains Fan Fest, Stephen Amell had this to say about Cody’s involvement in the upcoming season:

“I’m so fired up for this guy; he and I haven’t really had much of a chance to talk about it but we’ve been friends for a little over a year now. I know that Cody has really wanted to get into the acting business. He went to LA, he read for a part, and his deal closed yesterday and the dude is going to be on Arrow and I’m so fired up.”

Arrow: Season 5 premieres on Wednesday, October 5 at 8/7c on The CW.

Walk up in the gym like. . .#StarCityTraining @CW_Arrow pic.twitter.com/UgI6fJOg4E

— Cody Rhodes (@CodyRhodes) July 9, 2016

This coming Monday will see the launch of WWE’s new Cruiserweight division on RAW. In addition to newly-crowned Cruiserweight Champion TJ Perkins, WWE announced the following 6 competitors are joining the RAW brand to vie for the championship:

• Brian Kendrick
• Rich Swann
• Gran Metalik
• Cedric Alexander
• Lince Dorado
• Noam Dar

Tyson Dux appeared on the latest Shining Wizards Wrestling Podcast and spoke about his experience competing in the WWE Cruiserweight Classic. Dux gave some interesting behind-the-scenes insight regarding what

“We had agents. We had to deal with agents as well and plan it out. I know for me personally, I wanted to do a stalling suplex from the second rope and they completely scrapped that,” Dux said. “They said no way can you do that. For whatever reason, Me & Zach were supposed to be 50/50 right up to the end and it was more of a showcase for Zach which is understandable, right? I get it. There weren’t major handcuffs put on, but they did want to steer the ship the way they want to steer it. So as we go along and get more progressive into it, they’re easing up on it.”

He continued, “Tozawa is known for that snap german suplex with a hold for the pin and they were adamant on saying no absolutely no head drops at all and when push came to shove, Tozawa did put (Ken) Johnson directly on his bean for that snap German suplex. Its the same as anything. It’s wrestling politics. Either you kind of bite the bullet and ask for forgiveness later or you just do your stuff. I’m sure to God that burning hammer (Brian Kendrik’s) was not discussed. WWE doesn’t even let the tombstone fly other than the Undertaker.”

Other topics discussed include this weekend’s Smash Wrestling vs. Progress show and the legitimate CWC weigh-ins.

This week’s episode of Impact Wrestling on Pop TV averaged 366,000 viewers for the two-hour show. This is up from last week’s 337,000 viewers who tuned in for Delete or Decay, the sequel to The Final Deletion.

TNA’s competition from the NFL this week was the New York Jets vs. the Buffalo Bills, which averaged 13 million viewers.

This week’s Impact Wrestling was the second-most viewed episode since the timeslot switch from Tuesdays to Thursdays back in July. The most-viewed episode since the move to Thursdays was the 8/25 episode with 373,000 viewers.

WWE Superstar Paige has mended her relationship with the company, but won’t be getting back in the ring any time soon. As of Friday Paige is not medically cleared to wrestle, according to an exclusive report by Mister Saint Laurent of MLW Radio.

Paige’s rocky month has been well-documented. After being suspended last month for violating the company’s talent wellness policy, she effectively quit WWE and retained legal representation to get out of her contract. She was all but gone from the company and plans were in place to announce her release. Cooler heads prevailed and she’ll be back in the ring once she’s healthy.

Earlier this week, a statement was issued on Paige’s social media accounts denying she quit WWE and addressing the ongoing injuries. “I certainly look forward to returning back to action at some point, once my injury is treated and on a healthy return.”

Monday is the soonest we could see Paige back on television, as her 30-day suspension will be completed. But don’t expect to see her in the ring on RAW unless she gets cleared by show time.

Visit MLWRadio.com to listen to MSL & Sullivan and The Ric Flair Show, The Jim Cornette Experience and more from MLW Radio. Go VIP for just $1.99 a month.

WWE RAW Cruiserweight Champion TJ Perkins recently spoke with Brian Fritz of Sporting News to discuss his WWE Cruiserweight Classic win, bringing the title to RAW.

Perks said it was such a long road for him to the Cruiserweight Classic finals and it felt like a huge weight was lifted from his shoulders after he won. “I thought about a lot of my heroes when they had their first big one. I thought about (Muhammad) Ali when he won his first world title against (Sonny) Liston and I thought about Shawn Michaels when he won his first world title. Eddie Guerrero, same thing. I could replay those celebrations in my head, like, I remember everything they did.”

Perks says it’s been a pleasure working with WWE thus far. Aside from the company’s world-class in-ring talent, the staff behind the scenes is second to none. “I’ve been everywhere, I mean, everywhere, and you go places and you have a wonderful locker room and just a nightmare of an office. Or you have a wonderful office but a nightmare locker room. I’ve never been in a place, until now, where you have both. This is the first place I’ve even been where it’s across the board that everything’s so wonderful. Everybody is so supportive; it’s a family atmosphere. Everyone is so helpful and approachable.”

He added that Triple H has been wonderful and he’s been able to speak with him more over the course of five days more than he’s been able to speak to other bosses over the course of five years. He’s never worked with a boss so passionate and engaged. it promotes a healthy atmosphere and that’s the way it should be.

TJ Perkins makes his main roster debut this coming Monday night on RAW with the launch of WWE’s new cruiserweight division. He’s looking forward to working with a lot of familiar faces he came up with. RAW already has a stacked roster and the Cruiserweight division is going to put them over the top.  “I don’t know that there’s ever too much of a good thing but if there is, we’re getting pretty close to it because that’s incredible to have all of that. And to be at the forefront of representing this on a show like that, that I grew up watching, it’s incredible. I don’t even know what to expect even if I was about expectations.

Read the full interview with Perkins by clicking here.

Brandi Rhodes has signed with TNA Impact Wrestling, according to TMZ.

The former WWE ring announcer and wife of Cody Rhodes is joining the Knockouts division and will be trading in the microphone for wrestling gear. No

word yet on when Brandi Rhodes will make her Impact Wrestling debut, but you can be sure husband Cody Rhodes won’t be far behind.  It’s been widely reported that Cody Rhodes plans to wrestle for both TNA and Ring of Honor in the near future. Whether or not he’ll be able to use the Cody Rhodes name is another story. Either way, Brandi Rhodes and eventually Cody are great acquisitions for Impact Wrestling.

Coming out of last night’s TNA Impact, here’s the updated confirmed card for the 10/2 Bound For Glory PPV from Orlando:

No Holds Barred Match for the World Title: Lashley (c) vs. Ethan Carter III

TNA Tag Team Championship Match: The Decay (c) vs. The Hardys

TNA Knockouts Championship Match: Maria Kanellis (c) vs. Gail Kim

Finals to Crown the Inaugural Impact Grand Champion

Mike Bennett vs. Moose

There’s been talk of Dolph Ziggler’s feud with Intercontinental Champion The Miz leading to a steel cage match at WWE No Mercy, according to the Wrestling Observer. The match is not yet official for the show, but an announcement will be coming soon.

The Usos are expected to challenge Heath Slater and Rhyno for the SmackDown tag titles. Even though Slater is in the midst of a nice push, they’re expected to drop the titles to The Usos soon. Well before the first champions were crowned, the plan was to set up a big feud between American Alpha and heel Usos.

As of this writing, the only matches confirmed for No Mercy on 10/9 are the triple threat main event (Styles vs Cena vs Ambrose) and Becky Lynch defending the SmackDown women’s title against Alexa Bliss.

– In addition to Becky Lynch defending the SmackDown Women’s Championship against Alexa Bliss at No Mercy, another women’s match in the works is a grudge match between Nikki Bella and Carmella.

Congrats @AlexaBliss_WWE Once I take care of @CarmellaWWE once & for all I will be back to get in line for that championship! N #WonderWoman

— Nikki & Brie (@NikkiAndBrie) September 14, 2016

Nikki also indicated that the two will face off on SmackDown next Tuesday:

Don't know what your deal is @CarmellaWWE Hate? Jealousy? Obsession? But next week we're settling this! PS you're nothing but SAWFT #SDLive

— Nikki & Brie (@NikkiAndBrie) September 14, 2016

WWE No Mercy takes place on Sunday, October 9th.

– We’ve heard Lana go in and out of her Russian accent on WWE television before, but she’s dropping the accent entirely for the upcoming WWE Studios film Interrogation. The movie stars Lana along with WWE Hall of Famer Edge. The synopsis reads:

“After the FBI receives a threat that endangers the entire city, an interrogator (Edge) and an I.T. specialist (Lana) are plunged into a series of mind games with a criminal mastermind, desperately racing against time to uncover the villain’s true agenda as they fight to protect thousands of lives.”

Lana’s character in the movie speaks with her natural American accent, which you can hear below. She, Edge and the director get creative in explaining why she’s not using her her WWE television character’s trademark Russian accent.

The 2nd annual Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic was officially announced at last night’s NXT tapings from Full Sail University. Matches will begin on the 10/5 episode and the finals will take place at Takeover: Toronto on 11/19 during Survivor Series weekend.

The following First Round matches have already been taped:

• The Authors of Pain beat The Bollywood Boys
• The Revival beat Cedric Alexander and Andrade “Cien” Almas
• Alexander Wolfe and Sawyer Fulton beat Bobby Roode and Tye Dillinger
• TM-61 beat Tino Sabbatelli and Riddick Moss

You can check out complete spoiler results from last night’s NXT TV tapings here:

• Spoilers: NXT Tapings Results (9/21-10/12)

[tps_footer][/tps_footer]Below are spoilers from tonight’s WWE NXT TV tapings at Full Sail:

9/21:

* Samoa Joe kicks us off with a promo stating that Shinsuke Nakamura has a ton of injuries and will be out 6-12 weeks. Joe threatens to hurt the whole roster if he doesn’t get the title vacated

* Austin Aries beat Oney Lorcan. He calls Hideo Itami out after but retreats

* Billie Kay beat Aliyah

* Cedric Alexander beat Andrade “Cien” Almas

9/28:

* Regal announces the return of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. The finals will be at Takeover: Toronto

* Tye Dillinger beat Angelo Dawkins. After the match, Bobby Roode comes out and Tye accepts his offer to team for the Classic

* The Ealy Brothers vs. NXT Tag Team Champions The Revival never happens as Samoa Joe comes out and destroys the Ealys. Joe threatens more beatings

* Ember Moon beat Mandy Rose

* The Authors of Pain beat enhancement talents. Paul Ellering cut a post-match promo

* Women’s Champion Asuka quickly defeated Liv Morgan

* Hideo Itami beat Lince Dorado. Aries attacked after the match but ran off when Itami fought back

10/5:

* Authors of Pain beat The Bollywood Boyz in a first round Dusty Classic match

* Rich Swann beat Patrick Clark

* Peyton Royce beat Danielle Kamella

* Dan Matha comes out for a match but Samoa Joe comes out and destroys him. Joe tells Regal more beatings are coming

* Tag Team Champions The Revival beat Cedric Alexander and Andrade “Cien” Almas in a first round Dusty Classic match. Andrade destroyed Cedric after

10/12:

* Alexander Wolfe and Sawyer Fulton beat Bobby Roode and Tye Dillinger in a first round Dusty Classic match. Roode walked out on Tye early. Sanity attacked Tye and was revealed to be Eric Young, Nikki Storm, Wolfe and Fulton

* Billie Kay beat Liv Morgan with help from Peyton Royce

* TM-61 beat Tino Sabbatelli and Riddick Moss in a first round Dusty Classic match

* Blake vs. Murphy stops when Samoa Joe runs in and destroys both. He calls for Regal saying time is up. Nakamura’s music hits and he comes out in a neck brace. He takes of the brace and charges to start a brawl. It ends with Nakamura hitting a Kinshasa

It was revealed at tonight’s NXT tapings that the “SANITY” teasers were for a new stable with Eric Young, Nikki Storm, Alexander Wolfe and Sawyer Fulton.

They will face Bobby Roode and Tye Dillinger in a match for the second annual Dusty Rhodes Classic. We will have full spoilers and more on the Classic shortly.

Below is a photo:

RAW General Manager Mick Foley is not happy that Daniel Bryan booked James Ellsworth for a match on this week’s SmackDown. Ellsworth gained some popularity as somewhat of a cult figure amongst the WWE Universe after getting squashed by Braun Strowman on RAW back in July. Bryan named Ellsworth as WWE Champion AJ Styles’ tag team partner against John Cena and Dean Ambrose. Ellsworth was attacked before he could make it to the ring, but Foley says Bryan set a dangerous precedent by ‘raiding’ the RAW roster.

Foley has a pretty amazing idea regarding how Bryan can rectify the situation. Here’s Mick Foley’s open to SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan, via Foley’s Facebook page:

“Dear Daniel,

I am a James Ellsworth guy. But James Ellsworth is a #Raw guy – and now YOU have messed with the wrong guy! By raiding Monday Night Raw for Superstars like James Ellsworth, you are setting a dangerous precedent, my friend. More seriously, you risk confusing the #WWEUniverse, especially the little Ellsters out there, who have been waiting for me to sign #EllmoreVsStrohman2 for an upcoming #Raw PPV. Shame on you, Daniel…shame on you!

There is, however a way out of this situation. How about if you and Mauro Ranallo come to Raw on Monday to call our #Cruiserweight matches on Raw? We’ll call it even and hope the Little Ellsters out there understand.

Sincerely,

Mick Foley”

Last night during the Cruiserweight Classic, Foley gushed over Daniel Bryan and Mauro Ranallo’s commentary, publicly questioning if they’d be interested in doing commentary for the new Cruiserweight division on RAW.

https://twitter.com/RealMickFoley/status/776244782142193664

RAW commentator Corey Graves took offense to his boss overlooking him for the gig:

Yeah Mick. Do that. It's not like you have someone at the table already who knows what they're talking about. https://t.co/pENrWnuUZD

— Corey Graves (@WWEGraves) September 15, 2016

– WWE’s production crew is in the midst of a crazy week, with Backlash on Sunday night, RAW on Monday, SmackDown on Tuesday, last night’s Cruiserweight Classic live finale and now tonight’s NXT tapings from Full Sail University.

– The second annual NXT Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament is now “back on” after WWE officials had put the idea on hold in recent months.

– WWE officials have discussed doing a tournament series featuring all women, similar to the Cruiserweight Classic. It’s still in the preliminary stages of planning, but the event would take place during the first quarter of 2017.

– 2K has released the official trailer for WWE 2K17’s creation suite:

– WWE posted the following video featuring WWE Smackdown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch and RAW Superstar Sasha Banks working out at the Performance Center with “Holy Foley” star Noelle Foley:

– As reported earlier, WWE is scheduled to release “The True Story of the Royal Rumble” on DVD and Blu-Ray this December. Courtesy of WrestlingDVDNetwork.com, below is a preview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dT22IUDdJUM

– It’s been reported by SquaredCircleSirens that 23 year old Texas massage therapist, fitness and endurance athlete Ella Anne Kociuba is scheduled for the open tryouts later this month at the WWE Performance Center.

yey life!!!!! pic.twitter.com/eNHSyZTI2u

— Ella Anne Kociuba (@EllaKociuba) September 8, 2016

– WWE released this promo of Universal Champion Kevin Owens talking about successfully defending his title overseas during the recent tour of London, Manila, and China. Owens says he deserves to be at the top and that’s where he’s going to stay:

– Kalist is still out of action after being helped to the back after the 8/2 SmackDown Triple Threat against Apollo Crews and Baron Corbin. PWInsider reports the luchador is suffering from a back injury.

– As seen below, The Rock appeared on ABC’s Good Morning America today to promote Disney’s “Moana” movie. He also did a Polynesian tribal dance from a beach in Hawaii, where he’s filming Jumanji:

Dwyane @TheRock Johnson says filming the Jumanji reboot in Hawaii 'is going great!' https://t.co/qhW9dI3jRd

— Good Morning America (@GMA) September 15, 2016

Dwyane @TheRock Johnson performs a Polynesian dance LIVE on @GMA! https://t.co/0H1KjEpUoW

— Good Morning America (@GMA) September 15, 2016

¡¡¡ALOHA!!! from Dwayne @TheRock Johnson in Maui! #Moana ??? pic.twitter.com/y2dSwgk4Fu

— Good Morning America (@GMA) September 15, 2016

DOPE! Dwayne @TheRock Johnson, that was ??? #Moana pic.twitter.com/mp46IqXlls

— Good Morning America (@GMA) September 15, 2016