Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

– TNA has either made a direct offer or has sent strong hints to Paul Heyman that he would be welcomed on the TNA creative team. Heyman coming into TNA has been a popular topic of discussion backstage, especially among the many ECW originals currently with the company. While there is still a chance Heyman comes to TNA, it’s been said that it was looking more likely a few weeks ago and the more he hears about what’s going on behind the scenes, the less interested he becomes.

– Vince Russo will be moving from Colorado to Nashville soon. As previously reported, Russo has been telling people he’s been burt out lately from writing and could be taking a different role in the company when he moves to Nashville.

Partial Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

– Former WWE Diva Kristall Marshall confirmed on Twitter last week that she and Bobby Lashley have split up. She wrote:

“Hello everyone Bobby (Lashley) and I have split, but remain great friends. He is a constant in our son’s life and a tremendous father.”

– With Tommy Dreamer’s WWE no-compete clause expired, he’s expected to wind up in TNA soon either as an agent or as on-air talent.

– TNA has also had talks with former WWE star Nick “Eugene” Dinsmore about doing a spinoff of the Eugene character in TNA.

Warning: The following contains a potentially big TNA storyline *Spoiler*

– Current plans call for the monster Abyss to turn on his hero, Hulk Hogan. No word yet when the turn will happen, but it’s been planned for quite some time.

– TNA has currently sold around 2,600 tickets for Sunday’s Lockdown pay-per-view. They are hoping for 4,000 in the arena for the night of the show.

– TNA has announced that Jeff Hardy will be appearing at the Lockdown Fan Interaction event this Saturday. Names scheduled to appear include: Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Sting, Bobby Heenan, Jimmy Hart, Dory Funk Jr., Baron Von Raschke, Kurt Angle, The Band, Beer Money, Mr. Anderson, The Pope, The Beautiful People, Desmond Wolfe, Chelsea, Kaz, Rob Terry, Amazing Red, Orlando Jordan, Earl Hebner, Angelina Love, AJ Styles, Rob Van Dam, Team 3D, Eric Bischoff, Abyss, Jeff Jarrett, Tara, Mike Tenay, Taz, Eric Young, Doug Williams, Jesse Neal, Hector Guerrero, Willie Urbina, Slick Johnson, David Penzer, SoCal Val, Jeremy Borash, Christy Hemme and Jeff Hardy

Former TNA creative writer Jim Cornette published today on his official website a strongly worded e-mail he sent to Terry Taylor, TNA Wrestling’s Director of Talent Relations, saying that while he meant no ill will towards anyone in the company, he would murder writer Vince Russo if he could.

Included in the e-mail is descriptive passage saying he regularly wakes up from dreams in which he’s in the act of murdering Russo and that he would willingly go to jail if he ever saw him in person again.

In an e-mail dated Mar. 19, Cornette wrote to Taylor, among other things: “I will say it because I am trying to quell the burning in my heart–I hate Vince Russo. I despise Vince Russo. I want Vince Russo to die. If I could figure out a way to murder him without going to prison, I would consider it the greatest accomplishment of my life.

“I hate him for the money he’s cost me. I hate him for what he’s done to the business. I hate him for keeping TNA from being competitive to WWE. I hate him for the careers, even the lives he’s ruined with his shitty booking and the irreparable damage he’s done to every promotion he’s been involved with. I regularly wake up from dreams in which I am in the act of murdering him. I literally burn whenever I think of him. I have sworn to myself that I will willingly go to jail if I ever see him in person again, and he had better pray to his fictitious invisible man in the sky that that day never comes. I intend to make it my life’s work and mission to **** with him and anything he ever has anything to do with in the wrestling business.”

He added that he hopes TNA goes under “because of the stupidity Dixie (Carter) has exhibited in employing Russo and now the WCW murderers.” He indicated he’s mad at Jeff Jarrett for talking him into working with Russo, as well as Carter, for employing Russo and lying to him about why he was fired.

Cornette’s e-mail prompted a legal response from the law firm of Davis, Shapiro, Lewit & Hayes, LLP, a firm representing TNA Entertainment.

Their letter states that Cornette’s comments towards Russo constitute “terroristic threats” and that he “has understandably experienced extreme fear for himself and his family” as a result of the comments made by him. They added that Cornette’s “terroristic threats” have been reported to “applicable Federal and State law enforcement agencies.” The letter also states, “any further threats to contact Vince Russo or any other TNA personnel (directly or indirectly) shall be viewed as acts in furtherance of such threats and shall be pursued and prosecuted accordingly.”

Cornette has posted both the e-mail as well as the legal letter on JimCornette.com.

— There is much internal concern regarding the state of Jeff Hardy. Many feel his work since coming to TNA has been lackluster not to mention that his promos are rambling and sometimes virtually incoherent. Several people are comparing his current state to his previous run in the company, which occurred as a result of his termination from World Wrestling Entertainment for erratic behavior, drug use, refusal to enter rehab and deteriorating ring performance.

Kevin Nash received a concussion as a result of Hardy during their cage match two weeks ago on iMPACT! as he landed on his head while performing The Swanton.

— Last Thursday’s replay of iMPACT!, which began 10 minutes late since a movie ran over, drew a 0.6 cable rating with 758,000 viewers.

— The recently released Christopher Daniels will be working television tapings for Ring of Honor next month.

source: www.f4wonline.com

In response to Impact‘s lackluster ratings, discussion of bringing Jim Ross and Paul Heyman to TNA has heated up amongst company officials.

Ross remains under contract to World Wrestling Entertainment through the 30th of this month and has indicated on his official website that he doesn’t know what the future holds for him in WWE.

Heyman is contractually free, but hasn’t shown much interest in joining TNA when friends have asked him about joining the company in the past. However, they feel he would accept a position with the company if he was given power beyond appearing as a character and writing shows.

source: www.pwtorch.com

— As reported earlier, Christy Hemme has re-signed with TNA Wrestling. Regarding specifics of her contract, the official website of The Honky Tonk Man is reporting that Hemme inked a three-year deal with TNA worth $175,000 per year. The website also notes that Hemme’s new contract has left some of her fellow female co-workers noticeably upset.

Hemme’s deal is being compared to Awesome Kong’s as the recently released Knockout was receiving $400 per appearance from TNA. Reportedly, Kong’s inability to attain a slight raise in salary was her main point of contention with TNA, which led to her ultimately departing from the organization.

— Jeff Hardy will be working his first independent wrestling show since his departure from World Wrestling Entertainment as he is advertised to appear at a Northeast Wrestling event taking place in Newburgh, New York on Saturday, Apr. 23. He will be teaming with Shannon Moore as they take on Rob Eckos and Brian Anthony. Velvet Sky is also advertised to face former TNA performer Roxxi. Visit www.northeastwrestling.com for more information.

— TNA Wrestling conducted a fundraiser for the families affected by the West Virginia mining accident last week, raising $9,000.

— The pre-sale code for the TNA live event taking place on Saturday, May 22 in Houston, Texas at the Verizon Wireless Theater is 542418. The pre-sale begins today at Ticketmaster.com.

The ratings are in for the April 12th episodes of WWE RAW, TNA iMPACT! & TNA Reaction

– WWE RAW from the UK drew a 3.2 rating and averaged 4.7 million viewers. The first hour drew  a 3.0 rating with 4.4 million viewers while the second unopposed hour did a 3.4 rating with 5 million viewers. Despite the fact that Monday’s RAW was taped earlier in the day, the rating was the same from last week.

– The debut episode of the TNA Reaction, which aired on Spike right before iMPACT!, did a 0.3 rating with around 280,000 viewers.

– TNA iMPACT! did a 0.8 rating and averaged 1.1 million viewers. The hourly ratings were 0.82 and 0.78. Overall viewership was down around 10% from last week.

TNA President Dixie Carter has started a new feature on the TNA website where she answers fan questions from her Facebook and Twitter pages. Here are the highlights of what Dixie Carter said about:

Competing With WWE In The Ratings: “I want to be very clear on this, we NEVER expected to have competitive ratings with RAW at the beginning.  I have been very specific in saying that our goal was to grow our brand and our ratings and we felt like we could do that faster on Mondays. Sometimes you have to take a step back to take a big step forward. We expected to have to rebuild part of our audience when moving our programming day and timeslot. We have finally settled in to an 8 pm ET/7 pm CT Monday timeslot with an encore presentation on Thursdays as 9 pm ET.  It is going to take some time to build both audiences.  We have no ego in saying iMPACT! has to draw a big rating in one night. With the encore, we have grown our overall viewing audience significantly from 2009 averages.  We have 4 hours of exposure in prime time on Spike TV.  So short term, we have settled in to a new programming schedule and need to give both some time to grow, but are happy with our increased viewership.  Long term we want to see the overall ratings for iMPACT! increase significantly, no matter how many airings we have. ”

Moving to 8pm a Sign of Failure? “We discussed both the 8 – 10 pm ET and 7-9 pm ET timeslots with Spike before we moved to Mondays. It would be a failure to stay in a timeslot when you think another one might offer a greater chance for growth. When we started iMPACT! at 8 pm ET for the 3-hour January 4th special and on April 5th when we moved an hour earlier to get a jump on the NCAA Men’s basketball championship game, we saw higher viewership. Instead of moving back to 9 pm the following week, we decided to leave the start time at 8 pm ET and build that timeslot. Now it’s up to TNA, Spike and all of you to spread the word.”

TNA Resembling The Dying Days of WCW: “I think there has been more of a solid focus on new talent in the last few months than we have seen in the past.  The Pope, AJ Styles, Desmond Wolfe, Abyss, Matt Morgan, Beer Money, Jay Lethal, Doug Williams, Kazarian, Rob Terry, Beautiful People, Angelina Love, Daffney and so many more. I think the young talents that are featured on the show have really stepped up and I am very proud of them.  These guys are the “New” TNA. With the exception of Sting, I think every WCW talent we have has also worked for WWE. The only resemblance to WCW would be the guys from The Band who ran together there. Hogan and Flair appear in very different capacities. We are using established brands like Hogan to get mainstream media attention and help build new talent. It’s about balance, and we will continue to provide you with a good balance of established brands and new talent.”

Brian Knobs appeared on the Monday Night Mayhem radio show this week and spoke at length about the Nasty Boys’ recent run in TNA, the recent altercation between Ric Flair and Orlando Jordan’s  male companion, whether the Nasty Boys have spoken to WWE and more. You can listen to the entire interview at MondayNightMayhem.com (MP3).

Interview highlights courtesy of The Mayhem’s official correspondent, Paterson From New Jersey:

The truth behind The Nasty Boys reportedly being released from TNA Wrestling: “Right now, no one has contacted me or Saggs. No one from TNA. I have talked to Hogan, and he has not verified whether we are not. Supposedly, we are still with TNA. Nobody hasn’t told us anything yet. There’s a lot of stuff going on there as you see. They went to Monday nights, they’re trying to get ratings up, they’re throwing a lot of stuff together right now, and right now we are in ‘the limbo factor.’ Nobody has told us that we are there or not there yet. I’m not gonna speculate like everyone else is on the Internet, and I’m not gonna throw wild stories out there like ‘Brian Knobbs acted crazy to one of the executives at Spike, took his pants down, & ran naked across the pool at The Hard Rock.’ C’mon, we know better than that.”

The truth behind the alleged incident at The Hard Rock Cafe: “Let me put this into perspective. Something did happen two or three weeks ago, but I was there with Orlando Jordan’s significant other & Ric Flair. Now you don’t think that if I went crazy & we haven’t been there in over a month, even if it was in February or January, somebody would have said or put on the internet because they are a bunch of fans in front of everyone? There are no private parties like they put on the internet. There was nothing like that. Every time we were through with a match, we went out for a couple of beers, and we were professional as hell. We were at the Hard Rock Cafe, and we were with everybody. So you don’t think if we were acting like people are saying, it would have been on the internet the next day. Not when you hear The Nasty Boys are not there now, and this might have happened; that’s all speculation, and it’s a bunch of BS.”

Knobbs’ relationship with Hogan, Eric Bischoff, & Dixie Carter when The Nasty Boys came into TNA & if it changed throughout their run with the company: “Let’s face it. Me & Hulk are good buds, and we are always going to be good buds, but Hulk brought us in. Hulk asked me & Saggs, we did not ask to come to TNA. Hulk asked us to come help him out, and that’s what we were doing. We were coming to help him out. We never went against Team 3-D, and it was like a legendary match-up made in heaven, since they’re crazy, and we’re crazy. So we loved it, and said, ‘Sure we’ll come help.’ Now Dixie Carter has always been nice to us, always a real sweetheart. She’s out there doing a lot of things, and she always talked to us real nice. Eric Bischoff on the other hand…you never know. It’s 50-50 with him. He’s now running a lot of stuff again, so who knows…Between Hulk & Dixie Carter, there is no ill will, and I wouldn’t think there would be no ill will between us & Eric, but you never know.”

Was there any heat from the TNA locker room towards either Knobbs or Saggs: “Truthfully if there was, they never really showed it to me & Saggs. Everybody was great to us, and everybody showed us a lot of respect, and we do have a lot of friends down there too. Sting’s a very good friend from many years, and Kurt Angle’s a good friend. We had wars with Cactus Jack (Mick Foley) in WCW, so we have a lot of buddies down there also, so when came in, we fit right in. We never got into with anybody. We joked around…had fun. There was no ribs pulled or nothing like that. The old Nasty Boys didn’t come out…that’s for sure. As mind-bogging as it is to you guys, it’s pretty mind-boggling to us.”

Whether The Nasty Boys were contacted by the WWE prior to going to TNA or have been since their reported release: “We got contacted back in January. They called me and left a message to call them back, and they wanted to see what our status was in TNA. It was short & sweet, and they left a number, but I never did call it. I told Hogan they called us, and he said we should check it out, but I said right now, we’re down here, and our loyalty is our loyalty.”

More is contained in this exclusive interview with one half of The Nasty Boys, including Brian’s candid comments about The Honky Tonk Man being one of the first outlets to break the news about The Nasty Boys reported release from TNA, debuting for the company as the “Hogan/Bischoff Era” was just beginning (and how things changed after their splash into the promotion), along with his thoughts about The Nasty Boys’ chances at the WWE Hall Of Fame/the possibilities of getting inducted. For all of the details on the Nastyville School of Pro Wrestling, Log onto www.NastyKnobbs.com

Thanks to reader Tim Capture for sending in these live notes from Tuesday’s iMPACT! tapings:

TNA Impact (Airing Monday, April 12, 2010 on Spike TV):

* Out to start the show, TNA founder Jeff Jarrett. Almost 8 years ago he founded TNA. It stands for total nonstop action. So Sting, he’s not going to talk about kicking your a–, I’m going to act and kick your a–. Jarrett leaves the ring and goes up to the rafters. So far no Sting. Sting sneaks up and attacks but Jarrett takes over and is beating him all the way down the stairs and to the entrance ramp and into the ring. Jarrett asks him “Why?” the lights go out and when they come back, Sting has a bat and beats Jarrett down. Jeff Hardy, Abyss and RVD run out for the save and Sting bails.

* Jeff Hardy vs Robert Roode later tonight

* Team 3D & Jesse Neal are out with weapons. Bubba says he talked to Hogan and this is a 3 on 3, New York Street Fight match

* Team 3D & Jesse Neal vs. Syxx Pac, Scott Hall & Kevin Nash in a New York Street Fight. Winner via X Factor off the top rope through a table from Syxx Pac to Brother Ray, the Band. Bubba the Love Sponge came out to distract Ray and help

* Eric Young ran in for the save afterwards and challenges Nash to a steel cage match at Lockdown. He says he’s going to get righteous.

* Doug Williams comes out to join the commentary Doug Williams mocks them for shaking hands after the match. Kaz and Moore run after him and Williams disappears down the runway.

* Shannon Moore vs. Kazarian Time limit draw, this match is a draw. Kaz and Moore run after him and Williams disappears down the runway.

* Angelina Love vs. Velvet Sky, non title Leather & Lace match. Velvet says she came to her senses and this isn’t a leather and lace match because none of us perverts to see her goodies. Instead, Angelina will be handcuffed while Velvet kicks her ass. Velvet hit Angelina with the Knockouts match and then announces this is also an I Quit match Lacey and Madison run down to join in the beatdown. Tara runs out for the save. After unlocking Angelina’s hands, Angelina goes to shake hands with Tara but she just walks off in disgust

* The Motor City Machine Guns vs. Matt Morgan & Amazing Red for the TNA Tag Team Championship. Winner via Code Red on Chris Sabin, Matt Morgan and Amazing Red. Morgan beat up Red afterwards for stealing his spotlight.

* Robert Roode vs. Jeff Hardy. Winner via Swanton Bomb, Jeff Hardy. James Storm attacks Hardy afterwards and then spits a fireball in Hardy’s face. It took him 3 times to do it. RVD then runs out but gets taken out by Beer Money too. The DJ aptly pick Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire to play immediately afterwards.

* Dog the Bounty Hunter is here.

* “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero & “Black Machismo” Jay Lethal vs. AJ Styles w/Ric Flair & Desmond Wolfe. Lethal’s music played but he never came out. AJ said Lethal has a drinking problem courtesy of Beer Money so this is a handicap match. Before Wolfe made it to the ring, Hulk Hogan laid him out with a chair shot. This has turned into AJ Styles vs. The Pope. Winner via DQ, The Pope. Flair got out of the chair and nailed Pope with the heavyweight belt. Beer Money run out for the beat down. Hogan comes out to the top of the ramp and stares for a while. Hogan’s music hits while Team Flair minus Wolfe pose in the ring. Hogan slowly makes his way down but security gets in between him and Flair.

– Following the news that Jeff Jarrett and Karen Angle are engaged, we can confirm that Kurt Angle also became engaged to his girlfriend, a model from Pittsburgh.

– Kurt Angle also announced on his Twitter page that he and TNA have raised $9,000 towards families of the recent mine tragedy in West Virginia.

– The X Division Title match at TNA’s Lockdown pay-per-view will now be a Triple Threat with Doug Williams defending against Shannon Moore and Kaz.

– Eric Bischoff noted on Twitter that tonight’s TNA Reaction premiere on Spike TV at 7pm will be a pilot episode. The company is hoping that it turns into a weekly series.

– Here’s a video preview of the first 5 minutes of TNA Reaction, airing tonight before iMPACT!:

WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog at JRsBarBQ.com with his thoughts about:

Shawn Michaels’ Career: “Did I think that in 1996 that HBK would eventually wind up his career as arguably the greatest in ring performer of his generation? Honestly, no. Shawn’s life style was rather controversial at that time and did not lend itself to having a long, illustrious career. Thank goodness that Shawn made dynamic and distinctive changes in his life which then propelled him to the rarefied air of greatness in the pro wrestling biz. More importantly than re-establishing himself as one of wrestling’s greats of all time, Shawn Michaels became a much better man which is more important that being anyone’s show stopper.”

WWE RAW vs. TNA iMPACT!: “Will TNA ever become a TV ratings threat to WWE? What is the definition of a ratings threat? Does it mean, will TNA ever beat Raw on Monday nights? If that’s the question, then my guess is ‘No’ but I don’t think that’s TNA’s goal. The USA Network provides Raw with a great advantage on cable TV in exposure and over all network ratings considering that USA is generally the No. 1 rated cable network.”

“Small example but many hotels that I have stayed at over the years almost always have USA Network whereas few generally feature Spike. Point is that USA is a much stronger network than is Spike, no offense intended to Spike. My suggestion is that both WWE and TNA need to focus on what they do and build their own new stars that are involved in intriguing and compelling personal issues and let the chips fall where they may. TV wrestling is ‘star driven’ and ‘storyline fueled’ in which long term planning is a key component in order to facilitate, fun and easy to watch, episodic TV. It’s also WAY over thought in many circles.”

As always, visit JRsBarBQ.com for Jim Ross’ great line of BBQ products.

Outsports.com, a website that profiles openly gay pro athletes, has posted an interview with controversial TNA star Orlando Jordan. Jordan spoke about being the first openly bi-sexual pro wrestler and said his new TNA character is based on his own lifestyle.

“There’s a very small percent of people who empower society on a global basis,” Jordan said. “Maybe one percent. If everyone was a pioneer, it’d make things a lot easier. But that’s not the case. And there’s a price that comes with being a pioneer, but I would not expect anything less because that’s who I am.”

When asked what he is looking to accomplish in TNA, Jordan gave an answer that you wouldn’t expect from your typical wrestler.

“I really hope this character helps troubled teens, be it [those struggling] because of their race or their sexuality. If this character makes life even just a little bit easier for someone else, then I’ll be really happy.”

– TNA star Kurt Angle will be taking some time off following his cage match with Ken Anderson at the upcoming Lockdown pay-per-view on April 18. Angle wrote on Twitter:

“I will be taking some time off for a month to heal up, pursue more movies and promote Anglefoods at foodiesfoodclub.com. I am NOT injured. At Lockdown I plan on kicking Anderson’s *ss, then I’m gonna relax for a few weeks. Be back soon.”

– Former TNA star Christopher Daniels is also now accepting independent bookings as Curry Man . Daniels be wrestling as Curry Man at the upcoming Chikara King of Trios tournament in Philadelphia.

– Thursday’s TNA iMPACT replay on Spike TV drew a 0.56 rating and averaged 758,000 viewers.

“TNA REACTION” PREMIERES THIS MONDAY AT 7/6c BEFORE TNA “iMPACT!” ON SPIKE TV

Spike presents TNA Reaction, a never-before-seen look at the combustible world of TNA Wrestling with exclusive backstage access and candid interviews featuring the biggest names in wrestling. Fans will experience all the unseen drama as rivals speak openly about their plans to destroy their most hated foes. TNA superstars featured include Hulk Hogan, Kurt Angle, Jeff Hardy, AJ Styles, and more.

TNA Reaction premieres this Monday night on SpikeTV at 7/6c, one hour before TNA Wrestling “iMPACT!” at the new start time of 8/7c

On Monday morning, fans can log onto Spike.com for a special preview of the new one-hour TNA Reaction broadcast!

Controversial TNA star Orlando Jordan posted a message on Twitter announcing that he’s sign a new multi-year deal with the company.  Jordan said, “I’m just getting started people.”

After Jordan’s weird appearance on Monday’s iMPACT!, he was interviewed this week on TNA’s online video show Hermie’s Hotseat and spoke to host Hermie Sadler about his championship ambitions. Get ready for an Orlando Jordan – Rob Terry feud for the Global championship.

Hulk Hogan will be hosting a new weekly satellite radio show on Monday nights an hour before TNA iMPACT! goes on the air.

The first episode of “Hogan Uncensored” airs next Monday night at 7pm (EST) on Sirius XM’s Howard 101 channel.

Hogan and Bubba made the announcement on Bubba’s radio show yesterday when Hogan made an in-studio appearance to talk TNA.

Bubba the Love Sponge says Howard Stern is the one who put the show together.

— TNA may be dipping into the 90s well again as there has been much talk of starting a faction consisting of former ECW wrestlers.

ECW alumni presently on the roster include Rob Van Dam, Brother Ray, Brother Devon, Rhino, Raven, Dr. Stevie and Taz. Also, the former Spike Dudley worked an episode of iMPACT! a few weeks ago not to mention that Tommy Dreamer has been rumored to join the promotion as an on-air performer.

— Fans waiting outside of The Impact Zone this past Monday night were warned before entering the building that the evening’s show would not be family friendly.

partial source: Pro Wrestling Torch.

– TNA President Dixie Carter announced on her Twitter account that Christy Hemme and Brian Kendrick have signed new multi-year contracts with the organization. She wrote, “LOVE Christy in her new role & excited to see what Brian brings to X Div.”

– To clarify, the previously announced Leather & Lace Match between Angelina Love and Velvet Sky taking place on next week’s iMPACT! will not be for Love’s Knockouts Championship.

– For those unable to keep track of the Knockouts roster following numerous talent changes this year, here is how it currently stands.

Wrestlers (10): Angelina Love, Daffney, Hamada, Lacey Von Erich, Madison Rayne, ODB, Sarita, Tara, Taylor Wilde, Velvet Sky

Other on-air characters (5): Chelsea, Christy Hemme, Miss Tessmacher, SoCal Val & Orlando Jordan’s (unnamed) female companion.

Furthermore, the company has parted ways with five female performers so far this year in Alissa Flash, Awesome Kong, Kristal Lashley, Roxxi and Traci Brooks.

Just week’s after TNA iMPACT! moved to Monday nights, the company is already changing gears and making a move that many suggested from the beginning.

TNA President Dixie Carter announced via her twitter account that TNA iMPACT! is permanently moving to 8PM (Eastern). iMPACT! will remain 2 hours, but starting next week – the show will have a 1-hour lead-in to WWE RAW and will only go head-to-head with the first hour of RAW.

This week’s iMPACT! was a test run to see how the show would do starting an hour earlier and the ratings were enough to convince TNA that a permanent shift is a good move. Monday’s iMPACT! did a 0.85 rating, with the first unopposed hour drawing a 0.91 and the second hour, which went head-to-head with RAW, drew a 0.79.

Carter also announced on Twitter that SpikeTV will be adding a replay of iMPACT! to its weekly schedule The replay will air Thursday nights at 9PM (Eastern), iMPACT!’s old timeslot.

— WWE has plans to release a biography on Dustin “Goldust” Rhodes. The working title for the book project is Cross Rhodes and it is expected to be released by the end of the year. (source: PWInsider.com)

— Referencing last night’s episode of TNA iMPACT!, Chris Jericho wrote the following his Twitter account: “Yikes! With the amount of suits, serious looks and codebreakers going on tonight I feel like Kurt Cobain in 1993…”

For those unaware, “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero uses the Double knee facebreaker (a/k/a Codebreaker) as his finishing maneuver in TNA.

— The Bella Twins are en route to Tokyo, Japan to do promotional work for WWE’s tour there this summer.

The ratings are in for the April 5, 2010 episodes of WWE RAW & TNA iMPACT!.

WWE RAW drew a 3.2 cable rating, down a lot from last week’s strong 3.7.

TNA iMPACT! did a 0.9 rating cable rating, up from last week’s aweful 0.6.

By comparison, NCAA championship basketball game earned its highest television rating since 2005, with a 14.2 fast national rating and 23 share. That’s up 31 percent from the 10.8/18 for North Carolina’s blowout win over Michigan State last year.

Karen Angle, ex-wife of TNA star Kurt Angle, has announced on her Facebook page that she and Jeff Jarrett are engaged to be married. No details yet about whether the couple has set a date.

Karen Angle made her debut with TNA back in 2007 and was with the company for about a year. Kurt and Karen were divorced in mid-2008. In July 2009, an anonymous TNA employee called into the Bubba The Love Sponge radio show to reveal that Karen and Jeff Jarrett were living together at Jarrett’s home in Nashville, TN. TNA President Dixie Carter subsequently sent Jarrett home for several months following that incident.

While this may seem like another crazy twist in the Kurt-Karen-Jeff love triangle, Kurt Angle is said to be on good terms with Karen and Jeff.

— It would not be surprising to see Scott Steiner return to TNA as he was in the process of negotiating a new contract with the organization when Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff joined the fold. Though negotiations fell through and he is no longer under contract, a company source predicts he’ll return within the next few months.

— On Twitter, a fan expressed his displeasure with Taylor Wilde’s lack of television time in recent weeks. The Knockout herself responded, “Yeah……….I’m not too thrilled about it either.”

Wilde was not flown in for this week’s television tapings. She is currently vacationing in England.

— Click here to watch the Before The Bell special previewing Lockdown.

(partial source: Pro Wrestling Torch)