As previously reported, Hulk Hogan appeared on NYC radio host Jim Kerr’s “Rock ‘n Roll Morning Show” this morning and virtually confirmed that Rob Van Dam has signed with TNA Wrestling. While Hogan never mentioned Van Dam by name, studio cameras caught Hogan doing RVD’s “pointing to yourself” gesture while talking about an exciting new talent acquisition that he just heard about last night.
With TNA moving to Monday nights and now news leaking out that RVD has likely signed with TNA, the logical assumption is that Van Dam is one of the “major surprises” TNA is teasing for Monday’s live iMPACT! According to prowrestling.net, people within TNA are said to be “fuming” mad that the RVD news leaked out.
Additionally, it is worth noting Spike TV has acknowledged the news of RVD signing with TNA on Twitter, writing:
RT @TNA_FANS: HULK HOGAN confirms “Mr. Monday Night” RVD has signed with TNA Wrestling!
TNA star Hulk Hogan and Jimmy Hart appeared on radio host Jim Kerr’s “Rock ‘n Roll Morning Show” this morning from New York City and Hogan strongly hinted that Rob Van Dam has signed with TNA Wrestling.
“We got a lot of young kids now like A.J. Styles and Jeff Hardy and we’ve got a bunch of surprises coming up with some guys that just signed – I didn’t even tell Jimmy [Hart] about it. I found out about it last night.” Hogan then pointed to himself (like RVD does when saying his name) and said, “It’s going to be really crazy.”
TNA Wrestling has released Traci Brooks, according to PWInsider.com.
Details regarding Brooks’ departure have yet to be disclosed. She had been with the company since 2003.
Her most recent run saw her become a part of the since departed Main Event Mafia. She had been one of the company’s original female performers and was an original member of the Knockouts division.
SEScoops.com can confirm that TNA Wrestling has been in talks with former WWE and ECW Champion Rob Van Dam in recent weeks about joining the company.
RVD and TNA have had ongoing talks for several months, including for the first live Monday iMPACT! on January 4th. While Van Dam obviously did not appear back in January, a reliable source has informed us that negotiations have heated up in recent weeks and TNA is pushing hard for RVD to make a surprise appearance on Monday’s live iMPACT!, the first night of the new Monday Night War. It is possible Van Dam has already signed and the company is keeping it under wraps to maximize the iMPACT! when he appears on Monday.
Van Dam has been outspoken in recent interviews about his desire to return to the national wrestling scene, but does not want to put himself through WWE’s grueling travel schedule. Hulk Hogan recently called in to Rob Van Dam’s online radio show and made a public pitch for Van Dam to join him in TNA, saying the company “needs” him. Van Dam sounded open to Hogan’s proposal and said the two would talk after the show went off the air.
TNA star Hulk Hogan appeared on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” show this morning to promote his return to the ring this Monday night on TNA iMPACT!, the first night of the new Monday Night War. Hogan will team with Abyss against AJ Styles and Ric Flair.
During the segment, Hogan talked a number of topics, including his time in TNA thus far, being offered a 25-year contract by WWE before he signed with TNA, his relationship with Dixie Carter and much more.
Hogan was asked why he went back to the business if it ravaged his body. He talked about being addicted to the business and wanting to work with TNA president Dixie Carter and the talent on the roster to “make history.” He said he still gets goosebumps every time he touches a wrestling ring and wants to make TNA a legit competitor to WWE, which will raise the “water level” of the industry as a whole.
— Fans shouldn’t be too dismayed by the storyline of Samoa Joe being abducted by a group of masked men from a parking lot two weeks on iMPACT! as the long-term plan is for this to lead to a renewed push for the multi-time TNA champion at some point.
— Angelina Love is auctioning off a few ring worn items including platform boots worn on several episodes of iMPACT! as well as a beekeeper outfit. You can view the auctions at the following link.
— The TNA website has released new studio photos of ODB at the following link.
(Credit to www.pwtorch.com for some of the information used in this report)
Ric Flir's wife after she was arrested on February 21st
TMZ.com has obtained the 911 call made the night Ric Flair’s wife allegedly assaulted him on February 21 — a call that was made by the daughter of Flair’s wife.
During the call, Jacqueline Beems’ daughter says her mother and Ric “were both drunk” and punching each other at their home in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Beems’ daughter says Ric was bleeding from his forehead and needed medical assistance. She asked that the 911 operator send police to the home to help put an end to the violent altercation.
Beems was arrested that night and charged with assault.
Click Here to Hear the 911 Call from TMZ.com (MP3)
Eric Bischoff’s and Jason Hervey’s production company is developing a new wrestling-themed reality television project based around a midget wrestling promotion called Micro Championship Wrestling. Bischoff and Hervey are using the iMPACT Zone to film the show but this is not a TNA project and it’s not being filmed for Spike TV.
Spike also has a new midget wrestling reality show called Half Pint Brawlers and Bischoff’s new project is something separate.
It looks like Hulk Hogan also might have some involvement with the project, as he is shown cutting a promo for Micro Championship Wrestling at their website, mcwusa.us.
The first taping will be this Thursday at the iMPACT Zone and Eric Bischoff will be appearing on cmeara.
The promotion is asking that fans do not wear t-shirts with a TNA logo, as they’re looking to establish themselves as a totally separate company. It’s believed that the taping is being filmed for a pilot on TruTV.
TNA Knockout Awesome Kong has apparently parted ways with the company, according to a message she posted on Twitter.com/awesomekong.
Kong thanked TNA president Dixie Carter and all of the TNA employees for wishing her the best in her future endeavors.
The former Knockouts champion announced last week that she is suing radio host Bubba The Love Sponge for allegedly making racist threats against her. Bubba issued a statement refuting the allegations.
St. Louis’ RiverfrontTimes.com has an interview with Hulk Hogan, who talks about wrestling against Ric Flair in a tag match on March 8th, his financial motivation for getting back in the ring. He also takes a shot at The Rock’s movie career. Hogan admits that his body is broken down, but he’s getting back in the ring because the fans demanded it, brother! Here’s what Hogan said about:
Is He Able To Still Wrestle? “Oh, I can’t, brother. I was in Australia recently and did four dates wrestling Ric Flair. The first day I ran into Ric with a shoulder tackle and knocked him down. He popped up and came right back at me. I didn’t have my footing right. I was turned in when he hit me and my right hip popped out of its socket. The pain shot like a piece of electricity to my head and right behind my ear. I felt like my head exploded. I fell and dumbed it up against the rope until I could pop my hip back in. That was my first day back. I really didn’t want to wrestle, but I got into a situation with TNA when the fans are chanting ‘Hogan! Hogan!’ It’s hard to say no. I painted myself in a corner. Now I’m fighting a tag-team match March 8 with Abyss against Ric Flair and A.J. Styles. I did that to myself, but I really shouldn’t be wrestling anymore.”
His Financial Situation Pushing Him To Wrestle Again: “I was in a situation where I was kind of lost and I happened to walk by a ring in a gym. I reached out and touched it, and I got goosebumps. I knew I had a problem, kind of like being an addict. I said, ‘Oh boy.’ It’s like driving a fast car or being on a date with a beautiful woman. So, that was part of it. The other was necessity. After the last couple years, financially, I needed to do something. I was devastated financially.”
Hogan Takes a Shot at The Rock: “I thought about moving out to L.A. and doing the movie thing cause I have seventeen movies under my belt — mostly low-budget kid movies, kind of like what The Rock is doing now. My agent said they could put me in supporting roles. I’d never be a Gene Hackman or anything, but there is work for me. But I just wasn’t into it. I needed to to work and thought why not get back to what I love, wrestling?”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2010
The following statement is from syndicated and satellite radio host Bubba the Love Sponge®:
“This morning I was made aware of allegations made in a petition for full bill of discovery by Ms. Kia Stevens, a professional wrestler with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. The allegations in this petition are one hundred percent false. To be clear; everything contained in this petition is not true. Ms. Stevens attributing outrageous racist statements and physical threats to me is disgusting.”
“We can prove without any doubt the allegations made in this petition are false. First Ms. Stevens claims that she was called on the air, at 5:08 AM on February 10th, we are not even on the air until 6 AM Eastern time. We have phone records and eye witnesses that account for my every movement that day from 4:50 AM forward. No call was made to Ms. Stevens at all.”
“We will be pursuing all legal remedies available to us in the State of Florida to fight these deliberately malicious allegations.”
— TNA Knockout is alleging that radio personality Bubba The Love Sponge called her at 5 a.m. on February 10th from a blocked phone number and threatened her. Kong, who got into a backstage altercation with Bubba after he said “F— Haiti” on Twitter, claims that Bubba identified himself, told her the call would be played on the radio and threatened her with some very racist and offensive comments.
She asked AT&T to give her the identity of the blocked caller so that she could take further action, but they declined to release that information. As a result, she has filed a lawsuit against both AT&T and Bubba. For more on this, visit CourthouseNews.com.
— Spike TV has granted TNA Wrestling an 8-minute overrun for the March 8th edition of iMPACT!, the first night of the new Monday night war. No word yet on whether this is a one night deal or if they’ll run over every week like WWE RAW does. (Source: PWInsider.com)
– It was reported a few weeks back that Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff wanted TNA to stop doing live events until they got everything in TNA on the right track. Their position was based on poor house show performance in November and December. Being that TNA did great live event business in January (following the successful January 4th show), the live events were never scrapped. Jeff Jarrett, Don West and Jeremy Borash are currently in charge of live events.
– The company behind the “Hulkamania: Let the Battle Begin” tour of Australia has gone bankrupt and the expected DVD of the Hulkamania tour of Australia probably won’t be released. Hulk Hogan reportedly wouldn’t allow them to market the DVD until the promoters paid him money he was still owed for the tour. The show was scheduled to air in Australia on TV a few months ago and there was talk of another tour in China, but those plans are off.
– The new bi-sexual storyline with Orlando Jordan got off to a bad start with TNA and Spike TV officials as neither of them were happy with the way Jordan’s male companion was rubbing him in the bit that didn’t air on iMPACT. The guy with Jordan is the same guy that was with him when he got fired from WWE a few years back.
Matt and Jeff Hardy have posted their latest video blog to YouTube:
Episode #13 Outside Of Cracker Barrel
“After each one of us had just gotten back into North Carolina after long road trips, it was time for myself, Jeff, & Kimo to grab some lunch at one of our favorite spots-Cracker Barrel. After lunch, we turned the Flip on, and captured whatever came out. Enjoy guys!”
On his newly launched Facebook fan page, Eric Bischoff commented on the chances of certain former WCW talent joining TNA Wrestling.
When asked if TNA could hire Vampiro, Bischoff wrote, “No talent gimmick come lately.”
Another reader noted that Bischoff previously said there was no chance of Diamond Dallas Page showing up in TNA. However, the reader wanted to know whether there was a possibility of Kimberly Page surfacing in Orlando.
“Double no,” Bischoff wrote.
When asked about former WCW Cruiserweight Champion Juventud Guerrera, Bischoff called him “a world class screw up.” A reader then said that the same could be said about Scott Hall. Bischoff responded, “Good point, but Scott Hall has the potential to be one of the greatest minds in the business and still has a gift in the ring. Juventud….I’d rather take an ice pick to my thigh.”
Responding to a query of Goldberg joining TNA, Bischoff said, “I spoke briefly to Bill a week ago, and while the subject of TNA did not come up, I sincerely doubt that Bill has any interest in getting back into the wrestling business.”
Finally, Bischoff called WWE’s guest host initiative a “weak stunt.”
– TNA has no live events scheduled until the live iMPACT on March 8th in order to give the crew a chance to rest up and get ready for the big night.
– As noted before, Orlando Jordan’s new male valet is a friend of his outside of TNA and his new female valet is independent women’s wrestler Santana G. The angle with two valets is the same thing Jordan pitched to WWE before he was released years ago, with the idea Trinity would have been the female and another male friend of his outside of WWE would have played the male role.
– Jeff Hardy and Shannon Moore were at an autograph signing in Middletown, New York this weekend and reportedly their signing outdrew both TNA live events in the Northeast this weekend. Moore said on Twitter that over 1,500 people showed up and they had to turn some away.
– One of the reasons Kaz is no longer playing Suicide and has returned to his previous gimmick is because Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff felt he shouldn’t be wrestling under a mask because of his looks and facial expressions.
(Credit to PWInsider.com for the information used in this report)
A representative of Ric Flair issued the following statement to TMZ.com in regards to Flair’s wife being arrested last night:
“Ric and his wife had an unfortunate disagreement late last night, which led to his wife being arrested and charged with assault. Ric has done nothing wrong.”
As previously reported, Flair and his wife Jacqueline had a domestic dispute on Sunday night after arriving home from dinner. Flair suffered minor injuries and Jackqueline was arrested and charged with allegedly assaulting Flair with “personal weapons” such as hands, feet, and teeth.
Ric Flair’s wife Jacqueline Beems has been released from jail, according to North Carolina’s WISTV.com.
The article states that TNA star Ric Flair suffered minor injuries when he was allegedly assaulted by Beems late Sunday night at his home in Charlotte, N.C.
Beems was charged with assault using “personal weapons such as hands, feet, and teeth.”
The arrest warrant from the incident is available online and can be viewed here (PDF format).
On his Twitter account, Chris Jericho commented on his sixth World title win at last night’s Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, remarking, “Wow, World Champion for the sixth time. This could never happen in TNA!”
Jericho is apparently referring to Eric Bischoff’s recent comments noting him as a great talent, but not someone who should be main eventing.
— As seen this past Thursday night on iMPACT!, Frankie Kazarian appeared as himself rather than the Suicide character, which seemed to indicate that the gimmick is through. It should be noted that he is still playing the masked character at house shows, but will be appearing as himself on television from this point forward. Though he will no longer play the character on television, TNA plans on continuing the gimmick as they are considering other wrestlers for the role.
Also note, TNA has added Kaz to its roster page, with Suicide retained.
— TNA referee Mike Posey defeated Alabama Junior Heavyweight Champion Mike Jackson this past Friday night in Graysville, Alabama to end his 45-year reign as champion.
— — In TNA’s latest webmatch, Hamada squares off against the infrequently seen Traci Brooks. You can view the bout at the following link.
— Dixie Carter informally announced yesterday on her Twitter account that TNA Wrestling has signed Shannon Moore to a contract.
“TNA signs one moore,” Carter wrote.
Moore returned to TNA on the live Jan. 4 show alongside Jeff Hardy, but wasn’t signed until this week.
— Episode No.3 of TNA Epics featuring the X-Division has been removed from Spike’s schedule for Mar. 18, 2010. No word yet on when the show will air. (Thanks to Devin Cutting)
— TNA Wrestling has plans to release DVD set highlighting Beer Money, Inc. and The Motor City Machine Guns’ greatest matches. The company website is running a poll asking fans to decide what matches make the cut, and which ones get left behind. You can take part in the poll at the following link.
TNA President Dixie Carter spoke to Brian Fritz of FanHouse.com this week about iMPACT!’s upcoming move to Monday nights on March 8th. Dixie spoke about what it’s going to be like competing with WWE head on every single week. She knows TNA is playing a high stakes game, but sounds ready to lead her company into battle. Here are some highlights of what she said about:
How Everything Came Together: Dixie Carter: Well, we’ve talked about a move to Monday nights for a while, since, for over a year and it just seemed like the time was right. When I knew Hulk Hogan was coming on board, I just kind of put a halt to that and just thought how great would it be for the first time he debuts on our show, to let that be the first time we go to Monday night and the timing turned out perfect.
The Pressure of Competing Against WWE: You know, I don’t think of it that way. The days that were so hard, that was pressure. There used to be a lot of pressure. I don’t feel that pressure anymore. I’ve always handled it really well because there have been some very hard times in this company. And we still that little engine that could. This is a David vs. Goliath story if I’ve ever heard it and we are just so excited and so filled with energy but don’t have such expectations that they will be failures if we don’t meet them. We need to stay steady and continue to grow this.
Hulk Hogan’s Role in TNA & Making New Stars: “It has been the best decision I ever made. I don’t think I’ve ever had one conversation with Hulk Hogan about Hulk Hogan. Every conversation I have with him is about the other TNA talent we have and how can we make them better and how can we make them household names. People are just starting to see the very tip of this man’s genius in some of these things that we are going to make stars who have worked so hard to get to a certain level and truly take that next big step.”
– After Scott Steiner’s superstar profile was recently removed from the talent roster page of TNA’s official website, we were able to confirm that Big Poppa Pump is no longer with the company. It’s said that Scott Steiner wasn’t offered a new contract by TNA because the company felt bringing in Ric Flair was worth more to them and with the bad blood from the past between Flair and Steiner, it just wouldn’t work out.
– As previously reported, Karen Angle was backstage at this week’s TNA iMPACT tapings in Orlando. For those keeping score, Kurt Angle’s ex-wife is still dating Jeff Jarrett. While some would think this would be a major issue between Kurt and Jeff, the two TNA stars are actually said to be on pretty good terms right now. Apparently Jarrett has even gone to bat for Kurt regarding custody of Kurt and Karen’s children, trying to help Kurt get more time for visitation with his children. Kurt has told friends he’s considering moving to Nashville to be closer to work and his kids. There was talk a few months ago of doing a Jarrett vs. Angle feud based on the real life love triangle involving Karen, but that storyline never came to pass and there are currently no plans to put Karen Angle back on television.
Six weeks after joining TNA Wrestling, Hulk Hogan tells Brian Fritz of FanHouse.com that he’s just now getting a handle on how to run a wrestling promotion and admits that for a while, he didn’t know what he was doing. Here are some highlights of what Hogan said about:
The First 6 Weeks in TNA: “I’ve never really done this before and with me everything is by instinct and feel. I was just saying a second ago to someone else that it’s actually taken me this long not to be overwhelmed because when I first came in here, everybody was going oh, they’re not going to like you, the young guys are not going to accept you. This whole negative veil of tears was thrown at me that wasn’t true. The company was very receptive; they gracefully accepted me with open arms. And then I got overwhelmed. There was so just so much good stuff going on but so many other little tweaks that kind of caught me off-guard ’cause I’m just a wrestler. I’m not someone who should be running a whole wrestling company. I know the feel for it. So it’s taken me this long to actually get all four of my claws on the ground or four feet on the ground and I feel comfortable.”
Playing Politics in TNA: “Well, you have to realize – barbarically speaking – I used to lace my boots up, go out to the ring, make my money and go home if you can say it that way. Now, the network is asking for certain things and when things get successful you get input from people you never thought you would get input from that give you, kind of, suggestions that help you or almost kind of like demands of what they want that could not be what’s best for wrestling creatively. And so all of a sudden, all these monsters are coming at me and I’m wondering how to politically, gracefully massage them and make them work because sometimes I…I wear my feelings on my sleeve and I’m not real good at being political and graceful with finesse. I’m trying to get all that done because there’s a lot of stuff, a lot of stuff. But I get it now.”
Hogan also talks about iMPACT! Moving to Monday nights, his relationship with Vince Russo and more in this interview, which you can read in its entirety at FanHouse.com.
