Global Force Wrestling founder Jeff Jarrett recently spoke with the folks at Wrestle View about his new upstart pro wrestling promotion. Below are some highlights from the interview.

On the use of social media to promote the GFW brand: “I love it in a real positive way. Global Force Wrestling or Jeff Jarrett can touch the consumer, the viewer, the fan instantaneously and we don’t have to go through traditional channels. When I was growing up when I first broke in, you would have the local promoter come out. He’d write the story and it’d come out at the very best three or four days later. That is really best case scenario. Then as time went along you may get a live news hit, the sports guy come out and do a live news thing. Then you roll through time and you’ve got 500 digital channels and you’ve got streaming services – Netflix, Roku, Amazon, going on and on. YouTube. Social media. Instagram. Vine. Snapchat. That’s really where the fans are. You were on the field with us, tweeted the first pitch and the whole world saw it in 30 minutes? 15 minutes? I like that as a promoter. You can touch the fan base.”

On his reaction to TNA pulling Tyrus (former WWE star Brodus Clay) from live events: “Am I disappointed that George Murdoch can’t be part of it? Absolutely, but life happens. TNA, it’s very obvious that they don’t have the vision and don’t have the mindset that I do. That it was without question, you know, George, yep you’re going to be on our non-televised events. And that’s where we stand. He agreed to it. He was legally available for us and then whatever happened – I don’t want to speak for George. I don’t want to speak for TNA. I don’t know. He told me, “I can’t make it.” I’ll sort of leave it at that. When one door closes on a situation, that’s opportunity and the door is opened for other talents to come on. In the month of July we got a couple different announcements coming up. Some former World Heavyweight Champions (will) be part of the Global Force Wrestling roster.”

On when more details about GFW and a television deal is expected: “I release information when I feel the time is right. I think you guys have accepted that fact. I think it helps everybody, the anticipation. Professional wrestling is no different than the music business or other forms of entertainment. 15, 13 years ago, the CD is how the music business made its money. Then you went to .99 downloads or $1.29 downloads. Now it’s streaming. It’s a different form of how the consumer consumes content. My goal, Global Force Wrestling, I’m standing on global. We got alliances with 13 promotions on 5 continents and we are on a much smaller world than we used to be. My goal is to make sure that the content we produce is going to be able to be consumed on a global basis. The ‘TV deal’ – those details will be released at the appropriate time. Traditional forms of cable network television, they are definitely in the rearview mirror.”

Check out the complete interview at SoundCloud.com.

• PHOTO: Is Ken Shamrock Taking STEROIDS Before Fight With Kimbo?!

– The eighth annual Destination X special edition of Impact Wrestling airs tonight at 9e/p on Destination America and will feature two World Heavyweight Championship bouts, a Knockouts Championship match and three 3-way qualifying matches for the X Division Championship. Josh Mathews and The Pope break down the show in this video.

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

– Through Twitter, Grado is hyping his return to Impact Wrestling tonight.

Tonight on @DestAmerica I return to @IMPACTWRESTLING…TO TEAR UP THE X DIVISION ???? pic.twitter.com/ybxxq7SOKO

— GRADO (@gradowrestling) June 10, 2015

– TNA stars Davey Richards and Angelina Love are now officially married.

The six-time Knockouts Champion announced her marriage to Richards Wednesday on Twitter, tweeting a photo of their wedding rings.

I am officially Mrs. Richards ???????????? @RichardsWesley pic.twitter.com/p0OLGsEGvZ

— Lauren/Angelina Love (@ActualALove) June 10, 2015

Richards and Love have been dating since early this year. The marriage is Love’s first.

• Is Vince McMahon Trying To Break Up Lana & Rusev In Real Life?

– TNA production workers Simon Edwards and Eric Tompkins have reportedly given their notices to the company. Tompkins worked as a video editor and was considered one of the better editors TNA had. Edwards worked as a video producer and had been with TNA for nearly ten years.

– TNA star James Storm will apparently be debuting a new look in the near future. Storm tweeted the following photo on Tuesday after getting a major haircut.

https://twitter.com/JamesStormBrand/status/608419064432721920

• PHOTO: Is Ken Shamrock Taking STEROIDS Before Fight With Kimbo?!

(Partial Credit: PWInsider.com)

The following are previews for tonight’s NXT, ROH, Lucha Underground and TNA shows:

NXT On The WWE Network (8 PM EST)

– Samoa Joe vs. Scott Dawson.
– Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley vs. Mike Rallis and Elias Samson.
– Emma vs. Blue Pants
– Tyler Breeze vs. Bull Dempsey
– Becky Lynch vs. Jessie McKay
– Baron Corbin vs. Angelo Dawkins

Ring Of Honor On Destination America (8 PM EST)

– ROH Tag Team champions The Addiction vs. ReDragon
– IWGP Tag Team champions The Kingdom vs. Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson.
– Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Dalton Castle
– “Brutal” Bob Evans vs. Cheeseburger

Lucha Underground On The El Rey Network (8 PM EST)

– Cage vs. King Cuerno vs. Hernandez vs. Mystery Opponent (#1 Contender’s Match)
– The returns of Chavo Guerrero and Blue Demon Jr.
– A big announcement from Dario Cueto

TNA Destination X On Destination America (9 PM EST)

– TNA champion Kurt Angle vs. Rockstar Spud.
– Austin Aries vs. The Winner of Angle vs. Spud
– TNA Knockouts champion Taryn Terrell vs. Awesome Kong
– Low Ki vs. Manik vs. Crazzy Steve (Ultimate X Qualifier)
– Cruz vs. Grado vs. Kenny King (Ultimate X Qualifier)
– Tigre Uno vs. Mark Andrews vs. DJ Zema Ion (Ultimate X Qualifier)
– Ultimate X to determine new X Division champion

Last week on Impact Wrestling, we saw James Storm lure Mickie James onto a train platform and bump her off the ledge, presumably onto the tracks. According to Wrestling Observer Radio, this was an effort to write Mickie James out of TNA storylines for the foreseeable future.

James has a series of autograph sessions that clashed with the next set of Impact tapings. James will be appearing at the Miami SuperCon from June 25th-28th, while the next set of TNA TV tapings and Slammiversary run from June 24th-28th.

There is a lot of uncertainty around her future right now, with Dave Meltzer stating she won’t be around for a while, and she might be done with TNA for good.

WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross updated his official blog on Saturday with a long rant about his take on the state of the wrestling industry.

Below is an excerpt from the blog, which features JR’s rant.

“I’ve said here many times that I hope that all wrestling promotions are successful and make it through their respective rough waters that many are currently encountering. Nonetheless, some within these organizations can’t handle constructive criticism and seem to take some things that I say personally which is both childish and unprofessional. It is my prerogative to criticize bad acting, over scripted promos, no selling major moves, illogical creative and other eye rolling creative content in an attempt to re-invent what isn’t broken. I think that I’ve paid my dues, earned a decent track record within the biz and, above all, I am still a fan of over 50 years.

The vast majority of wrestlers these days are not good promo talents. Reason being is that creative staffs seemingly have to justify their existence by role playing with these individuals and scripting virtually every word that the talents say. That system is both outdated and unproductive as fans today can recognize a wrestler reciting a promo from memory instead as from their heart within a few sentences.

Wrestling is best when it comes from a logically, realistic place and is executed inside the ring as an athletic contest built on common sense and not an acrobatic show that exposes the business as a sham with no selling and the complete lack of some talent’s ability to properly apply an actual wrestling hold.

The faster some talent perform the louder that they tell us that their skill set is lacking and that they are trying to get by on sensationalism instead of realism.

I get taken to task because of my 21 years in WWE as if I’m picking on the TNA’s, ROH’s, Lucha Underground’s, etc of the world when nothing could be further from the truth. I’ve dedicated 40+ years of my life to the wrestling business, proudly I might add, and would do it all over again if the opportunity presented itself. But that isn’t going to happen. I want the business to be healthy and to prosper long after I’m gone for future generations to enjoy. At the rate of some of the things that I’m watching each week on TV are happening, I’m not sure sure that’s going to occur.

Some feel that we are allegedly in a pending “boom” period because there is so much TV wrestling product available o n a weekly. Does average, at times at best average, TV product indicate “Boom” to any one who actually thinks about it? I think not.

The product is by and large over thought and those in creative charge seemingly feel compelled to take a tried and true product and put their personal finger prints on it as if they are going to be the one who is forever known as “changing the wrestling business forever.” The wrestling business changed forever when the territories died due largely because local promoters got lazy and complacent and did not want to move into the modern era of marketing and producing TV programs plus they stopped developing new, young stars. Blame who you want but the territory system stopped doing what brought them to the dance and that was featuring new stars in compelling rivalries that were based in easy to understand, common sense story lines produced in weekly, episodic television. Plus, the talents back in the day were, by and large, better story tellers than we are fed today with some exceptions.

An essentially, easy to watch, non complex hour of TV that virtually anyone could understand and enjoy was what worked best for many of us lifers.

Where have those days gone?

Yes, I’ve been involved with many lame, ineffective and impotent TV storylines in my career but I was always a team player and had no problem cashing the checks to do what my employer instructed me to do in the fictional, show business word of pro wrestling. It was like an actor being cast in a role in a film. Some days were better than others…some shows were better than others, too.

Perhaps some day someone in a promotion will understand that simpler is better and the majority of fans don’t want bad acting or predictable promos but instead want to get lost in personal issues featuring the stars settling the conflict in the ring utilizing superior athletic representation.”

Check outt the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.

• PHOTO GALLERY: Ronda Rousey Looks HOT In New TV Commercial!

Doc Gallows recently appeared as a guest on Main Event Madness Radio, which airs Thursday nights at 9:30pm EST. at MainEventMadness.com, to talk about a number of topics. Below are some highlights from the interview.

On what got him into wrestling: “Yeah absolutely, I first saw pro wrestling on television when I was 8 years old, I saw Hulk Hogan and I was obsessed ever since. I was a serious life long fan, from the magazines, to the toys, to the posters, to dragging my dad all over the place to take me to see pro wrestling, you know I knew that’s not only what I want to do, but had to do, and I ended up leaving a football scholarship to pursue it on my own. So I kinda went back on a deal with my dad, once I finished, he would pay for any wrestling school in the country but I offered to try to do it on my own, and started traveling the independent circuit when I was 18 years old, and I did that for about 3 years until I was eventually signed with WWE’s developmental system.”

On working in TNA, Aces & Eights and his departure: “I went to Ring Ka King in India and worked for Jeff Jarrett, as a biker character, and then the opportunity came up to form Aces and Eights, and I took the contract in TNA. Yea it was fun, TNA was fun, I was working with a lot of my friends, a lot of really good guys, the new contracts came up, and it was a business decision on my behalf, and maybe on their behalf too, and I wasn’t sure where I’d land up next.”

“[Talking about Aces & Eights] Well Aces &Eights was cluttered, it was a little under produced, and the creative direction I guess was there at first, but then maybe there was some internal stuff, and then there wasn’t as much creative direction. All we could do was make the best of it and have a good time, because you had some veterans mixed with some young guys, and you just had to make the best of it. The coolest thing I got to do was like you know, do stuff with guys I grew up on, like wrestling sting on pay-per-view, and getting to do a couple big beat downs on him, and doing some stuff with Hulk Hogan, and that’s just cool stuff we did, because a few years before that i never thought I’d ever do anything with Sting or Hulk Hogan, but the opportunity came up, and it’s just one of those little things for me personally that was a really good time, it was like kinda coming full circle from being 10 and playing with these guys figures on my bed, to being out there, trading punches with them.”

• Photo: Check Out A Picture Of RIC FLAIR With His NEW Real-Life Girlfriend!

As we reported earlier this week, WWE officials have changed their interest level regarding bringing AJ Styles into the company. Originally, the company wasn’t that interested in bringing him in, however following the success of many of his peers in NXT, and eventually on the main roster, WWE is apparently more interested in Styles than they were in the past. It is worth noting, however, that nothing is expected to happen at any point in the near future, as Styles is locked into a contract with New Japan Pro Wrestling until the end of 2015.

Speaking of WWE’s interest in acquiring established talent, the company is reportedly in the process of trying to find out when the contracts of a few of TNA’s top talents expire. According to the latest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE is interested in signing a few of TNA’s bigger stars, but only for the NXT brand for now.

• Photos: Ronda Rousey Turns Heads With Revealing Outfit At Entourage Premiere!

The debut episode of Ring Of Honor’s television show on Destination America on Wednesday night drew 247,000 combined viewers for the first and second airing of the show, which is a replay of the broadcast that first aired on Sinclair Broadcasting.

ROH’s first airing on Destination America prior to the first edition of TNA Impact Wrestling to air on the station on Wednesday nights drew 151,000 viewers. The replay of the show that aired after Impact Wrestling last night drew 96,000 viewers.

Meanwhile, the first episode of Impact Wrestling to air on Destination America on Wednesday night drew 292,000 combined viewers for the first and second airing of the show. The first airing drew 226,000 viewers, while the replay that followed ROH’s second airing drew 66,000 viewers.

• Photos: Ronda Rousey Turns Heads With Revealing Outfit At Entourage Premiere!

WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross recently updated his official blog with his latest thoughts and comments. Below are some of the highlights.

On the “Wednesday Night Wars”: “Not wild about the term Wednesday Night Wars’ as it relates to all the pro wrestling that now airs on free TV on Wednesday nights. ‘War’ indicates that someone will lose or be eliminated which any wrestling fan with above average intelligence should not want to happen to any promotion.”

On ROH’s television production values: “Got some Tweets about ROH’s production values that new viewers had heard me mention on the Ross Report. I’ve been told by ROH management that those upgrades are coming and to be patient. That’s good news. I still think that the hard working ROH talents would better serve themselves inside the ring if they slowed down a gear to have some where to go but no one can ever question the work ethic of ROH talent. ROH should do what they can to edit out dated live event references as it make the viewers think that they are watching an ‘old’ show.”

On the John Cena-Kevin Owens feud: “Hopeful that WWE keeps the Cena-Owens issue alive and the only way that will happen is if Owens, the villain, keeps gaining advantages in any manner possible going forward until the time comes for the big, blow off finale. Owens is NOT ‘over’ yet and for him to start losing to anyone right now isn’t to my way of thinking. Bottom line is that it is more important for WWE at this time to get Kevin Owens established as a main event level villain th it is to allow Cena to even the score.”

Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.

• Photos: Ronda Rousey Turns Heads With Revealing Outfit At Entourage Premiere!

Global Force Wrestling performer Doc Gallows recently appeared as a guest on the v2 Wrestling podcast to talk about a number of topics related to the upstart wrestling promotion.

Below are some of the highlights from the interview.

On his thoughts on Global Force Wrestling: “I think everybody is excited. I think this is going to be a unique experience not only for the wrestlers but for the wrestling fans because you’re going to see guys from so many different styles and genres. It’s exciting. Las Vegas is the fight capital of the world and I think us broadcasting from the Orleans casino ? it gives it a unique big fight feel. I think this is a brand new concept with a lot of fresh faces and guys who have gone and done some really cool stuff. Now you’re going to see them all under one banner, under Global Force Wrestling. I think that’s why global was such a good name for this thing because when you look at all these companies from all these places all over the world, I think that Jeff Jarrett has a great plan set up for not only the wrestlers but for the wrestling fans.”

On the partnership between Global Force and New Japan: “I’ve worked with Jeff previously in Ring Ka King and then in TNA. Jeff has his finger on the pulse in the wrestling business. He knew how hot New Japan had gotten and he knew how hot the Bullet Club had gotten, so he was coming to Japan trying to cut the deal for Global Force and New Japan to partner up. And in doing so, we saw the opportunity and we actually put Jeff in the Bullet Club with us. This Global Force thing, not a lot has been released to the public because I think Jeff has tried to keep up the mystique up about it. It was meticulous planning, months and months before Jeff ever landed on the ground in Japan. He basically came over to seal the deal, especially with Global Force bringing the Wrestle Kingdom pay-per-view to America for the first time. Letting the American audience see what we’re doing in Japan, I think, was a big deal. The pay-per-view turned out great and that was a great starting point.”

On whether or not GFW have a TV deal: “I just know this. Jeff is working diligently on the best way to broadcast this thing. As far as the channel or what the outlet is, I don’t know but I know he’s talking to all the heavyweights in the broadcasting business. I think we’re going to have a good landing. That’s reflective of what’s going on with the business right now. In America, for example, there is more wrestling on TV now than there has been in 30 years. You’ve got Lucha Underground, TNA, WWE, Ring of Honor getting a new deal, and New Japan has got a deal now in America too. It’s a good time for wrestling fans and I think Jeff is right on the pulse with that with Global Force.”

On the chances of GFW signing with Destination America: “That’s kind of a joke among the boys because we’re like, everybody is just jumping on Destination America. I think Destination America sees wrestling as a positive by carrying two shows. I don’t know what’s going on between TNA and Ring of Honor, because I do work some dates with Ring of Honor as well and I was in TNA, but I think it’s pretty substantial that you’ve got two different wrestling companies on the same channel right now. That’s probably historic in some fashion.”

On if wrestling is more popular now than it was 10 years ago: “Yeah, absolutely. You don’t want to say revolution because that term has gotten worn out in wrestling, but it’s almost like a renaissance where I still do some independent dates in America and you see these buildings are full. It’s just a great time for everybody who likes wrestling ? the guys performing in the ring and the fans who like to watch it. I think that our generation has got the buzz going again. It’s a cool thing because I remember 10 years ago, a lot of the powers-that-be and a lot of these companies thought that our generation was going to be the downfall of the entire business. So we kind of turned around and proved them wrong.”

On his time in the Aces and Eights as the Director of Chaos: “What was so fun about TNA ? I only spent a year in TNA ? was working with all of my buddies. Mike Knox is one of my very best friends in the world. Garett is a good buddy of mine, and Wes. I didn’t know Bubba and Devon so well, but I got real close to Devon and D’Lo. It was a good group of guys and we were all having fun and we all spanned different generations in the wrestling business. It was cool thing for the little short period of time that it had. It was smart on their part too, like the Sons of Anarchy getting so popular on American TV and everything, to basically do a spin-off gimmick of that. It worked well; you had these big rugged biker-looking dudes, so it was cool.”

On how exactly does he direct chaos: “Oh man, you just gotta be able to channel your chaos in all different directions. It’s funny because Eric Bischoff wanted me to be DOC. D’Lo is my buddy and he goes, well, DOC is cool because he’s the Director of Chaos. But then there was like two weeks where the commentators and I were confused because someone told them to call me the Director of Chaos and then someone said no, don’t do that, only call him DOC. I don’t know, I guess there ended up being a little argument over it or whatever. The Director of Chaos is probably one of my least remembered names because nobody thinks of the DOC as me, so I appreciate the love on that.”

On the success of the Bullet Club in New Japan: “I think the one thing we have on our side is being that we’re a Japanese based company, we’re allowed to drive the car a little more than some of the American based companies where everything is written and spelled out for you. Some people get what we’re doing. They get the wink when we steal everything, they get what it is. If we were doing the Bullet Club in, say, WWE we wouldn”t be allowed to do all that stuff, so I think people can tell we’re having fun and we literally do whatever the hell we want to. I think people enjoy watching us because they can see what we’re doing and maybe some of their favorite wrestlers in the other companies aren”t allowed to express themselves the way that the Bullet Club is. So as long as we don’t overrun it with 25 guys that don’t have the credential or skillset to be in there, I think we’ll be okay for a good long while.”

On who he wants to wrestle in GFW: “I’ve been in the ring with Chris Masters and Shelton Benjamin in WWE and I would welcome the opportunity to do it again. What I’m excited about is that there are a lot of guys I don’t know. Because I’ve been in this company or that company, and they’re from somewhere that I’ve never been to before. I think that’s what’s so unique about this, you’re going to see matches that are truly first time out of the gate and it’s such a big mix of styles. It’s going to be really cool for the fans and for the guys too. Anytime that you’re dancing for the first time, it’s always exciting to try to captivate the audience and I think Jeff is onto a good idea with that.”

Check out the complete interview at v2Wrestling.com.

• Ronda Rousey Soon To Be HIGHEST PAID Fighter In UFC History?!

As reported recently, TNA offered a deal for AJ Styles to return to the promotion, a deal that Styles turned down.

TNA offered the former TNA World Heavyweight Champion and current IWGP Heavyweight Champion what is being described as a “significant” deal to enter the TNA Hall Of Fame and wrestle a match at the TNA Slammiversary pay-per-view later this month.

According to one source, the reason Styles turned down the offer was because his priorities right now are with both Ring Of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling.

It’s also worth mentioning that in addition to the TNA Hall Of Fame induction and Slammiversary bookings, TNA was also looking at having Styles work a match at this year’s Bound For Glory pay-per-view.

• Photos: Ronda Rousey Turns Heads With Revealing Outfit At Entourage Premiere!

(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

IWGP Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles recently turned down an offer to return to TNA Wrestling, according to a report at PWInsider.com.

TNA reached out to Styles a month or two ago about the possibility of him returning for one last match at Slammiversary later this year, as well as a TNA Hall of Fame Induction ceremony. It was said to be a strong offer, but he was not interested.

NJPW and ROH are currently AJ Styles top priorities. He’s scheduled to team up with Samoa Joe against Daniels and Kazarian at the upcoming ROH TV tapings on June 20th from New York City.

– TNA officials are hoping that Jeff Hardy will return from a broken leg in August. Initial estimates had Hardy back in action in July, but they’re being cautious not to rush things.

– Dixie Carter announced on Twitter that the Slammiversary 2015 will also be available on the Flipps TV app.

– TNA Impact Wrestling premieres on its new night tonight at 9pm EST immediately following Ring of Honor’s premiere on Destination America. TNA is using the hashtag #ShowYourImpact to promote the show.

TNA star Tyrus (aka Brodus Clay) announced on social media on Tuesday evening that despite being advertised, he will not be appearing at the upcoming Global Force Wrestling events.

Tyrus cited contractual obligations, likely referring to his current deal with TNA Wrestling, as the reason he won’t be able to appear for GFW as advertised.

Below is the tweet Tyrus posted on Tuesday to break the news:

Due to contractual obligations I will not be working for GFWs up coming shows #CardSubjectToChange sorry for any inconvenience #NuffSaid

— Tyrus (@PlanetTyrus) June 2, 2015

• VIDEO: UFC’s Jon Jones Hit-And-Run Footage + 9-1-1 Call Audio!

Global Force Wrestling founder Jeff Jarrett appeared as a guest on the PodNasty Podcast this week to discuss a number of topics. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.

On Destination America carrying both ROH and TNA: “I think it’s very healthy, first and foremost. A wrestling block is not anything revolutionary. It was back in the 80s there was a lot of syndicated programming and you would have a block of wrestling on a Saturday morning or Saturday evening, you could watch wrestling from the Tennessee area, form the Florida area, from the Texas area, from all sorts and so I think it’s very healthy. I do not know what the facts are as it relates to the TNA situation or, quite frankly, the Ring of Honor deal or just how all that works in but from a fan’s perspective like me and you I’m very happy that the opportunity has arisen because in business, what do we do? We compete. So I think it’s going to up everybody’s level and I saw many posts on social media over the last seven days that, quite frankly, go right to that and who’s going to be the winner out of all these competition? The wrestling fan and that at the end of the day is good for the wrestling business.”

On what wrestling promotion intrigues him the most right now: “It goes without saying it’s the influx of NXT, When you inject fresh blood and fresh talent that’s prepared, it’s a good thing. And I think that, above anything Kevin Owens, Finn Balor this new talent coming along those guys, they’re not rookies. The old definition of success is when preparation meets opportunity I think Kevin has prepared himself, he’s getting the opportunity, and he’s going to be successful.”

On Jeff Jarrett’s on-camera involvement in GFW: “Minimal. I’m the promoter and the stars are going to shine, the athletes are going to shine, that’s what 99.9 percent of my time is geared toward as it relates to my professional side of things is promoting this brand, creating brand awareness and putting these athletes on a stage that they haven’t been before and letting their ability speak for themselves.”

Check out the complete interview above.

• VIDEO: UFC’s Jon Jones Hit-And-Run Footage + 9-1-1 Call Audio!

– TNA executives held another conference call with talent on Monday. The call was described as a brainstorming session to come up with ways for TNA to better connect with their fans and raise their overall profile. According to one source, social media was talked about the most during the call.

– Regarding the TNA status of Austin Aries, one source claims his deal with the promotion is scheduled to expire the day after TNA Slammiversary, which would be June 29th.

– The following is a preview for Wednesday’s edition of TNA Impact Wrestling.

https://youtu.be/By5KZPu_270

• Ronda Rousey On Shaquille O’Neal’s Comments About A Fight With Her

Ring Of Honor star Christopher Daniels recently appeared as a guest on the Two Man Power Trip Of Wrestling podcast to talk about a number of topics, including ROH securing a new television deal with Destination America.

On the general reaction to the news of ROH TV debuting on Destination America: “Honestly, I was very surprised. This was all a shock to the entire roster, but a good shock. I feel like one of the things especially since I’ve come back to Ring of Honor that I hoped would happen is more of a concerted effort to broaden the horizons of Ring of Honor. Being a part of a syndicated show is one thing but as far as syndication goes not every place is going to have it available or have access to that show and now being on Destination America it certainly opens a lot of doors to a new and wider fan base. So it is a great step forward for Ring of Honor and a win-win situation for us as a company and as a brand.”

On ROH being the lead in programming to Impact Wrestling: “To me, it seems like Destination America is building a night of action, like almost a set block of time for professional wrestling. Truthfully speaking the best two options in the United States that aren’t WWE are Ring of Honor and TNA so you are certainly covering a broad spectrum of talent and I think it is great for both companies. It depends on what happens in the next couple of months to see how this benefits Ring of Honor and benefits TNA.”

On the difference in the locker room of ROH from when he left to his return: “The only difference with the locker room is the people that are in it. There has always been a sense of togetherness and family in that locker room because we have always been striving to make Ring of Honor a better product and that is very similar now to when I left. That feeling of everyone being on the same page and building towards something. It was weird because when I left in 2011 they had just been purchased by Sinclair and were just starting to get their television show off the ground and then I come back in 2014 and the first show that I get a chance to do is the first live broadcasted pay per view that Ring of Honor ever did. So to me I didn’t have anything to do with the build of the company from that period they started on Sinclair to now, that was the work of all the guys in that locker room. Guys like Adam Cole and Michael Elgin and Jay Briscoe and Roderick Strong that was something that that locker room sort of did on their own and built themselves up. I feel very fortunate that they gave me an opportunity to return to the company and to bring Frankie (Kazarian) with me. Frankie didn’t really have that history with the company that I did and at the same time me having history with that company didn’t necessarily warrant me having a spot in the locker room and I understood that and I knew that coming into the locker room I was going to have to do something to prove that I still belong and I could still hang with these guys and be a productive part of the roster. I feel like me and Frankie have done that in the last year and have shown that we are capable of going out there with younger teams like reDRagon, The Young Bucks, The Briscoe Brothers and Matt Sydal and ACH and have quality and productive matches and we’ve taken that opportunity and have run with it since the first day we got there.”

On teaming with Frankie Kazarian and being the ROH tag team champions: “When we were in TNA as Bad Influence, we wanted to be the kind of tag team that Beer Money was or the Motor City Machine Guns were. That team that sort of made themselves a team and made that the priority. I feel like TNA didn’t really put as much effort into us as we did into ourselves and even though that was disappointing that was just the way it went. Now in Ring of Honor there are so many great tag teams and so many teams that are focused on being a great tag team and there is so much talent there that being the champions, to me it means a lot and I am looking forward to getting an opportunity to wrestle against all of these guys as champions and make the story of the tag team titles as important as the heavyweight title and the television title in the fan bases eyes.”

On the Clair Lynch Saga: “Things that were pitched to the company and what the company ended up doing with it had some little differences that could have made the story tighter and make a little bit more sense. In the end the two major things that we wanted to get out of that storyline was me and Frankie as an established tag team and as the petty jealous guys that would do anything to get to the top and re-establish AJ Styles as the top baby face. I feel like all the stuff we put him through when he came out of that and came back stronger as a baby face, when he came back he was in the world title picture and I think a lot of that had to do with us putting him through the ringer.”

Check out the complete interview at Podomatic.com.

• Ronda Rousey On Shaquille O’Neal’s Comments About A Fight With Her

TNA issued a press release this morning announcing that they have extended their international television deal with Nuvolari TV.

Below is the announcement:

TNA IMPACT WRESTLING AND NUVOLARI SIGN NEW DEAL AFTER ITALIAN SUCCESS

ROME (June 1, 2015): TNA IMPACT WRESTLING and popular Italian sports broadcaster Nuvolari TV have signed a new deal to extend their successful partnership.

After a year of high ratings and a first ever live event in Italy featuring TNA Superstars, IMPACT WRESTLING will continue to be broadcast in Italy and surrounding territories including Vatican City, Republic of San Marino, Malta, Capodistria, Principality of Monaco and Italian speaking Switzerland.

IMPACT WRESTLING will premiere on Nuvolari each Thursday night at 9pm, with repeats on Sundays at 11pm. Nuvolari will also broadcast re-runs of 2014 TNA programming every weekday at 6pm, as well as the 2015 Slammiversary and Bound For Glory special events.
Fans can watch Nuvolari via digital terrestrial TV, satellite and live web streaming.

Corrado Azzolini, LT Multimedia Vice President, said: “We are really happy about renewing TNA IMPACT WRESTLING, which allows us to broadcast many more amazing matches.

“Our viewers are so excited about this great news and are looking forward to watching new TNA programming every Thursday, as well as some of the best action from last year. Nuvolari is the television channel for TNA IMPACT WRESTLING lovers in Italy.”

TNA’s Italian announce team of Alessio Di Nicolantonio and Daniele De Micco added: “We are happy and honoured to continue as the Italian IMPACT WRESTLING commentators. TNA’s popularity in Italy keeps growing day by day and the Rome event in February, hosted by local independent group EPW, was a landmark event for wrestling in Italy.”

TNA President Dixie Carter said: “Our growth in Italy has been fantastic and we are delighted that fans will be able to continue to watch IMPACT WRESTLING on Nuvolari.

“This is a partnership that extends beyond the TV screen to media and live charity events, one in Rome this past February alongside Italian sporting legends Giancarlo Fisichella and Francesco Totti.

“I cannot wait to see what the next year brings for our company, our Superstars and, above all, our fans in Italy.”

TNA IMPACT WRESTLING is the world’s most innovative experience in professional wrestling and is currently broadcast in more than 120 countries around the world. The company recently signed multi-year deals to broadcast across Africa on SuperSport, the Indian subcontinent on Sony SIX and Europe with various prestigious partners.

• Ronda Rousey’s Next Opponent Goes Too Far With Suicide Comments!

Former WWE Superstar Shelton Benjamin, who recently signed with the new upstart Global Force Wrestling promotion, noted on Twitter on Friday that he recently negotiated with TNA Wrestling.

“Many have asked will I ever go to Impact Wrestling,” wrote Benjamin on his official Twitter account. “[I] very recently concluded a dialogue with the company and while both parties are eager to do business, we were unable to reach a mutually satisfactory agreement.”

Benjamin continued, “This is very regretful with all of the possibilities that were possible. I have a lot of respect for Impact Wrestling and the talent who a few I consider great friends. Jade is not one of them.”

“The door is open on both sides, so hey, maybe one day,” Benjamin added. “I will continue to raise hell with New Japan Pro Wrestling, Pro Wrestling NOAH and back stateside with Global Force Wrestling, and pretty much all over the world!”

You can read Shelton Benjamin’s tweets on this subject below.

Many have asked will I ever got to @IMPACTWRESTLING very recently concluded a dialogue with the company and while both parties are …..

— Shelton J. Benjamin (@Sheltyb803) May 29, 2015

Eager to do business we were unable to reach a mutually satisfactory agreement. This is very regretful With all the possibility that were

— Shelton J. Benjamin (@Sheltyb803) May 29, 2015

Possible. I have a lot of respect for @IMPACTWRESTLING and the talent who a few I consider great friends, @JadeTNA is not one of them.

— Shelton J. Benjamin (@Sheltyb803) May 29, 2015

The door is open on both sides so hey maybe on day.

— Shelton J. Benjamin (@Sheltyb803) May 29, 2015

I will continue to raise hell in japan with @njpw1972 @noah_ghc and back stateside with @GFWWrestling and pretty much all over the world!

— Shelton J. Benjamin (@Sheltyb803) May 29, 2015

• Ronda Rousey’s Next Opponent Goes Too Far With Suicide Comments!

TNA star Mica recently appeared as a guest on the Two Man Power Trip Of Wrestling podcast and spoke about a number of topics. Below are some highlights of the interview.

On competing in a TNA Gutcheck and getting signed by the company: “I did the Gutcheck and on that day we filmed I honestly thought I was just going to be rolling around and maybe doing a tryout match and next thing I know we are doing an actual show and taking bumps and I was grateful of the opportunity to do it. Tommy Dreamer pulled me aside and said that it was a great performance and don’t be surprised if you get a call and sure enough about a week or two after I got the call from Bob Ryder saying TNA would like to bring me on as one of the TNA Superstars and I was delighted. It was awesome to get a call from TNA and that they wanted me to be apart of their family.”

On Billy Corgan’s influence on the product thus far: “He loves wrestling. Billy’s mind is for wrestling. He is all about it and what’s nice is he does have a wrestling background, he is the Smashing Pumpkins there is no one else, it’s him. His creative genius is amazing. Although we only had him for like four days he is really engaged with a lot of us and their are a couple of story lines that he was apart of and he wanted to make sure he stayed really focused on the story lines that TNA has brought to television. I’m really looking forward to working with him and to see what he has in store for TNA as a whole. You can tell the TNA roster is very excited to have him and we are looking forward to working with him.”

On working against the BDC (Beat Down Clan): “Those guys, especially (Low) Ki and MVP were both in WWE at one time and actually MVP was in a pretty big spot up there so it’s nice to get his insight on how things were, how they are going and how to adjust and adapt to TNA right now. Ki is a hell of a talent and has such a mind for the game. I love talking to him and understanding how to stand out as an individual wrestler and how to make things work. Kenny King for as tall as he is he works as if he could be a Luchador. He is deceiving as far as his ability. Homicide I knew from way back when and got to work with him a little bit but right now he has torn something in his shoulder and I am really looking forward to working more with Homicide.”

On problems injuries caused him while working with Mistico (Sin Cara): “It definitely played a role. He (Mistico) had significant injuries that just happened one after the other. First it was his knee, then his hand. The poor guy was just plagued by injuries and it did hold us up. Their were opportunities for us to start something with another talent on the roster and they tried to get us into something with Ted Dibiase and that came to a stand still creatively because Ted wanted something else and we were just bouncing around doing live events and just doing tag matches with different people.”

On working with Hunico and their relationship: “Hunico is an amazing guy and is ridiculously strong. He has an amateur wrestling background so it was always great to be in the ring with him and learn from him. Besides the amateur background he also has the Lucha background and I learned a lot about being a good base for the Lucha style wrestlers. He himself is a hell of a base for the Lucha guys, he used to catch me which is amazing when we would do Lucha style moves on each other and I always appreciated him taking the time to show me the Lucha style on our off time when we were traveling.”

Check out the complete interview at Podomatic.com.

• Ronda Rousey’s Next Opponent Goes Too Far With Suicide Comments!

Former TNA writer Vince Russo is speaking out about the news coverage of Dixie Carter’s talent conference call from earlier this week, where she addressed various issues including their relationship with Destination America and Ring of Honor joining the network.

Russo called out a particular ‘dirt sheet’ for claiming that the wrestlers weren’t happy with the way Dixie Carter handled the situation, claiming she was evasive and does not communicate well with the TNA roster.

He says that the report was based on one source, who may have been biased and that it’s irresponsible to trust the view of one person who might have their own agenda.

Here’s what Russo wrote on Facebook on Saturday:

Today, the same dirt sheet who broke the story about the imminent cancelation of TNA on Destination America filed the following report concerning a conference call that Dixie Carter held with the talent:

“The wrestlers at the meeting were not happy because they felt overall Carter was being evasive, and also it was hard to buy the idea that she was presenting that adding ROH to Destination America was to their benefit. The keys to the talent question and answer period is that talent complained that they wanted better lines of communications”.

Here lies the issue, folks—unless you were actually on that call yourself, this is second hand reporting coming from “a source”—a mole—who was presumingly on the call and then in turn reported the result to the said dirt sheet—speaking for ALL the wrestlers at the meeting. The information did not come directly from the call to reporter—there was a middle man. A middle man. A middle man who was perhaps dissatisfied with the call himself, was maybe even a bit disgruntled, thus putting HIS/HER spin on the phone conversation the way THEY saw it—in speaking for ALL the wrestlers on the call.

The overall feelings of the wrestlers are being stated as “fact”, when the only “fact” is that the person/persons who gave that information—gave it from THEIR perspective which is simply that—THEIR PERSPECTIVE.

Again, when looking at stories such as this, you just really have to be careful in determining “truth” from “perspective/opinion”. No two people view anything the same, everybody always has, and presents their own “take”, or “spin”.

My point–take what you read with a grain of salt. Don’t fall into the trap of allowing “reporters” to make you believe what they want you to believe.

Vince

In the latest edition of his “Thoughts From The Throne” web series, TNA star Matt Hardy addressed the TNA/ROH/Destination America situation.

Hardy noted in the video, which you can watch above, that he is investing his faith in TNA and will do all he can while he is under contract through February of 2016.

Hardy also mentioned in the video that he hopes the best for Ring Of Honor and hopes that both ROH and TNA can work together in the future.

• VIDEO: UFC Champion MARKING OUT In The Crowd At WrestleMania 31!

The Huffington Post’s Royal Ramblings blog has released part two of their interview with TNA World Heavyweight Champion Kurt Angle. Below are some of the highlights.

On how he is holding up physically: “I’m fine. I’ve adapted. It’s a tough schedule. Even though I have been reduced to a certain amount of dates a year, it’s hard. When you’re a world heavyweight champion, you’re in demand to wrestle almost every single week on TV. And the way that we structure our TVs right now, there’s a possibility of Kurt Angle wrestling eight main event matches in four days. That’s hard on the body. Especially at my age and at this point in my career. I believe at the last sets of TVs, I did seven matches in four days and I was hurting for a few days. I think anybody would. However I do have the ability to have five or six weeks off when I don’t have to wrestle. So there’s a give and take but I rather enjoy it. The challenges of wrestling guys like Eric Young to Bobby Roode to Austin Aries, Spud, Bobby Lashley… it’s been very challenging but I’ve had a lot of fun.”

On if we’ll see him in the WWE Hall Of Fame: “I don’t know. You never know what they’re thinking. It would be nice. Would it kill me if I wasn’t? No. I know who I am and I know what I was and I know the impact I made on wrestling. I don’t need a WWE Hall of Fame to tell me what that is. It’s not that important to me. What’s important to me is I’m in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame for Olympic wrestling and that’s my legacy. But it’s always nice to be recognised as a Hall of Famer. TNA Hall of Fame was great. WWE Hall of Fame would be great but if they decide not to, its not going to kill me. That’s their option. I did leave them in 2006 and went to TNA and I don’t know if that has any bearing but I’ve been happy with my career. I can tell you nobody made as much noise as I did, the six years I spent in WWE. Nobody did that in that short a period of time like I did. That legacy will be set in stone forever. I will tell you I had a better career in TNA than in WWE and that’s scary. Im very grateful for that and at the same time it kind of sucks because the hardcore WWE fans that only watch that, won’t see my best matches. They think they saw my best matches in WWE but they haven’t seen TNA. I’m hoping more of them will turn on to it.”

On Jack Swagger using his Ankle Lock as a finisher and if it upset him: “You know what, no. Because I didn’t come up with the Ankle Lock. Ken Shamrock did. When he retired, I took it. And when I left WWE, Jack Swagger decided to take the Ankle Lock. And I’m sure it wasn’t his idea. Someone went over and said “Hey, Kurt Angle wants to leave, we’re going to replace him with this guy”. And I think Jack Swagger’s done a great job. I think he’s a great talent. Is he a Kurt Angle? No, no I don’t think he is but I think he’s very good. I have a lot of respect for him, I think he’s done a great job. I don’t have any problem with him doing the Ankle Lock; I might have tweeted it five or six years ago, like “Hey! He stole my move” but it was meant in more of a jokey sense. He’s a great talent and I like watching him wrestle. He’s a big boy too!”

Check out the complete interview at HuffingtonPost.co.uk.

• VIDEO: UFC Champion MARKING OUT In The Crowd At WrestleMania 31!

TNA executive John Gaburick announced this week that three talents have re-signed with TNA. Gaburick noted on Twitter that The Wolves — Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards, along with Bram, have all re-signed with the promotion.

Below are the announcements from Gaburick:

Proud to announce that Bram (@BramTNA) has re-signed with @IMPACTWRESTLING. pic.twitter.com/KCMNxmkqha

— John Gaburick (@JohnGaburick) May 28, 2015

Happy to announce #TheWolves (Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards) have re-signed with @IMPACTWRESTLING. pic.twitter.com/BqU4JpPQ4B

— John Gaburick (@JohnGaburick) May 28, 2015

• PHOTOS: CM Punk Training For UFC Debut w/ Former Champions!