TNA has officially announced a steel cage match between Gunner and James Storm for their upcoming “Lockdown” pay-per-view on March 9th in Miami, Florida. With that now known, here’s a look at the latest official lineup for TNA Lockdown:

TNA World Heavyweight Title
– Magnus (c) vs. Samoa Joe

Lethal Lockdown
– Team MVP vs. Team Dixie

TNA Knockouts Title
– Madison Rayne (c) vs. Gail Kim

Steel Cage Match
– James Storm vs. Gunner

SEScoops.com reader Ritchie Cates reached out to TNA asking if Sting would be at this year’s TNA Lockdown pay-per-view. They responded:

“Hi Ritch:

Sting is not scheduled to appear at Lockdown 2014 PPV or Fan InterAction, unfortunately Sting is no longer with the company so therefore we have no booked appearances for him at any events in the future, Sorry about that.

Thanks!

TNA Wrestling”

As of this writing, Sting’s profile remains at ImpactWrestling.com.

The Wolves are the new TNA Tag Team Champions after defeating the Bro Mans at Sunday’s TNA live event from Morgantown, West Virginia. TNA has published the above video of the title change.

Eddie Edwards tweeted this photo after the win:

The #Wolves came to @IMPACTWRESTLING on the hunt for gold, tonight we captured it! Thank you for all the kind words! pic.twitter.com/aeLuDybVDO

— Edward Edwards (@TheEddieEdwards) February 23, 2014

The Wolves are the new TNA Tag Team Champions.

They defeated the Bro Mans at tonight’s TNA live event from Morgantown, West Virginia.

Here are photos of The Wolves after the match:

The WOLVES Are the NEW #TNA Tag Team Champions! They won the gold at a live event tonight pic.twitter.com/lkuNploNh5

— SEScoops (@sescoops) February 23, 2014

The #Wolves came to @IMPACTWRESTLING on the hunt for gold, tonight we captured it! Thank you for all the kind words! pic.twitter.com/aeLuDybVDO

— Eddie Edwards (@TheEddieEdwards) February 23, 2014

*SPOILERS* Potential Outcome Of The ELIMINATION CHAMBER Main Event Revealed

The following are highlights of a new Channel Guide Magazine interview with TNA president Dixie Carter:

On the demographic she tries reaching with her product: “Well, I think in the past it’s really a network-mandated situation: What audience does the network want you to go after? In the beginning, it was a very solid male 18 to 49 audience, and we have had outstanding ratings in that category for nine years on Spike TV. We’ve continued to grow them but the network is changing a little bit to target more female viewers … a new direction for them.”

“So, we’re shifting our focus a little bit. Our storylines are becoming a little bit broader, appealing to more of a female demographic and a family demographic than they may have before. We just started that probably three, four months ago and the numbers are already rising. I think our storylines are trying to appeal to that new group and I’m really excited that it’s working.”

On what she feels is unique about her women’s division as compared to other wrestling companies: “I think the fact that I’m a female head of a wrestling company gives me an extraordinary obligation to the women’s division. In the beginning, it was something I was hesitant about. My only introduction to women wrestling was something that I wouldn’t want to be a part of. I’m not saying we’ve done it right the entire time, but we have treated them with such tremendous respect.”

“They’re a very, very important part of this company. I think they’re superior athletes just like the guys are. What we’ve done is try to let their athleticism shine. Instead of putting them out there for two minutes in a ridiculous match as eye candy, we have given them main events, putting them in a prominent place on the show, giving them a lot of time on the show, building their characters, and letting them be shown as the amazing, strong women that they are. I think that’s the difference.”

On the decision to make herself an on-air character: “From the beginning, I think people just assumed I would step in and become a character, and I did resist it for a long period of time. This year they came to me and said, “We feel if we could tie some of our younger, newer talent to you [on the show] that it would really, really help them.” It was something that I didn’t jump at. I really was a little concerned about being able to pull it off, honestly. I’m becoming more and more comfortable with it as time goes by.”

On how she feels wrestling television will change and evolve in the next ten years: “I think it will become more reality. People want to see behind the curtains; people want to know about these guys in real life. I think you’re going to see what traditional wrestling has been morphed into … something that is a blend between real life and fantasy. Even recently, we’ve been playing out real-life storylines in front of the camera — real-life contract disputes, real-life issues with talent. I think you’ll continue to see more of that. That’s what people want.”

Check out the complete Dixie Carter interview at ChannelGuideMagBlog.com.

TNA star Jeff Hardy made an appearanceat Saturday night’s OMEGA live event from North Carolina.

Hardy did not wrestle at the show, nor did he appear as the Willow character that he’s been teasing in TNA.

Hardy returns to action at TNA’s upcoming Lockdown pay-per-view on March 9th from Miami, Florida.

Speaking of Willow, here’s his latest promo video:

http://youtu.be/5-Obd4GNeXs

Thursday’s episode of Impact Wrestling took a major hit in viewership.

The 2/20 episode of Impact did a 0.95 rating with 1.093 million viewers. The rating was down 20% from the previous week, while viewership was down 23%.

This was the lowest rating of 2014 and the lowest viewership since the January 2nd episode.

Once again, after showing a few weeks of momentum, Impact slid back to the low-end of their average range.

– Virginia-based independent pro wrestler Chase Ownes noted on his social media accounts recently that he will be working his second official match for TNA at the company’s upcoming live event at Freedom Hall in Johnson City, Tennessee on March 1st.

– Expect a couple more matches to be announced shortly for the upcoming TNA “One Night Only: Outbreak” event, which is a co-promotion with Wrestle-1, scheduled for March 2nd in Tokyo, Japan.

– Jeff Jarrett has released the latest video hyping his new wrestling promotion. The video is a teaser for a longer version that will be released on Monday:

– It was confirmed on last night’s episode of Impact Wrestling that the main event for TNA’s upcoming Lockdown pay-per-view will feature TNA World Champion Magnus defending against Samoa Joe.

There will also be a Team MVP vs. Team Dixie Lethal Lockdown match for “control of wrestling operations” in TNA. MVP and Bobby Roode will be the team captains.

TNA Lockdown takes place on Sunday, March 9th from Miami, Florida.

TNA World Champion Magnus spoke to Herald-Dispatch.com this week and says TNA has started another “new era” that will no longer depend on stars from the past. Here are some highlights of what he said about:

Starting Out In TNA As Part Of A Tag Team:

“I was very green when I first came in. I probably wouldn’t have lasted.”

“A singles guy, you’re very exposed. You learn on the job. Doug took me under his wing. We complemented each other, benefited from working with one another. The tag win was a big deal. Chances are I’d be around a while.”

TNA Focusing On Younger Talent:

“We’ve moved to a new era. We looked to others to run things before. They wouldn’t pull the trigger on the young talent. You put yourself into a spot. If you don’t do it fast enough, people won’t buy into it. In transition, you have to make it real.

There’s only one left. It’s a definitive moment.”

TNA star MVP was interviewed by Josh Modaberi of Wrestling101.com during TNA’s recent UK tour and explained why he joined the promotion.

“Part of the reason why I chose to go to TNA was because it’s not good for the fans or for the industry when there is just one conglomerate and nowhere else to go.”

“I would like to try (to) help facilitate, creating a situation where WWE has to recognize TNA as a potential competitor. And if you know like I do, WWE holds all the marbles then for the artists, the talent it’s not good for our business, competition is good for business,

Speaking of MVP, he will be appearing on an upcoming episode of Jim Ross’ Ross Report podcast at PodcastOne.com. The episode was recorded this week.

The following is the updated lineup for the TNA “One Night Only: Outbreak” pay-per-view, which is taped in conjunction with Wrestle-1 in Tokyo, Japan on March 2nd:

TNA World Heavyweight Championship
– Magnus (c) vs. Kai

TNA World Tag-Team Championships
– The Bro Mans (c) vs. Shuji Kondo & Kaz Hayashi

TNA X-Division Championship
– Austin Aries (c) vs. Seiya Sanada

– Bobby Roode vs. Masakatsu Funaki

– Kazarian & Daniels vs. Minoru Tanaka & Koji Kanemoto

– While no official deal is in place at this point, there is said to be a strong push within TNA to bring Chris Hero (aka Kassius Ohno) into the company.

– The following are some recent TNA live event attendance figures:

February 14th live event in Abilene, Texas drew approximately 300 fans
February 15th live event in Cedar Park, Texas drew approximately 900 fans
February 16th live event in Huntsville, Texas drew approximately 350 fans

Tonight’s edition of TNA Impact Wrestling features Gunner vs. Magnus for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, The Wolves vs. Bad Influence, Madison Rayne vs. Gail Kim in a Street Fight and the latest drama between MVP and TNA president Dixie Carter.

Below is the official opener for tonight’s show:

http://youtu.be/PewHDQBH4Hk

Due to TNA’s live event crowds being so small, the company reportedly has to write checks to the arena to settle out. In most cases, when wrestling shows run arenas, they simply give the building a cut of the profits generated from the shows. In TNA’s case, because they don’t generate enough income off of their shows, they end up writing a check to the building.

A good example is the TNA live event at Temple University last December. Apparently TNA had to write a $15,000 check to the building because the money they took in that night wasn’t enough to cover what they owed to the arena for renting the place.

The following are highlights from a recent Busted Open Radio Show interview with TNA star Ethan Carter III:

On his transition with Hulk Hogan and Sting leaving TNA: “I’ve been ready for a very long time to either sink or swim with an opportunity and I’ve been given it here in TNA. Transition wise, I’ve said before it’s not so much of a transition because at the end of the day, there’s a red light with millions of people behind it that you are paid to entertain one way or another and something I’ve always loved and something I have the chance to do now, so I’m doing it. Transition regardless, we’re in a ring, there’s a camera on us, and there’s people in the stands… so let’s do it.”

On the biggest driving factor in getting him to TNA: “Honestly I think more people over there watched my stuff on NXT originally and knew I had talent and ability. I had a chance to really shine out on the grand stage. So there’s a couple people who brought me over and I was just looking for the opportunity to prove myself, prove people wrong, take the ball and run with it. Big John Gaburick came over from WWE and brought me over. He put a lot of faith in me and hopefully I’m returning the favor and faith to him.”

On Samoa Joe’s recent speech to the talent: “Samoa Joe is a guy I looked up to while I was an indie guy. He made a strong name for himself in Ring of Honor and then was in TNA and had an incredible undefeated streak going and was at the top of the mountain for a very long time, so that’s a guy we look up to and is a locker room leader who can fire you up because he’s a fiery guy.”

On if he had any hesitation in going from WWE to TNA: “Not one hesitation what so ever because one place has given me a golden opportunity to shine and I’ve taken that as far as I possibly can. It feels good to be in TNA right now because it’s an atmosphere where everyone has their eye on the prize. Everyone’s focused on one goal and that’s to continue to move forwards and to drive and succeed with each other.”

On what happened with NXT and WWE: “I have multiple opinions. I think injury at an inopportune time and the regime change. Like in any business, if you’re not somebody’s guy, then you’re not the guy. That’s fine because I was born to make somebody some money. I’m very happy in TNA. Once I hit the top of the main event, I will never be leaving TNA.”

Check out the complete interview at BustedOpenNation.com.

Apparently one of the reasons that Jeff Jarrett and Toby Keith did not purchase TNA was because Bob Carter wanted Dixie Carter to be kept around as a behind-the-scenes executive, as well as an on-air performer.

As far as Bob and Janice Carter are concerned, the word going around is that Janice is more of a “dollars and cents” type-person, while Bob is considered to be more “living a dream” oriented.

The following matches are confirmed for the upcoming TNA vs. Wrestle-1  One Night Only PPV taping, which takes place on Sunday, March 2nd from Japan’s Ryogoku Kokugikan Sumo Arena.

– TNA World Champion Magnus vs. Kai

(KAI won a 1-night 4-man tournament to earn his shot).

– TNA Tag Team Champions The Bromans vs. Shuji Kondo & Kaz Hayashi

(Kondo & Hayashi won a #1 contenders match to earn the title shot.)

– TNA X-Division Champion Austin Aries vs. Seiya Sanada.

(Sanada won a 20-man Battle Royal to earn his title shot.)

Other TNA stars advertised to appear on the show include Bobby Roode, Samoa Joe, The Wolves, Bad Influence, Abyss, Gail Kim and Madison Rayne.

The show will air live in Japan and will air in the United States later this year as a Friday night One Night Only PPV special.

Former WWE Superstar Kevin Nash recently tweeted the following after watching this week’s edition of TNA Impact Wrestling:

Watched the 1st 8mins of TNA.If its a private company how can anyone attempt a hostile takeover?Wouldn't Dixie's father have to be behind it

— Kevin Nash (@RealKevinNash) February 14, 2014

Scott Hall and Sean Waltman also chimed in:

https://twitter.com/SCOTTHALLNWO/status/434344105565368320

https://twitter.com/TheRealXPac/status/434349838860566528

Top Five Moments From This Weeks Impact (2/13)

– Thursday’s edition of TNA Impact Wrestling scored a final cable rating of 1.14, according to Nielsen Media Research. That is down from the 1.24 final rating that the show drew the previous week. As noted earlier, Thursday’s Impact Wrestling show averaged 1.421 million viewers, which was also down from the 1.481 million viewers that tuned in the week prior.

– WWE Tough Enough winner Andy Leavine recently expressed interest in working for Jeff Jarrett’s new pro wrestling promotion. Leavine recently tweeted the following:

@RealJeffJarrett if your looking for talent and there's an opportunity, where can I throw my name into the mix and EARN a spot!

— Andy Leavine (@AndyLeavine301) February 14, 2014

– According to recent reports, TNA Wrestling has signed independent women’s wrestler Santana Garrett. Garrett had previously been rumored to be in negotiations with the company, but apparently now it is official.

– In other TNA acquisition news, it appears as though the company is close to signing a deal with Lucha Libre star Extreme Tiger. If any additional news surfaces regarding Tiger’s TNA signing, we will update you.

– The Thursday, February 13th edition of TNA Impact Wrestling on Spike TV drew an average of 1.421 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research. That is down from last week’s show, which averaged 1.481 million viewers.

– It looks like Taz is denying rumors that he is helping recruit talent for TNA Wrestling. The Impact Wrestling color commentator recently tweeted the following:

@Jooshua24 incorrect. U got the wrong guy.

— TAZ (@OfficialTAZ) February 14, 2014

The following are highlights of a recent Ring Rust Radio interview with Jim Cornette:

On his favorite role in wrestling: “That’s difficult. My first love obviously was being a manager, and with the Midnight Express it was so easy because all I had to do was say ‘hey, this is the greatest team in wrestling” and they proved it. Then I had a second career when I got into booking and match-making and I actually had a third career as a television announcer that I very much enjoyed as the lead announcer for OVW for so many years. So managing was my first love but at the same time I haven’t missed for the last 15 or 20 years not getting beat up and thrown around. So managing was my first love but I loved everything I was doing when I was doing it.”

On the state of TNA: “At this point, can you fuck TNA up any more than its already fucked up? TNA, besides an inexperienced owner, had everything that they needed. Jeff Jarrett wanted the company to succeed and he’s grown up in wrestling all his life and the problem I had with Jeff is that he’s the one who hired Vince Russo, which came to bite him in the ass. They have the television, they have the roster, they had the money behind them, yes Dixie doesn’t know shit from apple butter about the wrestling business but she should have stayed out of it and let the people who knew what they were doing run it. The problem was that Jeff hired Russo. Russo gave them the TNA stench from the start that they have retained, they lost their chance to make a first impression which is a shame because no one will ever be that close to challenging Vince McMahon again.”

On using honesty in wrestling today: “The right kind of honesty but just the stupid shit about ‘we’re going to do a worked shoot’ that’s come along recently or shit that nobody gives a shit about or doesn’t understand because it’s ‘too inside’. Jerry Jarrett looked at it very philosophically; he had two top stars named Jerry Lawler and Bill Dundee. And while they respected each other they had problems with each other and were completely opposite people and there was a edge that you could feel even when they were partners. Jerry Jarrett always said with anything he did in wrestling he wanted to tell the truth and what people knew was the truth for as long as he possibly could. Then, when you throw in the work, then people say ‘well A was true, B was true, C must be true too’. But when you are just preposterous from the start no one buys into it because its preposterous or when they do these ridiculous ‘inside’ things almost as a rib on the talent, the fan doesn’t know what’s going on. Tell a simple story, tell it logically and make it credible and somewhat believable. Then get two guys who can carry it off on the microphone and in the ring; that’s how you draw money.”

Check out the complete Jim Cornette interview at BlogTalkRadio.com.

TNA released has released a teaser video hyping Jeff Hardy’s upcoming return at Lockdown on March 9th.

The video show Hardy as Willow, a modern incarnation of his Willow the Wisp from the OMEGA promotion.

There was said to be a lot of bonding among the guys in TNA during their recent United Kingdom tour. Regarding the speech Samoa Joe gave on a bus trip, which we reported about last week, it’s being said that Joe informed the talent that they are all in a fight and everyone needs to band together to try and turn things around. Apparently nobody from creative was present, just the wrestlers.

Joe and MVP are seemingly considered the locker room leaders in TNA now that so many of the veterans are no longer with the company.

Regarding Jeff Jarrett’s new potential promotion, many are taking a wait-and-see approach, with the belief that nothing is for sure until something concrete is presented. Many in the company have loyalty to Jarrett for giving them their first big national break, however many are equally loyal to TNA feeling that while it has been rumored to go out of business many times in the past, it’s been around for 11 years and has survived each potential disaster thus far.