— The official website of Impact Wrestling has added Okada to its roster section, thus indicating that he has not been released by the organization as rumored.
— Christopher Daniels is featured in Impact Wrestling’s latest “Why Wrestling Matters” video. The former TNA X Division Champion discusses what drives his passion and dedication for professional wrestling.
“People are only going to care about something if we care about it and we care about wrestling,” Daniels says. “Without Impact Wrestling, what’s going to happen to professional wrestling? It seems like everybody else wants to be; they’re ashamed of wrestling, they wanna forget that it’s wrestling. It’s almost like they’re making it a footnote or sidebar.
“I’m not a football fan, I’m not a baseball fan, I don’t follow basketball, but I followed professional wrestling since I was eight years old. These guys were my heroes. I feel like the glory days of two guys battling to see who was the better man, that’s what Impact Wrestling is bringing back to the forefront.
Matt Hardy stated last Sunday on Twitter that he would be receiving a few weeks off from TNA Wrestling.
He wrote, “Between dates, injuries, & outside issues, I’m gonna have a few week off & I’m ecstatic! The Matt Hardy Movement is going into full effect!”
According to PWInsider.com, company officials suspended Hardy due to continuously arriving late to events.
Hardy has not performed for TNA since the May 30 Impact Wrestling taping (air date June 2), which saw him lose to Crimson. He is, however, advertised to appear at this week’s live events in Ohio and Indiana.
— A replay of last week’s episode of Impact Wrestling will air tonight on Spike at 9:00 p.m.
— Jesse Neal is now claiming on Twitter that he never said he received food stamps.
“I’m only gonna say this once,” he wrote on Sunday. “I never said that I myself recieves food stamps, so wrestling fans get back to being a fan and stay out of our personal lives. If you are gonna follow then read it carefully and get it right. I have never received food stamps. Ok that’s it.”
He added yesterday, “Just to clarify there will be NO food stamps coming to me! Thanks for all ur guys concern, everything is great with TNA and I will be back soon.”
Neal sent a Twitter message last week to his live-in girlfriend, independent wrestler Christina Von Eerie, expressing how glad he was that they now qualify for food stamps. The message has since been deleted.
— Impact Wrestling has launched Facebook and Twitter accounts for Australia.
— ImpactWrestling.com has announced a Knockout Street Fight for this Thursday’s episode of Impact Wrestling as TNA Women’s Knockout Champion Mickie James will battle Winter.
Also announced for Thursday’s show is a Bound For Glory Series match featuring Scott Steiner against Bully Ray. Eric Bischoff will also call out Sting.
— Tara is featured in Impact Wrestling’s latest “Why Wrestling Matters” video. The former TNA Women’s Champion discusses what drives her passion and dedication for professional wrestling.
“It is baffling to me that wrestling has become a bad word. I don’t buy it,” Tara says. “What do we out there? We wrestle. That is the base of what we do and we take so much pride to be here. This is not just a job to me; I eat, sleep and breath wrestling.
“I bust my butt out there… torn ligament, torn ACL, broken nose, chipped teeth; strictly for entertaining.”
— Saturday night in Mexico City, Jeff Jarrett made history by becoming the new AAA World Heavyweight Champion at TripleManía XIX. Jarrett, who was accompanied by his wife Karen, defeated El Zorro to win the prestigious title after throwing powder in his face and assaulting him with a kendo stick.
The TripleMania event also featured Mr. Anderson, Rob Van Dam, Abyss, Velvet Sky, Mickie James and Angelina Love in action. Jack Evans and Extreme Tiger beat Mr. Anderson and Abyss in a Steel Cage Match to retain the AAA Tag Team Championship. Sexy Star, Angelina Love, Mickie James and Velvet Sky beat Mari, Fabi Apache, Lolita and Cynthia Moreno in an Eight Women Tag Team Match. Dr. Wagner, Jr. beat Rob Van Dam to retain the AAA Latin American Championship.
— Matt Morgan beat “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero via pinfall in a “Bound for Glory Series” match at Saturday’s Impact Wrestling live event in Buffalo, New York.
It was announced at the show that the match would air this Thursday on Impact Wrestling.
During a recent radio interview with TVTrax, Paul Heyman spoke about how close he came to signing with TNA, what his vision for the company was and more:
— The official website of Miss Tessmacher, MissTessmacher.com, has confirmed that the TNA Knockout has launched an account on Twitter. Her account is located at twitter.com/BrookeAdamsTNA.
She noted that she’s in South Beach, Florida for the Miss Hooters International Pageant, which she will be competing in.
— The next match in the first-ever “Bound For Glory Series” will feature Bully Ray vs. Scott Steiner. The match will take place on this week’s episode of Impact Wrestling.
Rob Van Dam and Matt Morgan currently lead the series with 7 points apiece.
— Brian Kendrick competed at New Japan Pro Wrestling’s pay-per-view event, Dominion, Saturday in Osaka, Japan. He teamed with Gedo and Jado in a tag team match against Jushin Thunder Liger, Yujiro Kushida and Tiger Mask IV. The TNA star scored the win for his team after hitting the Sliced Bread #2.
— It was reported on Thursday that Desmond Wolfe had been removed from ImpactWrestling.com’s roster page. It has since been confirmed that TNA Wrestling has released the former ROH World Champion.
Wolfe, who had been sidelined since September due an undisclosed health issue that prevented him from wrestling for the organization, last appeared on television in May as the commissioner of TNA Xplosion.
— Gunner stated on Twitter that he received ten stitches in his head after Mr. Anderson hit him in the head with a pitcher of beer on this week’s episode of Impact Wrestling.
— This week’s episode of Impact Wrestling featured 26 minutes and 51 seconds of in-ring action.
— Madison Rayne’s scheduled appearance at Redd’s Restaurant and Bar today in Carlstadt, New Jersey has been canceled due to a personal issue she is dealing with. She will, however, appear at the Middletown Market today from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Rayne asked for prayers earlier this week on her Twitter account. She added today:
“PRAYING for a smooth travel day so I can get home in time tonight…. US Airways pleeeease be on my side today :*)
— Former WWE Women’s Champion Trish Stratus was backstage at last night’s TNA Wrestling live event at the Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto, Ontario. Stratus lives nearby and was visiting former WWE peers who now work for the organization.
Stratus indicated on her Twitter account that Mickie James, Tara and Winter slept over at her house.
Trish also posted this picture on Facebook of her with several TNA knockouts:
— The June 16 episode of Impact Wrestling scored a 1.25 cable rating after drawing two consecutive below average numbers against the NBA Finals.
It was the program’s highest rating since May 17. It was also the second-highest-rated episode since March 17.
The show averaged 1,766,000 viewers over the course of two hours.
— It was reported earlier that TNA Women’s Knockout Champion Mickie James will be wrestling at the World Wrestling Council (WWC) Anniversary show in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, which takes place Saturday, July 16. TNA X Division Champion Abyss and TNA Knockout Tag Team Champion Sarita are also scheduled to appear.
— Gunner is scheduled to appear on Got Game tonight at 10:30 p.m. EST on FOX-18 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
TNA World Tag Team Champion & one-half of Beer Money, Robert Roode, was the featured guest on this week’s live edition of the award-winning Monday Night Mayhem, hosted by The Big Mosh & “The Chairman Of The Board” Todd Vincent.
During the interview, Roode Discusses TNA’s Highly-Anticipated Return To Buffalo For This Saturday Night’s BaseBrawl Event, Beer Money’s Future In TNA, What He Believes Himself & “The Tennessee Cowboy” James Storm Have Left To Prove Together As A Tag Team, His Reaction To Hulk Hogan’s Recent Comments About Possibly Becoming The Next Big Singles Star On Impact Wrestling, The Chances Of Seeing Him Go One-On-One With “The Nature Boy” & What It Has Been Like For Him Working With Ric Flair, The Biggest Point Of Growth He Has Seen In TNA, Why He Believes “Going On The Road” Is Important To The Continued Growth Of TNA, The Current State Of Tag Team Wrestling In The Industry Today, Plus Much More In His Exclusive Monday Night Mayhem Interview!
You can listen to an MP3 of the interview by clicking here.
Interview highlights courtesy of Paterson, MNM’s associate producer & official correspondent:
What he believes his tag team partner (“The Tennessee Cowboy” James Storm) & himself have left to prove as a tag team & whether or not we are seeing the final days of Beer Money as a tag team in TNA/Impact Wrestling:
“I don’t know. James & I in this three-year span have done a hell of a lot. We’ve become champions. We’ve lost championships. We’ve won them again. We’ve been in the ring with some of the greats. I don’t know tag team wise what’s left for us to do. We could stick around for a while and do our thing, but the fact of the matter is tag team wrestling is not as popular as it once was. Tag teams was always a staple, but nowadays, it’s not. I think there’s going to come a time, whether it be in the near future or further down the road, that James & I are going to get an opportunity to prove ourselves in singes competition, but no matter what, there’s always going to be a Beer Money.”
His reactions to Hulk Hogan’s recent comments during his press conference at CWI’s “Brawl at the Bush II,” in which “The Hulkster” stated why he & TNA have high hopes for Bobby as a future singles star in the company, plus why he is personally looking forward to seeing more from Bobby in the coming months:
“Obviously, you don’t want to disappoint anybody from my standpoint. When Hulk Hogan says something like that, I have to take it to heart and do everything I can to what he expects of me. I’m ready to do this. I’ve been ready for a long time, and who knows what is going to happen as far as with James & I and our singles careers when it comes, but I could promise the fans to expect the unexpected.”
His thoughts on returning to Buffalo for TNA’s BaseBrawl event this Saturday night at Coca Cola Field:
“I’m looking forward to it. I did a BaseBrawl when I first started out in TNA, and it was a lot of fun & really different. I’m looking forward to getting back to that field and performing in front of the Buffalo fans. It’s always awesome in Buffalo.”
— Hulk Hogan stated on tonight’s episode of Impact Wrestling that Sting would receive his rematch for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship on the July 14 show. He lost the belt to Mr. Anderson this past Sunday at Slammiversary.
While Kurt Angle is the number one contender to the TNA World Heavyweight Championship (after defeating Jeff Jarrett at Slammiversary), Mike Tenay stated that Mr. Anderson’s first title defense will be against Sting.
— Jacqueline returned to TNA Wrestling on tonight’s episode of Impact Wrestling as she joined ODB in assaulting Velvet Sky following her TNA Knockout Tag Team Championship Match against Sarita and Rosita. Jackie then said in a backstage segment that the Knockouts Division is a joke and she’s there to clean it up because wrestling matters to her.
Jacqueline was phased out of the Knockouts Division in late 2008 and ultimate released in July 2009. She has sporadically appeared at independent wrestling events since that time.
Meanwhile, Mike Tenay stated that ODB is not under contract to TNA (despite being listed on the company website’s roster page).
— TNA Wrestling has signed former WWE developmental wrestler Dakota Darsow to a developmental contract.
Darsow is a second-generation professional wrestler; his father Barry Darsow was also a professional wrestler, best known as Demolition Smash and Repo Man.
Darsow worked a tryout match for TNA late last month. He has been training at Brian Knobbs’ Florida based Nastyville School of Pro Wrestling in recent months.
— TNA Wrestling talent Brooke Adams (a/k/a Miss Tessmacher) is among 100 contestants competing for the Hooters Viewer’s Choice Award. To vote for the TNA Knockout, click here. The winner will be crowned at the Hooters International Swimsuit Pageant.
Tessmacher, who waitresses at a Hooters restaurant in Houston, Texas, has competed in numerous Hooters swimsuit competitions this year.
— On tonight’s episode of Impact Wrestling on Spike, the first-ever “Bound For Glory Series” will be officially announced. There will be twelve Superstars participating in the competition, all leading to the Bound For Glory pay-per-view event in October.
“The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero, Bobby Roode and Samoa Joe are the final three wrestlers to be announced for the competition. The other nine wrestlers scheduled for the tournament are Rob Van Dam, AJ Styles, Gunner, Bully Ray, Crimson, James Storm, Matt Morgan, Brother Devon and Scott Steiner.
— TNA wrestler Crimson is upset with the hosts of an internet wrestling podcast criticizing his ability to throw a worked punch (after watching his match with Samoa Joe last Sunday at Slammiversary). He challenges them over the internet to take one of his punches to prove that his wrestling ones aren’t bad.
Crimson wrote on Twitter, “I dare one of those two Internet geeks to take one of my punches…”
He then thanked his followers for their support, writing, “Thanks for the tweets and support you guys are the best…to the haters hiding behind the computers thank you too the world needs douchebags.”
— Matches announced for tonight’s Impact Wrestling broadcast include Hernandez of Mexican American vs. Devon, plus the Knockouts Tag Team Championship will be on the line as Rosita and Sarita defend the gold against Velvet Sky and Ms. Tessmacher. Other matches scheduled to take place include:
* TNA World Heavyweight Champion Mr. Anderson vs. Gunner
* Rob Van Dam vs. Samoa Joe
* Austin Aries vs. Jimmy Rave vs. Kid Kash
— Independent wrestler Shima Xion was backstage at Tuesday’s Impact Wrestling tapings.
— Mick Foley has been announced for Legends of the Ring XIII, which takes place October 8 at the Crowne Plaza in Monroe, New Jersey.
Credit to TNAInsider.com for the following spoiler results for tonight’s episode of Impact Wrestling:
* New TNA World Champion Mr. Anderson opens the show with a celebration. Gunner comes out and wants a title shot for helping Anderson hurt Sting. Anderson brushes him off. Gunner sends Anderson through a table.
* Brother Devon beat Hernandez after The Pope and Mexican America got involved.
* Austin Aries beat Kid Kash and another indy star to win a contract and a match at Destination X.
* Kurt Angle comes out to announce he is trying to compete at the 2012 Olympics. Jeff Jarrett comes out and wants a rematch, he isn’t done with Angle.
* Rosita and Sarita defeated Velvet Sky and Miss Tessmacher.
* Rob Van Dam beat Samoa Joe.
* Gunner defeated Mr. Anderson in a non-title match. Eric Bischoff made an appearance after the match and riled up Gunner.
— On tomorrow night’s episode of Impact Wrestling on Spike, the first-ever “Bound For Glory Series” will be officially announced. There will be twelve Superstars participating in the competition, all leading to the Bound For Glory pay-per-view event in October.
Matt Morgan, Brother Devon and Scott Steiner were announced today for the competition.
Nine of the twelve wrestlers in the Series have been announced thus far. The first six wrestlers announced were Rob Van Dam, AJ Styles, Gunner, Bully Ray, Crimson and James Storm.
— The Impact Wrestling website has published separate bio pages for Gunner and Murphy. They were previously grouped together as a tag team.
— TNA World Heavyweight Champion Mr. Anderson and WWE Hall of Famer Tammy “Sunny” Sytch are advertised for an appearance at K & M All Star Sports in Waterford, Connecticut on Saturday, July 9 from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Visit www.kmallstarsports.net for more information.
— Mickie James will be wrestling in an Impact Wrestling match at the San Diego Comic Con on Friday, July 22. The event takes place at the San Diego Convention Center 111 W. Harbor Drive, San Diego, California 92101. Visit Comic-Con.org for event information.
— Scott Steiner is featured in Impact Wrestling’s latest “Why Wrestling Matters” video. “Big Poppa Pump” discusses what drives his passion and dedication for professional wrestling.
“On Impact Wrestling, the handcuffs are off. I can say what I want,” he says in his regular voice. “I’ve been getting a lot of leeway, a lot of freedom to say what I want, cause what I say is pretty much what I believe. I don’t really try to stray too much from that. Other places, I was kind of like, handcuffed.
“People want to escape, people wanted to be entertained and that’s really the bottom line. Why won’t you let me say what I want to say? Everybody’s got a voice, let me speak it.”
— Former WWE talent Shawn Daivari and Aaron Aguilera (a/k/a Jesus) were backstage at last night’s Impact Wrestling taping in Orlando, Florida, but not for TNA Wrestling. According to company sources, they are expected take part in the new All Wheels Wrestling promotion, which would combine motorcross racing and professional wrestling. The first taping is scheduled for June 29 at the Impact Wrestling Zone. It has been confirmed that Jeff Jarrett is backing the promotion.
— Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff posted the following online regarding Monday’s Impact Wrestling taping:
Hulk Hogan: “Sting is really turning it up,worked with him in a situation last night and I saw something come from him I’ve never seen before, he’s on HH”
Eric Bischoff: “Saw some magic last night at the iMPACT tapings in Orlando. Saw a fire in certain talent that I haven’t seen in YEARS! Announce team was on the money. Slowly, but surely we are going to get there!”
— Former WWE star Luke Gallows worked a tryout match for TNA prior to tonight’s Impact Wrestling taping in Orlando, Florida.
— Jesse Neal posted a message on his Twitter account yesterday stating how glad he is that he and his girlfriend now qualify for food stamps.
“Yayyyy we qualified for food stamps!!! I can eat now! RT @CVEvil_138: Things are looking up! Just recieved some good news!!! :)”
A follower then wrote the following to Neal: “It’s a sad state of the business that you can make a joke about Food Stamps and people wonder if you are serious.” Neal replied, It’s not a joke.”
Neal also debunked rumors that he plans on leaving TNA.
“Plz guys don’t feed into the rumors, I have no plan to leave Ink Inc. I have just started my career and very grateful for what I have.” He continued, “Rumors r nothing but made up stories and lies from idiots!! Don’t believe them.”
Wrestling icon Hulk Hogan was recently interviewed by ESPN.com’s Jon Robinson to promote his upcoming video game “Hulk Hogan’s Main Event” for the motion-sensing Xbox 360 Kinect system. Here are some highlights of what Hogan said about:
Wanting To Wrestle Steve Austin: “Well, if there is that one last huge match that really, really meant something to the fans, that would have to be against “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. I can see him already making appearances back on TV and he’s already starting to get full of himself. I heard him say for a while that his back and his neck were too messed up to wrestle, but from I’ve been seeing lately, I think he’s getting geared up to do something and I’d like to be a part of it.”
His Memories of Randy Savage: “Randy and I were stuck together like glue for about 15 years. We did everything together — we traveled together, we worked out every day together — and then we went on to have some great matches. I know this sounds horrible, but we made a lot of money together, and then we had this huge falling out that to this day, I still don’t know why he got mad. He went through a lot with his divorce from Elizabeth and stuff, but we just started talking again a few months before he died. I don’t do many independent wrestling shows, but I finally did one and (Randy’s brother) Lanny was there and he was telling me how tough it was after their dad passed away, but his dad was really happy that Randy and I had started talking again. But then Lanny was really worried about his mom, so they were going to throw a big barbeque at his mom’s house with Randy and I, and that was supposed to be the next weekend, but Randy died in the middle of the week. Out of all the guys who have died, that one hit me the hardest. I’ve known a lot of guys, I’ve walked into hotel rooms where there have been bad situations, but that one was a tough one.”
There’s much more to the interview, including Hogan talking about his relationship with Vince McMahon, his favorite matches and more. Head over to ESPN.com for the full article.
— Former TNA X Division Champion Jerry Lynn is backstage at the Impact! Wrestling Zone in Orlando, Florida for tonight’s Impact Wrestling taping.
Lynn appears to be one of the former wrestlers TNA is bringing back for Destination X.
— TNA Wrestling will be holding Impact Wrestling tapings at the Impact! Wrestling Zone in Orlando, Florida on August 8, 9, 22, 23 and 24.
Previously announced taping dates include: June 27, June 28, July 10 (Destination X), July 11, July 12, July 25, July 26 and August 7 (Hardcore Justice).
— For the second consecutive year, Mickie James will be performing at the K95 Countryfest hometown of Richmond, Virginia. For more information on the show, which features Miranda Lambert as the headline act, click here.
— Tommy Dreamer’s profile was removed from the Impact Wrestling roster page over the weekend, thus confirming his departure from the organization.
Meanwhile, Suicide has been added back to the page.
— Some cable guides are advertising a Knockout Tag Team Championship Match pitting Sarita and Rosita vs. Velvet Sky and Miss Tessmacher for this week’s episode of Impact Wrestling.
— Matches scheduled for this week’s Impact Wrestling live events in Ontario and New York are as follows: Mr. Anderson vs. Kurt Angle; AJ Styles vs. Scott Steiner; James Storm and Alex Shelley (with Robert Roode) vs. The British Invasion; Abyss vs. Kazarian; Mickie James and Tara vs. Angelina Love and Winter; Jeff Jarrett vs. Eric Young (with Orlando Jordan); Matt Morgan vs. D’Angelo Dinero.
— Hours prior to Mr. Anderson’s victory over Sting last night at Slammiversary, the official Impact Wrestling website had Anderson listed as the World Champion since June 12, 2011.
— TNA Knockout Angelina Love’s alter-ego Angel Williams is advertised to shoot footage next month for the custom wrestling match website SlamminLadies.com.
For prices starting as low as $250, the website allows fans to draw an outline of a 10 to 15 minute pro-style match between any two women wrestlers featured on the site. Photo sets are also offered.
— TNA Women’s Knockout Champion Mickie James will be the opening act for Daris Rucker’s concert on Saturday, July 8 in Fredericksburg, Virginia during the “Celebrate Virginia Live” tour. Visit CelebrateVirginiaLive.com for more information.