— According to a post on the SLAM! Wrestling website, Brooke Hogan is rumored to be joining TNA Wrestling. They wrote: “With Brooke Hogan’s career in music and television stalled, it is rumored she might take an on-camera role with TNA.”

— According to the webmaster of The Honky Tonk Man’s official website (www.HonkyTonkMan.net), the recap of The Shoot interview where HTM said he made up the rumor that he was going to TNA was taken out of context.

According to his webmaster, Jeff Jarrett contacted The Honky Tonk Man for a TNA legends deal with Jakks Figures to create merchandise.

What Honky Tonk Man is referring to is no deal to appear on air. However, he is/was indeed in talks with TNA for a merchandising deal.

— Last night’s TNA live event in Joplin, Missouri drew approximately 2,000 fans to the 2,700 seat Joplin Memorial Hall. The event saw Jeff Jarrett defeat Mr. Anderson in the main event.

— Peculiarly, the left side of Tara’s top was blurred throughout the conclusion of her match with Angelina Love on this past Thursday’s iMPACT! broadcast. It seems strange because the blurring commenced once the match came back from a commercial break and carried on towards its conclusion. Furthermore, it would not appear to be a case of an insignia issue as the top she wore simply read “Poison” with no logo beared. Also note, she’s worn the ring outfit before on television.

It’s been speculated that Tara suffered a wardrobe malfunction at some point during the match and that TNA’s production staff decided to digitize her top through the conclusion of the match as a precautionary measure.

Tara’s apparent wardrobe malfunction comes on the heels of last month’s live iMPACT! special where ODB pulled her trunks a bit too far south while attempting a roll-up. The TNA Women’s Knockout Champion’s buttocks was blurred during the episode’s subsequent Thursday replay.

Likewise, Tara’s Thursday opponent, Angelina Love, suffered a wardrobe malfunction of her own roughly two years ago as her breast momentarily came exposed during a taped television broadcast while backing towards the ramp at the conclusion of a match which she had just interfered in. In that case, TNA’s production crew missed digitizing her.

— As reported earlier, Thursday’s episode of iMPACT! drew a final 1.2 cable rating with 1.6 million viewers — a drop from the previous week’s record high 1.4 rating. The Wrestling Observer is reporting that there was a lot of unhappiness within the company when Thursday’s rating was released.

— TNA will be holding live events in Virginia this coming Thursday and Friday (Charlottesville and Norfolk) before heading off to Orlando for Sunday’s Against All Odds pay-per-view. Fans that purchase a $35 seat ticket will receive a free TNA DVD.

Solomonster Sounds Off

DOWNLOAD THE PODCAST HERE:
Solomonster Sounds Off (Episode 99)
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Est. Runtime: 1 hour, 25 minutes

| Thoughts on the Royal Rumble and Edge’s not-so-shocking return to TV

| Bret Hart and Vince McMahon create a few great Raw moments, but how might Batista and John Cena factor into their Mania plans?

| Looking at the possibilities for WrestleMania 26 … and loving every minute of it!

| ECW about to bite the dust (yet again) in favor of the Next Generation

| TNA is still going full-time to Monday nights, but on Friday afternoon, they weren’t very happy

| Details on Sound Off 100 and what it means to me

Want your question on the air? Send feedback to THESOLOMONSTER@gmail.com.

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Visit The Solomonster on Twitter @ twitter.com/solomonster

— The Honky Tonk Man has posted a message on his official website requesting that Todd Alan Clen (a/k/a Bubba the Love Sponge) give him copies of all recordings where Eric Bischoff mentions him. HTM is considering legal action for defamation of character based on statements Bischoff made concerning his “value to the wrestling industry.”

Prior to this, Clen requested that HTM remove all media from said show posted on his website.

— On her Facebook account, Angelina Love spoke out against those impersonating her on Twitter, vehemently stating that she doesn’t have an account. She wrote: “Hey Everyone, I know there are a lot of posers out there and I just wanted to clear up that I do NOT have a Twitter account! A lot of people have been asking me about twitter.com/TNA_AngelLove and I want you all to know that is NOT me…”

— TNA will be holding house shows at the Eastern Kentucky Expo Center in Pikeville, Kentucky on April 8th, 2010 and the Big Sandy Superstore Arena in Huntington, West Virginia on April 10th, 2010. (Thanks to Devin Cutting)

Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff appeared on The Bubba the Love Sponge Show last Friday for a combination work/shoot interview segment that included one new piece of news, which was Bischoff knocking Sting for missing the last set of television tapings.

Sting missed last month’s Genesis pay-per-view and subsequent television tapings due to a family emergency, though it remains unclear what is was exactly. What is known is that nobody is questioning its legitimacy considering that he has been in the wrestling industry for years and has never had a reputation for coming up with excuses to miss dates.

Bischoff said that everyone in TNA has to be completely committed to the organization or things won’t work out, with Hogan adding he doesn’t see how they can use anyone missing shows. Internally, it was noted as a message being sent to Sting, though it’s unlikely he’ll get it considering that he pays no attention to the wrestling business except on days when he’s working as he doesn’t follow it online. Nonetheless, the belief was Sting had a very legitimate reason for missing the last set of shows.

Bischoff said, “Sting’s a great talent. Love him to death. My problem is now that we’re trying to do this big picture. I understand how big picture it is for the wrestling business. Sting had life-and-death personal issues, but from a business side, it totally screws us up. If at any time that happens, I got a personal issue, now we have to switch gears on who we use, you can’t build the world around them.

“Everybody has got to make a commitment. It’s easy to say we want TNA to be No. 1, but if you’re not willing to put TNA as a priority above almost every situation, then it’s probably not going to work out.”

(Credit to the Wrestling Observer Nesletter for the information used in this report)

— Taking house shows, television and pay-per-view events into account, here are some interesting win and loss statistics for TNA this year.

* Brutus Magnus dropped to 0-12 on the year following his loss to Mr. Anderson in the opening Eight Card Stud qualifying match last night on iMPACT!. The only wrestler with a worse record than Magnus is Daniels, who is currently 0-13 on the year.

* TNA World Heavyweight champion AJ Styles lost his first match of the new year last night on iMPACT! to “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero. Styles was 16-0 before the airing of the match.

* Wrestlers who have yet to be beaten so far this year include Matt Morgan (4-0-1), Mr. Anderson (3-0), Orlando Jordan (1-0), and the Nasty Boys (1-0).

* Lacey Von Erich is the last remaining unbeaten in the Knockouts division as she is 1-0. Angelina Love was 1-0 prior to her loss to Tara last night on iMPACT!. (source: www.pwtorch.com)

— For those interested, “Future Legend” Cheerleader Melissa (a/k/a Alissa Flash, a/k/a Raisha Saeed) is now available for wrestling bookings, personal appearances and autograph sessions by contacting Bill Behrens at showbis@aol.com. He can also be reached at www.sbibookings.com.

— You can follow Orlando Jordan on Twitter at the following link.

(Credit to the Pro Wrestling Torch for some of the information used in this report)

– The following matches have been confirmed for TNA’s Against All Odds pay-per-view on February 14th:

TNA Heavyweight Title Match:
AJ Styles (c) vs. Samoa Joe

Tag Team Legends Collide:
The Nasty Boys vs. Team 3D.

– While some speculated that TNA would be holding live events Arizona during WrestleMania weekend when WWE is in town, the company has actually announced shows  in Alabama and Georgia that weekend. They will be in Ozark, Alabama on March 25th and Columbus, Georgia on March 26th.

– Scott Steiner has been removed from the TNA roster page, which doesn’t say good things about his standing in the company.  It was reported a few weeks back that Steiner’s future with TNA was up in the air. Ric Flair and Mr. Anderson have been added to the roster page.

The decision has been made within TNA that iMPACT will be going to Mondays full-time but it’s not known yet when those changes will take effect and it’s unknown if the show will air from 8-10pm or 9-11pm.

The current plan has TNA taping the show every other week doing a live shot on Monday and taping on Tuesday with the taped show airing the next Monday. Because of the occasional odd number of weeks between pay-per-views, it’s possible there will be times there TNA will tape three shows or do a taping where they would fly people in just for one live Monday.

TNA may make the decision to go live every Monday night depending on how low the ratings for taped shows are. iMPACT going to Monday nights has actually been discussed between Hogan, Bischoff, TNA officials and Spike since October of 2009.

(Credit to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter for some of the information used in this report)

Hulk Hogan appeared on Rob Van Dam’s RVD Radio this week and talked to the former WWE and ECW Champion about coming into TNA. Hogan called up to speak with Van Dam personally but ended up appearing as a live caller on the radio show.

Hogan told Van Dam that TNA has some serious momentum right now and if they had RVD “ruling the roost”, it would make things a lot easier. Van Dam asked Hogan about TNA on Monday nights and Hogan said the move is definitely going to happen sooner than later .Hogan kept saying how much fun everyone is having in TNA.

Hogan said TNA needs RVD’s help and Van Dam said he is very interested in hearing what Hogan has to say about him coming in. Van Dam told Hogan that now is a better time than ever as his wife is healthy, he is healthy and he’s not burnt out. RVD said he was curious about coming into TNA and said that he and Hogan will discuss it.

Hogan said he spoke to Jeff Hardy earlier in the day and both men agreed RVD would be a good fit in TNA. Hogan said he and Hardy have tossed around some “crazy ideas” that he guarantees will work.

RVD asked Hogan if it was his decision to go back to the four-sided ring and Hogan confirmed it was. Hogan put down the six-sided ring and Van Dam agreed with the decision.

Overall it was a real interesting segment and it was cool listening to Hogan and Van Dam going back and forth.

– Despite the positive spin he’s putting on TNA in media interviews, Hulk Hogan has been complaining to friends that he’s frustrated with several things in TNA.  Hogan feels pressure to push people he does not believe in – namely, some of the TNA originals. Word is that Dixie Carter doesn’t want the TNA originals to be buried by Hogan’s buddies, but there are some TNA originals that Hogan sees nothing in and wants to get rid of.  Hogan is said to be a big fan of Abyss as well as Tomko, saying at least both men look like wrestlers.

– TNA star Kurt Angle’s name came up in a federal trial of nine men associated with Applied Pharmacy in Mobile, Alabama that is going on this week. Assistant US Attorney Donna Dobbins brought up Angle and Jose Canseco as clients of the pharmacy in her closing arguments on Tuesday. She said, “Each one of them (the defendants) participated in this conspiracy. They operated a steroid mill, and they would dispense anabolic steroids to anyone whose credit card was good.”

– Ed “Brutus Beefcake” Leslie was backstage at the TNA iMPACT tapings on January 20th. Leslie is a longtime friend of Hulk Hogan, brother.

– As for the news that Scott Hall and Sean Waltman are gone from TNA, this is not the case. The duo has been removed from the TNA iMAPCT! opening video as well as the TNA Roster page on the company website, but them being removed is part of the storyline.

(Credit to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter for the information used in this report)

– Eric Bischoff is still intent on bringing Jim Ross into TNA as an announcer. After many months of speculation as to what he’d do when his WWE contract expired, Ross signed a short-term extension back in December and is expected to be with WWE through mid-2010. That said, the face of the pro wrestling industry is sure to change this year, with TNA likely going to Monday nights at some point, so who knows what the future holds.

– As we’ve seen in recent weeks on iMPACT!, Nature Boy Ric Flair has taken TNA Champion AJ Styles under his wing.  The basis for the storyline is that Ric Flair is the consummate World Champion. AJ Styles is a master in his own right inside the ropes, but Flair will teach Styles how to be a World Champion outside the ring – the women, the limousines, etc. TNA wants AJ Styles to be the kind of guy that stands out in a crowd, which is why they’ve been suggesting for him to bleach his hair blond.

Update: During a surprise appearance on RVD Radio on Wednesday night, Hulk Hogan talked about AJ Styles and said he’s got big plans for Styles’ character. Hogan said he can’t even reveal the “new name” for Styles’ character, but the TNA champm is going through a transformation right now that will unfold in the coming weeks. (RVD Radio Recap)

– When Rob Terry won the TNA Global Title on January 27th at a TNA live event in Cardiff, Wales, he was not told about the title change until the day of the show. Terry played the role of the local babyface and as noted before, his family were in attendance with TNA camera crews filming everything.

(Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

— TNA president Dixie Carter announced today on her Twitter account that April’s Lockdown pay-per-view will be held in St. Louis, Missouri.

St. Louis hosted Lockdown in 2007, which featured an Electrified Six Sides of Steel Match between Team 3D and LAX, as well as Blindfold Match between Chris Harris and James Storm.

— TNA has added Generation Me to its roster page. They have also added an additional TNA roster members page at the following link.

— TNA agent Scott D’Amore has parted ways with the company, according to PWInsider.com. D’Amore a message on his Facebook page stating, “Scott D’Amore would like to wish TNA well in their future endeavors. More to follow.”

-  Eric Bischoff wrote on Twitter today, “Jeremy Borash posted a picture of himself with Bret Hart on his Twitter account. What a MARK! To see the picture, click here.

– Former WWE Diva Candice Michelle posted a picture on Twitter of her pregnant stomach, which you can see here. The caption reads, “Look at my growing belly! So much fun! :)”

ECW original and TNA announcer Taz has posted a message on his Facebook.com page regarding Vince McMahon’s announcement that ECW is shutting down once and for all in 3 weeks.

Last night on Twitter, Taz wrote “thank god” WWE’s version of ECW is done and sarcastically called McMahon not thanking Paul Heyman or the ECW originals a “classy” move. On Facebook, Taz explains exactly what bothered him about McMahon’s announcement:

“Point is, why not acknowledge the Paul Heymens contributions to the industry? Or, saying thanks to all the ECW original wrestlers? A lot of blood, sweat and tears were dropped during the original ECW’s life! If you are going to thank cameramen & directors (etc) than acknowledge the past history because its well deserved.

Even if Vince McMahon did not feel Paul Heyman and the ECW originals deserved to be acknowledged, Taz feels Vince once again left money on the table by not getting the most out of an asset he bought:

“If you utilized the letters ECW to make a lot of $$$ over the past several years I would assume that your respect the history of ECW? If you would produce and sell a successful DVD documenting the companies history…I would assume you feel that the original ECW history has value….than why not give it a proper send off?”

He concluded the message by saying he’s happy the ECW letters are being retired, as they deserve to rest in peace. Visit Facebook.com to read the full blog.

After last night’s WWE RAW, Bret Hart went out to dinner with a number of employees from TNA Wrestling, including Jeremy Borash

Borash posted a message on Twitter today stating:

“Had dinner with an ol’ friend last night. Nobody was screwed”

Several fans sent in emails saying they saw them eating at Bailey’s in Nashville, TN.

Borash also posted a picture of himself and Bret Hart from last night, click here.

– With the recent additions of Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan to TNA Wrestling, many have wondered how they would interact with Vince Russo, whom they had trouble working with in WCW. Eric Bischoff has posted a few messages on Twitter this week about Russo specifically:

On Monday, Bischoff wrote:
“Vince Russo has a new book out….I am going to be VERY interested in what he has to say in his book. Hmmm”

This morning, he wrote:
“Sorry to disappoint all of you who are expecting heat between Russo and I. Actually enjoy working with him so far. Ed [Ferrara] and Matt [Conway] too.”

As always, visit PWTweets.com to follow 80+ wrestlers & divas on Twitter!

– The decision has been made within TNA that iMPACT will be going to Mondays full-time but it’s not known yet when those changes will take effect and it’s unknown if the show will air from 8-10pm or 9-11pm. The current plan has TNA taping the show every other week doing a live shot on Monday and taping on Tuesday with the taped show airing the next Monday. Because of the occasional odd number of weeks between pay-per-views, it’s possible there will be times there TNA will tape three shows or do a taping where they would fly people in just for one live Monday. (Source: f4wonline.com)

TNA may make the decision to go live every Monday night depending on how low the ratings for taped shows are. iMPACT going to Monday nights has actually been discussed between Hogan, Bischoff, TNA officials and Spike since October of 2009.

TNA star Samoa Joe was interviewed by TNA’s official website and talked about “dead weight “on the TNA roster. Joe also defended the infamous shoot promo he cut at Turning Point 2007, when he verbally blasted Scott Hall in the middle of the ring for no-showing the event. Joe told TNA interviewer Hermie Sadler:

“It was a statement that needed to be made. This is a company that can’t have a lot of dead weight attached to it. You either come here to work or fight or get down or you don’t come here at all. For the people that I was speaking about, I made it known I wasn’t here to play games and just be a TV star. I’m here for this company to be the very best and for me to be the very best.”

Joe’s admits that his comments were harsh, but he stands by everything he said and said them because he cares about the company’s survival.

“If anything that I said out there you didn’t find to be true, then maybe you don’t need to be here because everything I said out there I still stand by. I apologized for the tone to some people because they may have taken offense, but at the same time, in their heart of hearts, they knew everything I said out there was absolutely true.”

TNA President Dixie Carter spoke to Fred Tropel of CanMag.com and explained that TNA Wrestling is going up against a corporate juggernaut that will stop at nothing to put them out of business.

“Our competition may not have the same opinion that competition is good for an industry and take every opportunity to try to shut us down. I mean, it is the truest of David-and-Goliath situations, but we are scrappy. We will not take no for an answer, and we are going to have great success.”

With everything that WWE has going for them, Carter believes her company has a better in ring product and knows what the fans want.

“I think that these days you don’t have to be a bigger-than-life cartoon character. I mean, it’s much more about reality and what these guys can do in the ring. They are amazing athletes. I can have an all-pro football player, an NBA star on, and they say, ‘We could never do something like this.’ You have no off season. It’s 52 weeks a year, and then we tour in between that. These guys are incredible athletes, and we do focus on the athleticism on our show much, much more.”

Visit CanMag.com to read the full interview.

Credit: Superluchas.net

Check out the PPV poster for TNA Destination X , a  pay-per-view that will feature only X-Division wrestlers.

While an X-Division only PPV is a great idea that’s long overdue, having it in March up against WrestleMania is just a terrible idea. WrestleMania will obviously take a chunk out of the TNA PPV buyrate in March, so why put your experimental special attraction show up against the toughest competition of the year? TNA is trying to gauge whether the X Division can draw, so they book the show in a month when the deck is already stacked against them. Genius.

Apparently in response to comments Eric Bischoff made on The Bubba The Love Sponge Show yesterday, Chris Jericho fired back at Bischoff on his Twitter account this morning, writing, “Bischoffs right I can’t headline in TNA…cos I’m not in my 50s.”

Bischoff said yesterday during his “State of TNA” address that he didn’t see Jericho as a headliner in WCW and apparently Vince McMahon doesn’t either in WWE considering that he only gave him two brief title runs in 2008.

— This week’s TNA iMPACT! did a 1.4 rating, a new record for the company for a Thursday night broadcast. The show did hours of 1.46 and 1.3 with an average of 1,867,000 viewers. The show peaked in the opening 15-minute segment with a 1.51 rating. (Source: PWTorch.com)

— During Friday’s appearance on the Bubba the Love Sponge Show, Eric Bischoff shot down The Honky Tonk Man’s claim that he is “close to signing with TNA.”

“I’d rather drive a rusty ice pick through my eye than work a day with him. This guy couldn’t draw flies if you rolled him in cow s—. He’s negotiating with himself. No truth to that at all.”

On the other hand, Hulk Hogan said he would not mind bringing The Honky Tonk Man to TNA. He joked that HTM trademarked “Linda Hogan” because nobody else did and suggested he work a program with Bubba.

“If we brought him in and we did a program with Bubba, it would mean something,” Hogan said.

TNA President Dixie Carter was interviewed for the latest issue of the UK’s Fighting Spirit Magazine. Carter spoke at length about Hulk Hogan’s new role in TNA, where she sees the company going and more. Here’s what she said about:

Dealing with Big Egos In TNA: “To me, it’s not hard at all I feel if you treat somebody with respect, that’s the only way you can win it back. If you work hard, that’s the way to expect other people to work hard. I don’t have tiered systems of how I treat different people, I treat everyone as the same.  don’t care if you’re Kurt Angle or the newest guy on the roster, you’re gonna be treated with the same level of respect, and I expect that back. To me, that’s the easiest way to keep individual egos in check, because I’m not playing a game with different people or favouritism.”

Her Leadership Style vs. Vince McMahon‘s: “I have a philosophy and it may not be right, but I feel that if people are happy personally, they’ll work harder for you than if you motivate them through fear. I want to make TNA a place where they bring their families, where their wives are welcome, where their husbands are welcome, where their children are. It creates a different type of atmosphere backstage, but it creates a place where we are all in this for the same goal.”

For more, visit: Fighting Spirit Magazine

– There is a tremendous amount of respect for Ric Flair within the TNA locker room. At the last set of iMPACT tapings, Flair was very outgoing, getting to know some of the young wrestlers and was telling people he loved being there since he felt he was being used right by managing the World Champion AJ Styles. He was shown a ton of respect backstage with the wrestlers and agents “in awe” of him. Flair’s interviews have also received ave reviews.

– TNA management is said to be “putting up with” Scott Hall and Sean Waltman, but are trying to make the most of them while they’re part of a big storyline. Most people figured that Hall wouldn’t work out but there’s a lot of disappointment in Waltman as some figured that he would have shown up in better shape considering it’s probably his last shot with a major US promotion.

(Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

– Days after President Obama delivered his first State of the Union address, it’s time for the first-ever “State of TNA Address.” Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff will be appearing on Bubba the Love Sponge’s radio show this afternoon at 12:15PM EST to answer questions and take phone calls from fans. Visit BTLS.com for more.

– The ring name for the valet with Desmond Wolfe now in TNA is Chelsea.

– It appears that Spike TV and TNA jumped the gun with their announcement about TNA iMPACT airing on Monday, March 1st.

Spike’s schedule on their website has been changed as iMPACT is no longer listed on March 1st at 9PM. That slot now says “TBD (to be determined).

On a related note, the Universal Studios website updated their TNA schedule also, replacing March 8th and 9th with March 1st and 2nd. The schedule on TNA’s website still says March 8th and 9th.

Not to worry, as we’re hearing TNA will in still be aring a live show on March 1st. The company does however want to make the announcement on their own terms, not have it leak out on some online TV schedule. Stay tuned for word from TNA about Monday nights.

Rob Van Dam

Rob Van Dam knows TNA wants a piece of him and said once again the “ridiculous never-ending” WWE schedule will play a factor in which company he decides will wrestle for. Van Dam told Alex Marvez of Scrippsnews:

“I do have some interest right now in what’s going on with the big companies. I know (Hulk) Hogan would like to have me. Eventually, (TNA) may start to wear me down and my ‘no thanks’ will become ‘well, maybe.’ I have some interest, but I don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t see myself going back to the full-time, ridiculous never-ending WWE schedule. I couldn’t wait to get away from it before.”

The former WWE and ECW champion says he has been wrestling across the world since leaving the national wrestling but doesn’t have any bookings past this Saturday’s PWG show in Los Angeles.

Aside from the brutal WWE schedule, Van Dam still has sour grapes about how WWE handled the “new” ECW:

“WWE destroyed that and made it very symbolic. They wanted everyone to know ECW was dead and this new group happened to be called ECW. That was the last cycle of frustration for me.”

Visit Scrippsnews.com to read the full interview.