Following Thursday’s “live” edition of Impact Wrestling, TNA taped the following matches for next week’s show, airing January 12th. Thanks to Lyne B. for the report:

– Aron Rex and Rockstar Spud have been re-branded as a “Liberace + valet” type of unit. Spud is sporting a powder blue doorman suit; Rex in a floor length white fur coat with oversized, sparkly rings on most fingers. Rex cuts a flamboyant promo claiming that Spud has been “reborn” and “it’s not about violence in 2017.” Robbie E interrupts and gets the double attack in ring. Rex will apparently be using his oversized rings as a brass-knuckle type ploy.

– Braxton Sutter defeated Mike Bennett. Allie comes out midway through match as an equalizer against Maria Kanellis. It appears the real-life couples will be continuing this storyline

– TNA Knockouts Champion Rosemary cuts a promo in the ring on how there’s no more challengers for her to take on. Jade, now sporting short hair, interrupts and requests another shot. Rosemary challenges Jade to a Monster’s Ball match (Red vs. Blue). Rosemary goes on the attack after Jade accepts.

– The Hardys defeated The Wolves to retain the TNA Tag Team Titles. Excellent match with lots of high spots, near falls, 1 on 2 submissions, and 2 on 1 spots. Dissension between The Wolves starts brewing to set up a Davey Richards heel-turn on Edwards

– Jessie Godderz defeated Bad Bones via submission in a match taped for Xplosion. Godderz is no longer wearing Bro-Mans trunks.

New year, new owners, new logo. At Friday night’s Impact Wrestling tapings, the Anthem Media Group unveiled a new logo for their flagship wrestling show. The new Impact Wrestling logo features the Anthem logo front and center with no mentions of “TNA.”

Check back later tonight for complete spoilers from the show.

Discussion: What do you think of the new logo?

The first TNA Impact on POP TV episode of 2017 drew 290,000 viewers. This is up from last week’s 224,000 viewers for the “Hardy New Year” special.

The show aired on a slight tape-delay from Orlando and featured Eddie Edwards retaining the World Heavyweight Championship over EC3 and Lashley in the main event.

Impact ranked #118 on the cable top 150 list this week, up from last week’s #122 spot.

Below is the updated card for tomorrow’s TNA “One Night Only: Live! January 2017” pay-per-view event from Universal Studios in Orlando. The event will air via traditional pay-per-view platforms and the Fite app.

TNA will return to pay-per-view on Friday night with “One Night Only: Live!” from Universal Studios in Orlando. The following matches have been announced:

– The Broken Hardys defend the TNA Tag Team Championships against Eli Drake and a partner of his choosing

– DJZ defends the TNA X Division Championship in a Fatal 4 Way against opponents to-be-announced

– Rosemary defends the TNA Knockouts Championship against Sienna

– Impact Grand Champion Moose battles with Mike Bennett in a No Holds Barred Match

ONO will air via all standard pay-per-view outlets and the FITE app.

Update: Eddie Edwards will defend the TNA World Title against EC3 in tonight’s main event:

Breaking: The World Title hangs in the balance LIVE tonight on Pay Per View! @TheEddieEdwards defends against @EthanCarterTNA TONIGHT! pic.twitter.com/CqxxUiF0lX

— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) January 6, 2017

While Jeff Jarrett has signed a new deal to return to TNA as Anthem Sports & Entertainment takes over the company, PWInsider reports that Jarrett will not be appearing on TV.

Jarrett has contractual obligations elsewhere as he continues working to land a TV deal for Global Force Wrestling and those obligations are preventing him from appearing on TNA programming. This was a specific topic of negotiations with Anthem for the TNA return.

Jarrett is not written into tonight’s script for Impact and is not scheduled to appear on TNA TV at all, according to PWInsider.

Ahead of tonight’s “live” Impact Wrestling tapings from Orlando, PWInsider reports that TNA co-founder Jeff Jarrett has come to terms with Anthem Sports & Entertainment to return to the company. Jeff and wife Karen are scheduled to attend this week’s tapings.

Anthem announced on Thursday that it has acquired a majority stake in TNA Wrestling, with Anthem Executive Vice President Ed Nordholm assuming the role as President of the newly formed Anthem Wrestling Exhibitions, LLC. Dixie Carter is out as Chairman of Impact Ventures and join the Advisory Board of Fight Media Group.

Dutch Mantell, a longtime Jarrett lieutenant, is also in Orlando and will also be helping out with this week’s tapings. He previously worked on TNA’s creative team from 2003-2009.

As for Jarrett’s upstart Global Force Wrestling, that project is still alive and Jarrett will continue shopping around their taped shows in hopes of landing a TV deal.

Don’t expect to see Matt and Jeff Hardy back in WWE any time soon. According to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE officials are not interested in re-signing the brothers when their TNA contracts expire next month.

TNA is hoping to sign the Hardys to exclusive deals, but it would take a significant offer since they are able to command high fees on the independent scene.  Talks between TNA, Matt and Jeff is still in the early stages, with Matt most likely looking for greater creative control over his character.

Matt and Jeff Hardy are scheduled to appear on Eli Drake’s “Fact of Life” segment on tonight’s Impact Wrestling episode.

TNA just announced that tonight’s Impact on POP episode will feature an extra 10 minutes. They are advising fans to adjust their DVR times. Tonight’s show will air live on a tape-delay from Orlando.

TNA has also announced that The Broken Hardys will appear on Eli Drake’s “Fact of Life” segment to make an announcement tonight.

Previously announced for tonight’s show is Eddie Edwards defending the World Heavyweight Championship against EC3, Lashley or a mbystery man.

Sometimes 2 hours isn't enough time. pic.twitter.com/s0K1jcFzMk

— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) January 5, 2017

When we last left the matter of American Express’s lawsuit against TNA a month ago, the hearing in the case to determine if the credit card company would win by default was delayed a few weeks. With TNA never having officially recognized the lawsuit in any way, it was only natural that American Express would move for a default judgment which is standard when the defendant never acknowledges the case. It turns out that the judge issued a decision on December 22nd, but it wasn’t filed with the online court system until Tuesday. As expected, TNA lost the default judgment, and is now officially on the hook for $269,049.50 through the court system.

American Express had first sued TNA back in July, but the case didn’t get any press until October, when everyone started searching public records databases for TNA-related cases. The vast majority of the unpaid bill was incurred by Shane Emerson, TNA’s Director of International Content Distribution and Live Events.  The account was closed in May, but American Express did not submit any documentation to indicate how long TNA had been delinquent up to that point. TNA travel was being charged to the personal cards of employees after the corporate accounts were cancelled.

Anthem Sports & Entertainment issued the following press release on Wednesday evening:

Anthem Sports & Entertainment Forms Anthem Wrestling Exhibitions, LLC, Acquires Control of IMPACT Wrestling

Toronto, Canada (January 4, 2017) – Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp. today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a majority interest in TNA IMPACT Wrestling, and has formed Anthem Wrestling Exhibitions, LLC. Anthem also owns Fight Network, the world’s premier 24/7 multi-platform channel dedicated to complete coverage of combat sports, which is IMPACT Wrestling’s exclusive broadcast partner in Canada and worldwide digital partner.

“We are thrilled to have acquired TNA IMPACT Wrestling,” said Ed Nordholm, Executive Vice President of Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp., the parent of Fight Network. “As we grow Anthem’s linear, digital and mobile platforms globally, top tier content with global appeal is key to that success and this acquisition is a perfect strategic addition to our portfolio. IMPACT has been a dominant wrestling brand around the world for more than a decade and we are confident that Anthem can leverage its assets and strategic partnerships to take IMPACT Wrestling to even greater heights.”

Mr. Nordholm, who has been the managing director of the IMPACT Ventures Board of Managers since October 2016, will assume the position of President of Anthem Wrestling Exhibitions, LLC. Dixie Carter will resign from her position as Chairman of Impact Ventures and join the Advisory Board of Fight Media Group, which holds all of the combat sports-related assets of Anthem, where her focus will be on the global growth of the combat sports-related brands owned by Anthem.

More on this as it develops.

Here are a few news items concerning this week’s Impact Wrestling tapings from Orlando, FL:

– Don’t expect to see any major creative changes, despite the new ownership. The word going around is that Anthem is looking to keep things running “business as usual” until the next set of tapings, which are scheduled for March.

– In recent weeks it’s been widely reported that Anthem has been talking with Jeff Jarrett in an effort to get a wider perspective of TNA’s history. For those expecting a possible return from Double J, he’s on vacation with his family in Florida this week, which has some speculating about his involvement.

– There are rumors of Davey Richards and Angelina Love returning soon. Angelina gave birth to their first child together last year around the same time Richards suffered an ACL injury. Richards announced last year that 2017 will be his last year wrestling.

The rumor mill is back at it with talk of Alberto El Patron possibly making his TNA debut in the near future.

Talks between TNA officials and the former WWE Champion are still ongoing, according to PWInsider. As of earlier this week, no deal bad been signed.

We reported earlier that no major changes are expected at this week’s TNA tapings in Orlando. These tapings will take them through mid-March.

• Alberto El Patron Arrested Last Week & Involved In Bloody Jail Fight

TNA World Heavyweight Champion Eddie Edwards will defend the gold on this week’s Impact on POP TV, which will air from Orlando on a slight tape-delay.

TNA has not announced who Eddie’s opponent will be but they are teasing a mystery opponent, Lashley or ECW. They posted this promotional graphic for the match:

LIVE this Thursday @TheEddieEdwards will defend his World Title, but who will he face?!? What type of match will it be?!? Will he survive?? pic.twitter.com/oGHikNvOFw

— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) January 3, 2017

– It appears Jeff Hardy will be dropping his “Brother Nero” gimmick when TNA returns to Orlando for Impact Wrestling tapings next week. A segment aired on this week’s Hardy New Year special that featured Matt Hardy “restoring” everything he had taken from Jeff because Jeff repaid his debt by helping Matt win the TNA Tag Team Championship. Matt also tweeted on Jeff’s character:

#BrotherNero struggled with losing his mortal identity.

He has repaid his debts in EXCESS.

As his DELETER, I have RESTORED & RELEASED him.

— MATT HARDY (@MATTHARDYBRAND) December 30, 2016

– Speaking of the Hardy New Year special, the closing segment featured Matt Hardy and Reby Sky revealing the gender of their second baby, which they are expecting in the summer. As seen in the crazy video below, Reby and Matt are expecting a baby boy:

This week’s TNA Impact on POP drew 224,000 viewers, up from last week’s 209,000 viewers.

The show featured a “Hardy New Year” theme and had no new matches. Last week’s episode also had no new matches and featured a “Best of 2016” theme.

Impact ranked #122 on the Cable Top 150 this week, up from last week’s #149 ranking.

– Anthem Sports & Entertainment continues to talk with Jeff Jarrett but no official deal for him to work with TNA has been reached. PWInsider adds that Jarrett is still working on potential GFW TV deals in Los Angeles.

– Regarding Anthem officially announcing ownership of TNA and their parent company, PWInsider reports that the change is expected to become official on January 1st and an announcement will be made then. A backstage meeting with talents at next week’s tapings is also expected.

– Anthem officials are working on re-signing several TNA talents who have deals expiring in early 2017, including The Hardy Boys and Drew Galloway.

– Tonight’s Impact on POP will be a Hardy New Year special with footage from Matt’s compound in North Carolina. Below are a few preview videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnIx1FQ-R7k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovqG86zr93E

This week’s TNA Impact on POP episode drew 209,000 viewers, down from last week’s 329,000 for Total Nonstop Deletion.

This week’s Impact featured a “Best of 2016” theme and had no new content.

Impact ranked #149 on the Cable Top 150, down from last week’s #105.

We now now that the name of TNA’s next live pay-per-view will be “One Night Only: Live! January 2017”.

As reported before, the event will air on Friday, 1/6 via domestic & international pay-per-view platforms, plus the Fite app.

InDemand’s new listing for the pay-per-view has The Broken Hardys, Ethan Carter III, Eli Drake, Eddie Edwards and Lashley advertised.

The show’s official synopsis reads, “Anything can and will happen as the Heavy-Hitters, X-Division High Flyers, the Knockouts and more take to the ring for a night of unparalleled action.”

– There will be no new matches on this week’s TNA Impact on POP TV as TNA has announced a “Best of 2016” special for the normal Impact timeslot. Next Thursday’s show will feature the fallout from Total Nonstop Deletion.

– TNA will be releasing a “House Hardy” DVD some time in 2017, according to Matt Hardy and Jeremy Borash on Twitter. The set will presumably include Total Nonstop Deletion and the other Hardy specials from this year. PWInsider reports that extras and deleted scenes from those episodes will be included. Matt wrote:

A Digital Video Disc of my #BROKENBrilliance has been ordered by the #7Deities.

These ILLUSTRIOUS events must be documented for POSTERITY.

— MATT HARDY (@MATTHARDYBRAND) December 20, 2016

– TNA has officially announced their first set of TV and PPV tapings for 2017 from Universal Studios in Orlando. Below are full details:

IMPACT WRESTLING RETURNS TO UNIVERSAL STUDIOS JANUARY 5-8 & 10-12 for LIVE TV and PAY-PER-VIEW EVENTS

WHAT:
Be part of the adrenaline-pumping action January 5-8 & 10-12 as the Stars and Knockouts of IMPACT WRESTLING return to Soundstage 20 on the backlot at Universal Studios, Florida for seven days of televised events, including the LIVE broadcast of IMPACT WRESTLING on Thursday, January 5, airing at 8/7c on Pop AND the LIVE broadcast of January One Night Only Pay-Per-View!

WHEN:
January 5 – 8
January 10-12

Thursday, January 5
Event starts at 7 p.m. ET
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. ET

Friday, January 6
Event starts at 7 p.m. ET
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. ET

Saturday, January 7
Matinee
Event starts at 1 p.m. ET
Doors open at 12:30 p.m. ET

Evening show
Event starts at 7 p.m. ET
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. ET

Sunday, January 8
Matinee
Event starts at 1 p.m. ET
Doors open at 12:30 p.m. ET

Evening show
Event starts at 7 p.m. ET
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. ET

Tuesday, January 1o
Event starts at 6 p.m. ET
Doors open at 5:30 p.m. ET

Wednesday, January 11
Event starts at 6 p.m. ET
Doors open at 5:30 p.m. ET

Thursday, January 12
Event starts at 6 p.m. ET
Doors open at 5:30 p.m. ET

*Times are subject to change. Updates on any changes can be found at impactwrestling.com and on all of IMPACT’s social media channels @IMPACTWRESTLING

WHERE:
Soundstage 20, located on the backlot at Universal Studios Florida in Orlando.

TICKETS:
Admission to the event is complimentary.

VIP EXPERIENCE:
A limited number of VIP Experiences are available for $129 at ShopTNA.com

The ultimate VIP Experience includes:

-Priority seating to the LIVE IMPACT WRESTLING broadcast and all other TNA events inside Soundstage 20 at Universal Studios, Florida.
-A special VIP credential
-A commemorative event poster
-A nightly meet-and-greet photo and autograph session with a select IMPACT WRESTLING Star or Knockout

Questions about our VIP experience?
Contact: Amy Zack (azack@tnawrestling.com)

WHO:
IMPACT WRESTLING features a diverse roster of professional athletes and entertainers including Jeff and Matt Hardy, Ethan Carter III (EC3), Bobby Lashley, Drew Galloway, James Storm, The Miracle Mike Bennett, Moose, the best female wrestlers in the world – the TNA Knocknouts – featuring Gail Kim, Maria Kanellis Bennett, and Brandi Rhodes! You’ll also see the likes of TNA’s no limits high-flying X-Division Stars like DJZ.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnA34ZS0bRM

TNA is returning to pay-per-view next month. TNA will be taping the next round of Impact Wrestling tapings starting January 5th from Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. A live pay-per-view event will take place Friday, January 6th.

No word yet on the name or the concept for the show, but it’s currently scheduled to be a “One Night Only” event. The One Night Only events typically do not air live.

The currently-unnamed show will air on traditional PPV providers, the Fite app, and on TNA’s overseas broadcast partners. This will be TNA’s first pay-per-view since Anthem Sports took over the company.

Thursday’s “Total Nonstop Deletion” edition of Impact Wrestling on Pop TV drew 329,000 viewers. This is up from the previous week’s 303,000 viewers, but not the number TNA was hoping for considering the buzz that went into the show. Impact ranked 105 in the top 150 shows on cable for the night.

Total Nonstop Deletion was wildly entertaining and received rave reviews from fans online, so hopefully the modest-sized audience doesn’t affect TNA’s willingness to allow Broken Matt and company this level of creative freedom moving forward.

• Discussion: What Did You Think Of Total Nonstop Deletion?

Total Nonstop Deletion had it all – Maxel Hardy’s in-ring debut, Crazy Steve being thrown into an active volcano, cameos from The Rock N Roll Express, Road Warrior Animal, ODB and Hornswoggle, a “3 Count” reunion, the announcement of Reby Hardy’s pregnancy and so much more. What did you think? Did Final Deletion live up to the hype?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQt2SnFtwpI

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSUoM4kDwgk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeDIhQ4nPUU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WpWk522X00

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YtLrLoakJE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_0hOrdalJs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsW096PtnRw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFSy_Nb1FWA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlWv4BN_ElM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OgtUD3SXlQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGdllbLN3k0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3to9TwcByac

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

The Broken Hardys will present Total Nonstop Deletion tonight on POP TV in the regular TNA Impact Wrestling timeslot. The much anticipated event was taped more than a month ago at the Hardy compound in Cameron, NC.

Matches announced for tonight’s show include The Hardys defending the TNA Tag Team Championships against several tag teams, including The Decay and The Helms Dynasty, in the first ever Apocalypto match plus Lashley vs. World Champion Eddie Edwards in a Dome of Deletion Match. Matt Hardy’s baby son Maxel will also wrestle tonight but there’s no word yet on how they’re going to pull that off.

TNA has also announced that Sienna will be appearing on Total Nonstop Deletion and Jeff Hardy announced that his Itchweeed character will be appearing. Surprise appearances are also expected for tonight.

Join us later tonight for the fallout from Total Nonstop Deletion.

WWE is interested in bringing back former NXT talent and current TNA star Eli Drake (Shaun Ricker), according to The Wrestling Observer. Drake was signed as a WWE Performance Center recruit in May of 2013 and later worked NXT as Slate Randall but was released in August of 2014. It was reported at the time that Drake, who also appeared on The Rock’s “Hero” reality show on TNT before signing with WWE, had upset WWE officials with some of his tweets and with an e-mail he sent. The Wrestling Observer reported at the time that Drake had the charisma WWE wanted and he was progressing in the ring but the tweets and e-mail had him “buried” with officials.

Drake appeared on The Pancakes & Powerslams Show in June of 2015 and commented on being black-listed by WWE. The former TNA King of The Mountain Champion said: “I was on the black list there for a while. One of the guys who used to work in Talent Relations – I’ll leave him nameless – he got fired around early 2012, apparently not very liked in the back anyway; I guess he was kind of a jerk to a lot of people, for whatever reason, would bury me in the office,” he said. “So I was kind of just, nobody could touch me; nobody would touch me. So for a lot of years it was frustration and wondering what I’m working toward and why isn’t these guys taking my calls. And I finally started getting some of the details of why this guy was burying me. There was talk of them picking me up in 2011, I was there for SummerSlam, and then and the follow-up Raw and SmackDown, and everything went incredibly well. But all of a sudden it was like radio silence on their end and I hadn’t quite understood why until I spoke to this person, and he was like, “Well, we’re gonna go in a different direction.” I’m like, “OK?” and he’s like, “You can check out Ring of Honor or TNA or whatever.”

Drake continued, “So I think maybe five months after I had spoken to him on the phone, he’d gotten fired, which was a great day for me. I don’t wanna see anyone lose their job, but if you’ve keeping me out of a job, here’s to ya. So, I was more than happy to see him go. And so this new guy comes in, and the beauty of it is that with the footage I had from (Championship Wrestling from Hollywood), I would take some of this great-looking television footage that was on every week and put it together with a short little paragraph just introducing myself and a resume and some photos. Emailed it to this guy and he immediately responded to me and was interested but then found out that I was on this blacklist or whatever. So for the next few months I had to just wait and keep trying to establish this rapport. Eventually, these tryouts kept getting pushed off. First he offered me a tryout until he found out that I was on the blacklist. Then, a few months later I got offered a tryout but simultaneously, I also was offered a TNA tryout. So, my TNA tryout was on a Thursday and my WWE tryout was actually that following Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I was ecstatic because I have the two biggest companies vying for me and it’s perfect. Thursday I go into Impact and that goes well, then Sunday I get an email and I’m told that I can’t come to the (WWE) tryout. They couldn’t say why, but I’m pretty certain it was because there was a lawsuit going on between TNA and WWE at the time.”

Anthem Sports & Entertainment, the parent company of TNA and The Fight Network, has reportedly had talks recently with TNA co-founder Jeff Jarrett. Jarrett hasn’t been offered a role nor has he been doing any advising, but rather talked to them about TNA’s earlier years. According to a report by John Pollack of The Fight Network, Anthem reportedly brought Jarrett in to give “background information” about TNA.

Anthem is preparing to revive the TNA brand, and they started bringing in Jarrett earlier this month. Anthem executive Ed Nordholm is overseeing TNA, and he reportedly wanted first-hand information about how the promotion operated throughout different periods in it’s history.

Jarrett and Nordholm’s talks were originally considered top secret, but when Pollack heard rumors at the office and asked Anthem higher-ups to confirm, they did and allowed him to run with the story as he saw fit.