Following up on the New York Post’s report over the weekend that WWE recently made an offer to buy TNA, Dave Meltzer confirmed on Wrestling Observer Radio that WWE has made at least one offer to acquire the struggling promotion, but it was an ‘unofficial’ offer and not recently. The primary asset WWE would be interested in is obviously TNA’s extensive tape library. Meltzer added that Billy Corgan has already invested more money in TNA to acquire 30% ownership than WWE offered for the entire company.
Multiple sources are now flat out denying the New York Post’s report that WWE and Ring Of Honor’s parent company Sinclair Broadcasting recently made bids to buy TNA. As for who planted the story in the Post, it would be somebody who wanted to drive up the sale price of the company. We’ll let you draw your own conclusions there.
The eventual buyers will most likely come down to Corgan and an undisclosed party, for which there are non-disclosure agreements going around to keep things quiet. Aroluxe is not the other party working with Corgan to buy TNA. They had until 9/1 to submit an offer and did not exercise that right. The Post’s report stated that Aroluxe, Corgan, Dixie Carter and The Fight Network all have stakes in TNA, and that Aroluxe recently took over their “TNA” trademark because TNA is so financially strapped right now.
Corgan hopes to purchase TNA prior to Bound for Glory, which takes place on on 10/2.
TNA confirmed today that Brandi “Eden” Rhodes has signed with the company to wrestle in their Knockouts division.
The former WWE ring announcer talks with Josh Mathews about signing with TNA. Brandi says she’s wanted to get into the ring for a while and she’s hoping to change the mind of skeptics, pointing to her athletic background. She also commented on wanting to get in the ring since day 1 of venturing into the pro wrestling business.
No word yet on when Brandi will debut but she says she does have the Knockouts Championship on her mind. She named Raquel, Madison Rayne, Jade and Gail Kim as top talents in TNA, saying she has followed the division for some time.
Here’s the official announcement from TNA:
Brandi Rhodes signs with Impact Wrestling A Dream Come True for the Knockouts
Nashville, TN (September 19, 2016)- Impact Wrestling is proud to announce the signing of Brandi Rhodes to their world-renowned Knockouts. Brandi is the perfect combination of beauty, brains and athleticism. An accomplished model and highly skilled figure skater, she is also a graduate of the University of Michigan as well as the University of Miami’s prestigious Broadcast Journalism Masters Program in Miami, FL. While there, Brandi accomplished success in the modeling industry, appearing in print ads and commercials for brands such as Zumba, Budweiser and Maxim Magazine.
While Brandi’s resume is decorated with accomplishments in broadcasting, she never forgot her passion for professional wrestling. “When the opportunity present itself for me to join one of the top wrestling companies in the world and become a Knockout, I was thrilled,” she said about her newest endeavor. Impact Wrestling certainly agrees. Company President, Billy Corgan provided, “this is a dynamic partnership. The Knockouts have always been on the forefront of Impact; leaders in evolution. We are thrilled to welcome Brandi Rhodes and provide her the worldwide platform she deserves as a Knockout.”
Don’t miss Brandi’s debut in the coming weeks on Impact Wrestling, Thursday nights at 8PM ET/7PM CT on Pop.
Bubba Ray Dudley appeared at Saturday’s House of Hardcore event in Philadelphia, and cut a promo on Matt Hardy and teased showing up at Impact Wrestling. “How would you like for me to show up at the Impact Zone?” Bubba asked. “I’ve burned that place to the ground once, and I’d do it again. I already put your boss through a table, and don’t think I wouldn’t do the same thing to your wife and your son.”
It’s worth noting that Bubba Ray changed his Twitter name back to “Bully Ray” after leaving WWE. Here are complete results Saturday night’s House of Hardcore show, courtesy of ProWrestling.net:
– Robbie E defeated Lance Anoai. After match, Santino Marella delivered the Cobra to Robbie E.
– Alex Reynolds won a triple threat involving John Silver and Pat Buck.
– Vik Dalishus, Eddie Kingston, and TJ Marcone defeated Team Tremendous and Conor Braxton.
– Chris Hero beat Tony Nese.
– Brian Myers and Swoggle defeated Torito and Underground Luchadore. The Underground Luchadore was unmasked and revealed to be Matt Striker. Ryback came out and cleared the ring of Myers and Swoggle, hitting Shellshocked on Swoggle.
– Ricochet beat Sami Callihan.
– Broken Matt Hardy (w/Senior Benjamin and Rebecca) defeated Tommy Dreamer in the main event. Earlier in the evening, Dreamer addressed the crowd to let them know that Terry Funk would not be in his corner due to the health reasons. There were surprise appearances from Joey Styles, Belah McGuillicuty, The Sandman and Bubba Ray Dudley.
TNA president Billy Corgan has openly stated that he wants to purchase the company, but one person in his way is Dixie Carter. TNA’s shareholders currently consist of Carter, Corgan, and Aroluxe Productions. The latter two shareholders got their stakes by providing emergency funding for tapings and a pay-per-view. Without their funding, the shows wouldn’t have happened and TNA could have gone under. The cost for TNA to run a set of tapings falls in the ballpark of three quarters of a million dollars.
According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dixie Carter wants at least $4 million for her share of the company. Aroluxe tried putting together a deal to buy out the company this summer, but they weren’t able to raise the funds.
Corgan indicated in a recent Facebook live chat that he plans to take full control of the company and use his celebrity status to build better relationships with advertisers. One of the issues TNA currently faces is a lack of advertising revenue.
TNA Wrestling is for sale and the company is fielding offers from some familiar competitors. According to the New York Post, both WWE and Sinclair Broadcast Group (Ring of Honor’s parent company) are rumored to have made recent offers to buy TNA.
Over the past year or so, WWE has acquired the talent that defined TNA over the past decade, including AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Bobby Roode and Eric Young. The real value for WWE would be acquiring TNA’s tape library to enhance the WWE Network archives. How much would that cost? The Post speculates TNA would sell for $40 million, but industry insider Dave Meltzer says that figure is far too high. “Nobody is paying $40 million. Take one zero off.”
In addition to majority owner and Chairwoman Dixie Carter, Billy Corgan, Aroluxe Marketing and Canada’s Fight Network all have equity stakes. This is the first time we’ve seen the Fight Network’s stake in TNA publicly acknowledged.
With TNA’s long standing financial struggles and Billy Corgan taking over Dixie Carter’s role as the leader of Impact Wrestling, Corgan hopes to expedite a sale and get on with the next chapter of TNA’s story. “I would love nothing better than to stand up in front of everyone and give a clear picture of where this company is and where it’s going,” he said.
This week’s episode of Impact Wrestling on Pop TV averaged 366,000 viewers for the two-hour show. This is up from last week’s 337,000 viewers who tuned in for Delete or Decay, the sequel to The Final Deletion.
TNA’s competition from the NFL this week was the New York Jets vs. the Buffalo Bills, which averaged 13 million viewers.
This week’s Impact Wrestling was the second-most viewed episode since the timeslot switch from Tuesdays to Thursdays back in July. The most-viewed episode since the move to Thursdays was the 8/25 episode with 373,000 viewers.
Brandi Rhodes has signed with TNA Impact Wrestling, according to TMZ.
The former WWE ring announcer and wife of Cody Rhodes is joining the Knockouts division and will be trading in the microphone for wrestling gear. No
word yet on when Brandi Rhodes will make her Impact Wrestling debut, but you can be sure husband Cody Rhodes won’t be far behind. It’s been widely reported that Cody Rhodes plans to wrestle for both TNA and Ring of Honor in the near future. Whether or not he’ll be able to use the Cody Rhodes name is another story. Either way, Brandi Rhodes and eventually Cody are great acquisitions for Impact Wrestling.
Thursday night’s episode of Impact Wrestling featuring Delete or Decay, the sequel to TNA’s Final Deletion, averaged 337,000 viewers on Pop TV. The segment featured Reby Sky and The Hardy Brothers vs. Rosemary and The Decay, and went head-to-head against the NFL’s season opener between Denver and Carolina.
This is down from last week’s 351,000 viewers, and down from the original Final Deletion’s 400,000 viewers back in July. Delete or Decay was produced with a larger budget than the original, and the company hopes to garner the same sort of internet buzz for the segment. Both segments were produced by Jeremy Borash, Billy Corgan, and Matt and Jeff Hardy.
The show ranked #119 on the Cable Top 150 rankings, which is up from last week’s #124.
TNA President Billy Corgan announced on last night’s Impact that an eight-man tournament will be held to crown the first Impact Grand Champion. You can see video of the new Impact Grand Championship below. The King of the Mountain Championship is now officially retired.
Tournament participants include Drew Galloway, Aron Rex, Eli Drake, Jessie Godderz, Eddie Edwards, Mahabali Shera, Braxton Sutter and Trevor Lee. The finals will take place at the 10/2 Bound For Glory PPV from Orlando.
Matches will feature 3 rounds that go 3 minutes each. Three ringside judges will score the match under a 10-point must system. Matches end by pinfall or submission but if they go the distance, judges will choose the winner.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnLRNF9Dt6k
Following last night’s Impact on Pop, here are the brackets:
With Dixie Carter now reportedly out of the picture, new TNA president and shareholder Billy Corgan says he wants to buy the company outright. Corgan says he wants to run the entire company from top to bottom and improve the culture of the company.
Corgan went on Facebook on Thursday to promote the Delete or Decay segment. He was quick to give full credit to the Hardy brothers and Jeremy Borash for their work on the Final Deletion sequel, Delete or Decay.
Corgan explained that things behind-the-scenes in the company have been very complicated, and he hopes to make the company run smoother and be more successful. Corgan confirmed that he’s currently in charge of the creative team, which consists of Dave Lagana, John Gaburick and Matt Conway.
TNA’s shareholders are currently believed to consist of Corgan, Dixie Carter, and Aroluxe Productions.
– After premiering back on 7/16, “The Josh Mathews Show” has already been dropped by ESPN Radio. The one-hour daily sports radio program aired on 1025 The Game in Nashville.
– Billy Corgan is now running TNA, but creative is largely being done by John Gaburick with writers Matt Conway and David Lagana. The current storyline with The Hardys is being booked by Matt.
– It appears Ethan Carter III has signed a new TNA contract. Indy promoters that have worked with Carter were recently told by him that they need to go through the TNA offices from now on. The company has been trying to get Ethan and other top stars to sign a new deal that would allow the company to book outside indy dates. He will face Lashley for the World Heavyweight Championship on 10/2 at Bound for Glory in Orlando.
Information from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter was used in this report. Visit f4wonline.com for subscription information.
Not only Cody Rhodes working for TNA and ROH this year, he’s headed to Japan to work at least one date – a match with NJPW star Katsuyori Shibata. Cody has also received indy offers to work with TNA star Aron Rex (Damien Sandow) due to their past in WWE, but he’s currently focused on working with wrestlers he’s never worked with before. Cody is still looking to work with names on “The List” he published several months back but he is not looking to sign with any promotion.
There’s still no word on when Cody will start with TNA but he starts working multiple ROH dates in December. As noted, Rhodes is planning on working for both promotions without a contract for either. He would be the first wrestler to pull that off. In ROH, he’s hoping to work with Adam Cole while he’s interested in working a program with wife Brandi against Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis in TNA. Rhodes and Bennett recently worked together for Northeast Wrestling in New York.
Cody is also focused on trying to make it as a TV actor. He told Dave Meltzer at PWG’s Battle of Los Angeles last weekend that he hopes the recent “Arrow” role he filmed will turn into a recurring role.
While Cody is planning on working both ROH and TNA TV, he will not be able to use the Rhodes name at this point. He continues to have talks with WWE, so that could change. The situation is that Cody has worked for WWE since the start of his career and never used the name anywhere else before that. On the other hand, the Rhodes name goes back 50 years in pro wrestling, long before WWE ever used it.
Jeremy Borash appeared on Wrestling Observer Live this week and said tonight’s “Delete or Decay” match with The Hardys and Reby Sky vs. Abyss, Rosemary and Crazzy Steve will not be the Final Deletion Part 2 because it will be a very different match. Borash also called it the first battle in the great war that leads to The Hardys vs. The Decay for the TNA Tag Team Championships at Bound For Glory on 10/2.
Tonight’s Impact on POP will also feature a big announcement from President Billy Corgan, Jade & Gail Kim vs. Sienna & Allie and a BFG press conference with Ethan Carter III and World Champion Lashley. Here’s a teaser for the press conference:
Cody Rhodes is reportedly in talks with TNA about working for the promotion in the near future. Rhodes spoke with Dave Meltzer at this weekend’s PWG Battle of Los Angeles shows and revealed that a deal is already in place.
Rhodes has plans to wrestle in TNA and Ring of Honor, but does not plan to sign exclusive deals with either. Cody Rhodes recently worked against Mike Bennett for Northeast Wrestling. Cody Rhodes will work a program against Bennett in TNA, with Cody’s wife Brandi (former WWE ring announcer Eden) playing off Bennett’s wife, TNA Knockouts champion Maria Kanellis.
One issue to watch is whether or not Cody Rhodes is able to use that name in TNA. He’s been using it on the independent scene, but working television is a completely different situation. WWE owns the rights to the name, despite Dusty Rhodes using the name long before he wrestled for Vince. Guys like CM Punk were able to use their WWE names elsewhere because they used it elsewhere prior to working for WWE. Cody commented on the situation back in July after word got out that WWE owns the Cody Rhodes name.
I own Rhodes
He was with me for my first breath and I was with him for his last
There's no piece of paper on Earth that takes my name away
Cody Rhodes has certainly been keeping busy, working against Kurt Angle (Video) and competing at PWG’s Battle For Los Angeles event over the past several weeks. On Monday morning he tweeted this list of his schedule for this coming week:
The sequel to TNA and Matt Hardy’s “Final Deletion” segment is scheduled to air on next Thursday’s Impact, and will be titled “Delete Or Decay.” The segment will see The Decay travel to Matt Hardy’s estate to do battle.
The Final Deletion segment in July garnered over 400,000 viewers for Impact on Pop TV, their most to date on the channel. Delete Or Decay was produced with a bigger budget than the original and the company hopes for another increase in viewership. The original Final Deletion was reportedly developed and produced by Jeremy Borash, Billy Corgan and Matt & Jeff Hardy.
The September 1st, 2016 episode of Impact Wrestling averaged 351,000 viewers on Pop TV. This is down from last week’s 373,000 viewers, which was their highest viewership since moving to Thursday nights back in July. This week’s episode saw the crowning of two new champions when Maria Kanellis captured the Knckouts Title and DJ Zema Ion won the X Divison Title in an Ultimate X match.
Impact will have competition from the NFL on Thursday nights starting next week.
– This week’s TNA Impact on Pop TV saw two title changes – Maria Kanellis captured the Knockouts Championship after making Allie lay down, and DJ Zema Ion captured the vacant X Division Championship by winning Ultimate X over Mandrews, Rockstar Spudd, Braxton Sutter, Trevor Lee and Andrew Everett. This is the first championship reign for Maria and the second for DJZ.
– Next Thursday’s Impact will feature a big “#DELETEorDECAY” match with Abyss, Crazzy Steve and Rosemary vs. Reby Sky, Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy. A teaser can be seen below:
SHARE & RT this #BROKEN brilliance with the World.
– TNA was originally planning on holding their post-Bound For Glory tapings from 10/3 through 10/10, which would have carried them through the end of 2016. However, new President Billy Corgan made a change and the tapings will now end on 10/8, according to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter. This means they will have to return to Orlando one more time this year to tape.
– The following matches and segments are being advertised for tonight’s Impact on Pop TV:
Back in April we reported on former TNA star Crimson being arrested for domestic assault after a security guard witnessed him headbutting his wife outside of a hotel in Tennessee. The couple both denied any incident and his wife Heather claimed she just fell. Full details on that incident are at this link.
The charges against Crimson have been dismissed, according to this announcement from the Law Office of Kimberly Turner & Associates, PLLC:
CHARGES DISMISSED AGAINST CRIMSON
Clarksville, TN, August 24, 2016
Charges against Anthony Gregory Mayweather, known in TNA Wrestling circles as “Crimson”, have been dismissed by the Montgomery County District Attorneys’ Office.
Mr. Mayweather was charged with domestic assault by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office in April 2016.
Mr. Mayweather’s attorney, Kimberly Turner, subsequently met with the District Attorney’s Office to offer additional information for their consideration and following discussions between Mrs. Turner and the District Attorney’s Office, the charge against Mr. Mayweather was dismissed on July 22, 2016.
Mrs. Turner reports that “This has been a very difficult time for the Mayweather family and they are grateful to the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office for considering all of the information provided and promptly dismissing the charge against Anthony.”
All records of the charges against Mr. Mayweather have been expunged.
With Billy Corgan taking over as the new President of IMPACT Ventures, former TNA President Dixie Carter has been completely removed from the company’s power structure. Carter now serves as the company’s “Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer” but has virtually no control over the creative direction or day-to-day operations.
Dave Meltzer stated on Wrestling Observer Radio “Dixie’s pretty much out of it now out of power completely, she is completely out of power no matter what’s said, but she may be gone.”
At the latest round of Impact Wrestling tapings from Orlando, Dixie Carter filmed a few segments but left the building immediately after and didn’t stay around for every taping that week. Everybody took notice of Dixie leaving early and “There were some things said that were not so great about her.”
Billy Corgan has already brought in Grammy Award winning singer/musician Sheri Shaw to produce new theme songs for TNA wrestlers. While it may not seem like a huge deal, this is a significant change symbolically because Dixie Carter’s husband Serg Salinas had been handling that job in recent years.
During recent media interviews, Billy Corgan has begun laying out his vision for the future of TNA. It’s clear that a significant overhaul is being planned, but first he has to stabilize the financial side and that will take some time. The general consensus is that Impact Wrestling has been very good this year and there is a lot of optimism regarding the new leadership.
– Jessie Godderz will be returning to Big Brother on CBS on Friday night. He’ll be taking part in the Big Brother County Fair competition “Dunk the hunk.” This is Godderz’ third appearance on Big Brother this season.
– It sounds like Dixie Carter hasn’t been around much at this month’s Impact tapings. PWInsider reports that Carter was not at the last few TV tapings, after missing the previous set of tapings due to being on a two-week vacation in Africa.
– As previously reported, James Storm may be on the way out of TNA. At one of this week’s Impact tapings, Storm cut a promo about backstage “B.S.” in TNA making him want to go elsewhere. PWInsider.com now reports that Storm did in fact miss most of this week’s Impact tapings, but it was due to a pre-approved vacation and not “contract B.S.” as explained on TV. This further adds to speculation that Storm teasing his departure is just a storyline.
We’re not sure if this is part of a storyline or not but James Storm announced at Wednesday’s TNA Impact tapings in Orlando that he was done with the company due to “BS contract stuff” that went on behind-the-scenes.
Storm went on to thank the TNA fans and said he wanted his last match to be against Bram. He also teased that we may see him team with an old friend soon, an apparent tease at joining Bobby Roode in NXT.
We will keep you updated on Storm but he made this tweet on Monday, indicating that it may be part of an angle: