Fans can expect to see Matt Hardy’s wife Reby (a/k/a Reby Sky and Reby Hardy) on Impact Wrestling on a regular basis going forward as she has signed a contract with TNA Wrestling, Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com reports.

As has been reported, there was an incident between Reby and Awesome Kong on Friday prior to an Impact Wrestling taping at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, United Kingdom. To add to the multiple versions of the story going around, Johnson says Kong did indeed get physical with Reby. Various TNA performers at the show told Johnson she was could see marks around her throat and around the back of her neck if she lifted her hair.

Sky alluded to the incident Friday night on Twitter, stating, “No time for high school drama. I REFUSE to play this bullying game. FOH…”

https://twitter.com/RebySky/status/693298970714599424

John Gaburick, Executive Vice President of TNA Wrestling, issued this statement yesterday on the incident via Twitter.

Prior to the Impact Wrestling TV taping at the Manchester Arena, Kia Stevens was involved in an incident involving Rebecca Hardy. Subsequently, Kia was removed from the tour and returned to the United States. The matter is being reviewed to determine if any additional disciplinary action will be taken.

• New Wrestler Debuts At WWE NXT Live Event On Saturday (Photo)

TNA taped Impact Wrestling on Saturday, January 30th in London at The SSE Arena Wembley. The taping was for the March 1st, 2016 episode of Impact Wrestling. Here’s what happened at the taping:

– The Wolves © defeated Mandrews and Will Ospreay.

Post-match, the medical team, came rushing out for Mandrews. The Wolves checked on him as well and helped Mandrews to the back.

– Monster’s Ball: Abyss (Crazzy Steve, Goth Girl) beat Jimmy Havoc. The finish happened when Abyss hit a Black Hole Slam on Havoc through the barbed wire board.

– Mike Bennett (w/Maria) defeated Drew Galloway with a roll up.

– Eric Young issued an open challenge for his King of the Mountain Title.

– King of the Mountain: Eric Young © defeated Damo O’Connor. Young won via piledriver…

– Kurt Angle beat Bobby Roode with the ankle lock.

Post-match, Roode cut a promo about Angle and how good he is. James Storm came out and said that Angle is a TNA legend. Beer Money opened beers and Kurt said no, so they pulled some milk out. Angle drank it and they celebrated. The Wolves came out to celebrate as well to end the taping.

Related: Spoilers for the February 2nd, 2016 Impact Wrestling

John Gaburick, Executive Vice President of TNA Wrestling, issued a statement Saturday on his Twitter account regarding an incident that took place Friday at the Manchester Arena involving Awesome Kong (Kia Stevens) and Reby Sky (Rebecca Hardy).

Prior to the Impact Wrestling TV taping at the Manchester Arena, Kia Stevens was involved in an incident involving Rebecca Hardy. Subsequently, Kia was removed from the tour and returned to the United States. The matter is being reviewed to determine if any additional disciplinary action will be taken.

The incident was originally reported by Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com, who said that Kong took issue with Sky attempting to dress in the women’s locker room and tossed her bag into the hallway. Although Sky is a performer for the company, she had not changed in the women’s locker room before.

Kong’s actions prompted Sky to leave the locker room. When she returned to retrieve her things, Kong went after her for “not apologizing.”

There are two stories on the incident circulating among TNA workers. One story is that Kong attempted to assault Sky, but was quickly restrained from doing so. The second story, which Johnson heard from ‘far’ more people, is that Kong throttled Sky around the neck before being restrained by security guards and producer Pat Kenney.

Johnson added that Sky’s infant son was in the vicinity of the ordeal.

• The Undertaker to face Braun Strowman at WrestleMania?

Awesome Kong was sent home Friday from TNA’s tour of the United Kingdom following a backstage altercation with Matt Hardy’s wife Reby Sky at the Manchester Arena, Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com reports.

Multiple TNA sources tell Johnson that Kong took issue with Sky attempting to dress in the women’s locker room and threw her belongings outside. Although Sky is a performer for the company, she had not changed in the women’s locker room before. At TNA’s recent television events in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Sky dressed elsewhere backstage.

The incident likely stems from some derogatory remarks the two made about each other in 2013.

During an uncensored interview with the YouShoot DVD series, Kong referred to Sky as a ‘ho’ for her outspoken nature. When asked on ASKfm (a social networking site where users create profiles and can send each other questions) about Kong knocking her, Sky responded, “Not aware of this, if it is true. Doesn’t make much sense, as I don’t know her on a really personal level & we have been nothing but nice to each other in passing at shows. We’ve actually texted back & forth a few times, so if she now has a problem with me, I can only attribute it to one thing/person. Fake as fuck to be nice to my face & talk shit to a camera if its true, but no shocker there. That’s 99% of the women in this business anyway. Next.”

Sky later implied Kong as a drug addict, stating on ASKfm, “Broke wrestlers doing “shoot” interviews for a couple hundred bucks to support their drug habits can KEEP mentioning me. Everyone knows I’m in an AMAZING committed relationship & love a good name drop :).”

After a fan asked Sky on the site if she was referring to Kong in her statement, she remarked, “And for the record, yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying, and for damn good reason. No use in continuing to play nice or protect anyone who is sweet to my face & a cunt to me & my close friends behind my back.”

According to Johnson, Sky left the locker room after Kong threw her belongings outside. When she returned near the room to retrieve her things, Kong went after her for “not apologizing.” Johnson believes Sky’s past remarks are what led to Kong’s outburst and demand for an apology.

There are two stories on the incident circulating among TNA workers. One story is that Kong attempted to assault Sky, but was quickly restrained from doing so. The second story, which Johnson heard from ‘far’ more people, is that Kong throttled Sky around the neck before being restrained by security guards and producer Pat Kenney.

Johnson added that Sky’s infant son was in the vicinity of the ordeal.

Kong parted ways with TNA in 2010 after assaulting Bubba the Love Sponge backstage at a television event for remarks he made on Twitter that were disparaging of Haiti’s struggle to recover from a recent earthquake (he was appearing as a backstage interviewer for the company at the time through his connection to then-talent Hulk Hogan).

• WWE Diva Signs A New Three-Year Contract

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzFaUo2oPcA

James Storm has had a strange last several months of his career: He left TNA, made a few appearances on WWE television doing guest spots on NXT, never left TNA television because they taped the World Title Series before he left, and then returned to TNA in lieu of signing with WWE. One of TNA’s signature stars, he’s been promoting TNA’s upcoming tour of the United Kingdom, and one of his stops was an interview with RealSport. Here are some of the highlights:

Making the decision to return to TNA:

I’ve been with TNA since the very beginning and I want to see them succeed, I feel like I have a lot to give not just to TNA but the wrestling business as a whole, I just felt that right now I can help TNA out a lot.

Was teaching younger wrestlers something that excited him about NXT?

Oh yeah, it kind of reminded me of when TNA was first starting out, all the guys are hungry and had a chip on their shoulders looking to prove they have what it takes.

His thoughts on if Triple H winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at the Royal Rumble was too predictable and/or stale:

Yeah, a lot of people have asked me this question, and I always say wait to see how the story plays out, because it can help to build a bigger star. Especially now that you want to see Triple H get beat. Its genuine, real heat, you’re there thinking this SOB, I really want this guy to get beat now.

Make sure to check out the full interview for more on his return to TNA, including the Beer Money reunion.

In recent weeks we’ve seen TNA signing their top stars to new deals, including Jeff Hardy and James Storm. It’s worth noting that the company is taking a very different approach with talent contracts. Dave Meltzer reports in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter that talent are signing contracts for guaranteed money that require them to work for indie promotions. Promoters will book talent through the TNA office, with the company getting the booking fees.  TNA wrestlers gets regular paychecks every two weeks and these extra dates are considered part of their guaranteed deals. Meltzer writes:

“If TNA can sign someone for $100,000 per year, and then book them two dates per week at $750 per shot, with a few weekends off here and there, that can be close to $75,000 a year of income coming in. If they can get $1,000 per shot for them, they’ll make virtually the entire contract back.”

This explains how TNA was able to offer a guy like James Storm much more money than he would have gotten wrestling for NXT.

Since TNA is not running any live events and is strictly a TV-based product at this point, the idea is for TNA to increase demand for their talent so they can recoup a good portion of their contract via these outside bookings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oh9UvYj3Ig

The 1/26 episode of Impact Wrestling on Pop TV drew 339,000 viewers. This is up from last week and the best number the show has done since moving to the new network.

This week’s Impact featured the Feast or Fired briefcase reveals and a confrontation between TNA Champion Matt Hardy and his brother Jeff.

Here’s a breakdown of Impact viewership on Pop TV thus far:

• 1/5: 255,000 (live premiere on Pop TV)
• 1/12: 288,000
• 1/19: 321,000
• 1/26: 339,000

TNA President Dixie Carter announced on Tuesday that Jeff Hardy has signed a new deal with the promotion. Hardy’s contract was scheduled to expire in the coming months. Hardy is dealing with what he’s been calling a career-threatening knee injury that will require extensive surgery soon.

During recent interviews, he’s said there’s “a huge possibility” that he could finish his career in WWE, so this is a big signing for TNA.

Thrilled to announce @JeffHardyBrand has signed new contract @IMPACTWRESTLING & will kickoff #IMPACTonPop tonight pic.twitter.com/fez8KtDSmB

— Dixie Carter (@TNADixie) January 26, 2016

James Storm, who returned to TNA earlier this month after briefly appearing on NXT, recently discussed how the two companies compare. In an interview with Radio Yorkshire to promote TNA’s upcoming UK tour, Storm said NXT reminded him of the younger talent in TNA.

“It was cool being in NXT, I made a lot of new friends, I saw a lot of old friends as well,” Storm said. “I think NXT reminded me of a young TNA group, guys who were out to prove they deserved to be there and in TNA guys are trying to prove they can hang with The Wolves, Matt Hardy… the two groups don’t hate each other, they have to go out and do their job to the best of their abilities.”

You can listen to his entire interview here.

Related: James Storm Talks About Triple H, Returning To TNA, His Time In NXT

The following is a preview for tonight’s episode of TNA Impact Wrestling on Pop TV:

– Feast or Fired Match with briefcases containing title shots and a pink slip in each corner

– Fallout from Matt Hardy capturing the TNA World title from EC3 last week. What does Jeff Hardy think about Matt’s actions?

– X Division Champion Tigre Uno vs. DJ Zema Ion vs. Mandrews in a Triple Threat match

– Tag Team Champions The Wolves vs. Abyss & Crazzy Steve

– Awesome Kong vs. Velvet Sky

• Spoilers For Tonight’s Episode Of Impact Wrestling

Tonight! Who will gets title shots… and who gets FIRED? Find out 9/8c on @PopTV! #IMPACTonPOP pic.twitter.com/iypna3j2dD

— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) January 26, 2016

TNA Tag Team Champions The Wolves have signed new exclusive contracts with the promotion, according to a report by PWInsider.com.

Under the terms of the deal, any indie promotions looking to use Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards would have to book them through TNA.

TNA is said to be in the process of signing a core group of wrestlers to exclusive deals to avoid departures. In light of the embarrassing situation they created regarding AJ Styles & The Bullet Club slipping away, it’s probably not a bad idea to locking down their top performers.

TNA world heavyweight champion Matt Hardy recently responded to a fan who tweeted that Triple H is closer to his prime at the age of 46 than Hardy is now at 41. Hardy came back by saying Triple H is an “OK” wrestler, and took the opportunity to take a shot at NXT as well. He criticized NXT for being on an “internet network” and not “real TV.”

Here’s what he said on Twitter:

You must have missed my 5 star match last Tuesday, internet nobody. I'm currently pro wrestling's #1 talent. https://t.co/nevxSS70Gh

— MATT HARDY (@MATTHARDYBRAND) January 23, 2016

https://twitter.com/SamCro126/status/690735227484905477

HHH is an ok wrestler-I like his political maneuvering, though. He'd appreciate how I buried @EthanCarterTNA's streak. @SamCro126 @theg8wolf

— MATT HARDY (@MATTHARDYBRAND) January 23, 2016

Hardy then took a shot at NXT, which currently airs exclusively on the WWE Network:

A developmental group full of amateurs? Buzz me when they're on real TV..Not an internet network THAT MY WORK BUILT. https://t.co/hSpeqA488I

— MATT HARDY (@MATTHARDYBRAND) January 21, 2016

And 20 yrs later, I'm STILL on top. None of those novices are good or tough enough to have my longevity. NEXT! https://t.co/ABcUXQDrKB

— MATT HARDY (@MATTHARDYBRAND) January 23, 2016

Related: Graphic Video: Matt Hardy Busted Open By Botched Guitar Shot

Bill Behrens has worn many hats in the wrestling business for at least two decades, from television syndicator to promoter to booking agent to management to legal representation. He currently serves as those last three for AJ Styles (real name Allen Jones). In light of TNA’s statement claiming that Styles (as well as Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows) backed out of signed agreements to join the promotion, Behrens issued the following statement to PWInsider.com:

No contract was ever finalized nor signed by the parties.

That I would need to be involved in the contract process was known by TNA prior to my involvement and understood by them.

TNA and its 1st lawyer did not present in a timely fashion a contract that accurately reflected previous discussions at all. That created great concern tied to past experiences. In that time and prior there was other interest and there were other firm offers on the table and other discussions.

TNA was aware of other interest and various conflicts. TNA was aware a final contract was required. It was creating that contract and controlled that timetable. Too much time passed early on. Other things came into play. No contract was ever finalized with TNA.

To suggest I make any decision for my clients is to misunderstand my role and diminish the role each talent has in making their own decisions, and insults the talent in the process.

The statement came following PWInsider’s lengthy report on the matter from last night, where Mike Johnson outlined the basics of the situation:

TNA badly wanted Styles back, with the feeling that his departure badly damaged the the company since he was their big home-grown star a la Sting in WCW. They started talking in November, and Styles brought up the possibility of Gallows and Anderson also coming in. His Bullet Club stablemates were unhappy over their split of the Bullet Club merchandise profits with New Japan Pro Wrestling and looking for a change of scenery. The trio met with Dixie Carter, John Gaburick, and other TNA staff at Carter’s house on December 14th and the TNA side felt the meeting went great, with a plan in place for a surprise Styles return in a pretape on the Pop TV debut show. From there, when the long form contracts were to be finalized, TNA took their time (and were slowed down by the holidays), a better offer came in (presumably from WWE), and the wrestlers decided not to make the deal.

(So yes, it looks like this may have had little to do with WWE raiding NJPW. It just looked that way with Shinsuke Nakamura also leaving and Mauro Ranallo being tapped as the new voice of SmackDown.)

Relevant. pic.twitter.com/ojb9Obc3aK

— The Tag Rope (@tagropemag) January 22, 2016

Exactly what was signed or agreed to is where Johnson’s version and the other stories going around start to conflict with each other. The TNA side is clearly swearing that Styles and company signed something, but if they did, it wasn’t their actual contract, as noted by Behrens in his statement. From there, accounts include:

• That they “didn’t sign sh*t” (Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer in a forum post that Eric quoted earlier).
• “No contract was ever signed or finalized by any of the parties” (The Fight Network citing Styles’ management, presumably Behrens).
• “No formal contract was ever signed” (Pro Wrestling Sheet citing a rep for the wrestlers; again, one would think that was Behrens).

The truth is likely somewhere in the middle. One person with knowledge of the situation posited to me that if they did sign anything, it was nothing that would be legally binding, which fits with TNA issuing the statement without taking or even threatening legal action. Johnson’s article does include the TNA claim that Styles was sent plane tickets to go to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, but your mileage may vary if that actually proves anything.

TNA issued a statement on Friday claiming that AJ Styles, Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson had backed out of signed contracts with them, and now, the plot thickens. Dave Meltzer of WrestlingObserver.com reported this weekend that the three wrestlers “didn’t sign sh*t” with TNA. “In the case of Anderson,” Meltzer continued, “TNA opened itself up to a [contract] tampering lawsuit with New Japan.”

Anderson’s NJPW contract reportedly expires next week, so it would be impossible for Anderson to sign with TNA without contract tampering by TNA.

Related: TNA Issues Statement Claiming AJ Styles, Doc Gallows, & Karl Anderson Backed Out Of A Signed Deal

At least one of the three wrestlers may have merely used TNA to drive up their price for a WWE contract. “One of the three for sure, if not all three, were not looking at TNA for leverage for WWE,” Meltzer reported, “and it was WWE going to them after hearing they may go to TNA and making a better offer.”

There is speculation that TNA’s legal threat may be an attempt to “scare” WWE into not going through with plans for AJ, Gallows, and/or Anderson. Styles is expected to be backstage at the Royal Rumble on Sunday.

Related: The Latest On AJ Styles To WWE, Potential Spoilers

Note: Since TNA’s website has been going down, you can also try Google Cache and Archive.is mirrors of their statement on this matter.

TNA has just made one of the strangest moves in company history. Think of the ground that covers. A little while ago, they posted a statement on their website saying that AJ Styles (real name Allen Jones), Doc Gallows (real name Drew Hankinson), and Karl Anderson (real name Chad Allegra) had committed verbally and in writing to signing to TNA in December, though they hadn’t signed final contracts yet. According to TNA, this happened after a meeting at Dixie Carter’s Nashville, Tennessee home on December 14th where, and afterwards, merchandise was designed on top of plane tickets being mailed. The claim is that this all fell apart over the Christmas holiday, when the wrestlers broke off communication before signing their long-form agreements. According to the statement, “AJ’s lawyer contacted TNA and stated the wrestlers had changed their mind and would not be honoring their commitment to TNA.”

The initial reaction I’ve seen seems to be that TNA, having taken this tact and not threatening legal action in the statement is significant. Why? It comes off like they don’t have confidence in being able to take legal action against Styles et al or the promotion they’re signing with (presumably WWE). On top of that, Anderson/Allegra was still under contract to New Japan Pro Wrestling while all of this was going on, which seems like it might not be the best thing to admit publicly. Either way, unless TNA is simultaneously serving the wrestlers and their destination promotion (again, presumably WWE) with legal action, it seems like something is missing from their version of the story.

It’s worth noting that in 2012, TNA sued former talent relations coordinator Brian Wittenstein as well as World Wrestling Entertainment after WWE hired him and, unsolicited, he offered up a file of TNA contract information. In the complaint, TNA said that “The disclosure exposes TNA to potential liability with respect to its contract — WWE knows the details of TNA’s contractual relationships with its wrestling talent, which could allow WWE to place itself in the right place, at the right time, with an offer to TNA’s talent at just the right place.”

It was alleged that Ric Flair tried to back out of his TNA contract right after Wittenstein gave the information to WWE, but also that WWE quickly told TNA what happened. WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt said at the time that “Our reaction is that no good deed ever goes unpunished. What the WWE did here is what you would hope any company would do in these circumstances it found itself in.” TNA dropped the lawsuit in 2012, but as it was going on, everyone in WWE treated TNA talent as radioactive, with Gerald Brisco reportedly being told he couldn’t even visit his son Wes (a TNA wrestler) in the hospital.

More on this story as it develops…

Angle recently sat down with SportsIllustrated.com to discuss his farewell matches in TNA and his future. Angle’s TNA contract expires this month, and the company is trying to keep him signed in a non-wrestling capacity.

“TNA has been really great to me, and they just offered me another contract to come back and be the face of the company and do something to teach the guys,” said Angle. “I’m taking that under consideration because they’ve always been loyal to me.”

Although he’ll be a free agent, Angle feels that now isn’t the time for him to enter contract negotiations with WWE. While he doesn’t wrestle as often, the Olympic gold medalist says when he does, “it’s a pretty damn good match.” It sounds like Angle has every intention of stepping back in the ring after his year off from competition and WWE may not be interested in that.

“As far as WWE, I’m not going to talk to them,” said Angle. “But I know my ability is just as good as it ever was. If WWE thinks I’m too old, or my body isn’t durable or that I have a problem with medication–which I obviously don’t, I’ve been clean and sober for two years and nine months–but the issue has nothing to do with my talent. […] I don’t wrestle that often, but every time I do, it’s pretty damn good match. I have a pretty good reputation of having good matches. I’m humble about it, but I know how good I am, and I know I still have it now. I’m going to wrestle Bobby Roode and Bobby Lashley in the UK, but I need a break. It’s been a rough fifteen years, and that’s why I’m going to take a year off.

Angle acknowledges his personal problems got in the way of his relationship with WWE in the past, but doesn’t count out returning to his old stomping grounds one day in the future.

“There is a reason they passed on me last time,” Angle explained, “you’ve got to remember WWE is a publicly traded company, and they have people to answer to, and you have a person who was pretty reckless from 2008 to 2013. I got hit with four DUIs. That’s pretty irresponsible. You have to look at a company that is publicly traded, like WWE, and the reputation they have to uphold, so you really have to be careful who you hire. And TNA is the reason why I’m clean and sober, so I have to give them credit, too. They allowed me time off to go to rehab and get my life together. So it’s one of those things where I’m not going to expect anything. Is it possible I go back to WWE somewhere along the lines? Of course. I think I’ll end up in the Hall of Fame, but I just don’t know if WWE will ever want me to wrestle again. It’s up to them, and it’s up to me. I don’t know what I’m going to do. But if I do decide to do it, it would be nice. A lot of people would like to see it, so we’ll see what happens.”

Report: TNA Offer Of Non-Wrestling Contract For Kurt Angle Is A Long Time Coming

With Kurt Angle’s TNA contract expiring soon and him pushing his bouts on the upcoming United Kingdom tour as his retirement matches, you would think that this is the end of him in TNA. As noted earlier, that’s not the case: TNA has offered a new, non-wrestler contract that would keep him around as their in-house legend, a promotional ambassador, and road agent. He hasn’t signed as of yet, and has said that he wants to take a break from the pro wrestling scene after the UK tour. Still, if the story about the offer and the nature thereof is true, it’s a nice gesture and well-earned.

Angle is well known for his parade of neck injuries and ailments over the years, including a benign spinal tumor that he had removed last year, keeping him out of action for several months. It all goes back to to the Olympic trials in 1996, where he stuck his head out to avoid back exposure and broke his neck. He found a doctor willing inject some kind of numbing agent (like lidocaine or novocaine) into his neck and won the trials en route to capturing the gold medal at heavyweight in freestyle wrestling.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQ-osvJEbOk

After Angle had that injury repaired, he didn’t have any major neck problems until 2003, when his arms started to atrophy from nerve damage. A plan was put into place where he’d be removed from his WrestleMania main event title defense against Brock Lesnar and Chris Benoit would be inserted into the mix in an “emergency” storyline, but Angle had second thoughts and pledged to work through the pay-per-view. As shown in WWE’s “The Mania of WrestleMania” documentary, he went into shock right after the match and had to be hospitalized. Originally scheduled to have spinal fusion surgery, he opted to have a minimally invasive “cleanup” procedure done instead…which was promptly undone by one chair shot to the head. He’s since had a number of similar surgeries done by the same doctor.

Angle was simultaneously dealing with an addiction to painkillers and alcohol throughout much of the same period. While he didn’t admit it at the time, refusing treatment was what reportedly cost him his job with WWE in 2006. He was noticeably slurring his words during his first TNA interview, but didn’t go to rehab until 2013. At that point, he had already been arrested on multiple charges of driving under the influence or driving while intoxicated, one of which saw the arresting officer claim that Angle had pills in his mouth while he spoke. It seems like going to rehab for the first time after so many years of problems stuck with him, and he’s been in noticeably much better spirits since, with a new sense of clarity that he’s talked about.

Impact Wrestling saw another boost in viewership this week with a show that featured Matt Hardy turning heel and capturing the TNA World title from EC3.

The 1/19 episode of Impact Wrestling on Pop TV drew 321,000 viewers, up over 11% from the preview week. Since premiering on Pop TV earlier this month, viewership is certainly trending in the right direction for TNA:

• 1/5: 255,000 viewers
• 1/12: 288,000 viewers
• 1/19: 321,000 viewers

TNA has two more shows taped from the tapings that took place the first week of January. Here are the spoiler results for the next two weeks, if you’re interested:

• Spoilers – Impact Wrestling Tapings Results (Airing 1/26)
• Spoilers – Impact Wrestling Tapings Results (Airing 2/2)

Source: Showbuzzdaily.com

Matt Hardy defeated Ethan Carter III in a Last Man Standing match on Tuesday night’s episode of Impact Wrestling to capture the TNA World Heavyweight title. Hardy had vowed to leave TNA if he did not walk out as champion.

Matt gained a championship, but sold out his integrity to get it. EC3’s bodyguard Tyrus betrayed his employer and sided with Hardy. Matt’s wife Reby handed him a hammer during the match, which he used to knock out EC3 en route to victory. It was the first clean loss by EC3 since joining TNA. After the win, Hardy cut a promo in the ring declaring this the new era of “Big Money Matt.”

Big Money Matt went on Twitter after the win and delivered “10 FYIs for internet nobodies” including:

1) I am the ONLY World Champion that matters in the professional wrestling industry. All other recognized champions are inferior to me.

— MATT HARDY (@MATTHARDYBRAND) January 20, 2016

2) Fans don't care that I killed myself for this biz. I came back from the dead in 2011 to become wrestling's #1 talent.

GO TO HELL, MARKS.

— MATT HARDY (@MATTHARDYBRAND) January 20, 2016

3) I loathe you. My wife, @RebySky, somehow hates you all even more. You're all selfish, disrespectful & ungrateful hypocrites full of shit.

— MATT HARDY (@MATTHARDYBRAND) January 20, 2016

https://youtu.be/51nIF3cwaRE

Impact Wrestling returns to Pop TV tonight with an episode featuring a high-stakes main event for the TNA World Championship. Complete spoiler results from the tapings can be found here. The following matches are scheduled for tonight:

– EC3 defends the TNA World Championship against Matt Hardy. If Matt Hardy fails to capture the title, he must leave TNA.

– TNA Knockouts Champion Gail Kim defends against her longtime rival Awesome Kong.

– Jeff Hardy returns to action against EC3’s muscle, Tyrus. Hardy has been dealing with a knee injury that reportedly needs major surgery that would keep him out most of the year, so keep an eye on how he moves around here.

– The newly reformed Beer Money squares off against the team of Eli Drake and Jesse Godderz.

– Mike Bennett’s makes his official Impact Wrestling in-ring debut against Pepper Parks.

Plus, there will be appearances by former TNA champions Kurt Angle and Bobby Lashley.

https://twitter.com/rockstarspud/status/689458840115421188

Yesterday, the official Twitter account of MLW, former WWE writer Court Bauer’s podcast network which has broken various stories in the past, posted a pretty important piece of TNA news:

https://twitter.com/MLW/status/687659702218526720

https://twitter.com/MLW/status/687659994527969281

This helps explain the item from a couple days ago about TNA increasing talent spending again, which came on the heels of Ryan Satin of ProWrestlingSheet.com reporting that TNA had offered James Storm two and a half times what WWE offered him for NXT. TNA had made cuts last year after the move from Spike TV to Destination America, having reportedly gotten a big cut in rights fees, though not as much as you’d expect given the disparity between the networks. Various contracts were dropped, there were numerous reports of production contractors and wrestlers being paid late, and the Impact Wrestling show itself had a noticeable drop in production values.

With the move to Pop, while there had been reports that they weren’t being paid, there was no further drop in production quality and Mike Bennett leaving both ROH and NJPW indicated that TNA’s financial situation was improving. You also have to wonder if Pop TV president Brad Schwartz publicly being so optimistic that Impact could get Spike level numbers for Pop (so far, they haven’t come close) is indicative of Pop maybe overpaying relative to Impact’s actual value.

Some good news for TNA: Variety is reporting that Pop TV, the home of Impact Wrestling, will be increasing its footprint to the tune of 8 million additional homes over the course of the next few months. These new homes will come from the network signing deals with Cablevision (also known as Optimum), AT&T U-Verse, and Wide Open West (also known as WOW!). As someone who lives in Cablevision’s service area, if their history is any indication, this move is to add homes that got cable companies’ own listing services in the pre-interactive guide days in lieu of carrying Pop’s predecessors, The TV Guide Channel and The Preview Channel.

If you have @optimum you now have @PopTV Channel 154

I invite you to watch @IMPACTWRESTLING Tuesdays at 9pm ET pic.twitter.com/XEM8mUJI4n

— Dixie Carter (@TNADixie) January 15, 2016

According to the Variety article, this will give Pop a universe of 88 million homes, but they still have a lot of hurdles to overcome as they average just 170,000 viewers in prime time. The conundrum for Pop is that while its past as just a TV listing channel meant it was in a fairly large number of homes, it doesn’t have the history as a destination that other long-standing networks like USA Network, TBS, TNT, and Spike have.

Pop president Brad Schwartz told Variety that the addition of Cablevision is key because so many advertising executives live in their service area on Long Island in the New York City suburbs. “A lot of our advertisers haven’t been able to watch the channel.”

TNA is starting to spend more money on talent again, according to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The recent signing of James Storm is an example of this, with TNA offering him significantly more than WWE was willing to pay. TNA has a lot of contracts coming due soon and the company is looking to lock people in with lucrative deals to offset the perception that the company does not have momentum.

There have been some big changes behind the scenes regarding the production staff. Last year TNA was regularly delinquent on paying their production workers, which was even acknowledged by talent during interviews, leading to some embarrassment for the company.

TNA is now working with a staffing company (owned by former wrestlers Ron & Don Harris) that hires and pays the production people directly and then TNA then owes the money to the staffing company. Prior to the change, there were still production crew members that TNA owed money to.

TNA got some bad news this week when Comcast announced that Pop TV is being moved to their higher “Digital Preferred” tier of channels, which means Comcast subscribers will now have to pay extra to get the network. Here is the official statement from Comcast:

“In December 2015 and January 2016 we will be making changes to our channel lineup in select areas. CMT, Spike TV and POP will be moving to different tiers of service and in some areas RLTV will no longer be carried. We are making these changes to manage overall programming costs and better align our more popular packages with the most viewed programs. These changes do not affect all areas, so please refer to the grid below to see if your area will have a tier change for one of these networks.”

The news comes at a difficult time for TNA, since they are starting to get some footing on Pop TV. Impact viewership increased this week to 288,000 (up from 255,000 for the premiere), so fans are starting to find the show. Losing Comcast customers (who are not willing to pay extra for Pop, Spike and CMT) is not going to help their efforts to get viewership back to more comfortable levels.

It looks like the change has already gone into effect:

https://twitter.com/awfuljack/status/687019418430222336

Tuesday night’s taped edition of TNA Impact Wrestling on POP TV averaged 288,000 viewers for what was the second ever episode of the show to air on TNA’s new weekly cable home.

This week’s show featured a main event of Kurt Angle vs. Drew Galloway, as well as Eric Young capturing the TNA King Of The Mountain Championship by defeating Bobby Roode.

The average of 288,000 viewers for last night’s show was an increase of 33,000 viewers compared to last week’s live premiere on POP TV, as the live debut show drew 255,000 viewers. It’s also worth noting that in their second week on the station, with their first taped show, TNA drew a bigger audience on POP TV than they did for their final episode on their previous cable home, Destination America.

The final edition of Impact Wrestling to air in prime time on Destination America drew 269,000 viewers. While POP TV is available in 20 percent more homes than Destination America, historically it has taken a while before the full audience settles in at the new cable station when a wrestling show changes networks. In this case, TNA not only changed the channel they were airing on, but the night of the week was changed as well.

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