A few days ago, the above video featuring WWE Diva (as Tiffany) turned TNA Knockout Taryn Terrell started to get passed around a bit by wrestling fans (though it’s actually a month old). In the video, she talks about taking a renewed interest in her faith as a Christian, being that it was something she had neglected for a while. Today, both The Christian Post and The New York Post picked up her comments, which brought the video a lot of attention.
She’s not really specific about what specific behavior she’s talking about, whether it’s her domestic incidents with Drew Galloway or something else. She seems to have taken responsibility for whatever she feels bad about, though:
I went on the road with WWE for a while and that want to be a Christian sort of went by the wayside. I lived in sin. I was not a good person. I can say that I am ashamed of who I was in a lot of ways and the decisions that I made, and it was because I wasn’t a Christian.
A lot of times I thought, ‘How am I going to be a Christian?’ How can I be accepted by God? I have done awful things. I have not lived as a Christian. I lived as a sinner.
Terrell also explained that she didn’t actually have a good concept of how, theologically speaking, the concept of forgiveness works in Christianity:
What I didn’t understand about being saved was that I could be forgiven. I could truly be forgiven for all of the bad things that I have done. I will tell you that the moment that I truly feel and believe that I was saved—all these years of thinking, ‘Sure, I’m a Christian. I am going to Heaven. I believe that I was going there’—I was speaking with a Christian counselor in June and he asked me … ‘Are you saved?’ Again, I gave the same answer, ‘Yeah, sure. I believe in God, I believe in Heaven.’
It was then that he said, ‘Well, that’s great, but being a Christian means that you believe in Jesus. You believe that He died on the cross, that He died for our sins, that He was resurrected, that He is going to come again. That is your ticket to Heaven. That is your ticket to the Kingdom.’ It registered. It was something that I don’t know if I had heard before, or if I had heard it before, I didn’t truly hear it.
A few weeks removed from being sued by ratings giant Nielsen Audio for tampering with their sample, there’s more bad news for Bubba the Love Sponge Clem. The “shock jock”/former TNA interviewer/former best friend of Hulk Hogan may have paid more people to strategically listen to his show than previously thought.
The Tampa Bay Times is reporting that Nielsen Audio released a statement declaring that for the second month in a row, they are not listing ratings for WBRN-FM in Tampa Bay. The key is that the tampering that led to the lawsuit was completely eliminated by the end of September, so it looks like Nielsen found evidence of additional tampering by Clem. In text messages with the listener he paid who then went to Nielsen, he referenced having at least one past similar relationship.
Beasley Media Group (parent company of WBRN) President Bruce Beasley issued this statement:
We cooperated fully with Nielsen to ensure the accuracy of their past and forthcoming ratings. Therefore, we were blind-sided and disappointed to learn that Nielsen Audio will exclude WBRN-FM from the October 2015 ratings. The fallout from this dispute may inflict collateral damage on Beasley, which, indisputably, has done nothing wrong.
On coming back to TNA after an extended hiatus and the changes: “Just because whenever you leave somewhere and go away for a while and you come back things are always different so it’s not unlike any other job or profession. For me more then anything it was an opportunity not only to get back on TV for a little bit and for me that creates a ripple effect because I can get some Independent work out of it and some good things happen so I always look forward to that. But more then anything I look forward to seeing old friends, people I haven’t seen in awhile and maybe some new people that I’ve seen there work and have never been able to shake their hand before and just getting to see everybody that I used to run down the roads with and I hardly ever see them or talk to them anymore is something that I always look forward to with that element with returning to TNA.”
On if he surprised to see so many new faces in TNA: “Was I surprised? No. I try to keep up with the product even when I’m not a part of it. I try to know what is going on because I can’t watch every episode although I try. There is so much wrestling on TV now, there’s actually an entire network dedicated to it and there is so much you can look at on the Internet. I’ve got a new baby boy and he is only seven months old so that eats into my time a lot. So I try to keep up with the product and when I got down there and saw a bunch of new faces, I knew they were trying to do new things and try new guys out. But that’s the nature of the business. You’ve got to keep it fresh and you’ve got to have new faces with your product or otherwise it gets stale.”
On if he did he experience any pay issues like other talents have complained of in the past: “I think that there may have possibly been a situation where things would be late a little while but I’ve got a list of promoters that owe me money and TNA is not on it. They’ve made good on everything they have ever promised me or said they were going to pay me and they have made good on it. I don’t fall into that category. If there are guys that claim that, then I couldn’t speak to that either. I just can tell you that was not my personal experience with the company and whenever there was a delay I think in my case they were honest about what was going on. Usually some office red tape because you have to realize that there is a bigger company in Texas and the TNA Wrestling company is in Nashville so sometimes things had to go up the ladder and back down. So that can create delays sometimes. In my case, whenever I ran into any delays or something like that I never thought they were trying to stiff me.”
On doing the “Shell Yeah” gimmick: “Shark Boy was a character that had never spoken up to that point. It all stemmed from a silly impression that I would do to cut up the boys. It started on a tour of India where Simon Diamond and Sonjay Dutt and I were just being silly. Simon was telling everybody backstage at TNA what does Stone Cold think of this topic and I’d launch into the impression and people would laugh and think it was funny. Jeff Jarrett heard it and said he wanted me to do it on TV. What started out as a silly impression of one of my favorite all time wrestlers and is truly meant to be a satire, but in my mind it’s meant to be a tribute because I think he is one of the best ever. I look at it like it’s not really Stone Cold; its Stone Cold meets Sponge Bob Square Pants. It’s my take on it. He says “Hell Yeah” and I say “Shell Yeah”, I don’t say “damn” I say, “clam”, he drinks beer and I drink clam juice. It’s a parody and it’s a lot of fun and there isn’t a lot of fun in wrestling anymore.”
TNA officials have been in talks with reps from the Manhattan Center about holding another round of Impact Wrestling tapings in New York City in 2016, according to a report at Pwinsider. The tapings would take place around February/March, despite the fact that TNA’s future on Destination America remains in question.
As the World Title Series continues to play out on TV each week, TNA’s next TV tapings are scheduled for India next month. After that, TNA will film 6 episodes of Impact during January’s annual Maximum Impact tour of the UK.
While TNA lining up numerous rounds of tapings looks to be an encouraging sign, TNA has the obligation to continue producing shows for their international TV deals and these not necessarily an indication that they will have a national clearance in the United States come 2016.
Both Ring of Honor and TNA Impact Wrestling saw nice increases in viewership for this week’s shows on Destination America.
Ring of Honor at 11pm EST drew 227,000 viewers, a major increase from last week’s 132,000. This was by far the most-watched episode of ROH TV in the late night timeslot.
Impact Wrestling featuring the World Title Series drew a total of 364,000 viewers for both airings, up from last week’s total of 327,000. The first airing drew 266,000 (up slightly from 264,000) while the midnight replay / West Coast feed did 98,000 this week (up from 63,000).
Following this week’s episode of Impact Wrestling, here are the updated standings for the TNA World Title Series (Week 4) to crown a new World HeavyweightChampion:
Tag Team Specialists Group: Eddie Edwards (0 points), Davey Richards (0 points), Robbie E (3 points), Matt Hardy (6 points)
The Wednesday, October 21st edition of TNA Impact Wrestling drew 264,000 viewers on Destination America for the first airing and 63,000 viewers for the second airing, making a combined total of 327,000 viewers. That number ties last week for the third lowest viewership total since moving to Destination America.
Ring Of Honor on Destination America fell 24 percent this week going head-to-head with the New York Mets vs. Chicago Cubs MLB game, which drew 7.94 million viewers, as ROH drew 132,000 viewers on Wednesday night.
– In the video below, TNA’s Josh Mathews gives an update on the TNA World Title Series going into tonight’s Impact Wrestling.
https://youtu.be/1OnmlNJ_eno
– Tonight’s edition of TNA Impact Wrestling has several big name match-ups as the TNA World Title Series continues. Some matches include Ethan Carter III vs. Bobby Lashley, Tigre Uno vs. Mark Andrews, DJ Zema Ion vs. Manik and Mr. Anderson vs. Austin Aries, and will re-air Matt Hardy vs. Ethan Carter III vs. Drew Galloway from Bound For Glory.
– From December 2, 2015 through December 4, 2015, TNA will be touring India. The “One Night Only: Mumbai” pay-per-view will be the final show on the tour on Friday night which will be live in India, and in the United States will be on a tape-delay. The recently canceled “One Night Only: Battle of New Orleans” will be replaced by the Mumbai special after the New Orleans event was nixed for Halloween weekend. After TNA confirmed their decision to tape in India, they chose to cancel the Gulf Coast’s Hardcore Halloween tour.
Elijah Burke/The Pope was interviewed on the newest edition of The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling and covered a number of topics. Some of the key quotes:
Transitioning to announcing:
I think a lot of people know that when you are a wrestler and you’ve been doing it for twelve years as an active performer and then all of a sudden things kind of take a shift and the stars align and someone recognizes that your gift can be used in a different aspect. It’s been interesting and it’s been fun. It’s a different type of getting over with the audience. My job right now is to get over a lot of the guys that I’ve wrestled against and I’ve wrestled beside and the transition has been believe it or not, quite easy. It hasn’t been as hard of a transition as many people probably think it would be because the gift of gab is something that I always had.
The importance of the announcers t a show and his ability as a talker:
The night before WrestleMania 23 at Ford Field “Pope” was at an ESPN boxing presentation and was calling the fight alongside Thomas “Hitman” Hearns and once that was over with he looked at me and said how long have you been doing this? When it comes from an analytic stand point it’s not hard at all. What’s hard is the time provided to do so. That is sometimes rough because there is so much that is going on and obviously IMPACT is a fast paced show and often times my partner Josh Mathews who is a jack of all trades and doesn’t get a lot of credit for it but he has so much that he has to cover and so much that he has to get done and you may notice this but throughout the contest when Josh is talking this or that, the Pope has made it my job to bring the action and the focal point back to the two or four people that are in the middle of that ring because that is what wrestling fans want and what wrestling fans are watching so therefore I try to do the boys and the girls credit while they are in that six sided ring.
Why he prefers to call matches without knowing the finishes, which most old-school announcers preferred:
That’s the way “Pope” prefers it. I prefer not to know anything. Therefore, if I am seeing it and looking at it from a fan’s perspective then I can respond and react and say what you are thinking as a casual or regular viewer of the product. That’s what I love to do as a commentator for IMPACT Wrestling, I love to give the focal analysis that the viewer at home is watching as well. I want to translate as my Daddy would say “let me break this down in English so that a child could understand it”. For me it’s always easier and comes across natural, if you know that often times you can tell if something is forced or when a reaction is not a legit or real reaction. Everything that you get from “Pope” is not planned and is real and I’m watching it as if I’m sitting at home on my couch with a good friend of mine and we are back in 1996 watching WCW Nitro and Monday Night RAW.
Is he retired? Where exactly does his in-ring career stand?
I think in due time that “Pope” will have that opportunity. It’s not something right now and don’t think for a second that I don’t miss it, because I do. At the same time I’ve recognized that my job and my role are and I know what it is and that is to be an asset from a commentator standpoint. So I am not focused on anything except bettering my game at the table. I am not worried about anything else but becoming a better and as my partner would say the most “entertaining color commentator” in the business today and that’s what “Pope” wants to be and that’s what I’m setting out to accomplish. Now there will be times in the future and you can take “Pope’s” word for this. There will be times in the future when “Pope” will do a casual appearance inside the ring, I am not retired. Let’s get it out there right now “Pope” is not retired by a long shot I’ve got years left under my belt. I just recognize my role right now and have no problems committing to it and fulfilling it to the best of my abilities.
His thoughts on Samoa Joe, both with regards to their TNA feud and Joe going to NXT:
“Pope’s” feud with Samoa Joe did not receive nor get the type of attention that it should have and I am talking about from a in/out standpoint not from a viewer standpoint. I was openly and to a certain extent let my displeasure be known about it because you have to remember during that time “Pope” had just come off of a feud with Abyss and Immortal and Sting had just left and Kevin Nash walked out so “Pope” was the last guy standing fighting this big fight and I get put in a casket and then all of a sudden “Pope” gets put in a feud with Samoa Joe for no reason at all. However, myself and Samoa Joe made the best of it and had fun with it and that took us to our Lockdown match-up in St. Louis. I had fun with Samoa Joe, it was always great working Samoa Joe and he brought out the best in “Pope” and we definitely did a lot of innovative things. I’ve got to go on record and say how happy I am for Samoa Joe and for him to experience what he is experiencing right now and I wish him nothing but the best of love for him and his family’s sake.
Was he supposed to be in the Spirit Squad?
It’s funny that after all these years, over a decade and only this year I believe I’m answering questions about the Spirit Squad. It’s very true. They wanted me to go up and be in my opinion the “afro-haired chosen black guy” during that time in the group and trust me it was a great opportunity. We sat there and we talked to Vince McMahon himself and Vince said “I want you guys to understand that this is my idea and we are going to make a lot of money”. He said if you are uncomfortable we will send you back down to OVW and we will wait until we get something else for you. I went to Vince and Johnny Ace and said I appreciated the opportunity but with all due respect I don’t feel like I should do anything that I could not live up to in your standards and I don’t want to be a failure and I don’t believe this spot is for me. I was a little worried that I was about to tell the boss that I didn’t want to do it. Either he was going to respect me for it or he was going to punish me for it.
A lot of guys took it to heart that I said no which I never understood because they weren’t in my position or in my shoes and the guys that were going out there were very, very talented and thus when I said no they added Mike Mondo and they added Johnny Jeter and instead of it being four like it was originally going to be it turned out to be five. There was no way that this “big black guy” and 225-230 pounds at the time was going to be running down a ramp, jumping on a trampoline and flipping over the top rope. It was just not going to happen without me screwing up and looking like a fool. I didn’t want to take that chance, I didn’t want to risk that chance and I am happy that I did and kudos to Dolph Ziggler. Just look at him. In my eyes the guy is just a premier performer.
Make sure to listen to th full interview, where he discusses being “New Breed” in the ECW revival, his time in OVW, WrestleMania 23, and more.
James Storm confirmed via social media that the TNA World Title Series tournament was not planned ahead of time. Storm confirmed that fact when responding to a fake Jim Ross account on Twitter.
TNA had the tournament planned for a while. The matches were originally taped for a TNA One Night Only pay-per-view event, however when TNA managed to get an extension with Destination America, they decided to use those matches for Impact Wrestling instead. Unless they can get another extension, or reach a new agreement of some kind, they will be off the cable network in February.
– ECW original and TNA agent Tommy Dreamer is the guest on the latest edition of Taz’s podcast, “The Taz Show — Bodyslams & Beyond,” which is available now. You can download the show at Play.it.
– World Wrestling Entertainment stock was up 0.92% earlier today, closing at $19.78 per share. The high for today was $19.87, while the low was $19.42.
– After being released due to racist social media posts from her past, former NXT Diva and Seth Rollins’ real-life girlfriend Zahra Schreiber will make her in-ring debut for the Dreamwave Wrestling promotion on November 7th in La Salle, Illinois. Dreamwave tweeted the following announcement:
WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley recently gave a glowing review to a new documentary on YouTube about wrestler Lance Hoyt. The prject is titled “Bump” and you can watch it above.
Here’s what Foley had to say of the 8-minute and 26-second film on his Facebook page:
AN INTERESTING LOOK
If you have an extra eight minutes in your day, try taking a look at this short documentary about pro-wrestler Lance Hoyt. I watched it last night and was immediately struck by two things: Hoyt’s passion for wrestling – and the film-makers passion for this project. It’s possible that many of you only remember Lance Hoyt as a guy with a bad gimmick in TNA. It’s funny…and sad how long a bad gimmick can stay with you in the minds of fans. I started hearing great things about Hoyt as a wrestler a few years ago – but in my mind, he was still the guy with the bad gimmick. I look at him differently now, after seeing this documentary. You will too. Give it a try.
TNA has announced that Bram’s indefinite suspension has been lifted and he is now reinstated, effective immediately. John Gaburick tweeted the following statement about Bram being welcomed back to the TNA roster:
Kurt Angle posted a new blog on his official website where he indicated that he may pursue a teaching career.
Angle recently noted that he is taking one year off from pro wrestling after his TNA contract expires in a few months to figure out what his future holds.
Below is an excerpt from Angle’s new blog, which can be read in full at KurtAngleBrand.com.
My “long shot” dream was to be an Olympic Champion. Winning gold was my lifelong dream. I also had another passion, to be a teacher…to teach our youth. I have a college degree in education. I accomplished my ultimate dream, winning gold in the 1996 Olympics, but now that I’ve accomplished it, I want to use my college education to help others and to teach others.
Now that I am entering this part of my life, a time to slow down and reflect on all that I have personally achieved, I have a story that I want to share to help those people! I want to help others accomplish their goals and I can use my education to achieve that.
Our lives have so much meaning and we should continue to evolve, in every aspect. If you have your shit together, then you’re prepared to accomplish your goals. If you don’t have your shit together, start now and make your life something special. Help yourself to help others and your life will be prosperous. And remember… push toward every goal that you have, every single day, for your whole life. The day you stop pushing yourself is the day you have given up. So don’t give up. Watch, listen and learn, and make everything you do benefit you, your family, and others.
TNA was in India on Monday to announce an upcoming live events tour of India. The three shows will take place in December, including a “One Night Only” PPV taping from Mumbai on December 4.
Top stars advertised for the tour include Kurt Angle, Ethan Carter III, Bobby Lashley, Tag Champions The Wolves, Knockouts Champion Gail Kim and of course, Indian star Mahabali Shera.
Former WWE World Heavyweight Champion The Great Khali made a surprise appearance at the press conference and it was announced that Shera and Khali will be helping TNA search for a new Indian star to join the TNA roster.
BREAKING: TNA & @SonySIX announce 3 events in India this Dec, including historic ONO: Mumbai LIVE broadcast Dec 4. pic.twitter.com/ocnuAEzrpk
Both TNA Impact Wrestling and Ring of Honor lost viewers for this week’s 10/14 shows on Destination America.
Impact Wrestling totaled 327,000 viewers, down significantly from last week’s 447,000. The 9pm airing averaged 247,000 (down from 335 the previous week) while the replay dipped down to only 82,000 viewers (down from 112,000). After popping a big number last week for the Bound For Glory fallout and the start of the World Title Series, this week’s show did smallest audience for Impact in a month.
Ring of Honor did 174,000 viewers, essentially even with last week’s 175,000. This is still at the very high end of ROH’s viewership in the the 11pm EST time slot.
TNA star Jeff Hardy spoke to The Daily Star to promote TNA’s 2016 UK tour. During the interview, Jeff spoke candidly about his knee injury (torn PCL) and hoping it will not require surgery to fix:
“I have a torn PCL [posterior cruciate ligament] in my right knee and it’s been torn ever since I broke my tibia. They put a rod in my tibia, so after all the swelling went down I knew something was wrong with my knee. I finally went to the doctor, and I had an MRI, and found out it was a torn PCL.”
“I just started physical therapy last week, it’s been really tough. Hopefully that is going to work and I can avoid surgery. Fingers crossed.”
Hardy knows that major knee surgery could prevent him from working the in-ring style he’s pioneered over the past two decades. In the event that he can’t perform at the level fans are used to seeing for him, he might retire from active competition.
“I think a lot of it is psychological. The thing is, my style, I’m the kinda guy who if I feel I can’t wrestle the style that I always have, then I’m not going to want to wrestle at all.”
There is no timeframe for a return, Jeff says, but he is working as hard as he possibly can to get back to doing what he loves, and what fans the world over love to see.
Jef also commented on TNA’s lack off success over the years and expressed frustration with the company not taking off light it should have.
“I just don’t understand it and I never will because I’ve watched so many TNA shows that are just great. Drew Galloway is awesome. I love watching him wrestle, and cut promos. EC3 is right there, he is the top dog. Yeah, it’s frustrating to wonder why, and understand why it has not taken off like it rightfully should have.”
Following this week’s episode of Impact Wrestling, the following are updated standings for TNA’s World Title Series to crown a new TNA World Heavyweight Champion:
Originals Group: Abyss (3 points), Bobby Roode (3 points), James Storm (0 points), Eric Young (0 points)
Champions Group: Ethan Carter III (1 point), Bobby Lashley (3 points), Mr. Anderson (0 points), Austin Aries (1 point)
Tag Team Specialists Group: Eddie Edwards (0 points), Davey Richards (0 points), Robbie E (3 points), Matt Hardy (3 points)
Knockouts Group: Gail Kim (0 points), Madison Rayne (0 points), Awesome Kong (3 points), Brooke Tessmacher (3 points)
X Division Group: Tigre Uno (0 points), Manik (0 points), DJ Zema Ion (0 points), Mark Andrews (0 points)
Former TNA World Champion Ethan Carter III hosted a Q&A session on Facebook on Wednesday afternoon to commemorate the opening of his new website, TheRealEC3.com. Here are the highlights:
If TNA closes shop, will Derrick Bateman be returning to the WWE?
EC3: Derrick Bateman died in a horrific Fireworks factory explosion.
What do you really think can get TNA to the top? Besides yourself of course.
EC3: To the top is not the goal. To be consistently enthralling and an alternative I think keeping the path.
Is there any chance of you returning to the wwe? If so do you see yourself at the top of their company?
EC3: I believe I could be at the top of wherever I am, and right now that is TNA and my only focus.
Any chance I will ever see you in NJPW? Not a tna hater, the opposite actully, just a dream to see you there.
EC3: I loved the Japan. I don’t know if that could happen though.
– India looks to be a very big market for the TNA brand in the next few upcoming years. TNA employees remain very optimistic that the company will land a new cable TV deal in the United States in 2016. They also hold out hope that next year will be a new launching point for a better overall position in the TNA company.
– Shane Helms continues to be praised for his recent work as an agent in TNA. Helms was responsible for the Bound For Glory main event with Matt Hardy vs. Drew Galloway vs. Ethan Carter III for the TNA World Heavyweight title. Additionally, Tommy Dreamer has been getting more agent work in TNA, as he most recently served as the agent for the “Bound For Gold” match at this year’s Bound For Glory pay-per-view.
James Storm made an impact last week when he attended NXT Takeover: Respect and then made his NXT in-ring the following night at the NXT TV tapings from Full Sail University.
It turns out that it was actually Billy Gunn who was instrumental in Storm working with WWE. The two are good friends behind the scenes and as a trainer at the WWE Performance Center, Gunn helped open the lines of communication between the two sides.
There had been some reports that TNA made a last minute ‘big money’ offer to get Storm back, but PWInsider states that TNA simply reached out to Storm in hopes of getting him to join their upcoming tour of India, without any promises of a bump in pay.
Both TNA Impact wrestling and Ring of Honor saw significant increases in viewership for this week’s 10/7 shows.
– The post-Bound For Glory edition of TNA Impact Wrestling totaled 447,000 viewers, up over 100,000 from the previous week. This was the most-watched episode of Impact in 3 months, dating back to July 8th.
The first airing of Impact averaged 335,000 viewers, up from 275,000 viewers last week.
The West Coast airing / late-night replay did 112,000, nearly doubling last week’s 69,000.
Overall, a strong showing for TNA and a refreshing sign of momentum for the show.
– Ring of Honor did 175,000 viewers, up from 127,000 viewers last week.
The episode featured matches from MCU Field in Brookly, including Kazuchika Okada vs. Roderick Strong in the main event.
It was the most-watched episode of ROH since July 29th, the week they were bumped from prime time.
– Trevor Lee turned down an opportunity to work at the TNA Wrestling live event in Salem, Virginia on October 3rd. Lee turned down the show so that he would be able to appear instead for CWF, an independent show that took place in Gibsonville, North Carolina. That is apparently where Lee got his start in the business. Lee did end up working the Bound For Glory event later in the weekend in the same state.
– Sony SIX is financing the upcoming TNA tour of India, which will feature some taped episodes of Impact Wrestling, as part of a deal with the promotion to push Mahabali Shera, an Indian talent.
– The following are some recent TNA attendance figures:
* October 2nd in Beckley, West Virginia drew around 250 people
* October 3rd in Salem, Virginia drew 450 fans
* October 4th in Charlotte for Bound For Glory drew 1,800 fans with heavy papering