TNA held another round of TV tapings on Monday night from the Impact Zone in Orlando, Florida. Here are spoiler results, courtesy of James Kent:

– Kenny King beat DJ Z.

– They had a huge brawl between TNA guys and Global Force Wrestling guys. Jarrett was there for GFW.

– Awesome Kong and Lei’D Tapa went to a double count out.

– Jeff Jarrett vacated the King of The Mountain title, with a tournament to be hold to crown the new champion.

– Lashley beat Jessie Godderz in a KOTM tournament match.

– Bobby Roode came out for a promo. He’s upset he’s not part of the KOTM tournament. He made Rockstar Spud come out and then beat him up for ending Austin Aries’ career.

– Matt Hardy had a promo talking about his title shot against EC3, when Tyrus and EC3 came out and attacked him.

– The Wolves beat Brian Myers and Trevor Lee.

– PJ Black is your new KOTM Champion. He defeated Lashley, Robbie E, Eric Young and Chris Mordezky to win it. After the match, Black and EC3 faced off.

– Tigre Uno beat Sonjay Dutt to retain the X Division Title.

– James Storm and The Revolution beat up Mahabali Shera.

– They set up a match with Young and Chris Melendez. In order to get the match Melendez had to put his prosthetic on the line. Seriously.

– Jeff Jarrett is named as the new General Manager of Impact Wrestling as a result of Bully Ray’s departure from TNA. Jarrett announced EC3 vs. PJ Black. EC3 didn’t want the match, but Jarrett said he’d be stripped of the TNA World Heavyweight title if he didn’t face Black.

– Matt Hardy beat Tyrus. After the match, he got attacked by EC3.

– EC3 beat PJ Black in a non-title match.

– Matt Hardy beat Bobby Roode.

– Drew Galloway beat Eli Drake in a No DQ match.

– Gail Kim beat Marti and Jade in a Steel Cage match

It looks as though Destination America has dropped the 8pm EST. showing of Ring Of Honor television, at least for the next two weeks.

This Wednesday evening, ROH only has an 11pm EST. time slot scheduled on Destination America. The same can be said for Wednesday, August 5th.

Instead of the ROH airing at 8pm EST., Destination America will instead show “Bigfoot in America” episodes.

As far as TNA Impact Wrestling is concerned, there have been no changes to their schedule on Destination America.

• AWESOME New BIKINI PHOTOS Of The Lovey RONDA ROUSEY [>>]

Bully Ray, who just returned as the new General Manager brought in by Dixie Carter, is already done with the company.

The Former TNA World Champion has not been at this week’s Impact Wrestling tapings from Orlando, where he lives. According to PWInsider.com, Ray told the company he was not happy with the current state of TNA and told them he wouldn’t be making any more appearances.

Bully Ray’s return has been one of the focal points of TNA television over the past week, so it remains to be seen how they will handle the situation.

TNA Wrestling taped several additional matches in Orlando, Florida on Thursday evening. Below are quick spoiler results.

As was the case with James Storm, Austin Aries and others at Wednesday’s tapings, several wrestlers who are no longer under contract to TNA worked the taping.

• Bram b Grado
• Austin Aries b Ken Anderson
• Bobby Lashley b Drew Galloway
• Matt Hardy b Robbie E
• Davey Richards d Eddie Edwards
• Bobby Roode b Abyss
• Tigre Uno (without the belt) b Mandrews
• Eli Drake b Jessie Godderz
• Gail Kim b Madison Rayne
• Eric Young b Jamesw Storm
• Aiden O’Shea b Crazzy Steve
• Mahabili Shera b Kenny King
• They announced that at Genesis, which is probably a PPV, that Shera faces Tommy Dreamer
• Bobby Lashley b Austin Aries
• Manik b DJ Zema Ion
• Matt Hardy b Eddie Edwards
• Micah b Crimson
• Davey Richards b Bram
• Drew Galloway b Rockstar Spud
• EC 3 b Ken Anderson

• AWESOME New BIKINI PHOTOS Of The Lovey RONDA ROUSEY [>>]

Both TNA and Ring of Honor saw an increase in viewership this week for their Wednesday night shows on Destination America.

Here’s the breakdown (Eastern Standard time):

8PM: 139,000 viewers for Ring of Honor

9PM: 317,000 viewers for Impact Wrestling

11PM: 126,000 for Ring of Honor replay

12AM: 71,000 for Impact Wrestling replay

Impact Wrestling finished with 388,000 viewers, while ROH pulled in 265,000 for the night.

TNA star Kurt Angle has posted a new article at his official website talking about who he would like to wrestle his final match against.

Angle said if he could go back to the 1980’s, he’d love to wrestle Ric Flair in his prime. He also says he wished he could have wrestled Bret Hart and talked about his classic battles with the likes of Steve Austin, The Rock, Shawn Michaels, Eddie Guerrero, Brock Lesnar and others.

Angle said he’d love to get in the ring with guys like Roman Reigns, Cesaro, Rusev, Dolph Ziggler and Bad News Barrett, but the man he’d like to retire against is Daniel Bryan. Angle said:

“Epic matches in the future? The first that comes to mind is Daniel Bryan. He is Shawn Michaels reborn. I would love to retire against a wrestler I believe has won over the hearts of millions of fans. How did he win their hearts? He’s that good. Give me 30 minutes with Daniel Bryan and I will give you the match of the century.”

TNA Wrestling taped several matches for One Night Only and Xplosion in Orlando, Florida last night. Below are quick spoiler results.

James Storm and Austin Aries, whose contracts expired a few weeks ago, worked last night, so they are at least in for some shows.

• Drew Galloway defeated Bram
• Rockstar Spud defeated Grado
• Awesome Kong defeated Madison Rayne
• EC3 defeated Austin Aries
• Bobby Roode defeated James Storm
• Abyss defeated Eric Young
• Matt Hardy defeated Davey Richards
• Brooke defeated Gail Kim
• Kenny King defeated Aiden “The Thug” O’Shea
• DJ Zem Ion defeated Tigre Uno
• Tyrus defeated Chris Melendez
• Micah defeated Eli Drake
• Robbie E defeated Eddie Edwards
• Jessie Godderz defeated Crimson
• Manik defeated Mandrews
• Mahabili Shera (formerly Khoya) defeated Crazzy Steve
• Drew Galloway defeated Grado
• Eric Young defeated Bobby Roode
• Bram defeated Rockstar Spud
• Rockstar Spud defeated Bram
• Bobby Lashley defeated Ken Anderson
• AWESOME New BIKINI PHOTOS Of The Lovey RONDA ROUSEY [>>]

– TNA World Champion Ethan Carter III commented on Bully Ray being brought back to become the new TNA authority figure in a new video released on the company’s official YouTube page.

“Maybe my aunt going through that table jarred something loose and made her insane,” said EC3 of Dixie Carter’s decision to bring Bully Ray back to TNA.

You can check out the complete video below.

https://youtu.be/jO4Oy6Kwu1M

– Josh Mathews and The Pope discuss who could be the next TNA Hall Of Fame inductee announced for this year on the latest edition of TNA Breakdown, which you can watch below. The two speculated that the latest TNA Hall Of Fame inductee could be TNA founder Jeff Jarrett.

https://youtu.be/sPirRr-F2zg

• AWESOME New BIKINI PHOTOS Of The Lovey RONDA ROUSEY [>>]

Former TNA World Champion and recent departure Nick Aldis, a.k.a Magnus, recently spoke to Sean Ross Sapp of WrestlingINC.com. During the interview, Aldis discussed the infamous TNA conference call that followed Ring of Honor and Destination America’s signing, as well as him possibly going to NXT, and who he considers the number two wrestling promotion in America. Here are some highlights:

What was the conference call after ROH’s announcement like?

“It was chaotic. I don’t know whether that was a knee jerk thing or a reaction to that specific event. A lot of guys very nervous about their security, and I could understand it. I have a nine month old son. I may have said one thing, just focusing on practical business stuff. There were people sort of irrational like ‘we demand answers!, We have a right to know this and that!’ and I’m thinking we don’t really. We’re independent contractors, nobody owes us a living. I can only speak for my deal, but you have to take a step back and see we make a living pretending to fight. If someone can’t keep paying us to do that, we’ve been living in the bonus round. We could be digging ditches.”

Who do you consider the number two company in America right now, independent of international deals?

“In America, I guess it’d be pretty close. I don’t know the Ring of Honor ratings. I think the ratings are really archaic. I have a friend that works at Neilson, and it’s so variable and sporadic and not viable. ROH obviously has better live event business, because they have live event business period at this point, TNA doesn’t. TNA has two hours on TV, ROH has one. In certain markets, ROH’s brand recognition is probably comparable to TNA, but then I’d say in the south, TNA probably has slightly better brand recognition. I will say this, ROH’s operating cost is significantly lower. If I was looking at the two as an investor, that’s a factor. TNA’s international business is very good, though.”

Is NXT an option for you?

“I don’t know. Currently, I guess not. I’d like to. I think they’re doing some of the best job anywhere in wrestling. I think they’ve done a great job in creating their own version of an alternative brand. You can’t fault them, they are the business. The rest of us are fighting over the remains of the pie. I’m okay with that. I’m looking forward to any and all opportunities that come along.

“I’ve said openly how big of a fan I am of Lucha Underground. I haven’t had serious conversations with them, but I’ve certainly made them aware that’s absolutely something I’d love to get involved with. I think that I could surprise a lot of people if I went somewhere like that and did something completely new. I’ve got a lot more range than people realize. I tend to try to work smart. When it means something and the time is right, I’ll do the crazy stuff and do things they don’t associate with a 6’4 ‘body guy.’

“I’ve been in the business over ten years, I eat, sleep, breathe the business. I didn’t just wake up and decide I was going to be a wrestler. You’ve gotta be in shape if you want to do this. Sometimes I feel like because of this alternative culture that exists now, it’s almost a hindrance now, because people automatically associate you as a person who didn’t work as hard or was handed things. The way Dixie spoke publicly about me, I would say ‘please, that’s harming me, not helping me.’ I appreciate it, but it almost negates my own hard work. When I got to TNA, I was the shits, and I knew it. I hadn’t worked with anyone but Doug Williams and some other name guys on the independents before getting the gladiator gig. I didn’t have the experience, but what do you do, turn down a contract? I can tell you, that’s why I didn’t go after WWE at that stage. I just thought I wasn’t ready, and didn’t want to go until I was ready, if I ever go.”

Magnus also discussed the controversial angle involving himself, Mickie James and James Storm, the never-ending rumors of a TNA sale, why so many people left TNA all at one time, his aspirations to end up in WWE and more.

Former TNA Wrestling star Gunner recently appeared on The Pancakes & Powerslams podcast to talk about a number of subjects. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.

On if he had any issues with pay in TNA: “There were a couple of times where some pay got messed up when it may have come in a couple days late. I was always paid – to the most part – on time, pay was never kept from me, or anything like that. I know I talked to a few guys who hadn’t been paid in 30-45 days, and I said, well if that’s the case, you have to man up and say something, because in our contract it says we have to be paid in a certain amount of time after the shows. For the most part, I was paid on time, and paid right.”

On working with Vince Russo: “I always enjoyed working with Vince. I never had any issues. Sometimes his ideas were all over the place, but for the most part, he would ask you for your input. “What do you think about this, bro? What do you think about this?” He gave you a lot of leeway to do your own thing.”

On CM Punk saying “Thanking God is a weird thing to do”: “I don’t think it’s weird. We all have our different views. I’ve got buddies, like Ken Anderson, he’s an atheist, but we’re like best friends. We talk about religion all the time, and he knows that my faith is a huge part of what I do. It keeps me strong, and always has, since I was in the marine corps and when I went through war. I don’t think it’s weird at all. It’s no more weird than anybody else’s beliefs.”

Check out the complete interview at BlogTalkRadio.com.

• AWESOME New BIKINI PHOTOS Of The Lovey RONDA ROUSEY [>>]

– The following matches are scheduled for tonight’s edition of TNA Impact Wrestling:

* Matt Hardy vs. Bobby Roode (Tables Match)
* Magnus vs. Bram (Street Fight)
* Eric Young vs. Rockstar Spud (Chain Match)
* Dixie Carter announcing the next TNA Hall Of Fame inductee

– Likely due to the buzz surrounding Sting’s rumored WWE return, TNA has posted the following video looking at the TNA Hall Of Famer.

https://youtu.be/4bJntVI0LfA

– TNA also posted this video, which looks at Jeff Hardy’s paintings from the new “Humanomoly” DVD.

https://youtu.be/fDytjK-w87w

• AWESOME New BIKINI PHOTOS Of The Lovey RONDA ROUSEY [>>]

TNA announced Wednesday that Bound for Glory will take place Sunday, October 4th from Charlotte, North Carolina at the Cabarrus Arena.

The show will air on traditional pay-per-view, after TNA’s relationship with Destination America is rumored to be expiring.

Top stars advertised for the show include TNA World Heavyweight Champion Ethan Carter III, Kurt Angle, Matt and Jeff Hardy, Tag Team Champions The Wolves, Bobby Lashley, Bram and more. SEScoops.com reader Tony pointed out that Bobby Roode is conspicuously not mentioned in TNA’s press release for the show.

Tickets for Bound For Glory go on sale Friday, July 31st through the Cabarrus Arena box office.

Global Force Wrestling founder Jeff Jarrett recently appeared as a guest on Ring Rust Radio to talk about all things GFW. Below is a transcript of the interview.

On how many episodes of GFW TV he is taping this week and what channel, dates and times will fans get to see the finished product: “You’re digging for the good stuff and I appreciate that. We just named it Amped, and we are in the discussion of how many episodes so I can’t tell you how many right now. We are going to be shooting on content next Friday, then August 21st, and October 23rd. One thing is for sure, we are starting four tournaments starting next Friday: The Global Championship, the Tag-Team Championship, the Women’s Championship, and the Nex-Gen Championship. We do have Bobby Rude appearing and in my opinion he personifies what GFW in some shape, form, or fashion is all about. He is a wrestler under a contract for another promotion who will be appearing on our program. The number of episodes is a moving target at this point. We are going to go shoot the tournament then we get back who knows? It could be ten episodes, twelve, fourteen, who knows? It’s a work in progress. When you are trying to line up domestic and international, it’s a real challenge to try and please everybody. We are going to do our very best to expose the product to as many wrestling fans as we can.”

On the Nex-Gen division and what type of performers will be part of it: “Nex-Gen is a term we really thought about and studied. When you look at pro-wrestling in 2015, there are certain guys that are going to wrestle like the next generation and they are going to take it to the next level. Whether it be the speed of the Young Bucks or the innovation of the Bullet Club, there are so many different talents that will take it to the next generation. Then you see a guy who is a rookie, brand new in the business, and isn’t a household name today. But in the next generation of household names he will be. It’s a little bit of both, no weight limit, it’s a division of guys who want to get in there and wrestle. They may never have won a title before or it may be their style of wrestling that will give them that first opportunity to wrestle for that Nex-Gen title. It’s not a traditional type of division by any means.”

On what GFW will do to separate itself from WWE as another PG rated product: “It goes without saying that WWE is sports entertainment. They invented the term and they do it better than anybody else. It’s a very lucrative business for them and my hats off to them on how they have created their genre. We are professional wrestling, there are a lot of similarities but we are going to be more docu-style. Are we going to have story lines? Yes. It’s like how you have story lines in a sporting event like a baseball or football game. We are not going to write stories per say, but more along the lines of documenting them. There is a story behind every GFW athlete. Questions like: Why, why did you get into the business, why did you want to be a professional wrestler, why GFW, why do you want to be a Champion, why do you do this in your persona, what makes you tick, what’s going on in your family life? That all affects the business and how you climb the ladder of success. That’s a big difference between writing story lines and documenting story lines.”

On the Finn Balor documentary and if that is the style he is looking to use for GFW: “If you watch the GFW YouTube channel it will give you a sample. Back at Wrestle Kingdom 9 we documented our journey leading up to it. We also have videos coming out to give you a feel for it with guys like PJ Black, the Bollywood Boys, the Akbars, and Mordetzky. The videos dive into the talent and the wrestler’s lives and what’s really going on in their world. Just recently, we took a real life situation, I went back into TNA with a lot of raw emotion and I don’t want to get to long winded on this, but a non-TNA talent left the promotion with the King of the Mountain title. Eric Young was pretty vocal about it backstage and went on a Twitter rant about it. He said it didn’t have anything to do with it but if you connect the dots you can see it. My hats off to him for being vocal about it. Eric and I have a personal relationship that goes back over ten years. He has been at every 4th of July party at my house except maybe one he missed. We have a real close relationship and I respect him because he didn’t go behind my back about his frustrations. He just made it vocal he didn’t like it. I told him he should come up on the tour and we can talk about it. He took me up on it and came and had a match against Johnny Gargano, local independent superstar, from the AIW. You don’t see that kind of stuff in any other promotion.”

On an invasion angle between TNA and GFW: “The word invasion is kind of been there and done that in my opinion. Certainly you can already see that Bobby Rude is coming to Vegas next Friday for the first ever set of Amped tapings and he is under contract with TNA. Eric Young was just with us this weekend. We are in discussions of the next steps of this business agreement. Global Force Wrestling and TNA wrestling, whether it’s a co-branded show, a co-promoted show, a collaboration, that’s all in discussion right now and I am reporting it in real time as much as I can. As a wrestling fan myself, this kind of stuff excites me because you just don’t see this nowadays. Years ago you had hand shake agreements between promoters, you had Ric Flair as a traveling champion, and Dory Funk working for multiple promotions. Once the territory system went away, you were left with the big two of WWE and WCW. Then you were down to the big one, just being WWE. Then you had had TNA and Ring of Honor come around with every promotion acting like an island. WWE can do that since they have north of 90% of the market share. You have all the smaller promotions fighting and clawing for that brand identity. I believe with GFW and our mission statement, we want to have a working relationship with any and all promotions because rising tides raise all ships. I went out and formed the relationships that I have had over the years and made them more formal with New Japan and Triple A and around the globe with the independent promotions in Europe, South Africa, and Australia.”

Tonight from Orlando, Florida, TNA kicks off what could be the final round of Impact Wrestling tapings, with 8 tapings being held over the next 9 days.

TNA will be taping episodes of Impact Wrestling through September, Xplosion matches and “One Night Only” PPVs.

Each taping starts at 6pm local time at Universal Studios Sound Stage 20. With the exception of Sunday July 26th, TNA will be taping at the Impact Zone each consecutive night through Thursday, July 30th.

Former TNA Wrestling star and current Global Force Wrestling performer Nick “Magnus” Aldis recently appeared as a guest on the PodNasty Wrestling podcast to talk about a number of subjects. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.

On not having fun toward the end of his TNA run and working with Jeff Jarrett in GFW: “No, absolutely not (I wasn’t having fun in TNA). Some of that’s to do with them, and some of that’s to do with me,” said Magnus.

“Nobody owes you a good time or anything like that, but due to a number of different things I wasn’t having fun there anymore and I just like to work for Jeff (Jarrett) again. I think Jeff is a great boss, a great wrestling guy and he’s got a lot of great experience in the business.”

On dropping the TNA World Heavyweight Championship: “I thought it was premature and immature.”

“To me, I don’t think that decision was just based completely on business. What’s done is done, you know, they made their bed,they’re lying in it and when it comes with what they’re left with now, you get what you pay for.”

On not liking the Mickie James train tracks angle in TNA: “The only person who did like it was the person who wrote it. He had the final say on it, we all suggested alternatives, we all thought it was not going to work and it was not going to get a reaction, and our disregard for it and that was the result of it. That was one of the reasons where we just kind of said ‘okay, it’s maybe time to wrap this thing up.'”

Check out the complete interview above.

• CM Punk To Fight A GRUDGE MATCH For His FIRST UFC Fight?!

TNA is making a major change to their talent contracts that has a lot of people unhappy, with more departures expected in the coming months.

Most TNA stars have had a guaranteed monthly pay in addition to a per-appearance fee. Due to the latest round of ‘financial restructuring,’ those contracts with a guaranteed monthly downside are being dropped in favor of per-appearance deals.

In some cases, TNA will now be paying talents a little bit more per appearance than they were already making, with the idea being that it will make up for the loss of the base pay. If TNA increases their schedule to include more dates, talents could actually end up making even more money than they were making originally.

Regardless of the positive spin, many TNA performers are understandably upset by no longer having guaranteed money coming.

It’s worth noting that while most of the contracts will be changed to this new structure, a few high-profile guys like Kurt Angle and Jeff Hardy will likely keep their existing agreements.

• CM Punk To Fight A GRUDGE MATCH For His FIRST UFC Fight?!

(Credit: PWInsider.com)

WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross recently updated his official Q&A section, answering questions from fans on a number of topics. Below are some of the highlights.

On if WWE will induct The Honky Tonk Man: “I have no idea. In my eyes HTM is certainly a WWE HOFer. All we can do is stay tuned.”

On Cesaro vs. Rusev from RAW: “Thought the match overachieved and was entertaining. No wasted motion. Happy for all involved.”

On WWE going with Steve Austin vs. Scott Hall at WrestleMania 18: “I have no idea as that’s been 13 years ago. The storyline featured the nWo, so that was the direction that was taken.”

On why there aren’t as many good mic workers: “Some guys have potential but they will be challenged to find their voice as long as their promos are scripted for them.”

On TNA and GFW’s working relationship: “I have no idea but anything is possible and the two organizations working together is a timely idea.”

On GFW having tournaments to decide their first-ever champions: “Time will tell, but having tournaments is the natural way to determine champions in a new promotion. I hope GFW succeeds. The titles will help establish the personalities.”

Check out more JR Q&A online at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.

• RONDA ROUSEY Trashes FLOYD MAYWEATHER For Domestic Abuse LIVE On ESPN

T.J. Perkins (aka Manik) recently spoke with the v2 Wrestling Podcast about a number of topics. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.

On the future of the TNA/GFW relationship: “I”ve got no idea, to be honest. I’m sure maybe some people do, but I kinda feel like a lot of people don’t. I think that maybe it really is a rollercoaster that everybody just decided to get on without seeing how far the track goes. Maybe that’s a good thing, I’m all for it. I hope that it’s going to continue to become a bigger and bigger thing, because the guys that have been or are going to be working with Jeff, a lot of them are friends of mine. I was thrilled to see them working together, so it would be cool to share a banner or share a ring with them in some sort of fair-weather status or better.”

On the endgame for the Revolution storyline: “I don’t know. In some ways I”ve tried to overachieve a little bit lately out of frustration, not really at any particular thing. Just sometimes I personally feel like I”m treading water. It’s funny because there’s been times where I thought that there was no idea for me and then I found out that there was a lot for me to do that had been set in place. And then there”s times where I feel like maybe I have to figure out my own details myself. But as far as treading water, it’s not in the group sense or anything like that. Personally, sometimes I set little goals for myself that’s not really being asked of me. It’s just something that I’m trying to do on my own. Now I kind of feel like I’m treading water because there’s little things that I”m expecting of myself that I’m not always getting. It’s not necessarily something I wish I could be doing and I’m not getting the opportunity or anything like that. It’s really more of a personal thing.”

On rumors of per appearance deals in TNA: “Pretty much nobody is on a per appearance deal. Maybe people have asked for that now in an effort to change course in their careers, because maybe they have other stuff they want to do. Some of these guys might not even want to necessarily be wrestling anymore, so a lot of it might have to do with that too. But as far as before recently, none of us were on a per appearance deal. I don”t know where people would get that from, but if you got it, you were definitely lied to. And actually where it might come into play is because all of us were getting guaranteed money, and then on top of that we get extra bonus money per appearances. So I think people might hear that and depending on your level of personal negativity, you choose only to hear the last part. Some people have a different ratio where their appearances are more than their guaranteed, but everybody was definitely on guaranteed money.”

On his obsession with Deadpool: “I”ve always felt like the Deadpool character is very different from everything else. It has so much freedom. I”ve always been into it, but I also drew inspiration for Suicide and Manik from that character. Like with other characters I”ve done, I”ve never had a character that I felt more handcuffed than I did when I took on the role for Suicide and Manik. So I really started to embrace my fanboy for Deadpool because I felt like channeling that was my way of creating freedom in that situation. It kind of helped me open my mind to other ways I can individualize myself and it became a good model for me. It’s funny because some of the best stuff about the character is in a lot of ways how Deadpool is. For example, Deadpool is just barely getting a movie and the reason being is because everybody, probably even down to the people at Marvel offices, thought: not enough people are going to get this, not enough people have seen it and not enough people will understand it. In my case, sometimes I feel like the best stuff for my character is a lot of stuff that most people won’t get, but some people will get because they”ve followed me more closely. Like on social media, they’ll follow me when I live tweet shows and some of the funniest and brightest stuff as far as my charisma will come out in that medium, but most people don’t get that because not everybody is following me closely. But those that do, think that some of those things are my most brilliant stuff, because I don’t get to hold the microphone very often.”

On whether he will drop the mask: “I hope so. It’s funny because if you ask everybody individually in the TNA office about me, then all of them have the same answer. Why is this guy in a mask? He”s good looking, he”s charismatic, he’s funny, he’s very witty. But I feel like if you guys never had this conversation altogether, it’s like none of you guys think I should not be doing it, so then why am I doing it? So I like to think that that’s a sign of changes to be made when it’s ready to come out.You don’t want to move too quickly. You look at people’s careers and the arc that their creative character took and the arc that their personal real life took ?it didn’t happen overnight. At least people that did something great, it took a long time to really progress and there were specific times and reasons for those things. You have to find the right time, like now’s the time it’s going to start getting better because this part of my life or my creation is done. You know, like losing the skeleton mask. At that point I felt like the suit was ready to be retro, so I had to let it go for a while and the change ended up becoming something else, and eventually that’s going to need to change too.”

On his best friends during TNA tapings: “Lately I”ve created a small clique with myself, Mandrews and Crazzy Steve. We”ve become like the three amigos, at least for the last little while. They’r’e fun guys, I like them a lot. We snuck out and rode rollercoasters one time. It was fun.”

On whether he will work the GFW shows: “I simply don’t know. If it were up to me, yeah, I would be on everything, even if it meant rocking the boat. But then again I don’t want to be like Hernandez or anything. Only because it’s so new and I haven’t really approached that professionally yet as far as what’s going on personally and what’s going on between the two, I haven’t really caught myself up on it.”

Check out the complete interview at V2Wrestling.com.

It appears that MVP is the latest TNA star whose days with the promotion are coming to an end. Rumors of MVP finishing up with TNA have been circulating for quite some time and he’s once again promoting on Twitter that he’s accepting independent bookings.

MVP’s departure seems to be a direct result of Hernandez’s release, which was a result of a dispute with Lucha Underground. MVP recruited Hernandez to be a part of the Beatdown Clan faction, but is now declaring the BDC dead.

MVP signed with TNA in February 2014 and his contract was set to run through February 2016. There has been no official confirmation of his departure, but his tweets form Friday night indicate he’s moving on.

The BDC is dead.

But never in spirit…

— MVP (@The305MVP) July 17, 2015

Available for bookings.

BOOKMVPNOW@GMAIL.COM

— MVP (@The305MVP) July 17, 2015

https://twitter.com/The305MVP/status/622175566419095552

Global Force Wrestling issued the following on Friday to promote the release of the new book by GFW’s Nick Aldis (aka Magnus).

Nick Aldis took part in a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) session on Thursday afternoon. Aldis talked about his time in TNA, the general wrestling landscape, his time on “Gladiators” in the UK, WWE, and much more. Aldis will be in Las Vegas on July 24th as part of the GFW Global Championship Tournament. For match-ups and ticket information, click here.

Here are some of the highlights from the AMA:

fenderdean13: Now that you are out of TNA and are a free agent, what promotions other than GFW and ICW are you looking forward to working with? Is PWG a option, or any of the promotions under the wwn or smark mark video banner? Also are you looking forward to facing anybody while working at these different places?

Aldis: There are some great promotions I’d like to work with including PWG. Loads of talent I want to work with: Young Bucks, Cabana, Moose, Chris Hero, Rampage Brown, Shinsuke Nakamura, Machine gun KA and tons more.

benlikesfood: Hey Nick, I saw you last year at a TNA house show in Sioux City, IA. I believe it was you, Bobby Roode and Bully Ray in a triple threat. Was a great match and a pleasure seeing you in person

Aldis: Thanks! GFW coming to Iowa soon. Check GlobalForceWrestling.com

Booby50: I was unable to make the GFW show in Appleton, WI last week. Did you get to enjoy the area/see any sights? Also, how do you get so cut?

Aldis: I enjoyed the Appleton show, great fans. As for your other question, check out my book “The Superstar Body” https://www.amazon.com/The-Superstar-Body-Real-World-Techniques/dp/1909626430#mediaMatrix_secondary_view_div_1437020737201

ollinsblonde: Hey Magnus, hope you’re well. I know a lot of us here are a bit wary on how GFW is going to go from the get-go? I, personally am still holding out hope. Why should we be excited about it?

Aldis: Common sense approach to the product. Innovative, honest presentation of the talent. New production techniques. Fresh energy.

homer62: Thanks for doing this sir. What do you see as differentiators between TNA and GFW?

Aldis: Early days, but so far, I’m having fun again at Global, that’s the key difference. Great crew.

odor31: Tell us about your recent match(es) with Kongo Kong in GFW…excited for the title tournament coming later this month?

Aldis: Great super heavyweight. Tons of potential. Very looking forward to Vegas.

You can check out the entire AMA with Aldis by clicking here.

• SPOILER: TOP WWE Legend Set For SURPRISE RETURN At Monday’s RAW!

Sports Illustrated’s Extra Mustard blog recently spoke with TNA Hall Of Famers Team 3D (aka The Dudley Boyz) — Bully Ray and Devon — to promote the upcoming House Of Hardcore event in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.

On a possible WWE return:

Devon: “For us not to be back there, knowing that we’re in the best shape we’ve ever been in, I don’t understand it. We’re better now than we were ten or fifteen years ago. I understand that they want the future. But without the older generation that paved the way for these young guys to come, you’re not going to have it. Wrestling is a lost art, so you need the older guys like us to help show the younger guys how it’s done. I don’t understand it, though I know it needs to be on their terms.”

Bully: “Take the Dudley Boyz and put them back in WWE, and you’d add instant credibility to the tag division. The great thing about the Dudleys is we can work with any team and we can work any style. Not only will we help one team get over and learn and get better, but we can help all of them. It seems pretty simple to me – having the Dudleys back in the WWE is best for business, so I don’t have a really great answer for why we are not there. Only they know. You would think the most decorated tag team in the history of WWE would be able to go back into a company and breathe life into the tag division. It may never happen, but you never say never. It could be right around the corner.”

On Paul Heyman and ECW:

Devon: “The greatest thing Paul Heyman ever gave us was creative liberty. A lot of the boys liked to call Paul the ‘David Koresh’ of pro wrestling back then, but he believed in you. He’d fire you up to the point where you thought you were bigger than Hulk Hogan. He made you believe in yourself. Paul took the time to develop your character. When people didn’t know how to speak on the mic, he’d sit there with you until three, four, or even five in the morning until you got it right. Paul really let us be us. When WCW fired Steve Austin [in 1995] and WWE wasn’t knocking on his door, it was Paul E. who saw something in Austin. Eric Bischoff fired Austin when he was hurt in WCW, and Paul E. said, ‘I know you’re hurt, but can you talk?’ When Steve came to ECW and delivered those promos – oh my God, you couldn’t believe that was the same guy who was in WCW. That’s what started Austin as a superstar. Steve started to be born again, and it was the same thing when he was in WWE. He didn’t become a star until he was given the creative liberty to be himself.”

Bully: “We text and talk all the time. Me and Paul, our relationship is better than anyone else he had from the entire ECW roster. We respect and like each other as people. Even at the Rumble, it was great catching up with him. When the Rumble was over, I was on Brock Lesnar’s tour bus with Brock and Paul, and we were shooting the s— and reminiscing. When Brock first started and Paul was his manager, I was Brock’s first storyline. The WWE came to me and asked me to get Brock ready for what could be in store for him.”

Bully Ray on Brock Lesnar: “Brock is just so powerful. One night, we were performing at Penn State, and Brock gave me an overhead belly-to-belly suplex. He dropped me right on my head. It was a total mistake, and it could have been a very, very bad injury for me. As soon as it happened, I remember getting up and telling Brock, ‘Do it again, do it again.’ He did not want to suplex me again, so I made him suplex me three more times the same exact way. I didn’t want Brock to become gun-shy about throwing people or change the way he worked if he’d be worried about hurting other people.”

Bully Ray on traveling with Shane McMahon: “When Shane McMahon was on the road for the company, he was in the car with us. One night, we were driving, and Shane decided to wake up his father and made us all say hello to Vince at three in the morning. Vince loves all that horses—. Shane was driving and he said, ‘Come on, let’s wake up Pop.’ I said, ‘That’s probably not a good idea.’ So he called his father and said, ‘Bubba wants to talk.’ He handed me the phone and all I could hear was Vince say, ‘Bubba, why are you corrupting my son?’ I told him it was the other way around, and we both started laughing.”

Bully Ray on Vince McMahon: “Vince spent his whole life in the business, added his vision, and made it the best in the world. Vince has a great mind for the industry and thinks on a much larger scale. Paul [Heyman] was great at storytelling and really getting people’s characters to come out and how to hide your weaknesses and accentuate your strengths. Those are the two smartest guys I’ve ever learned from in the business, and Paul, Vince, and Pat Patterson are the three best minds ever in this business.”

On Erick Rowan and Luke Harper:

Bully: “Right now, the one WWE tag team that deserves to taste the Dudley Death Drop is Harper and Rowan. It was very interesting they started hitting the Dudley Death Drop on TV and calling it something else. We’ve been hitting this finish consecutively for eighteen years.”

Devon: “That is a touchy subject. A move like 3D – when you see it, you automatically think the Dudleys. So Harper and Rowan started the fight. Harper said on Twitter, they’d be happy to show us ‘The Way,’ which is what they’re calling the move. Well, we’d be more than happy to hit 3D the way it should be hit.”

Check out the complete interview at SI.com.

• SPOILER: TOP WWE Legend Set For SURPRISE RETURN At Monday’s RAW!

TNA and Ring Of Honor on Destination America numbers were down this week after spiking last week for some of their best numbers in recent memory.

ROH drew a record low 80,000 viewers for their initial airing at 8pm EST, while Impact Wrestling drew one of their lower numbers, as 293,000 viewers tuned into the first airing of the show at 9pm EST.

Below are the Wednesday night ratings for this week:

* ROH at 8 p.m. 80,000 viewers
* TNA at 9 p.m. 293,000 viewers
* ROH at 11 p.m. 89.000 viewers
* TNA at midnight 72,000 viewers

• SPOILER: TOP WWE Legend Set For SURPRISE RETURN At Monday’s RAW!

Global Force Wrestling founder Jeff Jarrett recently appeared as a guest on Between The Ropes Radio to discuss his new wrestling promotion. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.

On the ‘Amped’ name for the GFW TV show: “You want to describe in a real short, consider manner what you want your consumer, you viewer to feel and Amped touched on many of the bases. On the one hand, it’s not that big of a deal but on the other hand it’s a huge deal. So at the end of the day, I think it’s a little bit in between that. I don’t care if it’s called Raw, Smackdown, Nitro, Thunder, Impact, Xplosion, you can go on and on. What matters is what happens when you sit down in front of your iPad, your computer, your TV, whatever it is and do you like it. Do you like the content. That determines the success of the show, certainly not the name of it.”

On the reaction he received backstage when he walked to the ring upon his return to the Impact Zone and after he cut that promo: “When I walked through the locker room and Austin Aries did a double take like “what the heck?” Backstage as we got out of the car Nick Aldis — Magnus — knows my kids and saw them first and we had already discussed him being part of the Grand Slam Tour and all of that but he didn’t know I was coming down there. He did maybe not a double take but sort of a triple take and you could see his wheels spinning like “what the heck is going on here?” That’s probably about the same as I went through there and we capture footage, it’s on YouTube. That video specifically is up to like 90,000 views. But pretty much everyone turned their heads and wasn’t real sure what was going on. It was a cool moment. It was one of those times in wrestling where you can say I didn’t see that coming, I enjoyed that.”

On whether or not he will show up at the upcoming Impact TV tapings: “Never say never. Those discussions are continuing to go on. Bobby Roode is going to be in Vegas next Friday (for the GFW TV taping). Eric Young was just on this loop. It’s very obvious that the relationship has not ended. Where it’s going to go is TBD. It truly is TBD. I think both side will continue to bring their respective fanbases along for the ride.”

Check out the complete interview at BetweenTheRopes.com.

• SPOILER: TOP WWE Legend Set For SURPRISE RETURN At Monday’s RAW!

TNA Impact Wrestling on Destination America
Taped in June at Orlando, Florida at Universal Studios
Report by Jason Powell and ProWrestling.net

[Q1] Impact opened with a recap from last week of Dixie Carter speaking to EC3… Josh Mathews and “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero were on commentary… Dixie Carter stood in the ring and the TNA wrestlers were standing around it. She spoke about how the fans cheered when she was powerbombed through a table by Bully Ray. She said she asked herself how it got to that point.

Dixie apologized to the fans. She said she is sorry for a lot of things, but she doesn’t regret going through the table and breaking her back. She said she developed respect for what the wrestlers do day in and day out. She spoke about how she had to make a decision to put someone in charge of the company.

EC3’s music eventually interrupted Dixie. EC3 and Tyrus stood on the stage. EC3 demanded to know who she chose. Dixie said she had to make the decision and now he was going to meet “the law.”

Bully Ray made his entrance wearing street clothes. He noted that it was odd to see him and Dixie in the same ring together. He said he took her phone call and the first thing she said was that she was sorry. He asked what she was sorry for. He recalled her saying that she’s sorry for letting everyone down.

Bully said he’s happy to be back with what he considers to be the best locker room in the business. He said he’s also angry. He said he was coming back for the fans and the wrestlers. He said he didn’t like that they were standing on the floor because it made it seem like they were beneath him and Dixie. Bully had the wrestlers stand on the ring apron.

Bully spoke about how everyone in the company cares and they still care despite all of the things that Dixie put them through. “You came clean,” Bully said. “It’s good enough for me, but I’m not making the decision, I’m leaving the decision up to them.” Bully asked the fans if they want him to come in and bring TNA back to the promised land.

Bully said he wasn’t going to hug or kiss Dixie, but he would shake her hand and accept the position. He said it was time to do what TNA does best – have a great wrestling show. Bully said he didn’t forget about EC3 and told him that he would defend his title tonight against the winner of a 20-man battle royal that would start immediately.

[Q2] [C] 1. 20-man battle royal. Norv Fernum was the first match eliminated. Crazzy Steve was out next. Mark Andrews was eliminated. Shark Boy was out next. They cut to commercial at 4:45. [C]

After the break, they aired replays of some of the eliminations and Mathews noted that you never know what will happen in a battle royal and that most of the wrestlers were eliminated during the break. The match was down to Eric Young, Drew Galloway, and MVP.

Young tried to dump MVP and Galloway at the same time. MVP was eliminated, but Galloway saved himself, so the match came down to Young and Galloway.

[Q3] Galloway ended up performing a running one-legged kick on Young that sent Young over the top rope to eliminate him from the match…

Drew Galloway won a battle royal in 11:40 to earn a TNA Title shot.

A TNA Hall of Fame video aired. It recapped Sting being the first entrant in 2012… The broadcast team spoke in the studio about Sting being in the Hall of Fame and hyped that Dixie Carter would announce the 2015 member next week. The announcers also recapped Bram hitting Mr. Anderson with a mic and spoke about what a dangerous man he is…

The broadcast team set up Mike Tenay’s interview with Mr. Anderson. Tenay said there have been a lot of rumors about Anderson’s future in the wrestling business. Wait, since when? Anyway, Anderson said he’s 39 years-old and feels better than he has in ten years.

Anderson spoke about how the potential of being injured at the hands of Bram. He said Bram doesn’t care about his wellbeing or his children’s wellbeing. Anderson said Bram is a dark individual. He said he can also go there and if he does it will be ugly. “The fact of the matter is…I don’t know,” Anderson said. “I don’t know”.

Backstage, Rockstar Spud approached Bully Ray, who worked in a fat joke about Tommy Dreamer. Spud said he’s in a different place now. He said he lost to Angle and is no longer the X Division Champion. Ray asked why he was so down on himself.

Ray said Spud lost to Angle and said “we all have” lost to Angle. He said Spud should be happy that he hung with Angle. He said he knew that Spud had “it” the first time he saw him. Ray booked Spud in an X Division Title match. Spud hugged Ray and then ran off excitedly… [C]

A Hall of Fame video package focussed on Kurt Angle’s induction in 2013… The broadcast team recapped the battle royal that opened the show…

The backstage interviewer asked Galloway what’s going through his mind heading into his TNA Title match. Galloway spoke about how this is his destiny and he’s going to be the TNA Champion. Eli Drake approached him and said he’s on a roll and then told him to go out there and make history… [C]

The brief X Division video aired and then Christy Hemme handled the introductions for the X Division Title match…

[Q4] 2. Tigre Uno vs. Rockstar Spud vs. Grado vs. DJ Z in a four-way for the X Division Championship. There was a comedy spot with Spud and Grado throwing punches at Z. They stopped and did big windups, then acted like they thought they thought the other man was going to hit the big blow. The crowd didn’t seem all that amused.

Uno took control and performed a dive over the top rope and onto Spud and Z at ringside. Uno followed up with a corkscrew moonsault(?) onto the knee of Grado and pinned him to win the match…

Tigre Uno defeated Rockstar Spud, Grado, and DJ Z in 4:05 to retain the X Division Championship.

A Doll Houe and Gail Kim video aired… [C]

The Knockouts video with the annoying theme music played, and then Christy Hemme introduced the title match participants. Yes, Brooke bent over and shook her ass again when she was introduced.

[Q5] 3. Taryn Terrell (w/Marti, Jade) vs. Brooke. Marti and Jade roughed up Brooke at ringside while the referee was tangled up with Taryn inside the ring. At 4:45, Taryn performed a high cross body block for a two count. Marti and Jade got involved again and shoved Brooke off the top rope.

The lights went out and Gail Kim appeared in an all black outfit when the lights were turned on. Gail roughed up Marti and Jade at ringside briefly. The lights went out and Gail disappeared. Brooke performed a clunky facebuster, which she calls the butter face maker, and then pinned Taryn to win the title. Mathews noted that Brooke’s 238-day title reign is over…

Brooke defeated Taryn Terrell in 7:35 to win the TNA Knockouts Championship.

Backstage, Kurt Angle seemed in favor of Bully Ray being in charge because they are both world class wrestlers. He said he went to Ray with an idea and he liked it, but someone else would not like it when he makes it after the break… [C]

Kurt Angle made his entrance for an in-ring promo. Angle said he’s not ashamed to admit that he lost in the middle of the ring to EC3. “The kid is good, he’s got a lot of talent, championship caliber,” Angle said. However, Angle said he had a problem with EC3 getting himself disqualified during his rematch.

[Q6] Angle said he went to Bully Ray. He said they don’t see eye to eye, but Ray respects him enough to hear him out. Angle said Ray told him the rematch never happened and Angle will get another rematch when he wants it.

Angle said he went to the doctor over the weekend and was diagnosed with a tumor in his neck. Angle said he would be having surgery and would be out for a little while. Angle said he has his title match to look forward to once he gets back. Angle thanked Ray for the title shot and said he loves him. Angle thanked the fans for supporting his quest to win the title again.

Before Angle could leave, Eric Young made his entrance. Once in the ring, Young told Angle that he would have to start telling the truth. Young said EC3 didn’t beat Angle, he did. Young spoke about how many times he pile drove Angle, then asked how many piledrivers does his neck have left.

Young said he wanted to take credit for Angle’s neck tumor, but it’s actually nature telling him that it’s time for him to pack it in. Young said maybe the next time he pile drives Angle he never comes back.

Young said Angle’s absence isn’t going to be enough, he wants him gone for good. Young punched Angle and then attempted to give him a piledriver, but Angle fought him off. They fought to ringside. Young set up for the move again, but Chris Melendez came out and Young backed off.

When Melendez turned his attention to Angle, Young attacked him. Young gave Melendez a piledriver on the floor. Young came up bleeding around the eye from what seemed to be a minor cut… Pope hyped EC3 vs. Galloway for later in the show, and Mathews hyped footage of Magnus vs. James Storm in an unsanctioned match from Slammiversary… [C]

The broadcast team set up the James Storm vs. Magnus match from Slammiversary. The ring entrances were shown and then the match began.

[Q7] The conclusion of the Storm vs. Magnus match aired a couple of minutes into this quarter-hour… Footage aired of a Mickie James promo from two weeks ago, and then Storm talking about about how there’s always room for one more in his faction while Khoya stood behind him. Storm said his tag partner is someone very close to Mickie. He took a phone call from this person and answered, “Hello, beautiful.” Mathews hyped the tag match with Storm and his partner vs. Magnus and Mickie for two weeks from now.

Backstage, EC3 told Bully Ray that he wanted to work with him. He said he’s the TNA Champion and that’s a great responsibility. EC3 said he defended the title three times last week and that was very exhausting. He said he feels they should push his title match with Galloway back a week.

Bully said he values his opinion and would take it under advisement, then told him the answer is no. Bully said EC3 is the champion and needs to act like one. He told him to stop complaining and find a way to get the job done… The broadcast team hyped the match… [C]

Ring entrances for the main event took place…

[Q8] 4. EC3 (w/Tyrus) vs. Drew Galloway for the TNA Championship. Galloway got the better of EC3 early and they fought at ringside. Galloway slammed EC3 on the ring apron, but Tyrus clotheslined Galloway. Eli Drake headed to ringside on crutches. Mathews said Drake evened the odds. [C]

EC3 was in control coming out of the break. Galloway chopped him and the announcers noted that EC3’s chest was flaring up from the chops. EC3 quickly regained control. Galloway fought back, but EC3 put him down with a heel trip and got a two count.

Galloway made his comeback and performed a clothesline off the ropes for a two count. He followed up by picking up EC3 and dropping him on the top rope, then kicking him. They traded punches and then Galloway performed a power slam for a two count.

Mathews noted that The Rising was forced to disband, but it doesn’t prevent Drake from supporting Galloway in this manner. Galloway went to the corner and set up for a move. Tyrus grabbed his foot momentarily to distract him, then EC3 performed chops that Galloway no-sold. Galloway spun EC3 around and chopped and punched him.

It wouldn’t be a TNA Title match without a ref bump. This time, Galloway accidentally caught the referee with an elbow. EC3 low blowed Galloway. Tyrus entered the ring. Drake came in and hopped on one foot while keeping Tyrus back with a crutch.

Eventually, Drake struck Galloway with the crutch and then showed that there was nothing wrong with his knee. Once Drake left the ring, EC3 performed the One Percenter for the win…

EC3 defeated Drew Galloway in 14:50 to retain the TNA Title.

• SPOILER: TOP WWE Legend Set For SURPRISE RETURN At Monday’s RAW!

Privately, at least some of the talent in TNA, while not told outright, have been given a heads up (if you read between the lines) about the company’s future on Destination America.

Some talent has been told that the money TNA makes on overseas television deals will keep the money afloat while they shop around for a new television deal in the United States.

TNA talents have also been told that the company will survive and will be okay because they’ve trimmed most of the big contracts and have eliminated many of the higher paid wrestlers from the roster. They are also saying that their business model is changing.

• *NEW* — PHOTO Of THE UNDERTAKER Working Out At The Gym! [>>]

(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)