Although he has signed a new full-time deal with WWE, Samoa Joe is still scheduled to team with AJ Styles to take on Frankie Kazarian and Christopher Daniels at the Ring Of Honor television taping in New York City.

According to the latest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, however, WWE has been pushing very hard for that match to not be taped for television, which was the original plan before Joe signed his new WWE deal. As of right now, the belief is that the match will not be taped for the ROH television show.

It’s said that ROH wanted Joe for more dates, but their new national cable television deal with Destination America is one of the factors that led to WWE offering Joe a full-time deal, which will likely prevent Joe from doing so.

Joe is no longer accepting independent dates past August 31st, as he is scheduled to begin working in NXT full-time in September. Until then, Joe will be working the big NXT live events and any other WWE Network specials.

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter is also reporting that a name change for Samoa Joe and a main roster spot are reportedly still up in the air.

Another key factor in WWE bringing Samoa Joe in full-time to work in NXT is because of the perceived lack of depth of high-profile stars in the promotion. With Kevin Owens moving up to the main roster, and other top stars such as Sami Zayn and Hideo Itami on the sidelines, WWE felt the need to bring in another high-profile name to the NXT brand.

• PHOTO GALLERY: Ronda Rousey Looks HOT In New TV Commercial!

Ring Of Honor star Christopher Daniels recently appeared as a guest on the Two Man Power Trip Of Wrestling podcast to talk about a number of topics, including ROH securing a new television deal with Destination America.

On the general reaction to the news of ROH TV debuting on Destination America: “Honestly, I was very surprised. This was all a shock to the entire roster, but a good shock. I feel like one of the things especially since I’ve come back to Ring of Honor that I hoped would happen is more of a concerted effort to broaden the horizons of Ring of Honor. Being a part of a syndicated show is one thing but as far as syndication goes not every place is going to have it available or have access to that show and now being on Destination America it certainly opens a lot of doors to a new and wider fan base. So it is a great step forward for Ring of Honor and a win-win situation for us as a company and as a brand.”

On ROH being the lead in programming to Impact Wrestling: “To me, it seems like Destination America is building a night of action, like almost a set block of time for professional wrestling. Truthfully speaking the best two options in the United States that aren’t WWE are Ring of Honor and TNA so you are certainly covering a broad spectrum of talent and I think it is great for both companies. It depends on what happens in the next couple of months to see how this benefits Ring of Honor and benefits TNA.”

On the difference in the locker room of ROH from when he left to his return: “The only difference with the locker room is the people that are in it. There has always been a sense of togetherness and family in that locker room because we have always been striving to make Ring of Honor a better product and that is very similar now to when I left. That feeling of everyone being on the same page and building towards something. It was weird because when I left in 2011 they had just been purchased by Sinclair and were just starting to get their television show off the ground and then I come back in 2014 and the first show that I get a chance to do is the first live broadcasted pay per view that Ring of Honor ever did. So to me I didn’t have anything to do with the build of the company from that period they started on Sinclair to now, that was the work of all the guys in that locker room. Guys like Adam Cole and Michael Elgin and Jay Briscoe and Roderick Strong that was something that that locker room sort of did on their own and built themselves up. I feel very fortunate that they gave me an opportunity to return to the company and to bring Frankie (Kazarian) with me. Frankie didn’t really have that history with the company that I did and at the same time me having history with that company didn’t necessarily warrant me having a spot in the locker room and I understood that and I knew that coming into the locker room I was going to have to do something to prove that I still belong and I could still hang with these guys and be a productive part of the roster. I feel like me and Frankie have done that in the last year and have shown that we are capable of going out there with younger teams like reDRagon, The Young Bucks, The Briscoe Brothers and Matt Sydal and ACH and have quality and productive matches and we’ve taken that opportunity and have run with it since the first day we got there.”

On teaming with Frankie Kazarian and being the ROH tag team champions: “When we were in TNA as Bad Influence, we wanted to be the kind of tag team that Beer Money was or the Motor City Machine Guns were. That team that sort of made themselves a team and made that the priority. I feel like TNA didn’t really put as much effort into us as we did into ourselves and even though that was disappointing that was just the way it went. Now in Ring of Honor there are so many great tag teams and so many teams that are focused on being a great tag team and there is so much talent there that being the champions, to me it means a lot and I am looking forward to getting an opportunity to wrestle against all of these guys as champions and make the story of the tag team titles as important as the heavyweight title and the television title in the fan bases eyes.”

On the Clair Lynch Saga: “Things that were pitched to the company and what the company ended up doing with it had some little differences that could have made the story tighter and make a little bit more sense. In the end the two major things that we wanted to get out of that storyline was me and Frankie as an established tag team and as the petty jealous guys that would do anything to get to the top and re-establish AJ Styles as the top baby face. I feel like all the stuff we put him through when he came out of that and came back stronger as a baby face, when he came back he was in the world title picture and I think a lot of that had to do with us putting him through the ringer.”

Check out the complete interview at Podomatic.com.

• Ronda Rousey On Shaquille O’Neal’s Comments About A Fight With Her

Former TNA star Christopher Daniels recently spoke with the folks at Kayfabe Kickout about his decision to leave TNA, return to ROH and more. Below are some highlights from the interview.

On whether he saw the move coming that he would have to eventually leave TNA: “I was definitely surprised and disappointed. I knew that we (Frankie and myself) weren’t being used as a top tag-team despite being told repeatedly that we were one of the most entertaining acts on the roster, but I figured that there was an ebb and flow to it all, and once TNA signed Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards, I assumed there’d be an opportunity for us to come back into the spotlight in a feud against them. But that wasn’t the case.”

On whether sees himself in the ROH Title picture after his match with Roderick Strong at Supercard of Honor IX: “Well, I believe that as one of the first talents to work at the main event level in RoH, I can always be looked upon as a viable contender to the heavyweight title. But a lot of that depends on the future for Frankie and me as a tag team, which I feel is very positive at this point.”

On working with Alberto El Patron (Alberto Del Rio): “I was very proud that the company viewed me as a potential opponent for Alberto. I felt that it was a sign of their confidence in me as a wrestler to put me in such a high-profile match.”

Check out the complete interview at KayfabeKickout.com.

• UPDATE: Latest On SCOTT STEINER Reportedly Trying To KILL Hulk Hogan!

At yesterday’s Ring of Honor TV tapings in San Antonio, TX, The Addiction (Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian) defeated reDRagon to become the new Ring of Honor Tag Team Champions.

Daniels and Kazarian also revealed that they were two of the masked men who have been appearing on Ring of Honor television over the past few months, with the third member being former TNA star Chris Sabin. Below is a promo featuring The Addiction discussing their match with reDRagon.

• Top NJPW Talent Coming To Ring Of Honor In May

Former TNA performer Christopher Daniels recently spoke with Vaughn Johnson of Philly.com about a number of topics. Below are highlights from the interview.

On how things have gone for him now that he’s over a year removed from being in TNA: “Well, I feel like we were very lucky that I think the last year, year-and-a-half in TNA, I think people were sort of disappointed in how we were used. So when we left TNA, there was a good demand for us as a team … not just in Ring of Honor, but on the independent scene and overseas. I feel like we’ve been very lucky and will continue to be lucky that Frankie and I have had the opportunity to wrestle a lot of great team out on the independent scene and in Ring of Honor. It’s cool that we can sort of bring our act together around the world, around the United States to a lot of the independent companies and continue to do what we love to do.”

On his thoughts of wrestling promotions on television in the U.S.: “I think it’s a great time to be a wrestling fan to have all of these different alternatives to WWE, and not to say that WWE is bad in any way. WWE is what it is. It’s the model of professional wrestling. There’s a lot of great stuff happening on WWE television right now, but there are a lot of alternatives as well like TNA, Ring of Honor, Lucha Underground coming into play in the last year and New Japan finally getting their foot in the door here in the United States. I’ve had the opportunity to watch a couple of episodes of that television show and I think it’s just a matter of time with WrestleKingdom 9 being broadcast on pay-per-view here in the States, and that television show, that New Japan is going to make a move to try to do more things in the United States whether it’s doing more crossover dates with Ring of Honor or doing something on their own.”

On how wrestlers feel about the current state of the business: “I think that a lot of the guys that are at the independent level are a lot of the guys looking to branch out on television and there’s a lot of opportunity for them with Lucha Underground, with TNA moving to Destination America, with Ring of Honor still going strong on Sinclair’s syndicated stations. There’s a lot of opportunity to break out and get on television in one or more of these companies.

Then you can’t forget that the strides that NXT has taken to become not just the feeder system for the WWE, but it’s own brand. I know that they just had their third or fourth special recently and there’s not a bad word about NXT going around anywhere. Everybody’s thrilled about the guys that are in NXT, the action that they see and the type of show that NXT is, and that also being an alternative to the things that you see on WWE.”

On how much longer he thinks he’ll wrestle: “As long as I want. Right now, I don’t see an end yet. That’s crazy to say, but if someone told me that I would be wrestling four days a week for the foreseeable future, I ‘d be fine with that. I actually challenge people to try and get me to the point where I’m too beat up to wrestle or I’m too tired to wrestle. I want to wrestle. Right now, I feel good. I’m always actively looking for bookings and trying to continue to get better and do more and try to expand my repertoire and just continue to make this career what it is. I’m not looking to retire anytime soon and I’m challenging promotions out there to try to work me to death. I dare you.”

Check out the complete interview at Philly.com.

• SAMOA JOE Heading To WWE? TRIPLE H Says He’s Interested! Details Here!

Christopher Daniels spoke to NOEentertainment.com this week and commented on whether he would ever return to TNA. Daniels gave the old “never say never” answer, but it doesn’t sound like he’s optimistic about it.

“I don’t think so, not at this moment. I’ll never say never, especially when it comes to my livelihood and it would be very selfish of me to say that I’d never work in a company, in any company, when that company could conceivably be the best choice for my family. So I’ll never say that I’ll never work for TNA again, but the truth is right now with all my focus on Ring of Honor and trying to build that brand up, you know, make it more high profile, make more people aware of it. I just don’t think if I were to return to TNA that it would be a step in a different direction, and that’s not really where my interests lies.”

He also commented on TNA’s rocky 2015 as they begin a new chapter on Destination America:

“The last 6 months for TNA have been very tumultuous were very unstable and I’m glad to know the people I care about, my friends that work there, I’m happy to know that they’re with Destination America and they got more of a streamline focus for their future, that their doing well and I hope they do well.”

Ring of Honor announced the following on Tuesday:

ALBERTO EL PATRON VS. “THE FALLEN ANGEL” CHRISTOPHER DANIELS!

This is a first time ever match against a Ring of Honor original!  Since returning to ROH, The Fallen Angel has been reinvigorated and ready to take on absolutely anyone from anywhere.  The Addiction has made a huge impact on the ROH tag team division, but Daniels is also pursuing a singles career and having stellar matches against the best in Ring of Honor.  Nigel McGuinness couldn’t think of a better introduction to our elite roster than “The Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels!

Daniels is one of the most well-rounded athletes in all of professional wrestling.  He refuses to limit himself and that makes him an especially challenging opponent.  Daniels can match anyone hold-for-hold, but he’s not afraid to take to the sky either!  This long tenured veteran has emerged as one of the most respected and successful professional wrestlers competing today, an athlete whose experience and savvy might be unmatched within the ROH locker room.  According to Nigel McGuinness, all of these qualities made him the ideal “welcoming committee” for Alberto El Patron in Ring of Honor.  On January 3rd, you will have the privilege of watching two of the best do what they love in front of the greatest fans on the planet!

Alberto El Patron’s hybrid style combines MMA training with an eclectic mix of Mexican and American pro wrestling techniques.  For years, El Patron has stood out as an exceptional talent against anyone who faced him.  But any wrestling fan couldn’t help but think: what if he had the chance to take on ANYONE in professional wrestling, unrestricted and unrestrained?  Finally, that day has arrived.  El Patron has been making waves since returning to competition in Mexico, recently securing the AAA Heavyweight Championship.  Crowds around the world have exploded every time he makes his entrance.  So you know that January 3rd in Nashville is guaranteed to be a very special night for anyone in attendance!

In addition to a stellar live event featuring the ROH debut of Alberto El Patron, January 3rd is also a taping for ROH TV!  Our cameras will be rolling to capture everything that goes down while we kick of 2015.  Whether you’re in the crowd or behind the scenes, the verdict is unanimous: 2014 was the biggest year ever for Ring of Honor’s growth and global exposure.  But we promise that 2015 will be even bigger! Starting off with the TOP PROSPECT TOURNAMENT and the debut of ALBERTO EL PATRON, 2015 has gotten rolling before it’s even officially started!  You need to be there LIVE on January 3rd when Ring of Honor returns to Nashville.

Saturday, January 3rd, 2015
National TV Taping
Tennessee State Fairgrounds/Expo
625 Smith Avenue
Nashville, TN 37203

Signed to Appear
– ROH World Champion: Jay Briscoe
– Adam Cole
– Frankie Kazarian
– The Decade (Jimmy Jacobs & BJ Whitmer)
– Adam Page
– Hanson
– Matt Taven
– Michael Bennett W/ Maria Kanellis
– Mark Briscoe
– Tommaso Ciampa
– Cedric Alexander
– Roderick Strong
– Moose w/ Veda Scott & Stokely Hathaway
– Caprice Coleman
– Plus More

Joe Dombrowski sent along the following …

AJ Styles – The Missing Matches” Available Now On DVD & Digital Download

He is one of the most gifted athletes of our generation, who has stolen shows and given breathtaking performances throughout his career. While many of his matches were beneath the bright lights of global television and pay-per-view, some of “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles’ best efforts never saw the worldwide stage, leaving even the most ardent of AJ fans unaware of their existence.

Joe-Dombrowski.com, in association with Sorgatron Media, are proud to present the best of these hidden gems, in the first of our series “The Missing Matches”. You’ll see 11 rare matches, spanning the past decade of AJ’s career, plus a special sit-down interview as AJ addresses the subjects everyone is talking about, as well as “The Missing Questions” – topics no other AJ interview to date has covered!

You’ll see the following rarely seen matches –

AJ Styles vs. CM Punk
AJ Styles vs. Matt Hardy
AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels
AJ Styles vs. Christian Cage
AJ Styles vs. Jeff Jarrett
AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels vs. Jonny Storm & Jody Fleisch
AJ Styles vs. Shiima Xion (aka Zema Ion)
AJ Styles vs. Johnny Gargano
AJ Styles vs. Delirious
AJ Styles vs. Tony Nese
AJ Styles vs. Facade

Over four hours for only $20 on DVD or $15 via Digital Download! Purchase now by visiting Joe-Dombrowski.com and click on “Store”!

You can check out the official trailer for the DVD above.

Gunner joined TNA in 2010 but his story goes back to 2001 when he began wrestling but a year later he joined the U.S. Marine Corps as a Machine Gunner and reached the rank of lance corporal serving in the Iraq War.

The 32-year-old from Hickory, North Carolina, is a one-time TNA tag team champion with James Storm and a one-time TNA Television Champion.

We caught up with Gunner to talk about working with the Nature Boy Ric Flair, his dad being involved in story lines, wanting to become TNA Champion, plus much more.

Q. How did you first get into the sport of professional wrestling?

I’ve been a wrestling fan since the age of five and I started wrestling in 2001, and i joined the marine corp 2002 to 2006. I was wrestling before i went to bootcamp and during my time in the marine corp I would travel 20 hour round trips or so every weekend I could to wrestle on certain shows, so I was juggling both at the same time. I’m just living my dream.

Q. Who were some of the wrestlers that you enjoyed watching whilst growing up?

I could sit here and talk to you about that all day, some of the ones that come to mind are; Macho Man Randy Savage, Ricky Steamboat, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, and Ric Flair. The main one for me was Macho Man, I was a massive fan of Randy Savage.

Q. What has it been like getting to work with guys you enjoyed watching like Kurt Angle and Ric Flair?

They are both very knowledgable guys, so it was great for them to pass their knowledge on to the younger guys like myself who are the future of the company and the future of the business.

Ric managed me for a while so he would be at ringside for my matches, and just him knowing how to tell a story and paint a picture was amazing. Kurt Angle is a machine, anytime you’re in the ring with him you are going to have to work, but that is great, it has taught me the never say die attitude.

Q. What has it been like in the TNA dressing room with the likes of Hulk Hogan, Jeff Jarrett, Sting, AJ  Styles, Christopher Daniels and Kazarian all leaving the company?

Professional wrestling is a business and like anyone that works in any business we are all expendable. All of those guys that have left the company are off still doing great things, and even though it’s a shame to lose top guys like that it gives the younger guys in the locker room the opportunity to step up to the plate. Those are big boots to fill, nobody is going to be the next Sting or AJ Styles but it gives us a chance to build new characters and new stars.

Q. Your rivalry with James Storm saw some real life elements brought in the the storyline, was that something you enjoyed?

James and I have our differences and we just don’t like each other, but he is still an amazing performer, he can fight and he knows what he is doing in the ring. Those matches I had with James enabled me to step up even more, and it has given the fans the opportunity to invest in my character.

Bringing my father into the storyline was a great experience that I enjoyed. Wrestling is totally different now to when I was a kid, when everything was larger than life and seemed as though it had just come out of a comic book, the guys could still work but now the fans want to know what the wrestlers are like in real life.

Q. What is your next target?

I’ve got my eyes on the big prize, the TNA Heavyweight Title. I feel like I was robbed on the last TNA tour in the UK when I wrestled Magnus for the title and James Storm interfered. I think I’m ready for another title shot, Eric Young is the champion and we have a friendship but when it comes to business we both want to be world champion. Obviously he doesn’t want to lose it, but I want to win it, that is my main goal to be champion.

For more information you can follow Gunner on Twitter @TNA_GUNNER

– The latest edition of Steve Austin’s “Steve Austin Show” podcast, which features an interview with Christopher Daniels and an appearance by Jim Ross, is now available. The official description for the show reads as follows:

SASu – EP128 – ROH’s Christopher Daniels & Good Ole JR

“ROH’s Christopher Daniels aka Curry Man aka Fallen Angel stopped by the studio at 316 Gimmick Street! Hear about ROH’s big PPV event, Christopher’s in-ring style & philosophy, and some of his favorite tag teams including Midnight Express & Rock & Roll Express. Plus, he explains why he Shawn Michaels is his favorite wrestler of all-time. Plus, a surprise (well not anymore) visit from Jim Ross!”

You can download the show right now at PodcastOne.com.

– The latest edition of Jim Ross’ “Ross Report” podcast, which features an interview with Lance Storm, is now available. The official description for the show reads as follows:

TRR – Ep18 – Lance Storm

“Lance Storm is one of the most well-spoken students of the pro-wrestling game, and has gone from being one of the best inside the squared circle to being the best trainer of new talent today…and he’s sharing his knowledge & stories with JR! William Regal, Chris Benoit, CM Punk, Bray Wyatt – all covered!”

You can download the show right now at PodcastOne.com.

The following matches are advertised for tonight’s Ring Of Honor “Best in the World” show, which is the company’s official debut on regular pay-per-view.

ROH World Championship
– Adam Cole (c) vs. Michael Elgin

ROH World Tag-Team Championships
– Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish (c) vs. Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian

ROH TV Championship
– Jay Lethal (c) vs. Matt Tavern (with Truth Martini handcuffed to the ring post)

Submission Match
– Roderick Strong vs. Cedric Alexander

Six-Man Mayhem Match For ROH TV Title Shot
– ACH vs. Takanaki Watanbe vs. Caprice Coleman vs. Tadarius Thomas vs. BJ Whitmer vs. Tommaso Ciampa

– Kevin Steen vs. Silas Young

– The Briscoes vs. Matt Hardy & Michael Bennett (with Maria Kanellis)

The following are highlights of a new Busted Open Radio interview with Frankie Kazarian:

On ROHs PPV “Best In The World” and Bad Influence getting back together: “I’m so excited for the PPV. Ring Of Honor arguably has the best roster of just pure raw talented wrestlers. From top to bottom in singles, tag teams, heavyweights and lightweights. They’re presenting a really good product right now and throwing Chris and myself in there I think is gonna add a little extra to the product, and I’m really excited for it.”

On what influenced him to jump to Ring Of Honor: “It’s just a matter of wanting new challenges. 16 years in the business there is not a lot of things you can do that is fresh or for the first time. Knowing that Chris and I haven’t scratched the surface on what we can do as a tag team both in and out of the ring. Looking at Ring Of Honor and looking at the group of guys they got, everyone including the guys behind the scenes working so hard to make the best product possible. It was almost a no brainer for us to move on to that phase of our career.”

On if there’s anything left he wants to accomplish in his 16 year career: “I want to be the world champion. Whatever company I’m with I want to eventually be the world champion. Obviously the first goal in Ring Of Honor is to win the tag team titles. Being world champion is why you get in the wrestling business. It’s the top of the mountain. Set your goals as high as you can and work your way to achieve them. Wherever I am I want to be at the top. So yeah, there are things I want to accomplish in the business, but I’ve accomplished more than I ever thought I would. When you stop setting goals, working to achieve things and are just working for a paycheck because it’s your job, that’s when you probably should move on.”

On whether Ring Of Honor could be the number two wrestling company behind WWE: “That all depends on things like the TV distributions, but that’s not in the hands of the wrestlers. In a perfect scenario, if the distribution were to grow for Ring Of Honor and if it were available in more regions, who knows? The wrestling and the product can hold it’s own. A lot of things factor in to that that I thankfully have no control over. I’m happy being a wrestler. That’s up to the powers that be and with the buzz that Ring Of Honor has right now, that could happen.”

On his thoughts on TNA going cold on Bad Influence quickly: “I mean at first, yes, I was surprised just because I feel like we weren’t having bad matches and bad segments and we were never told we were doing otherwise. We were just told ‘You guys are doing great, but we’re going with this team and this direction.’ OK that was fine. It didn’t make us work less hard, but eventually after a while we thought that they weren’t going to come back to us. I understand you need to cycle everyone through and you have a large roster of guys and teams, but every once in a while some guys need to come up from the water to catch some air. I didn’t get it. I was never going question our abilities, because I knew we were good. You just wonder what you did wrong and when you don’t get the answers to the questions you ask, sometimes you just shrug and put your hands up. To find out why, I guess you just need to ask them, because I don’t know.”

On TNA not getting out of the funk they are in: “I put a lot of myself into TNA and I enjoyed my time there. There will always be a part of me in that company. It’ll always be home for me. They just decided to go in a different direction and got rid of a lot of guys that were famous for that company. I’m sure they have a plan and know what direction they are going in, and I hope it plans out well for them. It’s just a direction that doesn’t involve us and I’m cool with that. Honestly, I want them to do good. I don’t want any wrestling company to go on a downward spiral.”

On other alternatives and companies to work for as a wrestler: “WWE is always going to be number one, at least in my life time. That’s just the way it is unless there is something drastic that happens. There are many alternatives and there are places putting on great shows. Jeff Jarrett and his new promotion is great. Anything Jarrett puts his name on I think will be great for the business. It’s a fun time to be a wrestler and a wrestling fan. The indy scene is loaded with talented guys and I think it’s been the most loaded it’s been in the last 10-12 years.”

On his thoughts on Bully and D-Von getting into the TNA Hall Of Fame and whether he would like to be inducted as well: “I didn’t know about that, so congrats to Bubba and D-Von. They deserve it. When I think of Hall Of Fame I always think of old, retired football players. It’s hard to even fathom that a guy my age in his mid 30’s could be inducted. You look at who’s in TNAs Hall Of Fame and there are some guys there that have done some amazing things in their careers. You got the icon Sting, Kurt Angle who’s arguably the best wrestler in the world and now Team 3D, one of the best tag teams of all time. Hopefully they continue to put guys in that made TNA what it is today.”

Check out the complete interview at BustedOpenNation.com.

The following are some quotes from Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian speaking on their TNA departures in a new shoot interview with RF Video:

Daniels: “You can’t look at the act we had going on and say we weren’t over. You can’t look at us and say we aren’t good wrestlers and we weren’t entertaining. So, the reason behind letting us go at this point is mind-boggling. I have no idea why they thought that was a good business decision.”

Kazarian: “Still to this day we haven’t gotten a straight answer. Other than being told, ‘we’re going in different directions,’ telling different stories.”

Daniels: “Our story isn’t good? I don’t understand that. They decided to go with the Bro-Mans. I like Robbie and I like Jessie but I’ll say this right now, we’re a better team than them. We’re a better team. We’re more entertaining and we’re better wrestlers. That’s it. I love them to death. Jessie’s worked really hard to get where he’s at right now and he’s learning by leaps and bounds. But side by side, we are a better team than them. And they decided to go with them. That’s a personal decision.”

Kazarian: “You start to think, like, does somebody not like us? You always hear that. I would even ask, ‘did we piss somebody off, does somebody just not like us?’ It’s, ‘no you guys are doing great.’ Then every once and a while, we hear like, ‘well you wore your own shirt to the ring that one time.’ That was like in August of last year and we haven’t done it since so is there heat or not heat?”

Daniels: “Ok yeah, I did that and I apologized…”

Ring Of Honor recently announced that former TNA star Frankie Kazarian will be appearing at the upcoming “Best in the World” pay-per-view on June 22nd in Nashville, Tennessee. Kazarian will team with Christopher Daniels to challenge Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly for the ROH Tag-Team Championships.

Also announced for the PPV in what could be one of his final high-profile matches with the promotion is Kevin Steen, who is expected to head to WWE developmental in the near future, in a one-on-one match against Silas Young.

For more information on ROH’s “Best in the World” PPV, visit ROHWrestling.com.

• Is Taker RETIRED?! Why Does Mysterio Want To QUIT WWE? + Rollins Heel Turn Update …

– Christopher Daniels has reportedly signed a contract with Ring Of Honor. The former longtime TNA star is expected to start full-time with ROH on the company’s upcoming June 22nd show.

– As things currently stand, there are no official plans on the existing schedule for New Japan to work with ROH in the near future, however the company is said to be interested in bringing in a NJPW star for their “Final Battle” show. ROH is said to be most interested in Kazuchika Okada, since other than Jushin Liger, he was the performer who got over the best with the ROH fans.

The following are highlights of a new RCWR Show interview with former TNA star Christopher Daniels:

On his TNA departure: “Just disappoint really. I envisioned there be an opportunity for Bad Influence vs the Wolves to happen on television but I found out that really wasn’t in the plans. TNA made the decision of what they thought was best for their product. I don’t necessarily agree with it but in the end it’s their decision and they need to make the decision that they think are best for their business. Whether it’s for financial reasons, creative reasons or a mixture of the two. So disappointment? Yes but not frustration or bitterness. It’s happened before. For every company around has made decisions that have fans scratch their heads on but at the same time those guys have the long term picture in their heads and it may not be clear to the wrestling fans at this point of why they’re doing it but something will come in the future where they will understand and at the same time I’m not dwelling on that decision. I’m looking forward to working in different companies, and the many matchups available for myself and Frankie Kazarian right now in the independent scene. It’ll be interesting to see what we do in the next couple of months.”

On fans seeing TNA as an unrecognizable product with so many veterans gone: “In terms of my presence there you’ll see and feel in the next couple of months cause I won’t be there and you’ll be able to notice before Daniels and after Daniels in that respect. But for people that are saying they’re not going to recognize the talent roster, my retort to that is there’s still going to be guys like James Storm, Ken Anderson, Gunner, Robbie E and Jesse G, people like Gail Kim and the Beautiful People are still there. And then you’re getting this opportunity with guys like Sanada, like Brittney, like Tigre uno, Bram, even Magnus who is still somewhat new to the promotion or at least to the position that he’s in far as being one of the top guys. He’s still a young face and is making strides as a character and as a performer. I think that most wrestling fans will give wrestling an opportunity and it’s up to those people that I just named to give the wrestling fan base reasons to continue to tune in. I neglected to even mention Eric Young who’s their new World champion there. He’s been around for a while, he’s a recognizable face and he’s now the World champion. He’s already got another show in the works for Animal Planet, he’s a very high profile individual and probably a very good choice of World Champion at this point. Now it depends on building up that fan base and getting them use to the idea of Eric Young as champion and those names that I just mentioned to be the benchmark for the company.”

On Eric Young as World Heavyweight Champion: “I feel like he sort of got thrown in the deep end. There wasn’t really an opportunity for fans to get behind him, get behind his road as a no. 1 contender. It all happened so quickly. That’s no fault to Eric as it’s the decision the creative team made. Now it’s up to the creative team and the company as a whole to sort of get behind Eric. The creative team has to decide on how to present him as a strong champion and put all their effort behind him or do you go back to Magnus. Are they going to make Eric a transitional champion and put the title on someone else? These are all the questions that have to be answered in the next couple of months. I feel like if he’s given the chance to succeed on his own merit then I believe he can succeed. It’s just a matter of how decisions are made sometimes and like I said you don’t always understand them when their first made but hopefully people can take a step back and sort of look at the grand picture and hopefully things will turn out will for Impact and Eric Young overall.”

On the reason he was never World Heavyweight Champion: “Not my decision. Those decisions don’t come from us. Any wrestler that has ever been asked why you haven’t been World champion yet the answer is you’re asking the wrong people. When you have your interview with John Gaubrick, Dave Lagana or Matt you can ask them. I think every wrestler in the world has wanted to be World champion at some point and written a scenario where they could be World champion and I’m no exception. I’ve pitched ideas and thought to myself maybe I could do this or that or maybe this would be a good position for me, why they didn’t go that way? In the end it goes back to that broad picture. Creative teams usually have this broad idea and they have certain months and months in advance sort of laid out and their decision making…it’s not up to me to question as I just assume they are just doing what’s best for their business. I thought for a while I was hot enough to do something in that respect but they obviously had a different idea or at least they viewed me in a different light in terms of what I could bring to the table as a character, performer.”

Check out the complete interview above.

WWE Hall Of Famer Scott Hall did not appear at the Big Time Wrestling convention this weekend in Newark, California as scheduled. Hall was supposed to attend the convention and then manage his son Cody Hall at the Big Time Wrestling event, which was also scheduled to feature Ric Flair, The Godfather, Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian and others.

Hall reportedly sent a text to promoter Kirk White and informed him that he was in a dark place and that he refused to get out of bed for Cody or Diamond Dallas Page, both of whom tried to get him to fulfill his bvooking committment.

Hall ended up taking to Twitter, tweeting out the following comments regarding the situation:

Medical problems will prevent me from appearing in Newark, CA tommorow . I apologize to all the fans. Thank you

— Scott Hall (@SCOTTHALLNWO) May 17, 2014

Thank you to everyone for all your concern and support.

— Scott Hall (@SCOTTHALLNWO) May 17, 2014

The following are highlights of a new RCWR Show interview with former TNA star Christopher Daniels:

On his TNA departure: “Just disappoint really. I envisioned there be an opportunity for Bad Influence vs the Wolves to happen on television but I found out that really wasn’t in the plans. TNA made the decision of what they thought was best for their product. I don’t necessarily agree with it but in the end it’s their decision and they need to make the decision that they think are best for their business. Whether it’s for financial reasons, creative reasons or a mixture of the two. So disappointment? Yes but not frustration or bitterness. It’s happened before. For every company around has made decisions that have fans scratch their heads on but at the same time those guys have the long term picture in their heads and it may not be clear to the wrestling fans at this point of why they’re doing it but something will come in the future where they will understand and at the same time I’m not dwelling on that decision. I’m looking forward to working in different companies, and the many matchups available for myself and Frankie Kazarian right now in the independent scene. It’ll be interesting to see what we do in the next couple of months.”

On fans seeing TNA as an unrecognizable product with so many veterans gone: “In terms of my presence there you’ll see and feel in the next couple of months cause I won’t be there and you’ll be able to notice before Daniels and after Daniels in that respect. But for people that are saying they’re not going to recognize the talent roster, my retort to that is there’s still going to be guys like James Storm, Ken Anderson, Gunner, Robbie E and Jesse G, people like Gail Kim and the Beautiful People are still there. And then you’re getting this opportunity with guys like Sanada, like Brittney, like Tigre uno, Bram, even Magnus who is still somewhat new to the promotion or at least to the position that he’s in far as being one of the top guys. He’s still a young face and is making strides as a character and as a performer. I think that most wrestling fans will give wrestling an opportunity and it’s up to those people that I just named to give the wrestling fan base reasons to continue to tune in. I neglected to even mention Eric Young who’s their new World champion there. He’s been around for a while, he’s a recognizable face and he’s now the World champion. He’s already got another show in the works for Animal Planet, he’s a very high profile individual and probably a very good choice of World Champion at this point. Now it depends on building up that fan base and getting them use to the idea of Eric Young as champion and those names that I just mentioned to be the benchmark for the company.”

On Eric Young as World Heavyweight Champion: “I feel like he sort of got thrown in the deep end. There wasn’t really an opportunity for fans to get behind him, get behind his road as a no. 1 contender. It all happened so quickly. That’s no fault to Eric as it’s the decision the creative team made. Now it’s up to the creative team and the company as a whole to sort of get behind Eric. The creative team has to decide on how to present him as a strong champion and put all their effort behind him or do you go back to Magnus. Are they going to make Eric a transitional champion and put the title on someone else? These are all the questions that have to be answered in the next couple of months. I feel like if he’s given the chance to succeed on his own merit then I believe he can succeed. It’s just a matter of how decisions are made sometimes and like I said you don’t always understand them when their first made but hopefully people can take a step back and sort of look at the grand picture and hopefully things will turn out will for Impact and Eric Young overall.”

On the reason he was never World Heavyweight Champion: “Not my decision. Those decisions don’t come from us. Any wrestler that has ever been asked why you haven’t been World champion yet the answer is you’re asking the wrong people. When you have your interview with John Gaubrick, Dave Lagana or Matt you can ask them. I think every wrestler in the world has wanted to be World champion at some point and written a scenario where they could be World champion and I’m no exception. I’ve pitched ideas and thought to myself maybe I could do this or that or maybe this would be a good position for me, why they didn’t go that way? In the end it goes back to that broad picture. Creative teams usually have this broad idea and they have certain months and months in advance sort of laid out and their decision making…it’s not up to me to question as I just assume they are just doing what’s best for their business. I thought for a while I was hot enough to do something in that respect but they obviously had a different idea or at least they viewed me in a different light in terms of what I could bring to the table as a character, performer.”

Check out the complete interview below.

WWE Hall Of Famer Scott Hall did not appear at the Big Time Wrestling convention this weekend in Newark, California as scheduled. Hall was supposed to attend the convention and then manage his son Cody Hall at the Big Time Wrestling event, which was also scheduled to feature Ric Flair, The Godfather, Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian and others.

Hall reportedly sent a text to promoter Kirk White and informed him that he was in a dark place and that he refused to get out of bed for Cody or Diamond Dallas Page, both of whom tried to get him to fulfill his bvooking committment.

Hall ended up taking to Twitter, tweeting out the following comments regarding the situation:

Medical problems will prevent me from appearing in Newark, CA tommorow . I apologize to all the fans. Thank you

— Scott Hall (@SCOTTHALLNWO) May 17, 2014

Thank you to everyone for all your concern and support.

— Scott Hall (@SCOTTHALLNWO) May 17, 2014

The following are highlights of a new v2 Wrestling Podcast interview with Christopher Daniels:

On whether Frankie Kazarian will be departing TNA soon: “I can’t really confirm 100% but I can tell you that the odds are very good that rather soon the both of us will be doing what we want to do in the world of professional wrestling.”

On why he was released by TNA: “I’m not sure what their reasoning was. It wasn’t money, we never even got to (talking about) money. Part of me takes it personally. Anybody that is in some sort of entertainment field where they are their own product, when you’re told “No, we don’t want you”, of course a little bit of you takes it personally.”

On rumours that Vince Russo is back in the TNA fold: “I never saw Vince, and the creative team never said one way or the other. They’re denying it now, but when I was backstage, Frankie and I never saw any hint that Vince was there.”

On the likelihood of working with Jeff Jarrett’s new promotion: “I’m certainly hoping to work with Jeff Jarrett, I think he’s a great mind. I think that if someone could take something and make it out of nothing, I think it’s Jeff Jarrett.”

On breaking kayfabe: “I definitely respect the business enough to try and protect it as much as possible. When I came up, kayfabe was solid, but now I’ve seen the change in the mentality. The curtain has been pulled back and it’s hard to unring that bell now the word is out. It’s one thing for everybody to be in on the gag, but you don’t want to make people aware of it while they’re watching the product. Like, people know there’s a gimmick to magic, but they never really know what the gimmick is. You want them guessing what they’re watching.”

Check out the complete interview at Podomatic.com.

Former TNA star Christopher Daniels spoke to Aaron Oster of The Baltimore Sun this week about his TNA departure, backstage morale in TNA, if he’d be interested in working for Jeff Jarrett’s Global Force Wrestling promotion and more. Here are some highlights of what he said about:

When He Realized He’d Be Leaving TNA:  “I didn’t know until the day they told me. I went in to speak with TNA officials the last booking that I had, which was a taping of one of the One Night Only pay-per-views, on April 12. That was when I found out. I didn’t know before then. I kind of assumed, because Frankie [Kazarian] and I were still an entertaining tag team and our wrestling spoke for itself, I thought they were going to renew, but I was wrong.”

Negotiating With TNA: “I talked to them for the first time at Lockdown, and they told me that they wanted to speak to me face to face. I was then off television for a month, so the next time I got to talk to them was at that One Night Only pay-per-view. So I had no idea until then. They pretty much just told me that they were going in a different directions with different people.”

Does He Think TNA Would Bring Him Back? “The way it was explained to me, they said they wanted to leave the door open to do stuff in the future. But at this point, they couldn’t continue to keep me under contract if they weren’t going to use me as regularly as that. Who knows what will happen in the future? I’m not sure what their plans are. I had hoped there was going to be an opportunity for me and Frankie to wrestle the Wolves in a longer program, but that’s obviously not TNA’s priority at this point.”

TNA Locker Room Morale:  “It’s sort of a “wait-and-see” approach there, man. Every company makes decisions that may or may not be popular with the locker room, but you have to see how it turns out. And I think that’s what everyone is doing, waiting to see how everything lands and continue to put out the best product that they can once they see the lay of the land.”

Would He Work For Jeff Jarrett’s Global Force Wrestling? “I figure that anything that Jeff puts his mind to when it comes to creating a promotion has the potential to be very formidable in terms of the landscape of pro wrestling. Just look what he did with TNA. If he has the right people behind him when it comes to finances, then Jeff is creative enough to make something happen. So it’s definitely on my radar, just like I think it’s on everyone’s radar at this point. Everyone’s just waiting to see exactly what Global Force Wrestling is going to be. We have to see where it is, what it is, and who is going to be involved. Jeff is starting to answer slowly but surely.”

Former TNA star Christopher Daniels appeared on this week’s episode of The Shoot podcast, around the 1-hour mark.  the May 11th edition of The Shoot. Here are some highlights of what he said about:

Dixie Carter & If She’s Changed Since Becoming TNA’s Top Heel: “My opinion is that she’s always been the same. I mean i feel like because she’s taken on the responsibility of being a character on the show, she’s a little more stressed out maybe cause there’s a little more responsibility rather than just her going out there and sort of being herself like she’s going out there and portraying a character. There’s a lot of effort, a lot of stuff going around when she became this character and there’s a lot of pressure for her to perform, so i think that effects you in certain ways. But she hasn’t changed in a negative way in that respect. She’s just got a lot of pressure on her now to perform and sort of hang with guys who have been doing this for a lot longer than her. It’s a lot of pressure to put on yourself, to go in there and sort of get some story lines across with a lot of the big guys. I think she’s got a good group of people working for her and she’s working hard to get as much done for the company as she can.”

TNA World Title Matches Often Ending With Screwy Finishes: “I don’t think it’s an idea where oh well here’s a world title match lets dilute it down with wacky finishes. I think whenever they use it the mentality is that there’s a reason they’re trying to get a specific response from the fan base at that point. They have their reasons for doing these things. Do they always translate to the viewers? Maybe not. But i mean like i said before they’re making their decisions and they have a certain mindset, they have a certain goal that they’re trying to reach and the message that they’re trying to reach that goal with, whether they reach it or not is i guess up to the fan base. If the fan base is turning off the television when they see these things going on i mean that’s the message to send. But that’s up to the fans at that point to say well we’re not going to put up with this, we want to see something different. Let your voices be heard.”

The following is highlights of a new F4WOnline.com interview with Christopher Daniels:

Reports of low morale in TNA: “I sometimes wonder, the tendency for anybody, especially when you’re with friends and you’re in the trenches, is to laugh at the stuff that you interpret as ridiculous or silly, and to grouch about the things that you interpret as not being good. That to me isn’t morale, that’s just like getting through the day. As bad as anything ever got, if we were depressed or mad or down in the dumps, there was never a feeling like, ‘Well, let’s storm the castle and kill the king.’ It was just, you know, haha let’s get through the day and still try to put out the best product that we could and take this vision that these guys are putting in front of us and put that on the television show. So, to me, morale was fine. None of us were on suicide watch or anything. It’s just what it was. Whatever positive or negative, whether it’s ratings or house show attendance or pay-per-view buys or whatever, it was never so bad that we were all looking to drink bleach or anything. We grouched about the things that were silly and we were high-fiving ourselves over stuff that we were happy about, whether it was matches or upcoming programs or whatnot.”

His TNA departure: “I always found it funny when I heard reports that I was one of the higher paid guys on the roster. I‘d look at my paycheck and I never thought I was one of the higher paid guys. Essentially my contract was one of those where you only made a lot of money if you worked a lot, and I certainly wasn’t working as much near the end of my contract as I was a year ago. I don’t think that financial reasons were the reason I wasn’t renewed. I don’t know if they thought our act was tired or they wanted to go in a different direction. I’m not sure why that’s the case, especially when I felt like there was a simple and great program in the works between us and Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards, but apparently the guys on the creative team didn’t have the same desire to see that program take place.”

Was he surprised about getting released? “I was as surprised as everybody, or maybe I was more surprised than everybody because I didn’t think it would happen. I had heard the internet rumors as early as January and I was like, ‘This can’t be true. How is this gonna be?’ But it happened and they made the decision to not keep me around, so there you have it.”

Check out the complete interview at F4WOnline.com.

– Brittany vs. Angelina Love was taped for TNA Xplosion at last night’s Impact Wrestling tapings.

– Knux’s new stable in TNA is being called The Menagerie.

– TNA has officially moved Christopher Daniels from their roster page to their alumni roster. Daniels’ Bad Influence partner Kazarian is still on the roster, but his contract expires in May.

Christopher Daniels noted on Twitter today that he is officially a free agent. As previously reported, Daniels’ contract with TNA was set to expire, and many felt that he may not re-sign with the company as he was one of the last few guys who had a large contract and would likely be asked to take a cut in pay.

Daniels tweeted the following on Wednesday:

I became a free agent & a published comic book writer on the same day! http://t.co/X5y9tUV0pu

— Christopher Daniels (@facdaniels) April 23, 2014