— TNA president Dixie Carter noted this afternoon on her Facebook page that a major announcement will be made during tonight’s episode of iMPACT!: “TNA will make a major announcement during tonight’s TNA iMPACT! on Spike TV at 8ET/7CT. We strive to deliver what our fans want, and the next step in the evolution of the TNA brand will do just that.”
— On Twitter, Awesome Kong responded to the news of Bubba the Love Sponge’s release from TNA with the following: “Kongfucious says: Karma is a bitch… named Kong!!!!”
Kong appeared on The Cowhead Show last week only to be “ambushed” by Bubba the Love Sponge during a call-in. The shock job fired a number of racially-charged remarks towards Kong, which led to his subsequent termination from the company.
— TNA returns to the Coliseum Annex in Winston-Salem, North Carolina on July 30th, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets go on sale June 18th, 2010 at 10 a.m. (Thanks to Devin Cutting)
TNA President Dixie Carter has started a new feature on the TNA website where she answers fan questions from her Facebook and Twitter pages. Here are the highlights of what Dixie Carter said about:
Competing With WWE In The Ratings: “I want to be very clear on this, we NEVER expected to have competitive ratings with RAW at the beginning. I have been very specific in saying that our goal was to grow our brand and our ratings and we felt like we could do that faster on Mondays. Sometimes you have to take a step back to take a big step forward. We expected to have to rebuild part of our audience when moving our programming day and timeslot. We have finally settled in to an 8 pm ET/7 pm CT Monday timeslot with an encore presentation on Thursdays as 9 pm ET. It is going to take some time to build both audiences. We have no ego in saying iMPACT! has to draw a big rating in one night. With the encore, we have grown our overall viewing audience significantly from 2009 averages. We have 4 hours of exposure in prime time on Spike TV. So short term, we have settled in to a new programming schedule and need to give both some time to grow, but are happy with our increased viewership. Long term we want to see the overall ratings for iMPACT! increase significantly, no matter how many airings we have. ”
Moving to 8pm a Sign of Failure? “We discussed both the 8 – 10 pm ET and 7-9 pm ET timeslots with Spike before we moved to Mondays. It would be a failure to stay in a timeslot when you think another one might offer a greater chance for growth. When we started iMPACT! at 8 pm ET for the 3-hour January 4th special and on April 5th when we moved an hour earlier to get a jump on the NCAA Men’s basketball championship game, we saw higher viewership. Instead of moving back to 9 pm the following week, we decided to leave the start time at 8 pm ET and build that timeslot. Now it’s up to TNA, Spike and all of you to spread the word.”
TNA Resembling The Dying Days of WCW: “I think there has been more of a solid focus on new talent in the last few months than we have seen in the past. The Pope, AJ Styles, Desmond Wolfe, Abyss, Matt Morgan, Beer Money, Jay Lethal, Doug Williams, Kazarian, Rob Terry, Beautiful People, Angelina Love, Daffney and so many more. I think the young talents that are featured on the show have really stepped up and I am very proud of them. These guys are the “New†TNA. With the exception of Sting, I think every WCW talent we have has also worked for WWE. The only resemblance to WCW would be the guys from The Band who ran together there. Hogan and Flair appear in very different capacities. We are using established brands like Hogan to get mainstream media attention and help build new talent. It’s about balance, and we will continue to provide you with a good balance of established brands and new talent.”
– At one time, wrestlers let go by TNA appreciated the words of encouragement they’d receive from Dixie Carter after the company stopped using them. However, several wrestlers released from the organization compared notes and are very much convinced she gives the same speech to the majority of talent let go. Though many still appreciate the follow-up, several grumblingly feel now her correspondence was only slightly more sincere that World Wrestling Entertainment when they wish released talent ‘well in their future endeavors.’
– TNA officials reached out to Roderick Strong when his contract with Ring of Honor expired, However, they didn’t offer him a contract and he ended up re-signing with ROH. On another note, Strong is WWE wrestler Evan Bourne’s roommate.
– Al Snow worked the most recent set of television tapings as an agent. Still no word on whether he’s been offered a contract. Both he and Dave Taylor received favorable reviews for their tryouts at previous tapings.
Following up on Monday’s WWE RAW & TNA iMPACT! ratings …
WWE RAW’s rating was a 3.7, rounded up from a 3.68. The highest quarter hour of the show was a 4.1 for Shawn Michaels’ retirement ceremony at the end of the show. USA Network executive Ted Linhart noted on Twitter that RAW’s second hour did 3 million adults in the 18-49 demographic.
As previously reported, TNA iMPACT! did a 0.62. Granted, the show went up against another stacked, newsworthy RAW, but you can bet iMPACT! won’t last long on Monday nights doing 0.6’s.
TNA president Dixie Carter posted a message on Twitter regarding iMPACT!’s ratings collapse, attributing it to the Shawn Michaels farewell on RAW:
“Thank goodness he can only retire once…hopefully. Shawn, congrats on an amazing career.”
Earlier this week, Acorn Online asked Vince McMahon about TNA moving to Monday nights. McMahon said that despite the fact that TNA “threw the kitchen sink” at WWE, they still only drew a fraction of RAW’s audicence. He said their small audience doesn’t speak well for the type of product they’re presenting, which vince called, “tawdry, blood-soaked action” that today’s audience isn’t interested in.
TNA president Dixie Carter responded to Vince McMahon’s criticism of TNA in an interview published yesterday with a post on Twitter:
“To be called tawdry from the King of Tawdry, that is some compliment!”
Furthermore, Taz also noted the following in regards to McMahon’s comments about TNA programming being “tawdry:”
“Mae Young stuff is all high road, or when JR was sick Dr Hynee bit (classy)! Pot, meet Kettle. Nice to see VKM is a TNA viewer!”
— Dixie Carter announced on her Twitter account that there will not be a replay of tonight's episode of iMPACT! on Spike. She wrote: “Ok, Im serious this time,” Carter wrote. “There will be no replay of Impact this (week). No really. Don’t laugh. Tonight on Spike is only time to catch it.”
Rambo is currently scheduled to air during TNA’s former time slot.
— As seen last night at Destination X, Scott Hall and Syxx-Pac faced Kevin Nash and Eric Young in a tag team match with their future in TNA on the line. Ultimately, Nash turned on Young and helped “The Band” pick up the victory, which gave them contracts with the company. Both Hall and Waltman have since been added to TNA’s roster page.
— Jesse Godderz of Big Brother attended last night’s Destination X pay-per-view.
— As reported earlier, Awesome Kong officially parted ways with TNA Wrestling last week. Company president Dixie Carter commented on the multi-time champion’s departure from the organization on her Twitter account, writing: “Due to personal reasons, Kong asked for/was granted an early release from contract. We support her during this time & hope she is back soon.”
— In addition to Karen Angle, WWE Hall of Famer Dory Funk Jr. and former WWE Tag Team Champion Heidenreich were backstage at last night’s Destination X pay-per-view. It’s worth noting that Heidenreich worked Hulk Hogan’s tour of Australia late last year. (source: PWInsider.com)
— The Motor City Machineguns will be taking part in a live chat with AOL Fanhouse (www.fanhouse.com) today at 4:00 p.m. EST.
— Dixie Carter informally announced yesterday on her Twitter account that TNA Wrestling has signed Shannon Moore to a contract.
“TNA signs one moore,” Carter wrote.
Moore returned to TNA on the live Jan. 4 show alongside Jeff Hardy, but wasn’t signed until this week.
— Episode No.3 of TNA Epics featuring the X-Division has been removed from Spike’s schedule for Mar. 18, 2010. No word yet on when the show will air. (Thanks to Devin Cutting)
— TNA Wrestling has plans to release DVD set highlighting Beer Money, Inc. and The Motor City Machine Guns’ greatest matches. The company website is running a poll asking fans to decide what matches make the cut, and which ones get left behind. You can take part in the poll at the following link.
TNA President Dixie Carter spoke to Brian Fritz of FanHouse.com this week about iMPACT!’s upcoming move to Monday nights on March 8th. Dixie spoke about what it’s going to be like competing with WWE head on every single week. She knows TNA is playing a high stakes game, but sounds ready to lead her company into battle. Here are some highlights of what she said about:
How Everything Came Together: Dixie Carter: Well, we’ve talked about a move to Monday nights for a while, since, for over a year and it just seemed like the time was right. When I knew Hulk Hogan was coming on board, I just kind of put a halt to that and just thought how great would it be for the first time he debuts on our show, to let that be the first time we go to Monday night and the timing turned out perfect.
The Pressure of Competing Against WWE: You know, I don’t think of it that way. The days that were so hard, that was pressure. There used to be a lot of pressure. I don’t feel that pressure anymore. I’ve always handled it really well because there have been some very hard times in this company. And we still that little engine that could. This is a David vs. Goliath story if I’ve ever heard it and we are just so excited and so filled with energy but don’t have such expectations that they will be failures if we don’t meet them. We need to stay steady and continue to grow this.
Hulk Hogan’s Role in TNA & Making New Stars: “It has been the best decision I ever made. I don’t think I’ve ever had one conversation with Hulk Hogan about Hulk Hogan. Every conversation I have with him is about the other TNA talent we have and how can we make them better and how can we make them household names. People are just starting to see the very tip of this man’s genius in some of these things that we are going to make stars who have worked so hard to get to a certain level and truly take that next big step.”
TNA President Dixie Carter was interviewed on the Between the Ropes radio show last night, which you can listen to at BetweentheRopes.com. Here’s what Dixie said about:
Going Live Every Week: “There are talks, but I don’t think that it’s going to affect the show whatsoever. There’s also benefits to taping because you can make sure your show is perfect .. Smart business decisions are more important than anything else right now. We should take a lot of those dollars and instead of just going live right away, use it to help spread the word on TNA.”
Taking iMPACT! on the road: “We do lose something in our education process of being in the same place all the time. We don’t have that ability to go into all of these different regions outside of house shows, which are really our best indicator right now of how well things are getting over in different regions of the country.”
As reported earlier, TNA sent out a press release on Friday stating that Dixie Carter and Hulk Hogan would be making a “major announcement” on Monday afternoon. It is almost certain that TNA will be announcing that iMPACT! is moving to Monday nights in March.
Following the ratings success of January 4th’s Monday night iMPACT! special, TNA and Spike have been working out a deal that would bring iMPACT! to Monday nights permanently. While there were a serious of hangups during the negotiations, most of the major hurdles of been cleared.
iMPACT! is expected to run from 9-11pm (eastern), head-to-head with WWE RAW for two hours straight. The show will not be live each week at the beginning, but it’s certainly an option down the road if the show is a success and the show generates more money.
As for what qualifies as successful, it’s believed that a 1.2-1.5 is what both sides are expecting. There is always the possibility that Spike moves the show back to Thursday nights in the event that the rating falls off significantly, but the network is said to be behind TNA and will give them some time to establish themselves on Monday nights.
(Credit to PWTorch.com for some of the information used in this report)
TNA President Dixie Carter spoke to Fred Tropel ofCanMag.com and explained that TNA Wrestling is going up against a corporate juggernaut that will stop at nothing to put them out of business.
“Our competition may not have the same opinion that competition is good for an industry and take every opportunity to try to shut us down. I mean, it is the truest of David-and-Goliath situations, but we are scrappy. We will not take no for an answer, and we are going to have great success.”
With everything that WWE has going for them, Carter believes her company has a better in ring product and knows what the fans want.
“I think that these days you don’t have to be a bigger-than-life cartoon character. I mean, it’s much more about reality and what these guys can do in the ring. They are amazing athletes. I can have an all-pro football player, an NBA star on, and they say, ‘We could never do something like this.’ You have no off season. It’s 52 weeks a year, and then we tour in between that. These guys are incredible athletes, and we do focus on the athleticism on our show much, much more.”
TNA President Dixie Carter was interviewed for the latest issue of the UK’s Fighting Spirit Magazine. Carter spoke at length about Hulk Hogan’s new role in TNA, where she sees the company going and more. Here’s what she said about:
Dealing with Big Egos In TNA: “To me, it’s not hard at all I feel if you treat somebody with respect, that’s the only way you can win it back. If you work hard, that’s the way to expect other people to work hard. I don’t have tiered systems of how I treat different people, I treat everyone as the same. don’t care if you’re Kurt Angle or the newest guy on the roster, you’re gonna be treated with the same level of respect, and I expect that back. To me, that’s the easiest way to keep individual egos in check, because I’m not playing a game with different people or favouritism.”
Her Leadership Style vs. Vince McMahon‘s: “I have a philosophy and it may not be right, but I feel that if people are happy personally, they’ll work harder for you than if you motivate them through fear. I want to make TNA a place where they bring their families, where their wives are welcome, where their husbands are welcome, where their children are. It creates a different type of atmosphere backstage, but it creates a place where we are all in this for the same goal.”
TNA president Dixie Carter posted a message on Twitter stating that she and Hulk Hogan met with Spike TV president Kevin Kay on Thursday night. Carter wrote:
“In LA for the TV Critics Conference. Just got back from dinner w/Hogan & Kevin Kay Pres. of Spike. Very exciting talks. Stay tuned.”
In an interview that took place prior to TNA’s live Monday special on January 4th, Spike TV president Kevin Kay said the network was willing to move iMPACT! to Monday nights on a permanent basis if that show was successful – which it clearly was.
Another good sign for TNA and wrestling fans everywhere.
— TNA returnee Scott Hall is pushing company officials to hire his friend, Sid Eudy (a/k/a Sid Vicious).
The two apparently became real close friends in the past year as just before his return to the organization, Hall had been working on the independent circuit with the multi-time world champion. Furthermore, Sid’s son Gunnar made his wrestling debut alongside Hall this past summer in a tag match. There were also videos posted online of the duo “shooting” on the wrestling business.
It’s interesting to note that the TNA logo was recently posted on Sid’s MySpace page. (source: www.prowrestling.net)
— TNA president Dixie Carter noted on her Twitter that TNAWrestling.com will be relaunched this weekend. This will be the website’s first major overhaul since 2005.
— TNA Women’s Knockout Champion ODB is this week’s special guest on Live Events Center. You can view the episode at the following link.
TNA officials and Spike TV executives were thrilled with the iMPACT rating numbers that came in yesterday. As previously reported, iMPACT! drew a 1.5 overall rating (2.2 million viewers) with the show peaking at a 1.9 ratingng (2.5 million viewers) for start of hour 2, featuring the debut of Hulk Hogan.
TNA President Dixie Carter wrote the following on her Twitter yesterday:
“Thank you, thank you for helping TNA set RECORD ratings in every way last night. We ALL won.”
There is now serious discussion within TNA of putting on a weekly Monday night show head-to-head with WWE’s RAW. The most likely scenario we’ve heard would be TNA iMPACT! running from 8-10pm ET, only going head-to-head with RAW for 1 hour.
– In an update from last night’s TNA iMPACT spoilers, Hulk Hogan did in fact appear in a backstage segment. Jeff Hardy was not at last night’s iMPACT tapings.
TNA president Dixie Carter spoke to the U.K. Sun to promote Monday night’s big RAW vs. iMPACT! battle. The following are highlights:
Expectations For Monday’s TV Rating: “How I define success is just being there. Just the fact that we are there on Monday night is a huge success for us. It makes the exact statement that we want to make. This is a marathon not a sprint. The ratings, quite honestly, are irrelevant. Our success is being there and the quality of the show we put on. That’s how I’ll assess it as far as that specific night goes.”
Hulk Hogan’s Role in TNA: “I think Terry (Hogan) has an amazing eye for talent and, with all those people your readers are mentioning, his goal is to make them household names. I can’t imagine a better person or brain to have behind the amazing talent that those young guys possess. So that’s actually one of the main reasons I brought him in. Again he’s not coming in worried about Hulk Hogan and making sure Hulk Hogan is getting over, that’s not his job. His job is to get TNA over.”
Changes Coming to TNA: “He (Hogan) is involved with everything from looking at new talent to how we are shooting the show. The two of us, over the past several months, have literally ripped apart every single aspect of the company. I wanted a fresh set of eyes on it, and what better eyes than the greatest wrestler in the history of this business. We’re looking at what we can do better, what we can do differently and what we can try.”
Competing against WWE: “They may say that they don’t consider us competition or don’t pay attention to us, but we deal with them playing those tricks with us all the time. Nothing is going to change in our game plan. We’re going to continue to do what we do best and that’s grow TNA one fan at a time. We’re not taking on Vince McMahon. We’re trying to give the wrestling fans what they want — and that is to make wrestling better as a whole.”
Bringing in New Talent: “There’s nobody we won’t go after. But they have to be right to come to the company. They have to be in it for the right reasons. They’ve got to fit in with what we’re doing. If that’s The Rock then fantastic. If it’s RVD then fantastic. It doesn’t matter. If somebody makes sense and has that work ethic and wants to embrace being a wrestler on a wrestling show and trying to do something different then we would love to have them. And, I promise you, we have many more exciting surprises to come.
Wrestlers and employees from both World Wrestling Entertainment and TNA Wrestling met up on Sunday night in Orlando, Florida – where WWE was taping this week’s ECW, Superstars and SmackDown and TNA held its Final Resolution pay-per-view.
TNA president Dixie Carter visited with WWE wrestlers a bar in Orlando, according to prowrestling.net Carter hosted a Christmas party next door at the hotel where the majority of the TNA crew stays. Several WWE superstars were said to be leery of going over to the TNA party because they feared heat from WWE management. However, some of the TNA crew went over to the bar to meet with the WWE wrestlers, and Dixie Carter eventually followed. It was described as a social visit with Carter meeting some of the WWE crew members for the first time.
TNA star Samoa Joe wrote the following on his Twitter page: “Just found out there are old associates in town. Tonight the Illuminati meets… Illuminati meeting became Illuminati sleepover and is now Illuminati pancake breakfast. Secret societies seem so much cooler in the movies.”
TNA President Dixie Carter posted a message on her Twitter page regarding TNA’s live 3-hour Monday night edition of iMPACT! on January 4th. Carter acknowledges that TNA is going to war with WWE and implies that more moves like this are on the way. She wrote:
“Hogan to debut Jan 4 in a live 3 hr iMPACT! special up against Raw. How’s that for a 1st shot? Spread the word.”
To read more from Dixie Carter and other wrestlers & divas on Twitter, visit PWTweets.com.
– We’ve got some new details regarding a storyline that’s already underway involving Hulk Hogan’s involvement with TNA Wrestling. The original plan was for Hulk Hogan to lead the younger, homegrown stars of TNA against the “old guard” of established WWE & WCW castoffs, led by TNA president Dixie Carter. Hulk Hogan’s recent comments that he’ll be “in charge” of TNA are all part of the storyline (Hogan will have a great deal of power in TNA, but his comments are the start of this angle). Dixie Carter was going to be a big player in the “Hulk Hogan joins TNA” angle, but there was a recent decision to cut back on Dixie’s role and have Mick Foley is now expected to be the leader of TNA’s “old guard” movement. Dixie Carter will still be involved, but will not have the same role as originally planned.
– Kurt Angle is said to have a high opinion of TNA newcomer Desmond Wolfe following their pay-per-view match last month. Angle actually laid the entire match out but claimed that after his back went out in the first minute they had to change plans and work on the fly until the finish.
– TNA held surprise drug testings at the last set of TV tapings. The last set of tapings like this had a 25% failure rate but nobody was punished.
– The four-hour TNA special on New Year’s Eve on Spike TV will air from 7-11PM. The first two hours will be a countdown with the ten best matches of 2009, as voted on by the fans on TNA’s website. The last two hours will be a regular edition of iMPACT.
(Credit to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter for some of the information used in this report)
— TNA president Dixie Carter wrote a message on Twitter that she “walked past a rattlesnake,” which led to online speculation that she had met with WWE Hall of Famer Steve Austin. Carter set the record straight by writing, “I wish it had been Steve Austin. But, no, it was the regular bite you, rush you to the hospital variety rattler.” To read additional quotes from Dixie, visit PWTweets.com.
— Former WWE superstars Gene Snitsky and Zeus are featured in a new music video for rock band VYRUS’ new song, “Free Your Soul.” The video ends with “TO BE CONTINUED,” so we may not have seen the last from this strange duo. Check out the video:
— As seen last week on iMPACT!, TNA President Dixie Carter essentially said during her speech at the top of the hour that anyone who wasn’t on board with her recent changes to the organization should find work elsewhere. As it turns out, five wrestlers had asked for their releases from the company in recent weeks, including Frankie Kazarian (a.k.a. Suicide) and Homicide — we don’t have the names of the three other wrestlers. All five were turned down. (VIDEO: Dixie Carter’s Speech)
— TNA has dropped Kevin Nash’s search for his first-ever female valet, the Big Sexy World Tour. The winner would have received an all-expenses-paid trip to next month’s Final Resolution pay-per-view in Orlando and accompanied Nash to the ring for his match that night.
— As reported earlier, reigning TNA Women’s Knockout Champion ODB recently inked a multi-year deal with the organization. Her contract renewal with the organization actually came as a surprise to friends as she had been discussing jumping to World Wrestling Entertainment when her previous contract expired in mid-November. She had been telling people the past two months that she didn’t think management even realized her contract was coming due because no one had mentioned it to her.
(Credit to F4WOnline.com and PWTorch.com for some of the information used in this report)
This week’s edition of TNA iMPACT! opened with footage from a staff meeting led by TNA president Dixie Carter. Dixie addressed the TNA roster and said there have been some big changes in TNA recently and there are more changes ahead in the coming weeks and months. The TNA roster has the choice to stand behind her or step aside.
For those wondering, we’re told that the talent meeting legit – the speech and the comments made by Carter came from her and was not something scripted for her by the creative team.
— The UK Sun is reporting that boxer Ricky Hatton will be guest hosting WWE Raw on 11/9 from the UK’s Sheffield Arena. Hatton will be the second boxer to host Raw after his recent opponent Floyd Mayweather Jr appeared held the job back in August.
— TNA president Dixie Carter has joined Twitter at Twitter.com/TNADixie. Her first post detailed an eventful day at TNA headquarters. “Celebrated the Hogan signing at staff meeting this morning with champagne and donuts” Carter called it “a new beginning for TNA!”
— Speaking of Twitter, former WWE superstar Jeff Hardy’s Twitter page is now back online at Twitter.com/jeffhardybrand. He has not added any posts yet. The page was taken down shortly after his drug arrest on September 11th.
Hot of the heels of yesterday’s blockbuster news that Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff are now officially working with TNA Wrestling, there could be another industry-changing announcement brewing.
TNA Wrestling executives (including president Dixie Carter) were in New York City yesterday for Hulk Hogan’s Madison Square Garden press conference – but that’s not all they’re in town for.
SEScoops.com can confirm that TNA execs are meeting with Spike TV today in New York about moving TNA iMPACT! to Monday nights. From what we’re told, the show would air 8pm to 10pm, head-to-head with the first hour of WWE Raw.
We should have more on this story soon – possibly later today, so keep checking back for the latest.