On his Facebook account, Bret Hart made some interesting comments regarding TNA. He wrote the following:

“It was nice seeing Jeremy Borash, a longtime friend of mine, from TNA while I was in Nashville. He hung out with me and we never once talked wrestling. Some feeble minded idiot who saw us in plain view tried to start the rumour that I might be heading to TNA next; although why anyone would ever think I’d let Hogan and Bischoff anywhere near my Hitman persona again is truly beyond me.”

Bischoff referred to Borash as a “mark” last week on his Twitter account for posting a photo of himself and Hart after their dinner, which also included several other TNA staffers.

You can see the picture of Borash with Bret Hart (and follow 80+ wrestlers & divas on Twitter) at PWTweets.com.

— Hulk Hogan was asked to give his Super Bowl predictions as part of Scripps Howard’s annual celebrity list.

In Hogan’s trademark wording, he said the following: “New Orleans, 35-6. New Orleans has an amazing new energy this year, both as a team and a city. They survived Hurricane Katrina, and if they could survive that, they can survive anything.”

Likewise, Bret Hart made the following prediction on his Facebook account: “Anyhow, as for the Super Bowl on Sunday between the Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints, I’ve decided after great deliberation to pull for the Saints but I think Manning will pull it out of the fire. Most importantly, I hope it’s close anyway.”

— Via online voting, former WWE Diva Jackie Gayda-Haas (a/k/a Miss Jackie) is in the running to determine the new Status Fitness magazine cover model. You can vote for Haas at the following link.

Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff appeared on The Bubba the Love Sponge Show last Friday for a combination work/shoot interview segment that included one new piece of news, which was Bischoff knocking Sting for missing the last set of television tapings.

Sting missed last month’s Genesis pay-per-view and subsequent television tapings due to a family emergency, though it remains unclear what is was exactly. What is known is that nobody is questioning its legitimacy considering that he has been in the wrestling industry for years and has never had a reputation for coming up with excuses to miss dates.

Bischoff said that everyone in TNA has to be completely committed to the organization or things won’t work out, with Hogan adding he doesn’t see how they can use anyone missing shows. Internally, it was noted as a message being sent to Sting, though it’s unlikely he’ll get it considering that he pays no attention to the wrestling business except on days when he’s working as he doesn’t follow it online. Nonetheless, the belief was Sting had a very legitimate reason for missing the last set of shows.

Bischoff said, “Sting’s a great talent. Love him to death. My problem is now that we’re trying to do this big picture. I understand how big picture it is for the wrestling business. Sting had life-and-death personal issues, but from a business side, it totally screws us up. If at any time that happens, I got a personal issue, now we have to switch gears on who we use, you can’t build the world around them.

“Everybody has got to make a commitment. It’s easy to say we want TNA to be No. 1, but if you’re not willing to put TNA as a priority above almost every situation, then it’s probably not going to work out.”

(Credit to the Wrestling Observer Nesletter for the information used in this report)

Hulk Hogan appeared on Rob Van Dam’s RVD Radio this week and talked to the former WWE and ECW Champion about coming into TNA. Hogan called up to speak with Van Dam personally but ended up appearing as a live caller on the radio show.

Hogan told Van Dam that TNA has some serious momentum right now and if they had RVD “ruling the roost”, it would make things a lot easier. Van Dam asked Hogan about TNA on Monday nights and Hogan said the move is definitely going to happen sooner than later .Hogan kept saying how much fun everyone is having in TNA.

Hogan said TNA needs RVD’s help and Van Dam said he is very interested in hearing what Hogan has to say about him coming in. Van Dam told Hogan that now is a better time than ever as his wife is healthy, he is healthy and he’s not burnt out. RVD said he was curious about coming into TNA and said that he and Hogan will discuss it.

Hogan said he spoke to Jeff Hardy earlier in the day and both men agreed RVD would be a good fit in TNA. Hogan said he and Hardy have tossed around some “crazy ideas” that he guarantees will work.

RVD asked Hogan if it was his decision to go back to the four-sided ring and Hogan confirmed it was. Hogan put down the six-sided ring and Van Dam agreed with the decision.

Overall it was a real interesting segment and it was cool listening to Hogan and Van Dam going back and forth.

– Despite the positive spin he’s putting on TNA in media interviews, Hulk Hogan has been complaining to friends that he’s frustrated with several things in TNA.  Hogan feels pressure to push people he does not believe in – namely, some of the TNA originals. Word is that Dixie Carter doesn’t want the TNA originals to be buried by Hogan’s buddies, but there are some TNA originals that Hogan sees nothing in and wants to get rid of.  Hogan is said to be a big fan of Abyss as well as Tomko, saying at least both men look like wrestlers.

– TNA star Kurt Angle’s name came up in a federal trial of nine men associated with Applied Pharmacy in Mobile, Alabama that is going on this week. Assistant US Attorney Donna Dobbins brought up Angle and Jose Canseco as clients of the pharmacy in her closing arguments on Tuesday. She said, “Each one of them (the defendants) participated in this conspiracy. They operated a steroid mill, and they would dispense anabolic steroids to anyone whose credit card was good.”

– Ed “Brutus Beefcake” Leslie was backstage at the TNA iMPACT tapings on January 20th. Leslie is a longtime friend of Hulk Hogan, brother.

– As for the news that Scott Hall and Sean Waltman are gone from TNA, this is not the case. The duo has been removed from the TNA iMAPCT! opening video as well as the TNA Roster page on the company website, but them being removed is part of the storyline.

(Credit to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter for the information used in this report)

John Cena

WWE superstar John Cena took part in a live chat session Monday night on WWE.com. Visit WWE.com to read the full transcript. Some highlights:

– Cena was asked whether he’s interested in fighting Hulk Hogan, He responded with a jab at Hogan and TNA, saying, “Yes. I just don’t think that’s going to happen right now. He’s too busy wasting his time.”

– He has no current plans to release another rap album, but will be working again with rapper Bumpy Knuckles for a song on the soundtrack of his upcoming WWE Studios film, “Legendary” (previously titled “Brother’s Keeper”).

– When asked who he’d like to wrestle at WrestleMania, he stated, “The Rock.” As Cena answered another question about his movie career, host Joey Styles chimed in by saying Cena’s next movie will be better than The Rock’s recent “Tooth Fiary” movie.

Bubba The Love Sponge

Credit to Scott Remington and Pwinsider.com for this recap of Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischof’s appearance on Bubba The Love Sponge today and their “State of TNA” address:

Q: Confirm or deny Honky Tonk is joining TNA

A: EB “I would rather drive an icepick through my thigh than work with the Honky Tonk Man”

Q: How do you feel about Dixie wanting to go family friendly?

A: Hulk: Not going to happen, we are going to keep pushing the envelope.

Q: Are you going live on March 1?

A: EB: Haven’t heard anything, I have just been reading it on the internet.

Hulk: Nothing has been confirmed, it’s not a lock. I would like to have it but it’s not set yet.

Q: Ongoing talks with Savage?

A: Hulk: “I would love to have him come in and manage his illegitimate son.”

Q: Can you tell me the peaking order of how the writing goes:

A: Hulk: Bottom line is that Eric has the final say.

Topic comes up with Vince Russo about the “fake wrestling” twitter post.

Not really answered just some disparaging words thrown at Russo.

Q: What do they think of Lacey Von Erich?

A: Hogan says she can’t work.

EB: “We will teach her how to work”, and likes her look.

Q: Are you guys big on Desmond Wolfe?

A: EB: Very high on him, good look.

Hulk says he killed it last night, he’s “real close.”

Q: What is the Montreal angle really, is it a shot at Vince?

A: EB: It’s a shot “kind of”, but it’s entertaining and as long as they (fans) love it or hate it’s about whether they are talking about it. Hang with it and watch where it goes.

Q: WWE has a farm system, are you guys going to be doing something?

A: EB: There is no developmental as such. Brian Knobbs and Saggs have a school they are looking at. “Hopefully we will be able to develop our own but we aren’t ready for a farm system”.

Name Associations.

Black Pope: Both EB and Hulk love him and he is going to be getting a push.

Abyss: Hulk: My favorite wrestler of all “he’s my next John Cena”. EB likes him a lot and committed to his character.

Q: Are you interested in taking a look at FCW guys?

Hulk: He says they definitely would be interested.

EB: Says “if they are free we could”.

Q: Any WWE talent interested in TNA?

Hulk: Yup.

Q: Sting no showing them.

A: Hulk: Sting’s a great talent, wishes he would have come up north for the WWE. He understands why personally he wasn’t there but professionally it hurts the company.

EB: “Everyone has to make a commitment. I understand where Hulk’s coming from. But if you’re not 110% committed then it’s probably not going to work out.”

Q: Any chance we will see Hogan vs. Flair on TNA PPV.

A: Hulk: Doesn’t really answer the question.

Q: Will we see the Australian tour on PPV?

A: EB: Not likely for financial reasons.

Caller: Hulk is the worst wrestler since 1989 and how can you evaluate talent? Stone Cold hates you and won’t work a program with you?

– Lots of banter back and forth lots of swearing. Bottom line is they don’t answer the question.

Q: Has working with Vince McMahon changed your thought process?

EB: There’s no denying he’s a great businessman, he’s arrogant but he likes him and “I wouldn’t hang out with him” but he thinks he’s great. On a business level he is very smart. On a creative run he thinks he takes credit for too much and he doesn’t think he’s that good.

Q: Was there a time when you were going against the Rock and you just thought WCW was going to fail?

A: EB: “When AOL/Time Warner took over and put more hands on our product by making it more family friendly, that’s when things starting taking a turn for a worst. Now history is repeating itself and we have a chance to go after that older audience.”

Q: Are you going to be signing any more books Hulk?

A: Hulk: Not in the near future.

Q: Richard Ortiz, are you interested in him.

A: EB: I don’t know him.

Q: Is there one talent from WWE you both want?

A: Hulk: Orton and Cena. But he would also love the Big Show.

EB: “I have a problem with Show, never been committed, he’s lazy. I would like Cena and Orton.”

– EB says he never crapped on Jericho, likes him, but doesn’t think he can headline.

– Hulk would love to have Chris in TNA.

Q: Why do you feel it’s necessary to acknowledge Vince on TNA?

A: EB: You can’t win a fight with throwing a punch, “we are going the fight”.

Q: If you could wrestle one person in TNA.

A: Hulk: AJ Styles, “if he doesn’t get too full of himself”.

During a recent interview with UGO.com, Hulk Hogan commented on the possibility of Ultimate Warrior and Randy “Macho Man” Savage joining TNA Wrestling.

“The Warrior is not “alive” anymore,” Hogan told UGO.com. “I did a deposition about six months ago where Vince McMahon put out a tape called The Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior. And I did a deposition. I sat in a room across from him. No other wrestler would testify. He thought I was actually going to help him, but when I told the truth…I seriously doubt he and I would ever work together again. I did tell the truth at the deposition. He’s the worst. He’s horrible. There’s nobody worse than him in the ring. So hopefully I’ll never have to see him again in the ring.”

As far as Savage is concerned, despite their past differences, Hogan would love to have him on board with TNA. He feels if Savage dyed his gray beard and got back into shape, he would be good enough to return to the ring.

“I’d LOVE to see the Macho Man,” Hogan exclaimed. “Dye that old gray Santa Claus beard he’s got. Get back in shape. And teach these young guys how to do it because I could sure use his help. He’s got a great mind for the business.”

Hogan also comments on the removal of the six-sided ring (calling it “a playpen”), when exactly he should have quit wrestling, back shaving tips, and more. You can read the interview in its entirety at the following link.

– Word is that Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff only want to hold the TNA Slammiversary and Bound For Glory pay-per-views outside of the iMPACT Zone in Orlando, according to f4wonline.com. The idea is that holding all other pay-per-views in Orlando will not only save money but will make the company look less minor league when they fail to sellout other arenas – which has happened a few times before.

– MTV reality star Trishelle Canntella, who was featured on Hulk Hogan’s Celebrity Championship Wrestling, said on her Twitter page that she loves TNA and would work for them if presented the opportunity.

– Another reality star, Joey Kovar (MTV ‘sReal World & VH1’s Celebrity Rehab) is currently training to be a pro wrestler. Kovar told TMZ.com that he hopes to get a deal with TNA because Hulk Hogan was his hero growing up. Kovar made it known on the Real World that he was a big wrestling fan and he’s appeared at indepentent wrestling shows in the Chicago area.

Here are Trishelle Canntella and Joey Kovar, if you’re not familiar:

Hulk Hogan appeared on Bubba the Love Sponge’s radio show yesterday morning. Here are some of the more notable things discussed:

* Hogan wants to kill all house shows until things come together on television. He feels that in no time, TNA will become a force which people will pay attention to.

* He said he has no plans to solely bring in his friends to TNA. He said when he met Ken Anderson on the Australian tour, he knew that “he had what it took.”

* Bubba the Love Sponge discussed his backstage altercation with Awesome Kong earlier this week, saying he was mad at what she did to him. He then called her “a bitch.”

* Apparently, Hogan too poked fun at Kong, feeling her anger was “menstrual-related.”

* Bubba said he was pushing for a bigger role in TNA but now hates the wrestling business. Hogan responded by saying, “Wow!”

* Hogan said less is more and discussed a segment with Scott Hall and Sean Waltman that was taped this week.

* Hogan put over Ric Flair for being on his game once became aligned with AJ Styles.

The talk lasted roughly fifteen minutes and Hogan basically emphasized that he was going to show everyone how the wrestling business works.

(source: PWInsider.com)

To the surprise of many, both Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff were on hand for all four of TNA’s television tapings this week in Orlando.

While Hogan does have his own dressing room, he made an effort to mingle with the rest of the talent backstage. Meanwhile, Bischoff was more involved in the production of each show.

There had been some skepticism as to whether Hogan and Bischoff would be interested enough to attend four consecutive shows, but to their credit, they did.

Jason Hervey, former child star (“The Wonder Years”) and Bischoff business partner, has also been regularly backstage since Bischoff became involved with the company.Bischoff and Hervey have been working behind the scenes to secure new relationships for TNA within the entertainment industry.

(Source: prowrestling.net)

Linda Bollea, the ex-wife of Hulk Hogan, has reached a confidential settlement with the family of John Graziano, who was seriously injured in a car wreck involving Nick Hogan back in 2007.

Graziano family attorney George Tragos told Florida’s St. Petersburg Times:

“Linda, she was obviously in a different position than everyone else. She was in California at the time of the accident and she did not sign for Nick Bollea’s drivers license as Terry did, so she’s in a different legal position.”

A confidential settlement was also reached with Daniel Jacobs, who was allegedly racing Nick Hogan at the time of the crash and was sued along with Hulk, Linda and Nick.

Hulk Hogan and his son Nick are still defendants in the suit.

For more, visit TampaBay.com.

Hulk Hogan appeared on The Bubba The Love Sponge radio show Tuesday morning and discussed the shock jock’s altercation with Awesome Kong the previous day. Courtesy of www.angrymarks.com, here is a transcript of the discussion:

BUBBA: She was wearing wrestling gear, and she came in on me and sucker punched me right on my left cheek, and I was like, what’s going on… then she came out me again, hit me again in the mouth, and she goes, “This if for Haiti! This is for Haiti!” and I’m like “What is going on?” Then she hits me again… Finally I put my left hand out and push her away from me, and she comes at me again and I just cover up, because I cannot fight back on a woman. Not only will I be fired from TNA, which I probably am, but my radio career is gone if I take a woman out!

HOGAN: I tell you what, though, after what happened, if you had clocked her you’d have got away with it.

BUBBA: Maybe on the streets I’d have gotten away with it, but, how would the media have spun that had I clocked her?

HOGAN: What nobody knows, and this is the real truth, that there were certain people there, y’know, and of course they have to run it by me and Dixie… she should get off the property, she should be fired immediately, that’s it. It was so violent. You could have actually lost an eye, you could have had your teeth knocked out. But, to give you your creedo, you are the one who said no, don’t fire her.

BUBBA: No, I don’t want you to fire her.

MANSON: Now, I’m confused. Does Hogan think that this is a funny incident?

BUBBA: No, no he’s not. He knows how serious it is. He was being a dick earlier… but I don’t think he agrees with it. And, you know what, they said we were going to fire her and I said no, don’t fire her. Now, if she’s done other stuff, I can’t help what happens to her on other situations, but don’t fire her for sucker punching me, I don’t want to cost anybody their job.

HOGAN: I think this is really just the beginning of a match made in heaven.

BUBBA: No, that’s fine… that’s fine. But I tell you one thing, Hogan. If you… you better not call it pro wrestling, you might as well put the cage up and make it MMA because I will not work, I promise you that. You’re not going to embarrass me like that, and be that much of a loose cannon in this industry…

MANSON: Oh now you’re gonna kick her ass? I don’t think you want a piece of her in the cage.

BUBBA: Let me ask you, you’re the only person who has a cool head. Had I defended myself, and not covered up, and just blocked what the remaining of what she put in. Had I actually fought her, and done well, what would I be facing right now?

HOGAN: Well, first off, you’d have killed her. She’s real good at throwing a sucker punch, but the way she was swinging at you, and everything, you could have shot right between her arms and knocked her out. It wouldn’t have been cool, y’know, there would be all kind of heat… You did the right thing, y’know, because you did not hit her back, and she was swinging wild and she’s out of her mind… you did the right thing, but at the end of the day it comes back to you and me hanging out together. You know you’re going to get heat, I told you this a long time ago. BUT, don’t put this one on me, because you stirred that up.

BUBBA: How did I? I’m not putting this on you, but you lead by example… I’m gonna be honest, man, nobody there likes me. And they think, hold on, Hogan, they think I’m in there… I’m not a wrestler, I’m not going to take anybody’s job, I’m not gonna take anybody’s backstage announcing gig. I’m there to help you and try to get the TNA product going and working. I’m not a boss, I’m not a agent, I’m not nothing there and everybody… a lot of the old dudes, but AJ Styles gives me dirty looks…

HOGAN: Well the word I got on the street last night was that Russo stirred this up, and Russo put her up to it.

BUBBA: I don’t agree with that.

HOGAN: It’s true! I heard it!

MANSON: Now, did she give you a finishing move, because she’s known for a body avalanche, a gorilla press slam…

BUBBA: No, no…

HOGAN: She shoulda pushed Bubba over her head, splashed Bubba, and then just bounced off the wall and done two or three belly splashes…

MANSON: Awesome Kong, she’s so awesome…

BUBBA: Wait until my lawyers call Dixie up today.

HOGAN: I just think you should get there early today, and just like she sucker punched you, I think because Russo set this up, you should just knock his assout.

BUBBA: Well, I dunno… I don’t think Russo did this…

HOGAN: He did it, I’m telling you as your friend! I wouldn’t lie to you!

BUBBA: Hogan, I love you to death, but you’re the biggest worker… hold on. You’re taking something that really did happen and trying to make it an angle And the bottom line is, y’know what? All the wrestling sheets, you should know this is real because I didn’t talk about it, and I was upset so bad last night. Hogan, I mean, God, Dixie cannot want to deal with all this Bubba drama…

HOGAN: No, this is just your chance to even the score, straighten this out. You just go right up to Russo when he’s not looking and you just sucker punch him like she sucker punched you.

BUBBA: It will be more of a fight between Russo and I, he’s a pretty big dude, than me and Kong, but that isn’t going to be fair.

HOGAN: You can beat Russo up! Especially if you sucker punch him!

BUBBA: Manson, let me tell you about this Awesome Kong chick. She put three of them on my right cheek that you wouldn’t believe. If you look at my forearms they’re all scratched up. And she’s all, like it’s Braveheart, “HAAAITIII! HAAAIIITI!” And I’m like what… and there’s a woman named Mandy who saw it all… and then she took a glass container and threw it down.

MANSON: That’s why a camera should be on you at all times. That’s priceless footage.

HOGAN: I thought it was great!

BUBBA: But, hey, Hogan, what you don’t realize that they have “eyes in the sky” there, did you know that? They have … that whole entire building has surveillance on it. I’m gonna go get that tape.

HOGAN: Well I can’t wait to see it because I can’t believe how quick she dropped your ass!

BUBBA: She happened to meet me right there, where you guys… just outside the door, you know where it happened, right? I was going to go talk to Val Venis about something, I was heading to Catering, and she met me just down that hallway a little bit before you go down to Eric’s office. She was by herself and she was coming to find me. Just minutes before that, I was in that little office area where you and Eric did that shoot, talking to Hall and Nash and Sixx-Pac. So she was coming to find me, regardless where I was. And what if she had done it right there? She’d have got an ass-whipping by the boys!

HOGAN: By the boys? There’d have been nobody around. The only reason you covered up is because everybody was watching, and you knew you had to behave. I think if you had been by herself you would have counter clocked her ass.

BUBBA: Yeah, but she happened to catch me kinda in a dead area. What if we were shooting and she came in and did that, I mean, she was going to find me regardless of where I was.

HOGAN: Oh, yeah, she was on the hunt! I’ve been around this business for a long time, and I’ve seen Dirty Dan Spivey just destroy Adrian Adonis to the point where we had to stop that. I’ve seen Paul Orndorff, naked, with a pair of shower shoes, kick Vader’s head in. But, without a doubt, when she hit you in your mouth, I thought she broke your jaw, I thought that was one of the hardest sucker punches I’ve ever seen thrown in this business, where it connected.

BUBBA: But it didn’t drop me!

HOGAN: All joking aside, I’m really proud of you for not knocking her out, bro, because that wouldn’t be cool.

BUBBA: I’m gonna be honest with you, Hogan. After her third punch to me, in my mind I’m like, do I take her down with a double-leg, and then just pummel her. Or do I try to bring my right around… and in my head in the quarter-second I had to think about I was like, “You’re done, you’re over! You’ll be off the radio!” Women’s right will get you, look what happened when I barbecued a hog…

HOGAN: If you had hit her, you might have killed her. I’m serious, because the way you were stiff-arming her, she was flailing, she was so out of her mind, if you had sucker punched her between the eyes you might have killed her. I’m proud of you for not doing it, BUT… but what happened, she deserved it.

BUBBA: Dixie has a nice work environment… don’t I, have a talent there, have a right to walk around and not get beat up?

HOGAN: You didn’t get beat up, you just got beat on!

BUBBA: And it was a triple Lindy, three of them connected boom-boom-boom. And then I was like, man… and then, on the third one, I got my left hand out, and I’m keeping her off, my hand’s on like her collarbone area, and at that point she was wailing around, and I was like, do I drop her, do I shoot a double or single leg, or do I get down on a knee and cover up…

HOGAN: Oh, she’d have kicked your brains in if you had got down on your knee.

BUBBA: I know… but, do I just … hopefully somebody gets her off me, so if I don’t defend myself I can’t get in trouble. I was worried about lawsuits, women’s activists and getting in trouble if I had fought back and dropped her, or tried, or even attempted to..

HOGAN: When you Hulked up… and you could see that your eyeballs were rolling back like a shark, and you were going to knock her out. .. but all the sudden you had presence of mind just to cover up and to do the rope-a-dope which was the way to go…

BUBBA: Which makes me look like a pussy…

HOGAN: No, it didn’t make you look like a pussy. If you had hurt that woman, it wouldn’t have been cool. Even though you could have gotten away with it, it still wouldn’t have been cool.

BUBBA: Brent, what’s your spin on it? By the way, I will tell you this, on the way home I called Brent, he’s my confidant, I’m like, Brent, I’m really tore up with this. Brent, you wern’t happy about it, were you?

BRENT: No, I’m still not happy about it. If I were you, and I’m shooting now, I’m being 100% serious, I’d never work another day in my life, and the only correspondence that they would get from me would be through Carlson and Wisner.

HOGAN: Oh, please!

BUBBA: Well, I’m just sayin’… to each their own.

BRENT: Hostile work environment. It’s all day…slam dunk!

BUBBA: Well, it is, it is all day, but… I dunno.

HOGAN: You did the right thing, it’s all good, man. It ain’t no big deal.

BUBBA: It’s no big deal to you, you’re not the one whose getting punked out when you go to work today.

HOGAN: I thought it was awesome. AWESOME KONG RULES!

BUBBA: Go ahead and put her over, Hogan. It’s called lack of leadership, my friend, she obviously has the mindset that you ain’t shit and you don’t care. She went after your number one guy, and what are you going to do about it, old timer? You’re all bark and no bite there, buddy!

HOGAN: I’m going to book you and Russo together, because he’s the one who set it up.

BUBBA: Or the fact that he set it up and you’re not doing anything.

HOGAN: I’m setting it up!

BUBBA: You’re not even sticking up for me on this.

HOGAN: Oh, Jesus Christ, it was a girl, a 350-pound girl, calm down!… I was just worried about your shoulder, I knew you had hurt your shoulder trying to hold that monster off.

BUBBA: Oh, my shoulder is amped…

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.

– Following reports that Spike TV was very happy with TNA’s ratings performance against WWE RAW on January 4th, another live Monday iMPACT is being planned for March. March 1st and March 8th are the two dates Spike is considering.  Regarding going live permanently, everyone expects it to happen this year.

– Spike TV played a big part in TNA bringing Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff in. Spike reportedly earmarked money and helped out with the contracts as they have done in the past with other major TNA signings such Kurt Angle, Sting and Mick Foley. Spike executives Kevin Kay and Brian Diamond are firmly behind Hulk Hogan and his importance to TNA when they ultimately look to challenge RAW on Monday nights week after week.

– Scott Hall and Hulk Hogan were  in noticeable pain after last Tuesday’s iMPACT tapings. Hallw was having hard time getting around after the show. Some were surprised that Hogan was able to jog backstage at the end of Monday’s show because he was struggling to get around backstage so much.

– As noted before, Sean Waltman had some heat on him after showing up late to the iMPACT tapings last Tuesday. Waltman told TNA officials that he was battling a stomach flu on Monday, but many were skeptical about Waltman’s excuse because of his track record.  TNA is counting on Waltman to take the majority of bumps for Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, just as he did in the nWo days.

(Credit to Wrestling Observer Newsletter & prowrestling.net)

TNA Genesis: This Sunday night

Below is the final card for this Sunday’s TNA Genesis pay-per-view.

Note that TNA has confirmed that a “major acquisition” will make his debut at the show.

TNA World Heavyweight Title Match
Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles
* Angle’s Last Shot at AJ’s World Title in 2010

TNA World Tag Team Title Match
Matt Morgan & Hernandez vs. The British Invasion

TNA Knockouts Title Match – Best of 3 Falls
Tara vs. ODB

TNA X Division Title Match
Amazing Red vs. Opponent to be Announced That Night

Scott Hall & Kevin Nash vs. Beer Money

Bobby Lashley vs. Abyss

Sean Morley vs. Daniels

Desmond Wolfe vs. The Pope

— Jeremy Borash said this morning during an appearance on the Pain Clinic radio show that TNA is expected to debut a big-name wrestler at the Genesis pay-per-view, which takes place on Jan. 17. He indicated it would be a “big surprise.”

— Hulk Hogan’s TNA entrance theme is actually not a new song as it can be heard on the WCW Nitro and WCW/nWo Thunder video games released on Playstation in the late nineties. At the time, a sound-alike was created because THQ didn’t own the rights to the actual New World Order song.

— Kurt Angle appears on this week’s editions of TNA Today and Live Events Center. Click here to view the videos.

Bubba The Love Sponge

TNA’s Hulk Hogan called into the Bubba the Love Sponge radio show this morning. Visit BTLS.com for more on Bubba’s show. Here are some highlights:

Monday’s Steel Cage Asylum Match: Hulk and Bubba talked about the Steel Cage Assylum match that opened the show, which they both agreed was a disaster. Hulk said that when he and Bubba were in the production meeting on Sunday, about 10 people told him there was a decent door to the cage. He then got to the iMPACT! Zone on Monday and found out it had no real door and that none of the wrestlers could climb out of the top, hence the DQ finish. There were plans for a big bump off the cage but it just was not possible. He and Bubba agreed that the Steel Cage Assylum needs to be scraped for good.

iMPACT! Moving To Mondays: Hulk says they have kinda dropped the ball by taping a Thursday show the day after going live and that right after he hangs up with Bubba he is gonna call Dixie Carter, Eric Bischoff and the people at Spike and tell them that they need to be on Mondays live from now on. He says he knows that it will cost a ton of money but you gotta spend money to make money. Hulk says that he will get Vince’s audience a bit at a time just like he did in WCW.

They also talked about planned upgrades to the iMPACT! zone, “making nice” with the Bubba listeners who were denied entry to iMPACT! and Hogan’s divorce.

There is major paranoia in the TNA locker room now due to the arrivals of Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff, according to a report in the PWTorch Newsletter.

There are a number of wrestlers now concerned about their standing with the company, after so many new wrestlers were brought in. There general consensus backstage is that roster changes are inevitable. Wrestlers who get paid per-date are also concerned about TNA keeping them under contract but not using them, as they only get paid when they are actually used.

Despite all the new faces, few are believed to have actual long-term contracts. The word backstage at iMPACT was that Scott Hall, Sean Waltman, Sean Morely and others were working without lengthy deals.

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Hulk Hogan

Big props to PWTorch.com for getting a hold of the minute-by-minute ratings data:

In a news bit that should surprise no one, a minute-by-minute breakdown of Monday’s TNA iMPACT! rating reveals that the first Hulk Hogan segment contained the most-watched portion of the show.

After opening with a whopping 3.05 million viewers for Hulk Hogan’s walk to the ring, Hogan’s first live segment peaked with 3.36 million viewers at 9PM. This figure then gradually (and steadily) declined as people began tuning out, presumably to view the Bret Hart-Shawn Michaels encounter on WWE RAW.

What is interesting, however, is that the next biggest attraction was neither Jeff Hardy, Ric Flair nor any of the active male TNA performers. Rather, it was The Beautiful People’s strip poker game. While TNA’s Knockouts have often drawn well in comparison to the other action, it is surprising that they maintained their dominant level of appeal on such a star-studded show.

The first instance of the poker game drew between 3.00 and 3.01 million viewers; a segment that also featured Sean Morley drew 2.9 million viewers just after 9:30PM. Aside from a portion of Hulk Hogan’s appearance, the Beautiful People were far and away the biggest draw of hour two.

Hulk Hogan was said to be very stressed backstage at iMPACT on Monday, and feels the company has organizational issues. TNA was still filming pre-tapes late in the day, and it was said to be a very chaotic atmosphere for Hulk compared to the treatment he was used to in WCW and WWE.

Hogan held a meeting with the TNA roster prior to the show, which was described as a basic pep talk meeting. Hulk told the wrestlers that he’s looking forward to getting to know them all. He told them his door is always open, and gave the impression that he and Bischoff are running the show, although Vince Russo is still handling his usual backstage duties.

Some backstage sources say Russo came across as withdrawn, and after the show was telling people he had no idea what the storyline direction will be going forward.

(Source: PWTorch Newsletter)

Monday Night iMPACT!

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.

– Hulk Hogan held a big meeting with the TNA entire roster backstage in Orlando today and the outcome was said to be very positive. The meeting was described as ‘rallying of the troops’ for tonight’s special with Hogan telling talent that this is their opportunity to shine.

– Bubba the Love Sponge, who is the new backstage interviewer for TNA, said on his radio show today that there was a TNA creative meeting last night and that Hulk Hogan is definitely in charge as he vetoed some of the ideas that were brought up at the meeting with a “we’re not doing it like that” mentality. Bubba says that the direction TNA is going will appeal to the 18-34 year old male demographic and will be the opposite of what WWE is putting out. Bubba used the term “man stuff” when describing the TNA storyline direction.

Monday Night iMPACT!

Hulk Hogan may be showing up on iMPACT! tonight as his former “Hollywood Hogan” nWo character.

New TNA backstage announcer and radio personality Bubba the Love Sponge posted a picture of Hulk Hogan working out on Sunday and Hogan is sporting a black beard with his blonde mustache – the look he had back in WCW at its peak.

To see the picture of Hollywood Hogan, click here.

With Scott Hall and Sean Waltman rumored to appear at iMPACT! and Kevin Nash already appearing, will we see an nWo reunion tonight?

Hulk Hogan has responded to negative comments made about him by WWE superstar CM Punk about him this morning on the BJ Shea Morning Experience show in Seattle. You can listen to an MP3 of the interview at this link.

Hogan listened to the comments and said, “Well, you know, it’s kind of like the law of attraction. He’s probably going to attract more of that negative stuff to his career because, you know, if you’re functioning on that level, that’s probably what you are going to attract, but at the end of the day, you know, I was selling out Madison Square Garden when that kid was pooping in his diapers, so you know, you’re going to see what I’m all about. I’m not there to wrestle. I don’t have a contract to wrestle. I’m there to run this company. Make it better, like I said, give the talent a choice. All the talents that are locked in there…I’m sure Vince McMahon is giving CM Punk the big push but paying him crumbs, because I know how that goes, because I’m giving the fans a choice, and the talent a choice and I’m going to prove to this negative guy that he’s wrong.”

When asked about Punk making a personal attack on him, Hogan said, “That’s cool. I understand he’s surrounded by negative stuff up there and I can see why he’s jaded in his opinion. One of the things that I learned a long time ago is that you can’t judge anyone. You can’t judge a book by it’s cover. Some of the craziest looking, weirdest people seem to be the nicest people and the most honest people in the world. I would never judge anyone before I meet them. Some day down the road, CM Punk and I are probably going to work together and I would never judge him under any preconceived notions. I would judge him on the type of person he was when I met him. It’s all good, brother. I am vibing so high brother. I am going to reward those who are with me and those who aren’t my friends, I am going to win them over and make them my friends.”

** JEFF HARDY Says He’ll Be At TNA iMPACT! Tonight – Full Details