— The May 12 episode of TNA iMPACT! scored a 1.27 cable rating, up from the previous week’s 1.15 number.
iMPACT! averaged 1.8 million viewers overall, up from 1.6 million the week before. It was also the program’s most watched show since March 17.
— The role of Kurt Angle’s on-air “mistress” went to former WWE Diva Chyna instead of independent wrestler Isis the Amazon due to concern over her wrestling ability and behind-the-scenes reputation.
With the role calling for a wrestling match this Sunday at Sacrifice, TNA Wrestling officials opted for “The Ninth Wonder of The World” over the 6’9″ grappler.
“Isis is way too green still,” said one company source. She worked a dark match prior to the February 15 iMPACT! taping and drew poor reviews for her wrestling ability.
Isis still also has a reputation for having a poor attitude. She garnered major heat amongst the locker room due how she carried herself at the February event.
“I’ve never seen a guy or a girl rub the locker room this much the wrong way,” said a TNA employee following her tryout.
Company officials no longer have plans for Isis the Amazon.
Former WWE talent Joanie “Chyna” Laurer is backstage at tonight’s TNA iMPACT! taping in Orlando, Florida and will debut as Kurt Angle’s mistress.
Lindsay Hayward (a/k/a Isis the Amazon), who was tapped to participate in WWE NXT last fall, was originally scheduled for the part. However, it was determined that she was too green for the role. Nonetheless, she too is scheduled for tonight’s taping.
— Isis the Amazon, who competed in a dark match for TNA Wrestling two months ago, is denying online reports that she will be debuting for the promotion.
“WOW & this is why we don’t trust dirtsheets.. I never alluded to that,” she wrote on Twitter in response to a message saying she would be debuting soon for TNA.
The rumor is that Isis will debut soon alongside Kurt Angle to assist him in his feud with Jeff and Karen Jarrett.
— Madison Rayne recently became the longest running TNA Women’s Knockout Champion of all-time, besting Awesome Kong’s 178 day reign with the title from October 23, 2008 to April 19, 2009. As of today, Rayne has has held the strap for 188 days.
Rayne defends the TNA Women’s Knockout Championship tonight at TNA Lockdown against Mickie James in a Title vs. Hair Steel Cage Match.
— Cookie said on her Twitter account that she missed yesterday’s TNA Fan InterAction event in Cincinnati, Ohio due to flight issues with Delta Air Lines.
— Isis the Amazon’s tryout match prior to last Tuesday’s TNA iMPACT! taping was deemed “terrible” by one company source.
Though her in-ring capabilities are considered lousy, it was noted that she worked with a wrestler who is also considered green, Leva Bates, a student of the Team 3D Academy Of Professional Wrestling. The source doesn’t rule out TNA using Isis again, due to her tremendous size.
— Hulk Hogan was briefly backstage at an iMPACT! taping last week, reportedly for a photo shoot. “The Hulkster” is advertised for an appearance at Thursday’s iMPACT! taping in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
— TNA returns to the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Mississippi on April 29, 2011 and the Memorial Hall in Joplin, Missouri on May 5, 2011. (Thanks to Devin Cutting)
– CM Punk, a WWE Triple Crown Champion and the only WWE Superstar to win the Money in the Bank Ladder Match two years in a row, revealed to WWE Magazine what he has left to accomplish.
“Obviously, I’ll always be known as the guy who won back-to-back Money in the Bank Ladder Matches at WrestleMania. So I think that’s the goal to beat. There aren’t a lot of things that I have left to do,” he said. “There are two titles that I haven’t won: One of them is the United States Championship, and the other is the WWE Championship. I’m not one to think that I’m beyond the U.S. Title. I’m kind of a “collect-them-all” type. But I’ve got three big things left.
“I have to win a Royal Rumble; I have to win main-event ‘Mania; and I have to win that WWE Title. So I don’t think my defining ‘Mania moment’s happened yet.”
– Chris Jericho appeared on Fuse Network’s Hoppus on Music over the weekend.
– Isis the Amazon, the six foot nine women’s wrestler who worked a tryout match last week for TNA Wrestling, and was briefly under contract to World Wrestling Entertainment last year, revealed on her Twitter account yesterday that she’s dating WWE developmental wrestler Marcus Owens.
“Got a new bf ;)” she wrote. “HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!”
Isis the Amazon, who was to have appeared as the protégé of Vickie Guerrero on the third season of WWE’s NXT as Aloisia, wrestled a dark match against Florida independent women’s wrestler Leva Bates prior to tonight’s iMPACT! taping in Orlando, Florida, reports WrestleBabe.net.
The six foot nine grappler pinned Bates following a chokeslam.
Bates has previous TNA Wrestling experience as she competed against Awesome Kong in the $250,000 Fan Challenge in June 2008. She is a product of the Team 3D Academy of Professional Wrestling in Kissimmee, Florida.
Florida based independent women’s wrestler Niya worked a dark match last night against Madison Rayne. Billed as Niya Verino from Las Cruces, New Mexico, she lost to the TNA Women’s Knockout Champion.
Niya is a product of the World X-Treme Wrestling (WXW) promotion in Florida, which was founded by WWE Hall of Famer Afa “The Wild Samoan”. She has also worked matches for Women Superstars Uncensored (WSU) as TNA newcomer Rosita’s tag team partner.
— Traci Brooks returned to TNA Wrestling at last night’s iMPACT! taping in Orlando, Florida.
She came to the aid of Kazarian following a post-match beating from Robbie E and Cookie. TNA Wrestling ring announcer Jeremy Borash welcomed Brooks back to the company.
TNA Wrestling released Brooks from her contract last March following seven years of tenure.
— Former TNA Women’s Knockouts Champion ODB is backstage at tonight’s iMPACT! taping. She parted ways with the organization in June.
— Isis the Amazon, who was to have appeared on the third season of WWE’s NXT as Aloisia, is backstage at tonight’s iMPACT! taping.
6-foot-9 WWE diva Aloisia has responded to reports that the reason she was removed from NXT Season 3 was because erotic photos of her leaked online. While Aloisia’s previous modeling career did include erotic photo shoots, sources indicate that the earlier report is in fact false and that she was removed from NXT Season 3 and sent back to WWE developmental due to her inexperience in the ring.
Here is the statement she posted on her official website regarding the erotic pictures:
“This morning I was shocked to discover that a new rumor was circulating on the Web, pertaining to my removal from the NXT cast. According to articles posted on numerous websites, I was removed from NXT due to WWE discovering “erotic photos” from my past on the Web. While no specific source is named in the articles, the implication is that this information is coming from someone within WWE. In case anyone is interested, here’s a link to the photos that supposedly got me taken off the show.
I’m posting the link because the pictures are already out there, so there’s no point in trying to hide them. I find them embarrassing, not because they’re particularly “erotic”, but because I was overweight and out-of-shape when they were taken five years ago and because they’re amateurishly shot. I’m sure everyone who’s reading this has some pictures somewhere that you’d rather not have published on the Web for the whole world to see. Unfortunately, part of the price of celebrity is the fact that people dig around in your past to try to find ways to exploit you as a means of increasing their own readership.
To put these pictures in their proper context, I was an 18 year old kid at the time most of them were taken. I had recently left home because I was being abused by my mother’s new husband and was on my own with no money and no parental guidance. I met a photographer who offered me some money to take pictures and being both stupid and desperate, I consented to doing a photo session. To all those who would judge me, I would ask you to honestly ask yourself what you might have done had you been in my situation. I’m not proud of having done this, but there’s nothing I can do to go back and change the past. It is what it is. For what it’s worth, none of the pictures are nude and most of them are less suggestive than what you see on current WWE programming. For example, here’s a recent video shot at FCW when Aksana was first introduced:
I’m not mentioning this to criticize Aksana or WWE in any way. I’m merely trying to put it in context.
When I first received my offer from WWE, they asked me to fill out a “Talent Information Form” providing them with information about myself and my background. One of the questions was, “Have you ever posed nude?”. I answered “No” to this question, because that’s the truth. If they had asked me if I ever posed suggestively, I would of course have answered “Yes”, but there’s a big difference between suggestive and nude. As to the question of whether this was why they took me off the show, that’s something you’d have to ask them. Perhaps it was a factor in their decision, but I honestly don’t know their entire thought process, as they’ve communicated very little to me about this. From what I’ve been reading on various blogs, it seems that they may have had a political motivation to get me off the show, but again, you’d have to ask them.
I wish all of you the best and thank you for your support.”
WWE is currently negotiating to sign a woman would be the largest diva in company history.
We’ve received word that WWE has signed or is close to signing female independent wrestler Isis The Amazon to a developmental deal.
Isis is 6 foot 9 inches and besides indy wrestling, has done some modeling and acting work. Isis also has participated in a week-long evaluation at WWE’s FCW developmental territory.
Isis has been in attendance at as many as two WWE developmental shows this month. A fan in attendance at this week’s show in Fort Myers, Florida says Isis had to ask FCW officials if it was okay to take photos with fans.
To put Isis into perspective, she is just a few inches shorter than Big Show.
For more on Isis the Amazon, visit here official website here.