As reported earlier, TNA Wrestling officials made the decision to send Jeff Hardy home from this week’s iMPACT! television tapings. Reports from last night’s show were that Hardy was in no condition to perform and management decided to cut his match with Sting short.
Unlike the last time there was a question about Hardy’s condition (prior to the Final Resolution pay-per-view in December, company officials were going to strip Hardy of the World Heavyweight Championship due to his condition backstage at the event, but then changed their minds) no one within the company has attempted to defend him. Many company employees are very upset about the situation, especially with the decision to allow Hardy to go out in front of the audience considering he stumbled on the ramp and nearly tripped over the ring steps. Others were surprised that an audible wasn’t called to “make it up” to the audience.
While Hardy has been sent home from this week’s iMPACT! tapings, no further decision has been made regarding his future in the organization.
Hardy tweeted last night that “things are op.” His next court date in Moore County, North Carolina is scheduled for Wednesday.
— Hulk Hogan responded to a fan on Twitter who suggested that TNA Wrestling get rid of Jeff Hardy because he has a “problem that needs to be sorted out.”
“Brother, we’re trying to get everything straightened out,” Hogan replied. “I feel bad about some of the situations that have to be dealt with.”
— Following this week’s iMPACT! tapings in Orlando, Florida TNA Wrestling is back on tour on Friday in Jacksonville, Florida, and Saturday in Savannah, Georgia. Jeff Hardy is billed as the top star for the event. Other talent scheduled to appear include Jeff Jarrett, Matt Hardy, Mick Foley, AJ Styles and Scott Steiner, among others.
— Mickie James is scheduled to appear at the CMA Music Festival in Nashville, Tennessee in June, according to her official website, MickieJames.com.
To follow up on our previous report that the main event of TNA Victory Road between Sting and Jeff Hardy was cut short due to Jeff Hardy being in “no condition to perform” – we can report that TNA management held a meeting on Monday morning and it was decided that Jeff Hardy should not appear at this week’s iMPACT! tapings. (Source: pwinsider.com)
Jeff Hardy was never booked to win the TNA championship at Victory Road, but Sting was supposed to retain the title after an actual match.
Late Sunday night, Jeff Hardy wrote on Twitter that “Things are op” .. He presumably meant “Things are okay,” but who knows at this point.
Regarding Jeff Hardy getting squashed in one minute at Victory Road, Joey Styles joked on Twitter, “Last night, I was watching a 15 year old match of Jeff Hardy as enhancement talent on wweclassics.com. That was wweclassics.com, wasn’t it?” He later followed up with, “No hateful replies to my Jeff Hardy tweet this morning. I guess I reconciled with all of you TNA fans and we agree on last night’s debacle.”
As of Monday afternoon, nobody in TNA has publicly commented on the incident.
Check back during the week for more on this developing story.
At TNA Victory Road, the main event between Sting and Jeff Hardy for the TNA championship lasted a mere 1 minute and 28 seconds before Sting got the quick pinfall.
According to numerous sources in the TNA locker room, the main event was cut short because of major concern about Jeff Hardy’s “state of mind” backstage. Other speculation is that Sting wouldn’t agree to wrestling a long match with Hardy if he was in bad condition.
After the show event, fans in the Impact Zone chanted “Bulls***” while security walked Jeff Hardy to the back. Sting was visibly upset over the awkward finish to the main event.
Jeff Hardy is back in court next Monday 3/21 for his pending drug charges.
— TNA Wrestling Superstar Jeff Hardy announced this afternoon on his Twitter account that he got married. His bride is Beth Britt, whom he met in 1999. The two have been in a relationship ever since.
In August 2010, Hardy announced that Britt was pregnant with the couple’s first child, a daughter, who was born on October 28.
— Brooke Adams, who is known in TNA Wrestling as Miss Tessmacher, recently participated in a bikini contest in Texas appearing fully recovered from an apparent jaw injury. She previously claimed on her official website, MissTessmacher.com, that a friend broke her jaw Christmas Day.
“The worst xmas I’ve ever had,” Adams wrote December 26. “Got hit my a friend in the jaw. Its now broken in two places. Now in the ER for the 3rd time. It was so wonderful to spend my xmas here in the ER for 9 hrs. Some damage may not be able to be fixed. Please keep me in your prayers. Hope everyone else had a wonderful xmas!”
— The general attitude in TNA regarding Jeff Hardy’s legal situation is that it’s not a big deal and the TNA Champion will likely not face jail time. As reported earlier, Jeff Hardy’s court hearing on February 16 resulted in another continuance, with his next court date scheduled for March 21st.
— TNAknockout ODB returned on Thursday’s episode of iMPACT! to answer Women’s Knockout Champion Madison Rayne’s open challenge. ODB lost to Rayne. Eric Bischoff is said to be a big fan of the ODB character, which might have been a factor in her being brought back.
ODB was phased off television last year when the company began focusing on looks and showcasing “The Beautiful People.”
— TNA Knockout Traci Brooks is advertised for this Saturday’s AWE Superstars of Pro Wrestling event at Fluvanna County High School in Palmyra, Virginia. Visit awesomewrestlingentertainment.com for more information.
– TNA star Jeff Hardy’s pending court case was delayed once again on Wednesday morning. Hardy was not there in person. Hardy’s attorney James Van Camp represents another client in a murder trial and was not able to appear today, which led to the continuance. The next court date is scheduled for Wednesday March 16, three days after TNA Victory Road and the two nights of iMPACT! tapings that follow.
– Former WWE developmental Aloisa, best known on the indy scene as the 6-foot-9 wrestler Isis The Amazon, was recently approached by MTV about filming a reality show on her unique life. (Source: Diva Dirt)
Isis The Amazon received a TNA tryout in Orlando and it’s said there’s a good chance she’ll be offered a spot on the TNA roster.
– Dixie Carter wrote on Twitter this week that she and a number of TNA stars took part in a film shoot that involved “lots of flames” and was “lots of fun.”
– UFC star Tom Lawlor was in attendance for Monday’s TNA iMPACT tapings from Orlando.
– The pre-sale for TNA’s Lockdown pay-per-view at the US Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio on April 17th begins this morning at 10am. The pre-sale password is “Lockdown.”
— Mr. Anderson’s reign as TNA World Heavyweight Champion came to an end tonight at Against All Odds as he lost the title to Jeff Hardy in a Ladder Match. Anderson obtained the belt from Hardy last month at Genesis.
The TNA World Heavyweight Champion is scheduled to return to court on Wednesday to face a variety of charges relating to his September 2009 arrest on charges of trafficking in controlled prescription pills and possession of anabolic steroids. A search of his North Carolina residence yielded 262 Vicodin prescription pills, 180 soma prescription pills, 555 milliliters of anabolic steroids, a residual amount of powder cocaine, and drug paraphernalia.
— Diva-Dirt.com reports that Isis the Amazon, who was to have appeared on the third season of WWE’s NXT, is scheduled for a tryout match at tomorrow night’s iMPACT! taping in Orlando, Florida.
The 6 foot 9 lady grappler teased her meeting with TNA Wrestling officials, writing on Twitter:
“Heading to Orlando tomorrow.. & no, not to visit family this time ;)”
— Ric Flair is scheduled to undergo surgery on Wednesday to repair a torn rotator cuff that he suffered during a recent match in Manchester, England. The WWE Hall of Famer is expected to continue his managerial role before returning to the squared circle.
— Paul Bearer attended Saturday’s TNA Wrestling live event in Pensacola, Florida to visit with friends. Regarding the experience, he wrote on Twitter: “Great seeing so many old friends at TNA in Pensacola tonight. Goodnight all.”
— TNA Wrestling has released new “Bloodline” T-shirts for Matt and Jeff Hardy.
– Former TNA champion Jeff Hardy was scheduled to win the TNA World Title back on last week’s episode of iMPACT, had his court case been settled during his most recent. Hardy’s case was delayed yet again, and TNA management decided it was best to hold off on putting the title back on Hardy until his legal issues are resolved.
The current plan is for Jeff Hardy to challenge Mr. Anderson for the title in a ladder match at Against All Odds.
– Dave Meltzer reports that Kevin Nash actually signed a contract with TNA in January but Dixie Carter signed his release on the Friday before WWE’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view.
– Speaking of Nash, he appeared on X-Pac’s show on Cowhead.tv and said that the “tipping point” that lead to him leaving TNA was the recent episode of TNA iMPACT! where Kurt Angle destroyed the members of Immortal. Nash said that after that episode of iMPACT, he and his wife felt that returning to TNA was not in his best interest. Nash said that a call from WWE’s John Laurinaitis next made the decision to back out of his TNA contract and return to WWE an easy one.
– Hulk Hogan does voice work in a new animated movie called Gnomeo & Juliet.
— It would appear that Paul Bearer is no longer affiliated with World Wrestling Entertainment as he noted today on Twitter that he is attending tonight’s TNA Wrestling live event in Pensacola, Florida to visit with friends. His profile was removed from WWE.com earlier this week and he said in December that his contract was set to expire in a “couple of months.”
— TNA Wrestling has posted footage from Thursday’s live event at the Lakefront Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana.
— Jeff Hardy is featured on the cover of Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s 2011 Wrestling Almanac.
— Chris Sabin celebrated his 29th birthday yesterday.
— In an apparent first, TNA Wrestling officials recently punished two wrestlers for testing positive for a substance banned on the organization’s drug testing policy. Though TNA did not acknowledge the situation publicly, the guilty wrestlers were pulled from some house shows as punishment. Both wrestlers have since returned to action and remain on the active roster.
— Ric Flair returned to TNA Wrestling’s European tour Friday in Manchester, England, accompanying Beer Money, Inc. for their match against Douglas Williams and Magnus. Flair wrestled Williams himself the following night in London, beating the Englishman via submission. Flair bled heavily during the match, so much so that the ring mat was mopped afterwards.
— Jeff Hardy is featured on the cover of the latest issue of Power Slam, which covers his ongoing drug trial and recent matches.
— While Matt Hardy has accused “dirt sheet” reporters of having an agenda for critically panning his TNA Wrestling debut against Rob Van Dam at Genesis, none of his new co-workers have defended the match.
“He’s so bloated he can’t even move,” observed one TNA wrestler.
The wrestler also questioned what Hardy brings to the company at this point. He pointed out that his brother has surpassed him in verbal ability not to mention that he’s a better heel.
— The TNA Wrestling creative team are under the impression that there is “nothing to worry about” in regards to Jeff Hardy’s current legal matter.
— TNA Wrestling head writer and former WCW World Heavyweight Champion Vince Russo celebrates his 50th birthday today.
— The TNA crew has arrived overseas of the company’s UK tour and and Jeff Hardy’s trip is already off to a rough start. Hardy tweeted that his bag has been lost.
— ESPN.com has posted an interview with TNA star Hulk Hogan, who talked about the viral video of New York Jets linebacker Bart Scott cutting a wrestling promo after Sunday’s win over the New England Patriots. Hogan, a childhood hero of Bart Scott, said the NFL star’s post-game interview was clearly inspired by wrestling interviews.
“It was like one of my mid-’80s promos, and all that was missing were a few ‘What are you gonna dos?’ and some lightning bolts in there. It was right on the money. I think it’s cool that [Scott] is stepping up and showboating it a bit, because it’s about personality and entertaining people, too.
I could tell Bart had been watching wrestling, and it’s pretty cool because a lot of these guys are afraid to step outside the box. … Sometimes when you say stuff you believe it and it happens.”
When asked whether Scott could have a future in pro wrestling once his professional football days are over, Hogan said:
“Oh yeah. When his career’s over and he wants to make some real money, tell him to give me a call and we’ll break him in the right way.”
— Jeff Hardy’s court hearing today in Moore County Superior Court in Carthage, North Carolina resulted in another continuance, reports the Southern Pines Pilot. Warren McSweeney, the Assistant District Attorney, requested more time to review the case. Hardy’s next scheduled hearing is Feb. 16. The TNA star did not attend the hearing.
Hardy was expected to take a plea bargain today on charges stemming from his 2009 arrest on drug charges. The plea agreement would have been subject to the judge’s approval.
— Kevin Nash stated during an interview with La Nación in Puerto Rico that he is presently negotiating with TNA Wrestling regarding a return to the organization.
Sources close to both sides indicate he has negotiated on and off with the company since his contract expired last October. It was recently reported that he agreed to a deal, but stated that someone in the office said he would be returning before a deal could be reached.
— TNA Wrestling recently applied a wrestling-related trademark to the term “Cold Blood.” It will apparently involve Jeff Hardy, as he wrote last night on Twitter: “ItWillBeHeard…..ColdBlooded!!!!!!”
— Hulk Hogan’s French country style manor home in Clearwater, Florida, which was prominently featured on Hogan Knows Best, is once again for sale. The five-bedroom home was listed at $25 million in 2006 and went back on the market in 2009 for $13.9 million when he was getting a divorce. It is now listed at $10.9 million.
The listing, which features images of the estate, is available here.
— Matt Hardy released a photo showing off his braided hairstyle, which he dubbs “Version One.”
– TMZ.com caught up with Jeff Hardy this week, who spoke about his upcoming court date on drug charges in North Carolina. Hardy told TMZ he would “make the best of it, bro.” Hardy said the situation was “frustrating” and added, “It’s been a long while … but it should get to an end soon.”
— TNA World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Hardy is currently backstage at the Impact Zone in Orlando, Florida and expected to appear on camera during tonight’s Genesis pay-per-view.
Meanwhile, TNA is keeping news of Rob Van Dam’s mystery opponent at the show a secret as the board backstage listing tonight’s matches denotes a question mark.
— The wrestler who portrayed Amazing Red’s younger brother on a recent episode of iMPACT!, Little Red, is Ohio based wrestler Tommy Mercer. He worked a tryout match against Stevie Richards prior to the November 15, 2010 iMPACT! taping and was offered a contract shortly thereafter.
Creative came up with the idea to feature him as Red’s brother because they possess similar hairstyles.
— Based on statements made by Moore County District Attorney Maureen Kruger, the person administrating Jeff Hardy’s current legal case, the expectation is that the TNA World Heavyweight Champion’s negotiated plea will result in the drug trafficking charge being dropped (which carries a mandatory prison sentence), but that he’ll plead guilty to possession. Should the drug trafficking charge be dropped, it is likely that he will face penalties via fines and probation since he’s a first-time drug offender, thus avoiding jail time.
The negotiated plea takes place Jan. 20.
— Kurt Angle appears on tonight’s episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, which airs at 8:00 p.m. on ABC. He gives a tour of an amateur wrestling facility that will be built as part of the home remodeling project.
A preview clip of Angle’s appearance is available here. No mention of TNA is made as he is introduced as a 1996 Olympic gold medalist and multi-time world champion wrestler.
New Japan WrestleKings V show
Tokyo, Japan at the Tokyo Dome
Report by reader Nick
I don’t know the exact attendance figure, but the whole first tier was filled along with the ground level seating. My friend and I speculated there were about 10,000-12,000 people there. We paid 3,000 yen (approximately 35 US dollars) for a seat in the first tier, with a nice view of the action.
As is expected in Japan, the Japanese wrestlers received the biggest pops and heat. Notable mention must go to Kenny Omega and Prince Devitt though – they seem to have created a pretty nice following in Japan.
From TNA, Jeremy Borash was doing the ring introductions, and Beer Money, RVD and Jeff Hardy were in action. Quite a few people seemed to be familiar with Beer Money as they have been to Japan
before, but unfortunately Jeff Hardy and RVD received little to no reaction. It was quite funny with RVD, as the Japanese wrestler he faced received a way bigger pop when he mockingly did the RVD gesture with his name than RVD did himself.
Props go to Jeff Hardy for making the trip to Japan with all the personal issues he has going on right now, but he was far from top form today, and put on arguably the worst match of the night. He faced Tetsuya Naitoh (part of No Limit who were in TNA briefly), but the match never got going, had a couple of botched spots, and there was a “was that it?” feeling in the crowd after it ended.
The match may have finished early for some reason as Naitoh didn’t even take his t-shirt off (he usually takes it off during one his signature moves), and Jeff did look noticeably exhausted a couple of minutes into the match. Like I say though, props to Jeff for coming to Japan and putting on the show with everything he has going on at the moment.
All TNA wrestlers used their TNA music and entrance videos.
There was also an announcement during the show that New Japan will be putting on 3 shows under the “Strong Style” slogan in the U.S. in May this year. I think it was May 13 in New Jersey, May 14 in New York, and May 15 in Philadelphia. You may want to confirm those dates, but it was definitely in those cities.
Dark Match
1. Wataru Inoue, Tiger Mask, Tama Tonga and Tomoaki Honma defeated Yujiro Takahashi, Tomohiro Ishi, Gedo and Jado in an 8-man tag match. Short 8-man tag match, was disappointing to see Tiger Mask relegated to dark match status.
Main Card
1. Kouji Kanemoto and Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Kenny Omega and Taichi. Kenny Omega looked great, and the fans seem to be really behind him.
2. Giant Bernard (A-Train/Prince Albert) and Machine Gun Anderson defeated Beer Money and the team of Nakanishi Manabu and Strongman in a three way tag match. I liked Machine Gun Anderson – he and Bernard got a nice reaction. Beer Money did the Beer Money suplex, DWI, and James Storm did the beer spitting spot which backfired. Fun match which ended with Bernard telling TNA that “NJPW is No. 1!”
3. La Sombra and Mascara Dorada (from CMLL) defeated Jushin Thunder Liger and Hector Garza. Lucha libre style tag match with lots of high risk athletic spots. La Sombra performed an inwards somersault dive to the outside and Mascara Dorada did a tightrope walk moonsault to the outside. Really impressive stuff from all 4 guys.
4. Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeated Takashi Iizuka in a “Deep Sleep” (first person unconscious) match. Finally a singles match! Very physical grudge match – Iizuka is an awesome heel. Tenzan finished with an move similar to the Anaconda Vice to put Iizuka away. The crowd loved Tenzan – he was out for a long time with an injured neck and seems to be somewhat of a crowd favourite.
5. Rob Van Dam defeated Toru Yano in a hardcore match. Poor RVD. He put on a good effort here, but received little to no love from the crowd. Japanese crowds are tough to win over. Standard hardcore rules match with chairs, trash cans, ladders, etc involved. RVD did the Van Daminator a couple of times (to no reaction) and hit the Five Star Frog Splash to Yano holding a chair (to no reaction) for the win.
6. Yuji Nagata defeated Minoru Suzuki. Grudge match – apparently there is legit heat between these two guys going back over 20 years. Nagata hit some mega stiff kicks, very much a Japanese strong style match.
7. Prince Devitt defeated Kouta Ibushi to retain the IWGP Jr Heavyweight Title. Easily the best match of the night. Both these guys are so impressive in the ring, and shook hands at the end after a very high paced match. I urge you all to check this out on YouTube if it gets uploaded.
8. Sugiura and Yoshihiro Takayama defeated Hirooki Goto and Kazuchika Okada. Takayama was as stiff as ever, everyone was “oooh”-ing every time he hit a knee. They did a Go To Sleep style move where Sugiura threw Goto off his shoulders and onto Takayama’s oncoming knee. Looked nasty. Takayama got the win for his team with a bridging german suplex.
9. Jeff Hardy defeated Tetsuya Naitoh to retain the TNA Title. As I mentioned, a disappointing match. Never got going. Jeff hit the Whisper in the Wind, Twist of Hate, and finished with the Swanton Bomb. Naitoh did all the heavy lifting before that, and did his best to create some movement, but Jeff didn’t have a great day at the office.
10. Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Go Shiozaki. Great match, Nakamura has some nasty looking chops. He was even chopping Shiozaki’s knee at one point.
11. Tougi Makabe defeated Masato Tanaka.
12. Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Satoshi Kojima to become the 56th IWGP Heavyweight Champion. Tanahashi, who was in TNA for a while, had the crowd behind him in an entertaining title match, and sent everyone home happy with a title win.
North Carolina newspaper The Pilot reports that TNA World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Hardy will enter a negotiated plea Jan. 20, according to his attorney, James Van Camp.
“We anticipate a resolution of this matter in January,” Van Camp said earlier this month at an administrative session of Moore County Superior Court.
Moore County District Attorney Maureen Krueger said that Hardy will plead guilty to one or more of the charges he faces.
Krueger did not disclose details of the state’s plea offer but said it will include a sentencing arrangement.
The Pilot reports that the plea would have to be approved by the court. A judge may refuse to accept a plea arrangement involving a negotiated sentence.
County deputies raided Hardy’s home on September 11, 2009 after Fayetteville police received a tip about drug use there. He was arrested on charges of trafficking in controlled prescription pills and possession of anabolic steroids, after a search of his residence yielded 262 Vicodin prescription pills, 180 soma prescription pills, 555 milliliters of anabolic steroids, a residual amount of powder cocaine, and drug paraphernalia.
TNA Champion Jeff Hardy will plead guilty to the drug charges pending against him when he appears in court on January 20, according to Moore County district attorney Maureen Krueger.
Hardy was arrested back in September 2009 after police raided his home in Cameron, North Carolina. He has been free on bail since his arrest.
According to the Moore County Sheriff’s Office police report, police found 262 Vicodin prescription pills, 180 Soma prescription pills, 555 milliliters of anabolic steroids, a residual amount of powder cocaine and items of drug paraphernalia during the raid. Hardy was hit with a long list of charges – including:
* Conspiracy to traffic in Opium
* Trafficking in Opium by possession
* 2 counts of possession with intent to distribute
* Felony possession of cocaine
* Felony maintaining a controlled substance in a vehicle/dwelling/place
* Misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia
District Attorney Krueger declined to comment on whether Hardy would be offered a deal or would avoid jail time in exchange for his cooperation.
Apparently in response to online reports noting concern over his condition backstage at last week’s TNA Genesis pay-per-view, TNA World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Hardy issued the following statement this evening on Twitter:
Bill Behrens, who coordinates independent bookings for several TNA stars including friends of Hardy’s such as Shannon Moore, offered additional insight into the reports on his weekly podcast by stating that organization officials have allowed Hardy to wrestle while impaired. He also said that it’s considered an “open secret” within the company that Hardy still uses drugs.
Jeff isn’t the only Hardy brother upset with the “dirtsheets” as Matt noted the following on Twitter this afternoon regarding his appearance last night on Monday Night Mayhem:
“BTW, The Scumsheets always cover MNM, the show I was on last night. They didn’t today.. Why u ask? Cuz I call them out on their bullsh*t.. The reason why they don’t give me publicity.. Cuz they don’t want my voice 2 be heard-So RT this-“THE DIRTSHEETS FEAR MATT F’N HARDY!” :) RT”
