— The Sun has posted an article claiming that WWE is plotting to swoop the multi-time World Champion from TNA Wrestling. They say with WrestleMania taking place in WCW’s former home of Atlanta this year, Vince McMahon wants Sting to be a part of the show and inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Though still listed on the TNA Wrestling website, Sting is presently a free agent after his contract with the organization expired late last year.

— The news of Awesome Kong’s recent arrest in Hillsborough County, Florida for driving without a valid license led one company source to quip, “Since Kong got arrested in Tampa I’d say that’s proof she got a WWE gig, because you have to get arrested in Tampa to work for WWE.”

— Last night’s episode of WWE Superstars on WGN America, which featured Daniel Bryan and Mark Henry vs. Ted DiBiase and Tyson Kidd in the main event, garnered a 0.58 cable rating with 588,000 viewers. Last week’s show drew a 0.67.

The midnight replay did a 0.16 with 166,000 viewers.

sources: F4WOnline.com, PWInsider.com

WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross is back with another blog update, which you can read in its entirety at JRsBarBQ.com As always, check out JR’s website for his delicious line of BBQ products. Here are some highlights of what Ross said about:

Sting In The WWE Hall of Fame:

We’re getting lots of emails and Tweets, @JRsBBQ, regarding Sting these days. BTW has he left TNA? I actually don’t know the answer to that one but suspect that Sting is still officially with TNA. Nonetheless many fans hope that Sting is inducted in the WWE HOF in Atlanta at WM27. Theoretically, if Sting were not working for another wrestling company, it would be a splendid idea. It still might be but that’s not for me to speculate on. Sting was the first and only WCW star that Turner’s people ‘made’ in Atlanta that never wrestled for WWE as best that I recall.

Paul Orndorff Announcing He Has Cancer:

Sorry to hear of Paul Orndorff was recently diagnosed with having cancer. PO is a tough man, I know this without hype or speculation, and saw him in action as a young dude being mentored by Cowboy Bill Watts in Mid South Wrestling. Paul was a former running back for the University of Tampa and played with former NFL star Freddie Solomon. Our prayers are with PO and I have complete faith that Mr. Wonderful will be physically wonderful at the end of the day. Paul was a helluva hand in his day who was never afraid of ‘heat’ when he was one of the most hated villains in the business. Trust me, all wrestling villains could not honestly say that they had absolutely no fear of intense, fan angst but Mr. Wonderful could.

Who Will Be The MVP Of WWE In 2011

Who will be WWE MVP by year’s end. If he stays healthy an argument could be made, at least in my point of view, that it might be CM Punk. Punk knows how to be physical and punishing in logical, easy to follow methods plus the guy can talk. Those traits work for me. Plus he won’t miss work, moan about non, major injuries and seems to never burn out.

– TNA officials believe that Sting will once again re-sign with the company. Sting has been working on a year-to-year basis for several years now, with Spike TV often contributing to his expensive contract renewals. If he does decide to stick with TNA, he would be brought back in January with some of the other TNA headliners who have been off television, like Kurt Angle.

– There has been talk of Kevin Nash being brought back to TNA. Click here for more on his recent TNA departure and Nash teasing that he’d like to wrestle The Undertaker at WrestleMania.

– TNA’s EV 2.0 storyline has essentially run its course and was not originally booked to last this long. Many within TNA are pleased the ECW originals got as much exposure as they did, but it’s really time to move on.

– Tommy Dreamer’s reported wrist injury was originally feared to be a break, but ended up “only” being a ligament injury with deep bruising.

– TNA Reaction will not air after iMPACT! on 12/16. Spike TV’s programming schedule lists the shows 1,000 Ways to Die and Phowned! that evening.

(Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

— Among those discussed this past week for induction into the 2011 WWE Hall of Fame were Bill Goldberg, Lex Luger and Ron Simmons.

Also under consideration for induction into the Hall is that of the Four Horsemen. Company officials would prefer to induct the group as opposed to solely Arn Anderson. However, the group’s induction will likely hinge on whether Ric Flair re-signs with TNA Wrestling once his current contract expires early next year.

WWE also has strong interest in inducting Sting into the Hall of Fame, though his availability hinges on whether he re-signs with TNA Wrestling for 2011.

— WWE creative plans to have Pee Wee Herman and Superstars participate in “Pee Wee’s Playhouse” backstage segments when the comedian hosts Monday Night Raw on Nov. 1 in Nashville, Tennessee.

— The Sept. 14 Friday Night SmackDown television taping at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan drew 5,059 patrons paying $201,690.

source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

— According to today’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Sting is “expected to be gone” from TNA Wrestling following this week’s set of television tapings, which were completed yesterday in Orlando, Florida.

The multi-time champion is limited by an injury to his shoulder and has not signed a new contract, so he’s only committed to the organization until the end of the year. There was talk this week that he would be taking time off from this point forward.

— The official TNA Wrestling website has added Mickie James, Robbie E, and Cookie to its roster page.

— TNA Superstar Robbie E has launched a Twitter account.

— TNA Wrestling officials are hopeful that the disclosure of “They” at Bound for Glory will hook a number of fans to purchase the pay-per-view event. The widespread assumption amongst the TNA locker room is that “They” will be revealed as a combination of Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff and possibly Jeff Jarrett.

Though D’Angelo Dinero cut what was described as a ‘heelish promo’ on Thursday’s iMPACT!, many believe he, Sting and Kevin Nash will turn babyface once “They” is revealed. (source: Pro Wrestling Torch)

— Jeff Hardy’s fiancée, Beth Britt, who is pregnant with the TNA Superstar’s first child, released a message on Twitter yesterday asking that people respect their privacy.

“Been hearing some rumblings about this so I’ll only address it this once. Do not assume that anyone on the Internet that is talking about or answering questions regarding me & my pregnancy has any “inside information”. I can GUARANTEE that the few people who do know any actual facts ARE NOT talking about it to people they don’t know, namely on the Internet & in some silly Q&A forum. There’s a reason that I haven’t answered any questions about the pregnancy. The reason is that this is probably the one thing that we’ll be able to hold sacred & keep somewhat a secret from the public, just so that we can enjoy something so special, even if only for a short time. “Privacy” is something that doesn’t really exist in Jeff’s profession, much less his personal life. I’m just trying to hold on to what I can in MY personal life, & this is it. Respect OUR privacy on this. The people that know anything about us & this pregnancy are doing just that. People that are claiming to know, or are speculating, have NO idea.”

— Internally, there has been discussion of launching a “Four-Horsemen-like” faction, reports the Pro Wrestling Torch. There’s much buzz about it among the wrestlers in the locker room as a number of them are said to be interested in joining the act.

Keep in mind that TNA cannot use the Horsemen name as it became property of World Wrestling Entertainment when World Championship Wrestling was sold.

— Former TNA performer Karen Angle was backstage at last night’s Destination X pay-per-view with her children. She later sat second row ringside for a portion of the show. She is reportedly involved in a relationship with Jeff Jarrett.

— It was Sting’s birthday on Saturday as he turned 51 years old.

– As announced on last night’s TNA iMPACT!, Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair will come out of retirement on March 8th in a tag match that will see the two legends on opposite sides of the ring. Hulk Hogan will team with Abyss against Ric Flair and TNA champion AJ Styles.

– Despite the fact that he’s one of the biggest names that TNA has access to, one big name that’s been conspicuously absent in recent weeks is Sting.  The company knows that he’s not interested in being too involved in the product these days and his name isn’t mentioned too often by TNA officials.

– With the dust starting to settle from Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff’s arrival in TNA, the backstage atmosphere at the most recent iMPACT tapings was said to be very relaxed at the most recent TNA iMAPCT! tapigns in Orlando. Hogan and Bischoff seemed more down to earth and comfortable when working with the TNA talent. Some credit the improvement in backstage morale to Dixie Carter constantly telling people she wants to keep TNA a positive, fun work environment.

Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

— Kurt Angle is looking to reduce his schedule with TNA.

— Lacey Von Erich will be making her TNA live event debut at this week’s shows in Virginia. She will be teaming up with fellow “Beautiful People” members Velvet Sky and Madison Rayne to take on Tara and Angelina Love in 3-on-2 Handicapped matches. Also note, these shows will mark as Love’s return to TNA house shows.

— As a reminder, this month’s edition of TNA Epics airs tomorrow evening directly following iMPACT!. Sting will be the show’s focus.

(credit to the Wrestling Observer for some of the information used in this report)

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)

— This Thursday following iMPACT!, Spike will debut the TNA Epics series. The show, which will be hosted by Mick Foley, will feature classic TNA footage.

The debut episode will focus on Kurt Angle.

The second episode, which will air on Thursday, February 11th, 2010, will feature Sting. Here is the preview, courtesy of Spike.com: “Presenting some of the best matches from “The Icon” Sting’s career with TNA Wrestling. Hosted by Mick Foley, this one-hour special also includes exclusive interviews with the legend and showcases the amazing moments fans will always remember.”

— TNA drew a sellout crowd of 2,500, its best house show numbers in several months, for Friday night’s live event in Westbury, New York. (source: f4wonline)

— You can follow Jesse Neal on Twitter at twitter.com/jessenealtna.

— Sting is not expected to return to TNA action soon. Word going around is that he won’t return until several months into 2010.

— TNA President Dixie Carter announced via her twitter account that Knockouts champion ODB has signed a “new multiyear deal” with the promotion.

— Jim Cornette updated the Q&A section of his website with a long response to the question “What is your opinion of Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff signing with TNA?” Cornette answered, “This whole thing reminds me of why I hate corporate wrestling. I must admit there are bright spots, like imagining Vince McMahon’s face and blood pressure when he heard the news, or hearing Hogan bitchslap Vince Russo by saying they’d be OK if “he stays in his place.” Can TNA make their minds up, LAST month everybody had to be “100% behind Russo’s creative direction” and THIS month they hire a guy who once SUED him for his lousy booking? They have reunited the same team that helped WCW lose more money than any wrestling promotion in history.” To continue reading, visit cornette’s official website.

— The PWTorch Newsletter reports that TNA only pays their mid-card and under-card wrestlers if they work, and it doesn’t cost them anything if they don’t use them at the tapings opposed to the main eventers who get paid whether they work or just sit around backstage. TNA has a lot of talent under contract right now, and the creative team is said to be under pressure to book as many wrestlers as possible per taping because they know they aren’t getting paid unless they work.

— TNA iMPACT on Thursday did a 0.9 rating. While the details aren’t available yet, keep in mind that it was a three hour show and the third hour likely dragged down the number.

— At the end of TNA’s Bound For Glory PPV last night, the stage manager was going ballistic because Sting wasn’t facing the hard camera when he did his promo. They kept motioning for him to turn around.

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BREAKING SPOILER: 2 Former WCW Stars Return At iMPACT Tapings [FULL LIVE REPORT >>]

TNA Champion AJ Styles

** WARNING: This contains a MAJOR *SPOILER* for Sunday’s TNA Bound For Glory Pay-Per-View:

With just days until TNA Wrestling’s biggest Pay-Per-View event of the year, a television commercial hyping TNA’s November PPV has revealed the result for Sunday’s AJ Styles vs. Sting Bound For Glory main event.

Several cable providers, including Time Warner, Comcast and Bright House have begun airing commercials for TNA Turning Point (11/15). The commercial was also available on “On Demand” sections of these cable providers.

The commercial explicitly reveals the result of the AJ Styles vs. Sting match at Bound For Glory. It begins with clips of current TNA Champion A Styles. A voiceover says that AJ Styles beat Sting at Bound For Glory and now he looks to his next challenger for the TNA world title. Footage was also shown of the AJ Styles vs. Sting match from last years Turning Point.

After speaking to a TNA employee this afternoon, we can say that TNA is are aware of the situation and company officials are hoping to keep the situation “contained.” It should be interesting to see if this news leaking out affects the result of Sunday’s main event, but as of Thursday morning, the plan was for AJ Styles to retain the title this Sunday.