As noted, Joey Styles will be interviewing Paul Heyman after Monday’s edition of WWE RAW as part of “ECW Week” on the WWE Network.

After hearing of the news, TNA commentator Taz posted the following tweet on his official Twitter account:

.@HeymanHustle @JoeyStyles @WWENetwork I guess for a movement/company that SO MANY bashed, ripped & laughed at…still is relevant. 2 Funny.

— TAZ (@OfficialTAZ) November 6, 2014

Heyman replied to that tweet with this one:

. @OfficialTAZ HUGE difference between "relevant" and "exploited," which I'll be happy to explain Monday night. @JoeyStyles @WWENetwork @WWE

— Paul Heyman (@HeymanHustle) November 6, 2014

The reason TNA is letting Wrestle-1 handle a lot of the work for this year’s Bound For Glory show is said to be part of a money-saving deal that Jeff Jarrett put together when he was still with the company.

TNA will only have to cover the travel costs for their talent, as well as their pay for the event. Wrestle-1 will be handling the production and will air a television show in Japan with the idea that they are presenting the biggest TNA event of the year.

Wrestle-1 will then transmit the Bound For Glory tape to TNA headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee, where Mike Tenay and Taz will do the voice-over work for the U.S. broadcast. The pay-per-view itself will air that night in its’ normal 8pm EST. time slot.

– Early ticket sales for TNA Bound For Glory in Tokyo, Japan are said to be encouraging.

– Due to the fact that TNA Bound For Glory will be airing in the United States several hours after it happens n Japan, there is talk that the show may be taped and transmitted to TNA’s Nashville studios with just the crowd sound. There is also a good chance that Mike Tenay and Taz will end up doing voice-overs from Nashville as a cost-cutting measure.

– Sanada is still using the name Seiya Sanada when working for the Wrestle-1 promotion in Japan, as opposed to The Great Sanada name he’s been using in TNA. With no TNA dates on the schedule for October, Sanada will be remaining in Japan to work after next week’s TNA tapings in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

The following are highlights of a new Newsday interview with Paul Heyman:

On his rocky relationship with the McMahon’s: “I look at it from many different perspectives. Number one, I don’t think I ever had any bigger advocate, besides my father, than Vince McMahon during the 1990s. There’s a story that is recounted on the documentary. I was sitting in the office with Steven Chau in 2000, who was the president of the USA Network reporting directly to Barry Diller. This was at the time when WWE was in federal court in order to jump to Viacom off of USA Network. And USA was looking to fill the programming slot, and ECW was the frontrunner for that option at the time. And during the meeting, Steven Chau showed me a printed-out email that he had received the night before from Vince McMahon that said, “If your network doesn’t do business with ECW and, more specifically, with Paul Heyman, you will be depriving your network of a great resource and your viewers of guaranteed great programming.” And Vince had no reason to do that except it’s what he felt at the time. He felt ECW was a great shop for the industry in terms of developing talent. So I can’t tell you that I’ve spent my life butting heads with the McMahons. I’ve had my ups and downs with them, as anybody else in my position would. I would not have guessed three or four years ago that a documentary on my career would have been released by WWE. But I wouldn’t have guessed three or four years ago that I would have been back in WWE.”

On criticizing Long Island fans in the past during RAW: “I called them “the worst audience we ever performed in front of,” and said “We shouldn’t ever tape television here.” I’m fine with it. It was a reaction for the moment. They were a lousy crowd that night. Here’s the funny thing: Nothing drives a performance like an audience that gives back, and even takes over. ECW was a product that will be remembered as much, if not more, for its audience interaction as for the things that happened in the ring. The WWE Superstars look forward to every time they see Chicago on the schedule. We spend a year building toward WrestleMania, and the number-two thing everybody looks forward to is the “Raw” the day after WrestleMania, because it’s the wildest crowd of the year. I’m from New York and I go to Chicago or the day after WrestleMania and see these wild crowds, and as a New Yorker, you want to say, “If this was in New York it would be even better.” And you think about the legendary crowds at Madison Square Garden. So we bring a live, worldwide TV show, not to the Garden, but to the Nassau Coliseum, and the crowd is just sitting there with their thumbs up their tuckuses. It’s like, “Hey, we’re all New Yorkers and you’re making New York look bad. Get up off your butt and make this show. And if you don’t like the show, take over. Boo the show. Vociferously and energetically and passionately boo us out of the building. But don’t just sit there.” The opposite of loving the product isn’t hating the product. It’s apathy. And it makes for terrible television. Why is John Cena the biggest star in the industry? Because, whether you love him or you hate him, you’re at the top of your lungs about him.”

On TNA taping in NYC where Taz and others referenced ECW, and if they should let it finally die: “I think it’s very much time for anybody and everybody to move on, especially on a product that you’re trying to push forward. Nostalgia tours are great, but not in a youth oriented and dominated industry. I think the lesson learned in all this is that Spike TV didn’t renew them. And one of the reasons has to be that the most passionate reaction they can get is for a product that went away in 2001. And they’ve been trying to brand themselves since their inception and they can’t get it done. They should have spent that time and energy trying to brand themselves and not trying to elicit a response of an audience based on a product that they don’t even own.”

Check out the complete interview at Newsday.com.

The following are highlights of a recent Jim Ross Q&A update:

On Michael Cole filling his spot as lead announcer: “Absolutely. Cole’s working his tail off being all things to many masters. hardest working broadcaster in WWE by far.”

On old-school announcer Boyd Pierce: “Boyd was a true character with a terrific sense of humor. Loved the business passionately. Good man.”

On who should induct Paul Bearer this year and Undertaker when he finally goes in: “I’m anxious to see who does the inducting, etc at the WWE HOF. I have no idea. Curious though. I think that Vince McMahon should introduce Taker when that day comes.”

On Taz: “Taz is doing great and we still keep in touch. I will attempt to get him on my podcast without question.”

On if he’ll have Daniel Bryan on his podcast: “Perhaps. Not sue that he would want to be on or if I could get it cleared.”

Check out more JR Q&A updates at JRsBarBQ.com.

– Chris Jericho’s appearance on the Comedy Central show “@Midnight” is available online at ComedyCentral.com.

– Part one of an in-depth, two-part Miami Herald interview with TNA color commentator Taz is available at MiamiHerald.com.

– AJ Lee has passed Eve Torres on the list of total combined days as WWE Divas Champion. Torres held the title for a combined 260 days across three separate title reigns. Lee has held the title for 261 days. If AJ doesn’t drop the belt tonight at the SmackDown taping, she will pass Maryse’s combined reign of 265 days across two separate title reigns.

– The Thursday, February 13th edition of TNA Impact Wrestling on Spike TV drew an average of 1.421 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research. That is down from last week’s show, which averaged 1.481 million viewers.

– It looks like Taz is denying rumors that he is helping recruit talent for TNA Wrestling. The Impact Wrestling color commentator recently tweeted the following:

@Jooshua24 incorrect. U got the wrong guy.

— TAZ (@OfficialTAZ) February 14, 2014

– TNA announcer Taz has been doing some talent recruiting for TNA, working directly with “Big” John Gaburick.

– Tommy Dreamer is expected to be working regularly as an agent/producer at TNA’s upcoming TV tapings.

– The UK Joker’s Wild 2 PPV will likely air between May and July. The Wrestle-1 pay-per-view that tapes in March from Japan will likely air in August.

– Here are some recent TNA attendance figures:

• February 7th (Battle Creek, Michigan): 400 fans.
• February 8th (DeKalb, Illinois): 750 fans.

(Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

Busted Open satellite radio show with Taz
Host: Dave Lagreca, Doug Mortman, and Mike Riker
Airs Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays on Sirius 92 and XM 92 from 2-4 ET

On if TNA is on the upward swing in 2014 after a disappointing 2013: “I think I can speak on behalf of most of the guys in the company, the roster, the creative team, production–I mean, I’m sure they all– it’s nice hearing someone say that probably. Look, you guys know TNA has been the whipping boy in the industry online for a couple of years now.  I mean god, I’ve been here now five years and I’ve heard from where I came in, ‘you’re going out of business, the place is going out of business, yadda yadda.’ Ok yeah. Enough with that. They’re not going out of business. As long as you have a TV contract, you’re not going out of business. As long as you have a niche audience that you have with over a million people 52 weeks a year with original programming on world wide TV; you’re not going out of business.

“That’s for all you smart marks because you think you know everything and you really don’t. So that’s number one. Number two; I agree there was some–it was a rougher year maybe? You’re right, I kind of agree with you. Look, you have down times, you have up times. I mean that’s–same with WWE. Same, I’m sure with ROH.I remember when I was with ECW, it was the same with us. Everybody thinks that everything we did in ECW was the cat’s meow. And everything Paul (Heyman) touched was gold. No it wasn’t. Paul would be the first one to tell you not everything worked. For all of us. The wrestlers back then and the current wrestlers now.

“Listen, fans need to realize that our industry is the most unique because there is no down time. There is no off season. So you hear wrestlers or promoters or whomever in interviews say that a lot what I just said. There’s no off season like the NFL or the NBA or Major League Baseball, NHL. True, right? But put it in perspective and really think about that. There’s no off season. Therefore, these creative teams in TNA or WWE or wherever that get bashed and ripped by hardcore wrestling fans. Which are the fans that–believe me when I tell you behind the scenes we all truly love cause we know no matter what, through thick and thin, they’ll always be there. The thing is man it’s not an easy task to write 52 weeks of TV and stay fresh. With the most–an audience that is so fickle and that expects so much more and to top yourself every week. That’s an extremely, extremely ambitious thing to do.

“I’m telling you, I’ve been in creative meetings with the WWE. I’ve been in meetings with TNA and I’m not on the creative team but I’ve been part of giving input at times.–Guys, there’s so much more involved with it then you’ll ever, ever, ever, ever know. And how difficult it truly is. So to understand, I don’t want to speak for WWE but I think the industry as a whole that’s doing TV every week could understand that it’s a deal where–you gotta try to keep it fresh, keep it hot, keep doing stuff that keeps people talking. Keep your talent over. Get the guys and gals over that you’re trying to get over and hopefully they click and connect with the audience.

“You gotta do that every week! So you know there are times where TNA–yeah. We might have some shows that are horrible but then there might be some shows that are great. I can tell you those shows that were horrible; the intentions were for those shows to be great. Okay, so it’s like a baseball player. He gets to the box. He gets up to the plate. His intention is to make contact and get on base. His intention isn’t to hit a foul ball or foul out or strike out or hit a pop up. He wants to get on base. Okay. Same with us. We want every show to be a homerun. Every show. That’s the goal. That don’t always work. Look, I just wanted people to understand that that’s kind of the ebb and flow, the ups and downs of the industry.

His thoughts CM Punk situation: Ahh, great question. Great conversation. Love to talk about it. So. I’m old school, okay? I’m gonna kind of talk out of both sides of my mouth for a second and then I’ll sum it up. I’m old school in a sense that I feel that you’ve gotta complete your obligations. Okay? But I do understand the grind. And I know Punk personally. I haven’t talked to him in a couple of years but I consider him a friend.-We fell out of touch with each other. I respect his work. We’ve always had a good friendship in our time in WWE together. I was already retired from the ring but Punk was always a legit, cool dude. I’m a big fan of his in-ring style and a huge fan of his personality and his whole gimmick. Love it. Okay so I don’t have no problem with CM Punk; I’m a fan. But I understand that you have an obligation.

“You have to go through with your obligation and suck it up. And do your job. But this is about emotion. And Punk knows that more than most guys because he’s been extremely successful. And his promos are off his emotion. And when you start to lose some of that emotion, for whatever reason, it’s tough to perform. We are performers. We’re a hybrid. We’re an athlete, we’re a stuntman, we’re an actor. We’re a little bit of everything. So there’s a lot of things that go on. And when your emotions start to leave for whatever that reason is and it’s usually cause of business being done bad by you; it’s tough to suck it up and grind out. I would tell ya, obviously I’m not in the WWE.

“I  was not in the locker room. I do not know what happened. I don’t know the details of why he left. But I could tell you, knowing CM Punk like I know him, like I used to know him. And knowing our industry and knowing Punk as a guy who respects our industry and respects the code of the wrestler. I’m sure this wasn’t a spur of the moment, impromptu thing where he just popped and left. This had to be a build up for him internally, in his body and in his mind and his soul, that he had enough of whatever is going on there and he had to bolt. So I can’t sit here and knock the man.

“Because there has been times for me in certain companies in this industry, that I love so much, that I’ve felt like I can’t take it no more and I‘ve had people kind of talk me off the ledge. I’m just saying that as an analogy. But I think that a guy like Punk kind of hit his boiling point for whatever was going on there and–look, my point is I don’t think he just said that’s it, I don’t like where you’re going creatively, I’m done, I quit. I don’t think that’s what happened. I think just knowing the business and being behind the scenes for a lot of years; it’s usually a build up. And quite frankly, what did he have left? Five and a half months? I can relate to that. In our business when you have five and a half months, that’s not really–I gotta be honest. That’s not a ton of time. So he had to be–again I don’t want to get into the guy’s psyche–but he had to be at a point where he was just not happy, that he couldn’t suck it up for another five and a half months. None of us know the details of his contract. We don’t know these ins and outs of his deal. It’s nobody’s business. So who knows? Who knows? Who knows what it was? Maybe it could have been something on their end; that they didn’t do on their end towards him.

“You don’t know. No one knows the details. It’s no ones business. Every contract too; let’s just talk about that real quick. 95 percent of the wrestlers, no matter what company it is, everyone’s kind of got different deals. Especially when you earn some respect and you’ve got some legitimacy and you’re credible. And you’ve been a world champ. Everybody has different little nooks and crannies in their contract. That’s what a lot of people don’t realize. This is not some standard hojo contract. So everyone’s got different type deals. So that’s something too. You don’t know what was in his deal. But look, he’s an emotional guy; that’s why he’s a successful guy. And I guess it just got to a point where maybe emotionally he was tapped out or mentally tapped out. You just can’t perform when you’re like that. And again I don’t want to speak for the man; I’m just trying to give you my perspective.”

On if there was any point when he was with ECW that he almost walked out: “Yeah. Absolutely. Many times. Many times. Like I said earlier man; it wasn’t all rainbows and butterflies. It was great, don’t get me wrong. I wish I could redo that time, it was the greatest time of my life. It was awesome. I’m forever grateful to Paul Heyman and ECW. And guys like Sabu and Raven and The Sandman and Tommy Dreamer and Shane Douglas and RVD and guys that we all just drove that machine. And we all got each other over, no matter if we were friends or not. We all made each other stars. I’m forever grateful for that. But yeah, there were ups and downs. There were times where me and Paul were banging heads. And I didn’t agree where he was going maybe with me creatively. But quite frankly, the times that I was most angry with Paul were things that he was doing with the company or creatively with someone else that I was most angry about.

“I just differed with him on. And it wasn’t a thing where, ‘well Paul I think you’re pushing this guy to hard and you shouldn’t be.’ No sir. That was not my deal. I’d never get in the way of anyone’s push. But it was more of a deal where I was like, ‘Man I think you should go in this direction. Maybe market the company this way. Or you know what? Let’s give this guy the push.’ And we would just differ on it. I’m not saying I was right. But that was many years ago. So yeah there were times where I was disappointed in what he was doing with me creatively and what he was doing with the company. But dude, that’s any job. Any job. I don’t care where you work. People need to realize this is a job. We  have jobs. We have a job to do. You know I say it all the time.

“You work at Burger King. Your manager tells you, ‘Alright. Make a whopper.’ No, you know what? Mr. Manager, I feel like making fish filets. ‘No, no, no. You’re making whoppers.’ No, no I’m gonna make fish filets. ‘Alright, you know what? You’re fired.’ (Laughter) That’s the deal. I’ve been saying that for years. That’s the best analogy that people can relate to. That’s what this is. It’s a fricking job. You gotta do what you’re told. You have some input. The more credibility you have at times and user put in and championships you’ve held. Yeah, you got some input; you got some leverage. You can talk up and give some input. You’re not a machine. I don’t want to exaggerate here. But at the end of the day, you gotta job to do. Same for me in TNA. There’s things I don’t agree with. I’ll give my opinion. We’ll discuss it. Majority rules. Alright, we don’t agree with you. Ok cool. Go that way. I supported that. I’m going to support that. That’s what you do on a team. A quarterback–if the receiver don’t agree with the play the quarterback and the head coach and the offensive coordinator call; the receiver is still going to bust his ass doing that play correctly, right or wrong?”

On what direction would he go if he had complete control of TNA: “I would bring MVP in to be the investor. (Laughs) If I was in complete control of TNA, I would do anything–if WWE right now was going left; I would go right. And if they started going right; I would go left. So that’s what I would do. I would try to be the complete opposite of WWE. That’s just my opinion. I don’t have millions invested. I don’t make tons and tons of money as an upper management guy. I don’t go in focus groups. I’m not part of that whole research team. I–this is just some blue-collared guy from Brooklyn that wrestled for a living that talks about wrestlers now giving you my opinion. Doesn’t mean I’m right. I’m probably wrong.

“But that’s just what I would do as a wrestling fan and a former wrestler; is try to be–look I think our show last night, it looked awesome. I mean hi-def, beautiful bright lights, awesome lighting grid, the whole nine yards. Thousands upon thousands of people. You know all of this stuff, it looks great on TV. The way its shot. Awesome camera work. All these camera shots. Tons of money going into the production. Me? I’m old school. Give us a couple of cameras, a spotlight over the ring, dark out the arena, let’s get after it. That’s my idea, you know? But that doesn’t draw millions. Or NWA would still be in business. And ECW. So what do I know? But that’s what I would do.”

On The Great Muta coming to Lockdown; how much has changed in a year: “I think that’s awesome. I mean, geez. Who doesn’t have mad respect for The Great Muta? Great Muta is just the bomb. I mean just a legend. Iconic figure in our industry worldwide. I mean no doubt about it. So I think that’s awesome. Very excited. I have not seen Muta in years. Looking forward to seeing him again. Last time I saw him it was in Tokyo, many years ago when I was wrestling there. But I’m looking forward to seeing him. And yeah a lot has changed from Aces and Eights being gone. I thought the Aces and Eights deal was a very cool concept. Some people loved it; some people hated it. I liked it a lot. Even if I wasn’t a part of the gimmick, which I was, I still would’ve liked it. I really liked it a lot.

“That was during a time where we had different heads of states in there running stuff. I thought it went a little long for my liking. A little long but I thought it was really cool. I thought it helped create some bars. I thought it was a cool gimmick. It think it really helped Bully Ray immensely. And now Bully Ray is at a point where he helps things. He don’t need things helping him anymore. And that’s kind of what our business is about; is you want to put a title on a guy to help make the guy. And once that guy’s made, let’s get it on someone to help him. And now once that guy is made, he can help someone else. It’s kind of like hot tag. You just tag in and out. And that’s kind of what happened with Aces and Eights with Bully Ray I felt.

“You know that really helped him, pole-vault him, really give him a platform to show the world who he is as a character. And he kicked ass on it. He did an awesome job on it. I think that you gotta tip your cap to guys like Eric Bischoff who were heavily behind the Aces and Eights concept. I thought he did a great job with it. And the rest of the creative team with Matt Conway and Dave Lagana. I thought they did a great job with that. There were a lot of guys in that thing at one point. It got a little crazy. But then it simmered down and all that stuff. And that was for a reason. Now Aces and Eights are a thing of the past. And that’s cool. We just move on. We keep evolving. So the whole investor angle, I’m not sure where it’s going. It’s really cool.

“You saw with Dixie Carter last night, she was kind of– her character was freaking out a little bit backstage. Nervous, oh my god the investor’s here now. Boom. Now we’re going to see the fallout, right? We’re gonna watch Impact this week to see what MVP’s gonna say. What he’s gonna do? How do The Wolves play a part of this? Who else is involved with this if anyone? What’s Dixie  Carter’s reaction? Sorry, I’m giving you the whole announcers deal right here. Breaking it down for you. But those are the questions I think true fans would ask.”

– Taz made a rare appearance at the TNA live event this weekend in Westbury, New York. The TNA announcer opened the show with an in-ring promo.

– Tommy Dreamer also worked the TNA live event in Westbury. Dreamer answered the open challenge issued by Ethan Carter III. EC3 ended up winning the match.

– There is a chance that Jessie Godderz may have suffered a leg injury during the TNA event in Westbury. Godderz reportedly hurt his leg while being suplexed by Joseph Park. We should have more on this on Monday.

The following are highlights from a new online blog by WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross:

On Batista’s WWE return: “Good to hear WWE talk of Batista’s return on January 20. Dave is a major player and WWE has the opportunity to capitalize on his established reputation and accomplishments. Hopefully, there is a long term, strategic plan for ‘The Animal’ that has been established.”

On Daniel Bryan, Goldust, Cody Rhodes and The Wyatt Family: “6 man tag with Rhodes Brothers and Daniel Bryan vs. the Wyatt Family seemingly did what it was supposed to do. Reasons the match worked…there is an established story and the talents had the ring time to tell said story. No fan favorites are executing better in WWE, IMO, than the Rhodes boys and Bryan.”

On TNA and three-man announce teams: “On a recent interview, I mentioned that one of the reasons that I had no interest in going to TNA was that I had no desire in affecting the chemistry of broadcasters Mike Tenay and Taz. Yes, a three man booth would obviously be possible but I’m not a big fan of three man announce teams in pro wrestling, as a rule. Mike and Taz do a great job especially when they are on point calling holds, near falls, etc and keeping a ‘sports feel’ on the in ring action. They certainly don’t need me. I did enjoy the three man announce team of McMahon, King, and me back in the day. It’s good having the boss sitting right next to you as it helps greatly with communication and creative direction. In those days, a quick huddle, so to speak, during commercial breaks was timely and efficient. With that said and as I’ve mentioned here before, I see my broadcasting days in pro wrestling aka sports entertainment as history. It’s time to do other things that interest me and my style of play by play really doesn’t fit in today’s genre.”

On Wade Barrett: “I’d still like to see William Regal associated with “Bad News” Barrett, in some manner, of whose new, TV persona I haven’t quite understood as of yet. I applaud Barrett getting some TV time because that’s where it all starts and am anxious to see where his creative journey takes him. The talented Brit has a marketable upside, IMO.”

Check out the complete blog online at JRsBarBQ.com.

– Vintage sports apparel website Homage.com has released a new retro t-shirt for Shawn Michaels ($28).

– Daniel Bryan’s appearance on the Steve Austin Show podcast is now online and can be heard at PodcastOne.com.

– Speaking of Austin’s podcast, he announced today that TNA announcer Taz will be the next guest on the uncensored version of his show:

Gearing up to talk to the Human Suplex Machine @OfficialTAZ for #SASUnleashed.

— Steve Austin (@steveaustinBSR) December 3, 2013

Taz replied:

https://twitter.com/officialtaz/status/407936299614863360

– AJ Styles and Jesse Sorensen are now accepting independent bookings through Bill Behrens at showbis@aol.com.

-Aside from the Impact Wrestling episode that aired on November 20th, TNA announcers Taz and Mike Tenay have not been present at recent television tapings. TNA has been bringing the announcers to Nashville to do taped commentary for the shows.

-The TNA Impact Wrestling Glory trading cards will be released by Tristar on November 13th. TNA photographer Lee South shot the photos that were used for the cards. TNA has launched an official Twitter page for the trading cards, which you can check out at Twitter.com/TNACards.

-The latest edition of the Impact Wrestling podcast is now online, featuring guests Kurt Angle, Mike Tenay and Taz joining regular show-hosts Jeremy Borash and Christy Hemme. You can check out the latest Impact Wrestling podcast below:

http://youtu.be/78mcvMF4c24

HUGE Update On The SALE Of TNA — CLICK HERE!

-The next TNA “One Night Only” pay-per-view theme will be that of a tournament among past TNA champions to determine the “best champion in TNA history.” Matches include: James Storm vs. Mr. Anderson, Samoa Joe vs. Jeff Hardy, Austin Aries vs. Kurt Angle, Bobby Roode vs. Sting and Bully Ray vs. James Storm in the first round.

-The latest edition of the TNA Podcast is now online and features Jeff Hardy, Kazarian, Taz, Mike Tenay and more. Fans interested in checking that out can do so online at TNA2Go.com.

-Following the TNA Bound For Glory pay-per-view on October 20th, the next TNA Impact Wrestling television taping will be held on October 24th at the Maverik Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Related News: Major *SPOILERS* For The TNA Bound For Glory PPV

– In June, inactive TNA Wrestling star Zema Ion’s fundraising campaign following an emergency appendectomy was futile as it failed to raise the needed $30,000 he was hoping to raise—it only raised $6,648, which he did not receive. Ion recently appeared on The Pain Clinic (listen here) and revealed that he became depressed after being informed he may have cancer, not to mention that he owes thousands of dollars in medical bills. He dubbed the ordeal “a really dark time,” but says he’s feeling better these days.

– In the latest edition of the “Impact Wrestling Podcast” hosted by Jeremy Borash and Christy Hemme, Breaking Bad fans Bad Influence, Mike Tenay, Taz, Jeff Hardy and Gunner offer their predictions on tomorrow night’s season finale on AMC.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QO2h1D7EMeY

– According to WrestlingFigs.com, TNA Women’s Champion ODB will participate in an autograph signing at Wrestling Universe 34-29 Francis Lewis Blvd. Flushing, New York, on Sunday, October 6 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.

-TNA will be taping Impact Wrestling on November 7th in Cincinnati, Ohio. Tickets for the television taping will officially go on sale to the public this Friday, September 20th.

-TNA has posted the latest edition of their Impact Wrestling podcast. This week’s podcast features TNA World Heavyweight Champion Bully Ray, as well as TNA television commentator Taz. You can check the latest podcast out online at TNA2Go.com.

-Taylor Williamson, one of the finalists in the current season of America’s Got Talent, used the old Hulk Hogan entrance music for one of his performances during AGT Finals week, which aired on Tuesday night (with the results show airing on Wednesday night.) Williamson, a standup comedian, tweeted the legendary “Hulkster” to inform him of his entrance music selection, as well as to encourage him to get his “Hulkamaniacs” to vote for him. Williamson wrote (and Hogan re-tweeted):

Dear @HulkHogan, I’m using your entrance music in the America’s Got Talent Finals tonight. Will you plz ask Hulkamaniacs 2 vote 4 me? #AGT

Huge TNA Bound For Glory *SPOILERS* + Hulk Hogan’s TNA Future In Question?

-The father-in-law of Dixie Carter and husband Serg passed away this week.

-Apparently during this week’s TNA Impact Wrestling tapings, Mike Tenay and Tazz had two monitors at their announce desk. One was for the Impact Wrestling show, while the other had an NFL game playing. There is actual photo proof of this floating around the internet somewhere.

24WRESTLING.COM

[Credit: F4WOnline.com]

– Bully Ray and Brooke Hogan are married according to TNA storylines, despite the fact that they were never pronounced husband and wife to the attack by Aces & Eights. There was reportedly a lot of internal confusion in TNA as to whether they were married in TNA storylines, with even Hulk Hogan tweeting after the wedding that even though he got beat down by Aces & Eights, “Taz screwed everyone, the one good thing was the wedding came to an immediate halt, thank God. HH.”

– The reason TNA announcer Taz turned heel and joined Aces & Eights is because the company wanted a surprise person to break up the Brooke Hogan wedding and they wanted the faction to have a strong talker on their side. The downside of Taz working as a heel with Aces & Eights is that the neck injury which ended his career also prevents him from doing anything physical in TNA.

– Here is the opening for tonight’s Impact Wrestling:

* Complete TNA Impact SPOILERS For Tonight

(Partial Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

Bully Ray, Taz, Dixie Carter and Hulk Hogan have responded to the events that transpired on Thursday’s Impact Wrestling during Bully’s wedding to Brooke Hogan. In response to Taz joining Aces & Eights and the biker gang beating the crap out of Bully and Hulk Hogan, Bully tweeted:

“What was supposed to be a night of celebration, turned into a nightmare. @TestifyDevon was 1 thing. @OfficialTAZ your dead to me scumbag.”

Taz responded to those comments, tweeting:

“@REALBully5150 dead? I just came to LIFE! All business big man.”

Dixie Carter then responded to Taz:

“Business?? Really, big man??”

Hulk Hogan, on the other hand, actually sounds relieved about the wedding not going down as planned

“Taz screwed everyone , the one good thing was the wedding came to an immediate halt,thank God. HH”

Meanwhile, Brooke Hogan experienced a wardrobe malfunction during the brawl that took place during her wedding between Aces & Eights, Bully Ray, Hulk Hogan and Sting –

– Three matches have been announced for next Thursday’s Impact Wrestling broadcast, which is the final show before Final Resolution.

* TNA World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Hardy, AJ Styles and James Storm face Bobby Roode, Christopher Daniels and Kazarian in a tag team match.

* Samoa Joe defends the TNA Television Championship against Devon.

* Kurt Angle takes on a member of Aces & Eights, D.O.C. (f/k/a Luke Gallows).

– Wes Brisco is the newest member of the TNA roster. After defeating Garett Bischoff in his “Gut Check” challenge match on Impact Wrestling last Thursday, becoming the first contestant to defeat his opponent, he received a “yes” from two of the three judges to earn a contract—Bruce Prichard and D’Lo Brown both said yes, while Taz said no.

Brisco, who is the son of WWE Hall of Famer Gerald Brisco, remarked on the accomplishment immediately afterwards via Twitter, “Greatest day of my life just made on the TNA Roster!!!!!” He was also congratulated by company president Dixie Carter (see photo).

– Jay Bradley, who competed as Ryan Braddock for WWE’s SmackDown brand in 2008 and 2009, indicated on Twitter that he is affiliated with Aces & 8s.

He posted this photo Saturday of the gang’s trademark skull bandana, and writing, “Almost time!”

Bradley has appeared as a member of the group on past episodes of Impact Wrestling, according to the Wrestling Observer.

– Taryn Terrell appears on tonight’s episode of Treme on HBO. The program airs at 10:00 p.m. and replays multiple times throughout the week. The official Knockouts referee, who works as an actress outside of TNA Wrestling, is a recurring character named Cindy on the program. Terrell noted on Twitter that her character appears in five episodes this season. She appeared completely nude on last week’s episode.

– TNA Wrestling has released a video of Mike Tenay and Taz previewing tonight’s card for Bound For Glory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOaZvxnBnRE

TNA announcer and ECW Original Taz tweeted the following message in response to being left off WWE’s recent “Top 10 Paul Heyman Guys” list that was posted on Monday night:

https://twitter.com/officialtaz/status/252971684456456192

Heyman responded to Taz:

@OfficialTaz Politics. Nothing more. Nothing less. Politics. #FTW

— Paul Heyman (@HeymanHustle) October 2, 2012

@OfficialTaz You think when @CMPunk says there's a lack of respect around here, HE'S READING FROM A SCRIPT OR SOMETHING?

— Paul Heyman (@HeymanHustle) October 2, 2012

Joey Styles, who was on the list as a Paul Heyman guy, followed up with:

https://twitter.com/joeystyles/status/253151978639740928

– WWE Classics On Demand, WWE’s subscription video on demand television service, is currently airing the April 21, 1998 episode of ECW Hardcore TV, which features a profanity-laced “shoot” promo by Taz. The rotisseried grappler mentions ‘Chris Benoit’ twice during his spiel, which both times is censored with a bleep sound.

– Tommy Fierro, who is a longtime wrestling promoter and worked for WWE briefly for their WWE Network will be helping ROH set up fundraisers at their live events starting with their 10/6 show in Rahway, NJ. If you’re a non-profit group in the NJ area and are looking to learn more about getting involved, you can contact Tommy Fierro at TommyFierro@ROHWrestling.com

– To celebrate the twenty-fifth edition of SummerSlam, WWE.com collected the very best photos from SummerSlam week in Los Angeles, California and filtered them through Instagram. Click here to view the images.

– Eve is featured in today’s “Superstar Spotlight” on WWE.com.

— A teaser for the WWE Network is running at the beginning of WWE Classics On Demand shows with 2012 being advertised as its premiere.

— A Raw SuperShow is scheduled for September 3 at the Allstate Arena in Chicago, Illinois. A pre-sale is underway at Ticketmaster.com with the password SUPERSHOW.

— WWE’s Over the Limit pay-per-view event will air live in the United Kingdom on Sky Sports 1 HD on May 20 at 1:00 a.m.

— — WWE has published a Legends of Wrestling clip from 2008 where Ric Flair, Mick Foley, Tazz and Jim Ross join host Mean Gene Okerlund for a no-holds-barred discussion on the greatest factions of all time, including The Four Horsemen.

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