Nate Rau of the The Tennesseean, the paper of record in Nashville, live tweeted today’s hearing in Corgan v. Impact Ventures LLC, where Billy Corgan attempted to get an injunction against the company. Rau also filed an article after the hearing, and here are some of the key takeaways from his coverage…
Corgan’s side was largely what we already knew/had reported, with the exception being that at one point, his lawyer slipped and revealed that TNA’s debt to Anthem Sports and Entertainment (Fight Network parent company) is now $1.8 million. It had been $1.1 million before the latest round of TV tapings, so it looks like TNA spent $700,000 for that week of shows. Since it included Bound For Glory, that’s probably more than the average block of shows due to both the extra day and the live satellite time required for pay-per-view, which TNA didn’t put down the money for until late in the previous week.
TNA’s attorney argued that the company is not insolvent, and a lot of his claims were met with guffaws on Twitter. Even if TNA had defaulted, he said that the contract, which would give Corgan Dixie Carter’s 92.5% of the company, is illegal under Tennessee law, adding that it would“make a loan shark blush.” It seemed as if much of his argument was based around chiding Corgan for arranging a “heads I win, tails I lose” deal as opposed the legality of it all, though.
As for Anthem? Their attorney said that the company is willing to pay off Corgan’s loan minus a transaction fee that TNA owes him, which largely echoes what their press release said last week. Ray wrote that Anthem “owns licensing rights to TNA’s lucrative video library,” but it’s still unclear just what that means. Taken literally, it sounds like Anthem can license the back catalog both for The Fight Network and to third parties to make back what it loaned TNA.
More new documents were filed as part of Billy Corgan’s lawsuit against TNA today, and Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet has gotten to look them over. The details continue to paint a grim picture of TNA, with a few in particular standing out. For starters, there’s this, which comes from an affidavit that Corgan filed with the court:
Impact Ventures also continues to not pay its talent, except now defendants are blaming me and the temporary restraining order in this case for the lack of payment.
If TNA management is in fact telling talent that, then yes, that would appear to be a lie. The restraining order, which you can read here, is primarily concerned with stopping the company from selling equity or the tape library for cash infusions.
Also of note:
Impact Ventures had been planning a 3-day taping scheduled for November 1-3, 2016. However, on October 25, 2016, Impact Ventures postponed that event due to lack of funds.
Since TNA has no reason to return to Universal Studios until January, those dates would appear to be set aside for the tapings set to take place entirely at Matt and Jeff Hardy’s compound. That’s not for 100% sure, though.
Corgan also alleges that he never got a new employment agreement after being named president of the company, which turned out to be a figurehead title. Instead, he claims that Jason Brown of Aroluxe Media is unofficially running TNA’s day to day operations. More on all this as it develops, as the hearing to determine if Corgan is underway as of this writing. Nate Rau of The Tennessean newspaper is live tweeting the hearing.
Posted October 26th, 2016 in News, TNA. Tagged: TNA.
This week’s edition of “Something to Wrestling With,” Bruce Prichard’s podcast on the MLW network, went up today, and the topic is Prichard’s time in TNA. Late in the show, at the 2:37:30 mark, there’s a VERY interesting exchange between Prichard and co-host Conrad Thompson (they’re overlapping slightly at times, so I’ve removed any small interjections that didn’t go anywhere):
Conrad: “Do they owe you any money?”
Bruce: “[sighs] You know, they did something that was really bad. I had some financial issues, and they were supposed to pay to the government, and so on and so forth, and they didn’t do it. They garnished things from my check…”
Conrad: “Your withholdings from the federal government…”
Bruce: “Right. ”
Conrad: “That TNA kept, that weren’t included in your checks, but then they didn’t actually pay the government.”
Bruce: “Correct. Then the government came after me for [not] paying them.”
Conrad: “So they stole your money. How much money did they steal from you?”
Bruce: “Oh, that was about…it was only about $10,000.”
Conrad: “Still…”
Bruce: “But still, the arrogance…”
Conrad: “And you never got it.”
Bruce: “Well, it wasn’t coming to me, but the government finally got it. Because it was the government coming after me for the money.”
Conrad: “And you showed them proof…”
Bruce: “I show them proof! ‘Here’s where they took it…'”
Conrad: “‘I did my part.'”
Bruce: “So, I don’t know, ’cause I never heard the end of it, other than the government was satisfied. And…it was just those kind of little petty things that didn’t have to happen, that made you kind of feel dirty at the end.”
With everything that has come out about TNA as of late, it’s a very interesting allegation. Especially since, as we first reported a week ago, the state of Tennessee has a lien on TNA’s assets for unpaid business taxes. We’ve reached out to TNA for comment on Prichard’s allegations, and will update you if we hear back from them.
Ever since Billy Corgan filed a lawsuit against TNA last week, we’ve found numerous public records of the company’s debt, and it’s bad enough that it looks like the promotion is limping towards filing bankruptcy. Today, we were tipped off to and able confirm another debt owed by TNA, one bad enough that the creditor sued TNA.
In the complaint, American Express alleges that TNA defaulted on their account to the tune of $269,049.50. There are very few details other than that, like how long TNA was delinquent on payments, but clearly, it was long enough for American Express to decide it were never getting paid and take legal action.
The only other real information in there is that it was an American Express Corporate Card (which is no surprise), and that, based on the division of American Express suing TNA, it was likely earmarked specifically for travel expenses.
Posted October 18th, 2016 in News, TNA. Tagged: TNA.
Today’s TNA business story comes from something that Dave Meltzer mentioned last night on Wrestling Observer Radio: “They’re probably gonna end up filing for bankruptcy. And then what happens? I don’t know.” After recapping the situation, he also added that “Dixie is still trying to figure out a way to — this is why it hasn’t been sold — to…I don’t know if it’s to stay in control, but the whole thing is she doesn’t want to look bad publicly.” Which is a ship that may have sailed.
First things first, let’s clear up some confusion that’s come up whenever this topic is broached: Does this mean they’re going out of business? No, not inherently.
There are two types of bankruptcy, Chapter 7 and Chapter 11. Chapter 7 is the type that the average person associates with bankruptcy, which is liquidation and pretty much guarantees the end of the company. Chapter 11 is restructuring, and allows a chance for the company to continue operating while settling the debts. For example, when HHG, ECW’s parent company, filed bankruptcy in 2001, it was Chapter 11, but was eventually converted to Chapter 7 for reason that should be obvious. TNA could theoretically file Chapter 11 and come out of this running shows.
With that out if the way, if TNA filed bankruptcy, who would they put down as creditors (the people/companies that it owes money)? Based on what we know, the list would include:
Audience of One Productions, the production company suing TNA for about a quarter of a million dollars in unpaid fees and interest.
Aroluxe Media, the production company that replaced Audience of One and has put money into the company yo keep it going.
Anthem Sports and Entertainment, the parent company of The Fight Network, which airs TNA in Canada, as well as MCC Acquisitions, which is believed to be a shell company related to Anthem. MCC is the company that paid for the last round of TV tapings.
Various wrestlers who have not been paid or not paid in full, including Trent Barreta, who tweeted that the company refuses to reissue a check that he waited too long to cash.
You may have noticed that Billy Corgan is not listed above: That’s because, as we reported last week, while the debts to Aroluxe and Fight Network/Anthem/MCC are on file with the Tennessee Secretary of State, there is no such debt to Corgan. Instead, Dixie Carter is listed as owing him money personally, and that was filed with Tennessee the day before he filed his lawsuit. If that means that TNA has no debt to Corgan, then he’s in trouble if TNA files bankruptcy and Carter doesn’t.
https://youtu.be/izzV-Wcwlew
There’s another debt, filed with the state of Delaware, listed in public record databases that we hadn’t mentioned yet. It shows TNA (through previous parent company TNA Entertainment,t not the current Impact Ventures) owing money to Navarre Corporation, their DVD distributor, since 2005. Starting in 2008, Navarre went through both a merger and a subsequent acquisition, and the debt listing itself has not been updated since 2010.
If TNA does file bankruptcy, then the secured creditors (those that TNA offered up collateral to and would have a lien on said collateral) will be first in line to collect. This would leave the wrestlers, Audience of One, and potentially Corgan (who looks like he has a secured claim, just with Dixie Carter and not the company) unlikely to collect. It also means that if The Fight Network wants the tape library (and it’s been reported that they may even have a portion already), they’d be in better position to get it than WWE. It’s long been believed that this is why WWE loaned ECW $587,500 in 2000, to get priority on the tape library and other intellectual property. However, that was a non-secured debt.
What does this mean for Corgan? We may find out Thursday if his lawsuit filings are unsealed by the court as has been rumored. Based on what we know now, though, he may have to hope that Dixie Carter files personal bankruptcy like Paul Heyman eventually did. Otherwise, his only recourse may be through his mysterious lawsuit.
Posted October 18th, 2016 in News, TNA. Tagged: TNA.
Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet is reporting the trio of masked men called DCC that made an appearance Tuesday night during a taping of Impact Wrestling are James Storm, Bram and Eddie Kingston.
As previously mentioned Eddie Kingston was also at the WWE Performance Center this past week for a try out.
Posted October 5th, 2016 in News, TNA. Tagged: TNA.
According to Mike Johnson of PWInsider sources are very quiet about what the future holds for TNA.
One thing that can be confirmed is former WWE Champion Alberto Del Rio has been spotted in Orlando which is the sight of tonight’s Bound For Glory PPV.
No word yet if he will be appearing on the PPV or possibly the TV tapings that follow.
The prospects for TNA surviving as a wrestling promotion in time for Sunday’s Bound For Glory pay-per-view event and the subsequent TV tapings appear to be getting more and more grim by the hour. First, on Wednesday evening, a report from WrestlingInc revealed that according to “a veteran TNA talent,” a number of wrestlers’ flights to Orlando for next week have been cancelled. It wasn’t made clear if this was any of the advertised talent for Bound For Glory or just wrestlers set to be in matches not yet announced for the show.
In addition, the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (subscribers only), there are arguably some mixed messages. Dave Meltzer writes that “the feeling now is [Dixie] Carter is going to make the best deal for her[self],” but that at least as of press time late last night, WWE, who’s in the best position for a mercenary deal like that, is not at the negotiating table. Of course, it should be noted that when WWE bought WCW’s assets in 2001, WWE had already passed on a buyout and stepped in when it became clear there were no other buyers. Like with WCW, if WWE were to get TNA, it would be expected that they would buy only the assets and not the company outright.
Meltzer added that TNA’s debt “is in the millions of dollars” with creditors including Billy Corgan, Aroluxe, and others, and the debt may very well be greater than the value of the company at this point. That gap is even more pronounced if the company can’t get the ~$600,000 they need by Friday: TNA will be in breach of its TV deals, quite possibly lose them, and literally lose all value other than that of the tape library.
As of this writing, TNA has 30 hours or so to secure funding. If they don’t, it’s hard to imagine a scenario where the company doesn’t need to file bankruptcy. Even if the tape library and trademarks are sold to WWE, that most likely won’t cover all of TNA’s debt. For WWE’s purposes, with no rush on their side and no competition for the intellectual property if it went it’s not ridiculous to suggest that they could get a lower price that way.
Nashville-based model and branding specialist McKenszie Mitchell is now handling the weekly Impact Breakview segment, looking back on this week’s episode.
Following Impact, here’s the final card for Sunday’s Slammiversary PPV:
TNA Champion Drew Galloway vs. Bobby Lashley (Submission or KO only)
Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Hardy (Full Metal Mayhem)
Knockouts Champion Jade vs. Sienna
Tag Team Champions The Decay vs. The Bromans
X-Division Champion Trevor Lee vs. Eddie Edwards vs. DJ Zema vs. Andrew Everett
King of the Mountain champion Eli Drake vs. Bram
Mike Bennett vs. EC3
Maria Kanellis vs. Gail Kim
Grado & Mahabali Shera vs. The Tribunal (with Al Snow)
Bobby Roode and Eric Young left TNA Impact Wrestling and jumped ship to WWE NXT. While Young has made his debut on television, Roode has yet to be seen in action by the WWE Universe at Full Sail University.
A possibly mistaken tweet by WWE U.K. on Twitter would say otherwise, as he’s supposedly “confirmed” for the NXT U.K. tour in June.
Regardless of the fact they both left TNA around the same time, a bit of controversy surrounded them last week. David Herro, well-known wrestling agent and all-around nice guy, said that TNA owed them in the six-figure range then they left.
Herro, who’s a well-respected mind in the wrestling industry, is friends with many in TNA. However, an update was just released by PW Insider that refutes his claim. According to the report, Eric Young and Bobby Roode were paid what they were owed before they left TNA.
There were times when Roode and Young were definitely owed money during time in TNA. Like any responsible company, both talents were paid in full before they departed for good.
Given all of TNA’s hardships recently, the fact they can pay big-time talents like Roode and Young is a good sign. Does it mean things are changing for the better? With rumors of Matt Hardy turning down his amount of wrestling in a couple of years, they would lose one big star.
Whatever the case may be, at least TNA was able to pay WWE NXT’s newest stars before they left.
Rob Naylor, who worked as Creative Assistant under Dusty Rhodes in Florida Championship Wrestling/WWE NXT from 2011 to 2013, tweeted some interesting stuff over the weekend. He kept formats, memos, and other documents from his time with WWE and decided to make some images of them public…
Format sheet for the first Full Sail University pilot taping in 2011 (note the puns):
Another gem. Before there was "NXT" – a secret pilot was taped at "Full Sail". Dream dubbed it "Project H" #1stdraftpic.twitter.com/jqJOr8nRLr
A list of indie wrestlers from 2012 that Naylor would sign if he could, which he was asked to make by Triple H’s assistant (the note about Alex Shelley being clear of a TNA contract is most likely due to TNA’s lawsuit against WWE and Brian Wittenstein being an ongoing matter at the time):
Naylor also mentioned that he found other things going through his collection of records, like performance reviews and a list of tips from Ricky Steamboat on how to work babyface, so hopefully there’s more to come.
Some good news for TNA: Variety is reporting that Pop TV, the home of Impact Wrestling, will be increasing its footprint to the tune of 8 million additional homes over the course of the next few months. These new homes will come from the network signing deals with Cablevision (also known as Optimum), AT&T U-Verse, and Wide Open West (also known as WOW!). As someone who lives in Cablevision’s service area, if their history is any indication, this move is to add homes that got cable companies’ own listing services in the pre-interactive guide days in lieu of carrying Pop’s predecessors, The TV Guide Channel and The Preview Channel.
According to the Variety article, this will give Pop a universe of 88 million homes, but they still have a lot of hurdles to overcome as they average just 170,000 viewers in prime time. The conundrum for Pop is that while its past as just a TV listing channel meant it was in a fairly large number of homes, it doesn’t have the history as a destination that other long-standing networks like USA Network, TBS, TNT, and Spike have.
Pop president Brad Schwartz told Variety that the addition of Cablevision is key because so many advertising executives live in their service area on Long Island in the New York City suburbs. “A lot of our advertisers haven’t been able to watch the channel.”
Mike Johnson at PWInsider is reporting that WWE alerted the roster yesterday to a new bit of policy enforcement. Back in May of 2011, all of the talent had to sign a rider to their contracts that was then added to the standard talent booking contract. From section 9.12 (d) of Stephanie McMahon’s 2013 talent contract, which is the most recent contract publicly available (all caps formatting is in the original):
NOTWITHSTANDING PROMOTER’S CURRENT POLICY OF PAYING MEDICAL EXPENSES FOR INJURIES WRESTLER MAY INCUR WHILE PERFORMING UNDER THIS AGREEMENT, WRESTLER SHALL MAINTAIN, AT HIS COST AND EXPENSE, HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE. THIS HEALTH INSURANCE MUST REMAIN IN EFFECT FOR THE TERM OF THE AGREEMENT, AND WRESTLER SHALL PROVIDE PROMOTER PROOF OF THIS INSURANCE ANNUALLY. WRESTLER MAY AT HIS ELECTION OBTAIN HEALTH, LIFE AND/OR DISABILITY INSURANCE TO PROVIDE BENEFITS IN THE EVENT OF PHYSICAL INJURY ARISING OUT OF OTHER PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES; AND WRESTLER ACKNOWLEDGES THAT PROMOTER SHALL NOT HAVE ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR SUCH INSURANCE OR PAYMENT IN THE EVENT OF PHYSICAL INJURY ARISING OUT OF HIS PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES.
Since then, WWE and Linda McMahon (who ran for one of Connecticut’s United States Senate seats in 2012) have been able to truthfully claim in the media that all talent has health insurance. That’s even though WWE does not provide the insurance or offset the cost in any way (unless WWE covering all on the job injuries lowers the wrestlers’ premiums).
What Johnson is reporting today is that WWE announced to the talent that as of February 21st (Johnson wrote 2/21/15 but that appears to be a typo in the context of what he wrote), they will be doing random checks with insurance companies to make sure that the wrestlers are fully compliant with the terms of their contracts. The memo stated that anyone without insurance must get everything in order in the next 60 days or else risk their status being that they would “not be available” to wrestle.
In other words: If you don’t have insurance, you’re being sidelined.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEu6NGPA0Cg
If the details of the report are true, then WWE must have or be in the process of getting HIPAA waivers from each talent to contact their insurance companies. HIPAA refers to the terms set by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, which put the current American medical privacy laws into effect. Without a HIPAA waiver from each wrestler for their respective insurance company,the insurer is legally bound from telling WWE (or anyone else without a waiver) if the person in question is a member. It’s not entirely clear why WWE is doing this right now. The obvious inference is that some wrestlers found ways to game the system, perhaps by dropping the coverage for most of the year.
Outside of WWE,there is now widespread coverage of wrestlers in Mexico stemming from a deal made this past Summer. Around 2003-2004, TNA did provide group health insurance to wrestlers, but it didn’t last long and reviews of the coverage were mixed at best.
TNA announced this week that they will soon launch a new weekly YouTube show about their formative years in Nashville, Tennessee.
The official description for the show, which premieres on December 3rd at 7pm EST. and will air every Thursday night from 7-8pm EST., reads as follows:
“It is the foundation on which Impact Wrestling was built. The Tennessee State Fairgrounds near Impact Headquarters in Nashville, TN was our home in those early years. Now, every Thursday night from 7PM to 8PM EST you can relive the “Asylum Years” live! We will start from the very beginning and you can watch along with the current stars of Impact Wrestling as they relive those early moments with you.
Every Thursday night we will rollout another classic episode from The Asylum Years on our official YouTube channel. Don’t miss a second of reliving the moments that we still celebrate to this day and some moments we all might want to forget! Starting this Thursday, December 3rd at 7PM EST.”
A few days ago, the above video featuring WWE Diva (as Tiffany) turned TNA Knockout Taryn Terrell started to get passed around a bit by wrestling fans (though it’s actually a month old). In the video, she talks about taking a renewed interest in her faith as a Christian, being that it was something she had neglected for a while. Today, both The Christian Post and The New York Post picked up her comments, which brought the video a lot of attention.
She’s not really specific about what specific behavior she’s talking about, whether it’s her domestic incidents with Drew Galloway or something else. She seems to have taken responsibility for whatever she feels bad about, though:
I went on the road with WWE for a while and that want to be a Christian sort of went by the wayside. I lived in sin. I was not a good person. I can say that I am ashamed of who I was in a lot of ways and the decisions that I made, and it was because I wasn’t a Christian.
A lot of times I thought, ‘How am I going to be a Christian?’ How can I be accepted by God? I have done awful things. I have not lived as a Christian. I lived as a sinner.
Terrell also explained that she didn’t actually have a good concept of how, theologically speaking, the concept of forgiveness works in Christianity:
What I didn’t understand about being saved was that I could be forgiven. I could truly be forgiven for all of the bad things that I have done. I will tell you that the moment that I truly feel and believe that I was saved—all these years of thinking, ‘Sure, I’m a Christian. I am going to Heaven. I believe that I was going there’—I was speaking with a Christian counselor in June and he asked me … ‘Are you saved?’ Again, I gave the same answer, ‘Yeah, sure. I believe in God, I believe in Heaven.’
It was then that he said, ‘Well, that’s great, but being a Christian means that you believe in Jesus. You believe that He died on the cross, that He died for our sins, that He was resurrected, that He is going to come again. That is your ticket to Heaven. That is your ticket to the Kingdom.’ It registered. It was something that I don’t know if I had heard before, or if I had heard it before, I didn’t truly hear it.
Elijah Burke/The Pope was interviewed on the newest edition of The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling and covered a number of topics. Some of the key quotes:
Transitioning to announcing:
I think a lot of people know that when you are a wrestler and you’ve been doing it for twelve years as an active performer and then all of a sudden things kind of take a shift and the stars align and someone recognizes that your gift can be used in a different aspect. It’s been interesting and it’s been fun. It’s a different type of getting over with the audience. My job right now is to get over a lot of the guys that I’ve wrestled against and I’ve wrestled beside and the transition has been believe it or not, quite easy. It hasn’t been as hard of a transition as many people probably think it would be because the gift of gab is something that I always had.
The importance of the announcers t a show and his ability as a talker:
The night before WrestleMania 23 at Ford Field “Pope” was at an ESPN boxing presentation and was calling the fight alongside Thomas “Hitman” Hearns and once that was over with he looked at me and said how long have you been doing this? When it comes from an analytic stand point it’s not hard at all. What’s hard is the time provided to do so. That is sometimes rough because there is so much that is going on and obviously IMPACT is a fast paced show and often times my partner Josh Mathews who is a jack of all trades and doesn’t get a lot of credit for it but he has so much that he has to cover and so much that he has to get done and you may notice this but throughout the contest when Josh is talking this or that, the Pope has made it my job to bring the action and the focal point back to the two or four people that are in the middle of that ring because that is what wrestling fans want and what wrestling fans are watching so therefore I try to do the boys and the girls credit while they are in that six sided ring.
Why he prefers to call matches without knowing the finishes, which most old-school announcers preferred:
That’s the way “Pope” prefers it. I prefer not to know anything. Therefore, if I am seeing it and looking at it from a fan’s perspective then I can respond and react and say what you are thinking as a casual or regular viewer of the product. That’s what I love to do as a commentator for IMPACT Wrestling, I love to give the focal analysis that the viewer at home is watching as well. I want to translate as my Daddy would say “let me break this down in English so that a child could understand it”. For me it’s always easier and comes across natural, if you know that often times you can tell if something is forced or when a reaction is not a legit or real reaction. Everything that you get from “Pope” is not planned and is real and I’m watching it as if I’m sitting at home on my couch with a good friend of mine and we are back in 1996 watching WCW Nitro and Monday Night RAW.
Is he retired? Where exactly does his in-ring career stand?
I think in due time that “Pope” will have that opportunity. It’s not something right now and don’t think for a second that I don’t miss it, because I do. At the same time I’ve recognized that my job and my role are and I know what it is and that is to be an asset from a commentator standpoint. So I am not focused on anything except bettering my game at the table. I am not worried about anything else but becoming a better and as my partner would say the most “entertaining color commentator” in the business today and that’s what “Pope” wants to be and that’s what I’m setting out to accomplish. Now there will be times in the future and you can take “Pope’s” word for this. There will be times in the future when “Pope” will do a casual appearance inside the ring, I am not retired. Let’s get it out there right now “Pope” is not retired by a long shot I’ve got years left under my belt. I just recognize my role right now and have no problems committing to it and fulfilling it to the best of my abilities.
His thoughts on Samoa Joe, both with regards to their TNA feud and Joe going to NXT:
“Pope’s” feud with Samoa Joe did not receive nor get the type of attention that it should have and I am talking about from a in/out standpoint not from a viewer standpoint. I was openly and to a certain extent let my displeasure be known about it because you have to remember during that time “Pope” had just come off of a feud with Abyss and Immortal and Sting had just left and Kevin Nash walked out so “Pope” was the last guy standing fighting this big fight and I get put in a casket and then all of a sudden “Pope” gets put in a feud with Samoa Joe for no reason at all. However, myself and Samoa Joe made the best of it and had fun with it and that took us to our Lockdown match-up in St. Louis. I had fun with Samoa Joe, it was always great working Samoa Joe and he brought out the best in “Pope” and we definitely did a lot of innovative things. I’ve got to go on record and say how happy I am for Samoa Joe and for him to experience what he is experiencing right now and I wish him nothing but the best of love for him and his family’s sake.
Was he supposed to be in the Spirit Squad?
It’s funny that after all these years, over a decade and only this year I believe I’m answering questions about the Spirit Squad. It’s very true. They wanted me to go up and be in my opinion the “afro-haired chosen black guy” during that time in the group and trust me it was a great opportunity. We sat there and we talked to Vince McMahon himself and Vince said “I want you guys to understand that this is my idea and we are going to make a lot of money”. He said if you are uncomfortable we will send you back down to OVW and we will wait until we get something else for you. I went to Vince and Johnny Ace and said I appreciated the opportunity but with all due respect I don’t feel like I should do anything that I could not live up to in your standards and I don’t want to be a failure and I don’t believe this spot is for me. I was a little worried that I was about to tell the boss that I didn’t want to do it. Either he was going to respect me for it or he was going to punish me for it.
A lot of guys took it to heart that I said no which I never understood because they weren’t in my position or in my shoes and the guys that were going out there were very, very talented and thus when I said no they added Mike Mondo and they added Johnny Jeter and instead of it being four like it was originally going to be it turned out to be five. There was no way that this “big black guy” and 225-230 pounds at the time was going to be running down a ramp, jumping on a trampoline and flipping over the top rope. It was just not going to happen without me screwing up and looking like a fool. I didn’t want to take that chance, I didn’t want to risk that chance and I am happy that I did and kudos to Dolph Ziggler. Just look at him. In my eyes the guy is just a premier performer.
Make sure to listen to th full interview, where he discusses being “New Breed” in the ECW revival, his time in OVW, WrestleMania 23, and more.
With TNA Wrestling’s future with Destination America apparently in limbo, TNA is looking for a new cable home for early 2016.
PWInsider.com reports that TNA is talking to as many as four cable networks right now. TNA could be off of domestic television for a few weeks or a month in-between networks, but feels they can line up a new home on cable for Impact. TNA executives have also been heard saying they will stay on Destination America through the end of this year.
There is no word on which specific networks TNA is in talks with.
There are those within TNA who insist that they have big announcements coming soon in regards to their future on television and on Destination America.
Additionally, for whatever this is worth, there have been consistent rumors in the past three weeks about someone who used to be involved with TNA returning to the promotion to work with them once again.
According to those “in the know,” the person that is returning to TNA could be coming back in a big role.
Earlier today we reported on the news that Samuel Shaw had left TNA following in the footsteps of Gunner who had also parted ways with the company a few days earlier.
PWInsider.com reports that both men were released from the company due to a lack of plans for either of them, however it should be noted that neither man had caused their release.
Gunner wrote on social media following the news: “Thanks to all of Impact wrestling fans and the guys I worked with. Blessed to have worked with you all since 2009. New chapters happen often and I will keep being the Modern Day Viking like always. Romans 8:28?
Samuel Shaw took to his Twitter account taking the opportunity to thank everyone at TNA. The tweets can be seen below.
– WWE Network has a one-hour Money In The Bank “Kickoff Show” scheduled to begin at 7pm EST. next Sunday night. The “Kickoff Show” panel will consist of Renee Young, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves and Booker T.
– WWE Hall Of Famer Mick Foley is celebrating a milestone birthday today, as the Hardcore Legend turns 50 years old. Foley was born on June 7, 1965. Also celebrating birthdays today are Howard Finkel (65) and former TNA Knockout Taeler Hendrix (26).
– WWE recently posted the following video of Superstars and Divas playing with puppies.
TNA issued a press release this morning announcing that they have extended their international television deal with Nuvolari TV.
Below is the announcement:
TNA IMPACT WRESTLING AND NUVOLARI SIGN NEW DEAL AFTER ITALIAN SUCCESS
ROME (June 1, 2015): TNA IMPACT WRESTLING and popular Italian sports broadcaster Nuvolari TV have signed a new deal to extend their successful partnership.
After a year of high ratings and a first ever live event in Italy featuring TNA Superstars, IMPACT WRESTLING will continue to be broadcast in Italy and surrounding territories including Vatican City, Republic of San Marino, Malta, Capodistria, Principality of Monaco and Italian speaking Switzerland.
IMPACT WRESTLING will premiere on Nuvolari each Thursday night at 9pm, with repeats on Sundays at 11pm. Nuvolari will also broadcast re-runs of 2014 TNA programming every weekday at 6pm, as well as the 2015 Slammiversary and Bound For Glory special events.
Fans can watch Nuvolari via digital terrestrial TV, satellite and live web streaming.
Corrado Azzolini, LT Multimedia Vice President, said: “We are really happy about renewing TNA IMPACT WRESTLING, which allows us to broadcast many more amazing matches.
“Our viewers are so excited about this great news and are looking forward to watching new TNA programming every Thursday, as well as some of the best action from last year. Nuvolari is the television channel for TNA IMPACT WRESTLING lovers in Italy.”
TNA’s Italian announce team of Alessio Di Nicolantonio and Daniele De Micco added: “We are happy and honoured to continue as the Italian IMPACT WRESTLING commentators. TNA’s popularity in Italy keeps growing day by day and the Rome event in February, hosted by local independent group EPW, was a landmark event for wrestling in Italy.”
TNA President Dixie Carter said: “Our growth in Italy has been fantastic and we are delighted that fans will be able to continue to watch IMPACT WRESTLING on Nuvolari.
“This is a partnership that extends beyond the TV screen to media and live charity events, one in Rome this past February alongside Italian sporting legends Giancarlo Fisichella and Francesco Totti.
“I cannot wait to see what the next year brings for our company, our Superstars and, above all, our fans in Italy.”
TNA IMPACT WRESTLING is the world’s most innovative experience in professional wrestling and is currently broadcast in more than 120 countries around the world. The company recently signed multi-year deals to broadcast across Africa on SuperSport, the Indian subcontinent on Sony SIX and Europe with various prestigious partners.
On Wednesday, Destination America dropped the bombshell announcement that Ring of Honor will be premiering on the network next week as the lead-in to Impact Wrestling. The news solidified ROH as the #2 national promotion and sent TNA another curveball that can be seen as “not bad news” from the most optimistic viewpoint.
TNA’s rocky relationship with Destination America and the uncertainty of Impact’s future past September was already a developing story with a lot of moving parts. With ROH now in the mix, let’s take a look at what this means for both companies moving forward.
– This is a big win for ROH. They’ve been negotiating with Destination America prior to the decision to drop Impact at the end of the third quarter. TNA moving to Destination America was seen as a step down for the struggling promotion, losing nearly half their TV exposure and working with a partner that soured on the relationship almost immediately. ROH is now available in several new top markets (including New York City and Los Angeles), is a far less expensive show to air than TNA and by all accounts, the people running ROH are far less erratic than Dixie Carter. That said, this is only a test run for ROH and the show is only scheduled to air on Destination America through the end of the year. They don’t have to equal TNA’s viewership to be a worthy replacement.
– The Ring of Honor lead-in could help or hurt TNA. The first impression is that Destination America is already bringing in TNA’s replacement and will use TNA to solidify ROH’s presence on the network. Destination America signed with ROH under the assumption that Impact is getting phased out this year and it’s hard to get around that fact. Alternatively, ROH could also help strengthen TNA’s viewership and establish an appealing block of wrestling action for fans of both companies.
– Ring of Honor’s relationship with WWE could be affected. ROH & WWE are on good terms, with ROH serving as a feeder system for WWE/NXT and WWE understanding the importance of talent development that takes place outside of their corporate umbrella. With ROH now on national TV, WWE could pull back on their willingness to let guys like Samoa Joe work for ROH and could get more aggressive poaching ROH talent to beef up NXT, which will be expanding their touring schedule in 2016.
ROH joining Destination America is not the nail in the coffin for TNA, but TNA’s survival is as uncertain as ever. Their successor just showed up to the party and we are now going to see what happens when their backs are truly against the wall. Facing cancelation for the second time in two years, TNA’s fate might already be sealed – or we could be on the cusp of an exciting new chapter in wrestling history.
Share your feedback below and tell us what show(s) will be airing on Destination America come 2016.
