The offical TNA thread - News, Spoilers and the rest...

Gerard.C

flahavaj wrote: »

Why the F*CK would you want to give Hogan's in ring return away on free TV in a throwaway angle with Abyss of all people?

His in ring TNA debut should have an epic build spanning 6 months, culminating in a blow off on PPV (yanno those things that actually make you money.:rolleyes:).

Remember the rating Hogan-Goldberg got on free tv? Thats the main thing, ratings. Not trying to make any money, shur daddy carter will sort that out

flahavaj

Furious-Red wrote: »

Hogan did say Abyss was the TNA version of Cena.

I now have visions of Abyss in denim shorts and a baseball cap trying to be a rapper. I actually think that could be a quite brilliant new direction for his otherwise stale character.:pac:

Machismo Fan

flahavaj wrote: »

I now have visions of Abyss in denim shorts and a baseball cap trying to be a rapper. I actually think that could be a quite brilliant new direction for his otherwise stale character.:pac:

The happy, clappy, scared Abyss makes me cry a little inside every time I see him, especially when you know he could be so much more.:(

Cactus Colm

Gerard.C wrote: »

Remember the rating Hogan-Goldberg got on free tv? Thats the main thing, ratings. Not trying to make any money, shur daddy carter will sort that out

That's what I would've thought. Attract people to the television show, and then keep them hooked into buying a ppv. Use Hogan's name to attract viewers, and hopefully use the rest of the talent to sell PPV's.

D2D

- Mick Foley has finished his fourth memoir, "Countdown to Lockdown", which will be published later this year. Foley will be doing comedy shows on 2/24 in Baltimore and 2/25 in NYC.

- TNA has no live events until the live Impact on 3/8 in order to give the crew a chance to rest and prepare for the biggest night in the history of the company.

- Orlando Jordan's new female valet is an independent worker named Santana G. His new male valet is an acquaintance from outside the business. The dual valet gimmick is something Jordan pitched to WWE several years ago with the idea that Trinity would be in the female role and a friend outside the business would be in the male role. The idea was dropped when Jordan was released from the company.

- The Suicide character isn't being retired. I was told someone in the new regime felt Kaz shouldn't be wrestling under a hood because of his looks and facial expressions, so a new performer will portray the Suicide character.

Gerard.C

I dont really follow TNA, but.. what exactly is the Suicide character? Does he have a gimmick or is he just a lunatic in an overall called suicide?

Machismo Fan

Gerard.C wrote: »

I dont really follow TNA, but.. what exactly is the Suicide character? Does he have a gimmick or is he just a lunatic in an overall called suicide?

He's the character from TNA's video game. They've never really developed an actual character for him, he is the Dark Saviour though. I've read rumours that Kiyoshi will be replacing Kaz.

D2D

The Daily Star has an interview up with TNA star Ric Flair where he talks about TNA going head-to-head with WWE starting March 8 and how things are being handled differently in the company with certain names that were involved with WCW.

"Everyone knows I was apprehensive about TNA due to my loyalty to WWE. But from the moment I got here I was welcomed with open arms and I’m enjoying it. Some people said I’d mess up my legacy, but my legacy is in safe hands. We’re kicking it Horsemen-style down here. There’s no comparison whatsoever. We have some of the same faces, but the thought process and the way the company is handled is totally different. We’re bringing a different outlook on the business – it’s more a combination of old school and what’s popular now. It’s a totally different direction to WWE."

HorseRadish

New UK deal from Dixies Twitter

"TNA expands to 15 hrs of TV in UK per mo. PPVs to air on Extreme Sports Chl starting w/Destination X & “Xplosion” to be lead-in on Fridays"

Headshot

Horseradish2.0 wrote: »

New UK deal from Dixies Twitter

"TNA expands to 15 hrs of TV in UK per mo. PPVs to air on Extreme Sports Chl starting w/Destination X & “Xplosion” to be lead-in on Fridays"

so is this right

bravo still have impact and extreme sports gets the ppv's

waltersobchak

Horseradish2.0 wrote: »

New UK deal from Dixies Twitter

"TNA expands to 15 hrs of TV in UK per mo. PPVs to air on Extreme Sports Chl starting w/Destination X & “Xplosion” to be lead-in on Fridays"

What a random channel to be on

D2D

Horseradish2.0 wrote: »

New UK deal from Dixies Twitter

"TNA expands to 15 hrs of TV in UK per mo. PPVs to air on Extreme Sports Chl starting w/Destination X & “Xplosion” to be lead-in on Fridays"

New update from Dixie to confirm

iMPACT! stays on Bravo. Extreme Sports Chl is on Sky Chl 419 & Virgin Media Chl 527. Details posted to tnawrestling.com in a few hrs.

So, PPV's are on Extreme Sports. Given that Ext Sports had Strikeforce on last night, this is a very interesting move on TNA's part

iMPACT! must air live on Bravo though, imo

waltersobchak

From PWInsider

Courthouse News Service is reporting that Awesome Kong has alleged that Bubba The Love Sponge called her at 5 a.m. on February 10 from a blocked phone number and threatened her. It also alleges that he made a number of racist comments that we will not repeat here on the site. She said that Bubba identified himself during the call and stated that it was being broadcast on the radio.
The alleged call was made in response to Kong's attacking Bubba at a January TNA event after he wrote a derogatory message about the people suffering in Haiti on his Twitter account that Kong took offense to. Kong was sent home after that incident.
She asked AT&T to give her the identity of the blocked caller so that she could take further action and they declined to do so. Therefore, she has filed a lawsuit against both AT&T and Bubba.
If this allegation turns out to be true, Bubba should be removed from the air and never set foot in TNA again

D2D

waltersobchak wrote: »

From PWInsider

Courthouse News Service is reporting that Awesome Kong has alleged that Bubba The Love Sponge called her at 5 a.m. on February 10 from a blocked phone number and threatened her. It also alleges that he made a number of racist comments that we will not repeat here on the site. She said that Bubba identified himself during the call and stated that it was being broadcast on the radio.
The alleged call was made in response to Kong's attacking Bubba at a January TNA event after he wrote a derogatory message about the people suffering in Haiti on his Twitter account that Kong took offense to. Kong was sent home after that incident.
She asked AT&T to give her the identity of the blocked caller so that she could take further action and they declined to do so. Therefore, she has filed a lawsuit against both AT&T and Bubba.
If this allegation turns out to be true, Bubba should be removed from the air and never set foot in TNA again

Bubba is such an idiot. He should've stayed away from TNA after the Haiti remark. To me, it's safe to say he deserved the beating that Kong gave him but to make racist comments to a woman who tried to help out Haiti is just wrong.

waltersobchak

Dare_2_defy wrote: »

Bubba is such an idiot. He should've stayed away from TNA after the Haiti remark. To me, it's safe to say he deserved the beating that Kong gave him but to make racist comments to a woman who tried to help out Haiti is just wrong.

That radio interview he had with Hogan were they called her a bitch was fairly outrageous aswell. Although i still think that everything to do with him is a shoot, just to get rating and interest

paddyismaddy

any truth to flair's sons coming to tna?

i hope not

D2D

- As things stand, Sting is not on the 3/8 Impact show, and in fact, his name isn't mentioned in creative meetings. He may be done with the company after missing last month's PPV and the following Impact TV tapings.

(source: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

waltersobchak

Spike TV has granted TNA Wrestling an 8-minute overrun for the March 8th edition of iMPACT!, the first night of the new Monday night war. No word yet on whether this is a one night deal or if they'll run over every week like WWE RAW does.

Furious-Red

Will the PPV's be on Fridays?

D2D

From tnawrestling.com

Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling has announced a new television agreement with Extreme Sports Channel in the United Kingdom that will bring the monthly TNA pay-per-view events and “TNA Xplosion” to the network starting March 26.

For the first time on broadcast television, “TNA Xplosion,” a one-hour original programme featuring the best of TNA Wrestling, as well as exclusive matches featuring the hottest wrestling talent in the world, will air Fridays at 21:00.

Extreme Sports Channel (Sky channel 419 and Virgin Media channel 527), owned by leading international broadcaster Chello Zone, is the world's first television channel dedicated to the action sports lifestyle.

Beginning with “Destination X” on March 26, TNA’s monthly pay-per-views will air the Friday following the live US broadcast at 22:00 and will be free for UK viewers.

TNA President Dixie Carter said: “The United Kingdom has become a battleground for professional wrestling fans as TNA’s ratings have continued to climb. This is another important moment for TNA and is another step to become the number one professional wrestling company in the world by giving our fans what they want; more TNA programming.”

Extreme Sports Channel General Manager Tim MacMullen added: “2010 is shaping up to be an amazing year for our viewers in the UK. Adding TNA’s spectacular programming to our line up of the world’s best action sports and high-adrenaline entertainment shows is a great way to kick off our 11th year on air.”

TNA renewed its agreement with Bravo in January to continue to broadcast “TNA iMPACT!” at 21:00 on Saturdays. TNA’s UK fans will now receive four additional hours for a total 15 broadcast hours of TNA Wrestling programming per month.

BT Vision and TNA also renewed their agreement in January. “TNA iMPACT!” will replace “TNA Xplosion” on BT's broadband IPTV service and they will continue to air the replay of the monthly TNA pay-per-views.

Headshot

uhhh

still no live impact

waltersobchak

Bubba The Love Sponge addressed the Awesome Kong lawsuit on the radio today. Here is a recap of what he said.

The call to Awesome Kong was not on his radio show. He said that he has witnesses to his whereabouts and his actions during the time in question. Possible recordings as proof were also mentioned (not sure if its video or audio but his studio and compound are wired for both).

He said that he didn't press charges against her after the incident where she attacked him backstage in TNA because he wanted it to just be done with but he is now exploring all legal options.

He said that he's done with TNA and they didn't handle the situation properly.

He said that he is considering suing TNA regardless of Hulk Hogan's involvement in the company.

He said he will not be taking any phone calls about the subject on his show and any further news from him will be out of his attorney's office.

He also stated that this was completely scooped by "the sheets" before he even got a copy of the suit. He said the suit is filed completely off hearsay and without proof. Bubba said let AT & T release the number because it isn't his. He said this could seriously hurt his radio career with the allegations against him.

Gerard.C

F4W says that TNA's rating for this week was a 1.1.

Well done Hulk.

waltersobchak

Gerard.C wrote: »

F4W says that TNA's rating for this week was a 1.1.

Well done Hulk.

:eek::eek::eek::eek:

Machismo Fan

And the rating won't increase long term unless TNA figure out that the way they present TV is completely flawed. There were 12 minutes of wrestling on iMPACT! this week. Now Vince Russo will argue that he's trying to cater to all different kinds of people but I don't buy that. Comedy fans won't tune into a wrestling show to get their comedy fix, they'll turn on Comedy Central. Nor will they watch a wrestling show for the drama, they'll probably watch their favourite soaps. At the end of the day, wrestling fans tune in to watch wrestling and interaction between wrestling characters, they don't want to see some variety show.

And iMPACT! is so rushed that nothing can get over. Samoa Joe was abducted last week, the man was kidnapped and all he gets is a passing mention this week. For a man that nobody knows where he is? Plus, iMPACT! had a title match and a No. 1 contenders match both without much justification or build and therefore people will treat them as meaningless especially when neither goes over three minutes.

iMPACT! had a great opening segment and a great closing segment this week but by the time people got to the closing segment with the big announcement of Hogan and Flair's in-ring return, I doubt many people were watching. As long as TNA continue to present TV in the Vince Russo format, they'll never succeed and they'll never move past a regular 1.3.

waltersobchak

The only thing i can think of is that, possibly they've just been dialing in their storylines for the last 2 months and waiting for the Monday Night debut before they start to give us good angles and storylines.. But maybe thats just wishful thinking on my part..

Personally i dont understand why TNA hasnt just continued the formaula of Nitro, of outstanding Lowercard wrestling and then the soap opera storylines for Hogan/Flair/Angle etc to satisfy all fans..

If TNA continue down this road they be lucky to get a .4 against Raw, which is a damn shame after the success of January 4th but TNA cant blame anybody but themselves

Machismo Fan

waltersobchak wrote: »

Personally i dont understand why TNA hasnt just continued the formaula of Nitro, of outstanding Lowercard wrestling and then the soap opera storylines for Hogan/Flair/Angle etc to satisfy all fans..

But they don't even do that. Kaz vs. Kendrick was a fun match on iMPACT! this week but it was like 2 minutes long, and then they wonder why nobody cares about them.

waltersobchak

Machismo Fan wrote: »

But they don't even do that. Kaz vs. Kendrick was a fun match on iMPACT! this week but it was like 2 minutes long, and then they wonder why nobody cares about them.

Im not jumping on the Anti-Russo bandwagon, but he really has to go, he hasnt got a clue what wrestling fans in 2010 want.. I always considered Total Nonstop ACTION the place with the best wrestling but the worst storylines now they dont even had that anymore..

Maybe Dixie should be ringing Paul Heyman or Cornette or even Michael Hayes, or else i cant see them lasted for too long against Raw

Machismo Fan

waltersobchak wrote: »

Im not jumping on the Anti-Russo bandwagon, but he really has to go, he hasnt got a clue what wrestling fans in 2010 want.. I always considered Total Nonstop ACTION the place with the best wrestling but the worst storylines now they dont even had that anymore..

Russo's had more than enough chances to prove himself and he's failed every time. The good thing is that if TNA fail on Monday's he'll probably be Hogan and Bischoff's fall guy.

waltersobchak

Machismo Fan wrote: »

Russo's had more than enough chances to prove himself and he's failed every time. The good thing is that if TNA fail on Monday's he'll probably be Hogan and Bischoff's fall guy.

Absolutely and he's now proven himself to be a one trick pony who still thinks its 1999

Mr.Nice Guy

Trying to watch Impact on Bravo and it's really poor. Flair's promo at the start was crazy and not in a good way. Not surprised this did a 1.1.

waltersobchak

Its awful..

Mr.Nice Guy

Can't believe I passed up watching Barca for that episode of Impact. Really poor stuff.

They seriously need to revamp their writing staff.

D2D

Eric Bischoff issued the following statement on his official Facebook page in response to the lower 1.1 cable rating TNA Impact garnered this past Thursday night.

""How did the Olympics do? Think there were many men 18-49 watching? Seriously, we have known from day one that the way to gain market share and grow ratings is just like I did in 95. The wrestling audience gathers on Monday nights. Have for almost 2 decades. Giving them an option and getting them to sample our product will increase the ratings."

Gerard.C

Dare_2_defy wrote: »

Eric Bischoff issued the following statement on his official Facebook page in response to the lower 1.1 cable rating TNA Impact garnered this past Thursday night.

""How did the Olympics do? Think there were many men 18-49 watching? Seriously, we have known from day one that the way to gain market share and grow ratings is just like I did in 95. The wrestling audience gathers on Monday nights. Have for almost 2 decades. Giving them an option and getting them to sample our product will increase the ratings."

Yeah what happend a few years after 1995 there Eric? God what an idiot

D2D

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Trying to watch Impact on Bravo and it's really poor. Flair's promo at the start was crazy and not in a good way. Not surprised this did a 1.1.

waltersobchak wrote: »

Its awful..

Just watched iMPACT! there (from when Hernandez and Morgan were talking backstage) and all I can say is wow.

I saw Jarrett cutting up onions and flipping burgers (no idea why), Foley in a suit, 6/X-Pac and Hall beating up Young/Nash and Hogan blading within 30/40 mins so God know what the 2 hours would've been like.

Kendrick vs. Kaz was a good match, if a little short. Then, Anderson had an interview with Christy and, did that interview take ages or what?? He talked about using a DVR to rewind and fast-forward through the interview (which I guess a lot of people did). Next, Terry told Magnu to P*** off and went to the ring to defend his Global title. Anderson came out, cut a programme about how a widow of a fallen Vietnamese soldier gave him a medal, then, Angle rose up from the stage and hit him with a chair. Rob Terry then carried Anderson into the ring and gave him a running powerslam to retain the Legends title. A title match that lasted less than 30 seconds.

Syxx Pac takes out Young in the parking lot while Hall takes out Nash. Hall "slaps" Nash and tells him to stay outta their business. Pac spray paints "4 life" on the back of Young. Foley goes into Bischoff's office (Eric takes a dig at the guest-host gimmick on Raw) and shows off his suit. Abyss/Wolfe was the main event which Abyss won. AJ and Flair came down and, along with Wolfe, beat up Abyss. They handcuffed Abyss to the rope and tried to take off the HoF ring that Hogan gave to Abyss. Hogan comes out to a huge pop and attempts the save but it's not successful. Wolfe, AJ and Flair beat up Hogan which results in AJ hitting Hogan with the title, which made Hogan bleed, while Abyss hulked up and ripped the hand-cuffs off the rope. AJ/Flair and Wolfe exited the ring and went up the ramp. Hogan said Flair was coming outta retirement on March 8th and Flair went beserk. Hogan asked to cut Flairs mic off which was dine, yet, we could still hear Ric. Abyss/Hogan vs. AJ/Flair was made for 8/3 as we went off the air

waltersobchak

This is hilarious

Lance Storm sent the following in to Wrestling Observer:

Just listening to WOR and have to say this.

I think Ken Anderson has been so GOD AWFUL on promos it's a channel changer for me.

His promo last week with angle actually made me turn the show off after Angle's awesome promo, and this week he talked forever in his first promo and I could not have possibly cared less.

He is doing the flippant Too Cool for School goof ball character, which in my opinion is the worst possible character. He makes light of absolutely everything as if it doesn't matter than ultimately it ends up not mattering.

Last week after Kurt was so hot at him for spitting on the USA and Dead Soldiers, Anderson came out with this goofy who cares flippant personality. HOW does that draw money? He treated it like a joke and thus it became one.

This week his promo with Christy went on forever and I ended up not having a clue what he was talking about, but when you go back and look he actually talked about laying out Kurt, spitting on America and going after a title tonight (TWO MAJOR ISSUES) yet finished off flippantly talking about fighting gorillas to the point we forgot his issue with Kurt and his title match with Rob. Almost a textbook example of a BAD promo.

Then they bury the Kurt program even deeper by having Anderson cut another f***ing promo while Kurt stands behind him for over a minute with a chair. If Kurt gave a flying f*** about Anderson laying him out or spitting on America why didn't he hit him right away rather than waiting for a minute for the comedy pop of watching Kurt stand behind him while Anderson was unaware.

This show was horrible and Anderson's character and promo work are ATROCIOUS. Yes he talks well but he buries the entire program with the way in which his talks and carries himself. He is my least favourite character on the show and that covers a lot of ground because this entire show SUCKS.

Also I can't believe no one pointed out that Anderson was KILLED by one chair shot (yes Bryan pointed this out) BUT Abyss was hit with 3 or 4 and was still on his feet later in the show. I could book a better show with a WEEGEE board.

Lance

---

But that was definitely one the worst wrestling show i've ever watched, and can someone explain to me how Desmond Wolfe who was able to beat Kurt Angle a few weeks ago is now jobbing to fu*cking ABYSS???

flahavaj

Good to see Kennedy hasn't gotten any better anyway.:pac:

Machismo Fan

I actually disagree completely with Storm about that Anderson segment (besides the comedy pop bit). I actually think Anderson played it perfectly, last week Angle poured his heart out and cut one of the best, most emotional promo's of his career and Anderson comes out and completely makes a joke of it. How could that not piss somebody off? Especially Americans considering the content of Angle's promo. He was a complete insensitive jerk that most probably wanted to see get his ass kicked and they wanted to see Angle do it.

geeky

Lance Storm wrote: »

I could book a better show with a WEEGEE board.

I'd pay good money to see that. Every week, Lance interviews a member of the departed wrestling community.

campo

I thought Anderson was brilliant on Impact his promo with the Gorilla that was some funny stuff, I did not like the fact he was out cold after only 1 chair shot to the back WTF????

but loved the end of TNA with the Hogan/Flair saga,

Tna need to get rid of Bischoff and the band as they bring nothing to the show and hire Paul Burchill for the Brittish Invasion and push the x-division

Tribesmen7

Worst episode of any wrestling show I have seen in ages.

Only a quick mention of what happened to Joe. A man who was kidnapped. Good to know they care about his well being.

A two hour show with hardly no wrestling. The Nasties/3D match was terrible and I don't want to see Hall involved in anything not to mind wrestling, he can hardly move.

Who thought that it was a good idea to change Abyss music. It doesn't suit him at all. And this whole thing with the Hall of Fame ring is ridiculous. On another note...the Hall of Fame ring Hogan and Flair talk about, would that be the WWE Hall of Fame by any chance?

Anderson annoys me on the mic and he has even since he came to TNA. Hes not funny and I agree with everything Storm says about him, and its not very often I agree with Storm.

TNA will get DESTORYED if they go up against a live Raw every Monday.

On the plus side...I like Kendricks entrance music.

Cactus Colm

Tribesmen7 wrote: »

Only a quick mention of what happened to Joe. A man who was kidnapped. Good to know they care about his well being.

Half watched the show on sunday morning... had completely forgotten this angle. Hopefully it does go somewhere.

Big Daddy Cool

wow just watched last weeks impact and that has to be the worst show ive seen in a long time, if they expect to go live against raw with anderson and flair rambling away on the mic, jarrett flipping burgers, hogan and flair wrestling, and abyss walking out to hogans wcw music and hulking up with his hall of fame ring, they better be prepared to go out of business and fast, vince must be laughing his head off

does anybody know if impact is live the night austin hosts raw, if they are, surely its the worst business decision ever

JP Liz V1

Wolfe would be better as Flair's protege than AJ imo

What happened with Pope and AJ? Is that feud over already or did it even start?

Super-Rush

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

Wolfe would be better as Flair's protege than AJ imo

What happened with Pope and AJ? Is that feud over already or did it even start?

Flair needs to fcuk off imo. I hated this angle with Orton and its worse with AJ.


Pope wasn't even mentioned as far as i remember. Flair just rattled on about Hogan and other stuff. Its truely embarassing.

Furious-Red

Yea surely Pope should have been mentioned since he is the number 1 contender. I could see Abyss vs Aj vs Pope for the title next unfortunately . Would love if they give Aj and Pope a good 20/25 minute match without Flair/Hogan/Abyss etc. But knowing TNA we wont get that

Machismo Fan

Furious-Red wrote: »

Yea surely Pope should have been mentioned since he is the number 1 contender. I could see Abyss vs Aj vs Pope for the title next unfortunately . Would love if they give Aj and Pope a good 20/25 minute match without Flair/Hogan/Abyss etc. But knowing TNA we wont get that

AJ mentioned Pope in the opening segment and Taz said he was injured as a result of the attack last week.

waltersobchak

TNA star Hulk Hogan appeared on radio host Jim Kerr's "Rock 'n Roll Morning Show" this morning from New York City and strongly hinted that Rob Van Dam has signed with TNA Wrestling.

"We got a lot of young kids now like A.J. Styles and Jeff Hardy and we've got a bunch of surprises coming up with some guys that just signed - I didn't even tell Jimmy [Hart] about it. I found out about it last night.

Hogan then pointed to himself (like RVD does when saying his name) and said, "It's going to be really crazy."

With all the talk of TNA having several "major surprises" planned for Monday's live iMPACT! debut, it appears the chances of RVD showing up are looking pretty good.

D2D

waltersobchak wrote: »

TNA star Hulk Hogan appeared on radio host Jim Kerr's "Rock 'n Roll Morning Show" this morning from New York City and strongly hinted that Rob Van Dam has signed with TNA Wrestling.

"We got a lot of young kids now like A.J. Styles and Jeff Hardy and we've got a bunch of surprises coming up with some guys that just signed - I didn't even tell Jimmy [Hart] about it. I found out about it last night.

Hogan then pointed to himself (like RVD does when saying his name) and said, "It's going to be really crazy."

With all the talk of TNA having several "major surprises" planned for Monday's live iMPACT! debut, it appears the chances of RVD showing up are looking pretty good.

Here's the video of the interview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pm5n4JdZjLo