The Big TNA Wrestling Thread

[Rappy Veteran]

I hate to say it but RVD seems past it also he looked knackered fighting James Storm.

I hope the "band" disappear quickly its embarrassing.

[Rappy Veteran]

After hitting a record low rating last week, TNA iMPACT! rebounded last night with an 0.9 rating with an average audience of 1.2 million viewers.

Meanwhile, WWE Raw fell half a point from last week to a 3.2 rating with nearly 4.6 million viewers. Their target demographic ? men 18-49 ? dropped 26% with only 2.5 million viewers which is the lowest in that demo this year.

Mind you, WWE is still dominating in the ratings between the wrestling companies but it cannot be happy with its numbers dropping. Two weeks ago, Raw also scored a 3.2 but bounced back up to a 3.7 last week. However, some of that may have been to watch the Shawn Michaels retirement ceremony.

Both shows were likely affected by the NCAA basketball national championship game as well as 'Dancing with the Stars' with each of them scoring big numbers.

iMPACT! did move up an hour to an 8:00P ET start time and you have to wonder if TNA and Spike TV should make that a permanent move.

[Rappy Veteran]

Partial Source: The Pro Wrestling Torch

TNA may be dipping into the 90s well again as there has been much talk of starting a faction consisting of former ECW wrestlers.

ECW alumni presently on the roster include Rob Van Dam, Brother Ray, Brother Devon, Rhino, Raven, Dr. Stevie and Taz. Also, the former Spike Dudley worked an episode of iMPACT! a few weeks ago not to mention that Tommy Dreamer has been rumored to join the promotion as an on-air performer.

:no:

Last night on Twitter, Paul Heyman went on a rant about the the way TNA has booked Rob Van Dam and Jeff Hardy in recent weeks. Heyman started off by writing:

"To answer all the questions, I will not be blogging on last night's TNA Impact. What am I going to say that has not been said already?"

A minute later, Heyman let it fly:

"Okay, I can't resist. How many times can u beat up RVD and Jeff Hardy and not give them a 'revenge-minded' interview afterwards? Heels beat up babyfaces. Babyfaces swear revenge. People tune in. Holy s---! The formula is not that f'n complicated, people!"

"I don't want any1 to think I am saying I know it all. I DON'T KNOW IT ALL. I still have a lot to learn. I don't know how to grow hair on top of my head. I don't know how to get six pack abs."

"BUT I KNOW THAT IF A HEEL BEATS UP A POPULAR BABYFACE, THEN BABYFACE NEEDS A CHANCE TO PROMOTE THE TIME AND PLACE OF THE BABYFACE'S REVENGE."

[timster]

Kurt Angle's ex-wife Karen Angle has announced on her Facebook page that her and TNA star Jeff Jarrett recently got engaged. It was not revealed whether or not the couple has set a date for the wedding.

[Rappy Veteran]

omgzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Flair wasn't really crippled! :laugh: :unsure:

[Rappy Veteran]

WWE RAW - 3.2 cable rating. The show did hours of 3.0 and 3.4.

TNA iMPACT - 0.8 cable rating.

[LOC Veteran]

The final cable rating for the premiere edition of TNA Reaction, the new lead-in for TNA Impact on Monday night's, scored a 0.3, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Ouchies.

[Rappy Veteran]

Ouchies.

I read a review about that show, they tried to make it more awesome then it was with wrestlers talking why they hate their current opponents...a weird idea really

[Rappy Veteran]

Kurts got game! :p

It is being reported that Kurt Angle has engaged a model 17 years his junior. The 41 year-old former TNA World Champion recently proposed to Giovanna Yannotti aged 24. Reports suggest they have been seeing each other for several months and are now "engaged and very happy" according to Angle's management.

Angle's first wife Karen Angle in the same week announced she is engaged to TNA founder Jeff Jarrett.

Karen Angle's relationship with Jarrett caused much controversy last summer leading to Jarrett's temporary departure from the company.

Both parties are now said to be on good terms.

[timster]

prior to the TNA Lockdown PPV, the X-Division title was stipped from Doug Williams since he was unable to travel from the UK due to the recent events grounding air travel caused by the volcano eruption in Iceland

[timster]

Anderson vs. Angle made this PPV [Lockdown] worth $35 .. i should have shelled the extra $10 and gotten the HD feed

[LOC Veteran]

Damn, I woulda paid the money just to see Flair fall on the thumb tacks. Wow!

[timster]

PWTorch.com is reporting that Sean Waltman did not "no-show" TNA's Lockdown PPV last night, and did give management a heads up in advance that he would not be appearing at the show. He cited personal reasons for not being able to work the show, but the feeling at this time is that he had not been cleared by The Missouri State Athletic Commission to compete.The report also claims that there is no heat on Waltman for missing the show, and that he is expected to work the Impact tapings tonight.

Tune in to Hardcore Sports Radio - SIRIUS Channel 98 tonight at 11:05pm EST for "Right After Wrestling", hosted by Arda Ocal.

Tonight, "Right After Wrestling" welcomes Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart to the show as a special guest!

Plus, WrestleZone's Nick Paglino will join the show to chime in with his thoughts on tonight's edition of Raw!

You can listen on SIRIUs Radio Channel 98, or listen online - www.hardcoresportsradio.com

RIGHT AFTER WRESTLING

Hosted by Arda Ocal with Corey Erdman

Monday nights, 11pm - midnight EST

SIRIUS Channel 98

www.hardcoresportsradio.com

[timster]

RVD ... new TNA champ!

[Rappy Veteran]

Damn, I woulda paid the money just to see Flair fall on the thumb tacks. Wow!

I just watched Lockdown and it was insane! that Angle vs Anderson match was MATCH OF THE YEAR! that ****ing moonsault! was bloody insane!

[ShiFteDReaLitY]

Lockdown really was worth the 35 dollars.... and the Anderson vs Angle match was the best of the night followed by the team hogan vs team flair the monday night show was pretty good as well

[timster]

According to a high level source within TNA, Jim Ross has had a meeting with TNA officials concerning the possibility of signing with the company.

I was informed that within the past week or so, Ross met with both TNA President Dixie Carter and Dean Broadhead, the CFO of TNA, and the two sides discussed the possibility of Jim Ross signing with TNA. I was told TNA has interest in bringing JR into the company as they are still in the process of trying to "shake things up" on TV.

It should be noted that this was just a meeting, and should not be taken to mean that Ross has signed, or is going to sign with TNA.

Currently, JR is still under contract with WWE, but the deal expires on April 30th.

[LOC Veteran]

I have been able to confirm with 2 separate sources inside TNA that after last night's Impact taping, the buzz backstage is that TNA management is "supremely confident" that the following three names will sign with the company: Jim Ross, Paul Heyman and Tommy Dreamer.

As I asserted in my exclusive post concerning Jim Ross yesterday, these names have NOT signed with TNA, and I am not suggesting that they will, only that the word going around at Impact yesterday is that TNA management feels extremely confident that the 3 aforementioned names will sign with the company.

Here is what I know so far about the three men:

Jim Ross: Yesterday, I was the first to report that JR has in fact met with TNA officials concerning the possibility of working with the company. Jason Powell of ProWrestling.net then updated the situation by saying "The feeling coming out of the meeting was that Ross was not interested in committing to TNA and is looking for work outside pro wrestling if he doesn't strike a new deal with WWE."

Paul Heyman: While Paul Heyman's "Heyman Hustle" website is affiliated with CraveOnline, Paul does NOT communicate with us where Pro Wrestling is concerned and there is no synergy between our two websites other than to promote each others links where it's deemed beneficial. Therefore, I do not know where Paul stands at this point concerning TNA, as he has remained very quiet about pro wrestling since joining the Crave Online team.

Tommy Dreamer: I have been told by several sources that Dreamer wants to work in the creative department of TNA in addition to being an on-air performer. If TNA is willing to agree to those terms, then it is likely Dreamer will sign with the company.

Wrestlezone

[Rappy Veteran]

Impact wasn't bad, I wonder who Nash/Hall will hire

[Rappy Veteran]

WWE Hall of Famer "Stone Cold" Steve Austin posted some interesting messages on Twitter last night while watching TNA iMPACT. Here's what he wrote:

"Great promo from Ric Flair!!!! The greatest professional wrestler that ever lived!! And thats the bottom line cause SCSA said so..."

"on another note--Jay Lethal kills me with his Randy Savage inspired promos...very entertaining!"

"i love the Shark Boy gimmick...highly entertaining and a good worker too."

"Flair with the brassnucks to the balls...truly the dirtiest player in the game...still. Hogan to the ring...time to change the channel."

"to those that asked...of course im going to watch WWE next...i have many friends at TNA. and lots of memories with WWE...my home."

[soldier1st]

girl wrestling is best, all this man vs man is boring. girls scream and make sounds not to mention there bodies rock.

[Rappy Veteran]

WWE RAW drew a 3.1 cable rating on Monday. More shortly.

TNA iMPACT! drew a 0.5 cable rating on Monday. More shortly.

As noted yesterday here on the website, both SpikeTV and TNA were well aware of WWE's three-hour draft special and expected ratings to take a huge hit obviously. The Draft show is one of the biggest shows of the year for WWE. TNA management knew they didn't have much of a chance against RAW this week. TNA iMPACT! was also a taped show last night. The hope is that the iMPACT! replay on Thursday will pop a decent rating.

[LOC Veteran]

TNA better do something and soon, a .5 is horrid. Even against a 3 hour Draft RAW I'm pretty sure Spike TV execs weren't to happy with it period. Not to mention Dixie Carter who bet on Hogan and Bischoff changing things and that's seemingly gone down the drain so far...

[MightyJordan]

Hogan is a frickin' snoozefest, simple as that. Get rid of him and the show will instantly improve. Hell, Ric Flair's doing better than him, but only because he goes nuts in nearly every bit! :p

[Rappy Veteran]

Partial Source: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter

TNA is interested in signing Shelton Benjamin, who was released from WWE last week. With Benjamin?s former tag team partner Charlie Haas currently a free agent, many within TNA want to see the company sign both Haas and Benjamin and reunite them with their former onscreen ?mentor? in WWE, Kurt Angle.

?Team Angle? was a dominant force on the SmackDown brand almost 10 years ago and that gimmick was arguably the peak of Haas and Benjamin?s WWE careers.

Benjamin is the only recent WWE release that TNA is looking to pick up at this time.