TNA Tag Team Champion Matt Hardy tweeted the following invitations to RAW Tag Team Champions The New Day, SmackDown Tag Team Champions Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt, DX, Evolution, The Rock ‘n’ Sock Connection, Edge & Christian and legendary tag team The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express for Thursday’s “Apocalypto” match during the Total Nonstop Deletion edition of Impact Wrestling.
As noted, several tag teams are expected for the match but obviously no WWE talents will be appearing.
Source: WrestlingINC
TNA creative head Jeremy Borash spoke with Sports Illustrated recently and discussed Hardys, Tag team Apocalypto and more. Below are some highlights.
The Hardys:
“TNA has had hundreds of talents come through over its history and Matt and Jeff are in a virtual tie for most uniquely gifted performers I’ve ever worked with. Jeff has always been a rock star. His creativity frightens me, like a Jim Morrison, Evel Knievel, and Andy Warhol lovechild. Matt’s “Broken Brilliance” only manifested this year and he has been called the most captivatingly innovative performer to come along in years. The combination of the two, a drone, a gardener, and an incredibly gifted wife and future king have turned the Hardys into television’s modern day Addams Family.”
Tag Team Apocalypto:
“Tag Team Apocalypto will be the most amazing match ever presented on television. Bold statement. Different than anything you’ve ever seen. Wrestling as we know it needs to evolve with the rest of entertainment, and this will be looked back at someday as a game changer. Early screeners have left people stunned. Books may be written on this match. With the secluded nature of our shooting, there will be a number of talents showing up you would never expect. Going to reserve comment regarding any specific contractual agreements at this time.”
Total Non-Stop Deletion being special:
“The buzz surrounding the “Final Deletion” landed Matt Hardy on every wrestler of the year award list. Promoting a show on his own compound and injecting guys like Lashley and Eddie Edwards into that unique world, not to mention any number of unexpected guests, Matt Hardy had a premonition that Total Nonstop Deletion will be his Citizen Kane.”
Borash also talked about being a live event host for Robert Irvine and more. You can read the full interview here.
Source: WrestlingINC
Billy Corgan’s lawsuit against TNA parent company Impact Ventures, TNA Wrestling, President Dixie Carter, her husband Serg Salinas and CFO Dean Broadhead was officially dismissed by the Chancery Court in Nashville, TN on December 5th, according to PWInsider. The suit was dismissed at Corgan’s request following the financial settlement with Anthem Sports & Entertainment, parent company of The Fight Network. Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle ruled that Corgan would be responsible for paying all court costs and that the lawsuit was dismissed without prejudice. Corgan is free to re-file the lawsuit at a later date.
Source: WrestlingINC
The Young Bucks have signed a new two-year deal that will see them work both Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling, similar to the schedule they’ve worked this year.
The deal will see the brothers receive a significant increase in pay from ROH and NJPW for 2017, then another increase in 2018. They will be allowed to maintain their own merchandise and will be able to give more creative input. The deals are exclusive to the US and Japanese markets but they are still able to work overseas dates that don’t coincide with ROH or NJPW bookings. While exclusive to the US and Japan, the brothers will still be allowed to work for PWG in the US.
It was The Bucks who set the wheels in motion for Matt Hardy’s video at Final Battle, which you can see below with a video of The Bucks signing their new deals. The Hardys vs. The Bucks is currently scheduled for April 1st in Lakeland, FL, the night before WrestleMania 33 in Orlando.
Regarding Matt’s video that aired on pay-per-view this weekend which you can watch below, it was approved by TNA. Brandi Rhodes’ appearance to introduce her husband Cody Rhodes was also approved by TNA.
Dave Meltzer notes that there is nothing to the rumors of The Bucks appearing on TNA TV for the upcoming Total Nonstop Deletion episode, and there’s nothing on paper regarding anyone from ROH working for TNA but it’s very interesting that the two promotions are cooperating.
Source: WrestlingINC
TNA Wrestling is no longer in debt to Billy Corgan … the Smashing Pumpkins frontman released a statement Monday saying he’s agreed to a settlement with the company.
Corgan says, “I’m pleased that an agreement is now in place that allows wrestling operations to continue, for my interest from the start was to provide support, be it material or creative, to such a great roster and crew.”
As previously reported, Corgan was removed as TNA President after losing his fight to obtain ownership. Shortly afterward, he released a statement saying he still hadn’t been re-paid.
Billy adds, “And as I plan on continuing in the business side of pro wrestling, I look forward to seeing where Anthem’s leadership takes the company in 2017, and wish them the best.”
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
TNA Wrestling‘s upcoming Tag Team Apocalypto at the Hardy Compound has partly been filmed … and sources tell us legendary tag team The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express are one of the teams involved.
Pro Wrestling Sheet has learned Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson recorded a few segments during the shoot, which PWS was told has so far been the craziest one Broken Matt has done yet.
According to reports, nearly a dozen teams are participating in the special which airs next month. Our sources say it was a closed set, so not much else will be known until teasers start getting released.
We’re just praying the Bucks of Youth make an appearance in the Lake of Resurrection.
It was announced on Friday that Billy Corgan is no longer president of TNA … and now an Impact Wrestling writer has followed him out the door.
Senior Director of Creative Writing and five-year TNA employee David Lagana posted a statement on his resignation earlier saying, “Today I made the decision to leave TNA Impact Wrestling. A decision I do not make lightly but one I made to create a future that I control.”
He continued saying, “In 2017, you need to look forward to 2020 and beyond. My focus now is on personal branding, technology and the wild west of storytelling available to all content creators today.” He concluded by thanking the company, crew, and talents.
To see Lagana’s entire statement click on this link:
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
Current TNA and former WWE announcer Josh Mathews have been roped in by Valor Fights to commentate for their upcoming event. Josh will be announcing the Valor MMA 38 event which takes place on Saturday Night. Interestingly, the fight card also features former WWE and TNA superstar David Cash AKA Kid Kash, who is set to mark his return to MMA. Below is the press release from Valor about the signing.
Valor Fights Reaches An Agreement With Veteran Professional Wrestling Commentator Josh Matthews To Call The Professional Fights At Valor Fights 38 This Coming Saturday in Nashville, TN.Watch Valor Fights 38 On Saturday Night Live & Exclusively on Flo Combat.
Josh Lomberger, better known in wrestling circles as Josh Matthews has reached an agreement with Valor Fights to join the broadcast booth at Valor Fights 38, which includes the debut of former ECW/TNA/WWE competitor David “Kid Kash” Cash. Matthews is the current play by play announcer for TNA Wrestling.
Matthews started as an in-ring performer and actually wrestled Cash in his first professional wrestling match. After deciding to become a wrestling journalist, Matthews was hired by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in 2002 as a backstage interviewer. From 2006-2014, Matthews hosted the WWE’s pre-shows on their PPV events. He also worked as a color commentator on Raw and on the promotions top pay-per-view, Wrestlemania XXVII in 2010. Since January of 2014, he has been the lead announcer of TNA’s Impact Wrestling.
“I have been looking for the perfect situation to try hand at calling MMA,”said Matthews. “I love the genre, the athleticism it takes to compete as well as the passion of the athletes. I will do my best to provide the proper soundtrack. David “Kid Kash”is someone I have known since I was 22 years old, when I was just starting my career as a professional wrestler. I competed against Cash in a series of matches around the country. I learned so much from him and not only did we wrestle, but we traveled and trained together. David is a pit-bull while training and competing. It will be extremely exciting to call his fight and I wish him the best of luck.”
“We are excited to have a world class commentator like Josh Matthews joining our broadcast booth for Valor Fights 38 on Saturday night,”Valor Fights President Tim Loy stated. “Josh has a wealth of experience at the highest level of professional wrestling with his his work in the WWE & TNA. We are certainly looking forward to watching his transition to mixed martial arts.”
For information on purchasing tickets fans can visit valorfights.com. A live stream is available from Flo Combat. Please follow us on Twitter, on Facebook and on YouTube under Valor Fights.
Source: WrestlingINC
TNA President Billy Corgan claims he’s seen PROOF that the company was in discussions with WWE about a possible sale … even though execs lied to him about it the whole time.
In newly unsealed documents, Billy claims he reached out to Dean Broadhead to ask about the sale rumors and on September 26th the TNA exec assured him that they were false.
However, Corgan says that the defendant’s production documents show that Dean sent a WWE rep “certain due diligence materials that WWE had requested” just one day before.
He also claims to have seen an email from Dixie that minimized his role … explaining “When WWE raised issues relating to Corgan’s note in the course of their negotiations, Mrs. Salinas (Dixie) wrote: ‘I intend to pay the loan back in full plus interest prior to selling the company.’”
As we previously reported, Billy also says a set of Impact Wrestling tapings scheduled for next month were postponed due to company’s lack of funds.
UPDATE: TNA’s legal team also filed a response to Billy’s accusations. They claim that Corgan used his loan as a way of strong-arming himself into the role of President.
The lawyer’s add, “He then purported to use Ms. Salinas’s own voting power to terminate the individual defendants, including Ms. Salinas, from the company’s Board of Managers and install himself as Impact’s sole manager.”
TNA also claims that Corgan is attempting to “prevent the business from repaying his loan and to prevent Ms. Salinas from selling her controlling interest in the company to anyone else.” Explaining, “If plaintiff succeeds, he will next try to seize Ms. Salinas’s 92.5% interest in Impact and obtain true control of the company at a cost to him far below the amount at which he has recently valued the company and far below the company’s true value.”
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
TNA Wrestling may appear to be broken at the moment, but sources close to the production of Total Nonstop Deletion tell us that won’t stop them from filming the Hardy special next month … despite things being postponed a few weeks.
The Sheet has confirmed that TND filming was postponed due to money reasons, but one source explains that lack of funds wasn’t necessarily the reason.
We’re told producers wanted to do more with the budget given to them, so they made plans to book things in advance for later in the month — instead of next week.
This includes paying for the TV truck, flights and other production costs.
One source not in production, however, informed us that those involved with the postponed shoot were told that TNA didn’t have the money to fly talent to the Hardy compound next week due to their funds being frozen by the court once Billy Corgan was given a temporary restraining order.
Another thing to factor in … we’re told TNA will be in breach of their TV contract if they don’t produce an episode for December 15th — the episodes in the can leading up to TND end on December 8th — so there’s no way it won’t be filmed. Even if Corgan takes over.
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
