Despite Kenny Omega being under contract with New Japan Pro Wrestling until later this month, Dave Meltzer reported on the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio that WWE made Omega a “fantastic offer.”
With All Elite Wrestling being announced earlier this week, Meltzer noted that Omega is a “wildcard”, as NJPW obviously wants to keep him while AEW wants him as well.
Omega was defending his IWGP Championship against Hiroshi Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom 13.
Source: WrestlingINC
Tonight is the final Impact before this Sunday’s Homecoming pay -per-view and is also the final Impact on Pop TV before it moves to it’s new home, Friday Jan. 11 – 10/9c on The Pursuit Channel.
* Brian Cage & Johnny Impact vs. Lucha Bros (Pentagon Jr. & Fenix)
* Fallah Bahh & KM vs. Desi Hit Squad
* Allie vs. Kiera Hogan
* 10 Man Tag: Willie Mack, Rich Swann & The Rascalz vs. Sami Callihan, oVe, Matt Sydal & Ethan Page
* Eli Drake’s Homecoming Address
With the announcement of All Elite Wrestling this week and with Ring of Honor getting aggressive regarding signing new talent, Dave Meltzer recently indicated on Wrestling Observer Radio that WWE offered a developmental deal that is much larger than their standard contracts.
“I think there are going to be some interesting ones,” Meltzer said of talent signings in early 2019. “Nothing that hasn’t been rumored, and imminently. But there’s also an instance of someone who is under contract to a company, they’re going to be out of contract with the company in a couple of months. WWE, and another company, and maybe even two other companies, were involved in being interested [negotiations] in this person. And this would be a developmental deal [for WWE NXT] but I will say that the developmental money compared to others that WWE has offered was way, way higher. Multiples. Because the business has changed so much, and because of everything that’s going on,” Meltzer said in an apparent reference to the buzz going around the pro wrestling world these days.
It’s no secret that the new AEW promotion will be announcing talent acquisitions as they prepare for their first big event, rumored to be held this spring. Meltzer had recently reported that three members of The Elite (Cody Rhodes, The Young Bucks, Hangman Page) had themselves turned down major money deals from WWE, reported to be multi-year deals that were worth more than seven figures annually.
ROH’s offer to Bandido was said to be much higher than the deal he had on the table from WWE. WWE came back with a second offer that was “dramatically higher” when they realized he had better offers on the table, and that he wasn’t going to sign for low money just because it was WWE. Bandido will be making his ROH debut on January 12 in Atlanta at Center Stage for an international TV taping.
It should be noted that the wrestler set to receive the large deal was not identified in the report.
After months of teasing the possibility of starting their own promotion, Cody Rhodes, Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson and Adam Page unveiled All Elite Wrestling during the latest episode of Being The Elite. Cody had teased a major announcement exactly at midnight Pacific Standard Time, and The Elite released the episode just as it hit January 1st on the west coast.
The Elite also alluded to AEW’s first show, Double or Nothing, and details have since emerged that an official announcement will be made regarding the event during the ‘Double or Nothing Rally’ on January 8th at 5 pm ET at the parking lot of West Club at the TIAA Bank Field, home of the Jacksonville Jaguars. That night’s SmackDown will emanate from Jacksonville as well.
https://twitter.com/ALL_IN_2018/status/1080016187424006144
The official All Elite Wrestling Twitter account posted the photo below of Cody Rhodes, Brandi Rhodes, The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) and Hangman Page officially signing their All Elite Wrestling contracts.
Rhodes and The Bucks are Executive Vice Presidents in the company, which is led by Jacksonville Jaguars co-owner Tony Khan.
Below is a statement from Cody:
I feel so damn lucky. I believe that more than talent… more than chance… work ethic will guide me where I’d like to go.To be Executive Vice President for our new venture, and to be flanked by Matt and Nick and a few familiar names sharing that position: this is my dream job.
I can’t think of a time when so many of wrestling’s top free agents all opted out of the road usually traveled and instead wanting to start something new. I am excited to see AEW into existence.
What’s old isn’t new – what’s new is new. Perception isn’t reality – reality is reality. Fans first.
Matt Jackson also commented on the new venture, tweeting, “Thank you for making the decision to do this a no-brainer. We cannot do it without you. #AllEliteWrestling”
https://twitter.com/MattJackson13/status/1080037136034721794
As we previously reported, Impact Wrestling will move to Friday nights on the Pursuit Channel beginning on January 11th. Impact reportedly had talks with Syfy, TruTV and WGN America regarding a new television deal.
The show is now moving to a channel owned by their parent company, Anthem Entertainment. Despite Anthem owning the station, the show will remain at 10 p.m. ET, which is the timeslot that Pop TV moved it to last October. Impact has drawn its lowest viewership in their history in the 10 p.m. timeslot and faces a further uphill battle as they will be available in far fewer homes. 30 million homes have access to Pursuit, which is a 55% drop from the 67 million homes that receive Pop TV.
It was revealed in the latest edition of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter that “there were forces attempting to sell Impact” to the yet-to-be announced All Elite Wrestling promotion a few months ago. That would indicate that the talks would have taken place before AEW filed for their trademarks, as that didn’t happen until early November. The Observer noted that the proposal for the sale was declined.
Impact Executive Vice President Scott D’Amore spoke with Wrestling Inc. last Friday and said that the company was excited to work with their new partners, and that they have “some ideas and things in the work for other properties on Pursuit.”
“The first part of this deal is what we’re doing now, the flagship Impact broadcast, airing on Friday nights at 10 pm ET,” D’Amore said. “I know people look at that and go, ‘Oh my God, it’s the death spot.’ Well, if you look back, when we debuted on Spike TV, it’s a different era and network, but wrestling fans find good wrestling. When we went on Spike TV at 11 o’clock on Saturday, we went out there and did probably about 850k viewers when we debuted. We’re excited to work with Pursuit on building it as a platform. We have some ideas and things in the work for other properties on Pursuit. Also, looking to expanding our domestic and international distributions.”
Source: WrestlingINC
Don Callis was on his Killing The Town podcast, thanks to Wrestling Inc. contributor Himanshu D. for sending this along: and talked about various topics related to IMPACT. You can listen to the podcast here:
Raven appearing on IMPACT:
“How awesome was it to have Raven on IMPACT television? I gotta tell you, I was like a kid in a candy store, came up with this idea to have Raven. I always love hanging out with him and I learnt so much even now just talking to him. I gotta tell you he was so great, my god just out there — no one scripted Raven. Raven just has great timing and he was great. Josh Mathews described him as the Keyser Söze of pro-wrestling and I think that’s right. I think that that is the ideal character for Raven at this point in his career it is to be Keyser Söze, the criminal, the ultimate master mind. I think that would be really cool. So that was a really awesome thing to see Raven.”
Working with IMPACT after being inactive from the business for many years:
“Being with IMPACT — you gotta understand, I was out of the business by my own choice for 13 years or more. To get back into the wrestling business and start tweaking those old scratches and itches and enjoying myself, it was just great. And people ask, ‘What was the best part? Is it the travel?’ Honestly, the best part for me is working with the talent. I always loved that. I always loved trying to play a role and passing on whatever knowledge I had, whether it was with the promos or how to get something over, get yourself over. Those are areas that I think I was pretty good at over my career. It’s just really cool. It’s hard work, it’s a grind, I have never been on the road this much. It’s really cool.”
Sami Callihan:
“Even a guy like Sami Callihan is effectively a psychotic. He is a functioning psychotic. Sami and I have had our ups and downs without a doubt. Sami has taken some liberties with me. If I were a wrestler, I probably would have something to say about it. But one thing I will say about Sami, Sami like I was is all about getting himself over. And some people don’t like that. Some people say, ‘God this selfish son of a b—h, he is just getting himself over’ and you know what I say to that? I say, ‘You’re an idiot’ because that’s the whole point of this business. If you are not constantly trying to get yourself over, and sometimes that means at the expense of other people — not everyone gets first prize, ladies and gentlemen. And if you think that you do then you are just never going to be over and Sami is a guy who is constantly trying to out wrestle, out fight, out talk, out do, out promote everybody else. And I love that about him.”
Jake and Dave Crist:
“I can’t stand The Crist brothers. That’s a redemption story too. I wanted to fire those guys when I first came into IMPACT. I’d seen them on TV a couple of times. I was like, ‘What?’ But this is the thing, people say, ‘Oh you like the Crists now. They are really cool. What they do, they are great heels. What did you do, Don?’ I didn’t change anything about the Crists. We didn’t change anything about the Crists. We let the Crists be the Crists. My thing was always I want Jake and Dave to have their time. Yeah, Sami is Ric Flair and those guys are Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson. That’s not a bad thing. Not everyone can be Ric Flair. That’s Sami Callihan. But that doesn’t mean that Tully and Arn don’t have their own thing. And I want Jake and Dave and we all want Jake and Dave to have their own thing. And man, I tell you they have really stepped up. Jay Crist doing the ‘mini draw’ thing to me is… man, I love that is just so ridiculous and crazy and awesome. Dave Crist has got some of the best facials in wrestling on these promos and Sami is Sami.”
Johnny IMPACT:
“You talk about guys like Johnny IMPACT. He’s our world champion and man, he’s been a pleasure as well. Such a good dude. You talk about the prototype world champion, that’s the guy.”
Brian Cage:
“Getting to work with Brian and I think that maybe my tone and my way of talking to Brian early on might have been a bit of a shock to him. And I’m not going to get into what was said, but if you listen to this podcast you kinda know. I wanna see aggressive, driven, selfish Brian Cage. GMSI stands for ‘Get My s–t In’, it doesn’t stand for ‘Get Your s–t In Too’. I love working with Brian and I think Brian has maybe the most untapped potential in the wrestling business, which is scary when you think about saying ‘untapped potential’ and all the stuff he already does. It’s the stuff he’s currently not doing, that’s the stuff that’s gonna make Brian Cage the biggest star in wrestling at some point.”
The Pursuit Channel deal:
“This week we announced our move from Pop TV which was a great partner for us. A lot of fans thought, ‘Wow, you guys should be on a different network with a different demographic’ so we announced this week we’re moving to Pursuit which is an exciting thing for me. When you talk about how you deal with your content as a company because our parent company Anthem owns not only the Fight Network and Game TV, they also own a significant stake in Pursuit. It’s a great strategic move for us, and I think people are going to love to see a sexier, edgier, maybe even a little more hardcore IMPACT Wrestling. I’m really, really pumped about that.”
Source: WrestlingINC
Yesterday, Impact Wrestling Star Jordynne Grace and ROH Star Jonathan Gresham announced their engagement while the two were vacationing on a cruise. Grace worked the battle royal at “All In” and debuted with Impact back in October where she’s feuded with Katarina. Gresham took on Zack Sabre Jr. at ROH Final Battle earlier this month, Sabre Jr. would win via pinfall. Congrats to the happy couple on their engagement!
https://twitter.com/JordynneGrace/status/1075911581983301634
Source: WrestlingINC
Impact Wrestling announced today that its flagship weekly two-hour program, IMPACT!, will move to Friday nights on the Pursuit Channel in January. As noted, SmackDown Live will also begin airing on Friday nights when it moves to FOX this October, while MLW FUSION also currently airs on Friday nights on beIN Sports.
Beginning on Friday, January 11, featuring the aftermath of the Homecoming pay-per-view, IMPACT! will air weekly on Pursuit Channel on Friday nights at 10:00 p.m. ET.
“Pursuit Channel is a natural fit for IMPACT!” said Impact Wrestling President Ed Nordholm. “It has a passionate viewership base that correlates strongly with our core audience, and is one of the few broadcast destinations that is expanding its footprint, enjoying a 15% increase in broadcast distribution this year alone. With IMPACT Wrestling coming off a tremendous year of audience growth globally and positive fan engagement, we look forward to leveraging our respective resources to bring fans more of the wrestling content they want to see: tougher, edgier action.”
“Pursuit Channel is pleased to welcome IMPACT Wrestling into our Friday night lineup of popular shows,” added Rusty Faulk, CEO and founder of Pursuit Channel. “IMPACT Wrestling programming is perfect for our audience, which enjoys adventurous content to feed their wild side. We look forward to a long partnership and providing our fans with new and exciting world-class content while expanding IMPACT Wrestling’s audience to a new base.”
Below is the full press release from Impact Wrestling:
IMPACT Wrestling and Pursuit Channel Announce Broadcast Agreement to Televise IMPACT! Nationally Across the U.S.IMPACT! to Premiere Weekly on Fridays at 10:00 p.m. ET on Pursuit Channel, Starting on Jan. 11
TORONTO | LUVERNE – IMPACT Wrestling, a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp., announced today it has entered into an agreement to broadcast its flagship weekly two-hour program IMPACT! nationally across the U.S. on Pursuit Channel, the most widely distributed outdoor network and one of the fastest growing channels in the country.
Beginning on Friday, Jan. 11, featuring the aftermath of Homecoming, IMPACT Wrestling’s first marquee pay-per-view event of the year, IMPACT! will air weekly on Pursuit Channel on Friday nights at 10:00 p.m. ET.
“Pursuit Channel is a natural fit for IMPACT!” said Ed Nordholm, president of IMPACT Wrestling. “It has a passionate viewership base that correlates strongly with our core audience, and is one of the few broadcast destinations that is expanding its footprint, enjoying a 15% increase in broadcast distribution this year alone. With IMPACT Wrestling coming off a tremendous year of audience growth globally and positive fan engagement, we look forward to leveraging our respective resources to bring fans more of the wrestling content they want to see: tougher, edgier action.”
“Pursuit Channel is pleased to welcome IMPACT Wrestling into our Friday night lineup of popular shows,” said Rusty Faulk, CEO and founder of Pursuit Channel. “IMPACT Wrestling programming is perfect for our audience, which enjoys adventurous content to feed their wild side. We look forward to a long partnership and providing our fans with new and exciting world-class content while expanding IMPACT Wrestling’s audience to a new base.”
Showcasing top professional wrestling stars such as IMPACT World Champion Johnny Impact, who starred in the most recent season of the hit CBS show Survivor, plus Brian Cage, Eli Drake, Moose, Eddie Edwards, Sami Callihan, Pentagon Jr., Fenix, Rich Swann, the high-flying X-Division and the Knockouts, including Champion Tessa Blanchard, Taya Valkyrie, Rosemary, Allie and Su Yung, IMPACT! has been a leading destination for professional wrestling fans, televised globally in 120 countries since its inception in 2002, while growing its popularity and reach on YouTube, Twitch, Pluto and social media platforms.
With the success of his first venture, Jericho announced yesterday that a second cruise is a go. In the video below, he said more details will be announced in January, but for fans who missed out the first time, they will get another shot to cruise with Jericho. Here is his full announcement.
“I want to thank all of you who were a part of Chris Jericho’s “Rock ‘N Wrestling Rager at Sea,” Jericho began. “We made history, we sold it out for the inaugural voyage, for the first time ever, wrestling in the middle of the ocean. We had live comedy, live rock ‘n roll, podcasts, all of you said it was the best vacation of your life. Well, I got some news for ya. Chris Jericho’s “Rock ‘N Wrestling Rager at Sea” part two, second wave, is happening! Yes, we did it! We’re gonna make it happen, all the details: who, what, where, when and how, coming up in January. In the meantime, sign up now at chrisjerichocruise.com for the mailing list, get all the information. It’s happening! I can’t believe, I’m so excited.”
At the end of last October, Chris Jericho’s cruise set sail out of Miami and featured a number of musicians, comedians, and ROH / Impact / NJPW wrestlers over the multi-day event.
The sold-out cruise included a ring on the top deck where the ROH Sea of Honor tournament took place, along with Alpha Club (Young Bucks and Jericho) vs. Bullet Club (Cody Rhodes, Kenny Omega, and Marty Scurll), which was later streamed on FITE.
Source: WrestlingINC
The following is scheduled for tonight’s IMPACT on Pop TV:
* Taya and Tessa Face Off
* Santana vs. Fenix
* Katarina’s Plan for Jordynne Grace
* Moose vs. Brian Cage
* Ultimate X Qualifying Match: Rich Swann vs. Dave Crist
* Ultimate X Qualifying Match: Trevor Lee vs. Trey Miguel
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