Category: TNA

Jeff Jarrett Reveals Special Guest For Slammiversary XV, Orlando Honors Impact Wrestling

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We reported this past weekend that Jeff Jarrett was teasing a very special guest for this Sunday’s Impact Wrestling Slammiversary pay-per-view. Jarrett revealed today that the special guest will be Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer.

Jarrett tweeted the following:

Impact Wrestling issued the following announcement:

City of Orlando, Florida Honors IMPACT Wrestling as the Company Celebrates 15 Years

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer Bringing Proclamation to The Impact Zone – And He’s Also Going to Work During Taping forIMPACT on Pop TV

Nashville / Orlando (June 27, 2017) – To honor the 15-year anniversary of IMPACT Wrestling, a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp., the City of Orlando has declared Wednesday, July 5, 2017, as “IMPACT WRESTLING DAY IN ORLANDO.”

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer will present a proclamation honoring IMPACT Wrestling before taping begins July 5 for a future episode of IMPACT on Pop TV.  IMPACT has filmed most of its weekly, two-hour TV show over the past 15 years on the backlot at Universal Studios Florida, dubbed The Impact Zone.

This is the first time Mayor Dyer has attended an IMPACT Wrestling show – and he’s not just attending in a mayoral role.  Mayor Dyer also will serve as the “Special Ring Announcer” for two matches.

“Orlando is already known worldwide as an epicenter for entertainment, and as we have worked to diversify our economy, growing our sports-based industries has been a strong focus,” said Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer.  “Blending both entertainment and sports, IMPACT Wrestling is the exact type of event we’d like to continue hosting in Orlando. We are grateful to IMPACT Wresting for its commitment to, and investment in, the City of Orlando and look forward to IMPACT’s next 15 years of growth in our community.”

Jeff Jarrett is the founder of IMPACT Wrestling and now serves as the company’s Chief Creative Officer.  He said IMPACT has been a “labor of love” since day one, and now to be honored by Mayor Dyer and the City of Orlando, “is one of the biggest accomplishments in IMPACT Wrestling history.”

IMPACT Wrestling presents Slammiversary 15 on July 2 at The Impact Zone, a pay-per-view extravaganza that will bring a standing room-only crowd to Orlando. IMPACT on Pop TV will then be filmed July 3-6 for episodes to air over the next month or so.

Bobby Lashley, the reigning IMPACT Wrestling World Champion, is one of the biggest stars in pro wrestling and also has ventured into mixed martial-arts.  His opponent at Slammiversary is second-generation wrestling favorite Alberto El Patron, who has achieved crossover popularity in the U.S. and his native Mexico.

IMPACT Wrestling will return to Orlando through the end of the year as its primary production home.  IMPACT’s budget in Orlando, which includes lodging, local vendors, and all other aspects of production, exceeds $7.5 million annually.

“We are so honored to be recognized by Mayor Dyer and the City of Orlando,” said Ed Nordholm, President of IMPACT Wrestling.  “The City of Orlando is like a second home to many of our team.  We’ve spent so many nights in Orlando over the years, most of us have our favorite restaurants – and the staff at those venues know our orders once we arrive.”

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Lucha Underground – AAA Stars Appearing At Slammiversary This Sunday

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Lucha Underground / AAA stars El Hijo del Fantasma and Drago will team up at Slammiversary this Sunday in a 4-way match for the IMPACT Wrestling Tag-Team Championship, now held by the Latin American Xchange (LAX). The match will also feature talent from two other international promotions.

Impact Wrestling issued the following:

Mexican Wrestling Stars Set to Debut at Slammiversary 15

El Hijo del Fantasma, Drago Team Up for Shot at World Tag-Team Championship

NASHVILLE | MEXICO CITY – IMPACT Wrestling, a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp., announced today that it will bring two superstars from Mexico-based Lucha Libre AAA (AAA for short) to participate in Slammiversary 15 on July 2, a live pay-per-view filmed on the backlot at Universal Studios Florida.

AAA stars El Hijo del Fantasma and Drago will team up at Slammiversary in a 4-way match for the IMPACT Wrestling Tag-Team Championship, now held by the Latin American Xchange (LAX). The match will also feature talent from two other international promotions.

El Hijo del Fantasma (Spanish for Son of the Ghost) is a second-generation wrestler who has been wrestling since 2000, following the wrestling boots of his father, El Fantasma.

Drago, who has been wrestling professionally since 1998, has won multiple tag-team championships and is regarded as one of the most colorful, charismatic and creative wrestlers ever.

In March 2017, IMPACT Wrestling announced a landmark alliance with AAA, including a talent exchange between the organizations and other opportunities to collaborate in their respective markets. The high-flying lucha libre style synonymous with AAA events was an early influencer of IMPACT Wrestling’s X-Division, which has produced some of the most memorable matches in professional wrestling history.

“I have worked with the founder of AAA, Antonio Pena, and his family for 15 years,” said Jeff Jarrett, who is the founder of IMPACT Wrestling and now serves as the company’s Chief Creative Officer. “Slammiversary is 15 years in the making, and we are thrilled to have these two AAA stars be part of the show. I am sure the fans who have never seen them before will be so impressed. AAA has been a revolutionary wrestling promotion at the forefront of lucha libre wrestling in Mexico. We are looking forward to taking the working relationship between IMPACT Wrestling and AAA to the next level later this year, and fans can look forward to more collaborations between the two promotions through the rest of 2017, including Bound For Glory in November.”

Dorian Roldán, the owner of AAA, said he is thrilled to be expanding the relationship between the two promotions during a milestone year, as AAA celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2017, while IMPACT celebrates its 15th anniversary at Slammiversary.

“I feel really proud to send Drago and Hijo del Fantasma to participate in this important show, that is IMPACT Wrestling’s 15th anniversary, not only for the importance of this promotion worldwide, but also because of the high quality entertainment they offer to thousands of people in each of their presentations, live and on TV. I’m completely sure that AAA and IMPACT Wrestling have a long and bright future together, where great battles, and extremely intense matches will be achieved,” Roldán said.

TripleMania is the biggest annual event promoted by AAA, commemorating the anniversary of the company’s founding. The show has been promoted for 20 years with 27 shows in total under the TripleMania banner.

TripleMania XXV is scheduled for August 26 in Mexico City, highlighted by Psycho Clown against Dr. Wagner Jr., in a mask vs. mask match. Several IMPACT Wrestling stars will also appear on TripleMania XXV, Jarrett confirmed.

For more information, please visit http://www.impactwrestling.com.

Source: WrestlingINC

Impact Wrestling Star Bram Injured In Rome, Undergoes Surgery

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Impact Wrestling star Bram was injured during a match on Saturday and, according to his friend Nick Aldis, the wrestler required immediate surgery afterward.

Aldis released a statement saying, “Tom (Bram) was badly injured last night in Rome. First things first, he is not in any danger so no need to panic. But when I left the hospital last night they were prepping him for surgery and as of now all I know is that surgery went “fine but you have to wait.”‘

Adding, “He [Bram] was in good spirits but shaken up as it was a nasty injury.”

No word on what happened exactly, but his hardcore match against Jimmy Havoc yesterday ended rather abruptly and he was helped to the back by a referee — as seen in the below video.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

Alberto El Patron (Del Rio) Breaks Up With Paige

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Alberto El Patron, f.k.a. Alberto Del Rio, broke up with Paige last night while in Orlando. The couple went public with their relationship in May of 2016, and got engaged last October.

According to a source who saw the breakup, Alberto reportedly said that “enough was enough” and that he reached his limit and knew that it was time to break up. SEScoops also reported on the breakup, and noted that the couple had a “blowup” and that most of Alberto’s family and friends are glad that they split.

Earlier in the day, Paige posted photos with Alberto thanking Jeff Jarrett for VIP treatment at Universal Parks, as seen below.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BVsdCmNldav/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BVu6FszASyv/

Paige apparently responded to reports of the breakup on Twitter:

Source: WrestlingINC

GLOW Netflix Series Features Cameos From A Bunch Of Popular Wrestlers (Photos)

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The new Netflix series GLOW was finally released yesterday … and the series included a few surprise cameos from across the world of wrestling!

While the involvement of Awesome Kong and Chavo Guerrero, Jr. was known about before airing, the series based around Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling also surprised viewers with unexpected cameos.

Lucha Underground star Johnny Mundo appeared in the first episode as Salty “The Sack” Johnson, a pro-wrestler hired (and fired) to train the female wrestlers.

Ex-WWE star Carlito and Impact Wrestling‘s Tyrus have small reoccurring parts as Carmen’s older brothers Tom and Kurt Wade — aka The Lumberjacksons.

While Alex Riley was known to have a part in the show before airing, now we know what it was. He plays a wrestler named Steel Horse, who main events a show some of the girls attend in episode 5.

Joey Ryan plays Mr. Monopoly in the same episode and his wife Laura James is there as well.

Episode 5 also features the Legion Hall where PWG events occur and Christopher Daniels/Frankie Kazarian in a match as nameless wrestlers with Lucha Underground referee Marty Elias — and Daniels hits the Best Moonsault Ever.

Finally, while Guerrero himself does not appear in the series, the gym where the cast trains is named after him … but blink and you’ll miss the easter egg. Plus, a later episode is dedicated to Chavo Guerrero Sr. — who passed away earlier this year — and Brooke Hogan makes an appearance.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

 

Jeff Jarrett Teases Very Special Guest For Slammiversary XV

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Jeff Jarrett is teasing a big name to appear at the July 2nd Impact Wrestling Slammiversary XV pay-per-view from Orlando.

Impact Wrestling Preview 6/22/17

Tonight on Impact Wrestling:

* GFW Global Champion Alberto el Patron & James Storm vs. Impact World Champion Lashley & EC3

* X Division Champion Sonjay Dutt victory celebration

* Laurel Van Ness & GFW Women’s Champion Sienna vs. Allie & Knockouts Champion Rosemary

* Trevor Lee vs. Davey Richards vs. Suicide vs. Braxton Sutter vs. Eddie Edwards

Shane Helm And Al Snow Gone From Impact Wrestling

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The talent exodus from Impact Wrestling continues as Shane Helms and Al Snow are both gone from the company … announcing their departure on Monday afternoon via Twitter.

Helms released a string of tweets confirming that his two-year run with the promotion was over and added, “I’ve never been an ass-kisser and I damn sure wasn’t gonna start with an owl.”

Snow similarly announced his exit by tweeting, “I want to say thank you to everyone at Impact Wrestling for the great run I’ve had. Change must always happen & I am excited for the future.”

The two agents join a list of people who have left since Jeff Jarrett was brought back — including Matt and Jeff Hardy, Crazzy Steve, Maria Kanellis, Mike Bennett, Jade and Drew Galloway.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

UPDATE: 

Mike Johnson of PWInsider is reporting that producer Pat Kenney (f.k.a. Simon Diamond) is also no longer with the company.

Scott Steiner On Why He Left TNA, Never Going To WWE Hall Of Fame, Today’s ‘Cookie Cutter’ Promos

Scott Steiner spoke with Ring Rust Radio on a number of wrestling topics. Here are some of the highlights:

Why he initially left TNA:

“When I left nothing impressed me; that’s why I left. The change of management which was a problem because Dixie Carter is an idiot and then she brought in these other idiots like Hulk Hogan. I was just like damn; I got to get the hell out of here. I watched them from afar and their pockets kept getting run down and then thank God, someone else bought it, ran her out and now the right guy is back in charge being Jeff Jarrett. That’s basically who I started with before when Jeff started Impact Wrestling. I definitely wanted to come back and work for the organization again.”

Hall of Fame inductions:

“I am already in a couple Hall of Fames like the Michigan Hall of Fame and the Dan Gable Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame so my accolades speak for themselves. Let’s just say I’m not losing any sleep over any Hall of Fame induction. The one Hall of Fame that I refuse to go in is the WWE Hall of Fame because do you know where it’s at? Where is it? Do you have an address? It’s a bunch of bulls—. If they called me up, I wouldn’t go because there’s no address; you can’t go see it, so, where is it? What do you think they do with that Ric Flair statue, the one he was jumping up and down over? Where do you think that statue is at right now? If you had to guess right now where do you think it’s at? I say it’s in Triple H’s bedroom. Let me ask you this, do you think they made a statue of Macho Man? If they made a statue of Macho Man where did you think it would be? It would be in Stephanie’s bedroom. It’s a freaking joke. If you can have a Hall of Fame, at least have an address. That’s the only Hall of Fame I laugh at. Come on man, give me a break.”

How his generation cut promos compared to WWE’s approach today:

“I think why the fans could relate to me is because when I went out there, you could tell I was telling the truth. You could tell I wasn’t bulls—ting and I was putting it on the line and if people don’t like it, then do something about it. A lot of my frustrations were with management and a lot of my frustrations were with candy asses in wrestling like guys who weren’t tough, but try to come across as such. People could really tell how I came out and in the way, I spoke my mind, I was to the point, direct and really no bulls—. I think that’s why the people related to what I was saying. As far as nowadays, I feel sorry for guys, especially with what they do in the WWE. They are cookie cutters. You got 20 or 30 idiot writers with the two biggest idiots being Stephanie McMahon and Hunter McMahon. I say Hunter McMahon because I can’t tell which one is the bigger douche, her or him. I’ll give him her last name because he’s a man without a backbone. So, got those two and the 30 writers trying to write for all these guys and they all got the same mindset trying to make all these characters. When I came up, it was Macho Man and all these other guys and you had to come up with your own stuff. If you didn’t come up with your own stuff, you weren’t getting over. If you can’t relate to the crowd, can’t make people hate you, can’t make people like you, you didn’t have a job. Now it’s like do this, do this, do this, and everything is way too staged. It’s hard to watch, it really is. I feel bad for the fans because they are cheating the fans and that’s what happens when you don’t have competition. Look at the WWE, their ratings are just horrific. I don’t know what to say or what they will do. Go buy another company so you can bury some other guys? They are a bunch of a–holes. When you got competition, it makes people think outside the box. When the ratings are down you got to reach to a higher level and come up with different ideas. Nowadays you can put crap out there and if it doesn’t work, who cares? What else are they going to watch? That’s their mindset and it’s just disgusting.”

Source: WrestlingINC

You cam listen to the full interview below:

Impact Wrestling Announces Slammiversary XV Commentary Team

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Impact Wrestling announced the following:

IMPACT Wrestling Taps MLB/NHL Announcer Robert Flores For SlammiversaryDon West Comes Back For Color Commentary Duties

NASHVILLE (June 13, 2017) — IMPACT Wrestling is dipping into the high-profile sports world for a little broadcasting help at Slammiversary 15, a pay-per-view extravaganza on July 2 in Orlando, Florida.

IMPACT has signed Robert Flores to be the lead announcer for Slammiversary, to work alongside longtime IMPACT color commentator Don West, who is making a one-night return behind the microphone.

IMPACT faced an announcing dilemma for Slammiversary as broadcasters Josh Mathews and Jeremy Borash are wrestling in a tag-team match as the animosity between the two has boiled over in recent weeks. Borash and Joseph Park will team up against Mathews and “Big Poppa Pump” Scott Steiner, one of the most powerful and feared wrestlers of all time.

Flores is a studio host appearing across MLB Network’s programming, including MLB Network’s Emmy Award-winning daily studio show, MLB Tonight. In addition to MLB Network, Flores is a studio host for NHL Network and contributes across MLB Advanced Media’s digital properties, including MLB.com and Sports On Earth.

Flores joined MLB Network and NHL Network in 2016 from ESPN, where he most recently anchored SportsCenter, ABC’s college football studio updates and ESPN2’s Fantasy Football Now. Flores joined ESPN in 2005 as an ESPNews anchor and later contributed to a variety of studio shows, including Baseball Tonight, NBA Fastbreak and Friday Night Fights.

Flores is a lifelong pro wrestling fan.

“I’m excited to have a part in this year’s Slammiversary and grateful to Jeff Jarrett for this unique opportunity,” Flores said.

Flores said the match that he’s most excited to announce is for the X-Division Championship. “I’m a fan of high-flyers,” Flores said.

A Texas native, Flores earned his bachelor’s degree in radio and television from the University of Houston in 1992. Flores attended J. Frank Dobie High School in Houston and is a member of their JFD Hall of Fame. His wrestling roots are engrained in his Houston childhood.

“To play a role in Slammiversary alongside Don West is really cool,” Flores said. “Slammiversary is an event 15-years in the making, and the best always separate themselves on the biggest stages – be it the in the wrestling ring or the World Series.

“I can’t wait to see what the IMPACT Wrestling stars do on July 2nd at Slammiversary.”

Don West broke onto the broadcasting scene in the 1990s on the Shop At Home Network. He was the popular, loud, energetic, abrasive salesman, pitching countless products on late-night television – and he even was in a parody video (portrayed by actor Will Ferrell) during a segment of Saturday Night Live.

West spent about 10 years as a color commentator for IMPACT Wrestling, dating back to the company’s first-ever event on June 19, 2002.

“I am so excited to be a part of IMPACT again and to be a part of the great Slammiversary weekend,” West said. “As an avid sports and baseball fan, it will be a great honor to work next to Robert Flores as I have admired his professionalism for years. When Jeff Jarrett asked me to do this, I had only one response, ‘YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!'”

“It will be great to see and hear Don West back on an IMPACT Wrestling broadcast; no one brings more energy and excitement to a broadcast than Don,” said Jeff Jarrett, the Chief Creative Officer for IMPACT Wrestling. “Having a broadcaster on Slammiversary at the level that Robert Flores has achieved is unbelievable. We are so excited to have RoFlo in the IMPACT family – and broadcast booth.”