Source: PWInsider
After much speculation, the Hell In a Cell match for the WWE RAW Women’s Title between Sasha Banks and Charlotte is schedule to main event tonight’s pay-per-view from Boston.
WWE Hell In A Cell (RAW) 10/30/16
Hell In A Cell – WWE Universal Championship: (C) Kevin Owens vs Seth Rollins
Hell In A Cell – RAW Women’s Championship: (C) Sasha Banks vs Charlotte
Hell In A Cell – United States Championship: (C) Roman Reigns vs Rusev
RAW Tag Team Championship: (C) The New Day vs Cesaro & Sheamus
WWE Cruiserweight Championship: (C) TJ Perkins vs Brian Kendrick
Enzo Amore & Big Cass vs Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson
Bayley vs Dana Brooke
(Kickoff) Sin Cara, Lince Dorado & Cedric Alexander vs Tony Nese, Drew Gulak & Ariya Daivari
WrestleMania 33 Tickets Going On Sale Soon
WWE announced today that WrestleMania 33 tickets will go on sale on Friday, November 18 at 10 AM ET. Travel packages go on sale this Monday.
WWE announced the following:
WRESTLEMANIA® 33 TICKETS ON SALE FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18
TRAVEL PACKAGES ON SALE THIS MONDAY
STAMFORD, Conn., October 27, 2016 – WWE® (NYSE: WWE) announced today that tickets to the pop-culture extravaganza, WrestleMania 33, will go on sale Friday, November 18 at 10 AM ET. WrestleMania 33 will take place Sunday, April 2, 2017 at the Orlando Citrus Bowl and will be broadcast live around the world on WWE Network.
Ticket prices range from $38-$1,065 (taxes included). There will also be a limited number of “Gold Circle” VIP Packages available for $2,130 (taxes included). The Gold Circle packages include seating in the first 10 rows ringside, access to a Gold Circle VIP Stadium Entrance and a commemorative WrestleMania 33 take-home folding chair. Tickets can be purchased through all Ticketmaster outlets,ticketmaster.com or by calling 1-800-745-3000. All tickets are subject to service charges and facility fees.
In addition, WrestleMania 33 Travel Packages, which will include tickets to WrestleMania Week events, will go on sale this Monday, October 31 at 10 AM ET on wrestlemaniatravel.com. WrestleMania is more than just a one day event; it is a week-long celebration. In addition to WrestleMania 33, other events include: WrestleMania Axxess® – WWE’s four-day, interactive fan festival at the Orange County Convention Center; the 2017 WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at the Amway Center; NXT® TakeOver® at the Amway Center; Monday Night Raw® at the Amway Center and SmackDown® Live at the Amway Center.
WWE will also host activities designed to give back to the local community during WrestleMania Week including “Be a STAR” anti-bullying rallies, hospital visits and Make-A-Wish events. Additional information on these events will be announced in the future at wrestlemania.com.
Over the past nine years, WrestleMania has generated more than $700 million in cumulative economic impact for the cities that have hosted the event.
Backstage News On Why Sasha Banks Vs. Charlotte Will Likely Not Headline WWE Hell In A Cell
Dave Meltzer reported in the latest issue of The Wrestling Observer that Vince McMahon has been against the idea of having Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte headline this Sunday’s WWE Hell In A Cell pay-per-view.
Meltzer noted that while many people backstage are in favor of Sasha vs. Charlotte headlining the show, and Triple H is backing the idea, McMahon has been insistent against it. This has led to a lot of frustration backstage.
“What everyone needs to understand is that there’s no one who understands the outside less than the man who makes all the decisions,” a source close to the situation told the Observer. “We just have to find a respectful way to change his mind.”
The arguments in favor of having the match go last is that the event is in Sasha’s hometown, and it would be a progressive move. It was noted that while Vince could always change his mind, as of this past Tuesday, it was unlikely that the match would headline the show.
Meltzer made a valid point in the Observer that the first women’s match headlining a WWE pay-per-view is something that should be promoted well in advance, due to the historic nature of it, and not something decided at the last minute. Still, it marks a major change in the wrestling landscape regarding women headlining a pay-per-view event. When Raj Giri of WrestlingINC spoke to the Bella Twins last year, Nikki thought that it would be ten years before women main-evented a WWE pay-per-view.
“I think it’s definitely years and years away, but I think we’re on the right track towards it,” Nikki told Wrestling Inc. in 2015. “I think it’s going to take a while, but I definitely see us heading in that direction. I mean, I think it might be ten years from now, but I think Total Divas has given some of us Divas that mainstream audience that brings us to the level to where John Cena’s at, or where Dwayne Johnson’s at.”
“If you allow Divas to tell a story they can sell a pay-per-view,” Brie added. “Stephanie McMahon and myself were in a storyline and a lot of people would say that our story is the one that sold SummerSlam. I really think that this ‘Give Divas a Chance’ is putting everyone on the right page, and I hope that we can. We can really sell a pay-per-view, we have so many great Divas in NXT. The division is more than in good hands.”
Source: WrestlingINC
What Monday’s Court Ruling Means For TNA
As noted, there was a hearing earlier this week between Billy Corgan and TNA at the Chancery Court in Nashville, TN over the temporary injunction that Corgan has requested. The judge announced that a ruling will come this Monday.
PWInsider notes that if the ruling is in Corgan’s favor, that will replace the current restraining order with a temporary injunction. With the injunction, the company will be unable to make major business decisions or sell the company without Corgan being involved in the decision. It was noted that a decision over whether Corgan takes over Dixie Carter’s 92.5% voting rights could happen, although it appears that it won’t because Corgan’s attorney was being asked how they were applying Tennessee law to those claims.
If the judge declines the injunction, then it’s back to business as usual before Corgan filed the lawsuit. TNA management can continue to make business decisions, and proceed to sell shares of the company. Corgan would likely be paid off by Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corporation, which recently offered to pay back Corgan’s loan to TNA. However, Corgan expects a 50% corporate transaction fee, which would be $900,000 of his $1.8 million loan, which Anthem’s attorney said they were unwilling to pay. Anthem would then take 85% control of the company, with Aroluxe having a 10% stake and Dixie Carter retaining 5%. Anthem would fund the company, and there would only be 3-4 television tapings per year.
Either way, Corgan’s loan to TNA still has to be paid by next Tuesday, the day after the ruling. The lawsuit can also move forward regardless of Monday’s ruling.
You can read arguments from Billy Corgan’s counsel at this link, and TNA attorneys here.
Source: WrestlingINC
TNA Impact Wrestling Preview 10/27/16
Scheduled for tonight’s 10/27 TNA Impact Wrestling episode on Pop TV:
Cody & Brandi Rhodes vs Mike Bennett & Maria Kanellis-Bennett
Hardy Halloween segments
Team X Gold updates
EC3 & Jessie Godderz vs Aron Rex & Eli Drake
Allie vs Laurel Van Ness
Vince McMahon On WWE Possibly Being Interested In Selling The Company
Vince McMahon was asked about a potential sale of WWE during today’s third quarter earnings call and said the company is open to anything but controlling their own destiny if very important.
Vince commented on being unsure of how much control they would lose if they were absorbed or bought but they are open to offers because they are business people. Vince said WWE is open to listening to offers, especially the kind of offer they couldn’t refuse, and are “open for business” but are also focused on doing their own thing and creating their content.
The same investor asked again if WWE would be interested if they received an offer that would allow them to still control their destiny and Vince replied:
“We’re open for business.”
Source: WrestlingINC
Billy Corgan Claims He’s Seen Proof Of TNA’s Sale Discussions With WWE
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
Total Nonstop Deletion Filming Postponed To Save Money, Shoot Still Scheduled For Next Month
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
Is Impact Wrestling’s Next Set Of Tapings Postponed Due To Lack Of Funds As Corgan Claims?
Billy Corgan claims the next set of Impact Wrestling tapings scheduled for next month have been postponed … and it’s because TNA can’t come up with the cash, according to new court docs.
More court docs have been unsealed in the TNA President’s fight for control and in one set he claims, “Impact Ventures had been planning a 3-day taping scheduled for November 1-3, 2016. However, on October 25, 2016, Impact Ventures postponed that event due to lack of funds.”
Adding, “Impact Ventures also continues to not pay its talent, except now defendants are blaming me and the temporary restraining order in this case for the lack of payment.”
As we previously reported, Billy also says Dixie lied to him about any sale discussions she may or may not have had with WWE.
Corgan also claims he was never given a new employment agreement once he was made President of the company, and that Jason Brown from Aroluxe Media has been running the day-to-day operations — even though it’s not his duty.
UPDATE: Our sources tell us the postponed taping was for Total Nonstop Deletion at the Hardy compound and not full episodes of Impact Wrestling with an audience.
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
Read the FULL UPDATE HERE.
