Word was sent out by Ben Woodard of Greenville, South Carolina that the 2014 Slammy Awards has been moved to the December 8th RAW from the Bon Secours Center in Greenville. WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar will be on the show.
Source: WrestlingINC.com
PWInsider has confirmed reports that WWE will be making Steve Austin more prominent in the company next year. WWE is working on plans for next year but nobody seems to know exactly what those plans may be. Austin is not expected to wrestle at WrestleMania 31.
PWInsider is reporting that WWE may be interested in Team 3D now that they are no longer under contract with TNA. Word is that feelers from both sides have been sent out.
Source: WrestlingINC.com
F4Wonline.com is reporting that TNA officials this week were telling their business partners that they will have a new TV deal within 10 days.
Source:WrestlingINC.com
Dolph Ziggler VS Seth Rollins:
AJ Lee VS Layla:
Sheamus & The Usos VS The Miz & Gold & Stardust:
Naomi VS Nikki Bella:
Dean Ambrose VS Kane:
Last week, I wrote am article discussing the element of surprise when it comes to the world of sports entertainment. While spoilers can be seen as “fun” and wonderful thirst quenchers for when you “just want to know a little bit of a sneak peek”, they can also take away the surprise of what’s to come. One of the biggest surprises came last week when The Rock returned to a booming crowd. No one saw it coming and it drew a stronger bang than if people knew ahead of time. You’ll get a response sounding more like, “That was awesome!! I never imagined he’d show up!” rather than “What’s the big deal, I knew he was coming.”
Then there’s TNA, who filmed episodes weeks in advance and there’s spoilers floating around on the Internet. How did they manage to put on a current, live PPV storyline-wise with Bound for Glory in Japan? Simple. Place emphasis on matches being wrestling based showcasing skills as opposed to storyline driven. It was an excellent way on TNA’s part for dealing with a spoiler driven situation in as positive of a way as possible.
Supporting my previous argument, a world with spoilers can be fine in some elements, but it is best to leave the surprises alone and let them unravel as they may. The Rock’s return alone perfectly exemplifies this point
-Celine
Video of behind the scenes of Emma’s new photo shoot.
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin on a recent Steve Austin Show podcast addressed the rumors of him returning to the ring. Austin said there’s little to no chance of him returning & that he has no desire to get back in the ring. Austin added that if he did return a faced Brock Lesnar then Lesnar would be looking up at the lights.
Source: WrestlingINC.com
Dixie Carter told some people recently to expect a major announcement soon. Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that it was believed to be a new TV deal but that may not be the case. Wrestling observer reports that there are claims that TNA is negotiating with a talent who would shock people & a new signing that would help bring buzz to TNA, but nobody knows who those talents maybe. We know it’s not CM Punk & Mick foley.
Some TNA talents who have expired contracts or have contracts expiring soon say no officials are getting back to them soon. It has been noted that TNA is not doing any serious contract negotiating until a new TV deal is done.
Source: WrestlingINC.com
WWE sent out a message to it’s WWE Network subscribers telling them that they have started to run limited video advertisements.
Here is what you can expect:
No commercial breaks during scheduled programming – Limited advertising between shows – Occasional advertising before video-on-demand content.
This past Sunday night TNA Impact wrestling presented it’s annual pay-per-view event “Bound For Glory”. This year was different, we saw what is typically refereed to as the company’s biggest pay-per-view of the year take place overseas in Tokyo Japan. The event had no connection to any current storylines being seen on Impact Wrestling weekly broadcasts and was not live.
While so many people want to focus on the negatives regarding “Bound For Glory” I want to point out that the wrestling seen on this event was fantastic. While the crowd in attendance was small by previous standards they were possibly more passionate and invested in the matches then larger crowds. The cross-promotion with Wrestle-1 offered a nice opportunity to see some great international wrestling along with TNA favorites.
I will be the first person to admit that Impact Wrestling is in a bad place right now. At the time of this post writing there has not been any news regarding the future of Impact Wrestling and television. The live crowds in the U.S. have not been great and it shows. However the in-ring product itself has been phenomenal for several weeks.
The truth is there are two different types of fans watching right now. You have the “Sports-entertainment” fan and then you have the pure “Wrestling” fan. While the WWE has done a good job over the years at growing the popularity of wrestling in general there has been a downside. The WWE is no longer wrestling, It is an entertainment company. The truth is if you want just wrestling you haven’t found it in the WWE.
The WWE doesn’t even use the word “wrestling during it’s broadcasts anymore. In fact the last person to do so was Daniel Bryan. What we watch on Monday nights is strictly “Sports Entertainment” while what you see from promotions like Ring Of Honor, NJPW and even TNA is more of a traditional pro wrestling product.
The WWE goes out of it’s way to let you know that they are ENTERTAINMENT. They want to make movies and cartoon series. The wrestling showcased on their programming is just a tool used to get the attention of fans. The fact that the WWE has gone so far to refer to Raw as an “episodic series” and even had a “season premiere” even though the show is broadcast all year are just a couple examples of how the WWE looks at the product they are putting out as an ENTERTAINMENT company.
If someone considered themselves a fan strictly of the WWE I suggest that you refer to yourselves as “Sports entertainment fans” rather then a “professional wrestling fan”. In my opinion, to be a fan of pro wrestling a person has to respect the history and traditions. They must also appreciate what is happening in the ring regardless of lack of a storyline. While a good build up is always preferred of course, the truth is we should appreciate the story being told in the ring between the wrestlers.
While Impact Wrestling is falling short when it comes to getting good crowds and it’s future being up in the air as far as television, they still manage to draw over one million consistent viewers and are considered the favorite of viewers in the United Kingdom versus the WWE product.
Dixie Carter and Impact Wrestling can and MUST succeed. The WWE has done a horrible job at preserving the legacy of professional wrestling not to mention they treat the word “wrestling” itself like a course word. My hope is that Impact Wrestling can re-brand themselves and drop the “TNA” and “Impact” names and start fresh. The WWE marks have made it impossible to be successful with the current branding.
Here’s to a bright future for pro wrestling and the preservation of tradition for those that want an alternative to sports entertainment. I am not against the WWE product but want people to see there is a difference between what they offer versus others companies.
Trevor
