Tag: TNA

Billy Corgan On The ‘Backstabbing And Lies’ In TNA, Attempting To Work With Anthem, NWA Purchase

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Billy Corgan spoke with Sports Illustrated‘s “Extra Mustard” section on a number of wrestling topics surrounding his purchase of NWA and his time with TNA. Here are some of the highlights:

Purchasing NWA and taking the long approach with it:

“We want to be part of a new revolution of how wrestling can be consumed by fans and matches can be presented. This NWA brand dates back to 1948. The past few years have not been as kind as we would have liked, but we plan on building this into a powerhouse over time. Our focus is on the NWA plan, and we have a 20-year plan. We’re not going to just come in and throw money around for two years. We’ve learned from the past mistakes of TNA, which we have intimate knowledge of. We’re armed with this knowledge, and we’re setting out to rebuild the brand so a fan that currently doesn’t know anything about the NWA will respect the tradition and also respect what we’re trying to accomplish, like a Ring of Honor or a New Japan. That’s where we are starting, and we’re building from there.”

Trying to work out a deal that would benefit both Anthem and the NWA:

“We’ve made various overtures to Anthem along the way and they’ve made various overtures to me. We haven’t found anything that is ideal, and I’m a firm believer that if a deal doesn’t go both ways, then it’s not a good deal to make. If the NWA was going to be involved in some level with Anthem, we’d want it to be a good way all the way around. We made a very aggressive offer in the last month to go in and help reboot the company. We’d have helped Impact stay more in the lane of the traditional Impact brand, and then set up the NWA as a natural rival, a la Raw versus SmackDown. Unfortunately, we didn’t get where we wanted with that offer.”

Frustration during his time with TNA:

“I was very, very frustrated by the obstacles I faced internally, both culturally and fiscally, at TNA. I dealt with a lot of backstabbing and lies. I was able to push through some things that ended up being successful at TNA, and I was very frustrated because you would think the success would have led to more leverage and further opportunities. But it was exactly the opposite. People were out to get me because I had power. At least now, in this situation, I am my own boss. You have to build your own infrastructure from the bottom up and work with people you really trust. The traditional ‘carny’ aspect of the wrestling business that plagues a lot of companies, and has plagued a company like TNA, are problems that hold the business back. You can’t run an effective business if it’s like Game of Thrones every week.”

You can read the full interview by clicking here.

Source: WrestlingINC

Jeff Jarrett Meets With Spike Executive About Network Return In America

Pro Wrestling Sheet has learned a high ranking executive from Spike met with Jeff Jarrett today … and their new deal in the UK wasn’t the only thing they discussed.

Sources say Scott Fishman — Senior Vice President and Executive Producer at the network — was present before Impact’s taping today and met with JJ about various topics, including a U.S. return.

According to a press release from when he was promoted to SVP in 2012, Fishman was “instrumental in developing” Impact Wrestling in the early days of the show.

As we previously reported, the company’s weekly TV show will return to Spike in the UK starting in April. We’re told lots of promos for that were shot over the weekend.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

Bruce Prichard Appears At Impact Wrestling Taping … Says The Name TNA Is Dead

Something to Wrestle host Bruce Prichard made his anticipated return to Impact Wrestling at their TV tapings on Thursday … and he informed the crowd that the name TNA is dead.

Prichard had inked a deal with Impact for both an on-air and backstage role, which began with last night’s appearance.

According to those in attendance … Bruce said Impact had hope a few years ago, but TNA as a name is now dead, so the company will only be known as Impact Wrestling going forward.

For everyone asking, his podcast isn’t going anywhere — he’s already let that be known.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

Impact Wrestling Preview 3/2/17

The following is scheduled for tonight’s 3/2 Impact:

Knockout Championship -Last Knockout Standing Match: (C) Rosemary vs Jade

World Championship: (C) Lashley vs Josh Barnett

Impact Grand Championship: (C) Drew Galloway vs Moose

Moose and Cody: Was a line crossed?

X-Division Championship: (C) Trevor Lee vs Andrew Everett

What’s next for Laurel Van Ness?

Impact Wrestling Announces New U.K. TV Deal With Spike U.K.

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Impact Wrestling issued the following today:

IMPACT Wrestling Announces New UK TV Deal with Spike UK

TORONTO | LONDON – Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp. announced today a new broadcast deal for IMPACT Wrestling to be televised exclusively on Spike UK, making its flagship weekly show available throughout the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.

From Spring 2017, IMPACT Wrestling, TNA pay-per-views, including One Night Only specials will be available on Spike UK, and TNA Xplosion exclusive to My5, which is part of the Channel 5 stable available on Sky TV (160), Freeview (31), Freesat (141), Virgin Media (154) and other DTT platforms.

New episodes of IMPACT Wrestling will premiere on Friday nights, quenching the appetite of U.K. fans to view IMPACT Wrestling within hours of the US premiere broadcast.

“Since our acquisition of IMPACT Wrestling, growing the brand in the UK has been one of our most important initiatives,” said Ed Nordholm, president of IMPACT Wrestling. “We are thrilled to be partnering with Spike UK to fill this important spot in their programme schedule and look forward to rebuilding our presence in the UK market. As one of the hottest wrestling scenes in the world right now, we look forward to taking an active role in the market, both on television and with live events.”

Anna-Belen Dunlop and Kris Graham, Acquisitions and Channel Managers of Spike UK, added: “We are excited that Spike will be the new exclusive home of IMPACT Wrestling in the UK With Anthem’s new leadership and founder Jeff Jarrett back, this is a watershed moment for the franchise, which is a perfect fit for our Spike audience.”

For more information, please visit www.impactwrestling.com/ and www.spiketv.co.uk.

More TNA Impact Wrestling Departures Coming?

As noted, Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy, Drew Galloway, Maria Kanellis, Mike Bennett, Reby Hardy and Jade are no longer with TNA. Mike Johnson of PWInsider reports that there could be more departures coming as there have been several other talents who have been asked about locking themselves into new deals. They are looking for talents that are going to commit to them, and are willing to part company with those who won’t. Some of the talent that are already locked into deals with TNA include World Champion Bobby Lashley, Moose, EC3, Eddie Edwards, Davey Richards and Eli Drake.

Source: WrestlingINC

A Couple Of Big Names Reported To Appear At This Weeks Impact Wrestling Tapings, Two Indy Talents To Appear

PWInsider is reporting that former TNA World Champion Magnus is scheduled to appear at this week’s TNA Impact Wrestling tapings, which kick off tonight and run through Sunday. Konnan is also slated to be there. It was noted that independent wrestlers Kongo Kong and Mario Bokara will also be at the tapings.

Source: WrestlingINC

Bruce Prichard Hired By Impact Wrestling For On-Air And Backstage Role

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Pro Wrestling Sheet reports that Bruce Prichard has been hired by TNA Impact Wrestling for a backstage role as well as a on-air role.

PSW reports that Prichard will be be flying to Orlando for the Impact tapings this week to appear in an on-air role, as well as work in an advisory position behind the scenes.

It’s unclear what Prichard’s on-air role will be at this point, but PSW was told the huge numbers his podcast has been receiving were partly the reason for bringing him back.

 

Matt Hardy Teases Going To WWE?, Comments On Being A Free Agent

As noted, Matt and Jeff Hardy are now free agents as their contracts expired. Matt commented on being a free agent on Twitter:

Matt also teased possibly returning to WWE, responding to an old tweet that Bray Wyatt sent him last December:

Source: WrestlingINC

Reby Hardy On If Matt Hardy Will Drop ‘Broken’ Gimmick, How Dixie Carter Treated Talent, TNA Contracts

Reby Hardy appeared on Busted Open with Dave LaGreca on Sirius XM this afternoon to discuss the Hardys leaving Impact Wrestling. You can listen to the full interview by clicking here, below are some highlights:

* She said that the rumors are true that the Hardys are leaving TNA. She said that Matt, Jeff and herself all had separate contracts with TNA, noting that they all signed at the same time. They didn’t know up until a few days ago if they were re-signing. She said that they received theirr contracts “like 5 days before” which was “a note of contention for [Matt and Jeff],” although she didn’t care.

* She said that TNA was “the perfect situation” for them because they had a limited schedule, the whole family got to travel together and that she got to bring her child to work. She said that things have been changing and it wouldn’t have been the same perfect situation if they re-signed.

* She said that she felt that someone in Matt and Jeff’s position should not have to be chasing anyone for contracts for six or seven weeks and that after a while it was like, “s–t, I’m not important.” She stated that during this time they were getting weird vibes and feedback. They were waiting until the last second for their new contracts, and noted that it takes time to review the contracts. It got so down to the wire that they felt almost rushed into signing. She pointed out that several things needed to be changed in the contracts that “were slipped in there as if we wouldn’t notice at the last minute.”

“It’s just all of this stuff with someone [for] as long as they’ve been in the business has never had to deal with, and should never have to deal with,” Reby said.

* When asked if the future was bleak for Impact Wrestling, Reby said that she doesn’t think so. TNA has a hardcore audience, which is why AJ Styles and Samoa Joe have such hardcore followings. She said that there is so much talent at TNA that they can succeed, although there is the other part of the audience that needs those big names. She said that the locker room is amazing and noted that 2016 was a hard year, but most of the talent didn’t care about the rumors and worked hard.

* She said that a lot of people like to put down Dixie Carter, but at least Dixie knew how to talk to people and give the respect that they needed.

“I’m not talking about me because I know I’m nobody, before everybody tried to f–kin’ jump on me,” Reby said. “I’m talking about the boys, and not just Matt and Jeff.”

* When asked if there was anyway the relationship with TNA can be salvaged, Reby said that it’s too late tonight and that “it’s over” at midnight tonight. She said that there was time for negotiations, but it didn’t happen. She said that if things would have been handled differently, “we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

* As for the future of Matt and Jeff, she said that Matt is in love with the Broken brilliance and will not be dropping it.

“[It] is not about to let that go, I can confirm that for sure,” Reby said. “It’s kind of his baby, his brainchild. He took such a risk with it, even I was telling him, dude, this accent’s gotta go. Everyone was like, ‘you’re crazy, this is dumb, it’s insane.’ He kept on with it, it kept evolving. It’s his baby, so there will be ‘Broken’ wherever there is Matt Hardy.”

Source: WrestlingINC