Former TNA Knockouts Champion Jade is now a free agent after her contract expired, according to PWInsider. No word yet on if she will be brought in for this week’s Impact Wrestling tapings. Jade has been working with TNA full-time since 2015.
Jade join The Hardy Boys, Drew Galloway and Mike Bennett & Maria Kanellis as notable talents now gone from the company.
Source: WrestlingINC
Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis are no longer with TNA Impact Wrestling, according to PWInsider. Their deals expired in late 2016 and they had been working on per-appearance deals.
TNA officials have been trying to sign the couple to new deals. They reportedly agreed to terms at one point but later informed the company that they would not be re-signing. They will not be working this week’s Impact Wrestling tapings.
Bennett and Kanellis join The Hardy Boys and Drew Galloway as notable talents now gone from the company.
Source: WrestlingINC
As noted, The Hardys will not be staying with TNA after their contracts expire this week. Matt’s wife Reby took to Twitter and ripped into TNA Impact Wrestling, even hinting that she would take the TNA Tag Team title belts “hostage” and make them into gold earrings.
You can check out her Tweets below, but please note that they contain a lot of strong language:
UNREAL WITH THE LITTLE b—h s–t. U N R E A L .
— Reby Hardy (@RebyHardy) February 27, 2017
Why try to do things the right way when you get bs & drama in return ? Matt is a nice guy. I’LL keep the s–ts “hostage”. f–k outta here.
— Reby Hardy (@RebyHardy) February 27, 2017
2, but I’m claiming @ShaneHelmsCom on my taxes this year https://t.co/9Q1kzc8KWP
— Reby Hardy (@RebyHardy) February 27, 2017
If mfers don’t start coming correct, I’m bout to melt some gold & have me some new gold hoops. Sigue y vas a ver. pic.twitter.com/Esjuh6tqYw
— Reby Hardy (@RebyHardy) February 27, 2017
I’ve said it many times:
TNA was the perfect situation for our family & how grateful I was for professionalism/open communication/respect…— Reby Hardy (@RebyHardy) February 27, 2017
…Now think about what kinda negative changes & straight f–kery would have to go down for us to leave ??
— Reby Hardy (@RebyHardy) February 27, 2017
I hear company folks are pressed & wanna try & paint me in a negative light after today. Should I help em out & clarify a few things ?
— Reby Hardy (@RebyHardy) February 28, 2017
SURPRISE ! Yes, I am a HUGE b—h if you disrespect me or my family ?? Are you surprised ? Oh, no ? Okay, can we move on now ? ????
— Reby Hardy (@RebyHardy) February 28, 2017
Source: WrestlingINC
As we reported last month, Anthem Sports & Entertainment have been phasing out the initials “TNA” and just going with Impact Wrestling. According to Mike Johnson of PWInsider, the company reportedly has a strategy to discontinue the name. He noted that while he hasn’t heard anything officially, the GFW initials replacing “TNA” would “make a lot of sense.”
As noted, the “TNA” initials had been removed from their social media accounts and from their website, with the exception of links to ShopTNA.com and Total Access TNA Wrestling. While the TNA logo still appears on their title belts, they are simply referred to as the “World Heavyweight Championship”, “X Division Championship” and “World Tag Team Championship” on their website.
Source: WrestlingINC
Broken Matt and Jeff Hardy will NOT be signing new deals with Impact Wrestling … and it’s because they felt disrespected during contract talks.
Sources with direct knowledge say the Hardy Boyz agreed to terms on a new deal back in December, but needed a few minor changes, and were simply waiting for the finalized offer.
The deal was supposed to be for 1-year in length. Weeks and weeks passed, with Matt constantly checking in, but they were consistently given the run around.
Eventually Matt and Jeff’s lawyer told Impact Wrestling officials that they wanted a creative control clause in their new deals … which was shot down immediately. One source says their lawyer told Ed Nordholm there was interest from other companies and he responded by saying, “Well, tell them to go to WWE then.”
This set Jeff Hardy off, who at that point said he was no longer interested in re-signing. Matt continued talks, but when they sent a new contract last week it was now a 2-year deal and terms had been snuck in which stated they’d receive 10% of all his profits outside of Impact.
Matt’s lawyer said he’d be a fool to sign, so he informed the company he wasn’t interested in doing so — but would still come to the tapings to write off his characters. However, he was told he was crazy to think they’d want him on TV without a contact.
Impact officials are currently trying to get their tag titles back.
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
The Hardy’s TNA contracts expire this week, so they will be free agents by this Wednesday.
Dave Meltzer noted on the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio that as far as WWE signing the Hardy’s, WWE is “certainly in the ballgame, if not likely.” The Hardys are currently not taking any independent dates after May as they have told promoters that they might not be able to fulfill those dates, although they noted that it could change.
It was noted that the backstage changes in TNA, including Jeff Jarrett’s new role with TNA, have made it more likely that The Hardy’s could leave, although it’s not a done deal and they are still in talks with company.
The next set of Impact Wrestling tapings starts this Thursday, March 2nd, and runs through Sunday, March 5th. The television has been built around the Hardy’s, so it will be interesting to see how it will be handled if the Hardy’s decide to pursue other options.
Source: WrestlingINC
Drew Galloway confirmed that he is parting ways with TNA Impact Wrestling on Sunday night.
According to PWInsider, Galloway informed TNA of his decision to leave the company on Sunday evening. It was noted that while Galloway and TNA had talks about signing a new deal, the company had not attempted to get it finalized until the past two weeks, which led to Galloway opting to pursue other opportunities.
As part of the new deal, Galloway was promised that he would have been one of the top stars in the promotion. During a recent appearance on The Pancakes and Powerslams Show in January, Galloway said that he hoped that he would be able to come to terms on a new deal with TNA.
“I really hope things work out the way I want them to work out… we just have to figure things out,” Galloway said last month. “There’s obviously people reaching out, but I’m just hoping things work out the way that I hope they work out because I’m having such a good ride right now.”
Galloway debuted in TNA in January of 2015. In addition to having held the TNA World Heavyweight Championship during his two-year run, Galloway is currently recognized as the Impact Grand Champion.
Source: WrestlingINC
The following is scheduled for tonight’s 2/16 Impact:
Eddie Edwards wants redemption. He wants a fight. He wants revenge on Davey Richards. After the shocking events that happened last week.
Fact of Life with host Tyrus! His special guest on the show, Fact of Life creator and usual host, Eli Drake. After turning his back on Tyrus last week, it will be interesting to see how these men interact and who’s temper flares up first.
A blast from Lashley’s Past
Brandi Rhodes & Moose vs Rosemary & Crazzy Steve
The Broken Hardy’s attempt to capture tag team gold in Tijuana, Mexico
Laurel Van Ness’ bachelorette party and Braxton Sutter’s bachelor party
Pro Wrestling NOAH officially announced James Storm and Eddie Edwards will be joining Moose on March 12th in Yokohama, Japan. Their opponents have not been announced at this time.
For their March TV tapings, TNA will back in the original Impact Zone, soundstage 21. This is the larger sound studio that the company had a full-time lease with years ago.
Source: Pwinsider.com via 411Mania
DCC will kick off Impact
World Championship: (C) Lashley vs Eddie Edwards
Broken brilliance of the Hardy’s
Brandi Rhodes will not Decay
Trevor Lee and the The Helms Dynasty will celebrate X-Division Title victory
Impact Grand Championship: (C) Drew Galloway vs Mahabali Shera
Robbie E vs Aron Rex
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