The following is set for tonight’s 10/20 TNA Impact Wrestling on Pop TV:
TNA World Championship: (C) Eddie Edwards vs Cody Rhodes
#1 Contenders Match: Lashley vs Moose
TNA Grand Champion Aron Rex is the guest on Eli Drake’s “Facts of Life”
TNA Tag Team Champions The Hardys vs The Tribunal
Mike Bennett in action
An interview with TNA X-Division Champion DJ Z
As noted, TNA will tape a special “Total Nonstop Deletion” episode of Impact Wrestling from Matt Hardy’s compound in North Carolina, to air on December 15th. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that they also may tape a two-hour Hardy Family Christmas special from the compound, to air on December 22nd. TNA may then finish the month with a year-in-review show on December 29th.
Speaking of that “TND” episode, Matt has been hyping the in-ring debut of his toddler son, Maxel. Below is a clip of Maxel trying to perform a leg drop:
Source: WrestlingINC
Billy Corgan‘s lawsuit against TNA and Dixie Carter may soon become public, because a hearing was scheduled for Thursday afternoon to determine whether it should stay sealed.
According to court records, a chancellors hearing will occur tomorrow morning and both sides will be argued — but in most cases, it’s unusual for a civil suit to be kept private.
In other TNA news, The Fight Network just announced that they’ve recently been funding the company … adding, “Fight Network has also offered to provide TNA Impact Wrestling with funding to repay the loans made by Mr. Billy Corgan and is positioned to provide additional transitional assistance to the company.”
One backstage source says the word going around amongst employees is that Fight Network wants to repay Billy with the intent to remove him from his position as President.
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
It was noted on the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio that TNA will likely file for bankruptcy with the idea of absolving their debt. There’s no indication as to what would happen next but the main creditors would be Billy Corgan, Aroluxe and The Fight Network.
Dave Meltzer also commented on the sale of the company and Dixie Carter not wanting to look bad, which is a baffling concern at this point:
“The whole thing is, Dixie is still trying to figure out a way – this is why it hasn’t been sold – I don’t know if it’s to stay in control but the whole thing is, she doesn’t want to look bad publicly.”
Meltzer did not say if TNA would be filing Chapter 7 or Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It’s possible TNA could stay alive if they filed for Chapter 11 but Chapter 7 would likely mean the end of the company. As noted this morning, TNA has scheduled TV tapings at Universal Studios in Orlando for early January.
Source: WrestlingINC
It’s just been revealed that American Express Travel Related Services Company filed a lawsuit against TNA for unpaid bills back in the summer.
The suit was filed in the Supreme Court of New York state on July 20th. American Express claims nonpayment of $269,049.50 in travel-related expenses. They claim that TNA used their American Express Corporate account to charge various items and then never paid AMEX.
AMEX also claims that TNA agreed to payments on the receipt of monthly billing statements and to pay court costs if the case went to court. It’s also claimed that the agreement included TNA would have to pay all reasonable costs when it came to AMEX collecting what they were owed, including delinquency fees and finance charges.
AMEX is asking for $269,049.50 as well as all legal costs to be paid.
Source: WrestlingINC
As noted, TNA held their television tapings last week that gave them enough content for the show to air through December. Dave Meltzer noted on the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio that this weekend is a pay period and talent are supposed to get paid. While TNA received funding before Bound For Glory for the uplink and production of the PPV and subsequent television tapings, it’s not clear if it was enough to pay the talent through the end of the year. Meltzer noted that not paying the talent would breach their contracts, and he knows that “a couple of guys” are ready to declare themselves free agents next week if they do not get paid this weekend.
Meltzer also reported that last night’s Impact Wrestling was almost pulled by Pop TV yesterday afternoon due to a musical rights issue not related to the Billy Corgan lawsuit. The show ended up airing with some wrestlers coming out with dubbed in crowd noise instead of their music. It was noted that there was a period yesterday where it looked like there was a good chance that Pop would pull the show until the issue was settled and the songs were edited out of the show.
Source: WrestlingINC
TNA Wrestling President Billy Corgan has just sued the company, as well as it’s Chairman — and Pro Wrestling Sheet has learned he’s attempting to keep the reason private.
According to court records, Corgan filed a complaint yesterday and asked for a temporary restraining order against the defendants … which includes Dixie Carter, her husband, Dean Broadhead, Impact Ventures and TNA Entertainment.
The order was approved this morning by a judge.
We asked the court clerk what the defendants are being restrained from doing, but were told Billy’s lawyers requested that all documents remain sealed — so they aren’t allowed to say.
The initial filing was first reported by PWInsider.
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
Regarding the TNA sale, Aroluxe and Billy Corgan are still involved in trying to make the purchase but one unidentified party that was previously involved is no longer interested as they do not feel a deal is worth it. WWE has also apparently lost interest as they have backed out.
The most recent set of Impact Wrestling tapings were the first that saw Billy Corgan have the final say in creative decisions. However, nothing long-term has been decided on, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, but changes have to happen imminently. We noted before that Dixie Carter was in attendance for the tapings and did hold a talent meeting but she wasn’t there for the final days of the tapings and was reportedly having meetings with The Fight Network, which also owns a small stake in TNA.
Things between Dixie and Corgan have reportedly gone really bad and things are said to be “super heated” between Dixie, Corgan, Aroluxe and John Gaburick. It was noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that Dixie has made a real mess of the company between borrowing money and putting up various stakes in the company just to get quick funding. It was said that the company is in a “disastrous position” right now. There is also heat on Dixie for deals not getting done and nearly falling apart.
TNA still owes money to many people and continues to deal with other financial issues but right now they’re not faced with another deadline for money until January and that’s when they have some international TV revenue coming from.
There’s still no word yet on where TNA got the money for the most recent tapings but it was not WWE, which has been rumored. Some higher-ups in TNA still don’t know who funded the tapings but speculation is that it was one of the three minority owners – Corgan, Aroluxe or The Fight Network.
Regarding WWE no longer being interested in the tape library, Gaburick did go to WWE’s Kevin Dunn with the idea of a package where WWE would hire Gaburick if he got them the tape library deal. Dunn reportedly went to Vince McMahon with the idea but it looks like the deal won’t be happening. The Observer notes that WWE’s involvement has been up and down for weeks.
Source: WrestlingINC
Cody Rhodes vs “The Miracle” Mike Bennett
Knockouts Championship – Title vs Power – No DQ: (C) Gail Kim vs Maria Kanellis-Bennett
Impact Grand Championship: (C) Aron Rex vs Jessie Godderz
X-Division Championship: (C) DJ Z vs Marshe Rockett
Source: WrestlingInc
The final Impact Wrestling tapings of the year will take place at Matt Hardy’s compound in North Carolina and will feature a tag team “Apocalypto” match that will include tag teams outside of TNA.
Hardy publicly extended invites to The New Day and The Young Bucks on Twitter:
Hardy later noted that they have a few teams booked for the show:
The Young Bucks responded to Hardy’s invite:
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