T.N.A. Miscellaneous News Thread

[A.J.]

Source(s): The Wrestling Observer & forums.wrestlezone.com

There is definitely some legit backstage heat between LAX and Team 3D, more specifically, Konnan and Brother Ray. Some have even gone as far as saying that the two hate each other.

After the Team 3D/LAX Belting Pot match on Impact, Brother Ray jumped the rail and got into the faces of several LAX fans that were sitting about 5 rows back from ringside and they backed down. forums.wrestlezone.com sources say that if a wrestler not as established as Brother Ray had done something like this, they would have been punished by management. There have been nights where LAX fans outnumber Team 3D fans, but this wasn’t one of those nights. People who were backstage say that there was a lot of heat from the crowd during that match that didn’t come across on TV.

forums.wrestlezone.com reports that the whole thing started a few weeks ago when Brother Ray was complaining to management about Konnan’s promos making people cheer for LAX, when they’re supposed to be the heels.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Former TNA star A-1 (real name Alastair Ralphs) is expected to go to Ohio Valley Wrestling.

He has the size WWE likes, so that's why he's getting his foot in the door. He doesn't have a WWE developmental deal just yet, but he's going to OVW in hopes of landing a contract eventually.

He was recently released by TNA because they had nothing for him.

 

[A.J.]

source: PWInsider

--April’s edition of “Men’s Fitness” (with UFC’s Chuck Liddell on the cover) includes in interview with TNA star, Kurt Angle. During the interview Angle discusses training, transitioning from amateur to pro wrestling, barroom brawls with his brother Eric in college, and the differences between WWE and TNA. While talking about the differences between WWE and TNA he takes the following shot at Batista, "A guy like [WWE star] Batista can't walk and chew gum at the same time. He prefers wrestling with smaller guys than jacked up guys who "look” good to the crowd but doesn't know what he's doing."

--SpikeTV will be airing a “Road to Destination X” special Saturday at midnight.

--AJ Styles is scheduled to take on Abyss on March 24th at the International Wrestling Cartel event in Franklin, PA.

 

[A.J.]

source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

TNA star Kurt Angle is trying to talk Paul “Big Show” Wight into coming to TNA. After leaving WWE, Wight said that he was not ruling out a future in TNA, but first had to take some time off to recover from several nagging injuries as well as being run down from so much time on the road. If he was to end up in TNA he would have to come up with a different name since WCW owns the intellectual property rights to both Big Show and The Giant.

Paul Wight is said to be very good friends with Hulk Hogan and he says he wants to do what Hogan does. Hogan teased on Bubaa the Love Sponge radio show that he was going to start his own wrestling company and Big Show would be in it. Bubba then said it should also include Hall and Nash.

Since his WWE departure, Wight is said to be getting several major non-wrestling offers that he would probably accept before returning to the ring. He is also said to have lost 50 pounds since leaving and is training and more focused than he’s been in ten years. Wight is 35 years old.

 

[A.J.]

According to reports, Kurt Angle was paid $10,000 to work for New Japan Pro Wrestling in Tokyo back on 2/18.

Speaking of Angle, he is trying to convince Paul Wight (The Big Show) to come to TNA. Wight is keeping his options opened, but is mostly interested in working with Hulk Hogan again. Wight, now 35, has lost about 50 lbs. and is training hard.

There is talk of the recently released A1 (formerly of Team Canada) relocating to Louisville, and trying to secure a WWE developmental deal.

 

[A.J.]

Mike Johnson is reporting that TNA will be losing the rights to the NWA name and the NWA titles in the next several months. TNA has plans to introduce their own set of World and Tag Team titles very soon. One scenario being discussed would see Samoa Joe win the NWA title and then toss it down saying he's the TNA champion instead much like Shane Douglas did in ECW back in 1995.

Over the weekend, at an NWA show in Canada, Bryan Danielson made a challenge saying he wants to be the NWA champion. The NWA committee met and once the titles are gone from TNA Danielson is in line to be the next champion.

 

[A.J.]

TNA "The Road to Destination X" special will be airing this Saturday night at Midnight following the replay of iMPACT! on March 10. As usual, the half-hour special will be hosted by Jeremy Borash and Christy Hemme.

TNA will be holding another set of TV tapings a week from tonight on March 12. The company will also return on March 26 for another set of TV tapings, which will be the final tapings before the Lockdown PPV on April 15 in St. Louis, Missouri.

On Tuesday, March 13, James Storm, Eric Young and a surprise appearance by a former World Champion will be signing autographs at the new FYE on West End Avenue in Nashville, Tennessee to promote the release of the new TNA "The Best Of The Tag Teams, Volume 1" DVD. The autograph session will start at 6:00pm ET and every fan that buys a TNA DVD will receive a free Lockdown PPV poster.

 

[A.J.]

Kurt Angle appeared on the Bubba the Love Sponge Radio Show today. Highlights are below.

- Mentioned the Destination X PPV on Sunday.

- Said Scott Steiner would never be able to kick his ass in a shoot fight and he knows it.

- Bubba asked Angle if anything new is going on in regards to Hulk Hogan, Big Show, and/or Test coming to TNA. Angle said he has spoken to TNA management about all three as well as Brock Lesnar and Goldberg. Angle said that Vince is "ripe for the picking."

- Angle said that he thinks WrestleMania being all about Vince McMahon and Donald Trump is desperate.

- When asked about Chris Jericho signing a contract with TNA, Angle said "no comment."

- Angle told Bubba that he never lies to him.

- Angle mentioned how he put so many people over in WWE and lost more than he won.

- They played a clip of Dana White of UFC saying that Kurt Angle was full of "sh*t" and "busted up." Angle said that White was mad because he turned down UFC in favor of TNA, mentioning that White wanted him to work exclusively for UFC. Angle said that TNA has again started talks with UFC about having him work with them in the future. Angle said he is "torn" between TNA and shoot fighting.

- Angle said that Randy Couture would train him for anything he did in UFC.

- They talked about the Couture/Sylvia UFC fight on Saturday night.

- Angle said that a fight between him and Couture would be one that everyone wants to see. He said he wasn't sure if he could beat Couture, but did say that he was a better wrestler than him.

- They went back to talking about UFC. Angle said that White told him he can't work for TNA and UFC at the same time which is why the deal didn't go through, but added that White told him he would draw the biggest buyrate in UFC history.

- Bubba put Dixie Carter over as a great businesswoman.

- Angle said that Carter has already given him permission to work a UFC fight and that now it is up to Dana White & UFC.

- Kurt mentioned that EliteXC and IFL also made him offers.

- He told UFC to reconsider getting involved with him.

- One of Bubba's crew members asked Kurt when he is actually going to do a shoot fight because he has been talking about it for months. Angle said that he is learning different styles and he will fight when the time is right.

- They talked about Angle fighting Mirko CroCop.

- Kurt plugged the Destination X PPV on Sunday.

- Kurt told Bubba to talk to Dana White again about him coming to UFC. They even made plans to have a live conference call between Angle and White on a future show.

- Kurt said that TNA is important to him but that he really wants to work a fight and that Dixie Carter knows that.

- Kurt said that when he was in WWE, Vince McMahon even gave him permission to work a shoot fight, but that soon after he broke his neck.

- Kurt was asked if he would leave TNA for UFC. He said he wouldn't because he is "the franchise" of TNA and because he gave Dixie his word.

- Kurt again talked about how he would be UFC's biggest draw ever.

- They talked about how Kurt working for TNA and UFC would be good for both companies.

- They briefly mentioned the PPV on Sunday.

It's interesting to note that virtually all Angle talked about was UFC. When TNA came up, he seemed to talk about it in passing and then direct the conversation right back to UFC and shoot fighting.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Apolo was scheduled to a part of LAX's posse for the Against All Odd PPV and the Impact tapings the next night.

However, he claimed that he missed the shows due to a scheduling conflict. Since he lives in Orlando, that wasn't taken well, particularly on Monday.

If Apolo want's to blow of TNA's best gimmick that's his decision. Fuckin' idiot.

 

[A.J.]

Apolo was scheduled to a part of LAX's posse for the Against All Odd PPV and the Impact tapings the next night. However, he claimed that he missed the shows due to a scheduling conflict. Since he lives in Orlando, that wasn't taken well, particularly on Monday.

The current issue of The Wrestler/Inside Wrestling Special, which is produced by Pro Wrestling Illustrated, has a cover story on current & past ECW talent possibly invading TNA in the future. The cover reads, "TNA To The Extreme!" The subtitle reads, "Will Paul Heyman Lead an ECW Faction To Florida?" The cover features Paul Heyman, Big Show, Lita (who was in ECW in 1999), Rob Van Dam, and Sabu.

 

[A.J.]

More information on the new AJ Styles DVD is up at TNAWrestling.com.

Photos of Kurt Angle at the St. Louis Cardinals spring training camp recently are up at TNAWrestling.com.

Hector Guerrero, who will now be working with TNA at the Spanish Announce Table, will also be working with the company to help market themselves in the Latin market. Guerrero will be appearing on iMPACT! tomorrow night on Spike TV.

 

[A.J.]

According to sources that TNAWrestlingNews.com has EXCLUSIVELY spoken with, it appears that TNA and Sabu have had preliminary discussions about his next move in pro wrestling. Sabu's contract with WWE is ending within the next few months, leaving him available to return to TNA if both parties were to work out a deal.

It should be noted that WWE's schedule has taken a toll on Sabu's body, most recently in the summer and fall season. Considering other reports that have made the rounds stating that Sabu has not been happy with his time in WWE and that he has strong heat from other workers in the company (along with others including The Sandman), it isn't hard to imagine this could be his next move.

 

[A.J.]

Source: The Pro Wrestling Torch

TNA's current deal with SpikeTV expires this fall, so talks regarding a new deal are expected to begin soon.

TNA will be looking to expand Impact to two hours. The general feeling is that they likely won't get the second hour due to programming conflicts with the shows Spike usually schedules with iMPACT!, those being Pros vs. Joes and UFC shows.

Despite that though, SpikeTV remains pleased with TNA's ratings and will likely work a new deal out with the company. If they don't, TNA could probably move to another network as a 1.0+ primetime rating that draws the male demographic is something many networks would want.

To expand iMPACT! to two hours, SpikeTV may have to move the show to Wednesday nights rather than disrupt UFC programming on Thursday nights.

While TNA's eventual hope is to move to Monday nights and go head-to-head with RAW in hopes of sparking a new Monday Night War, SpikeTV likely wouldn't make such a move until iMPACT! is drawing ratings above 2.0.

 

[A.J.]

TNAWrestlingNews.com is reporting that Frankie Kazarian, Matt Bentley and Johnny Devine of the faction Serotonin have new ring names. Frankie Kazarian is now Kaz, Matt Bentley is now Martyr, and Johnny Devine is now Havoc.

TNAWrestlingNews.com is reporting that Brother Ray upset a lot of fans at the previous iMPACT! tapings and so they really let him have it at the next one, which took place on 2/22. A lot of fans were really on his case that night as they chanted "fat pig" at him, not to mention that some of the fans made pig noises in reference to him. There was also a sign with a picture/drawing of a pig and Brother Ray's face was attached to it.

Next Sunday's TNA Destination X PPV has Angle vs. Steiner, Christian vs. Joe for the NWA (soon to be TNA Title, it appears), AJ vs. Rhino in an Elevation X match, Sting vs. Abyss in a Last Rites match, Chris Sabin vs. Jerry Lynn and LAX vs. Team 3-D in a Ghetto Street Fight. Live coverage of the PPV event can be found at TNAWrestlingNews.com.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Several new matches were added to Sunday's Destination X.

Ghetto Brawl for the tag title's. LAX vs. Team 3-D

Double Bullrope Match Petey Williams & Gail Kim vs. Jackie & James Storm

Christy Hemme's surprise team vs. VKM

Senshi vs. Austin Starr the winner must use the Chicken Wing.

and the X-Title is now a 2 out of 3 fall's match.

 

[A.J.]

People close to Kurt Angle are saying that he's really upset about being linked to the Florida steroid investigations. Angle is especially upset with the media reporting the story without getting what he claimed was "the full story." Although it should be noted that at least in the case of Sports Illustrated, they said that they did request comment, and he didn't give them one. Local coverage in Pittsburgh is really what upset Angle as he's spoken about cutting himself off from the media, as it's obviously had a negative impact on his family.

Hector Guerrero started on TV at last night's edition of Impact and is expected to be involved in angles. He will also be wrestling for TNA from time to time when a storyline calls for it. TNA officials wanted to involve Eddie Guerrero's name in a storyline, but Konnan refused to do anything more than a passing reference to Eddie. Aside from acknowledging that Hector is his brother, they'd go no farther in the Eddie direction. Guerrero is 52 years old and lives in nearby Brandon, Florida. He is a physical education teacher at a local elementary school. Also, he recently dyed his hair due to his involvement in TNA.

TNA will be launching their own mobile texting service similar to the one World Wrestling Entertainment has this April. If you text "TNA" to 250000, you receive "Thank you! You are on the priority list to be the 1st to get access to the TNA Mobile FREE trial offer!! Expected launch date is April 1st or sooner."

 

[A.J.]

This past week Goldberg stated that due to his age he would never fight but is still open for a return to the wrestling world, in TNA, if the offer is right. He also said that TNA has yet to offer him the “right offer.” Previous negotiations were not up to par, by his standards.

It appears that AJ Styles and Rhino are very concerned about their match this Sunday at Destination X. The width of the platform, which they will be wrestling on, is only 20 inches. The platform is so narrow that one false move could result in a big fall.

 

[A.J.]

Total Nonstop Action Is Coming To The Crossroads Arena. Straight from SpikeTV to Mississippi, the stars of Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling are set to face off on an unforgettable night of action at the Crossroads Arena in Corinth on Saturday night, April 7. Appearing live and person will be NWA World Heavyweight Champion Christian Cage, Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle, Abyss, "The War Machine" Rhino, X Division Champion Chris Sabin, "The Phenomenal" AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Petey Williams, "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels, Team 3D, Sonjay Dutt, The Naturals, "Wildcat" Chris Harris and "Cowboy" James Storm. Tickets go on sale March 16 at the Crossroads Arena Box Office, participating Subway locations in Mississippi or by calling (662) 287-7779. Bell time is 7:30 p.m. The Crossroads Arena is located at 2800 South Harper Road in Corinth.

 

[A.J.]

If you saw saw last night's edition of iMPACT! you might have heard that the members of Serotonin have new names. Johnny Devine is now known as Havoc, Kazarian is now Kaz and Matt Bentley is now known as Martyr. The guys over at TNAWrestlingNews.com reported that the name changes were in store. TNA has yet to change their names on the roster page of their website.

Shoptna.com has just put up a brand new autograph special. You get the brand new Best of AJ Styles Volume 2 DVD a month before hits stores plus it is autographed by Styles. 8x10 autographs of Rhino, AJ Styles, Christian Cage and Samoa Joe. Plus volumes 1 and 2 of The Best of the X Division DVDs. Only 300 of these are being sold and the entire package is only $59.99.

Also just added to Shoptna.com are the Destination X event poster and t-shirt.

TNA will debut a brand new type of pre-show this Sunday before the Destination X PPV. They are calling it the “Black & Blue Carpet” event.

The Best of the Tag Teams DVD will be released nationwide this Tuesday.

 

[A.J.]

TNA brought in a second ring attendant to work the next set of iMPACT! tapings because SoCal Val will be selling her injuries as a result of being on the receiving end of the Black Hole Slam from Abyss on last night's episode of iMPACT!.

Christopher Daniels has been backstage at the most recent tapings, but hasn't been used. They're setting him up for a repackaging. He won't appear on camera until they're ready to unveil his new gimmick, whenever that may be.

The Mar. 1 TNA iMPACT! increased to a 1.11 rating, a jump of 0.1 over last week's rating. That equals 1.4 million viewers. It outperformed Pros vs. Joes, which drew a 0.82 rating (essentially the same as previous week), and Inside the UFC, which drew a 0.57 rating.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

According to sources that TNAWrestlingNews.com has EXCLUSIVELY spoken with, it appears that TNA has finalized the Slammiversary PPV to take place on June 17, 2007 in Nashville, Tennessee. Which arena it will be taking place in remains to be seen. An "InterAction Fan Fest" is also scheduled to take place on June 16 the day before the PPV in Nashville.

TNAWrestlingNews.com has also been able to discover the following House Show schedule for the company in the coming months:

- April 7, 2007: House Show in Cornith, MS (already announced by TNA this week)
- April 20, 2007: House Show in Louisville, KY
- June 3, 2007: House Show in San Juan, Puerto Rico

 

[A.J.]

Keiji Mutoh (The Great Muta) told Japanese media recently that he intends on having a meeting with TNA's Jeff Jarrett when he comes to the U.S. this week.

 

[A.J.]

There has been talk within TNA about having Hector Guerrero wrestle for the company.

As of now, the idea has been pure discussion and nothing has been finalized yet. Guerrero, who officially debuted for TNA Thursday night on iMPACT! on Spike TV, is said to be entertained at the idea of possibly returning to the ring.

 

[A.J.]

TNAWrestlingNews.com is reporting that the April 5th edition of TNA iMPACT! on Spike TV will be preempted for several hours due to a "UFC: Ultimate Fight Night Live" special. iMPACT! will instead air at 11pm ET following the UFC special.

In addition to announcing House Show events in Corinth, MS (April 7) and San Juan, Puerto Rico (June 3), more events are planned for Louisville, KY and Grand Rapids, MI. The Louisville event is rumored to be on April 20, as first reported by TNAWrestlingNews.com.

As first reported by TNAWrestlingNews.com earlier this week, TNA will be holding their Slammiversary PPV on June 17 in Nashville, TN. While there is no official confirmation on which building TNA will be holding the show at, the Nashville Municipal Auditorium appears to be the top candidate.

The Slammiversary 2007 PPV event will celebrate TNA's fifth year anniversary (the company debuted in June of 2002).

 

[A.J.]

Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Shawn "Meat" Stasiak was backstage at the last set of iMPACT! tapings because he was in town for Mike Awesome's funeral. He was talking with people about getting back into wrestling.

Stasiak is 36 years old, but he could easily pass off as 28 years old. Physically, he looks very close to how what looked like during his wrestling days.

An advantage he may have in getting into TNA is that Vince Russo pushed him really hard in WCW in 2000.