September 2007 News Archive (Page 6)

TNA Wrestling issued the following press release, in regard to the extension of iMPACT! to two hours:

TNA Entertainment, LLC and Spike TV have announced a two-year extension of their partnership which maintains Spike TV as the exclusive cable television home of TNA (Total Nonstop Action) Wrestling’s weekly action athletic entertainment series “iMPACT!” The announcement was jointly made today by Kevin Kay, Spike TV General Manager and Dixie Carter, TNA Entertainment, LLC President. The successful Thursday night series will expand from one to two hours on Thursday, October 4 (9:00-11:00pm ET/PT).

“We are excited to continue and expand our relationship with the world’s fastest growing wrestling organization,” said Kevin Kay, General Manager, Spike TV. “Increasing to two hours will help develop the popular stars on the series and increase the visibility of new characters.”

“The growth of “iMPACT!” to two hours is certainly a benchmark that we wanted to achieve and is an indicator of our success as we continue our relationship with Spike TV,” said Dixie Carter, TNA President. “Throughout TNA’s short history, its accomplishments have been a testament to all of its talent and staff, as well as the best fans in professional wrestling.”

“TNA iMPACT!” launched on Spike TV on October 1, 2005 to an audience of 850,000 viewers. In the last few weeks, TNA has consistently drawn 1.5 million viewers, nearly doubling its initial audience in only two years.

“TNA iMPACT!” is the only weekly wrestling show on cable television that has seen ratings growth in 2007 “TNA iMPACT!” is averaging a 1.1 HH rating and an average audience of 1.3 million viewers up +15% and +18% respectively. (WWE’s “Monday Night Raw” on USA Network is down -7% in HH rating while ECW on Sci-Fi Channel is down 20% from last year).

TNA Wrestling delivers a distinct brand of high-risk, athletic entertainment. TNA’s roster features the biggest names in wrestling, including Kurt Angle, Sting, Scott Steiner, Christian Cage, Jeff Jarrett, Rhino and Team 3D, as well as the hottest new talent in the business, such as Samoa Joe, A.J. Styles, “Black Machismo” Jay Lethal, Triple X and The Latin American Exchange (LAX).

TNA features the innovative six-sided ring and the high-flying “X Division,” as well as concept matches such as “Ultimate X,” “King of the Mountain,” and “Six Sides of Steel.”

Here is the updated card for WWE Unforgiven on Sunday, September 16:

WWE Championship Match
- John Cena (c) vs. Randy Orton

World Heavyweight Championship - Triple Threat
- The Great Khali (c) vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Batista

- Triple H vs. Carlito

- The Undertaker vs. Mark Henry

World Tag Team Championship Match
- Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch vs. Paul London & Brian Kendrick

Ric Flair was on local sports talk show "Prime Time with The Packman" this morning on WFNZ in Charlotte. He said he will be opening a new business in Charlotte this week called Ric Flair Finance.

He also responded to WWE rumors that claim he's quitting "No, it's not true," he laughed.

He didn't seem too sure of himself, but he said he would talk more about everything next week on the same show.

Victoria posted a blog in response to WWE rumors of Divas being linked to steroids. Below is the full statement:

I'm sick to my stomach about a couple of things, and I want to address them. First, I get some emails today asking me if I'm one of the WWE Divas that "a number of WWE sources" claim are using drugs. Where did that information come from? Where did that quote come from? Wrestling websites. So I want to address those wrestling websites...

My mom is a wrestling fan. My nieces and nephews are wrestling fans. I have many girls and young women who look up to me. I do not, and have not ever violated the wellness program, even before it existed. For those who do not know, I used to work in the medical field. I know that the drugs that unnamed WWE Divas are accused of taking can cause anything from sudden death to organ failure to serious lifelong medical conditions.

It's irresponsible to suggest to young women that they need to take drugs to look like a WWE Diva. We all have serious diet and training regimens. My trainer has trained over 100 professional athletes, and I train as hard as any of them. That's what it takes to look like a Diva. So I am giving three options to any website that suggested that any of the WWE Divas have violated the wellness program.You can choose any one:

1)Print a retraction and apology to the WWE Divas.

2) Produce any of your "number of WWE sources"

3) Contact WWE. Pay my WWE appearance fee. I will take a polygraph test saying what I have just previously stated. And if I fail, not only will I reimburse you for the WWE appearance fee, but I will donate $10,000 to your favorite charity.

Steve Austin gave a speech to wrestlers at Summerslam, one that didn’t go over to well with the wrestlers.

Lordsofpain.net says Austin made three main points saying that talent dressed like slobs in public and they need to dress and carry themselves like professionals. He also said that the company has no superstars and someone needs to step-up to the plate.

Austin ended with a couple stories of how things were back when he was around. After the lengthy speech, wrestlers felt Austin had become a puppet for Vince McMahon.

- Smackdown taping starts with MVP coming out to a living room setup in the ring for "In the VIP Lounge," and he introduces Matt Hardy as his guest.

- Matt Hardy defeated Deuce. Hardy doesn't know it was with the assistance from MVP outside the ring.

- Batista and Kane defeated The Great Khali and Finlay.

- Chuck Palumbo defeated Kenny Dykstra.

- Cruiserweight title match: Hornswoggle wins against Jamie Noble as a result of a countout. Noble was trying to catch Hornswoggle in a trap with lucky charms, and ended up caught in the trap himself. That's why he was counted out.

- Rey Mysterio defeated Chavo Guerrero in an "I Quit" match. Khali came out and put Mysterio in the vise grip. Just as Rey is about down, Batista runs out and attacks Khali and then goes to check on Mysterio. Teddy Long comes out and announces a change for the main event at Unforgiven. It will be a triple threat match, Khali vs. Mysterio vs. Batista.

Is Samoa Joe really on his way to a WWE ring?

The TNA star was offered a restructured and extended contract. His current deal has two years left and he opted to not renegotiate. The restructured contract is said to have offered more money, but also had more dates and/or more limitations that Joe didn’t want.

It’s also believed that Samoa Joe wants to see where he stands in TNA when his deal expires and what options he has at that point.

• This past Monday’s edition of RAW scored a 3.6 cable rating, which was down from recent weeks. The show did hours of 3.3 and 3.9.

• Coming off of last week’s low rating, ECW scored a 1.6 cable rating this past Tuesday.

• Shawn Michaels and Triple H spoke with the OVW roster this week. They gave suggestions to talent and also observed the production of the OVW TV taping, which will air locally this weekend. According to several sources, Michaels and Triple H went out of their way to help and assist anyone that wanted it.

Thursday's edition of the Palm Beach Post features comments from an employee of a Tampa medical clinic, who alleges that WWE wrestlers purchased drugs from the facility.

In 2003, Lordsofpain.net reports, authorities arrested John Todd Miller, who they alleged posed as a doctor and supplied wrestlers, law enforcement officers and businessmen with anabolic steroids. The case was thrown out due to a lack of evidence.

Misty Waldo, who was employed by the clinic, says she shipped overnight "packages" to Big Show and Ric Flair in 2003. Waldo said that upon starting the job, she was informed that professional wrestlers frequented the clinic.

Investigators did not reveal what drugs were in the packages she allegedly shipped to Flair and Big Show. Neither of the accused customers had commented on the story at press time.

Jim Ross has updated his blog at JRsbarbq.com. Here are highlights from it:

On Candice Michelle: Candice Michelle is improving immensely and in relationship from where she started to where she is now is excellent progress. Candice is the hot, diva du jour these days or at least until she meets Beth Phoenix at Unforgiven. I am impressed with Candice’s work ethic and willingness to learn.

On HBK Return: I have not heard a definitive date on HBK’s return, but I assume it will be in or around November. I hear Shawn is healing well but still has significant work to do before he is able to step back in the ring and be Shawn Michaels. We really miss HBK on Raw I can assure you but I hope he doesn’t rush his return and can be 100% healthy when he does come back.

 On CM Punk: I am a fan of CM Punk’s in ring style and his approach to the business. Punk has a great future ahead of him, it would seem, and let’s hope Punk can avoid the injury bug and poor decisions that his peers often make.

On Samoa Joe: As it relates to Samoa Joe, I have no idea of Joe’s contractual status or his plans for the future. I do wish him well and feel he is a talented young man who has a ton of potential. For me to comment about Joe in the WWE would not be fair for anyone involved but it is safe to say that Samoa Joe will do well where ever he is competing as long as he is healthy as his style may not be “tenure friendly.”

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