TNA will be starting earlier than expected on POP TV with its debut show coming out this Tuesday night from 9-11 p.m — the company’s regular time slot on the station.
TNA finished its Destination America run on Wednesday night, and it was originally believed that the company would not have television until their originally scheduled debut show on Tuesday, January 5th. Instead, POP TV will be picking up with the final two episodes of Impact for 2015, airing on Tuesday, December 22nd, and Tuesday, December 29th, both of which will be “Best of 2015” type shows. This week, their first hour will go head-to-head with a live Smackdown.
The 1/5 “live” show from Bethlehem, PA, will feature the semifinals and finals of the TNA title tournament that has come down to Bobby Lashley, Eric Young, Matt Hardy and Ethan Carter III. The company is saying it’s a live show, but in the past, that has meant taping two hours before and airing it the same night.
The Wednesday, December 9th edition of TNA Impact Wrestling that featured the quarterfinals of the TNA title tournament saw the ratings rise from recent weeks with 269,000 viewers tuning in for the 9 p.m. show and 68,000 tuning in for the midnight show for a grand total of 337,000 viewers.
That 9 p.m number was up from usual but the midnight number fell right in line with the norm.
Given that the entire tournament of taped matches is now complete (the previously taped semifinals and finals are being scrapped and redone) the last few weeks on Destination America will be time fills of two hours with old taped matches before the company’s January 5th live show launch on Pop TV.
The semifinals will feature Matt Hardy vs. Eric Young and Bobby Lashley vs. Ethan Carter III. The winner will move onto the finals which will be the main event of the January 5th debut.
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back today with special guest Nick Aldis, AKA Magnus, to talk his new bodybuilding book up now at Amazon.com, his recent biceps injury, thoughts on the wrestling business as a whole and why we need to go back to simpler booking and more flashy characters, and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
One of pro wrestling’s all time greatest pitchmen and the force behind SBIbookings.com Bill Behrens joins the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling show. Covering topics like how WWE / NXT signs in coming talent, and all of the inner workings of the promotions for which he was a part (WWE, WCW, TNA and more), Behrens gives John and Chad an in depth look at how his television background and unique skill set helped him to penetrate a crazy business. We also learn about how exactly he became “pro wrestling’s super agent” to stars like AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Matt Sydal, James Storm, and many more. Excerpts and download links below…
Excerpts from the interview…
– What type of pro wrestlers does he choose to represent:
Unlike some other folk my tendency is to focus on more of what could be the “younger talent” to people in their “prime” than I do the people that have been past their prime and are the legends of years ago. My roster really features very few of the guys from the 80s for example. Even though I am a big fan of those guys and certainly my wrestling watching began in the 60s so those are my favorites and my greatest stories come from that. Much of my list is like AJ Styles who is my top guy down, which is opposed to AJ being the young boy and going up. But then there are the exception to those rules with the somewhat older guys like the Kevin Nash’s or Scott Hall’s who I’ve been helping off and on and Tommy Dreamer who is surprisingly young yet thought of as an older guy.
– The current landscape of pro wrestling, indy vs. television product:
The overall atmosphere of professional wrestling right now is as vibrant and active than any time that I’ve been involved in it and I’ve been involved in it since the late 80s – early 90s, the tail end of the territory era and when TV or larger companies consolidating the TV became the norm and the Indy companies were struggling. There are more people now putting on good shows that draw hundreds than there were back in the end of the 1990s when there were just a few. My Music City Wrestling (promotion) which became NWA Worldwide in Nashville that I did with Bert Prentice was one of the few that was actually drawing numbers and had a local TV show. There has been a big transition. More people are bellying up that have a chance of actually paying people. Lucha Underground which is a television company almost exclusively right now is still providing good money to their top people, I’m privy to their contracts. Ring of Honor is now really stepping up and providing good money. New Japan partnering with Ring of Honor has now built Ring of Honor and New Japan simultaneously into this much more International entity with footprints outside of their backyards. Whether Global Force Wrestling becomes that is unknown because they don’t have much to announce but then there is the Paragon’s of the world who are buying there way onto television with a roster that is underwhelming at best. You have to look at it as, are they doing it as a step forward in the wrestling business or because they just wanted to be on TV?
– TNA being similar to how ECW operated:
TNA was doing very well and they made the same mistake in some ways like ECW made years ago of not realizing when you’ve gotten to a point where you have been as big as you could be and trying to get bigger before they had the resources or audience that would support it. ECW did that when they moved to The Nashville Network. They blamed it of course on The Nashville Network and the editing of the show but the reality was they tried to get too far without a base that was there to embrace them beyond their core base. TNA always had their base of one or two million people and all of a sudden they decided “we want to go head to head live with WWE and we will bring in Bischoff, we will bring in Hogan and by bringing in these people we will become bigger” but the reality is that isn’t what grows the companies.
– WWE signing Samoa Joe, how they evaluated his contract offer and how they maintain the outlaw feel:
Samoa Joe was working with me as he went to them and for example the deals that NXT did prior to him for Prince Devitt and El Generico and for the other people they were taking from Ring of Honor or from overseas, the thought process of when they signed those people changed dramatically (to) when they then evaluated Samoa Joe. When they did Joe, Joe had three or four deals change over a two to three week period as they continued to evaluate what are we really trying to do here and what’s our goals for NXT. How do we get people to pay attention to the product and be big enough that we don’t piss Vince off but stay small enough where we could be the rebel or outcast league but still present the big screen, the lights, the music playing but a little bit more of an intimate environment in terms of presentation. In essence, that’s a Ring of Honor, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla a more “Indy” feel. NXT started from we are going to be like those guys and yet not be offensive to the WWE product yet still be the cool kid.
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Last week, EC3 beat DJZ and Uno lucked out a win over Gail Kim. Davey Richards pinned Bram with a small package, while Shera beat Eli Drake. Bobby Roode worked heel for one match and lost by V1-ing Matt and eating a Twist of Fate, while Godderz cheated to beat Kong, and EY beat Kenny King. In the main event, Lashley beat Drew Galloway. We get a recap of last week’s matches to set up tonight’s matches, including Lashley vs. Shera. A tale of the tape makes them seem very similar. Josh talks about building up a lot of momentum just by winning, which Shera has done. Well, he’s done one of those things. Pope calls him a household name as well. Josh and Pope debate whether it’s the Shera Shuffle or Shera Shake before Josh just decides that Shera Shuffle is trending. Lashley comes out in Wal-Mart workout gear for the World Title Series. Josh talks about Drew and uses the captain moniker for him a ton. Why is Drew the Captain of TNA? Shouldn’t he be the Dollar General?
Mahabali Shera vs. Lashley
Shera dominates Lashley in the corner while a “Maha-bali!” chant breaks out. He gets a Frankenstein’s monster choke in the corner. Shera spends a long time to set up mounted punches, but he eats a powerbomb. Lashley clubs away in the corner. Floatover snap suplex gets 2 for Lashley. Lashley punches him down for an ad break. They brawl on the floor for a bit after the Shera Shuffle backfires. Josh hypes up that that World Title Series is completely on Youtube. Lashley dives off the apron and Shera grabs him and slams him down. A fan in a purple Macho Man shirt is either doing the Shuffle or summoning a genie. Shera lifts him up and lands the scariest press slam in a decade on Lashley. Lashley recovers, spears him, and wins. Josh tells the “young man” Lashley to pack his backs because he’s moving on.
Pope talks about how fast and powerful Lashley is, and that he’s a two-time former TNA World Champion to fill the show with more content that they’ve already talked about. Josh sends us to an “in-depth look at Tigre Uno versus Eric Young”, which doesn’t seem possible. This “world class maniac”-filled video proves that it isn’t. We get a very echo-filled promo of Eric Young saying threatening words. The Knockouts division returns in a cheesecake video for the holidays. We see a preview of a Dixie Carter interview with Josh talking about the importance of the TNA World Title. Matt Hardy vs. Jessie Godderz is previewed with a recap of Jessie beating Kong. Tigre Uno comes out to face Eric Young, who is in fact the bearded terror according to Pope.
Eric Young vs. Tigre Uno
Eric has fashioned his hair into an awful pseudo-mohawk and has gigantic bags under his eyes. EY tells him to leave because it’s his ring and his world. EY calls him a coward, and Uno responds by springboard dropkicking him out of nowhere. A running rana gets 2 for Uno, while EY chops away and yells “LUCHA!” He lands a series of forearms to the back and neck in the corner. One-armed backbreaker by EY gets 2 for an ad break. EY clotheslines Uno while Josh plugs the 2016 Impact tapings. EY tosses him to the floor and punches away. EY goes for a moonsault to mock Uno, but it misses. Uno hits a rana to the floor onto EY. Tigre gets a low blow legdrop off the top for 2. They fight up top and EY eats a super rana for 2. EY blocks another rana with a powerbomb for 2. The piledriver hits and EY wins. He faces the winner of Hardy-Godderz. Josh and Pope recap why EY is a world-class maniac and a bearded terror. Recap of Matt Hardy’s World Title Series matches. We see clips of Dixie talking about having the best women’s wrestlers in the business. EY logically points out that Tigre’s attack to start the match was cowardly, and then the Canadian rants about Uno being “foreign scum” and blames him for possibly ending Uno’s career. Josh and Pope pick the winners in a guessing game. Jessie Godderz comes out to no reaction to face Matt Hardy, who gets an okay one.
Matt Hardy vs. Jessie Godderz
Matt grinds away at the neck, but Jessie tosses him off. Matt grinds away on the arm while Josh talks about how the World Title Series has been compelling and it’s all due to Dixie. Matt lands a series of slams and does the V1 pose before making the mistake of posing like Godderz. Matt gets a Russian legsweep for 2. They fight to the floor and Jessie eats the apron. Jessie shoves Matt’s back into the steps before Jessie dropkicks him and Matt sends his head right into the steps for an ad break.
We come back to see Jessie stomping away on the back. He attacks the back more with forearm shivers. Matt’s knee buckles as he goes for a slam and Jessie gets 2. Bearhug to Matt lasts a while and they talk about it being a setup for the Adonis Crab. Jessie clamps on a reverse bearhug and uses the ropes. Matt elbows out of it, and Matt gets an iffy Side Effect. Matt gets a sleeper slam for 2. Matt gets a snapmare off the top for 2. Flying standing elbow hits for 2. Matt goes for the Twist, but Jessie tosses him into the ropes and gets 2 off a dropkick. Jessie gets a partial dropkick/enzuiguri and goes for the Adonis Crab. Matt gets to the rope, so Jessie stomps away. Matt goes up top, but gets pulled down into a fireman’s carry, which he counters into a Twist of Fate for the win. Pope and Josh talk about Matt Hardy having passion. The Dixie interview is next.
Josh talks about how exciting 2016 is while happy music plays. Dixie said that 2015 was a year with a bit of everything, and the year started off strong with the debut of Drew Galloway. Dixie talks about how she respects Matt for winning the title in his hometown holding his baby high .She brags about the knockouts division and she says that the semi-finals and finals of the World Title Series will be held on the live show in January. Pope talks about Twitter predictions and Bracket Brawl. Because the show needed more filler, we get a recap of the BFG match and World Title Series. Next week, all of Future 4 faces Group X Division. There will also be a four way cage match between guys who aren’t feuding for some reason. We get a recap of tonight’s matches. Davey Richards comes out to face EC3 in the main event. EC3 says it’s time to separate the wolves from the winners. Davey says he’ll kick EC3’s head off his shoulders and says it’s time for the hunt to begin.
EC3 vs. Davey Richards
Josh asks if Davey has ever been this close to the World title and Pope says “not here”. Basic headlock and armwork to start. Davey gets a dropkick and EC3 goes to the floor. Davey gets his leg picked by Tyrus and EC3 attacks for 2. Davey lands a series of nice forearm strikes, but EC3 sidesteps him and sends him to the floor for a Tyrus attack. EC3 elbow smashes his neck on the apron and stomps a mudhole in him in the corner. Davey eats a Bret Hart-style turnbuckle smash and flips backwards. EC3 locks on a chinlock while Josh hypes up EC3 as being unbeaten for “nearly 1,000 days”.
They exchange chops, but Davey misses a corner charge and EC3 gets 2. EC3 traps him in a cravate before we get a punch exchange mid-ring. Pope buries EC3 for having a spray-tan while Josh says he lives in Boca Raton and it’s real. Davey lands a double dive. Make that a triple! Big missile dropkick gets 2. Davey lands a high kick and gets 2 off a snap German suplex. EC3 gets a TKO for 2. EC3 goes up top, but gets stopped by Davey and eats some headbutts. Superplex from Davey leads to another suplex for 2! They go through the motions of countering finishers before EC3’s Rampage powerbomb hits and he hits the One Percenter to win. To see every screenshot for the show, just click here.
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer returns today with our Wednesday night news update! Tons to talk about including the epic low Raw ratings from Monday night, discussion of all the injuries in WWE this year and what could be a factor, Smackdown tapings, Randy Orton injury update, the TNA tour of India canceled, Jon Jones and GSP news notes, tons of mailbag questions and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
TNA will be announcing shortly that the scheduled 12/2 to 12/4 tour of India has been canceled.
Talent that had been booked on the tour were contacted more than two hours ago stating the tour is now off. TNA had planned the semifinals of its world title tournament as well as a live PPV in India during the three nights.
TNA claimed to talent the tour was being postponed to 2016.
Talent was told the tour was canceled due to safety concerns. They were scheduled to leave this weekend. Everyone is scrambling now to find bookings for this weekend on short notice.
The tour was being promoted by TNA’s broadcast partners, Sony Six, and TNA had already done advanced work for the tour as well as spent months pushing Mahabili Shera for its partners.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive returns today with tons of news and notes! Dave Meltzer joins us to talk the Ronda Rousey vs. Holly Holm buyrate and a big underreported story in sports, then news on TNA to POP TV, La Sombra to WWE developmental, Survivor Series and so much more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
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TNA announced Thursday morning that it has signed a deal with POP TV for Impact, which will start on the station on January 5th, 2016, in a Tuesday from 9-11 p.m. time slot. Dixie Carter announced the news on Twitter stating that they are now on a station that reaches 85 million homes.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter had reported that POP TV, which has been airing Paragon Pro Wrestling weekly as a time buy, along with WGN America, were in negotiations for TNA. Of the two, the POP TV deal was considered the weaker station overall even though both stations were in similar amounts of homes.
It is an upgrade as far as reach is concerned, although POP TV is in closer to 75 million homes right now as compared to 57 million for Destination America. Finances were not disclosed which is the key when it comes to TNA, because there is little revenue coming in with the exception of selling the television show, since they almost never do live events that tickets are sold to, and PPV numbers are weak. TNA wil remain on Destination America through the end of 2015.
In a related note, Paragon announced today that their final date on POP TV will be November 21st. They are moving their programming to various platforms including Tuff-TV, Fight Net, You Too America and WADL-TV in Detroit, MI.
It wasn’t good news when it came to pro wrestling ratings on Wednesday, November 4th, on Destination America.
TNA Impact did 262,000 viewers at 9 PM — its third lowest to date since they started on the network. What’s really bad about that number is it was very slightly down from last week’s show which went head-to-head with the World Series. The replay did 81,000 viewers, so the combined total was the sixth lowest to date.
The show was headlined by Bobby Roode vs. Eric Young, and also featured Eddie Edwards vs. Davey Richards in a battle of tag team partners.
On the Ring Of Honor side of things, their 11 PM airing fell from its record 227,000 viewers to a lower-than-usual 141,000 viewers. ROH only has a few weeks left on its Destination America contract and as of yet, no renewal has been announced. The show featured AJ Styles vs. Kyle O’Reilly vs. Adam Cole, and the Young Bucks vs. Silas Young and the Beer City Bruiser.
