02/03/11 Impact spoilers- ‘They’ arrive

WWE signed the major players in the ‘They’ storyline so TNA is forced to rework the angle

from twnp news

Immortal comes out to open the show. Eric Bischoff calls out Scott Steiner to talk business. Bischoff says Hulk Hogan won’t be here tonight thanks to Dixie Carter. Bischoff talks about Kevin Nash and Booker T and tells Steiner that Sting isn’t here either. Bischoff wants Steiner to join them. Steiner cuts a promo on Bischoff before Crimson and Kurt Angle come out. Angle says they are real, damn real and leaves with Steiner and Crimson.

Ink Inc. beat Gunner and Murphy.

Backstage segment with Angle, Steiner and Crimson. They go over their plan for tonight.

Jeremy Buck won an X Division qualifying match over Doulas Williams and Jay Lethal when Max Buck interfered.

Ric Flair misses TNA Germany date

Ric Flair upset with TNA managment walks out on Germany tour

from the Wrestling Observer–

Ric Flair had a blow-up after the house show in Dublin, Ireland yesterday and did not appear at today’s show in Berlin, Germany.

We don’t have a lot of details but Flair was asking for an advanced draw (cash advance) on the road and was turned down.  At that point he refused to get on the bus to the airport, to fly to Germany.  The bus left without him.

It is not known if Flair will rejoin the tour tomorrow or if he will or has flown home.  If it’s the latter, it could signal the end of him with the company.

Situations between Flair and TNA management had built up in recent weeks although nobody could point to exact reasons why.  Flair was always described as “teflon man” in the sense he was able to get away with things that nobody else could because he was Ric Flair.

Alex Shelley, AJ Styles injury updates

Alex Shelley of TNA Wrestling injured at non-televised event

This past weekend(Saturday, Jan. 16th) Alex Shelley of the Motor City Machine Guns suffered a broken clavicle in his match with Generation Me. The injury was confirmed Monday on his band’s Facebook page:

“The High Crusade– hey friends, please keep alex in your thoughts – our main man suffered a broken collarbone yesterday. here’s to hoping he has a quick and safe recovery. we love you man!”

AJ Styles injury update

As reported a few days ago here on Clean Dallas Wrestling, AJ Styles of TNA Wrestling tore his hip flexor and hip labrum. He was expected to be out for 6-8 weeks but TNA is expecting him back in 4-6 weeks.

AJ Styles injured, out 6-8 weeks

AJ Styles confirms news of injury on his Twitter page

“I’ll be out 6 to 8 weeks hopefully and if it doesn’t get better I’ll will have to have surgery. It is what it is

Not going to be on the UK tour 😦

Sorry guys it’s true. I tore me my hip flexor and hip labrum. I’ll be back wrestling real soon”

– AJ Styles on Twitter

Lashley wins, opponent cries foul

Wes Sims had something on his mind as he sat patiently waiting for the rest of the fighters to file in for Saturday night’s Strikeforce postfight press conference.

The 6-foot-8 veteran of the UFC and its reality show, “The Ultimate Fighter,” brooded with a hood over his bruised head while wearing sunglasses. When his conqueror Bobby Lashley showed, Sims had a few things to say. He walked over the 6-3, 250-pounder, got in his face  and shoved him. Fellow Strikeforce fighter Mo Lawal got in between the big guys and then it was time for Sims to vent.

“I warned [the referee] three times that he kept gouging me in the throat,” Sims said. “Then I rolled over and gave my back, I took one strike and the ref stops it? I ain’t no rookie. I’ve been in the sport for a long. I have a helluva high pain threshhold. Bogus stoppage.”

Sims suggested there was no way “they” were going to let Lashley lose — then he got personal.

“He needs to go back to being a security guard. He doesn’t have the mike skills to be a pro wrestler.”

Lashley was part of the WWE from 2004-2008 and is now in TNA.

“He’s just a big juiced up monkey. He ain’t got the MMA skills.”

Sims expanded on his thoughts about Lashley and steroids.

“He’s juiced. We did not have a drug test. And his own wrestlers threw him under the bus. I’m good friends with a lot of wrestlers.”

Sims took the fight on with less than 10 days notice and was on his back in the opening minute. Once on the ground, Lashley wailed away with 25-plus shots. Lashley moved to 5-0 with a win at the 2:06 mark of the first round.

click here for Video of Wes Sims crying about loss to Lashley

Observer Radio- Raw, Makropolous memories

Wrestling Observer Radio with Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez returns tonight to talk all the news in pro-wrestling and MMA.

We’ll open with thoughts on the tragic death of Georgiann Makropolous, one of the nicest people to ever report on the wrestling business, and whose worked spawned decades. Then we’ll talk last night’s Raw, the go-home show for the Royal Rumble, how we expect the PPV to do, the positives and negatives, Cena, Vince, Bret, Sheamus and more. We’ve also got your email questions on a variety of subjects. Best of all it’s

FREE, so please post the link or file elsewhere and help spread the word about wrestlingobserver.com! And if you like what you hear, consider signing up for a subscription as Dave and I do 3-4 shows per week in addition to the other 10-12 brand new shows, plus members have full access to our thousands of hours of audio and hundreds of new and archived Wrestling Observer and Figure Four Newsletters. It’s a steal, so sign up and join the fun!

credit: F4W Online

Hogan, Bischoff on the state of TNA

Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff appeared on Bubba The Love Sponge’s radio show today to give their “State of TNA” address. Below are the highlights:

Hogan said he’s heard Spike TV wants TNA to go live again on March 1, then another Monday special a few months later, then another. He said he wants to continue pushing the product so Spike is forced to put them on Monday nights.

Eric Bischoff on “The Orlando Screwjob”: “Is it a shot (at WWE)? Yeah, maybe kinda sorta. It’s great entertainment. We knew it would get people bitching about the product or loving it. It got people talking. You haven’t seen the story yet. You’ve seen a couple pages of the story.”

Hogan said one of the major selling points for doing the recreation of the “Montreal Screwjob” was that they have Earl Hebner working for them.

Although The Honky Tonk Man’s official web site recently claimed he has been talking with TNA about a dea since December, Bischoff said he would rather “drive a rusty ice pick through my eye than work a day with him…This guy couldn’t draw flies if you rolled him in cow s#$%. He’s negotiating with himself. No truth to that at all.”

Both men said they’d been contacted by WWE wrestlers coming toward the end of their contracts about possibly working with TNA, but they did not say who. However, they expressed great interest in Randy Orton and John Cena, as well as Chris Jericho. In terms of The Big Show, Bischoff called him “lazy,” while Hogan said Show has never been used right, and put over his work ethic.

Bischoff said he hopes TNA can attract the 18-34 demographic, which WWE may be losing now that they’re trying to appeal more to kids.

Hogan said he would love to bring Randy Savage into TNA to manage “Black Machismo” Jay Lethal.

Hogan called Sting a great talent, who he loved to death, but Sting’s “personal issue” might cause them to switch gears on what type of role they use him in. Bischoff added that if Sting wasn’t willing to put TNA as the number one priority over most things, then it probably wouldn’t work out.

In terms of Desmond Wolfe, Bischoff said he was high on him, and Hogan said he wants to do a James Bond-type character with him.

Bischoff called “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero one of his favorite characters. Hogan said he’s tired of seeing Pope getting beaten week after week, and they plan to give him “life after death.”

Hogan called Abyss his favorite wrestler of all, and called him “my next John Cena.” Bischoff said: “He’s magic. It’s a matter of time.”

credit: The Wrestling Daily

Big Rob wins TNA Global title

Rob Terry Crowned TNA Global Champion at Cardiff House Show

TNA Wrestling did a rare title switch at a house show on Wednesday.

Rob Terry of the British Invasion defeated Eric Young to become the new TNA Global Champion at the house show in Cardiff, Wales.

Due to the location of the show it’s not a complete surprise, however.

The company has three stops left on its UK tour which include the Coventry Sky Dome on Thursday, Manchester Evening News Arena on Friday and London Wembley Arena on Saturday.

credit: PW News Now

Hulk Hogan shoots Bubba straight

Hulk Hogan appeared on Bubba the Love Sponge’s radio show yesterday morning. Here are some of the more notable things he said.

* Hogan wants to kill all house shows until things come together on television. He feels that in no time, TNA will become a force which people will pay attention to.

* He said he has no plans to solely bring in his friends to TNA. He said when he met Ken Anderson on the Australian tour, he knew that “he had what it took.”

* Bubba the Love Sponge discussed his backstage altercation with Awesome Kong earlier this week, saying he was mad at what she did to him. He then called her “a bitch.”

* Apparently, Hogan too poked fun at Kong, feeling her anger was “menstrual-related.”

* Bubba said he was pushing for a bigger role in TNA but now hates the wrestling busines. Hogan responded by saying, “Wow!”

* Hogan said less is more and discussed a segment with Scott Hall and Sean Waltman that was taped this week.

* Hogan put over Ric Flair for being on his game once he became aligned with AJ Styles.

credit: Rajah

TNA WTF?

Make Movement: The Importance of Differential Branding and Why Wrestling Matters

It’s a old age rule in marketing, in life and in the wrestling business. Make yourself, you, as a brand, different. That is, if you want to be remembered and want to make bank. If you don’t want to stand out among your peers, in your company, or among the wrestling landscape as a whole as something special, different and worth remembering, then repeat what ‘has always worked for you’ and then watch yourself be dropped from your slot, your spot and from your deal.

TNA was on the road to being that ‘different brand’ and that’s what they are trying to sell wrestling fans on but if you base it on what you saw at Genesis, then you got more of ‘what has worked before… must work again, (damn it).’ If this was a Pepsi versus Coke taste test in the form of wrestling, fans aren’t going to know the difference between the two big brands at this rate. It’s one thing to say you are going to be “pro wrestling” and are the ‘anti-sports entertainment’ brand, but when you deliver a finish (after a four star match between AJ Styles and Kurt Angle, a good old fashion, story in the ring between two very capable main eventers) that ends in a old swerve heel gimmick (the ref gets pulled out by Nature Boy who watches the match for a good 15 minutes or so, AJ decides to go along with Ric’s cheating and then the ref as if NOTHING HAPPENED OUT OF THE ORDINARY COUNTS FOR THREE FOR THE ‘CLEAN’ WIN!), when it COULD have been a clean finish and ended on the ‘we deliver wrestling’ note….then how can I (or anyone else) take you seriously, Mr. Russo/Bischoff/Hogan and Ms. Carter?

If that wasn’t enough to piss off people like me who like a good story being told in the ring, you take away the one gimmick that makes TNA stand out….the six-sided ring. Boy, did fans really crap all over that guys. The six-sided ring, gimmick ring or not, at least offered something different and innovative. Instead, we’re back to the basic ring so more passive fans who don’t watch the sport closely can see no difference in brand presentation. Just because guys who haven’t wrestled in the six-sided ring before may be a little green in there, doesn’t mean you trash it because it makes certain guys uncomfortable. I remember once upon a time when talent started out in the ‘indies’ and didn’t care where they wrestled, as long as they got to grow at their craft. It’s talent that tap into that passion, that passion of performing because they are confident in their skills, and getting a reaction from the crowd that has them riding the wave with them…..when every night is a WrestleMania type experience for all involved, if everyone went into this business with that attitude, maybe the sport would be a better place to play in.

credit: Inside Pulse