TNA
News Bytes
January 7, 2008
by Sassy
With holidays and other things, I didn’t file any News
Bytes last week. I’ll try to play catch up this week…
TNA
Ratings
Last week’s
iMPACT rating was 1.1. Look for ratings to drop if programming does
not improve. Last week’s “gauntlet match” overkill just might do it.
The December 20 Inoki Genome Federation show at the Tokyo
Ariake Coliseum only drew about 2,500 fans. The promotion announced 6,233 fans
in the 12,000 seat arena, but fell well short of that number. The IGF advertised
names like Kurt Angle, Booker T (who was replaced on the show by Kendo Kashin),
Josh Barnett and Naoya Owaga for the show. The show also featured A.J. Styles,
Senshi, and Chris Moore (Masters).
Ticket sales for next month's Against All Odds pay-per-view
at the BI-LO Center in Greenville, SC have been sluggish thus far. As of this
post, you can still get a second row camera side ringside seat at
Ticketmaster.com. They're charging $150.00 per floor seat, so that might explain
the lackluster ticket sales.
Due to poor sales, Target stores have decided to no longer
carry any TNA merchandise.
Buy Rates
35,000 for (2006) Turning Point (Joe vs. Angle)
2007
34,000 for Final Resolution (Joe vs. Angle)
23,000 for Against All Odds (Angle vs. Cage)
36,000 for Destination X (Joe vs. Cage)
35,000 for Lockdown (Team Angle vs. Team Cage)
21,000 for Sacrifice (Angle vs. Sting vs. Cage)
22,000 for Slammiversary (King of the Mountain)
15,000 for Victory Road (Joe and Angle vs. Team 3D)
26,000 for Hard Justice (Joe vs. Angle)
17,000 for No Surrender (Angle vs. Abyss)
36,000 for Bound For Glory (Sting vs. Angle)
27,000 for Genesis (Sting and Booker T vs. Angle and Nash)
(source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter) Gerweck.net
Special
Appearances
We can confirm that the man who portrayed A.J. Styles' coach
at the Impact show yesterday was indeed Brother Ernest Angel. Many people
recognized him from many years back and his managing days in Memphis. Source: www.rajah.com
Lance
Hoyt Plug
Courtesy of TNA's official website: LANCE HOYT TO APPEAR ON
NEW TLC WRESTLING SERIES - On January 22 at 9/8c, the TLC network will begin
airing a new wrestling reality series called "The Bussey Bunch". The
show follows Michael Bussey and his sons, who run the Professional Championship
Wrestling organization based out of Arlington, Texas. TNA Wrestling's own Lance
Hoyt will be appearing on the series, as Hoyt got his start in the sport with
PCW and still competes regularly for the promotion. Hoyt works closely with the
Bussey family and helps train many of the younger wrestlers that break into PCW.
Check out Lance Hoyt on "The Bussey Bunch" when it debuts on TLC on
Tuesday, January 22. Source: www.prowrestlingfans.com
TNA
Drug Testing
TNA talent has been given the impression that *real* drug
testing will start in mid-to-late January. Before, TNA didn't really have a drug
policy, but when asked in interviews, several wrestlers would say that due to
TNA not being a public company, they are not at liberty to talk about it.
Source: ProWrestlingFans. Amazing isn't it? How much longer did TNA think it
could wait before it actually began legitimate drug testing.
Sting
Employment Update
The
Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that Sting has signed for a limited
schedule in 2008. He'll work some television tapings and PPVs.
Low-Ki
aka Senshi
Posted by Dr. Keith Lipinski : LOW KI! making his surprising
PWG return in what is his first show of his post Senshi/TNA career defeated
"American Dragon" Bryan Danielson @ the Van Nuys Armory in the first
match of the first night of PWG's All Star Weekend 6 to win the PWG World
Heavyweight Championship. According to witnesses and the CZWFans.com board the
match went about 20-minutes and was mostly mat-work and MMA-inspired stuff.
Source: www.gerweck.net
Judas
Mesias New Look
Two weeks ago on iMPACT, Judas Mesias wore a mask to the
arena and removed it prior to the start of the match. ProWrestlingFans.com is
reporting that he mask that was worn by Judas Mesias on the December 27 edition
of iMPACT! was a replica of Slipknot frontman, Corey Taylor's mask except in
blue.
Mesias did not wear the mask to the ring last week during his
entrance to the gauntlet match. I’m hearing a lot from wrestling fans that
indicate it’s difficult for them to take Judas Mesias as a “monster” with
his current wrestling attire.
The
Fallen Angel Christopher Daniels Update
Christopher Daniels is rumored to be returning to TNA as
Curryman. Daniels has used this gimmick in various Japanese promotions as well
as ROH. Source: Gerweck.net
The
Samoan Submission Machine Provides Blog Advice
For all those seeking a career in professional wrestling,
read it here: http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=143986599&blogID=344608801
Japan
Results
"TNA Wrestling vs. New Japan Pro Wrestling"
event from the Tokyo Dome in Japan. TNA stars Kurt Angle, Team 3D, Abyss, AJ
Styles, Christian Cage, Tomko and the Steiner Brothers were all in action
against New Japan's top stars.
As a reminder, matches from this show can be seen on "Global iMPACT!"
a 1-hour special that will air on Spike TV on January
17th at 11 PM, right after iMPACT!.
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom II
January 4, 2008 - Tokyo Dome, JAPAN
A.J. Styles, Christian Cage & Petey Williams defeated
RISE (Milano Collection AT, Minoru & Prince Devitt) (10:25)
NJPW IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Match Wataru Inoue
defeated 'The Fallen Angel' Christopher Daniels (10:17)
Manabu Nakanishi defeated Abyss (6:00)
Katsushi Takemura, Masato Tanaka, Tatsuhito Takaiwa &
Yutaka Yoshie defeated Koji Kanemoto, Ryusuke Taguchi, Takashi Iizuka &
Tiger Mask IV (8:36)
Team 3D (Brother Devon & Brother Ray) defeated Great Bash
Heel (Togi Makabe & Toru Yano) in a hardcore match (13:12)
Legend (Jushin 'Thunder' Liger, Masahiro Chono, Riki Choshu
& Tatsumi Fujinami) defeated Voodoo Murders (Shuji Kondo, TARU &
'brother' YASSHI), Gedo & Jado (7:18)
The Great Muta defeated Hirooki Goto (13:04)
NJPW IWGP Tag Team Champions Giant Bernard & Travis Tomko
defeated The Steiner Brothers (Rick Steiner & Scott Steiner) (12:50)
IGF IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kurt Angle defeated Yuji Nagata
(18:29)
Shinsuke Nakamura defeated NJPW IWGP Heavyweight Champion
Hiroshi Tanahashi to win the title (23:08)
January 1 - Zero-One Max results from Tokyo featuring a
popular TNA Tag Team
Gerweck.net
Results from Korakuen Hall:
Nanae Takahashi & Hikaru defeated Saki Maemura &
Natsuki-head
Tengukaiser & Tengubaron (Osamu Namiguchi) defeated
Lingerie Mutoh & Naoki Ueda
Kohei Sato defeated El Blazer
Koji Kanemoto & Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Tatsuhito
Takaiwa & Shota Takanishi
The Great Sasuke defeated Minoru Fujita
Sasuke & Kessen Numajiro defeated Fujita & Sugawara
Yoshihito Sasaki & Ryoji Sai defeated Takao Omori &
Manabu Nakanishi
Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin defeated Ikuto Hidaka &
Dick Togo in a NWA International Lightweight Tag titles match.
Masato Tanaka defeated Daisuke Sekimoto
(credit: Zach Arnold @ Puroresu Power)
TNA
Events
Final Resolution Pay Per View
Debuts Sunday, January 06, 2008, there will be replays, check with your local cable company.
NOTE:
The predictions (as funny as the may be) were made and submitted before 2:00 PM
Central time on Sunday.
Final Resolution Card:
TNA World Heavyweight Championship: Kurt Angle (Champion)
vs. Christian Cage
PREDICTION: Kurt Angle will retain the championship belt,
but I’m rooting for Christian anyway.
Ultimate X for Possession of the X Division Title
The Motorcity Machine Guns & Jay "Black
Machismo" Lethal vs. Team 3D & Johnny Devine
PREDICTION: Black Machismo Jay Lethal will finally get his
X Division Title belt back because this storyline has already taken way too long
TNA World Tag Team Championship Match
AJ Styles & Tomko (Champions) vs. Samoa Joe &
Kevin Nash
PREDICTION: AJ won’t be able to concentrate giving Joe
and Nash a chance to grab the Tag Team Titles
TNA Women's Championship Match: Gail Kim (Champion) vs.
Awesome Kong
PREDICTION: Gail Kim will retain the Women’s
Championship -- I'm just not sure HOW she's going to do it.
Booker T & Sharmell vs. Robert Roode & Ms. Brooks
PREDICTION: Sharmell will pin Ms. Brooks for the win
Abyss vs. Judas Mesias
PREDICTION: Don’t make me choose! But I’m afraid James
Mitchell may be a factor that causes a loss for Abyss
Kaz vs. Black Reign
PREDICTION: Kaz will lose via DQ perhaps with the
assistance of Rellik
LAX vs. Lance Hoyt & Jimmy Rave
PREDICTION: LAX will win with the help of the mystery
Latino Nation member
This site will have a play-by-play recap of Final
Resolution later in the week.
January 2008 dates
8 Impact taping in Orlando, Florida
9 house show in in Belton, Texas
10 house show in Austin, Texas
11 house show in Dallas, Texas
12 house show in Oklahoma City
The Genesis 2007 PPV will be released January 15 on DVD
nationwide but it is already in stock at www.ROHwrestling.com
21 Impact taping in Orlando, Florida
22 Impact taping in Orlando, Florida
25 house show in Troy, Ohio
26 house show in Youngstown, Ohio
TNA has scheduled an event at the First Arena in Elmira, NY
for February 23, 2008 at 7:00 pm. Tickets go on sale January 14, 2008 at 10:00
am at all ticketmaster locations and at www.ticketmaster.com.
Tickets will be priced between $10-$50. TNA has also scheduled at an event at
the Norfolk Theature at Westbury, NY for February 22, 2008 at 8:00 pm. Tickets
are already on sale and are priced between $35-$50.
TNA
Talent Events
Team 3D comes to New Rochelle - Featuring D-Von's
Homecoming
Friday, January 4 2008, www.gerweck.net
Pro Wrestling Returns to New Rochelle, NY
The New York State Wrestling Federation returns to New
Rochelle, NY on Saturday, April 5 at New Rochelle High School with a pro
wrestling event featuring 21-time former World Tag Team Champions and current
TNA Wrestling Superstars, Team 3D. Team 3D is comprised of Brother Ray &
D-Von and previously competed as The Dudley Boyz for World Wrestling
Entertainment (WWE).
This pro wrestling event serves as a homecoming for D-Von as
he graduated from New
Rochelle High School and was a varsity football standout for
the Huguenots.
The event will feature six other action-packed matches with a
7:30 p.m. bell-time. The doors open at 6:00 p.m. to give fans, friends and
families the opportunity to obtain autographed memorabilia.
For tickets and event information visit www.NYSWFWrestling.com
or call (914) 235-4676
Where
Are They Now
Scott Hall Update
Scott Hall worked his first wrestling event since his TNA PPV
no-show two weeks ago for Juggalo Championship Wrestling in Pontiac, MI. He was
telling people that he knew he messed up and that he was hoping to get a second
chance sometime down the line with the company. Hall & Violent J &
Nosawa beat The Thomaselli's in a six-man tag match. Hall was said to be doing
well otherwise.
Scott Hall was telling people at the ICP show on 12/21 in
Pontiac, MI that he blamed himself for screwing up the last few weeks by
no-showing both TNA and WWC shows. As previously reported, Hall was in Puerto
Rico as scheduled, but didn't want to drop the WWC Universal title to Biggie
Size, and requested the match be changed to a non-title bout. Sounds like he has
been listening to buddy Kevin Nash for far too long.
NOTE: On last week’s iMPACT, Hall’s name was brought up
during a confrontation between Kevin Nash and Samoa Joe. This has been the first
time Hall’s name has been mentioned since the no show incident at Turning
Point.
Ron “The Truth” Killings Update
While rumors were rampant that Killings would be headed to
AAA in Mexico (he has worked for them before), rumors are now flying that WWE
management is being urged to bring Killings into WWE.
Not
Necessarily TNA News
WWE is seeking talented Hispanic wrestlers – exactly the
opposite of TNA who has yet to provide matches for Hernandez and Homicide…
Former TNA wrestler The Amazing Red is currently training and
hoping to make a full time comeback.
TNA NEWS BYTES / DECEMBER 17
TNA Wrestling . Com
Wrestling Bodyslam . Com