Shortnews Sammelthread

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- John Gaburick is the main guy really running things behind the scenes in TNA these days. The three sides of the "triangle" that you have to answer to are Panda Energy in Dallas, Dixie Carter in Nashville and Spike TV.

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- The TNA live event on December 28th in Philadelphia drew 950 fans. The December 28th live event in Westbury, NY drew 2,000 fans, which is a very good crowd for TNA.

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- Tickets for the upcoming UK Tour are believed to be selling well. For what it's worth, extra tickets were released for the London taping at Wembley Arena.

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- The Bro Mans are featured in a photo spread with "Mr. Olympia" Phil Heath in the latest issue of FLEX Magazine, which is available on sale.

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- The TNA One Night Only: Old School and One Night Only: Hardcore Justice pay-per-views that were taped last weekend will likely air in February or March. The Hardcore Justice taping in Lowell, MA drew around 1,000 fans. The Old School taping in Poughkeepsie, NY drew 1,500 fans.

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- TNA's website has a new interview up with Knockout of the Month Madison Rayne. She talked about what it feels like to be back:

"I never thought anything would top the excitement I felt when I signed my first TNA contract in 2009. At that moment, a little girl had made her dream come true. But fast forward 4 years, that little girl is a woman now, and after a very long 2013 full of all time high as well as rock bottom low moments, to be back in the ring and say "I did it," and have the support of the fans and my coworkers is an indescribable feeling! I'm baaaaack!"

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- The Impact Wrestling episodes that TNA tapes in the UK this month will bring them to the week of or before Lockdown. The current plan is to do a live Impact Wrestling and taping the week after Lockdown.

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Dixie Carter announced on Twitter today a new multi-year deal with Challenge TV. Obviously, this is great news as the Challenge deal puts them in their second biggest market. PWInsider notes that the current deal with Spike TV will be expiring in October 2014 so TNA should be having discussions with them about a new deal soon.

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Former TNA and WWE star Matt Morgan announced in an exclusive interview with Prowrestling.net that he is leaving the pro wrestling business to be a father to his new child and to work as a regional manager for a "big-time medical device company."

Morgan said not returning to WWE or TNA was an easy decision to make. He said the money he will be making from this medical company blew away anything WWE or TNA could offer. Morgan said he was in talks with both companies but couldn't turn down this new job. However, Morgan doesn't consider himself retired because he still thinks he's in his prime. He's not ruling out the occasional indie appearance.

Morgan tweeted the following on Tuesday:

"By the grace of God, we welcomed our first born Jackson Morgan into the world earlier today!!! Thx for all ur prayers guys! #GodIsGreat"

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Jesse Sorensen was interviewed by Highspots last summer. Here are some highlights from the interview:

- At the hospital, Jesse's mom was freaking out about the bills, but Dixie Carter re-assured her in front of everyone that she didn't have to worry about money.

- Jesse said Dixie specifically said, "As long as I have this company, you'll always have a job." Dixie even told Jesse's mom she thought of him like her son as well. At one point Sorensen's mom referred to him as "my son," and Dixie corrected her and said, "You mean OUR son."

- Jesse could move after the first few days, but was in too much pain to walk. Out of nowhere, Kurt Angle burst into the hospital room, gave him the mother of all motivational speeches, told him to stop feeling sorry for himself and get up and go on with his life. Jesse later managed to walk down the hall to the bathroom.

- He gets the criticism about wrestling again, but says it makes him happy and you have to live life to the fullest. He admits he might be addicted to wrestling.

- When he broke his neck he was under his mom's insurance, but admits the insurance was "pretty crappy" and maxed out at $10,000.

- He paid for his MRIs, doctor appointments, cat scans and rehab himself. He said he has friends in WWE who were stunned at the situation because if they ever got hurt, they never even saw a medical bill. He said the only way his mom managed to rid herself of the bills was to file for bankruptcy.

- TNA's response to his complaints about medical costs was to give him a production job that paid decently. Jesse denies it was a lot of money though, especially compared to guys like Hogan.

- He got fired and said the company seemed taken aback by the massive negative reaction. Dixie called Sorensen after the "Ask Dixie" stuff flared up and asked him if they could release a joint statement saying the release was 100% amicable and he asked to be let go to pursue other things. He said no and told her to just let it blow over. His mom was furious at Dixie for even asking.

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- The Dothan Eagle recently spoke with TNA star James Storm to promote this weekend's TNA live events. Here are some highlights from the Q&A:

Eagle: You’ve developed through the years into unquestionably one of the most unique, standout characters in TNA. How did you find the persona of "Cowboy" James Storm, and how similar are you outside the ring to the guy we see every Thursday night?

Storm: That’s me. They tell me to go out and be me. I mean, I don’t drink 24/7. I'm not that guy sitting on the couch telling the kids to get me a beer from the refrigerator. What a lot of people don't realize, I never drink when I'm at home. When im at home with my kids, I don’t drink or anything, I hang out with my kids. Having lost my dad at an early age, I want to be there much as I can.

Eagle: You’ve spent most of the last year in a tag team with Gunner. How was that experience?

Storm: It's always cool being put in a tag team with someone (new). Bobby and Chris, they had about as much experience as I did. With Gunner, seeing him evolve into who he is now -- the guy's a beast in the ring, that’s for sure. But seeing him start to catch on to things, improve on the mic and in the ring, it's pretty cool.

Eagle: One of the things I've noticed on Impact in recent months has been a reduced focus on the tag teams. What needs to be done to bring the division back to prominence?

Storm: To me, it’s just giving them a chance. We proved that with the Motor City Machine Guns, Team 3D, Beer Money and teams like Ink Inc. They gave the tag team division the ball, and we made the best of it. They need to believe in the guys they put out there. To me, there needs to be more teams, not guys just thrown together, but guys you can relate to. Me and Bobby were thrown together, but we made it work as a tag team. It just takes time, and with the new format of professional wrestling, it's kind of hard to give that much time to a specific area.

Eagle: You’re a TNA original. What is it that’s kept you dedicated to the company for nearly 12 years, through thick and thin?

Storm: The people. Jeff Jarrett was here a long time, and also (TNA President) Dixie Carter. She's a great boss, very family oriented, and she listens to the wrestlers. We can go to her and talk if we have a problem, which is very cool. TNA was very loyal to me when I had the opportunity to do other things.

Eagle: There have been plenty of rumors about TNA’s status over the past year. What is the state of the company right now, and what do you see on the horizon?

Storm: Honestly, that’s above my pay grade, but Dixie Carter always looks after her wrestlers and does what's best for the company. It's not just wrestlers' job, it's hers too.

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- Samoa Joe recently appeared on MLW Radio, which you can download at this link. Here are some highlights:

Whether TNA wrestlers are worried or hoping that recent departures mean a better spot for them:
"I think a little bit of both. I mean with guys like AJ gone, he was like the team captain. When you think of Impact Wrestling, you think of AJ Styles."

Working with Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan:
"Um I think Bischoff is still around, I think it's just a production capacity. I think with Hogan, some people think he had more clout than he did. I think they really wanted him to do a bit more but I think he just didn't want to really do more at this time. As far as Hogan as a person, cool cat. As far as working with him, I wouldn't know. I never worked with them. I never see them, I never talk to them. When they just asked me 'This is what we need from you' I did it and that was that."

The infamous kidnapping angle and Vince Russo:
"You want me to break the silence on that? I don't like getting in verbal spats with people who I don't think are worth my time or my effort and a dude in particular is Vince Russo. This cat, I don't have a problem with Vince Russo. When he left I just told him, it is what it is. He always had 22 million reasons for making the decisions that he made. But when Hogan and Bischoff came in they said, 'Oh we have this great idea. We are going to do this thing and take you off of TV and re-brand you. Do all this other stuff. We do this kidnapping thing and you come back as a psychopath.' I was cool with it.

I sat at home for 3 months on a bitching ass vacation. I had one of the best vacations in the history of vacations. Paid vacation. Getting ready so I call them back week after week, 'What do you guys need me to do'. They would say 'We are still coming up with something'. Vince Russo with his infinite ridiculousness just said, we are short on babyfaces. So I get a call saying, 'Joe we need to bring you back to TV.'

So I asked him, how is it that you are going to bring me back. He said, I don't know how just yet but we need to bring you in. So the dude couldn't write his way out of a kidnapping. The only reason why I bring this up is because he has the audacity to blame all of his silliness on other people. And by the way wrestlers, pro wrestlers all over the world and people in the business, stop whoring yourself out to shoot interviews. This man couldn't write his way out of a kidnapping. That's how much respect he had for the product, how much respect he had for the fans and that is indicative of his style of what he did. He was the head writer at the time and this is the way he felt that was admissible. Now I know this little bitch is going to go back on a shoot and talk all of this shit."

His TNA future:
"I think with TNA now, especially with the inner office changes. I think hopefully I will be on top. I told them already. I said, 'Look, you guys have tried to do things in different ways.' I told them at the beginning of last year. 'You guys have been using me in a utilitarian way for the past 2 or 3 years. I'm cool with it. I know this is a team effort but I'm ready to run with it and produce for you if you give me the opportunity.' I've told John Gaburick the same thing. 'You guys have been using me in a utilitarian way for the past 2 or 3 years. I'm ready to get shit done. If you want to run with me, It's going to be this year.' The ball is in their hands and we will just see what happens."

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When you talk to some TNA staffers and office workers, there's bitterness with the feeling that the company doesn't appreciate their hard work. There hasn't been a lot of raises within the past few years and apparently that has some unhappy.

There's also a feeling that Dixie Carter doesn't come off as approachable as she once was. It's said that she's not going out of her way to speak to anyone anymore, seems to be in her own world and waits for people to come to her, despite not being as approachable as she used to be.

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- Former TNA star Jesse Neal teased retirement from wrestling at last night's USWA event in Jacksonville, FL. Neal told fans he now has a family another projects that he wants to focus his time on.

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- As noted last week, TNA has started making changes to their office in Nashville. Tommy Dreamer, who has been talking with TNA since last fall, was hired as a senior agent. Bully Ray and Taz had a lot of influence in getting the deal with Dreamer done.

TNA Executive Vice President of Television Production John Gaburick has a great relationship with Taz and Bully stemming from their time at WWE, and appreciates their feedback on the product and what independent wrestlers they might want to sign. Taz and Bully are also unofficially helping with booking at TV tapings. Dreamer has already hinted that he would be happy to help TNA with anything they want to get him involved with, but for now he is just doing agent work. He does not plan on wrestling regularly for TNA.

TNA’s creative team consists of head writer David Lagana with Matt Conway working under him. Both report to Gaburick, who plays a big part in what airs on Impact each week.

Lagana recently sent feelers out to both WWE and Ring of Honor, hinting that he could be available to work for either group as early as this spring. There is interest from both companies, especially now that WWE is starting their own network. Lagana has over 15 years of producing TV under his belt and is well liked within the company. Prior to TNA, Lagana worked for ROH, so a return is a no brainer to most internally.

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- A TNA source says reports of Tommy Dreamer signing with TNA as a "senior agent" to replace Jeff Jarrett are premature at best. Dreamer was at the Impact Wrestling tapings last Thursday and was helping John Gaburick.

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- On Twitter, TNA writer Dave Lagana addressed rumors of him reaching out to Ring of Honor or WWE and says he's not going anywhere. A Ring of Honor source reports that the door has always been open for Lagana to return but there has been no communication between the two sides. Lagana recently purchased a home in Nashville.

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It appears that TNA will only have three 3-hour PPVs this year with Lockdown in March, Slammiversary in June and Bound For Glory in October. The plan as of now is to continue the free TV specials and One Night Only PPVs during the off-months. TNA previously announced four epic PPVs a year but Genesis was switched to a Spike special.

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It appears that the relationship ending between OVW and TNA is confirmed. While we have previously reported that the OVW relationship had ended, the TNA logo still appeared on their site. Today, that logo was removed.

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- TNA star Zema Ion appeared on this week's episode of The Science Channel's Oddities show. He was billed as a TNA wrestler and was looking for an item to intimidate his opponents with. Zema ended up buying a human tongue in a jar. The episode will replay on Saturday night.

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- There is talk that the March 2nd Wrestle 1 event at Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan will have a theme of TNA vs. Wrestle 1.

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- The rumors of TNA ending their developmental relationship with Ohio Valley Wrestling have been confirmed. TNA officially pulled everyone and everything they had out of Louisville on January 15th.

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- Former TNA star Wes Brisco is now taking indie bookings through showbis@aol.com. He can also be booked as a tandem with his father, WWE Hall of Famer Gerald Brisco.

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- Jeff Jarrett tweeted the following about Sting after Thursday's Impact Wrestling:

"Stinger... Timeline filled up... A true class act and an one-of-a-kind MAN... Many, many thanks to you... @Sting #Icon #grateful #class"

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- Members of TNA's production team began working on a Dixie Carter reality TV style demo reel in the last week or so. The idea is that the reel will be shopped around to networks for a potential Dixie Carter reality TV show. This is something that Dixie has had the production team begin working on. She tried getting on The Real Housewives of Nashville reality show a few years back but it never worked out. No word yet on when this presentation will be done or when they will begin shopping it around.

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- AJ Styles recently spoke with Ryan Devlin and Chris Dutton of The Wrestling Mania Show. Here are some highlights:

Not being able to agree on a new TNA contract:
"Yeah it is upsetting. I thought that I’d retire in TNA but you know, this is a business and sometimes things don’t work out. People don’t understand this is how I pay my bills and sometimes it just doesn’t work out and we don’t see eye to eye. There are a lot of people who left and wrestled for different companies because of their contracts."

TNA Pushing former WWE Stars:
"It makes me wonder if TNA thought it would boost ratings or was it that Spike wanted TNA to have higher ratings. I know that Spike like big names of their shows, which led to Christian and Kurt Angle being signed. I blame it on ratings; they wanted to see them rather than seeing TNA grow more gradually."

A planned speaking tour:
"I had a speaking tour planned but I was threatened by a TNA lawyer about some stuff that was going on. We were looking at doing it in March but now we’re looking at coming over in June so it actually worked out quite well."

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Gail Kim was a guest on Wrestling With Rosenberg and talked about who she wants to wrestle. Gail said:

"Well, everybody wants to see the rubber match with me and Taryn (Terrell), so I’m sure that’s going to happen when she comes back. And she is going to come back. She’s got abs on top of her pregnant belly right now. I want (Alicia) Fox to come to Impact Wrestling. I think she would fit in great with us, I think she would be utilized. I haven’t wrestled her for years and people loved our matches back then, so I think we would kick butt. And Nattie of course, she's incredible."

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- TNA star Rockstar Spud turns 31 years old today.

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- Brooke Tessmacher will be the special guest on TNA's Impact InterActive Second Screen Experience tonight.

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- Remember tonight's episode of Impact Wrestling will be taped this afternoon from Glasgow, Scotland. Tonight's show will feature the big investor reveal, Eric Young and Abyss vs. BroMans for the TNA Tag Team Titles and more.

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- Pocket-lint.com has a new article up on TNA using social media. Kurt Angle talked about TNA's approach to using social media:

"We even have to take briefings on how to tweet and what’s the most effective way to tweet. I just never thought it would get to the point where we have meetings on the technique of tweeting. Times are changing. We’re getting more pressure from the networks we’re on. We just had a meeting with Spike TV and their representatives on who to tweet, how to tweet, when you should re-tweet. They want us to talk about things that are storyline-driven in character."

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- Kurt Angle was seen limping badly on his left leg at last night's TNA live event in Dublin. Angle ran out to save Gunner from a post-match attack from Bobby Roode. Angle cut a promo and "very gingerly" left the ring and limped to the back.

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- Gail Kim recently appeared on Wrestling With Rosenberg with Peter Rosenberg. Here are some highlights:

Possibly returning to WWE:
When fans come up to me and ask me when am I going back to the WWE...well, I just put it this way. I was made more for TNA. The way that the women are treated, the time for the matches. That's what I enjoy. I'm so much more happy in TNA.

On Awesome Kong coming to WWE:
Here's the story on that. I was there as she was coming in. They knew we had worked together in TNA so they told me. 'Okay, you are going to be her first match'. Everyone knows that her first match is going to be a squash match. So she starts killing all of the girls in the ring. Then we have a house show loop and they tell me. 'Okay, you and Eve are going to get laid out'. I knew they were out to kill everything that we had done in TNA. They kept pushing off that singles match on TV and finally they said 'okay, it's going to happen'. I remember she was there and then all of a sudden she went home. She came back for a pay per view, i think it was in Seattle and she set me aside and told me 'I have to tell you something, I'm pregnant'. I told her congratulations but a part of me was also happy that it was divine intervention to save our history. I sat back said, thank you Lord.

Whether she felt she was beautiful enough to be in WWE:
They made it known that I wasn't one of those beautiful people. They were very transparent about that. Like, when they would have a rehearsal for one of the Lumber-jill girls matches. They would position the girls exactly where the cameras would go. The girls that they felt weren't 'The Pretty Ones', they would move them to the side. It was a clear message.

Bailing out of a battle royal and quitting WWE:
Some fans were like 'yeah, good for you!' others were like 'oh, she is so unprofessional!". I'm going to be honest. I don't regret it at all. Here is what happened. I had already decided to quit already for a little while. I had planned to quit the day they started the thing with Daniel Bryan and the twins caught us making out and all of that stuff. I walked in to work that day and I talked to my husband, he wasn't my husband at the time but all of a sudden i go in and they have this storyline for me. so i decided to go with the flow.

The network apparently didn't like the storyline of twins fighting over Bryan so they had to make a change. They decided that he needed a secret girlfriend in order to break the story. I was the third choice. Bryan told me. He first pitched Sara Del Ray and Kong as his girlfriend. They went with me because I was already on the roster. We did that story. That lasted about two months. At the end we did a great cat fight with the twins. We went hard and one of them grabbed me and threw me against a wall and i literally dented the wall. My head imprint was on the wall. They loved it so much that we did another two or three of these cat fights One on pay per view too.

Then I got phased out for no reason again. I went to Johnny Ace to ask him what was going on. I asked him, is it because I'm Asian or something. I brought up just about everything. He said 'We love people of all ethnicity here. What else can we do for you? Do you want to train girls down at FCW?' I said no, i don't want to train girls at FCW right now. A few months later it came to that day. I was so frustrated by that point. I was done. Maryse was supposed to eliminate me that night. She had some kind of knee injury and really couldn't do much. They just told me and Natty to 'just do whatever'. So i hit Alicia Fox and told her to sell. As soon as she sold, I rolled out. Because I know that my elimination meant nothing to the battle royale, I did that. Jr said he sort of noticed and one or two agents noticed but nobody else noticed. When I got to the back, they didn't even care. When I told Jonny that I quit I told him, 'You guys don't even care about the women. I just rolled out of the battle royal and nobody noticed.'. He just laughed.

When she will possibly retire:
When my body doesn't hold up any more. I want to go out on top. I don't want to be like one of those 'Gail is looking a little slow in the ring' But I'm 36 now and i feel I'm just as fast as any 25 year old. With Impact we go a little harder though.

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- In their new interview with Pocket-lint.com, Kurt Angle and Jeremy Borash both commented on a potential TNA Network like the one WWE is launching in less than a month.

Angle: "Are we going to see a TNA network soon? No. But we have a lot of room for growth and we have a lot of ability with our roster. We've taken chances, we've made mistakes, and we're still here. That shows that we're here for the long haul."

Borash: "We have always been a company that has evolved and advanced with baby steps, and not to do what our competition is doing for the sake of it. We do what is best for TNA Wrestling first and foremost, and if that means a streaming subscription service is something that our fan base demands, we will follow suit accordingly."

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- DirecTV will not be carrying TNA's One Night Only: Old School pay-per-view that debuts February 7th.

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- For what it's worth, the belief among a lot of TNA talents is that we have seen the last of Sting in the company.

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- Dixie Carter re-tweeted Bully Ray's comments from Wednesday where he invited CM Punk to join TNA.

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- British wrestler Kris Travis noted on Twitter that he is working a dark match against Shark Boy prior to tonight's Impact taping in Glasgow, Scotland.

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- The commentary on tonight's episode of TNA Impact Wrestling will be done by Mike Tenay and Jeremy Borash. Taz is not in Glasgow for today's tapings but noted on Twitter that he will be live tweeting during the show tonight.

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- TNA will begin airing a one-hour pay-per-view titled "Unfinished Business: The Rise of Magnus" beginning March 1st. The preview reads like this:

"He is 6'3" of solid determination. He is a force to be reckoned with. Join TNA WRESTLING for a look at one of the most impressive athletes to come out of the United Kingdom with UNFINISHED BUSINESS: THE RISE OF MAGNUS."

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- It's been in the news this week that George Zimmerman has agreed to do a celebrity boxing match. Several celebrities have thrown their name in the hat to box him but TNA star Kenny King, who is still on the roster, noted on Twitter that he would like to fight Zimmerman.