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sabato 27 aprile 2013

TNA NEWS: Impact TV ratings are in - how did Thursday's episode fare vs. the NFL Draft?


TNA Impact on Thursday, April 25 scored a 0.99 rating, essentially even with a 0.97 rating last week.

The rating kept Impact below the 1.0-mark for the third consecutive week, flashing back to ratings at the very end of 2012.

Impact averaged 1.23 million viewers, down three percent compared to last week's 1.27 million viewers.

On cable TV Thursday night, Impact ranked #30 in overall viewers, #15 in males 18-34, and #14 in males 18-49. Impact was up against the NFL Draft, which drew a so-so audience of 6.1 million viewers due to the lack of star power at the top of the Draft.

In the key male demographics, Impact was down slightly in m18-34 and m18-49 compared to last week. Last year's Impact this week against a star-studded NFL Draft drew a lower overall rating, but drew higher ratings in the key male demographics.
First Hour Break Down

Q1: Impact opened with a show-low 0.83 rating for a Fortune re-formation tease, Aces & Eights attacking babyfaces, and one commercial.

Q2: Impact was essentially even at a 0.84 rating for the first-half of Taryn Terrell vs. Tara, one commercial, and various non-wrestling segments.

Q3: Impact increased slightly to a 0.88 rating for the second-half of Taryn-Tara, one commercial, and Rob Terry vs. Jessie Godderz.

Q4: Impact dipped slightly to a 0.85 rating for backstage segments, video packages, and two full commercial breaks.

Second Hour Break Down

Q5: Chavo & Hernandez vs. Aries & Roode drew a 0.77 rating over the first 30 minutes of Impact two weeks ago, then TNA slotted the re-match at the top of the second hour this week. The result was a 0.99 rating, which was slightly above Impact two weeks ago to avoid being the lowest-rated Q5 of the year. There was also one commercial in Q5.

Q6: Impact hurdled the 1.0-mark for the first time of the show with a 1.15 rating for Morgan-Hogan in-ring. This was followed by one commercial.

Q7: Impact dipped to a 1.08 rating for Mickie James challenging Velvet Sky for the Knockouts Title in the TV main event. There was also one mid-match commercial.

Q8: Impact increased to a show-high 1.22 rating for Hulk Hogan confronting Bully Ray and Sting returning at the end of the show. There was also one commercial.

Caldwell's Analysis: Another concerning first hour ratings pattern, but encouraging news at the end of the show with viewers curious to see who was going to show up at the end. Now that viewers have seen the direction of Impact being the Hogan & Sting Show, will they return the next few weeks building to Slammiversary? That's the key.

venerdì 26 aprile 2013

Kurt Angle Talks About Retiring In WWE, Hogan Being Featured Over Him In TNA!!


TNA star Kurt Angle appeared on Mark Madden's Pittsburgh radio show this week to promote tonight's live episode of Impact Wrestling. Here are some highlights of what Angle said about:

Why Hogan Is Battling Aces & Eights, Not Him

"You know what, I've had talks with Creative and, yeah, we've been going back and forth. I've been the staple of the company the last five years until, I would say, the last year. I believe they've been trying to use the younger talent."

"[It's] a touchy subject. I love Terry, but you're right, it is about bringing up the younger talent. And the way to do it is having them wrestle veterans like me in the main events. Hopefully in the future they'll start doing that more often."

Focusing Back On TNA After Considering Another Olympic Run:

"I believe that was probably the beginning of my demise in TNA as far as where they wanted me," Angle said. "They were expecting me to try out for the Olympics and go to the Olympics, so they kind of wrote me off. Then, they didn't have a lot for me. But, I said, 'Hey, it's over. What are we going to do now?' And they said, 'We're going to have plans for you and start writing you back in.' So, we'll see here in the future."

Loving TNA But Possibly Ending His Career In WWE:

"I love it in TNA. I've been very, very happy here. They treat me very well. You just never know," Angle said. "The way I want to retire, I want to go out with a bang. I'm hoping to God that within the next three years, we can have somewhat of a PPV that is minutely close to WrestleMania. But, we don't. Not yet. But, you know, everyone always wants to retire at WrestleMania."

"It's a hard thing because I want to stay in TNA - I love it there - but when you have the opportunity to go back and perform in front of millions of people on PPV and 100,000 fans in the stadium, it's kind of hard not to. But, like I said, I am happy in TNA and this is where I want to stay."

PAUL LONDON returns to ROH in Toronto May 4th & 5th


UFC 159: CM Punk will be in Chael Sonnen's Locker Room!


Chris Sabin makes his return - Thursday on IMPACT WRESTLING


TNA IMPACT WRESTLING SPOILERS FROM INDIANA, PA - BULLY RAY'S CHALLENGER SET


Here is what you didn't see on Impact last night.

For Xplosion:
Magnus beat Robbie E.

James Storm beat Joey Ryan.

Next week's Impact:

The retuning Chris Sabin beat Zema Ion and Sonjay Dutt in a good X match.
Rob Terry beat Jessie Godderz, Joey Ryan and Robbie E in a three-on-one match.
Hulk Hogan called out Sting and apologized for how he has acted to him.  Sting said he wanted to fight Aces and Eights.  Matt Morgan came out and mocked Sting.  Hogan made Sting vs. Morgan for later tonight.  The winner gets Bully Ray for the Title at Slammiversary.
Kurt Angle beat D'Lo Brown in an "I Quit" match.  Afterward, Angle called out AJ Styles and wants him to join the TNA side.  We will find out next week, supposedly, what AJ will do.
Mickie James and Taryn Terrell beat Tara and Gail Kim.  Taryn pinned Tara.
Bobby Roode and Austin Aries will take on Bad Influence next week.  The champs came out and said James Storm will be the ref.
And in the main event, Sting beat Matt Morgan.  Of course.

COMPLETE IMPACT WRESTLING REPORT: DANIELS AND KAZARIAN WANT TO REFORM FORTUNE, ROODE & ARIES GET THEIR REMATCH AGAINST CHAVO & HERNANDEZ, MATT MORGAN HAS A PROPOSITION FOR HULK HOGAN, STING MAKES HIS RETURN TO TNA, AND MORE


Welcome to PWInsider.com's live, ongoing coverage of Impact Wrestling!
We're live in Indiana, Pennsylvania (not Nebraska, Wisconsin like last week) and James Storm comes out to the ring as we see clips of AJ Styles beating him last week, and he says that he wanted to fight AJ and he brought the fight. Storm spots AJ in the crowd and says that his new finishing move hurt like hell and AJ was the better man last week, but he's not going to cry over spilled milk because he's a beer drinker. Storm says he'd rather deal with the Aces & Eights idiots who jumped from behind, and if they wanted to fight, all they needed to do is call him, tweet him, or whatever. Storm says he knows that if he calls one of them out, they're all going to come out, but they can bring as many out as they want because he'll take one or two of them out in the process. Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian come out and Daniels says they want to weigh in on the matter since they were also victims of Aces & Eights. Hogan doesn't have an answer to the Aces & Eights problem, but the two smartest men in the room know the answer to the problem, because Aces & Eights has been playing the numbers game, but they know the magic number and it's four. Not just any four, but Fortune. Kazarian says that all AJ needs to do is forgive himself for giving them cheapshots last week because he forgives them, then get away from the fartknockers in the audience and get in the ring with his boys Bad Influence and reform Fortune tonight since it's the right thing to do. AJ doesn't respond, but Storm says everyone wants them to shut up, so Kazarian tells "Travis Tritt" that the fans don't concern them and Storm is irrelevant, and this leads to Storm jumping Daniels and getting laid out 2-on-1 while AJ watches from amidst the fartknockers. Daniels and Kazarian leave as Aces & Eights comes out to the ring and surround Storm, Garett Bischoff and Wes Brisco get a table out from under the ring and set it up so Anderson can powerbomb Storm through it, but Joseph Park runs out and gets a couple of shots in before the gang overwhelms him and he gets laid out as well. Doc and Mike Knox get ready to double chokeslam Park through the table, but Bully Ray tells them to stop so he and Devon can give Park 3D through the table. In a nice touch, Park's hand is twitching as he lays on the mat with Aces & Eights standing over him as we go to commercial.
We're back, and Aces & Eights are still in the ring as Joseph Park is being carried out, and Bully Ray tells the crowd they said they weren't screwing around. He tells the fans to look around because there ain't no heroes left: no Samoa Joe, no Brutus Magnus, no James Storm, no Joseph Park, NOBODY. Last week, he called out one man (crowd chants for Hogan), and Bubba says that's right, he called out his next victim, Hulk Hogan. He tells "Dad" that he has until the end of the show to answer his challenge, because when you ride with Aces & Eights, you never walk alone.
We go to the announcers, who tell us that Hulk Hogan was here, but he left hours ago and we don't know why. Todd says we don't know if he's coming back, and Taz says there's no way because he's not dumb enough to show up.
We go to a video package that recaps Mickie's path back to a title shot, and she feels sorry for Velvet because she has to fight through an injury, but she needs to remind everyone of how good she is and it's her time to shine.
Taryn Terrell makes her way to the ring, and she faces Tara...NEXT!
Hulk Hogan returns to the building and the annoying dumbass with the camera tries to get some answers about where he went, but Hogan says to let it go and walks off.
Taryn Terrell vs Tara
Terrell goes nuts on Tara, beating her into the corner, hitting a rolling neckbreaker, and then a series of hairtosses. Terrell goes back after Terrell in the corner, but she gets hotshot off the top rope and Tara starts putting the boots to her and rams her face into the mat. Now Tara hairtosses her across the ring, ODB gives her a laying down of the law before Tara gives Terrell a catapult into the corner. Tara gets Terrell in a version of the Muta Lock and then snaps back on the knee and covers Terrell for a series of two counts. Terrell tries to mount a comeback, but Tara lifts her in the air by the neck and chokes her for a 4 count before just dropping her to the mat. That's some good power there by Tara. Tara is just toying with Terrell and doesn't even really seem to be trying too hard to cradle her on the pin attempts. Tara catapults Terrell into the bottom rope this time and gets another couple of 2 counts, but Terrell moves out of the way of a slingshot rolling legdrop and finally starts that comeback with a series of clotheslines and a verticla suplex. Terrell goes to the top for a flying bodypress, but she takes too long and Tara moves out of the way. Terrell hits hard and Tara trash talks her instead of going for the kill, and I justr KNOW that's going to come back to bite her. Tara picks Terrell up and hits a twisting side suplex, but again passes up the pin, takes her time to do the ass shaking moonsault, and gets rolled up for 3.
Winner: Taryn Terrell
I liked this match, I thought they told a good story of the veteran taking the rookie too lightly and getting caught because she screwed around instead of going for the kill.
Robbie E is backstage and tells Jesse Godderz that Rob Terry always said he knew Jesse had bigger arms and pecs than him, and when he beats Rob Terry tonight, he'll be on his way to becoming a bro on the level of George Washington, Al Bundy, and Oprah Winfrey. Jesse flexes and says he doesn't need Robbie's help...bro.
Rob Terry vs Jesse Godderz
Jesse flexes at the crowd, then turns around and gets his head taken off with a trilogy of clotheslines. Terry gets distracted briefly by Robbie E, but gets Jesse by the neck and tosses him across the ring by the neck. Robbie E distracts Terry again and this time Jesse is able to capitalize and blindside Terry by clipping his knee. That advantage lasts about thirty seconds before Terry goes back to manhandling Jesse. Jesse dropkicks Terry and gets him in a camel clutch while hammering forearms into his chest, he covers Terry but only get 1. Jesse comes off the middle rope, Terry catches him and pops him up into the powerslam, but Robbie E pulls the ref out of the ring at 2. Terry goes after Robbie E, Jesse tries to blindside him again, but Terry sees him coming and just LAUNCHES him into Robbie E, then he press slams Jesse into the ring, hits the spinebuster, and Jesse is out as Terry covers for 3.
Winner: Rob Terry
Terry reigns supreme again as Robbie and Jesse seethe at him from the top of the ramp and wonder what it will take to stop this monster.
Velvet Sky is backstage, and she's...uh...JUTTING!
Frankie Kazarian and Christopher Daniels catch up backstage with Bobby Roode and asks him if he wants to reform Fortune. They say to forget about Storm, but if the three of them stand together, Daniels knows AJ will rejoin them. Roode seems to be considering it as Daniels and Kazarian leave, and we see Aries peeking around the corner with a knowing look on his face as he eavesdropped on their conversation. We look back at two weeks ago when Bully Ray defeated Jeff Hardy in Full Metal Mayhem to retain the TNA World Title, and Mike Tenay says that there are rumors that Jeff Hardy is thinking of walking away from the business. Taz says that comes as no surprise and tells Hardy do the smart thing and take his ball and go home.
We see a video package hyping the return of Chris Sabin, who will be back in the ring next week after two ACL tears put him on the shelf for the better part of the last two years. Great video package that got me psyched to see him come back.
Chavo Guerrero, Jr & Hernandez come out to the ring, and they'll defend the title against Bobby Roode and Austin Aries...NEXT!
Austin Aries comes up to Bobby Roode and says that if he wants to reform Fortune, that's his business since they're not really friends, just two dominant World Champions who make a dominant team. He asks how Daniels and Kazarian are such great wrestlers if Aries was the one who beat him for the title, and why Fortune disappeared if they were so awesome. Aries says he wants to be a World Tag Team Champion and wants Roode to do that with him, and if Roode screw him tonight, he's just screwing himself.
Speaking of Daniels and Kazarian, they join the broadcast team for our next match...
TNA World Tag Team Title Match: Chavo Guerrero, Jr & Hernandez vs Bobby Roode & Austin Aries
The crowd is solidly behind Aries as he locks up with Chavo and they trade some basic chain wrestling to start the match. Chavo finally has enough and starts pounding on Aries with right hands before planting him with a back suplex for 1. Aries tags Roode in and yells at Roode to get to it when he stops to glance down at Daniels and Kazarian. Roode comes in and immediately gets flattened by Hernandez, who bowls him over with a shoulderblock and a big splash for 2. Hernandez gets a delayed vertical suplex on Roode, then he no-sells Aries when he runs in and tries to chop Hernandez, who just pumps him up into the air and press slams him, Hernandez goes up the rampway and charges down for the flying shoulderblock, but Roode and Aries see him coming and dodge the shot, and Roode covers Hernandez for 2. Roode puts the boots to Hernandez and hits a vertical suplex so Aries can slingshot in with a rolling senton for 2. Now Hernandez is in the wrong part of town, as Roode hits a series of running kneestrikes to the gut and a Canadian legsweep for 2. Hernandez evades a double team attempt, clotheslines Roode, tosses Aries onto the corner, and tags in Chavo to clean house and hit some of his Amigos and a rolling front kick on Aries for 2. Chavo with a DDT on Roode for 2, Hernandez dumps Aries to the floor and sets Roode up for the Border Toss, but Daniels and Kazarian interject themselves and allow Roode to hit Hernandez with a psinebuster. Aries goes for the 450 splash, Hernandez kicks Roode into the corner and knocks Aries to the floor, then Daniels distracts the referee while Daniels tries to nail Hernandez, but Hernandez moves and Daniels accidentally lays Roode out. Chavo goes up top and hits the frogsplash for the win.
Winners: Chavo Guerrero, Jr & Hernandez
Chavo and Hernandez retain the title, even though Todd seemed to think Roode and Aries were the champions through the whole match. The seeds of dissension are sown between Roode and Aries...though they never really trusted each other to begin with.
The cameraman catches up with Matt Morgan and asks him what he thinks of tonight's confrontation between Hogan and Bubba. He says Hogan's signing his death warrant, but he's headed out to the ring right now to tell everyone what his solution is, and he wants everybody to pay attention and learn something.
We see Hulk Hogan appearing at the press conference in Florida where he got heckled while announcing that Impact was coming to town, followed by a video package of the recent history between Hulk Hogan and Matt Morgan, and then Morgan comes out to the ring to address the crowd. He says that the last year and a half of his career have centered around mistakes by Hulk Hogan, mistakes like taking Sting's adevice and trusting Bully Ray, not naming Matt Morgan the #1 contender at Lockdown, and giving Bully Ray the title shot so he could steal the title and make Impact Wrestling implode. Hogan ejected Sting, his best friend for 20 years, and nobody's seen him since. Jeff Hardy tried to regain the title for Hogan and TNA, and he got stretchered out of the arena because of Aces & Eights. The crowd chants for Hogan, and Morgan says he's with them because he'd like to ask Hogan down to the ring so he can present him with the answer to all of his problems. Hogan takes his time, but finally comes out to face Morgan, who says that he doesn't want to BS each other: Hogan has no more horses in the race and no backup when he comes out to face Bubba later tonight. Everyone knows they're going to eat him up and spit him out, they've done it to everyone else on their roster, and he has nobody left. Morgan offers the ultimate solution: seven feet and 300 pounds of "The Blueprint" Matt Morgan. Nobody wants it more and nobody has begged for the shot more than Matt Morgan, and nobody's more able to eliminate them than he is, and he is Hogan's seven foot knight in shining armor, and if given the opportunity, he'll take Bully Ray's watermelon head and Carbon Footprint it into the fifth row...for a small price, of course. Morgan says he'll handle the Bully Ray situation if Hogan gives him the title shot at Slammiversary right now, and he asks Hogan what he thinks. Hogan stops to look out at the crowd and gauge their reaction, and the fans seem into the idea. Hogan tells Morgan that a lot of what he says is true and he has the goods to get the job done, and Hogan says he probably could, but with his hopes at an all time high, he was hoping Morgan would do the right thing. Hogan put up with all of Morgan's crap because he was hoping Morgan would finally become the guy we all wanted him to be, the second coming of the Mania, BROTHER, but at the end of the day, Morgan will only do it for a price. If Hogan gave him the title shot now, it would be a bigger mistake than Bully Ray, and he knows he caused all this trouble with Aces & Eights, and even if he's not capable, he'll go out there and take what he needs to take for the sake of the company and he's not going to hand anything over to Morgan. And by the way, he never saw Andre the Giant come out here and whine like a little bitch. Hogan drops the mic and storms off as an irate Morgan stands in the ring in shock that he didn't get his title shot.
Mickie James and Velvet Sky are backstage, and they're...WALKING!
Aces & Eights are in their satellite clubhouse laughing over the idea of Hulk Hogan facing them alone after like 20 knee surgeries, but Bully Ray makes the rest of the gang promise not to get involved and let him deal with his father-in-law by himself.
Knockouts Title Match: Velvet Sky vs Mickie James
Mickie looks like she's worked hard to get herself into great shape. They do some basic feeling out before Velvet snapmares Mickie and hits a basement dropkick for 2. Velvet hits a leapfrog and tweaks the knee she injured a couple of weeks ago, and Mickie hesitates for a moment before going for a cover. She only gets 2, so she gets a spinning toehold, a very legitimate submission hold that could end a match after someone suffers an injury like Velvet did...and we choose now to go to commercial.
We're back, and Mickie is still relentlessly working Velvet's knee over. She catches Velvet in an STF, Velvet makes it to the ropes to force a break, and she suddenly starts firing back at Mickie after getting a second wind. Her knee is still giving her a lot of trouble as she unloads on Mickie, but collapses when she gets fired into the ropes and goes down in a heap. Mickie hesitates again, and it costs her as Velvet hits a Russian legsweep for 2. Mickie hits a leaping enziguiri and goes to the top, and she connects with a top rope Thesz Press that Velvet just barely kicks out of. Mickie backdrops Velvet out of In Your Face and sets up for the DDT, but Velvet shoves her off so Mickie dropkicks the injured knee out from under her. Mickie again gives Velvet time to recover and Velvet catches her in a small package and she grabs the damn jeans to get 3!
Winner: Velvet Sky
I don't think Velvet actually was supposed to cheat to win the match, but they were close enough to the ropes that I guess she had to do something to hit the finish and it was one of those things that just kind of happens.
Bully Ray and Devon are backstage gloating over being the most successful tag team in history, and now they hold the TNA World and TV Titles, and they lead a pack of wolves and nobody is going to stop them. Bubba's going out to face his father-in-law, and he's going to be the man to put the final nail in the coffin of Hulkamania.
We then go to Brooke Hogan, who is scared to death for her father as he goes out to face Aces & Eights. She knows she sounds like a hypocrite because she wanted to face Bubba alone too, but she has bodyguards. I guess Hogan can't bring Atlas Security to the ring with him? Anyway, Hogan says he made this problem by putting Bubba in the position to win the title, and now he has to go handle this situation. Brooke leaves, Hogan asks himself what he's getting himself into, and he goes back to taping up his wrists.
Bully Ray comes out to the ring, takes a piece of paper out of his back pocket, and reads off a list of names: Sting, Brutus Magnus, Samoa Joe, Eric Young, the Pope, Kurt Angle, Jeff Hardy, Joseph Park, James Storm, and he asks what all those names have in common. He says they were all victims of Aces & Eights, and there's only one victim left. He tells Hulk Hogan to get out there right now, and Hulk himself comes out with his business tape wrapped around his fists. Bubba yells to have his music shut off as he asks a very angry looking Hulk Hogan how his recently-reconstructed knee is doing. Bubba says Hogan is raring to go and he bets Hogan can't wait to just punch him in his face, hit him with the big boot, and drop the big leg on him, but it ain't gonna happen. Hogan can walk down the ramp, step in the ring, and try to fool the fans, but he'll never in a million years fool Bubba. He can look in Hogan's eyes and see one and only one thing: pure fear. Hulk Hogan fears Bully Ray, and he fears him because he reminds Hogan of himself, he's the last of a dying breed, Hogan's breed. Hogan asked if he ever thought he would see Bubba standing there, and reminds Hogan that he's the President of Aces & Eights, the TNA World Champion, his son-in-law, and the man who's going to put an end to Hulkamania. Hogan says Bubba can't put an end to Hulkamania because Hulkamania will never die. They throw down their microphones, Bubba turns his hat around backward as Taz cheers for Bubba to go after his knee, but instead Bubba just spits in Hogan's face. Hogan stops and shakes his head and starts to walk away, but then he gets the look of the Hulkster, tears his shirt off, and does YOU! at Bubba. Bubba goes YOU back at him and they stare each other down until Bubba takes a swing at Hogan, who blocks, whips Bubba to the ropes for the big boot, but Bubba grabs the ropes and pulls himself out to the floor. The rest of Aces & Eights comes out and surrounds the ring, and things are looking really bad for Hogan...but the lights go out, and when they come back up, Sting is in the ring and is pointing his bat at Hogan. Bubba looks really excited, but we all know what's going to happen next. Sure enough, Sting turns around, nudges Bubba's hat off with the bat, and starts laying out Aces & Eights with the bat while Hogan knocks a few off himself. Aces & Eights heads for the hills, but instead of giving Hogan a big, sloppy hug and kiss, he points his bat at Hogan and then walks off without saying a word. Sting is back to help TNA, but it looks like he and Hogan still have a ways to go as a bewildered Hogan stares out at the crowd as we call it a week.
Thanks for following this week's Impact Wrestling Report, I'll be back tomorrow to discuss Impact and more with Dave Scherer on the Stu & Pid Show!

mercoledì 24 aprile 2013

Former Senior Director of WWE Live Events & Marketing Rafael Morffi Has Joined TNA!

Big welcome to Rafael Morffi to the team. Worked with him at WWE while I was there and looking forward to working with him again!

Morffi was considered to be a very respected individual in the New York area and was considered an excellent addition to the staff behind the scenes. He departed from WWE in late 2012.

HULK HOGAN HECKLED AT TNA PRESS CONFERENCE & MORE TNA NEWS



A man making references to Florida DJ "Cowhead" was removed from yesterday's TNA press conference promoting the 5/23 Tampa, FL Impact Wrestling taping for yelling references to Hogan's sex tape lawsuit, according to the Tampa Tribune. The press conference, which was at Hogan's restaurant, also featured appearances by Magnus with Aces & Eights showing up to threaten TNA, before "escaping via jet skis" into the water. You can read the Tribune account here or check out highlights of the conference below:

TNA FIGURING OUT HOW TO COMPETE WITH THE NFL


Dixie Carter wrote on her twitter: "Do NOT miss #ImpactLIVE this Thurs where YOU will make the selection like the GM in the "Draft War Room." What does that mean? Tune in!"

WWE NEWS: Raw TV ratings are in - did The Undertaker give this week's Raw a boost?


WWE Raw on Monday, April 22 scored a 3.14 rating, up from a near-year-low 3.08 rating last week.

Despite the overall rating increasing, the key male demo of males 18-49 was flat vs. last week and the key demo of males 18-34 was down two-tenths of a rating. The key to Raw's ratings increase was interestingly a big jump in teen males to the highest level since February.

On cable TV Monday night, Raw ranked #1 in total viewers, #2 in m18-34 behind the NBA Playoffs on TNT, and #1 among m18-49, #1 among m12-34, and male teens.

- Raw averaged 4.40 million viewers, up six percent from last week's year-low viewership.

Hourly Break Down: 4.19 million first hour viewers (nearly identical to last week), 4.65 million second hour viewers (up 400,000 viewers from last week for Undertaker's in-ring return on Raw), and 4.36 million third hour viewers (up 300,000 viewers from last week).

Raw dropped off from the second to third hour for the 15th consecutive week and 15th out of 16 weeks in 2013.

- Last year's post-WrestleMania Raw from the U.K. scored a 3.08 rating, virtually even with the previous week's 3.10 rating.

Caldwell's Analysis: The Undertaker's presence helped offset the usual drop-off for the rare taped Raw episode from an international location. Whether this week's above-average performance leads to ratings growth remains to be seen, especially because there will not be a sense of urgency to Raw the next few weeks due to the longer-than-usual interval between WrestleMania and the post-Mania PPV.

sabato 20 aprile 2013

TNA NEWS: Impact TV ratings are in - did TNA rebound from last week's year-low rating?



TNA Impact on Thursday, April 19 scored a 0.98 rating, up slightly from a 0.93 rating last week. It was the first time back-to-back episodes have registered below a 1.00 rating since the final two weeks of 2012.

Impact averaged 1.268 million viewers, up from 1.170 million viewers last week, which was an eight-month low. This week's viewership was the second-lowest of 2013, only trailing last week's show.

- On cable TV Thursday night, Impact ranked #44 in overall viewers, #17 among males 18-34, and #11 among males 18-49, which was an improvement from last week's near-year-lows in the key demographics.

- Last year this week, the Apr. 19, 2012 Impact scored the exact same 0.98 rating and the demographics were nearly identical. Two years ago this week, Impact scored a 1.17 overall rating.

Caldwell's Analysis: Last week, Impact was hurt tremendously by the first hour, but the show was also hurt by the start of the second hour. It's apparent that after nearly one year at 8:00 p.m. EST, Impact has been hurt by the timeslot change, which is backed up by the quarter-hour ratings again this week. And, going live every other week and going on the road every week has not led to a ratings boost to offset the timeslot change. 

TNA Impact on Thursday, April 18 officially scored a 0.97 rating off a first hour 0.91 rating and second hour 1.03 rating.

The second hour rating was identical to last week's show, which was the lowest-rated of the year. The only difference was this week's first hour did not start with eye-poppingly low ratings in the first 30 minutes. But, the first hour remains an issue in the earlier timeslot.

Within the second hour, there should be concern over a descending ratings pattern. The highest rating od the show was 1.07 rating in Q5 for the Knockouts, then Impact steadily dropped off before reaching a 1.00 rating in Q8 for A.J. Styles's in-ring return. It was the lowest-rated eighth-quarter-hour rating of the year.

First Hour Break Down

Q1: Impact opened with a 0.81 rating, which was not much of an improvement from a 0.75 rating to open the show last week. The segment featured the first-half of Kurt Angle vs. Wes Brisco & Garett Bischoff in a handicap match and one commercial.

Q2: Impact began climbing with a 0.90 rating, which was the biggest difference from last week - Q2 last week scored a 0.79 rating. The segment featured the second-half of the Angle handicap match, one commercial, and the first-half of the X Division three-way title match.

Q3: Impact continued climbing with a 0.96 rating for the second-half of the X Title match, one commercial, and Aces & Eights beating down Magnus.

Q4: Impact stayed at a 0.96 rating for a segment with various video segments, backstage segments, and two full commercial breaks.

Second Hour Break Down

Q5: Impact got its usual top-of-the-second-hour bump to a show-high 1.07 rating for the Knockouts #1 contender match between Mickie James and Miss Tessmacher, plus one commercial. By comparison, the fifth-quarter-hour of Impact has averaged a 1.20 rating in 2013.

Q6: Impact began descending with a 1.02 rating for an in-ring segment focused on the top tag teams, one commercial, and follow-up on Jeff Hardy's injury angle last week on Impact.

Q7: Impact continued descending with a 1.01 rating for Devon vs. Samoa Joe for the TV Title, one commercial, ring introductions for the main event, and the first three minutes of James Storm vs. A.J. Styles, who was making his Impact TV return.

Q8: Impact concluded its descent with a 1.00 flat rating for one commercial, then the conclusion of Storm vs. Styles and Aces & Eights's post-match beat down on Storm, Daniels, and Kazarian.
 

VIDEO: THE TNA KNOCKOUT WEBSITE IS COMING


COMPLETE IMPACT WRESTLING REPORT: KURT ANGLE FIGHTS WES BRISCO AND GARETT BISCHOFF IN A HANDICAP MATCH, VELVET SKY'S NEXT CHALLENGER IS DETERMINED, THE #1 CONTENDER TO THE TAG TITLE IS UP FOR A LITTLE MORE DEBATE, AJ STYLES RETURNS TO THE RING, AND MORE


Welcome to the Impact Wrestling Report here on PWInsider.com!
The show opens with a very classy message sending their thoughts to the people of Boston in the wake of this week's bombing, and then we go to a video package looking at last week's segment with AJ Styles and Hulk Hogan's decision that AJ will face James Storm this week. We also see Chavo Guerrero, Jr and Hernandez regaining the TNA World Tag Team Title and the incident with Devon warning Joseph Park to stay out of family business and the Brooke-Bubba marriage. We then see clips of last week's Full Metal Mayhem and then we see a scene from after the show went off the air last week as Hulk Hogan tells Jeff Hardy he's sorry as he's being carried out to the ambulance.
Devon is backstage giving Garett Bischoff and Wes Brisco a pep talk as they go into their match with Kurt Angle. Garett and Wes are confident, but Devon says not to take Kurt lightly because he's been in the ring with him and knows how tough he is. Garett says the only tough part will be deciding who gets the pin, and Devon says he doesn't care which of them does it as long as it gets done.
We see a video package looking at the history of Kurt Angle, Garett Bischoff, and Wes Brisco during entrances, and then we kick tonight's show off with...
Kurt Angle vs Garett Bischoff & Wes Brisco
Angle and Wes start us off, and Angle casually destroys Wes by pummeling him in the corner before taking a shot at Garett and then going back to stomping Wes. Angle hits a snap suplex on Wes and stares Garett down as he tosses Wes to the corner and allowing him to tag Garett in. Garett doesn't have any better luck, taking the same beating Wes did until Wes tries to run in and gets laid out by Angle as well as we go to commercial.
We're back and Angle is still unloading on Garett, but Wes sneaks in behind the referee's back and low blows Angle. Garett finally has an opening and unloads with some heavy right hands as the crowd tells him that he can't wrestle. Garett hits a snap suplex for 2 and then tags Wes back in to lay Angle out with a clothesline for 1. Wes gets a rear chinlock, but Angle escapes and takes both Wes and Garett out with repeated clotheslines, then it's suplexes for everyone, including the rare double German suplex. Angle Slam on Garett but Wes breaks the count at 2. Angle rams Wes into the ringpost as the rest of the gang makes their way to ringside. Angle gets the anklelock on Wes, but Garett grabs a chain from D-Lo and knocks Angle out with it to pick up the win.
Winners: Wes Brisco & Garett Bischoff
Garett and Wes attack Angle again after the match and flatten him with a double powerbomb, then Ken Anderson says that this is the way things are going to go down from now on. Sting's been gone for weeks, Jeff Hardy was decimated, and now Angle is laying in shambles. If you're not wearing Aces & Eights gear tonight, you're in a bad way. Anderson closes by saying that they're rooting for AJ Styles tonight.
Petey Williams is backstage discussing his strategy for tonight's three way X Division match and says he's going to try and hit the Canadian Destroyer. Zema Ion says he likes that he can pin either man to regain his title, but doesn't like that he can lose it without getting pinned. He can promise that he's going to get it back, he can say that for a fact.
X Division Title Match: Kenny King vs Zema Ion vs Petey Williams
King immediately clotheslines Ion to the outside and then we go to the X-Cam, a camera mounted on the referee's head so we can see things from his perspective as King takes Ion's head off with a leg lariat. King with a cartwheel kick to Ion and goes for the Royal Flush, but Williams reverses and hits the Canadian Destroyer. Ion breaks up the pinfall and then tries to steal the pin for himself, and this leads to Williams going after Ion and hitting a flying headscissors. Williams with another headscissors and covers for 2, Ion hits a neckbreaker for 2 and then rolls Wililams into a modified half crab. Williams makes it to the ropes and they trade blows until Williams gets a Canadian legsweep and a crucifix for 2. King is finally making it to his feet on the outside as he recovers for the Canadian Destroyer, but Williams takes him out with a dive and hits a release suplex on Ion before taking King out again with a slingshot headscissors to the floor. Ion catches Williams with a tornado DDT through the ropes for 2, Williams gets the knees up on a moonsault attempt and gets Ion in the Sharpshooter. King comes in and nails Wililams with shotgun knees and then steals a pin on Ion for 3.
Winner: Kenny King
Good showcase for Williams to reestablish himself, and a smart finish.
Brutus Magnus is backstage and says he has a lot of history with Devon and Aces & Eights, but he's confused that Aces & Eights say they're going to take people out and cause chaos because the only person doing any taking is going to be him when he takes the TV Title he's been waiting five months to take from him.
Brooke Hogan and Christy Hemme are...uh, backstage checking out the Knockouts on their new website. Christy takes off so Brooke can bring Mickie James and Miss Tessmacher in and say they're getting a shot because of how much heart they've been showing lately. Mickie leaves after Brooke tells her how cute her hair looks, then Tessmacher tells Brooke that they all see what she's going through with Bully Ray and they're there for her if she needs them. Tessmacher gives her a hug as I dread the idea that Tessmacher just telegraphed that she's joining Aces & Eights.
Knox and Doc attack Magnus on his way to the ring to challenge Devon for the TV Title, but he fights them both off until Devon comes up the ramp and nails Magnus with a chain. Doc and Knox hold Magnus, who kicks at Devon as he comes in and punches Magnus in the gut with the chain. Magnus is still fighting his way to his feet and takes a double chokeslam from Doc and Knox. Samoa Joe comes out to make the save for his tag team partner, and I guess the TV Title match is off.
Samoa Joe is backstage telling Aces & Eights that they're cowards, but he talked to the Powers That Be (uh oh...is Russo back?) and he's coming to collect when he sees Devon in the ring tonight.
We see a video package looking back at the recent weirdness from AJ Styles, then we look at a couple of weeks ago when Velvet Sky blew out her knee. Speaking of the Knockouts...
#1 Contender Match: Miss Tessmacher vs Mickie James
ODB is the referee, so I guess she's the new official referee for the Knockouts division. Mickie and Tessmacher tie up and neither is able to get an advantage. They go to the mat and Tessmacher gets the advantage, but Mickie makes it to the ropes. They both start bitching to the referee about the rope call and Brooke uses the distraction to get a quick rollup on Mickie for 2. Mickietakes Brooke down with a cross armbreaker but is too close to the ropes and Brooke gets the break. Brooke takes a breather on the floor to break Mickie's momentum, then drags Mickie out to the floor and they trde forearms on the outside. This turns into a straight up fight as they yank on each other's hair as ODB yells at them to get back in the ring NOW. They go back inside and Brooke opens up with right hands and hits a facebuster for 2. Brooke hits the stunkface and keeps grinding it for a good long time before yanking Mickie out of the corner and covering for 2. Mickie catches Tessmacher with a flapjack and goes up to for the Pappy Dive, but only gets 2 so she goes back to arguing with ODB. She takes too long and Tessmacher nails Mickie with a clothesline, Mickie blocks a mpove and rams Brooke face first into the middle turnbuckle, she goes for the leaping DDT, Tessmacher tries reversing to a rollup, but Mickie counters to a jackknife cradle for 3.
Winner: Mickie James
Mickie is now the #1 contender to Velvet Sky and will get a title shot whenever Velvet is healthy, I guess.
We see AJ Styles backstage walking off as Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian say the band is back together because they're the three best friends that anyone could have.
Joseph Park is in the men's room trying to do business when Devon takes his phone and reminds Park that he has to stay out of family business. Park tries to protest, so Bubba suckerpunches Park from behind, then has Devon choke him out with a chain as he tells Park to consider this a threat and not a promise: STAY OUT OF FAMILY BUSINESS. Devon throws Park into the shower and turns it on, and they mock him for crying and stroll off laughing as Park looks pathetic.
Mickie James is backstage saying it's good to be the #1 contender again, it's been far too long since she's held that title and everyone has forgotten how good she is. She feels bad for Velvet because she knows what it's like to be injured and not have an off season. She hates to sound disgruntled, but it's been too long that she's been pushed aside and now is her time to shine.
James Storm says this has been going on too long and it's time to solve things the Cowboy way: by knocking some sense into AJ Styles.
Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian come out to the ring to say that the Year of Bad Influence continues. Daniels says it's good to be them, the fans love them, and they have new t-shirts at ShopTNA.com. They're working on the movie and are in talks to get Morgan Freeman to play Dixie Carter, and they are really close to convincing AJ Styles to join the band one more time. They even got AJ his own Bad Influence shirt, and Kazarian says that the OGs of Impact are ready to ride again and the first order of business is Chavo Guerrero and Juan Hernandez. As soon as they have the juevos to give them their title shots, they will become the World Tag Team Champions of the World Part Tres, and on that note, the chodes in the crowd all have permission to worship them. Bobby Roode and Austin Aries say that before they decide who is fighting who, he's sorry to tell them that they're not the #1 contenders to the title because Chavo and Hernandez fluked their way to a win over them, so they get their rematch before anyone else. Daniels says his opinion would be worth a lot more if he wasn't Canadian because a Canadian opinion is only worth three quarters of an American opinion. Aries says Daniels and Kazarian may be a better team, but if they spent as much time together as Francois and Kristoff do, they'd be the same well oiled, well lubed machine they are. Kazarian says Roode only cut his hair because Kazarian did it first and it looks awesome. They continue trading insults back and forth and this is getting seriously hilarious until Chavo and Hernandez come into the ring behind Roode and Aries. Daniels and Kazarian leave and Roode and Aries think they made them back down, but they turn around and get flattened by the champions. Chavo holds up the title and says it's why they're better than both of them.
We look at a video package of Jeff Hardy getting carried out last week as Kenny King, Gail Kim, and Bobby Roode talk about how difficult and dangerous things are right now with the way Aces & Eights are running roughshod over them. We then look at earlier tonight when Wes Brisco and Garett Bischoff took out Kurt Angle and then the entire gang took care of Brutus Magnus. We then go to Matt Morgan, who says it's no shock that Hogan isn't here, then runs down his list of mistakes: not naming him the #1 contender at Lockdown, getting suckered in by Bully Ray, letting Sting, the guy who stuck by him all this time, walk out on him, and letting Jeff Hardy get carried out last week. He says that all this could have been avoided if he just did the right thing. This leads us to...
TV Title Match: Devon vs Samoa Joe
Devon jumps Joe on his way into the ring and tries to chew his face off in the corner. Joe fires back and beats Devon down in the corner, then lays him out with a leaping kneestrike. Joe with the snapmare/chop/kick/kneedrop combo for 2, then he goes for the Kokina Clutch. Devon escapes and hits a spear, then goes to the eyes. Joe escapes a chinlock and hits a leaping enziguiri, he sets Devon up for the Muscle Buster, but Ken Anderson slips in as the referee is distracted by Garett Bischoff and knocks Joe out with something. Devon crawls over and makes a cover to retain.
Winner: Devon
The gang holds Joe so Anderson can get right up in his face and knock him out with the knucks he used to hand Devon the win. Joe is rolling around the mat and is clearly in a lot of pain as Anderson gloats.
AJ Styles is backstage, and he's...WALKING! The main event is up next!
Next week: Two titles are on the line as Mickie James challenges Velvet Sky for the Knockouts Title, and Bobby Roode & Austin Aries get their rematch with Chavo & Hernandez for the TNA World Tag Team Title!
It's main event time!
AJ Styles vs James Storm
AJ comes out to the ring, then turns and walks back up the aisle. Storm goes after him and goes for the Eye of the Storm on the ramp, but AJ fights his way out and drills Storm with a big right hand. Storm responds with a haymaker of his own and they head back inside where the bell rings to officially start the match. AJ nails Storm coming in and unloads with some hard shots, Storm responds with a high knee and nails some punches of his own. AJ is in control as we go to commercial.
We're back as AJ Styles muscles Storm into a vertical suplex and then locks him in a chinlock. Storm escapes and hits a series of clotheslines and a BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK BODYDROP. Storm hits a spinning version of the Air Raid Crash for 2 then goes for a superplex, AJ blocks and escapes, hanging Storm in the Tree of Woe. AJ with a delayed hanging dropkick to Storm and covers for 2 as Daniels and Kazarian come out to allegedly cheer AJ on. AJ is distracted by them and Storm hits a lungblower, then a Cactus clothesline sends both men to the floor. They go back in and AJ misses a big boot and Storm hits Closing Time. AJ catches the boot as Storm goes for the Last Call and rolls through into some bizarro leglock and forces Storm to tap out.
Winner: AJ Styles
Daniels and Kazarian come into the ring to celebrate with AJ and he plays along for a bit before laying both of them out. AJ and Storm have a staredown and AJ walks off as Aces & Eights rush the ring and beat the crap out of Storm. They also drag Daniels and Kazarian into the ring and beat them up too as Bully Ray stands there giving everyone orders. D-Lo pops Storm up into the Sky High as Bubba gets a microphone and asks if we know who he is and they are, then says that they are the Aces & Eights, the men responsible for destroying all their heroes, and he is the man responsible for taking out Jeff Hardy. His brothers are responsible for taking out these three pieces of trash, and the fans have no heroes left because they're all just victims, and the one man they can blame this on is Hulk Hogan. He gives Taz a shout out by saying that they're the reason they're all another victim, and next week, he's calling Hulk out to the middle of the ring so he can look him dead in the eye and tell him to his face that he's the reason why all the heroes are nothing but victims of Aces & Eights, and when you ride with Aces & Eights (stops to take a shot at Storm), you never walk alone.
That does is for this week, I'll be back tomorrow with Dave Scherer to discuss Impact and more on the Stu & Pid Show!

giovedì 18 aprile 2013

PICS: WWE NEW PERFORMANCE CENTER!


Indy Wrestler Going Through WWE Medical Tests?


- F4Wonline.com reports that word going around the Cauliflower Alley Club Reunion this week is that top independent wrestler Sami Callihan is currently going through all of his medical testing to sign a WWE contract.

ANOTHER TNA EXEC GONE, FORMER TNA PERSONALITY LAMENTS ROYALTIES, KING MO-TNA UPDATE AND MORE NEWS


Michael Krewson, who was Director of Touring for TNA, has given notice to the company that he is leaving and will officially finish up this week. Krewson was responsible for booking all of the venues TNA ran. He had been with the company since 2008. He is the latest exec to depart of late.
King Mo's planned in-ring debut has been pushed back as Bellator and Spike made the decision to have him fight again sometime this summer, according to Spike President Kevin Kay in an interview with Sherdog.com.
Anyone remember the old WCW ref-cam from 1991? Well, if you don't, TNA will be bringing back a similar camera shot with tonight's Impact Wrestling as they will feature a referee's POV camera on the X-Division bout. WCW actually had a camera mounted to a helmet on the referees in 1991 and wow, it looked silly. I sure hope technology today allows for something better!
Don West apparently did not get a Don West deal from TNA. Via Twitter, West wrote, "Just got my biannual royalty check from TNA and if it wasn’t so hilarious it would be sad." When a fan jokingly asked if he received it in a "Brown Bag Special" (a gimmick bag full of merchandise the company sells at events), West responded, "It is actually less than a brown bag special."
Tara noted on her Twitter that she would not be back on TV "for a few months" but did not give any further explanation.
TNA will be doing a pre-Impact Twitter chat with Chris Sabin today.

WHAT WWE WILL ANNOUNCE TODAY!


As noted on PWInsider.com yesterday, today's WWE announcement in Florida will be that the company is launching what has been termed their first "Performance Center", which is a fancy way of saying that WWE developmental is moving to the market as part of a new state of the art facility the company has built.
In a statement to the Orlando Sentinel, the office of Governor Rick Scott stated, "WWE could have chosen anywhere in the world to house this new global performance center – and they chose the Sunshine State. [This] announcement that WWE will create nearly 100 more jobs for families in Central Florida is further proof that everything we do is geared towards job creation."
The plan is to partner with Full Sail University to not only groom future on screen talents but potential company production employees as well.
The official announcement and press conference is set for 11:30 AM today.

TNA IMPACT WRESTLING PREVIEW (NON SPOILER)


Scheduled for this tonight's Impact Wrestling:
*Sting & James Storm & Joseph Park vs. TNA champion Bully Ray & Doc & Devon.
*AJ Styles vs. James Storm.
*Mickie James vs. Brooke Tessmacher.
*Wes Briscoe & Garrett Bischoff vs. Kurt Angle in a handicap match.
*TNA X-Division champ Kenny King vs. Zema Ion vs. Petey Williams.
*TNA TV champ Devon vs. Magnus.

FORMER WWE STAR ARRESTED!


Former WWE star Brian "Grandmaster Sexay" Christopher was arrested on 4/11 on a DUI charge and is scheduled for a hearing this Friday, according to ABC affiliate WBBJ-TV in Memphis, TN.
According to the WBBJ report, Christopher was arrested in the early morning on the 11th. He was pulled over after he failed to stop at an intersection.
Police claim Christopher "admitted to drinking more than half a liter of vodka and taking methadone and xanax", according to the report.
Christopher is currently out on $1000 bail.

ROH ANNOUNCES INJURY TO CHANGE BORDER WARS iPPV!



Ring of Honor issued the following:
In very unfortunate news, multi-time GHC Champion Naomichi Marufuji suffered a very serious knee injury over the weekend in Japan and will not be able to compete at "Border Wars 2013" or the TV Taping the following day. Ring of Honor officials are hard at work looking for a replacement for Marufuji and will have confirmation soon. Get well soon Marufuji!



mercoledì 17 aprile 2013

WWE RAW AUDIENCE DROPS IN A BIG WAY



Last night's edition of Raw did 4,149,000 viewers, down almost 500,000 from last week. 
Date Average Audience Hour 1 Hour 2 Hour 3
7/23/2012 6,019,000 5,439,000 6,318,000 6,300,000
7/30/2012 4,495,000 4,064,000 4,719,000 4,701,000
8/6/2012 4,367,000 4,007,000 4,648,000 4,446,000
8/13/2012 4,134,000 3,795,000 4,252,000 4,354,000
8/20/2012 4,478,000 4,352,000 4,657,000 4,352,000
8/27/2012 4,482,000 4,160,000 4,786,000 4,499,000
9/3/2012 4,203,000 4,308,000 4,395,000 3,907,000
9/10/2012 4,136,000 3,777,000 4,362,000 4,270,000
9/17/2012 4,052,000 4,111,000 4,119,000 3,925,000
9/24/2012 3,787,000 3,769,000 3,990,000 3,603,000
10/1/2012 3,502,000 3,436,000 3,598,000 3,472,000
10/8/2012 4,108,000 4,191,000 4,067,000 4,065,000
10/15/2012 3,989,000 4,067,000 4,013,000 3,886,000
10/22/2012 3,554,000 3,578,000 3,653,000 3,432,000
10/29/2012 4,102,000 4,306,000 4,217,000 3,783,000
11/5/2012 4,076,000 4,066,000 4,279,000 3,883,000
11/12/2012 4,194,000 4,154,000 4,399,000 4,027,000
11/19/2012 3,835,000 3,873,000 3,923,000 3,710,000
11/26/2012 3,920,000 4,147,000 4,126,000 3,488,000
12/3/2012 3,437,000 3,580,000 3,370,000 3,360,000
12/10/2012 3,764,000 3,743,000 3,876,000 3,672,000
12/17/2012 4,230,000 4,290,000 4,410,000 3,990,000
12/24/2012 3,143,000 2,940,000 3,271,000 3,219,000
12/31/2012 3,552,000 3,397,000 3,644,000 3,614,000
1/7/2013 4,420,000 4,290,000 4,320,000 4,650,000
1/14/2013 4,550,000 4,500,000 4,680,000 4,470,000
1/21/2013 4,317,000 4,370,000 4,419,000 4,162,000
1/28/2013 5,020,000 4,860,000 5,270,000 4,930,000
2/4/2013 4,810,000 4,863,000 4,857,000 4,711,000
2/11/2013 4,260,000 4,350,000 4,250,000 4,180,000
2/18/2013 4,662,000 4,818,000 4,674,000 4,493,000
2/25/2013 4,707,000 4,860,000 4,700,000 4,560,000
3/4/2013 5,018,000 4,968,000 5,239,000 4,847,000
3/11/2013 4,813,000 4,980,000 4,890,000 4,570,000
3/18/2013 4,260,000 4,252,000 4,415,000 4,114,000
3/25/2013 4,617,000 4,580,000 4,690,000 4,580,000
4/1/2013 4,305,000 4,031,000 4,483,000 4,402,000
4/8/2013 4,610,000 4,490,000 4,780,000 4,560,000
4/15/2013 4,149,000 4,185,000 4,236,000 4,026,000

ANOTHER TNA DEPARTURE


Craig Jenkins, who was Live Events Coordinator for TNA, has left the company.
Jenkins had been with TNA for eight years and handled a lot of responsibility on the road when it came to dealing with venues the day of events, setting up, fan interactions, etc.
Jenkins was also the TNA exec who set off a Ric Flair tantrum when he refused to cover Flair's bar tab during a tour of Europe, which led to Ric refusing to get on a bus to the airport, missing one of the dates.
Jenkins' exit follows the PR department's Chris Thomas and Jules Wortman. There's been talk of at least one other exec departing the company as well.

martedì 16 aprile 2013

COMPLETE WWE RAW REPORT: MATCHES ANNOUNCED FOR EXTREME RULES; BOOKER ALMOST UTTERS THOSE THREE WORDS; THE RYBACK TALKS; I SENSE A THEME WITH THESE NON-TITLE MATCHES; CM PUNK SPEAKS; BIG SIX MAN TAG MATCH NEXT WEEK ON RAW; DID FANDANGOING DANCE OVER THE SHARK?


Last week on Raw, Mark Henry had his chance to face John Cena for the WWE Title, but he failed by count out. Mark Henry got some revenge but so did Ryback. Ryback sent John Cena a message, but what will happen when he talks about his actions? What will CM Punk say when he is given the chance to explain his loss to the Undertaker?
We are in Greenville, South Carolina and your announcers are Michael ‘Something seems familiar but I can’t put my finger on it’ Cole, John ‘Hope you sold your gold before today’ Layfield and Jerry ‘Why Isn’t Mike Rotunda here tonight’ Lawler.
Match Number One: Randy Orton and Sheamus versus Big Show in a Remember This Match from Smackdown (apparently the announcers didn’t) Match
Orton and Sheamus discuss who will begin the match and it is Sheamus. They lock up and Show backs Sheamus into the corner and Show pie faces Sheamus. Sheamus with punches and a side head lock but Show with a belly-to-back suplex to get out of the hold. Sheamus punches Show but Show with a shot to the midsection. Sheamus with shoulders from the apron and Sheamus with the forearms across the chest. Sheamus drops Show on the top rope and then Sheamus hits the flying shoulder tackle to take Show down and Sheamus gets a near fall.
Show sends Sheamus over the top rope to the floor. Orton tries to get the crowd to give Sheamus the power to recover. Sheamus returns to the ring and Show with a head butt. Show with repeated chops across the chest. Show with the Final Cut and he gets a near fall but Orton gets involved.
Sheamus with punches but Show with a top wrist lock. Sheamus with punches and a forearm to the back. Show with a side slam. Show goes to the turnbuckles but Sheamus recovers and he gets Show on his shoulders and he hits an Electric Chair drop.
Orton tags in and he punches and kicks Show. Orton with punches out of the corner and he hits a clothesline followed by a drop kick. Orton looks around and Show goes to the apron. Orton with a boot to the head and it is time for a Super IEDDT and he hits it. Orton looks around again and he sets for the RKO but Show pushes him away and Show grabs Orton. Sheamus with a Brogue Kick to Show and Orton with an RKO for the three count.
Winners: Randy Orton and Sheamus
We take a look at Triple H from Smackdown when 3MB tri-cornered Triple H only to be upstaged by the originals.
Josh Mathews is with 3MB in the back and Heath says that they are here to call out The Shield. Heath says that they are going to the ring to call out the Shield.
We go to commercial.
We are back and 3MB are in the ring and Heath Slater has something to say. Last week on Smackdown, the greatest rock band in WWE history was going to make an example out of Triple H, but no . . . that other three man cover band, the Shield, tried to steal their spotlight.
Jinder says that they are the only three man band.
Drew says that before they send the Shield on a highway to hell, they better come out and give them a handwritten apology.
Instead of the Shield, Brock Lesnar makes his way onto the stage and he does the Brock Bounce.
Brock sends Slater to the floor and then he takes care of McIntyre before hitting an overhead belly-to-belly suplex on Mahal. Brock with an F-5 to Drew. Slater tries to escape but he runs into a clothesline from Lesnar on the floor. Brock gives Slater an F-5 on the ringside barrier. Brock is not done with Slater and Paul Heyman tries to tell Brock to stop.
The crowd wants Brock to hurt Slater some more and he likes the idea. Paul tells Brock not to listen to the fans.
Paul says that he told us last week that his client is ready for a fight. The fight that his client wants and has demonstrated to everyone is against Triple H. On April 7, 2013, Triple H did what no man has ever done before. Paul apologizes before reminding us that Triple H knocked out Brock Lesnar. That means that Triple H is one hell of a man. It makes him a fighter and a warrior worthy of admiration. Paul says that he would look Hunter in the eye, shake his hand, and tell him that he respects him for what he did at Wrestlemania.
Paul says that Brock Lesnar does not share his opinion of Triple H. We have a problem and that is that Triple H’s hollow victory evens up the score at one and one. There can only be one dominant Alpha Male in the WWE Universe.
There is an event called EXTREME RULES. Paul says that him and his client propose a match where an unconscious man will be shown no mercy and will be victimized. It is time to get barbaric. It is time for a match when skin gets ripped away from bones. It is time to get primal. It is time to get uncensored, ruthless, and raw. It is time to get EXTREME.
Paul says that they are proposing a steel cage match. Since Triple H will be down for that so he has two words for him . . . Challenge Issued.
We go to commercial with Antonio Cesaro and Kofi Kingston walking in the back (will they remember they had a match on Smackdown?)
We are back and Antonio Cesaro has something to say. He says it in yodeling form.
Match Number Two: Antonio Cesaro versus Kofi Kingston for the United States Championship
They lock up and Kofi with a rollup for a near fall. Kofi with punches but Cesaro backs into the corner. They lock up and Kofi with a side head lock and Cesaro with a shoulder tackle. Kofi with a back slide for a near fall. Kofi with an Irish whip but he misses a splash into the corner. Cesaro with an Irish whip and European uppercut.
Cesaro with a dead lift side salto and he gets a near fall. Cesaro with a reverse chin lock. Kofi tries for a rollup but Cesaro picks him up. Kofi with chops and a drop kick followed by a leaping clothesline. Kofi with the Boom Drop and he sets for Trouble in Paradise but Cesaro moves and Cesaro hits Swiss Death but only get a near fall.
We go to commercial.
We are back and Cesaro is in control of the match and he runs his laces across Kofi’s face. Cesaro with a clothesline to Kofi and then he pie faces Kofi. Kofi tries for SOS but Cesaro with a head butt. Cesaro gets a near fall. Cesaro sends Kofi into the corner but Kofi with SOS but Cesaro gets his hand on the rope to stop the count.
Cesaro with a back elbow but Kofi hits Trouble in Paradise and Cesaro falls to the floor. Kofi struggles to get Cesaro back into the ring. The time to get Cesaro into the ring allows Cesaro to kick out.
Kofi goes up top for a cross body but Cesaro catches Kofi and hits a back breaker for a near fall. Cesaro waits for Kofi to get up and Cesaro charges into the corner and is met with a pendulum kick. Kofi tries for a springboard move but Cesaro catches him. Kofi gets a near fall with a sunset flip. Cesaro misses a double stomp and they go back and forth until Kofi hits Trouble in Paradise and he gets the three count.
Winner: Kofi Kingston
After the match, Josh Mathews is in the ring with the new United States Champion. Kofi says that he just brought the United States Championship home.
We go to commercial.
We are back and John, Jerry, and Michael talk about cashing in the Money in the Bank briefcase. We take a look back at last week’s Raw when the tradition that was stopped by John Cena resumed.
Dolph Ziggler, AJ Lee, and Big E Langston walk in the back as we go to commercial.
We are back and the new World Champion makes his way to the ring and he is accompanied to the ring by Big E Langston and AJ Lee.
Dolph thanks AJ and he says that he successfully cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase and he became the new World Champion. It was the single greatest moment in the history of Monday Night Raw. It was all because of him. Because of him. Some might say, how could you possibly top that?
He says it is easy. There has never been a World Champion as charismatic or flamboyant as him. It is time to face facts that he is just too good. Some may boo but he does not care. He doesn’t care.
Dolph says that when you are watching an NFL game and someone scores a touchdown, they are showing off. That is what you do when you are better than everyone else. He backs it up every single night. When you are as good as him, perks come with the job. Fame and fortune follows, and so does this . . . he kisses AJ.
Dolph says that no one will ever be as good as him.
Alberto Del Rio’s music plays and he makes his way to the ring with Ricardo Rodriguez who is on crutches.
Alberto says last week he congratulated Dolph and said that when the moment was right, he is going to invoke his rematch clause. He wants his rematch in Greenville and he wants it right now.
Dolph says that he is proud that Alberto hobbled his way to the ring . . .
Dolph is interrupted by Vickie Guerrero and her excuse mes. She says that Alberto gets his rematch and the match happens now.
Match Number Three: Alberto Del Rio versus Dolph Ziggler for the World Title
Before the match can start, Zeb Colter and Jack Swagger come out. Zeb says that there would not be a Money in the Bank cash in or a Dolph Ziggler World Champion without Jack Swagger. He is a real champion and a real American. Dolph won only because of what Jack did. He says that Dolph doesn’t deserve to be champion and Albert does not deserve another shot.
Del Rio attacks Swagger and Jack is sent to the floor. While Del Rio stares down Langston, Swagger takes Del Rio down and he sends Del Rio’s leg into the ring post. Swagger attacks Del Rio and he applies the ankle lock.
Daniel Bryan and Kane walk to the ring as we go to commercial.
We are back and we take a look back at what happened when Alberto Del Rio was given a rematch, but it never happened due to Jack Swagger.
We see the medical staff checking on Del Rio’s knee.
We are told that next week The Shield will face the Undertaker, Kane, and Daniel Bryan next week on Raw.
Match Number Three: Darren Young and Titus O’Neil versus Daniel Bryan and Kane in a Non Title Match
Titus and Bryan start things off and Titus with a knee but Bryan with Kicks of No that are simply dazzling. Bryan with a drop kick and he gets a near fall. Titus runs Daniel into the corner and he tags in Young. Young with a knee and clothesline for a near fall. Young with a European uppercut and Titus tags in.
Titus kicks Bryan in the corner and he barks. Bryan with forearms but Titus catches Bryan and he tosses Bryan over his head as he stares at Kane. Darren tags back in and Titus uses Young for a gourdbuster on Bryan and he gets a near fall. Young with a reverse chin lock.
Bryan with elbows followed by a flying clothesline and he tags in Kane. Kane with a punch followed by an Irish whip and clothesline into the corner. Kane with a second Irish whip and clothesline followed by a side slam for a near fall. Kane goes up top and he hits the clothesline. Kane signals for the choke slam and Kane sends Titus over the top rope and Bryan with a running knee off the apron.
Kane with a choke slam and Bryan is tagged in for the diving head butt and the three count.
Winners: Kane and Daniel Bryan
After the match, Bryan and Kane celebrate as we go to commercial.
We are back with the Slo Mo Slam and it is a look at Mark Henry giving John Cena the World’s Strongest Slam and then the spinebuster by Ryback on Henry. Then we see Ryback giving Cena a lariat and a marching muscle buster.
Ryback is in the back and he snarls before saying on April 7, 2013, Wrestlemania was the greatest moment of John Cena’s career, but the worst night of his. John Cena earned his redemption and he won the WWE Title. John was on the top of the world and Ryback was on the bottom. There is only one way for them to go. Ryback goes up while John goes down.
There must be so many questions swimming through his head. Why? What did he do? Maybe John knows and he saw it in his eyes before he took of John’s head. What choice did he have? After everything he has been through. After Wrestlemania, staring up the ladder. That was not going to happen.
Ryback says that John is probably thinking that he helped him. Cena told the WWE Universe that Ryback was his friend and a good guy. Ryback says that Cena even gave him a title match when he was injured, something that more people probably wish happened. Cena gave him a seat at the table and he always had his back.
Being the friend of John Cena is a sign to be in the shadows. He is not a side kick. If John Cena is Superman . . . say hello to kryptonite. How many times did John leave him when he was on the Road to Redemption? Where was John when he was so close to winning the World Title? John said that he could trust him, but six times he was attacked by the Shield. Where was he? Was he designing his newest t-shirt? Where was he?
The three times that Cena was attacked, he was there every time. He understands that John has his priorities and that was to win back the WWE Title. John got lucky at the Royal Rumble and earned his place at the table. At Elimination Chamber, Cena left him alone in the ring to deal with the Shield.
John did what he set out to do. He is the big winner. While John made his little jokes, Ryback saw him showing that no one else belonged there. He was waiting for John to admit that he was there because Ryback wasn’t. Last week, he showed John that he is stepping out of it and he has to see Ryback for what he is. He is the biggest threat to John Cena’s title reign.
Ryback Rules.
We go to commercial.
We are and we see what happens when 3MB tries to act like The Shield.
Match Number Four: R Truth versus Wade Barrett in a Non Title Match
They lock up and Truth with a side head lock and hammer lock. Truth with a wrist lock but Barrett with punches. Truth dances for Barrett and he hits a leg lariat and Barrett backs into the corner. Barrett pushes Truth away but Truth goes into the corner and the referee holds him back. Barrett with a punch to the ribs and he kicks Truth in the ribs and he hits an elbow drop for a near fall.
Barrett puts Truth on the turnbuckle and then he connects with forearms to the back. Barrett with a knee to the midsection and Truth falls to the mat. Barrett gets a near fall. Barrett with a seated abdominal stretch. Truth with a crucifix cover to counter the Blackpool Slam.
Truth with clotheslines but Barrett with a boot to Truth and then Truth with a split to avoid a forearm. Truth with a sit out gourdbuster for a near fall. Truth misses the scissors kick and Barrett with a back heel kick and he tries for a pump handle slam followed by Little Jimmy for the three count.
Winner: R Truth
Brad and Vickie talk about Alberto’s condition and there is a knock on the door.
Teddy Long enters the office and he asks them if they heard about Alberto. Teddy has a solution. Jack Swagger faces Dolph Ziggler. He has it set up. He has given Jack some extra incentive. Vickie wants to know if Booker knows and Vickie likes the idea. Vickie tells Brad to tell someone.
We go to commercial.
We are back and Damien Sandow demands silence. A famed philosopher once said, we are but dwarfs on the shoulders of giants. Cody says that they will be like those proverbial dwarves and giants as they promote decency for all.
Damien says that will happen even in a place like South Carolina.
Match Number Five: Santino Marella and Great Khali (with Natalya and Hornswoggle) versus Damien Sandow and Cody Rhodes
Damien and Khali start things off and Sandow avoids Khali and he punches him. Khali sends Sandow into the corner and he chops Sandow in the chest. Cody tags in and so does Santino. Santino with some of his kicks to air and Cody with punches to flesh. Santino floats over but Cody stops short and Cody with a forearm. Sandow tags in and he kicks Santino and punches him.
Cody tags in and he punches Santino. Cody with a Flair-esque knee drop and Sandow with the Elbow of Disdain for a near fall. Sandow with a reverse chin lock on Santino. Santino with punches but Sandow with a punch of his own. Santino blocks a punch and he connects with punches and does a split followed by a hip toss and diving head butt.
Santino reaches for the cobra and he puts it on. He hits it on Sandow and then he teases Cody but Hornswoggle has a cobra. Cody grabs Hornswoggle but Khali hits Cody. Sandow with a rollup on Santino for the three count.
Winners: Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow
After the match, they do the assisted cartwheel of assistance.
We go to commercial.
We are back and Jerry Lawler is in the ring and he points out that only once has someone made their debut at Wrestlemania and won. This person defeated the first Undisputed Champion. He has started the fad of Fandangoing.
Jerry introduces Fandango and before he emerges from the Golden Shower Curtain, Sue makes her way onto the stage.
Jerry asks Fandango if he ever . . .
Fandango takes the mic and he asks Jerry how his hips are feeling. He wants Jerry to move his hips.
Fandango wants to know who wants to go Fandangoing with him.
He wants everyone to pronounce his name correctly.
Fandango says that since they cannot pronounce his name, everyone can go Fandango themselves.
Matt Striker is with John Cena in the interview area. Matt asks John a question but John interrupts and he says that he is going to go to the ring so Ryback can find him. He will handle his business face to face and man to man.
We go to commercial while Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter make their way to the ring.
We are back with a look at what happened earlier tonight with Alberto Del Rio.
Match Number Six: Dolph Ziggler (with AJ Lee and Big E Langston) versus Jack Swagger (with Zeb Colter) in a Non Title Match
Ziggler avoids Swagger and Ziggler shows off. Swagger puts Ziggler in the corner and he slaps him in the head. Ziggler has something to say to Swagger and he slaps him. Ziggler goes to the floor and Swagger follows after him and Ziggler ambushes Swagger as he returns to the ring. Swagger with a boot to the head.
Swagger with knees in the corner followed by a short arm clothesline. Swagger with a boot to the chest. Swagger with an Irish whip but he runs into an uppercut and Ziggler with a neck breaker. Ziggler has a drop kick blocked and Swagger tries for an ankle lock but Ziggler gets to the ropes. Ziggler drops Swagger on the top rope but Swagger puts Ziggler on the top rope in a very uncomfortable place. Swagger knocks Ziggler off the apron and to the floor as we go to commercial.
We are back and Swagger misses a charge into the corner because he was We The Peopling and he goes shoulder first into the post. Ziggler with an inside cradle for a near fall. Swagger with a belly-to-belly suplex for a near fall. Swagger with a knee to Ziggler’s midsection. Swagger tries for the double jump Swagger Bomb and Ziggler gets his boots up.
Ziggler with a kick to the knee followed by a drop kick. Ziggler hits the leaping DDT and he gets a near fall. Swagger catches Ziggler on a Fameasser attempt and Swagger with a rollup for the three count.
Winner: Jack Swagger
After the match, while Swagger We The Peoples again, Alberto Del Rio attacks Swagger from behind and he kicks Swagger off the stage. Del Rio applies the cross arm breaker.
Del Rio points at Ziggler.
CM Punk and Paul Heyman are walking in the back and they are laughing about something as we go to commercial.
We are back and Sheamus is with Matt Striker.
Mark Henry attacks Sheamus before he can say anything and Mark says that what he do and he tells Sheamus he has more of that.
CM Punk makes his way to the ring and he is accompanied by Paul Heyman.
Punk looks around and he does not say anything.
Eventually, Punk says for 434 days as WWE Champion, he couldn’t enjoy the ride because he was always looking around the corner at what was next. The WWE Championship meant the world to him. He wanted that next challenge and he found that challenge in The Rock. As he battled somebody who will go down as one of the best of all time, he wanted more.
He wanted to know what the next hurdle was because he was never satisfied. He wants more.
After being champion for 434 days, where do you go? After battling the most electrifying person in sports entertainment, he figured he would go after the one thing more important than the title. That was to challenge The Streak. He took the Undertaker to the limit.
Punk apologizes to Paul, hugs him, and leaves.
Paul doesn’t know what to think as Punk walks up the ramp. Punk stops halfway and then he goes to the back and we go to commercial.
We are back and Booker T is yelling at Teddy for overstepping his bounds. Teddy says that he knows what Booker is thinking and Booker says that he doesn’t. Booker tells Teddy that Alberto might be injured and can’t compete. It means he can’t compete tonight. Swagger will get his title match. Del Rio will get his title match. Dolph Ziggler will defend the title in a Triple Threat match. He tells Teddy to do his business.
Match Number Seven: Kaitlyn versus Nikki Bella (with Brie Bella) in a Non Title Match
They lock up and Kaitlyn sends Nikki to the mat. They lock up again and Kaitlyn sends Nikki to the mat again. They lock up a third time and Kaitlyn with an arm drag and Nikki talks to Brie. Kaitlyn with a baseball slide and Kaitlyn rolls Nikki into the ring and Brie distracts her and Nikki with a leg sweep and Kaitlyn lands on the apron.
Nikki sends Kaitlyn back into the ring and Nikki with a camel clutch in the ropes. Brie drops Kaitlyn on the rope and Nikki gets a near fall. Nikki stands on Kaitlyn’s hair while arguing with the referee. Nikki with a rear chin lock while working on the back.
Nikki gets a near fall. Kaitlyn gets to her feet but Nikki sends her back to the mat. Nikki gets a near fall. Nikki with a rear chin lock but Kaitlyn gets Nikki on her back and she uses the turnbuckles to escape the hold. Kaitlyn with a clothesline and back elbow. Kaitlyn with a flying shoulder tackle and a clothesline into the corner but she runs into a knee from Nikki.
Kaitlyn with a kick and she gets Nikki on her shoulders and hits a gutbuster but the referee gets distracted and Brie gets in the ring and she sends Kaitlyn into the ropes and Brie gets the three count.
Winner: Nikki Bella (with an assist from Brie Bella)
Ryback has that look on his face as he walks into commercial.
Based on what happened tonight we have a tag match on Friday. Mark Henry and Big Show will face Randy Orton and Sheamus.
John Cena is out and he has given up on his shirt from last week and has gone back to the yellow.
John announces that the Champ is here . . . and the Ryback is there. The Champ has some business with the Ryback so he wants The Ryback to get right here, right now.
The Ryback makes his appearance on the stage and The Ryback makes his way to the ring to talk to The Champ.
They have something to say while The Ryback throws The Shirt into The Crowd.
John says that Ryback has destroyed everything in his path and when the crowd chants ‘Feed Me More’ someone is going to get hurt. Cena says that he will not wet his khakis.
John says that he made an open challenge to anyone who thought that he was man enough to challenge. Ryback did nothing. He says that Ryback sat until John’s back was turned to knock him down. What did Ryback do tonight? He made everyone sit through a highlight reel of excuses and it was boring. Ryback isn’t successful because of John Cena. Ryback is in the shadow because of John Cena. Ryback isn’t Champion because of John Cena. Ryback wants the title and he knocked him down once.
John wants to know if Ryback knows who he is dealing with. He has been to war with Randy Orton, Shawn Michaels, and Triple H. Those are his friends. The WWE Championship is everything.
He says that he knows what The Ryback did last week, but he doesn’t like the way he did it. The message that was sent to the world. He says that Ryback lacks two things to be champion, the space between the ears and the piece between the legs.
Last week, after Ryback attacked him, Ryback held the title and it must have felt nice. John says that they should do it a little different tonight. John starts to get undressed and he tells Ryback to make a move to see if he can earn a Championship.
They stare each other down and then Ryback leaves the ring.
The music for The Shield plays and Ryback stops.
The Shield remain in the crowd for a moment but they enter the ringside area.
Who will the Shield attack? Reigns, Ambrose, and Rollins get on the apron and then they enter the ring and Cena tries to fight them off but just like in Superman II, three super villains are enough to stop Superman.
The Ryback stands on The Ramp while watching The Attack.
As the attack continues, The Shield stands over Cena and they get ready for the Cerberus Bomb but Ryback walks to The Back . . . but then he stops on The Stage.
Ambrose and Rollins pick up Cena for Reigns to hit the Cerberus Bomb.
We go to credits. 


lunedì 15 aprile 2013

AJ STYLES' AUTOBIOGRAPHY GETS A TITLE, BIG NAME LENDING A HAND!


The AJ Styles autobiography will be titled "Phenomenal."
Bret Hart will be taking part in the book. I believe, but have not heard 100%, that he is writing the foreword to the book. Hart is a big fan of Styles' work and has praised him in the past, including noting that he hopes one day Styles gets to WWE and doesn't "waste his life" in TNA.
A number of other personalities have given quotes for the book, including Sting, Evan Bourne, Christopher Daniels, Les Thatcher, Vince Russo, Terry Taylor, Jeff Jarrett, Kurt Angle, Jerry Jarrett, Air Paris, Jimmy Rave, David Young, Jeff G Bailey, Dan Wilson, Bill Behrens, Bob Ryder, Gabe Sapolsky, Jim Kettner, Frankie Kazarian, Howard Brody, and Larry Goodman, who covered the early days of Styles' career.
The book is slated to be published in October 2013 by VIP Ink Publishing.

Eric Bischoff Talks Where WCW Would Be At Today, TNA Goals & More


Eric Bischoff was interviewed by Brian Thompson of the Neck Breaker Podcast. Here are some highlights:

If people in the wrestling industry read dirt sheets: "Oh, sure. I mean, anyone that says they don't is probably lying to themselves or intentionally lying to somebody else. I for one read them and I read them for entertainment because it amazes me how small minded or uneducated a lot of these supposed wrestling experts, or people that put themselves out as experts, are and how far off the mark they are about so many of the things that they write and the positions they take. I also read them because a lot of times, things leak from inside of the office and you need to be aware of what's out there in the universe when there are certain things you don't want out there. Whether it's a story line or a talent issue, or a direction that you're going. So, I monitor it simply to make sure the things I deem [secret] need to stay inside and part of story, part of character and part of talent development do so. And when they don't we're pretty hard to find out why not and the reason for that leak. But ya, it happens. I'm sure for some people more than others, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't check them on a regular basis."

Where would WCW be if it were still around in 2013: "It's impossible to answer with any credibility because there's just no way of knowing. Had we had the television, had we had the financial backing, the way we did by the way. It wasn't a question as to whether or not we were going to get the financial backing. We had it. That wasn't the reason why we didn't acquire WCW. The reason we didn't acquire WCW is an incoming, rotating door, new head of Turner at that time, took prime time television literally out of the deal that we had already negotiated. Once that happened there was no way to make any sense of it. It was really just a video library and some ring mats. There's no way of knowing. I can tell you what I would have liked to happen, but who knows what would have happened."

If there's anything TNA is doing better than WWE: "That's hard. I have a lot of respect for the folks over at WWE and I have a ton of respect for what they've accomplished within the industry. So for me to take an adverse position on anything they're doing, quite frankly I'd be thrilled with just about any of their mistakes at this point. [laughter] When I look at the television product, and again you have to look at what we do and what they do within context, meaning they're on probably the number two or three network that averages more than likely 3 million viewers all week long in prime time. We're on a smaller network. They've got a budget of probably, and I'm guessing, I don't know this, but they've got a budget of probably 6, 7 maybe even 800,000 an episode to work with. We have a fraction of a fraction of that. They're a 30 plus year old company that's been around for a long long time. It's got a lot of brand affinity and history and relationship with generations of wrestling fans around the country and around the world. TNA has been around they say ten years, but probably really seven or eight as a viable company. So you can't really compare. It's not apples to apples.

"That being said, when I look at the way we tell our stories, I, along with my partner Jason Hervey, have a very successful television production company, one of the more successful ones in Hollywood and we have since 2003. We produce shows for every major cable network and a few of the bigger networks like NBC. We have a fairly good knowledge of television and how it works and the audience and what the networks are looking for. One of the advantages I think TNA has with BHE [his company], myself and Jason, is that we're able to bring things that work in other formats, particularly in reality, and integrate them into a wrestling format. The wrestling format has pretty much been the same for the last 15 years and prior to that it was the same for 30 years. Now we're changing things. We're adding more reality. If you look at the Aces and Eights story, that story from conception to what you saw last night is over a year old and while along the way we've had to bob an weave a little bit, make some changes due to circumstances, some of them out of our control, whether they be injuries, talent contract issues or whatever, for the most part we've been able to keep that story very on the rails, very episodic.

"If you saw the show last night [with Bully Ray's explanation about joining Aces & Eights], for the first time ever, we're taking the audience back and showing them what they missed. Not that they may not have tuned in, but they may not have realized how that story was unfolding before their eyes. It's a little bit like putting on a magic show and then taking people backstage and showing them just a little bit of the magic. We didn't show them all the magic. We didn't get into all of the nuance and detail because there's some of it that we're still going to reveal; we didn't lay everything out there last night. But that's never been done before. We're essentially telling or teaching the viewers how to watch our show because what we're doing and the way we're telling our stories is different than what we used to do and it's certainly different than what WWE does. As in any program, it doesn't matter what it is, you have to train the viewer or guide the viewer along the way to help them really understand where those changes are and how to watch the show. Hopefully now viewers will start watching for little nuance within a story. They'll start looking for the bobs and the weaves and looking for the depth of the story that was actually created, as opposed to grading a dropkick or talking about a hurricanrana.

"It's time that the wrestling product evolves and becomes much more episodic as well as more character driven, but in a real way. Not just pay lip service to it, because everybody pays lip service to it. We've done it. We're building long term arcs and we take those long term arcs and create weekly bibles. And we take those weekly bibles and they're the basis and the outline of every format. We plan our shows six months in advance. I don't care what anybody says, that doesn't happen anywhere else. It's certainly not happening in the WWE and anybody that says it is is lying through their teeth. We know enough people there on the creative side of things to know how that process works and it's not what we're doing. Now, they're having tremendous success doing not what we're doing [laughter] so more power to them, but you're asking me what we're doing differently and I think the way we tell our stories, the way we're trying to help our audience along to how to appreciate and watch those stories, as well as providing great wrestling action. I think that's what we're doing differently."

If he has any TNA goals: "My goal isn't as much personal achievement in TNA because quite frankly my role is such that I'm not positioned to achieve much on a personal basis or a professional basis, individually within TNA. I'm a support mechanism. I oversee to a large degree creative, along with Bruce Pritchard. I enjoy the hell out of working with the staff that we have. We're looking forward to bringing in some more people. I really like teaching them the thing's I've learned, not only from the wrestling business, but the way to present television, the way to present story, the way to present character that's new and different than the way we've always done it in wrestling. I get a big kick out of that. It's very rewarding for me to work with those guys and watch them grow."