InDemand had a listing for the “Bound For Glory” PPV on 4/4/04 and lists Randy Savage and Chynna (new spelling) as the big stars on the show, which speaks volumes about its own belief in its own stars. It is now official that there won’t be a PPV on that date and there is no new date scheduled. This makes the third date they’ve proposed to the cable industry for a major show that they’ve cancelled on, which has to be doing wonders for company credibility. There was concern a few weeks back when they realized it was two days after what was expected to be a strong UFC show, but there’s always going to be something going on. The rumors are that virtually all the stars they were considering using were not coming together. Savage’s people, as noted last week, were claiming he had no deal. Nash started watching the show, because he was wanting to familiarize himself with the product before coming in, and felt most everything about it except Mike Tenay were minor league. Roddy Piper was on Chet Coppock’s radio show on 2/15/04 and never once mentioned TNA, but made multiple references to working for ROH. He was not as negative on WWE as you’d think, and seemed to be hinting about wanting to do Mania.
Joanie Laurer is also out of the picture, but I’m not sure the two are related. The company decided on 2/17/04 not to use her on 2/18/04 due to late demands from her side and the decision that since the plan was for a long term program, that they didn’t trust she’d be around long enough. Laurer made it clear in negotiations that she’s not interested in doing anything physical, and didn’t like the idea of feuding with Trinity, which was proposed to her, as their way to make Trinity a star. Things were falling apart all weekend. Laurer is also back together with Sean Waltman, which may surprise a lot of people but I can’t say it was that surprising, since even when things were their worst between them and their problems were making headlines a few months back, Waltman had talked about being back with her.
In addition, Fort Campbell officially turned down the 4/4/04 show. Bill Behrens was running around trying to find them a new building, and we have heard the Georgia Mountain Center in Gainesville, GA, was contacted about possibly housing the show.
It’s funny, because over the past week, I saw two cable commercials for the Wednesday shows. One was a promo by Hulk Hogan, which at this point by still running it (and they ran during the preview show as late as this past week), they are misleading people into thinking Hogan is still with them. The other was a commercial for the Wednesday shows saying TNA is the only place to see Sting, implying Sting is wrestling on the shows every Wednesday. It’s really sad. Plus, the worst part is that anyone who buys a show based on those commercials is going to be mad, even if the show is good, because they’ll think they’ve been swerved and have a bad taste in their mouths.
The plan for a TNA vs. IWA deal on the next taped show look to be dead because IWA signed an exclusive deal with a New York investment firm to promote them in the U.S.
Jeff Jarrett has been in the middle of some controversy regarding independent bookings. The first stems from the 1/25/04 Ocala, FL match against Dory Funk. Funk made the deal through Bob Ryder, who he has worked with as a writer on Ryder’s web site for years. The two had an arrangement where Funk would write columns on the site in exchange for Ryder’s 1Wrestling.com site promoting Funk’s wrestling school and promotion. Funk and Ryder reached a deal for Jarrett to defend the NWA Title against Funk for $2,000. Jarrett’s wife was due to deliver that week and wasn’t that hot about leaving her for an independent booking. The Funk side claimed they believed that TNA would promote the event on its web site, television show, and PPVs. I believe there were some mentions on the web site in some of the columns that Jarrett would be going there. There was no mention on the TV or PPV shows ahead of time. There was a plan to air footage of the Jarrett/Funk match in highlight form on the PPV on 1/28/04, however there were problems from the TNA side with the footage they shot. They had asked for footage from the Funks, who taped the show, for 2/4/04, but never got a tape. Funk was said to have wanted a 30-minute match when he got there. Jarrett wanted to go home at 13:00, but they compromised at 18:00 when, as booked, Adam Windsor turned heel on Funk and cost him the title. However, the show only drew 190 fans and $1,800, not even enough to pay Jarrett, let alone the rest of the workers on the card. Funk stopped payment on the check to Jarrett claiming his side didn’t promote the show enough, as well as stopped payment of a check to Ryder for about $550 in travel expenses. Jerry Jarrett, who has a business relationship with Funk dating back 30 years or more, claimed it wasn’t a TNA business deal but a business deal between Ryder, Jeff, and Funk, when asked about the lack of promotion on their end. This led to Ryder dropping Funk from his web site after his bank called about the check, and apparently dropping Funk from some sort of a trading card deal he’d put together with former wrestling legends. The other was from a 2/14/04 show in Anderson, SC where Jarrett was billed as the top star at a Universal Championship Wrestling TV taping. Jarrett wasn’t there, however those close to him say it wasn’t a no-show, but that they had never agreed on a price for the show so no deal had been made.
Regarding Don Callis leaving the promotion, as noted last week, Callis got a job in international trade and the offer was too strong to justify turning it down. Callis had decided in 2001 (I think he and maybe Jim Mitchell were the only ones who learned a lesson that year) that he wanted to make sure he was never dependent upon wrestling for his living, so he went back to school and got an MBA. Callis offered to put over Erik Watts on the way out, but Jarrett nixed it, because they had already booked the idea of Vince Russo shocking everyone as the babyface DOA, and Callis losing would ruin the planned storyline.
Spanky and Kanyon have both been talked with, but WWE is forcing both to wait out the 90-day non-compete time period in their contracts before they can start here. WWE allows guys to do independents and international shows, so really it is only TNA affected by the non-compete.
Jonny Fairplay did get a brief mention of TNA during the CBS Early Show on 2/12/04. Fairplay mainly cut a promo on Rupert from Survivor. While Rupert has not agreed to anything, nor negotiated anything, Fairplay has told the company he thinks he can get a match with Rupert. It couldn’t be for several months as Rupert isn’t allowed to do any TV until Survivor All-Stars is over.
Teddy Hart and Harry Smith are headed in on 2/25/04.
CREDIT: Dave Meltzer & the Wrestling Observer Newsletter
