TNABaddboi

PWI and WO both say the announcement is coming early next week. Here's what PWI posted: Meltz added this:

PWI posted this about Nash and Hardy:

I'm sure this suprises absolutely no one, but the Torch says the move to prime time could mean the ~NAME VALUE ~ comes back. Here's what they posted yesterday: We've already seen Waltman and I new that Hardy would be trotted out the first time they thought they had marks to impress, but Nash again?!

Ohhhh...I gotcha. Well yeah, I'd love to see them do that too. They could do the squashes on there, with a marquee (or close to it) main event, and have more time for angles and matches that go longer than 3 minutes on Impact.

I think they've established that they are going to make Impact their A show....they had a chance to debut a new show when they got on Spike, but instead they billed it as Impact moving from FSN to Spike. Which I think is a smart move. They need to build it up to the point where TV viewers know what Impact means. There are now 1 million viewers - give or take - that know when they see Impact on the schedule they're getting wrestling. You don't wanna destroy the branding before they've even finished building it. I could see them eventually lobbying Spike for a weekend slot for Xplosion though, in the role you've stated. I still think it's incredibly stupid that they don't build up the syndicated network for that in the meantime, or show it online like they did with Impact between FSN and Spike.

If they get the 90 minutes on Thursday, that'll be perfect for TNA IMO. When I watched the New Year's special in the replay slot (when they aired the hour show and the 30 min show back-to-back), I thought that was great for them. It'll be a little weird, b/c not many things regularly scheduled run 1 1/2 hours, but TNA can make it work I think. They can slow the show's down a bit (which they've already done tremendously) and still be the 90 minute adrenaliine rush that Spike wants to promote it as. This is a spot I could see TNA flourishing in, though I don't know if it makes to switch the UFC/TNA lead-in roles unless they're going to put the big push behind Impact, because while apparently the audiences have great crossover, UFC's is still bigger at this point. I gotta say that this step coming now is very surprising for me. I thought they'd get more time on the weekends (maybe the old Saturday Night 6-8 slot or the old Heat slot) before they got to weeknight primetime. It's great that TNA has got a network that is really behind them.

Meltz says that although Thursday is considered the front-runner, Monday is still on the table. Here's what he said: I really hope they come out of this with at least another 30 minutes, but we shall see. Them being on in the week can be nothing but good for them though.

PWI says the move to a weeknight primetime slot has already been decided, but the day is still be discussed. Here's what they posted today:

PWI says the replay got a .7, so it was just a good showing for TNA all around this weekend.

I'm thinking that vote's gotta be rigged since announced the results so quick. They just announced the poll on Saturday and didn't give a cut off date. I was thinking they'd let it run up to the PPV like they did when they did the Dusty/Russo vote at Victory Road. But yeah, you gotta think they wanted Team Canada there, to give the AMW/Duds match a break but continue the chase. I wonder what AMW's gonna do at the PPV....I wouldn't mind seeing them have a one-off title match against Sabin/Dutt. They have always worked well with the X-guys.

All reports that I'd seen said the reason that TNA went with Spike and not WGN, even though WGN was offering the 2 hr time slot opposite Raw that they desperately want, is because WGN wanted them to pay for the slot no matter how the show did ratings wise, while Spike isn't charging them in exchange for being able to keep the ad money. The deal was an infinitely better deal for TNA in the long run because while they gave up the increased visiblity now, they gained the possibility of breaking even without having to pull Wrestlemania-like buyrates every month. Also, the theory was that by Spike retaining the ad revenue, they'd have a vested interest in it drawing ratings high enough that would impress advertisers and promote it, which TNA could never get FSN to do. When TNA was there, they kept the ad revenue themselves, so FSN didn't care what numbers the show did as long as the checks cleared. And TNA couldn't realistically recover the $30K a week selling ads for a 4 p.m. Friday afternoon show. Also, FYI, when Spike was dealing with WWE, they paid them a broadcasting rights fee and WWE kept the ad revenue for the show (USA however did not give them ad revenue).

IIRC, the $20-25 Mil figure is an old number, from when they were running live PPVs every week that were drawing 6,000 buys and then turned around and paid FSN $30,000 week with the hopes of increasing the buyrates. People tend to forget that they underwent several cost costing measures, such as taping Impact bi-weekly instead of weekly, cutting the weekly PPVs and eliminating the travel between Nashville and Orlando. Then, they added several revenue streams, like DVDs, pending house show money (they're getting on the Michigan show even if no one shows up). And although they get no ad revenue from Impact, they're also no longer burning $30,000 every time it airs, so I'd say that anyone using that number nowadays is a bit off. Dixie did an interview when they first got on Spike and said that without the burden off paying for TV, they'd break even within 6 months. I don't know whether that happened or not, but the fact that she'd predicted it so soon tells me they were closer to the black than $20 million 3 months ago.

I dunno...I'm taking a wait and see approach with it too, but what I see happening here is Jarrett claiming that he ran Sting off (as usual), only for Sting to show up and cost him the belt. I have a strong feeling that Sting's interfering in that match, he almost has to given the storyline, but if they do it, I'm hoping they do it post-match (a la Tyson/HBK at WM14) then during the match. It won't be the end of the world if they don't though, because in everybody eyes Christian is above Jarrett, and when people like the worker, they tend to be more forgiving (like people remembering Foley running around ringside with the belt on Raw more than Austin stunnering the Rock before Foley pinnned him). Anyway, after AAO, Jarrett and Sting feud from there, and Christian battles Monty, then Abyss, then probably Raven. I have a feeling that we'll be getting an extended Christian/Monty feud after Christian wins the belt though and that two feuds, along with Rhino/Abyss will be interwined enough to build to another Lethal LockDown match at LockDown.

Well with the reported buyrate increase and the demonstrated drawing power, TNA doesn't look so foolish for push Sting so hard right about now. Now if they can put him in a hot angle and hook those people who check the show out for him, they'll really be doing something. This next week's rating is just as important, though it's great to see them break the 1.0 barrier that they'd been nudging against for quite some time.

Well here's probably why they think Sting is worth it, especially since they're not paying him entirely by themselves. It's from PWI:

Another update, this one from PWI:

TNA said that the Bound for Glory DVD would be in stores next Tuesday. Because I was unable to see any of the ppvs between Slammiversary and Turning Point, I was considering buying either this or the No Surrender DVD they're selling on their website. Can anyone who saw both tell me which I would be better off going with?

411wrestling.com has been using Meltzer's original reports to do a series on the trial.It's pretty in-depth, so it should give you what you're looking for. It's gone up through Hogan testifying and has been really interesting so far. You might want to check it out.

PWI says that TNA will be bringing back the World X Cup this May. Mike Johnson wrote that he was not sure how they would format it, since if I remember correctly, the first time they did it, they taped it for weeks leading up to the show and then aired it on a week they didn't run a live 2 hour PPV. I'd say that they need to use either World X, Super X or a Victory Road '04 like guantlet to really separate Destination X from the rest of the shows and make it an X-Division centered show. You've already got LockDown if you want to see bloody brawls, why night have a PPV where you know u're guaranteed a night of high-flying action. Just a thought...

I've seen reports on other msg boards and rumor sites that all the floor seats for this show have been purchased already, which, if true, would put tickets sales at least over 1,000 and have to thrill everybody involved. PWI reported on the sales today, but didn't not give a number. Here's what Mike Johnson wrote:

Haven't read this week's spoilers yet, but since the show's in a couple of hours, I figured I'd go ahead and start the discussion. Here's the preview, courtesy of TNAWrestling.com: It's good to see they aren't going to run the AJ/Punk angle to the PPV, because I'd really like to see them use the towel thing from the PPV to jumpstart AJ/Daniels killer feud from last year. I'm assuming we'll get the standard "new star main event interview" that we got from Christian and Team 3D. The James Gang squash will probably be unentertaining, but IMO, BG's been delivering the best promos of his career lately. Hopefully we get to hear some more from him. The other matches seem filler, so I don't have my hopes up for a great show. Hopefully I'm surprised. Anyway, you know the deal...keep yer before, during and after Impact thoughts in here, and keep it ~SPOILER FREE~ until 11!

PWI says this show got a another .9 on Saturday, so the keep inching toward that 1.0. I would say that delivering Sting would put them over the edge, but they didn't deliver Sting this week like promised, so the people who fell for the bait and switch might not return on the chance they'll get duped again.

I ran across the poster for the event on the official TNA board. Here it is if anyone's interested:

If that's true, they'd have to tape it earlier Monday since the PPV is Sunday night.

I was thinking along those lines as well. I think if we ever see TNA on Monday nights, it'll be in something like this. At it works because they've already got the built-in marketing campaign with the "Must Bleed TV." Using your scenario, I'd say them getting a 10-12 would be more likely, because at this point, UFC would still work better as the lead in, as these numbers show. The only problem would be that the show would still have to be taped, but maybe they could do a same day live-to-tape situation where they run the taping from say 6-8 (and tape Xplosion afterwards). They wouldn't be able to edit out the crowd shitting on Jarrett, but it might be an improvement anyway, because it would force them to book the show as if it were live.