NWATNA TERMINATES PPV CONSULTANT

[Guest 4Life]

This is from 1wrestling:

"In recent days, Jerry Jarrett has talked about legal matters that he has been spending his time addressing.

 

From what we have been told, NWA TNA has terminated their contract with Jay Hassman after finding out that he was also working for Team Services, the company that markets WWE PPV events.

 

I have heard from a few sources that NWATNA officials found that Hassman had misled them about buyrates and about clearances on Dish and Cablevision, among other things. Sources have told me that NWATNA is in possession of emails from Hassman stating that he had confirmed the show would be airing on Dish and on Cablevision, and is also in possession of emails from Hassman that include inflated "extrapolated" projections related to buyrates on the first two programs.

 

I have heard from sources in both in TNA and WWE that Hassman withheld the fact that he was working for Team Services from Jeff and Jerry Jarrett and they found out about his connection with the WWE on July 10, when they met with an InDemand official in Nashville who explained that to them.

 

A lawsuit is expected to be filed by NWA TNA within the next few days.

 

We will be posting an interview that Jess McGrath did today with Jerry Jarrett, covering this issue, shortly. "

[Guest Nezbyte]

Well, damn.

[Guest bps "The Truth" 21]

This is a positive thing, TNA fans.

 

"-This week's Torch Newsletter cover story details a major situation regarding NWA-TNA and some internal marketing problems that have set the promotion back and will likely result in at least one major lawsuit. NWA-TNA is running on a smaller budget for the next several weeks until the newly revamped marketing approach leads to greater awareness of their product, and then they plan to go back to a larger budget at that point. There will be a number of changes in terms of camera angles and lighting at this Wednesday's event since TNA management wasn't pleased with many aspects of the production at last week's first event at the Fairgrounds Coliseum."

 

Torch

 

 

More recognition = long term plan.

 

And the fact that they aren't going to blow through a ton of money before people are aware of the product...genius.

 

Just keep putting matches like Styles vs. Skipper and Low Ki vs. Lynn on your show (As is the case this Wednesday!!!) and the people that are loyal to you now...will stay that way until you get your ducks in a row.

[Guest 4Life]

I guess this really shows the real reason behind bad advertising and why some areas couldn't order NWA ppv. I hope they get this behind them. Whatever doesn't kill you, will make you stronger JJ>

[Guest J*ingus]

Talk about your conspiracy theories... sometimes the damn things come true!

[Guest razazteca]

Russo = Mole

 

so what exactly does this mean for NWA TNA?

[Guest eirejmcmahon]

That something like this could happen speaks really poorly for the HR department within NWATNA - Jarret will presumably be looking for more heads within his own company as it appears as if his HR department is currently being run by Muppets.

 

[Guest nWoAngel]

It appears that way.

 

And btw, to the person with the Eric Bischoff photo..kick ass.

[Guest goodhelmet]

Russo = Mole

 

so what exactly does this mean for NWA TNA?

i agree with this assessment, razazteca! i think russo could have been a mole. i think he could have been sent to undermine wcw as well. i wouldn't count on it but it would not surprise me in the least.

 

as for what it means for the NWA, it may prove WWE was trying to undermine the NWA's opportunity if they were sending employees into the company in an attempt to sabotage the company's chance of success. who knows? stranger things have happened!

[Guest Flyboy]

Russo = Mole

 

so what exactly does this mean for NWA TNA?

i agree with this assessment, razazteca! i think russo could have been a mole. i think he could have been sent to undermine wcw as well. i wouldn't count on it but it would not surprise me in the least.

 

as for what it means for the NWA, it may prove WWE was trying to undermine the NWA's opportunity if they were sending employees into the company in an attempt to sabotage the company's chance of success. who knows? stranger things have happened!

Damn, guys...

 

Do you think Vince is THAT evil?

[Guest 4Life]

Russo = Mole

 

so what exactly does this mean for NWA TNA?

i agree with this assessment, razazteca! i think russo could have been a mole. i think he could have been sent to undermine wcw as well. i wouldn't count on it but it would not surprise me in the least.

 

as for what it means for the NWA, it may prove WWE was trying to undermine the NWA's opportunity if they were sending employees into the company in an attempt to sabotage the company's chance of success. who knows? stranger things have happened!

Damn, guys...

 

Do you think Vince is THAT evil?

So, what planet are you from?

[Guest Retro Rob]

The big picture here is that the NWA didn't bring in the amount of buys they wanted. If this lawsuit does end up involving the WWE and the Federal Government, the NWA will have A HELL OF A LOT more publicity than it has now. I can only imagine how much money they would get if they won this lawsuit. I have always been a conspiracy theorist and I think that Jerry Jarrett knows that by filing this suit, he will attract a lot more fans and get the NWA product the kind of "advertisement" it needs to succeed. Even if he doesn't win the lawsuit, who cares? Just filing the lawsuit should draw a lot of attention and establish the NWA as the #2 wrestling company in the country. I think that "Every cloud has a silver lining" is proven true by this whole debacle.

[Guest Vyce]

as for what it means for the NWA, it may prove WWE was trying to undermine the NWA's opportunity if they were sending employees into the company in an attempt to sabotage the company's chance of success. who knows? stranger things have happened!

I VERY much want to get down to the details of this. I want to know who this guy really is, if he's really working for someone else, if he's trying to sabotage the NWA....because if they can make this guy take a fall, things could get VERY bad for ol' Vincent K. McMahon. Why?

 

 

mo·nop·o·ly (m-np-l) n. pl. mo·nop·o·lies [Latin monoplium, from Greek monoplion : mono-, mono- + plein, to sell; see pel-4 in Indo-European Roots.]

 

1. Exclusive control by one group of the means of producing or selling a commodity or service: “Monopoly frequently... arises from government support or from collusive agreements among individuals” (Milton Friedman).

2. Law. A right granted by a government giving exclusive control over a specified commercial activity to a single party.

 

3. a. A company or group having exclusive control over a commercial activity.

b. A commodity or service so controlled.

 

4. a. Exclusive possession or control: arrogantly claims to have a monopoly on the truth.

b. Something that is exclusively possessed or controlled: showed that scientific achievement is not a male monopoly.

 

n 1: (economics) a market in which there are many buyers but only one seller; "a monopoly on silver"; "when you have a monopoly you can ask any price you like" 2: exclusive control or possession of something; "They have no monopoly on intelligence"

 

*******

 

If Jarrett & his lawyers can prove that this PPV consultant was working on behalf of Vince McMahon.....whoooooo boy. We're talking HUGE scandal.

 

And that, I believe, is why the feds may get involved.

 

This is just wrestling.....it's not Microsoft.

 

But I'd be lying if I didn't say that the thought of Vince getting slapped with an anti-trust lawsuit doesn't make my dick a little hard.

[Guest bps "The Truth" 21]

Although my dick remains unaffected...

 

I hope Vince is behind it.

 

That would so rule.

[Guest eirejmcmahon]

The one definite coming out of this news appears to be the fact that the initial buy rates for NWATNA did not live up to expectations.

 

It may well yet transpire that Jay just wasn't very good at his job and if he didn't outright lie about the company he's employed for (after all, he was only bought in on a consultancy basis for NWATNA), then Jarrett might have to look elsewhere for the reasons behind his company's current failure to pull in decent buy rates.

 

Unless they can drag the WWE into this lawsuit, and it doesn't look like they're even going to try to do so (which should tell you something), then it isn't going to attract that much attention from the outside world. Who's really going to care if some small little wrestling company is suing one of its employees ?

 

The sad fact for the company is that word has gotten out (online, at least) about their product, and that word (over the last two weeks) has not been positive. Everybody remembers the effect on the WWE product during the steroid trials, the NWATNA can not afford a similar downturn in its output at this fledgling stage of its development - and the last two weeks have shown a noticeable decline in the quality of the shows being produced.

 

Looking on the bright side for the company, maybe the WWE were so terrified of Jarrett's weekly PPV idea that they set out to sabotage the company from within.

[Guest bps "The Truth" 21]

So...what you're saying is...

 

The sky is falling.

[Guest eirejmcmahon]

What I'm saying is that Jarrett needs to be very careful in his handling of the suit - even if he manages to use it as a promotional tool, he has to ensure that he has a product there that will hook anyone who plunks down their ten dollars.

 

Simple fact : the last two NWATNA shows have been below average, if the company continues along its current path, it's going to die.

[Guest nikowwf]

What i don't understand is the conspiracy theory being floated subtly (by Jarrett wondering why the man would do this, and 1Bob's column about the WWE killing companies and the NWA being next (stay tuned or something like that))

 

The reason this occured to me is that the man did a sh*t job of marketing NWA, then tried to cover up his mistake by inflating the numbers he gave them. Since it was his job to market them, the bad numbers would be blamed on him. So he lied. (and deserves to be burned for it, btw)

 

Why this ties into the WWE and Vince is beyond me.

 

Niko

[Guest Tony149]

The way this ties into WWE is because Hassleman (who works for a company who markets WWE PPVs) is involved in meetings (at WWE HQ) with Vince McMahon.

If some way it's found out that Hassleman was being thrown money or anything by McMahon to lie to Jerry about his numbers and/or reveal to McMahon the way the company (NWA: TNA) works, then WWE would be in a shit-load of trouble and would get their ass sued off.

[Guest eirejmcmahon]

Has it been stated in print that Jay had actually attended meetings with the WWE and McMahon in particular since he started working for NWATNA ?

 

Once again, you'd have to wonder where Jarrett found his HR staff.

[Guest Tony149]

Bob Ryder said he has (on 1wrestling's message board, I belive). Ryder isn't well liked, but he's pretty close to the Jarretts'.

[Guest eirejmcmahon]

Bob Ryder works for NWATNA but I'd appreciate any links you could provide to him saying that Jay sat in on meetings with the WWE after he started as a consultant with NWATNA. Cheers.

 

Bob said this on the 1wrestling message board -

 

"At no time during the time he was collecting a hefty monthly check from us did he tell us that he was attending meetings at WWE Headquarters...meetings attended by Vince McMahon. If we had known he was involved with the WWE (in any capacity), we certainly wouldn't have included him in our organization. We had no reason to suspect there was a problem."

 

Which would suggest that Jay was indeed meeting with the WWE whilst on a consultancy contract for the NWATNA - presumably NWATNA can prove this. It sounds like Jay got the job on the basis of his history with WCW and their PPVs, I can't believe that nobody at NWATNA bothered to do even a little investigation into Jay's employment history before hiring him into such a vital position for the company.

[Guest Retro Rob]

This is Bob "Bret Hart is leading the InVasion" Ryder we are talking about. Just remember that.

[Guest 4Life]

It's just Vinnie Mac up to his old tricks. He'll get you one way or the other.

[Guest nikowwf]

It doesnt matter if he was meeting with the WWE unless he was meeting with them to discuss NWA matters and specifically to sabotage NWA.

 

Remember, the meeting is not illegal. He was working on WWE ppv's.

 

Telling WWE about NWA information would not really be illegal on WWE's part. It would be a breach of confidence and I'm sure NWA could sue and win for that.

 

Reaching an agreement with WWE to sabotage NWA and then going on with it is what would be the problem.

 

1Bob though, in his constant WWE bias has jumped from HE MET WITH WWE (while he was working for them) to HE WAS PAID BY WWE TO SABOTAGE NWA.

 

its a little stretch here

 

Niko

[Guest eirejmcmahon]

Points which need clarification :

 

1) Did Jay himself ever work with the WWE.

2) Did Jay meet with the WWE whilst on the NWATNA payroll.

 

Granted, there's nothing illegal in doing consultancy work for both companies at the same time but (when combined with the allegedly forged emails) it certainly casts Jay in a poor light.

 

Bob works for NWATNA, so clearly his slant on things will be a little biased but the import questions are simple yes or no affairs.

[Guest nikowwf]

I think you are missing a point.

 

I think its "Did Jay conspire with the WWE against NWA?" Thats what says if the WWE is responsible or not.

 

Even if the answer is NO, that does not remove Jay from his responsibility in the matter, which I believe is simply doing a really crappy job and then trying to hide it more than being a co-conspirator with the WWE.

 

Niko

[Guest bps "The Truth" 21]

Isn't cablevision the big cable distributer in NYC?

 

Cause I know part of it is that Jerry blames Jay for not getting cablevision on board.

 

Man...I'm reading that Sex Lies and HEadlocks book...and if the WWE had something to do with it...especially keeping them off ppv in NY...let's just say I wouldn't be surprised.

[Guest nikowwf]

I think what's going to really nail Jay are two things, the false buyrates (even if he argues he thought they were right there is no way he did his due dillegence, his best good faith effort) and the Cablevision thing (that he didn't try to get them on there.)

 

Its funny, cause I can't watch the show at home cause I have Cablevision. The fact that I have to go out of my way to watch it is the fault of this Jay Dude.

 

Niko

[Guest J*ingus]

Let's just say that it would be a VERY big coincedence if it turned out that Hassman just happened to work for the WWE and never actually told the Jarretts about it, while his poor job performance and subsequent lies almost single-handedly sunk the company. I'm not much for conspiracy theories, but this one seems pretty clear to me.