TNA Notes From The 4/10 Torch

[BoboBrazil 0]

·Although no announcement has been made and the story has not been verified, several TNA wrestlers are under the impression that the deal with Fox Sports Network is complete. The most common belief is that the show will air on Sunday nights, and that the company will drop the Wednesday pay-per-views in favor of monthly Sunday night PPV events. There is a lot of talk that the deal TNA is negotiating with Fox Sports is essentially a 13-week trial period that the network could choose to opt out of if the ratings aren't decent. The first show could air sometime in June. One source says some TNA office officials are outright saying, "Once we get on Fox Sports Net..." when discussing future plans, which makes the wrestler believe that it's a matter of when, not if. Some TNA office workers and wrestlers are hoping that the FSN deal will lead to some major changes in how the show is booked. The feeling is that because the show will be tracked by the Neilsen ratings system, management will finally see which wrestlers are the most over and which wrestlers are not.

 

·The good feelings the wrestlers had coming out of the March 17 show disappeared by the time the March 24 show concluded. The wrestlers left the March 17 show feeling as if some major philosophical changes had been made to the creative direction. After all, Vince Russo is back (some say he's returned to writing the shows under Jeff Jarrett's supervision), and the show put Chris Harris, Ron Killings, Raven, A.J. Styles, and Abyss in the NWA Title picture. This made the wrestlers feel like management was finally going to start elevating the right people and begin paying more attention to the undercard storylines so that other stars could be created. However, by the end of the March 24 show, several wrestlers were of the opinion that the only reason several wrestlers were moved into the NWA Title picture was because it was beneficial to Jarrett's on-air role. Wrestlers say they are pleased that Jarrett isn't dominating so much of the show, but they still believe his main concern as booker is what his character is doing.

 

·Glenn Gilberti and Scott D'Amore have been removed from the booking team in recent weeks. The main creative team members these days are Jeff Jarrett, Dutch Mantel, and Vince Russo. Bob Ryder and Jeremy Borash also sit in on the meetings from time to time. Although some TNA sources believe Russo is writing the shows again, they do not believe he has much power. Jarrett still has the final say on all booking matters, and seems to be deferring to Mantel more than Russo these days.

 

·Jonny Fairplay (real name Jon Dalton of Survivor fame) hasn't been booked in TNA since telling management he was not happy with his push the night they sat him and his real life girlfriend from Star magazine in the crowd. It doesn't sound like there's much tension between the two sides, as management is conceding the fact that they did not book Fairplay well from the very beginning. The latest plan is to sit Fairplay at home for a bit and then bring him back with a big push. Fairplay has told wrestlers that his TNA contract gives him creative control over his character, which he felt gave him the right to voice his frustrations to management. However, it's unknown whether Fairplay's contract is guaranteed in terms of him being paid even when he does not appear on shows. If he isn't on a guaranteed deal, the creative control clause in the contract would only get him so far, as TNA officials could simply sit him at home if he protests the way he is booked.

 

·NWA-TNA Notebook: Jimmy Hart was backstage at the TNA show last week and is said to be helping TNA broker the deal with Fox Sports Network... AAA promoter Antonio Pena was also in attendance at the show along with the Team AAA wrestlers who will appear on next week's pre-taped X Cup show... The wrestlers were given their first looks at the new TNA trading cards at the pay-per-view. A representative from the company that produced the cards was backstage showing the wrestlers the first series of cards on Wednesday... Johnny Swinger's absence from the March 24 show led to a large part of the tag team tournament being re-written. Swinger gave the company as much notice as he could by calling them the night before the show to inform them that his wife was giving birth about two weeks sooner than her doctor had projected...

 

Jonny Fairplay and Raven were guests at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles for Hugh Hefner's birthday party on Apr. 3. Torrie Wilson and Stacy Keibler from WWE were also on hand... Sources say UFC fighter Tito Ortiz isn't interested in working a full-time WWE schedule, but may be intrigued by the thought of working a TNA schedule if the price is right. Ortiz is a big wrestling fan who has attended several WWE shows over the years... Some wrestlers were chuckling at C.M. Punk showing up at the March 24 show wearing a Zero-One t-shirt. Punk was presumably at the show to apologize for his part of the fight with Teddy Hart. Punk isn't the first wrestler to wear another promotion's t-shirt at a TNA event, but sources felt it probably wasn't the best move given his heat for putting over Ring of Honor as the best promotion in the country on his website. Punk not only rubbed some of the wrestlers the wrong way while backstage at the March 31 show, but now even some in TNA management are complaining about his antics. Punk was at the show with Gabe Sapolsky of Ring of Honor, but was not invited to take part in the meeting among Sapolsky and TNA officials. Several sources report that he was moping backstage and did not go out of his way to apologize for his past behavior at TNA events...

 

Yes, that was Goldylocks wearing a black wig and speaking with a British accent while in Abyss's hideout on last week's PPV. It looks like TNA officials are giving her a new gimmick... Wrestlers say that while the UK wrestlers may not have looked like much from a cosmetic standpoint, they were polished in the ring and produced some solid matches with the AAA crew. The matches will air on the Apr. 7 TNA show... Bob Ryder worked the gorilla position for the Mar. 31 event. Jerry Jarrett usually handles those duties. Jarrett was at the show, but may have been playing host to Antonio Pena, Jimmy Hart, and Gabe Sapolsky... Sabu has been telling friends that he is not happy with the way he's being used in TNA. Sabu requested that the company add James Mitchell to his act as a manager, but Mitchell isn't expected to return to television this month...

 

TNA's Abyss is scheduled to work a show for Carlos Colon's World Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico as part of the talent exchange between the two promotions. Abyss has worked for the IWA, the promotion that Dutch Mantel once booked in direct competition with WWC... Kid Kash has plenty of heat with the office these days. Even wrestlers who like Kash are saying his complaining is getting out of hand. "I like him," said one wrestler, "but he bitches about everything and acts like a smart ass all the time. Where is he going to go if he gets fired by TNA?" WWE sources have said several times over the last few years that Kash's locker room reputation is the only thing keeping him out of the company. In other words, the odds of WWE offering Kash a deal if he's fired by TNA for being a locker room problem are very slim. Kash has major league talent and a smooth run with TNA might have opened some WWE doors for him...

[Michrome 0]

You know, this torch stuff about Punk is just so wierd. Everywhere he's gone before TNA he's become a locker room leader, well respected, and well-liked by all workers. He's never been known as a whiner at all, and all of a sudden the torch has found a source that doesn't like him, and he's cast as a whiner weekly.

[Guest Man Of 1,004 Modes]

You know, this torch stuff about Punk is just so wierd. Everywhere he's gone before TNA he's become a locker room leader, well respected, and well-liked by all workers. He's never been known as a whiner at all, and all of a sudden the torch has found a source that doesn't like him, and he's cast as a whiner weekly.

.....It's the torch. But if you need spelling out.... I find it to be B-U-L-L-S-H-I-T. I've never read reports of him having attitude problems (like Kid Kash has always had) and this is the first time I've heard shit like this.

[Guest ToddRoyal]

Kid Kash has plenty of heat with the office these days.

So they punish him by giving him a Tag Title run?

[Placebo Effect 0]

That chick in the wig was Goldylocks? Wow, could've fooled me.

[Guest TDinDC1112]

This whole ditching the Wednesday ppv thing is a bad idea in my opinion. With a 13 week trial, I say the odds have to be 50-50 they'll get dumped. Will they be able to get the Wednesday gig back? Would indemand want them back? Would TNA just want to call it quits then?

 

I mean, even if indemand is getting 3,000 buys a week (assuming the rest coming from DirecTV), that's still way more than they'd get for movie at 8:00 on a Wednesday, right? And, they'd be getting $6 a buy instead of $2 or $3 for a movie. So if TNA came back to them, I think they'd be stupid not to take them back. But would they? I can just see this TV thing taking them down very quickly. It could also lead TNA to where they want to go. I guess that's the risk you take in business.

[Guest The Last Free Voice]

X-Cup had "solid matches?" NO WAY. It sucked. All of it.

[Vyce 0]

They shouldn't even think about dropping the weekly PPVs until AFTER the 13 week trial period is up and they have a decision one way or another.

[Guest MikeSC]

They shouldn't even think about dropping the weekly PPVs until AFTER the 13 week trial period is up and they have a decision one way or another.

It costs money to run them, though, and there is not a good chance of them even maintaining their already-low buyrates with the weekly show.

-=Mike

[Guest TDinDC1112]

If I were them, operating off a 4 week cycle with your ppv at the end of week 4, I'd run my 4 TV shows, and I'd do just one Wednesday ppv in week 2 or 3. I think they almost have to do this if the TV show is only going to be an hour. With commericals, I don't see how it's possible to build up or sell a ppv based on 40 minutes of TV every week.