TNA News From The Powell Report 6/12

[BoboBrazil 0]

-The word in the TNA office is that FX officials were blown away by the Impact debut and have expressed interest in bringing the show to prime-time on their network. Of course, both FX and Fox Sports are owned by Fox, so if FX is serious enough, they should be able to work something out quickly. If I were a TNA official, I'd be doing everything in my power to secure the time slot prior "The Shield" on Tuesday nights. The cop drama is the network's most visible show and the two hours before it are usually filled by movies. Sounds like a great fit to me.

 

-Sabu missed more than one flight to the Wednesday night show and was chewed out by Jerry Jarrett (who made his first road trip since undergoing heart bypass surgery). Sabu complained to friends about the style of matches that TNA has been booking him in and his lack of a push. And despite his travel blunders, he had the nerve to complain about not being booked in an Impact match. There have been rumors going around all day that he either quit the company or is about to be fired, but nothing has been confirmed.

 

-Raven suffered a rib injury of some kind during a dark match held at the Impact tapings. He told wrestlers in the locker room that he thought he may have broken his sternum during the match and was clearly in pain. He wasn't sure how the injury occurred, but thought it may have been something as simple as bouncing off the ropes that caused the injury.

 

-The woman who's been coming out at the end of Jeff Jarrett's matches is the valet formerly known as Gorgeous George (a/k/a Stacy Bellars) in WCW with Randy Savage. The plan is to eventually put her with Jeff Jarrett, but backstage observers say some of her behavior over the last two weeks could derail her push before it even gets started.

 

-TNA wrestlers say that Goldylocks either doesn't realize she has heat or doesn't care enough to do anything about it. We've been reporting for months that Goldy has heat for not following the basic rules of the locker room such as shaking everyone's hand upon entering the room, but wrestlers continue to say that she only greets her friends and people she thinks can have a positive influence on her career. Some of the wrestlers are upset because they feel that someone from the office should pull her aside and instruct her to obey the unwritten rules of the locker room. And one wrestler said that if someone in the locker room has talked to Goldylocks about these issues, then she should be punished for clearly blowing off their advice.

 

-In a related story, we recently reported that Desire was making similar locker room blunders, but wrestlers say she seems to be making an honest effort to change her approach.

 

-Although Jim "Sinister Minister" Mitchell lives within driving distance of Universal Studios (the site of the Impact tapings), management apparently has no plans to use him. One of the first observations Dutch Mantel made when he joined the writing staff was that there were, as he put it, "too many vampires running around." Apparently, Mantel wasn't a big fan of Mitchell's character. Mantel and Jeff Jarrett are said to be of the opinion that Mitchell's character is dated and he would need to agree to a change before they would consider bringing him back.

 

-Sonjay Dutt debuted as the mouthpiece for Sabu on Wednesday's pay-per-view. Dutt will continue to wrestle, but TNA does intend to continue having Dutt do most of the talking for Sabu's character, assuming he continues working for the promotion.

 

-An observer reports that Shane Douglas is thrilled with his new agent position. "As an agent, Shane is the happiest guy on the planet." Wrestlers say there's nothing Shane enjoys more than when a young wrestler comes to him for advice, and now he's being paid to share his wisdom with them.

 

-Wrestlers were laughing at Michael Shane for complaining about the new costume TNA designed for him. After being presented with a jacket that had plastic chains, Shane made it known that he thought the chains didn't look real. When wrestlers tried to ease his concerns by saying that no one would be able to tell the difference while watching the show on television, Shane countered by complaining that the fans at ringside would notice because the chains didn't make noise when they rubbed against one another.

 

-One locker room observer took exception to some of the complaints about the new costumes the company had designed for the wrestlers. "They're idiots," the observer said of the wrestlers who don't care for the new attire. "The outfits look amazing and are a million times better and more professional than what they were wearing before."

[TNABaddboi 0]

-The word in the TNA office is that FX officials were blown away by the Impact debut and have expressed interest in bringing the show to prime-time on their network. Of course, both FX and Fox Sports are owned by Fox, so if FX is serious enough, they should be able to work something out quickly. If I were a TNA official, I'd be doing everything in my power to secure the time slot prior "The Shield" on Tuesday nights. The cop drama is the network's most visible show and the two hours before it are usually filled by movies. Sounds like a great fit to me.

 

I know there's another thread about this, but I think that would be a perfect timeslot. I hope that if this end up happening, they pull the trigger on making it 2 hours. What the hell else are they showing?

[BoboBrazil 0]

Well if they do a 2 hour weekly show and do one monthly ppv it should work. On FX in primetime they would probably get atleast a 1.0-1.5. If they move to FX they'd also likely not have to pay anymore for the slot.

[Mecha Mummy 0]

One of the first observations Dutch Mantel made when he joined the writing staff was that there were, as he put it, "too many vampires running around." Apparently, Mantel wasn't a big fan of Mitchell's character. Mantel and Jeff Jarrett are said to be of the opinion that Mitchell's character is dated and he would need to agree to a change before they would consider bringing him back.

 

Goddamn it.

[TNABaddboi 0]

Well if they do a 2 hour weekly show and do one monthly ppv it should work. On FX in primetime they would probably get atleast a 1.0-1.5. If they move to FX they'd also likely not have to pay anymore for the slot.

 

That was my thought process too. That they would do the 2 hour weekly show and do monthly ppvs. Maybe we'll finally get BFG.

[Guest JacK]

No more New Church? The New Church was cool. However, the thing with Raven got a bit weird, they kept talking about 'our past' . . . was there anything too that besides Vampiro? Did they ever give a reason for the hate?

 

And how much cheaper can plastic chains be over metal ones? Really? Are they on that much of a budget?

[zyn081 0]

That would be great regarding FX, since I live in Malta, the only stuff we get on TV is 6 months old.

 

Regarding Sabu, cant he at least blow off his feud with Raven? That could be a good way to leave the company. What is it with Sonjay Dutt speaking on his behalf though? He does so because . . .? Couldnt Mitchell speak on Sabu's behalf. He could do it via "satellite link". Talk about killing 2 birds with 1 stone.

 

Also, I think its fair enough for Michael Shane to want his costume to look as realistic as possible. Sound is important too.

[eirejmcmahon 0]

The current season of The Shield ends next week.

[Guest MikeSC]

Well if they do a 2 hour weekly show and do one monthly ppv it should work. On FX in primetime they would probably get atleast a 1.0-1.5. If they move to FX they'd also likely not have to pay anymore for the slot.

Wouldn't they need an actual, you know, good product? TNA is still a healthy serving of "OK"

-=Mike

[syxx2001 0]

Wrestlers need to shut the fuck up. So what someone doesnt shake your hand. If you were The Undertaker, Rock, Austin, Foley, Flair, Hogan, Steamboat, Rhodes, Race, or anyone worth mentioning, I'd shake your hand in a heartbeat. Who wants to shake D-Ray 3000's hand or Abyss or Bobby Rude. What have they done? Sure, saying hi or what's happening is a nice gesture, but Im not going to go out of my way to please someone's ego. Do basketball teams do this to new rookies coming in?

[Guest MikeSC]

Wrestlers need to shut the fuck up. So what someone doesnt shake your hand. If you were The Undertaker, Rock, Austin, Foley, Flair, Hogan, Steamboat, Rhodes, Race, or anyone worth mentioning, I'd shake your hand in a heartbeat. Who wants to shake D-Ray 3000's hand or Abyss or Bobby Rude. What have they done? Sure, saying hi or what's happening is a nice gesture, but Im not going to go out of my way to please someone's ego. Do basketball teams do this to new rookies coming in?

Because manners do matter and small crap like this leads to people becoming divas and head cases. You have to nip it in the bud.

-=Mike

[TNABaddboi 0]

Wouldn't they need an actual, you know, good product? TNA is still a healthy serving of "OK"

-=Mike

 

It doesn't matter whether you think its a good product or not. All that matters is that the network execs are. It's been widely reported that FSN was happy with episode one and now being rumored that it drew the attention of FX too.

 

Because manners do matter and small crap like this leads to people becoming divas and head cases. You have to nip it in the bud.

 

Agreed.

[Guest MikeSC]

Wouldn't they need an actual, you know, good product? TNA is still a healthy serving of "OK"

-=Mike

It doesn't matter whether you think its a good product or not. All that matters is that the network execs are. It's been widely reported that FSN was happy with episode one and now being rumored that it drew the attention of FX too.

If a network's view on a product can change after ONE show, then they are a network run by idiots.

-=Mike

[syxx2001 0]

Yeah, like I said, a simple Hi or How are you guys is fine, but walking around shaking 45 peoples hand so they won't feel bad is stupid.

[TNABaddboi 0]

If a network's view on a product can change after ONE show, then they are a network run by idiots.

-=Mike

 

I'm sure that they might, you know, trust the judgement of their sister network. I'm sure the thinking is if its good enough for FSN, it's good enough for us. And then actual seeing the product instead of hearing about it might have done the trick. Granted, this is all spectulation, but so is your outlook.

[Guest MikeSC]

If a network's view on a product can change after ONE show, then they are a network run by idiots.

-=Mike

 

I'm sure that they might, you know, trust the judgement of their sister network. I'm sure the thinking is if its good enough for FSN, it's good enough for us. And then actual seeing the product instead of hearing about it might have done the trick. Granted, this is all spectulation, but so is your outlook.

They went from NO interest --- even after FSN was talking to them --- to them considering them for a prime-time slot? That doesn't make even the tiniest sliver of sense.

 

And, syxx, allowing small things like that to slide leads to problems like, well, WCW (which TNA resembles more and more). You want to avoid locker room anarchy --- you have to enforce rules.

-=Mike

[TNABaddboi 0]

They went from NO interest --- even after FSN was talking to them --- to them considering them for a prime-time slot? That doesn't make even the tiniest sliver of sense.

 

This is true, but if it leads to a better timeslot on a better network for the company, then I will not complain. As a wrestling fan, I will applaud their being more choices on my television and continue to watch both products.

 

And, syxx, allowing small things like that to slide leads to problems like, well, WCW (which TNA resembles more and more). You want to avoid locker room anarchy --- you have to enforce rules.

 

This is true, except the resembling WCW part. WCW would have never pushed Styles or Killings like TNA is doing now. And WCW would have had Hogan, Nash and Hall all show up on the first Impact to feud with Jarrett for the next 3 years. And Johnny Fairplay would be wearing the X Division title right now.

[Astro101 0]

The current season of the Shield may be over next week. But Nip/Tuck starts right after. Can't wait for that premiere!

[2GOLD 0]

They went from NO interest --- even after FSN was talking to them --- to them considering them for a prime-time slot? That doesn't make even the tiniest sliver of sense.

 

Actually yes, it makes lots of sense. Originally, they thought TNA was going to be a four sided ring that was nothing real ground-breaking or original that the network needed at that time. Not to mention, they didn't even look very professional.

 

When TNA debuted on FSN, they had a new ring with a new look and new wrestler attire. Actual networks such as ABC, NBC and CBS change opinions on shows when just the most minor of changes are made.

 

TNA did a complete look overhaul so it's not insane or even out of the ordinary for FX to change their opinion upon seeing the new TNA look.

[TNABaddboi 0]

Actually yes, it makes lots of sense. Originally, they thought TNA was going to be a four sided ring that was nothing real ground-breaking or original that the network needed at that time. Not to mention, they didn't even look very professional.

 

When TNA debuted on FSN, they had a new ring with a new look and new wrestler attire. Actual networks such as ABC, NBC and CBS change opinions on shows when just the most minor of changes are made.

 

TNA did a complete look overhaul so it's not insane or even out of the ordinary for FX to change their opinion upon seeing the new TNA look.

 

Exactly. The TNA that debuted on June 4th was an ions more polished product than the TNA that was seen in February and March, during the negiotations.