News on Austin Aries and Roderick Strong

[Guest El Satanico]

We don't even know if the other ROH alum had other commitments.

 

These are all men that made their own decision, so Shelley etc. should shut the hell up if they took issue with it.

[dubq 0]

I'm sorry, but this level of punishment is just retarded. They didn't need to be punished for something like this. A "word-of-warning" would've been fine. It's not like they pulled a fucking Jeff Hardy or anything like that. It's this level of idiocy that could turn TNA into just anothe WWE.

[Eclipse 0]

WOW....now TNA has over done that punishment. The main point is here that TNA management are a bunch of hypocrites. Jeff Hardy doesn't appear for events (I don't care if he has made the company money or not), and doesn't get disciplined at ALL, but they do ROH, and MAKE IT to the event regardless of the storm, but they get buried and possibly de-pushed.

 

UNFAIR.

[Guest I Just Want To Lurk]

WOW....now TNA has over done that punishment. The main point is here that TNA management are a bunch of hypocrites. Jeff Hardy doesn't appear for events (I don't care if he has made the company money or not), and doesn't get disciplined at ALL, but they do ROH, and MAKE IT to the event regardless of the storm, but they get buried and possibly de-pushed.

 

UNFAIR.

 

They'd be hypocrites if they were the same people. New CEO, new policy. Gotta wait a little bit before you can claim hypocrisy.

[Astro101 0]

Plus, Hardy has been off television and suspended for a while now. So he has been disciplined.

[Bruce Blank 0]

Can I just say

 

Fuck TNA for booking Apollo after the PPV no show then

 

Fuck TNA for booking Jeff Hardy after a couple of PPV no show then.

 

1) Apolo is going to be fired, probably this week.

 

2) Hardy has actually made TNA money, unlike Strong / Aries.

 

The punishment here, if they are off for several weeks/months, is too harsh. But TNA is completely right to discipline.

1) They booked him even after he no-showed the last time, no message sent then

 

2) He made money so he’s exempt from the rules? Then I know exactly what message they’re sending to everyone and it’s

 

“We’re big pussies for only going after the little guy”

 

And they’re punished for POTENTIALLY missing the show – that’s like saying “You’re fired cause you were thinking of calling in sick next Tuesday”

 

Yeah that’s not retarded

[Stephen Joseph 0]

Do you own your own business?

 

Then STFU, seriously.

 

Like people have said, new CEO, new policies. You know, yeah it was a freak occurance, but they're A BUSINESS. Businesses need consistency in that what product they promise to deliver, they deliver.

 

boo fucking hoo.

 

Dont be idealist. Idealists go out of business

[Si82 0]

Let's punish guys for showing up for a booking they made with another company and then showing up for our show the next day. Pulling them from TV is just stupid. Fuck the new TNA CEO.

[dubq 0]

Do you own your own business?

 

Then STFU, seriously.

 

Like people have said, new CEO, new policies. You know, yeah it was a freak occurance, but they're A BUSINESS. Businesses need consistency in that what product they promise to deliver, they deliver.

 

boo fucking hoo.

 

Dont be idealist. Idealists go out of business

 

Say what you want about business-this and business-that, but it's bad employee relations to punish employees for something that didn't even happen.

[Astro101 0]

I think TNA has the right to do so. I think the punishment may be severe, but I see where they're coming from. Yea, other guys have no showed in the past, but that was in the past. We've got a new CEO and apparently harsher penalties for choosing something that could've been a potential disaster. If they want the tv time in the second biggest fed in the country, deal with it. Though TNA should've reimbursed for their missed payday.

[benoit4hor 0]

Great, here's to more Lance Hoyt/Naturals t.v. time.

[Vyce 0]

He made money so he’s exempt from the rules? Then I know exactly what message they’re sending to everyone and it’s

 

“We’re big pussies for only going after the little guy”

 

Hardy's been gone for something like four months and if they do bring him back, it may not be for another couple months. That'd be half a year or so since he was last booked, so it's not as if he hasn't been disciplined.

 

But to answer your statement - in this business? If you make the boss money, yes, it means you can get away with more shit. Look at the WWE, and all of the shit Vince has put up with from some of his workers, because ultimately there was money to be made. Hardy does make them money, so they'll bring him back, at some point.

 

I would like to add at this point, though, that so far the rumor we've heard is that Aries / Strong will not be booked for a while; how long they're gone, if they aren't booked, remains to be seen, whereas Hardy has already been gone for weeks / months. So you're bitching about them not treating Aries / Strong the same way as Hardy when at this point, we don't even know if their punishment is worse, or whether they'll actually not be booked at all.

 

But SJ is right, TNA is a business, and they have to take care of their own ass and not give two shits about whether ROH is able to put on a show or not. They're justified to look disfavorably on a worker who chooses another promotion over them. I think most of the criticism labelled against TNA here - and I do feel the punishment is too harsh if it's as severe as it's rumored to be - is because smarks like ROH (and by extention Aries / Strong) more than they like TNA, so they're cutting Aries / Strong slack here. But they shouldn't. Aries / Strong got LUCKY they made to the show.

[Bruce Blank 0]

Do you own your own business?

 

Then STFU, seriously.

Do you own your own business? No??

 

Good then I don't ever expect to hear a damn thing from you ever again - great news on that front *thumbs up*

 

they're totally overreaction on Aries/Strong, punishing them for POTENTIALLY missing the PPV

 

hey why not punish them if they forget to set their alarm clocks? They could potentially oversleep - or have the WWE punsih people for having clothes in their bags that don't meet their dress code, they could potentially show up wearing something that breaks the code

 

give me a break

[King Cucaracha 0]

Aries and Strong were ROH wrestlers and put on the wrestling map as a result of being ROH wrestlers long before TNA even took a second look at them. You can't put Aries and Strong in the same boat as Jeff Hardy, because the ironic thing is they WERE being loyal. They were being loyal to the company that's paid their wages the longest, ROH. That counts for something in my book.

 

They should have been punished, sure, they went against TNA's orders. But the punishment is still pretty harsh.

[Guest flair4thegold]

At least TNA lets their wrestlers book in other feds. They could just start stating in future contracts that they cannot wrestle for anyone else but TNA.

TNA is giving them a chance to go national, something ROH can't at this point in time.

I'd say if that were the case, my loyalties would lye with TNA.

 

The "severe punishment" is only rumor at this point. Let the situation play its self out first.

[Guest I Just Want To Lurk]

they're totally overreaction on Aries/Strong, punishing them for POTENTIALLY missing the PPV

 

They're punishing them for not cancelling a date they were told to cancel. That's the issue in play here.

 

hey why not punish them if they forget to set their alarm clocks? They could potentially oversleep - or have the WWE punsih people for having clothes in their bags that don't meet their dress code, they could potentially show up wearing something that breaks the code

 

They would be bullshit rules but if wrestlers were ordered to set their alarms clocks and not carry any clothes with them that didn't meet the dress code, then they could be punished.

[Hawk 34 0]

Aries speaks about the situation...via his site.

 

February 21, 2006

 

***HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!! Ok, I'm aware it's the middle of February but this is, sadly, my first update of the year so Happy New Year. On to the update...***

 

***To clear up the reports on my knee injury. I DIDN'T "blow my knee out" during my match against The Naturals at TNA's PPV. I DID, however, suffer a bad ACL sprain to my left knee. It's painful yes, but as long as I don't do anymore damage to it I should be able to work through it. I'm scheduled to wrestle this Thursday in Green Bay, WI, Friday in Hayward, WI, and Saturday for ROH in New Jersey. This will be a good test to see exactly how good/bad my knee holds up.***

 

***I'm excited to announce my return to England on March 4th and 5th for 1PW. I had a great time my first trip over there and expect the same this time around. I will also be returning at the end of May along with my tag partner, Roderick Strong, to compete in 1PW's tag tournament.***

 

***With regards to my new TNA look. This was not TNA's idea and it wasn't really my idea either. Let me explain. A couple of months back I received a call from a close friend of mine Dan "Casual" Sexon, who is one half of the semi-retired Dixon-Sexon Connexion. As we caught up on what we've been up to, he noted he had seen me on TNA Impact! He expressed concerns that, despite my talent inside the ring, he was afraid I could get lost in the shuffle amidst all the talented X-divisioners. He then suggested I take a page from his book and repackage myself in a whole new way as to ensure that people would notice me. Now, I've always been about good ole' pure wrestling, but the "Casual One" made some very valid points, and if there was one thing he knew how to do it was turn heads and command attention. So after some thought I decided to take his advice, along with some of his fashion tips, and taking a little here and there from some of the more flamboyant performers of the past, the new "look" was born. Now some people like it and some don't, but people ARE talking about it. Now you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, but if that cover is outrageously glitzy, full of glamour and pizzazz, I'd think you would be at least more likely to want to open that book and see what it's really all about. Simply Fantasmic.***

 

***Finally to address the reports and speculation surrounding TNA and myself.

On the afternoon before the A.A.O. PPV I was contacted by TNA management and told that because of concerns over the imminent winter storm they wanted all their talent in the NE to come down to Florida that night. I was asked to catch a flight from N.Y. to Orlando at 7:30pm. This put me in a very difficult position because I was on my way to the ROH show in Long Island I was booked to wrestle on that evening. Faced with having to make the choice between canceling last minute on ROH, or going against TNA's wishes, I quickly realized I was between a rock and a hard place. Given all the information presented to me at the time and taking my own personal and financial situations within both companies into account, I made an extremely difficult, and somewhat risky, decision that I was going to honor my commitment to ROH that night, and hopefully fly out in the morning from Philadelphia to Orlando and honor my commitment to TNA as well. Luckily I was able to make it down to Orlando on the one flight that wasn't cancelled. By the time I reached Universal Studios, however, I was 4 hours late. Thankfully, I was in time to still competed on the PPV that night and live up to my commitments to both companies and their fans.

On Tuesday shortly before my Impact! match against Christopher Daniels, I was informed by TNA management that they would be suspending me for 2 months for my tardiness and not following their request which would have prevented me from being late. Now there's a lot of debate over TNA's decision and if it's fair or not. I personally understand TNA's position on this matter and completely respect the fact that they're entitled to protect their interests as they see fit. And while I was also entitled and within my contractual rights to make the tough decision I did, I fully accept the consequences of my decision.***

 

Hopefully this will clear up any misinformation, and/ or speculation about this story. My hope is that once my suspension is served this whole situation will be put behind us with no ill will. I look forward to my return to TNA as it gears up for it's huge primetime debut April 13 on Spike TV. In the meantime I will continue to stay busy with my numerous other bookings and prepare myself for my TNA return. Thank you to all my friends and fans who have supported me and the decisions I have made. It has meant a lot knowing that the people I so passionately perform for respect and appreciate the sacrifices I make to do what I love to do. So until next time...***

 

Safe Travels,

-Aries

[daileyxplanet 0]

If he (truly) isn't sore about the situation, then I won't be, either.

[Hawk 34 0]

Keep in mind, he knows TNA will read his response. If he bitches about it, that won't do any favors.

[King Cucaracha 0]

At least TNA lets their wrestlers book in other feds. They could just start stating in future contracts that they cannot wrestle for anyone else but TNA.

 

They already did that and they looked terrible for it.

 

TNA is giving them a chance to go national, something ROH can't at this point in time.

 

I'd say if that were the case, my loyalties would lye with TNA.

 

I'm just glad Aries didn't go for the 'glory' (although curtain jerking and jobbing to The Naturals is hardly glorious) and decided to honour a booking he'd made with another company too.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

I'll be as nice about this as possible, becuase I like (and have attended 4 shows of) the RoH product.

 

There isn't a tenth of something that RoH can do for someone that TNA can do at this point.

 

Over a MILLION PEOPLE watch Impact right now.

 

MILLION.

 

MILLION.

 

MILLION.

 

A MOTHER FUCKING MILLION PEOPLE...people.

 

When you run that company. And you have a ppv that your CONTRACTED workers are booked for. You protect your investment and try to get them home.

 

Hell...it's not like Gabe can't just announce a "Big Surprise" that falls flat and appease the "RoH and no one else" hardcore fanbase anyway.

[Hawk 34 0]

I'll be as nice about this as possible, becuase I like (and have attended 4 shows of) the RoH product.

 

There isn't a tenth of something that RoH can do for someone that TNA can do at this point.

 

Over a MILLION PEOPLE watch Impact right now.

 

MILLION.

 

MILLION.

 

MILLION.

 

A MOTHER FUCKING MILLION PEOPLE...people.

 

When you run that company. And you have a ppv that your CONTRACTED workers are booked for. You protect your investment and try to get them home.

 

Hell...it's not like Gabe can't just announce a "Big Surprise" that falls flat and appease the "RoH and no one else" hardcore fanbase anyway.

 

It's true that TNA is clearly the more attractive location because they still get to work their style, do what they want as far as gimmick/characters are concerned and better pay/exposure.

 

The difference, for Aries and Strong (as well as Joe)...they have very loyal ties to ROH. Joe has gone on record saying what ROH means to him and Aries has alot invested in ROH (as their head trainer) and Strong, has loyalty to Aries/ROH.

 

I'm not saying Aries did the right thing, maybe he did in his mind. It was a bad business move but if he felt he owned ROH something out of loyalty...then you can't fault him. Just like you can't fault TNA for their actions.

[2GOLD 0]

I get why both sides did what they did. He made a choice not to hang ROH out and I can respect that. But he knew he was at fault and he did show up considerably late for work. If you showed up four hours late for work, do you think the boss would say, "well it's ok, would you like me to make you a sandwich?"

 

If you wanna blame anyone, blame the weather channel for hyping up the snowstorm and making TNA worried none of the guys would be able to make it down in time if they waited till Sunday.

[Hawk 34 0]

I get why both sides did what they did. He made a choice not to hang ROH out and I can respect that. But he knew he was at fault and he did show up considerably late for work. If you showed up four hours late for work, do you think the boss would say, "well it's ok, would you like me to make you a sandwich?"

 

If you wanna blame anyone, blame the weather channel for hyping up the snowstorm and making TNA worried none of the guys would be able to make it down in time if they waited till Sunday.

 

Well, the weather did produce what was said to be the biggest snowstorm in the LI area in years. According to Aries, there was only one flight open.

[Guest new jack 4 prez]

tna should have them do a three minute job to icp on the detriot house show and then put them back on tv and revemp the genn next jerry lynn angle

[Silence 0]

tna should have them do a three minute job to icp on the detriot house show and then put them back on tv and revemp the genn next jerry lynn angle

 

Come on, that's really low.