TNA Wrestling is making significant changes to its behind-the-scenes staff.
First reported by Fightful, TNA sent out an internal email on Tuesday announcing that Gail Kim, Ariel Shnerner, Rob Kligman, and Michael Shewchenko are departing the company’s senior leadership team. Of those four, Kim — a TNA Hall of Famer and one of the top wrestlers in company history — is the best known to fans. She had been working in talent relations for TNA.
Kim has not yet publicly commented on being let go. She is retired from the ring but did return for a match in 2023 on the 1000th episode of Impact.
Shnerner was Senior Vice President of Content, Distribution & Marketing for TNA’s parent company Anthem Sports & Entertainment and had been overseeing TNA’s creative following the firing of Scott D’Amore in early 2024. PWInsider reports that former ROH booker Hunter Johnston (wrestler Delirious) will now be the head of creative. Tommy Dreamer will head talent relations and remain on the creative team, with both Johnston and Dreamer reporting directly to TNA President Carlos Silva.
A former WWE executive, Kligman was named Chief Revenue Officer of Anthem Sports Group in June 2024.
Shewchenko was Anthem’s Vice President of Digital Operations. He will remain with Anthem until April 30.
The internal email also listed Rafael Morffi, an entertainment industry veteran who has worked for both WWE and AEW, as departing TNA. He had been consulting with TNA on its business strategy for live events and touring.
“In addition to these leadership departures, we also say thank you and goodbye to Karen Clevett, Sebastian Dastranj, Romy Glazer and Rafael Morffi,” the email said. “Our company is built on the strength and dedication of our team and these changes do not diminish the value or the contributions of those affected.”
TNA’s next events are a set of television tapings in St. Joseph, Missouri this Friday and Saturday.
The TNA Wrestling roster is looking to find a path forward following Scott D’Amore’s departure from the company.
Last week, Anthem Sports & Entertainment announced that it had terminated D’Amore’s contract. Anthony Cicione was named the new president of TNA Wrestling following D’Amore’s firing. Cicione is also the president of Anthem’s Entertainment Group.
Members of the TNA roster publicly voiced their support for D’Amore on social media after the announcement. Today, Fightful published a letter that members of the roster sent to Anthem Sports & Entertainment CEO Leonard Asper and D’Amore. In the letter, the TNA wrestlers expressed their belief that D’Amore is still the best possible person to protect TNA’s present and future.
“We feel strongly that a ‘wrestling person’ needs to be intimately involved at a high level to ensure that the amazing company we have all built and product we have provided to our fans continues to grow and flourish,” the letter said. “It is our opinion that the best possible person for that role was, is, and will be Scott.”
The TNA talent stated that Asper and Anthem have been instrumental in building the company back up, and the promotion would not have survived without them. The talent expressed that their goal in writing the letter was to open a line of communication and reunite the TNA family.
“We remain steadfast and hopeful that this letter can be a first step to opening, and keeping open, productive lines of communication to ensure the TNA/Impact family continues to be a wonderful, unique place to work for years to come,” they wrote. “We ask and implore you both to come together and create a resolution that will reunite this family once again.”
The full letter can be read below:
Len and Scott,
TNA/Impact is not just our employer and the company for which we work. It is a family. A family that each of us has grown to love and cherish and trust with our bodies and our careers. A family for which we feel deeply and that desire, above all else, to protect.
We are deeply saddened by the decision to remove Scott D’Amore from the TNA/Impact family. Scott is a brilliant wrestling mind that has guided this company and has it positioned to take the next step upward in our industry. Scott is also so much more than this. He is a trusted friend, confidant, teacher, advisor, brother, and mentor to so many within the TNA/Impact family. Scott has been the heart of the TNA/Impact family for over two decades.
Len and Anthem have been instrumental in supporting and building this company back from the ground up. The contributions of Len and Anthem have never gone unnoticed by anyone in the company, and we want to make sure Len knows this. TNA, simply put, would not have survived without Len and Anthem. Not just financially, but with the undying faith in Scott and us to revive the company that was on the brink of death. Len and Anthem are the foundation that TNA has been able to build upon. We would not have made it back to this point without BOTH of you. The fans know this, and the TNA family knows this.
We come to you to voice our concern for TNA/Impact, our family, and its future and direction. We, like you, wish to safeguard what we have all worked and sweat and bled for to build. We want TNA/Impact to continue grow and to continue to be an enviable place for all professional wrestlers to work.
We understand and appreciate that professional wrestling, at its core, is a business, and that the company must provide a fiscally responsible, financially viable product. At the same time, professional wrestling is uniquely situated. The business of professional wrestling is so much more than balance sheets, downloads, and ratings. The wrestling business is and must be its people, its characters, and its storylines. That is to say, there is no wrestling business without the wrestling creative vision and the right people bringing the creative vision to life.
To thrive, a wrestling company must have both an eye toward business decisions, and its fingers on the pulse of creative decisions and the ever-changing appetite of our fans. It is in light of this concern and our desire to uphold the high standards of TNA/Impact that we offer this letter.
It is our desire to have a dialogue with you and with the company in an effort to protect the present and the future of TNA/Impact for you, for Anthem, for the fans, and for professional wrestlers. We feel strongly that a ‘wrestling person’ needs to be intimately involved at a high level to ensure that the amazing company we have all built and product we have provided to our fans continues to grow and flourish. It is our opinion that the best possible person for that role was, is, and will be Scott.
We recognize that we do not necessarily know all the facts or details around the decision to remove Scott. In life there is always the rumors, the opinions, and, somewhere in between, the truth. We rarely get to know which is which. It remains our hope and desire that everyone can set aside the past few days and any hurt feelings or unkind words that may have been exchanged, and meet to discuss a path forward that preserves the TNA/Impact family we all hold so dearly.
We remain steadfast and hopeful that this letter can be a first step to opening, and keeping open, productive lines of communication to ensure the TNA/Impact family continues to be a wonderful, unique place to work for years to come. We ask and implore you both to come together and create a resolution that will reunite this family once again.
We look forward to hearing from you and continuing this dialogue.
Signed, Your TNA Family
Dave Meltzer reported in last week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that some people in TNA, including D’Amore, had been expecting the management change for a few weeks, but talent were not anticipating the change:
There were those in TNA who had expected changes for a few weeks, including D’Amore, although the talent did not. Some noted that Cicione and Ariel Shnerer, the Vice President of Business Development at TNA had been talking with staff and wrestlers about the business and getting feedback.
Nothing official has come out as the reason. Several different sources had it that with TNA having its most successful period in eight years that he was hoping to expand the business. One person close to D’Amore noted to us that he was very wealthy independent of wrestling with other business interests but loved working in pro wrestling. They said he had pushed for years for a bigger budget and there had been threats to quit with the idea that he was a key person they didn’t want to lose and they were aware he didn’t need the job, but also very much wanted it.
A look at what happened in the last two months of the life of Jon Huber is the lead story in this week’s edition of the Wrestling Observer. We look at how the situation was handled, when the talent found out, why Huber didn’t get a lung transplant, and a look at comments from a number of people in WWE in particular as well as Jim Ross and Amanda Huber’s extensive writing on the subject.
Also in this issue:
Extensive coverage of Wrestle Kingdom and New Year’s Dash. We have match-by-match, star ratings and poll results. We also have business notes, the story of Kota Ibushi and Kenny Omega, the effect of COVID on the show and of wrestling in Japan going forward, Jay White, goal of Hiromu Takahashi, the new main event programs and international television news.
Full year television notes, Linda McMahon’s donations to Donald Trump, Dusty Rhodes tag team tournament, next Takeover show, A&E documentary notes, update on Damien Priest and others earmarked for Raw & Smackdown, lots of booking notes, new WWTV deals, Sonya Deville return, Hulk Hogan talks, head of a rival promotion sets up WWE production person’s engagement, amateur wrestling standout about to start training with WWE, how wrestling shows this past week did compared to sports, international television ratings, who was creative told a few years ago not to even think of ideas for, upcoming TV bouts, WWE market value and the most-watched shows of the past week on the WWE Network.
A story on Irwin Rivera, the UFC fighter who is being accused of stabbing two of his sisters.
A story on Bobby Davis, one of the first of the modern managers.
What wrestlers had the most four star matches in 2020, as well as in history the top 25 of all-time.
Detailed look at the television business, looking at stats not available elsewhere to get the deepest read into how shows are doing, what categories are doing well and how shows compare with previous weeks and one year ago.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
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If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight with Wrestling Observer Radio covering Drew McIntyre’s COVID test positive, Raw, and the rest of the pro wrestling news. You can send e-mail questions to the show to [email protected]
Obviously the big story of the day is that Drew McIntyre tested positive for COVID and is being quarantined, so won’t be at the show in St. Petersburg tonight. He will be doing an interview, likely from his home. HHH will be on the show. There is at least one other person on the roster who tested positive although the one we know of is on the Smackdown brand and it was last week and the person was pulled from the show beforehand.
Tonight’s Raw was to be built around McIntyre, both wrestling Randy Orton and doing a segment where he would accept the challenge laid out by Bill Goldberg. So obviously that all has to change. Raw is going against the college football national championship ame with Ohio State vs. Alabama head-to-head on ESPN. The show probably would have gotten killed because the game tonight was expected to do a bigger number than NFL games do. But with the news that broke the curiosity should lead to a noticeable increase in viewers from what the show would have done.
Because they need something big with the game on and the McIntyre match out, they look to be building the show around Orton vs. HHH in a confrontation.
The lawsuit that has been going on for years between Jeff Jarrett and Anthem over the Global Force Wrestling tape library was settled out of court on Friday according to PWInsider. The terms of the settlement were sealed.
New Japan has a press conference at 1 a.m. late tonight to announce the plans for now until mid-February. They would likely announce when the big matches that were set up at New Year’s Dash and the Tokyo Dome, like Kota Ibushi vs. Sanada for the IWGP title, Shingo Takagi vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi for the Never title, Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi for the IWGP tag titles, Hiromu Takahashi vs. Sho for the IWGP jr. title and Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori for the IWGP jr. tag title will be taking place. They are three different major shows so these matches will be spread out over those cards.
Dragon Gate has two Korakuen Hall shows on its streaming service both starting at 4 a.m. Eastern both tomorrow and Wednesday morning. There will be English language commentary on both shows with Jae Church. With the 8 p.m. curfew (6 a.m.) it means these shows have to be fast-paced.
Tuesday’s show:
Ryo Saito & Boktimo Dragon vs. Don Fujii & Kennichiro Arai
Ultimo Dragon & Masaaki Mochizuki & Yasushi Kanda & Gamma vs. Eita & Kaito Ishida & Hyo & Hip Hop Kikuta
Keisuke Okuda vs. Punch Tominaga
Shun Skywalker & La Estrella & Dragon Kid vs. Yamato & Shuji Kondo & Kagetora
Susumu Yokosuka & Genki Horiguchi & Kzy vs. Takashi Yoshida & Kazama Sakamoto & SB Kento
BxB Hulk & Kai defend the Open the Twin Gate titles against Kota Minoura & Jason Lee
Wednesday’s show:
Don Fujii & Shuji Kondo & Gamma vs. Yasushi Kanda & Kennichiro Arai & Kagetora
Shun Skywalker & Kota Minoura & Jason Lee & La Estrella vs. BxB Hulk & Kai & Kaito Ishida & Hip Hop Kikuta
Yamato vs Dragon Kid
Takashi Yoshida & Kazama Sakamoto & SB Kento defend the Open the Triangle Gate titles against Kzy & Susumu Yokosuka & Genki Horiguchi
WWE
WWE will be represented at the first-ever all-digital CES conference. Tomorrow at 7:30 a.m., Stephanie McMahon will be joined by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert. At 1 p.m., Stephanie McMahon will do another session and CFO Kristina Salem will be doing a presentation at 2 p.m. Brian Flinn, the company’s Chief Marketing Officer was to be joined by Drew McIntyre at 3:35 p.m.
Dwayne Johnson announced the launch of a new energy drink called ZOA that will be marketed starting in March. Johnson, business partner Dany Garcia, Dave Rienzi and John Shulman announced the drink.
UFC
This is the story we were talking about on last night’s show regarding the death of Dr. Payman Somani of “The Doctors” show. It was not a show in Las Vegas, but a show at the Honda Center headlined by Chuck Liddell vs. Keith Jardine in 2007 that my wife sat next to him at.
AEW
Some notes on Wednesday’s show. The previously advertised Britt Baker vs. Thunder Rosa match is not on the show. There is a match involving The Elite. The tease is it will be Kenny Omega & Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson. Nick Jackson was injured last Wednesday legit.
OTHER NOTES
We don’t have any update on Les Thatcher who has been battling COVID and pneumonia. Our best wishes to him and everyone battling health issues at this time.
The New Day on their WWE Network podcast did a show on Brodie Lee, who was very close to all three of them. Big E and Brodie Lee were like best friends. Big E had a tough time getting through it. Other WWE stars who were friends of his also appeared.
A quick reminder that I’ve got two books that are both available at www.amazon.com which are the 1997 and 1993 Yearbooks. These are compilations of Observer issues and stories from those years with every major story of those years in detail including a number of major bios.
Sports Illustrated has a feature on the Masked Republic brand, and in the story they note that Rush and Dragon Lee, who they represent, are expected to be finalizing their ROH deals as early as next week.
This article notes that 80 percent of Japanese are right now in favor of either postponing or canceling the summer Olympics.
Mil Muertes debuts on MLW on Wednesday. In the release, they acknowledge his Muertes Lucha Underground storyline and that he was five-time IWA champion in Puerto Rico as Ricky Banderas.
The worst week in the pro wrestling industry since 2007 is looked back on in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
We go through name after name, case after case, the culture, the situations, suggestions on changes and a history dating back to the 30s of women in wrestling’s plight. We look at Joey Ryan, the WWE talent, people fired from every company, companies restructuring, attorney letters, Jim Cornette, Sammy Guevara, Travis Banks, Marty Scurll, the U.K. culture, the legal aspect, the ugliness from the fan base, David Lagana, Michael Elgin, death of CHIKARA, and pretty much the only mainstream place that will touch the story.
We also look at the COVID outbreak in WWE. We look at how it happened, why AEW is at risk, the new taping schedule, the plans to return to shows with fans quicker than you think, how the AEW decision making went, how WWE is getting around the travel ban, the Orlando, the mask ordinance, and much more.
The new issue also covers:
The ending of WWE Backstage, the Tuesday night block and more.
Update on the New Japan Cup tournament with this coming week’s shows.
What was supposed to be a big deal and ended up going nowhere due to COVID, the Tessa Blanchard Impact title win. We talk about the ending, and why it happened the way it did.
Possible end of Undertaker’s career, where wrestling stood this past week in sports ratings, WWE gets new overseas deal, most-watched shows on WWE Network and WWE’s current worth.
This week’s UFC show that featured a guy with a destroyed knee winning one of he best fights of the year.
Next two weeks of Wednesday night wrestling.
Update on Extreme rules.
Ratings of all the major shows, the key demos and quarters for AEW and WWE, what happened head-to-head and what can be learned from them.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight with Wrestling Observer Radio covering Raw, New Japan Cup and some recent television sports news related to wrestling. You can also send questions to tonight’s show to [email protected].
Cody on Twitter said that Sammy Guevara would be back and he would be a better person and better wrestler for what happened with his being suspended.
Jeff Jarrett’s lawsuit against Impact Wrestling and Anthem is scheduled to go to trial tomorrow. Jarrett had given Impact the rights to use his Global Force Wrestling tapes while he worked for the company, but felt that once he was no longer with the company, they had no rights to the tapes. Impact, which had the master tapes, had deleted them.
WWE’s John Brody has been heavily criticized for his statements regarding how WWE has handled the COVID situation.
After the ratings last week, there is more interest in this week’s Wednesday shows with AEW Fyter Fest vs. NXT Great American Bash.
NXT has:
Oney Lorcan vs. Timothy Thatcher
Rhea Ripley vs. Robert Stone & Aliyah and if Stone & Aliyah win, Ripley must join the Robert Stone brand
Roderick Strong vs. Dexter Lumis strap match
Mia Yim vs. Candice LeRae vs. Tegan Nox vs. Dakota Kai elimination match
Io Shirai vs. Sasha Banks non-title
AEW has:
Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus vs. MJF & Wardlow
Private Party vs. Santana & Ortiz
Hikaru Shida vs. Penelope Ford for the women’s title
Cody vs. Jake Hager for the TNT title
Kenny Omega & Adam Page vs. Best Friends for the tag title
Chris Jericho will be announcing on this show
WWE tapes in Orlando Wednesday through Friday this week, with the next two weeks of NXT on Wednesday, two episodes of Smackdown and 205 Live on Thursday and two episodes of Raw and Main Event on Friday.
WWE
Raw tonight has contract signings for both Drew McIntyre vs. Dolph Ziggler and Asuka vs. Sasha Banks for the Extreme Rules PPV show. Matches announced are Apollo Crews vs MVP in a non-title match, Viking Raiders vs. Andrade & Angel Garza and Akira Tozawa vs. R-Truth for the 24/7 title. Also advertised as appearing are Ric Flair and Randy Orton.
Titus O’Neil and Dave Bautista will be on a UNICEF live stream on Amazon tomorrow at 9:30 p.m. Eastern time. Also listed as appearing are the NBA’s Paul Gasol, Laurie Hernandez of gymnastics and Danielle Kang of the LPGA.
The movie “Jumanji: The Next Level” starring Dwayne Johnson comes to Starz on 7/3. Another Johnson movie, “Race to Witch Mountain” starts on Disney+ on 7/3.
FS1 will be airing the 2018 Survivor Series show featuring Daniel Bryan vs. Brock Lesnar, which was a hell of a match, as was Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair. There is also both a men’s and women’s Survivor Series match.
AEW
The lineup for Dark tomorrow night:
Shawn Spears vs.; Max Caster
Butcher & Blade vs. Low Rida & Fuego de Sol
Ricky Stars vs. Griff Garrison
Scorpio Sky vs. Brady Pierce
Brandi Rhodes & Allie vs KLynn King & Skyler Moore
Lance Archer vs. Pineapple Pete
Young Bucks vs. Brandon Cutler & Peter Avalon
MISCELLANEOUS
There will be new Japan Cup shows this week on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday morning at 6 a.m. Eastern. The 7/3 show will bring it down to the final two who will face off on 7/11 in the first New Japan show with fans.
Low Ki made a post about not wearing a mask in public which garnered a ton of controversy. If people haven’t realized our country is not listening to doctors, and Canada’s listening to doctors resulted in what happened, I don’t know what to say, but here was his post.
ONE announced a show called No Surrender for 7/31 in Bangkok, Thailand.
Impact announced it has a TV deal with Pluto TV LATAM, covering Latin America.
Impact also announced a Rumble style match with Kimber Lee, Rosemary, Jessicka Havok, Neveah, Alisha Edwards, Susie, Kiera Hogan, Tasha Steelz, Taya Valkyrie and Kylie Rae for the 7/18 Slammiversary PPV show.
Invicta returns for a Fight Pass show at 8 p.m. on Thursday night headlined by Julianna Lima vs Emily Ducote
Melbourne City Wrestling has announced new procedures for its return. Melbourne had 75 new cases yesterday, so pro wrestling’s return may not be as quick as thought last week.
Oliver Copp announced the first new product from the TNM wrestling simulator line in 17 years to commemorate TNM’s 25th anniversary. People interested can download a free 28-day trial version here.
Bayley going through a long-anticipated character change was the latest step in WWE refocusing on the Four Horsewomen.
Bayley & Becky Lynch vs. Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross main evented last Monday’s episode of Raw. Sasha Banks ran in and caused a disqualification by attacking Lynch. Banks struck Lynch with a steel chair until Bayley took it away from her. But instead of playing peacemaker between her friends, Bayley smiled and pummeled Lynch with the chair herself.
After beginning her heel turn and reuniting with Banks, Bayley cut a promo explaining her actions the next night on SmackDown. The crowd alternated between cheering and booing her. Bayley told the fans that their reaction was confusing. Instead of going full bore with the heel turn, Bayley spoke about her friendship with Banks and called Banks the one person who has always had her back. Bayley disingenuously talked about being a hero and a role model. She said she was trying to show kids what it means to be loyal and noted that she couldn’t turn her back on Banks just because things got rough. Bayley said that SmackDown deserves a champion that gets the same kind of recognition as Lynch.
In a move that has great ramifications in pro wrestling, Anthem Sport and Entertainment has purchased a majority interest in AXS TV and HDNet Movies and will begin running the two channels.
The deal also includes purchasing the AXS TV library of concerts, pro wrestling and MMA content, which would include U.S. broadcast rights to old ROH, many years of New Japan, WOW, and some defunct MMA promotions as well as countless smaller MMA shows.
Mark Cuban, who founded the stations, and AEG, his partners, will continue to own a minority interest. Part of the purchase team included Anthem, headed by Leonard Asper, and entertainer Steve Harvey, who will enter into a strategic content development agreement.
The company will continue operating from studios in Los Angeles and Denver, as well as use Anthem studios in Toronto, Nashville and Europe. The office in Dallas was closed down.
While not stated in the sales press release, as noted over the months this day has been in play, that if it was to go through, that Impact would move from The Pursuit Channel, where it has been dying on the vine, and move to AXS.
The deal actually first started with an attempt by Anthem to get Impact on AXS when they got word in the latter stages of 2018 that they weren’t going to be renewed by Pop TV. AXS turned down the initial deal, since Impact did not have a good reputation in the wrestling world at the time and AXS had its own wrestling franchise with New Japan.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
THURSDAY NEWS UPDATE
Just as TNT will be airing a preview show of AEW before its 10/2 debut (current issue covers that), FOX will be airing a one hour special called Smackdown’s Greatest Hits on 9/27 at 8 p.m. the Friday night before the debut.
The first casualty of the Anthem purchase of AXS is the Friday night MMA programming, which, for a long time, was the most popular show on the station. Much of the crew has been let go. Today Ron Kruk, who has been a commentator with the station and with its entire MMA division since 2004, said that tomorrow night he will call his last event for AXS TV.
The Philadelphia Inquirer has a fantastic story on former college football star/pro wrestling superstar Jumping Joe Savoldi, who popularized the sport in the U.S. by utilizing football moves in pro wrestling (yes, the old-timers said it was fake and would kill he business). His story is amazing.
Tickets for the Royal Rumble, which will be at Minute Maid Stadium in Houston, will go on sale on 9/20. They will be available at www.astros.com/rumble or be calling 800-352-0212. There are travel packages already available at RoyalRumbleTravel.com
Scott Coker announced today that double champion Patricio Pitbull Freire will be entering into the Rizin lightweight tournament in Japan. It’s an eight-man tournament with Hiroto Uesaki, Damien Brown, Johnny Case, Freire, Roberto Satoshi Souza, Tatsuya Kawajiri,Tofio Musayev and Luiz Gustavo.
Kambi has come out with the star ratings predictions for Sunday. You can’t bet on over, under or the same:
Drew Gulak vs. Humberto Carrillo vs. Lince Dorado ***
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. The Miz **1/2
Braun Strowman & Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode **3/4
Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks ***1/2
Roman Reigns vs. Erick Rowan ***1/4
Big E & Xavier Woods vs. Revival ***1/4
Bayley vs. Charlotte Flair ***1/4
A.J. Styles vs. Cedric Alexander ***3/4
Seth Rollins vs. Braun Strowman ***1/2
Kofi Kingston vs. Randy Orton **3/4
Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross vs. Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville**
UFC
Thiago Alves has pulled out of the 9/28 show in Copenhagen, Denmark due to a health issue. Gunner Nelson, who he was scheduled to face, is looking for a new opponent on the show.
Andrei Arlovski vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik has been added to 11/2 in Madison Square Garden.
ROH Final Battle tickets go on sale tomorrow at 10 a.m.
Innovate Wrestlnig on 9/28 in Kingsport, TN at the Civic Auditorium.
Wrestling & Respect on 10/5 in Lima, OH at the Bradfield Community Center
Vampiro is taking bookings for wrestling matches, autograph signings, photos ops, one men talk shows and seminars through Bill Behrens at [email protected]
KSW welterweight champion Roberto Soldic (16-3) now faces Poland’s Michael Peitrzak (8-3) in a non-title fight at 176 pounds after his title challengers, Patrik Kinel, pulled out of Saturday’s show at SSE Wembley in London due to an injury.
Limitless will be part of the Olympia Weekend Expo in Las Vegas on 9/13 and 9/14 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Scheduled as guests are:
Tomorrow:10 a.m. to 4 p.m. – Mandy Rose, Sonya Deville, Cryme Tyme, David Loiseau
12:30 p.m.. to 1:30 p.m. – Cody Garbrandt
Noon to 2 p.m. – Ken Shamrock
Noon to 2 p.m. – Nick Diaz
1-3 p.m. – Chuck Liddell
2-4 p.m. – Francis Ngannou
3:30-4:30 p.m. – Bill Goldberg
Saturday:10 a.m. to 4 p.m. – Mandy Rose, Sonya Deville, Cryme Tyme, David Loiseau
Noon to 2 p.m. – Anthony Pettis
1-3 p.m. – Chuck Liddell
1:30-3:30 p.m. – Anderson Silva
2:30-3:30 p.m. – Georges St-Pierre
Superstars of Wrestling fan fest on 10/19 in Rome, GA at the Forum River Center with Road Warrior Animal, Stan Hansen, Tanaka, Bob Orton, J.J. Dillon, Barry Windham, Jimmy Hart, Molly Holly, Disco Inferno Tony Atlas, Missy Hyatt and Raven.
IWA Mid South has the annual Ted Petty Invitational tournament tonight and tomorrow night at 1416 Spring St. in Jeffersonville, IN. Among those appearing are Fed Yehi, Shane Mercer, Jason Kincaid, Monsta Mack, Anthony Henry, Joey Ryan and Kongo Kong.
Premier Championship Wrestling on Saturday in Cleveland at Turners Hall with Wardlow in action.
Valor Bare Knuckle on PPV on 9/21 from New Town, ND promoted by Ken Shamrock has announced these PPV fights:
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou vs. Mighty Mo in first round of a one-night heavyweight tournament
Jack May vs Mark Godbeer in the tournament
Ishe Smith vs. Estevan Payan
Mike Richman vs. J.C. Llamas
Pro Wrestling Soul tomorrow at Wimbledon, South London at Merton Arts Space has a one-night women’s tournament with Millie McKenzie,Chakara, Charli Evans, Danni Luna, Bobbi Tyler, Mercedes Blaze, Kanji and Talia Martins.
CWE on 10/25 in Winnipeg at Rookie’s Sports Bar has a show as well as a seminar with Vampiro at 2 p.m.
Shine on 9/21 at Club LaBoom in Woodside, NY with Allysin Kay vs. Shotzi Blackheart, Gabby Gilbert & Luscious Latasha vs. Aja Perera & Big Swole, Mercedes Martinez vs. Ivelisse and the debut of Kris Statlander.
Northeast Wrestling tomorrow night in Waterbury, CT at the PAL with Joey Janela vs. Pentagon Jr. as the main event, plus Private Party, Rey Fenix, Darby Allin, Enzo & Cass appearing.
Progress has a big show Sunday from the Alexandra Palace in London with:
Pete Dunne vs. ?
Tyler Bate & Trent Seven vs. Keith Lee & Matt Riddle
Jordynne Grace vs. Meiko Satomura for the women’s tile
Zack Gibson & James Drake vs. Aussie Open for tag tiles
Walter vs. David Starr for Progress title
30 man Rumble
Combate Americas on 10/11 in Tucson, AZ on Univision.
A story on MLW returning to Orlando in November with a TV taping on 11/9.
When AEW debuts on TNT on October 2, they’ll be doing so with Chris Jericho as their champion.
Saturday’s All Out pay-per-view ended with Jericho defeating Hangman Page to become the inaugural AEW World Champion. After Jericho kicked out of the Dead Eye, Page hit a Buckshot Lariat and went for the Dead Eye again. The finish saw Jericho reverse the move and then connect with his Judas Effect elbow strike to win the title.
The match was very good, but it fell short of being the epic main event you’d want to crown your first World Champion with. The dynamic just didn’t work quite as well as AEW wanted. The fans would ideally have been desperate for Page to defeat Jericho and become champion. But people weren’t all that interested in booing Jericho — and Page didn’t have the momentum that he needed going into the match. The way Page won his way into getting the title shot was probably a misstep. It’s understandable that AEW wants to create their own unique match concepts and give them meaning, but Jericho defeating Kenny Omega at Double or Nothing felt like a far bigger deal than Page earning his spot in the title match through winning the Casino Battle Royale. While Page got wins at Fyter Fest and Fight for the Fallen, they weren’t against big enough opponents and they weren’t strong enough victories for people to see him as being one of the top two wrestlers in the company.
Jericho was an obvious choice to become AEW’s first World Champion. He’s an easily recognizable star that lapsed and casual fans will already be familiar with. There will inevitably be criticism over a new company choosing a 48-year-old wrestler as their initial champion, but AEW isn’t at any risk of being seen as a nostalgia promotion. It’s fine to have one wrestler in their late 40s in a top spot. Signing Jericho and pushing him heavily is a no-brainer for any start-up company. Jericho is still wrestling at a high level, helps bring credibility to the promotion for those who aren’t already fans of The Elite, and has protected his image by only working in main event-level matches with great opponents since departing WWE.
A full review of AEW All Out, and the saga of Chris Jericho’s stolen belt are the lead topics of discussion in this week’s double issue Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
We have complete coverage of All Out from a live perspective, as well as the television version of the show. We talk about what worked, what might not have, and what we can learn about match order when laying out a card. We have the latest on the business of the show, including preliminary pay-per-view numbers.
We have coverage of AEW and WWE running the same markets, and have notes and numbers on how each promotion is doing in selling tickets there. We also have all the details on the Chris Jericho AEW title story.
NJPW Royal Quest is covered as well in the new issue. We have star ratings for the matches, as well as business notes for the show.
The upcoming WWE Clash of Champions show is covered in detail. We have a preliminary card for the show.
We also cover the WWE writing team shake-up that took place this week.
NXT U.K. TakeOver: Cardiff is covered in detail as well, with everything from match reports and star ratings, to attendance and what we can learn from the show.
We have a story on Cris Cyborg signing with Bellator, and talk about potential opponents for her.
The new issue also has a history piece covering Harley Race’s St. Louis wrestling history. A lot can be learned from the piece, thanks to the late Larry Matysik’s Wrestling at the Chase Record book.
We also have Ryan Frederick’s coverage of the 8/31 UFC event in Shenzhen, China.
The passing of Australian wrestling legend, Norman Frederic Charles Lowndes, known as Sir Norman Frederich Charles III, is covered as well. We have notes on his life and career.
We look at AEW’s hype show that aired on TNT, and break down the viewership for the show, and what can be learned from it.
We also have news and notes on all of the top wrestling and MMA promotions in the world.
We have full coverage of all the WWE television shows from the past week.
As always, we have in-depth looks at the ratings of all the major shows,the key demos for the WWE shows and what can be learned from them.
We also have the results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
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TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE
by Joseph Currier and Bryan Rose
WWE
WWE is back at Madison Square Garden for tonight’s SmackDown. The Undertaker will appear on the show, and we’ll see how WWE handles Elias being pulled from his King of the Ring semifinal match against Chad Gable. Elias is out of the match due to an ankle injury.
Drew Gulak & Tony Nese vs. Humberto Carrillo & Lince Dorado is set for tonight’s 205 Live. Brian Kendrick & Akira Tozawa facing Jack Gallagher and a partner was also set up for the episode last week.
Steve Austin tweeted about his appearance on Raw at Madison Square Garden: “I had the time of my life! What a blast. Thanks to everybody @TheGarden The Fans and @WWE and everybody who watched at home. There is NOTHING like being in a ring and having fun. Great seeing the present and future superstars!”
NXT referee Eddie Orengo started working full time on the main roster last night. He’ll be a ref on the Raw brand.
Becky Lynch told ESPN’s Marc Raimondi about Ric Flair trying to trademark “The Man”: “All I can say about Ric is, I like Ric. He’s been a good friend to me over the years. We’ll see what happens with that.”
Triple H spoke to Yahoo Sports about AEW going against NXT and being an alternative to WWE: “If you talk about the upstart, what they’re going out and saying is that they’re an alternative. We were that alternative five years ago. We opened the door for being an alternative, we opened the door to show people that it can be done on a bigger level and on a different basis. As far as being the alternative, great, go put on the best show you can put out, and we’ll put out the best one we can put out.”
Anthem Sports & Entertainment has already made moves in the last 24 hours regarding AXS. PWInsider reported this afternoon that AXS’ Dallas office has been shut down. Adam Swift, who was behind getting wrestling on the network dating back to the ROH on HDNet days, has been let go as well as Cindy Ronzoni, who handled PR.
Kazushi Sakuraba, who hasn’t wrestled since 2017, is returning to pro wrestling, this time for Pro Wrestling NOAH. He will team with Hajme Ohara and NOSAWA to take on Yoshinari Ogawa, Kotaro Suzuki and Chris Ridgeway on September 16.
A GoFundMe has launched for Brian Knobbs, who is currently suffering from a serious infection in his knee.
Jeff Cobb will challenge for the ROH World title at ROH’s Honor United show in Bolton, England on October 27. He’ll face the winner of Matt Taven vs. Rush from Death Before Dishonor.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson tweeted that — if he’s able to make it to UFC 244 at Madison Square Garden on April 2 — he’ll put the BMF title around Jorge Masvidal’s waist if Masvidal defeats Nate Diaz: “Doing all I can to make this fight. If I can and you win, I’ll put the belt around your waist at MSG – consider it done. Already shaping up to be one of the biggest and most electrifying fights in @ufc history. Can’t wait.”
When AEW debuts on TNT on October 2, they’ll be doing so with Chris Jericho as their champion.
Saturday’s All Out pay-per-view ended with Jericho defeating Hangman Page to become the inaugural AEW World Champion. After Jericho kicked out of the Dead Eye, Page hit a Buckshot Lariat and went for the Dead Eye again. The finish saw Jericho reverse the move and then connect with his Judas Effect elbow strike to win the title.
The match was very good, but it fell short of being the epic main event you’d want to crown your first World Champion with. The dynamic just didn’t work quite as well as AEW wanted. The fans would ideally have been desperate for Page to defeat Jericho and become champion. But people weren’t all that interested in booing Jericho — and Page didn’t have the momentum that he needed going into the match. The way Page won his way into getting the title shot was probably a misstep. It’s understandable that AEW wants to create their own unique match concepts and give them meaning, but Jericho defeating Kenny Omega at Double or Nothing felt like a far bigger deal than Page earning his spot in the title match through winning the Casino Battle Royale. While Page got wins at Fyter Fest and Fight for the Fallen, they weren’t against big enough opponents and they weren’t strong enough victories for people to see him as being one of the top two wrestlers in the company.
Jericho was an obvious choice to become AEW’s first World Champion. He’s an easily recognizable star that lapsed and casual fans will already be familiar with. There will inevitably be criticism over a new company choosing a 48-year-old wrestler as their initial champion, but AEW isn’t at any risk of being seen as a nostalgia promotion. It’s fine to have one wrestler in their late 40s in a top spot. Signing Jericho and pushing him heavily is a no-brainer for any start-up company. Jericho is still wrestling at a high level, helps bring credibility to the promotion for those who aren’t already fans of The Elite, and has protected his image by only working in main event-level matches with great opponents since departing WWE.
A full review of AEW All Out, and the saga of Chris Jericho’s stolen belt are the lead topics of discussion in this week’s double issue Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
We have complete coverage of All Out from a live perspective, as well as the television version of the show. We talk about what worked, what might not have, and what we can learn about match order when laying out a card. We have the latest on the business of the show, including preliminary pay-per-view numbers.
We have coverage of AEW and WWE running the same markets, and have notes and numbers on how each promotion is doing in selling tickets there. We also have all the details on the Chris Jericho AEW title story.
NJPW Royal Quest is covered as well in the new issue. We have star ratings for the matches, as well as business notes for the show.
The upcoming WWE Clash of Champions show is covered in detail. We have a preliminary card for the show.
We also cover the WWE writing team shake-up that took place this week.
NXT U.K. TakeOver: Cardiff is covered in detail as well, with everything from match reports and star ratings, to attendance and what we can learn from the show.
We have a story on Cris Cyborg signing with Bellator, and talk about potential opponents for her.
The new issue also has a history piece covering Harley Race’s St. Louis wrestling history. A lot can be learned from the piece, thanks to the late Larry Matysik’s Wrestling at the Chase Record book.
We also have Ryan Frederick’s coverage of the 8/31 UFC event in Shenzhen, China.
The passing of Australian wrestling legend, Norman Frederic Charles Lowndes, known as Sir Norman Frederich Charles III, is covered as well. We have notes on his life and career.
We look at AEW’s hype show that aired on TNT, and break down the viewership for the show, and what can be learned from it.
We also have news and notes on all of the top wrestling and MMA promotions in the world.
We have full coverage of all the WWE television shows from the past week.
As always, we have in-depth looks at the ratings of all the major shows,the key demos for the WWE shows and what can be learned from them.
We also have the results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight talking the Anthem purchase of HD-Net, the 2019 Hall of Fame, Raw, AEW PPV, Raw and the rest of the news. You can send questions to the show to [email protected]
Regarding the Anthem purchase of HD-Net, right now everything is up in the air. There is nothing definitive past the expectation is that Impact moves to AXS which had been in talks as part of this deal for months. Regarding the other wrestling content (NJPW and WOW), for now nothing is different but it is all to be determined.
Some changes in the WWE major PPV policy. For the Royal Rumble in January, there are no longer going to be four shows in the same arena. The plan for Rumble week is the Friday night Smackdown show is being moved to Dallas. Saturday night will not be NXT Takeover, but there will be a live WWE Network special called World’s Collide at the Toyota Center. It is believed that show will have NXT, NXT U.K. and 205 Live talent combined although that is still in the formative changes. Royal Rumble will be at Minute Maid Park. Raw that Monday will be in San Antonio.There still will be NXT Takeover shows but that schedule is being changed as well and will be released in the near future.
As of a few hours ago, Steve Austin was only listed for the contract signing segment on Raw tonight. The show is loaded tonight and expected to be a big one for a number of reasons, including it being the first TV in MSG in a decade, it going against the first night of Monday Night Football (Oakland Raiders vs. Denver Broncos) and it being the go-home show for Clash of the Champions. We had been told an A.J. Styles U.S. title match was scheduled for Clash, but it hasn’t materialized yet. So if it’s still happening, the angle would have to be shot tonight.
The AEW talent that works indies are doing farewell shows across the country this month. This would not include the guys who are under contract to MLW, that will continue to work for MLW and AEW.
WWE
Ronda Rousey has a new gig, as Executive Producer of a new ESPN+ show called “Why We Fight.” There will be a seven episode second season that will be hosted by Cat Zingano.The first four episodes will be available later this month. Season one of the show aired on Verizon Go90 and was not hosted by Zingano.
Pat McAfee’s podcast debuted today on DAZN. This was a different move for a station that been all about live event coverage and baseball game highlights. The feeling was there are only a few singular talents not tied to ESPN or FOX with the reach and audience he can deliver (thanks to John Wallstreet’s newsletter)
Ric Flair has a signing and meet and greet at the Atlanta Walker Stalker Con, which is mostly Walking Dead celebrities from 10/18 to 10/20. Ricky Steamboat was originally announced but pulled out. The convention draws bout 100,000 people annually and this is the first time a pro wrestler has been booked (thanks to Ross Blair)
Dwayne Johnson was on the Kelly Clarkson show today.
Gabriel Iglesias is the guest on Straight Up Steve Austin that airs after Raw tonight.
Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa will be doing a seminar/tryout together on 9/20 before the Evolve show in Brooklyn. The seminar os open to wrestlers, mnagers, referees and prospective announcers.
MISCELLANEOUS
Dylan Postl’s (Hornswoggle) autobiography “Life Is Short and So Am I” comes out tomorrow through ECW Press. Ross Owen Williams, who did the very underrated Bob Holly book, is the co-author.
GOUGE from Saturday night in Raleigh, NC: Encore & Ryan Miller b Waylon Maze & Seymour Snott to keep the tag titles, Roni Nicole b Natalina Corvino, Jimmy Jack Funk Jr. b Blaqtus Jack, Jimmy Jack Funk Jr. b Bobby Shane, Snooty Fox b Bobby Wohlfert. Next show is 9/21 in Raleigh, NC at American Brewmasters.
I Believe in Wrestling on 10/4 at the Team Vision Dojo in Orlando with Larry Zbyszko as a guest.
Hoosier Pro Wrestling from Saturday night in Columbus, IN: Duke the Nuke b Kovus, Omega D b David Dawson, Scarecrow b Bubba James, Cooter b Scarecrow, Drax O’Brien b Lightning Bolt-COR, Guy Lombardo b Dodo Brown, Dynamite Dillen & Buck Sexton b Tank & Fireball-DQ, Butcher Manson won three-way over Tim Lutz and The heat. Next show is 10/5 with Jimmy Valiant returning.
Smash Wrestling is running two shows a day at the Western Fairgrounds in London, ONT from 9/7 to 9/15, running 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. weekends and 5 p.m. and 8 pm. weekdays in the Progress Building.
Smash also runs 9/20 in London, ONT at Fanshawe College.
A correction from yesterday’s update. The show listed as being in Chatsworth, GA was in Chatsworth, CA. They run every Friday night in Chatsworth. This coming week’s main event is Diego Vallens vs. Luchasaurus for their title (thanks to Robb Block)
House of Hardcore runs 11/23 at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia.
Kelly Klein faces Angelina Love for the WOH title on the 9/27 Death Before Dishonor PPV show from ROH.
Anthem Media announced today the launch of the Global Wrestling Network, a service that Ed Nordholm had discussed several weeks back on Wrestling Observer Radio.
While TNA Impact would be the major library used, the network will also use tape libraries that are owned by The Fight Network, including several years worth of Wrestling at the Chase from St. Louis, and a collection of tapes that aired on Canadian PPV produced by Aaron Weiss of some older promotions. In addition, there will be other Canadian independent content including Border City Wrestling, the promotion run by Scott D’Amore.
The company announced the service would debut with 1,000 hours of content at GlobalWrestlingNetwork.com. There is a 30-day free trial available and the price point after that is $7.99 per month
The service will be available on iOS and Android platforms and they state it will be coming soon to Roku, Xbox, Amazon Fire TV, and Apple TV.
The service will also include the weekly episodes of Impact after they first air on television in the United States, Canada, and the UK, as well as episodes of Xplosion and weekly digital content produced for the service.
Yesterday, Global Force Wrestling announced that Jeff Jarrett, who was running the wrestling end of GFW and is part owner of the company, was taking an indefinite leave of absence from the company to deal with personal issues.
According to those close to the situation, the personal issues aspect of the story is legitimate and the public story is accurate.
It was clear that the decision was not something he knew about in advance because he sent out a tweet that morning talking about going back into the office to start a day of work. He was scheduled to host a party for the company staff at his home that day, which ended up being canceled.
However, others in the company were aware of the decision for at least a week.
There were a long list of reasons involved that date back several months including a screaming match with Bob Ryder at a television taping. Although issues between the two were settled quickly, it was said the situation was very bad when it happened. Another was Reby Hardy’s admission of receiving unprofessional drunk text messages revolving around her going public on the Broken Hardy intellectual property conflict. The messages had gotten around to some in the company.
It appears the breaking point had to do with Jarrett’s behavior at this year’s TripleMania. Jarrett was said to be not in shape for wrestling and stumbled down the ring steps (although, he wasn’t the only person on the show who had trouble with the steps), doing little wrestling in his match. Ed Nordholm, Executive Vice President of Anthem Sports & Entertainment, was on the trip and made the call to remove Jarrett.
A Potential Sale
Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated reported Wednesday that with Anthem losing significant money, sources close to the situation say Anthem is ready to pull out of running a wrestling company and is ready to sell. Sources in the company denied that, but that type of story is also always going to be denied until it happens for the obvious morale reasons, and also because even those at the top would not be in the loop on a sale.
As noted in the Observer Newsletter last week, the company’s inability to get a new U.S. television deal is hurting them because it’s clear the company can’t grow financially while on Pop TV and their current situation doesn’t appear to have any other way to make money. After testing the waters with three house shows in the Northeast (one of which was canceled and neither of the others drew well), no future house shows are on the schedule, nor is anything past the television tapings in November after Bound for Glory.
The creative has improved under Jarrett, particularly the quality of the show stemming from the last television tapings. Most of the damage was done prior to his return, but the new storylines haven’t led to any kind of a ratings increase. In the big picture, that’s a moot point with GFW having signed with Pop for another year, ensuring they have television. However, they aren’t going to be able to make any serious money off it. So, from a business standpoint, things will remain tough.
WWE’s interest
Barrasso noted the value in selling to WWE, which would acquire a tape library that could be used for the WWE Network and other projects since it contains footage from WWE main roster talent like A.J. Styles, Samoa Joe and Bobby Roode. When Dixie Carter was in talks with WWE in the past (denied to those in the company at the time), it was about selling the tape library as WWE had no interest in anything outside that.
An added wrinkle is that the intellectual property the company claims ownership to includes the Broken Hardy gimmick, which would remove any obstacles of the Hardys using the gimmick in WWE. It isn’t clear who else would be interested in buying their assets, although, musician and former TNA creative member Billy Corgan was interested in taking over the company in 2016.
Because all the paperwork on the GFW merger with Impact Wrestling hadn’t been completed, any sale talks would be regarding the Impact Wrestling name and not the GFW name. However, the feeling is that, for the time being, it makes no sense to do another public rebranding so the GFW name will continue to be used on television.
Who’s In Charge?
The creative side of the company for the time being will be in the hands of John Gaburick (who was in charge under Carter), Scott D’Amore, and Sonjay Dutt. Gaburick being involved is interesting since there was a lot of heat and criticism from when he was in charge in the past. All the key people on the creative end were either brought in specifically by Jarrett (i.e, Dutch Mantell and Jim Cornette) or those who are longtime friends of his.
Jarrett had been on television doing a feud with American Top Team head Dan Lambert, although when Alberto Rodriguez (El Patron) was suspended, the pre-taped television wasn’t changed when it hit air. Jarrett was also scheduled for a package that was put together before he was let go with he and Jeremy Borash commenting on the recent Sexy Star situation from TripleMania.
If the Lambert angle even lasts past Bound for Glory, it can be easily transferred to Cornette as the GFW authority figure since that’s also been pushed on television. However, that could change depending on what happens with Cornette and Mantell. One company source said the decisions regarding both men were up in the air, and in the case of Cornette, there was at least a feeling of downplaying or not having an authority figure going forward. If authority figure angles are done away with, that changes a lot of the creative direction.
Similarly, the future of Karen Jarrett and Bruce Prichard are up to the new creative team. To complicate matters, Karen was working in the office and whether that continues is also up in the air.
**********
For more on this situation, including the plans for Jarrett, Alberto El Patron, and Rey Mysterio, check out this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Wrestling Observer Live, and Wrestling Observer Radio.
The battle of the rights to the “Broken” Hardys character continues to rage on as Tuesday saw the release of public statements, legal documents, and a fiery series of responses.
If you’re new to this story, there is a dispute between Matt Hardy and Anthem Wrestling (the owners of Impact Wrestling) over who owns the rights to the “Broken” characters. Currently in WWE, Matt and brother Jeff are not using the characters and even while working indie dates to fulfil pre-WWE signed contracts, the full characters weren’t used.
Anthem Wrestling president Ed Nordholm released the following:
“In response to on-going speculation concerning our position with respect to the “Broken Brilliance” creative, I am providing this detailed log of our communications on the subject and the contractual structure of our relationship with Matt Hardy with respect to intellectual property matters (which is standard to our roster and in the industry).
There has never been any argument from Impact Wrestling that the Hardy’s were key contributors to the development of the characters and story line, or that Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy executed on their roles in spectacular fashion. But the position taken by the Hardys is a massive disservice to the contributions of the rest of the creative team at Impact Wrestling, including Jeremy Borash, Dave Lagano, Matt Conway and Billy Corgan, and is totally at odds with the terms of their contracts.
The Hardys would have you believe that Anthem is somehow avoiding their lawyers to address this. This is the log of our communications with the Hardys and/or their lawyers. It is clear that we have not been avoiding them.
March 10 – EBN speaks with executives at ROH about “Broken Brilliance” being used in ROH shows. I indicated willingness to provide an arrangement that would allow the creative to be used in ROH shows and encouraged ROH to have Matt speak with me if he wanted to pursue that discussion
March 11 – EBN spoke at length with Matt by telephone about the structure of an amicable arrangement for use of the Broken Brilliance creative
March 14 – Matt sent text message to Ed Nordholm at 4:05pm:
“Tried giving you a call, it rang & went busy. I’m open to working things out amicably as we spoke about. The lawyer who represent me is interested in seeing your offer. My lawyer’s email is {redacted} which you could send the offer to for review. Thanks.”
And I responded by text at 6:41 pm
“Thank you Matt. I was supposed to be [flying] into NYC today and am a little twisted. I will pull something together with [our] lawyers and try to get it over to your lawyer tomorrow or Thursday at latest“
March 16 – At 8:25 pm I sent an update text to Matt:
“Hi Matt. My lawyer got me a draft too late to get reviewed for today. I will look at it in the morning. Sorry for the delay”
And he responded at 9:16 pm
“Ok, he’s ready for it. Thanks for the update.”
March 17 – counsel for Anthem Wrestling delivered draft proposal to counsel for Matt Hardy
March 24 – counsel for Anthem Wresting followed up with Matt Hardy counsel requesting comments on the proposal
March 27 – counsel for Matt Hardy responds that they have been away and have not reviewed the proposal but will be back “in the next few days”
After which no further communication until
April 18 – counsel for Matt Hardy leaves a voice mail message for counsel for Anthem Wrestling asking to arrange a meeting
April 20 – EBN contacts WWE by email to determine veracity of internet rumours concerning WWE interest in Broken Brilliance
April 21 – counsel for Matt Hardy sends a follow up message requesting a meeting
April 27 – lawyers speak to arrange a meeting
May 16 – lawyers meet but no agreement reached
Finally, I am attaching a copy of the relevant provisions of Matt’s contract with Impact. The clause is virtually identical to the corresponding provisions of every wrestler under contract with Impact.
The facts are that we tried to accommodate the Hardys for their Ring of Honour engagements, and have tried to elicit an indication from WWE whether they have an interest in using the Broken Brilliance creative in WWE. We are not hoarding it from WWE; WWE is not interested in it.
We fully respect the decision of Matt and Jeff to return to WWE and appreciate all of their contributions to Impact Wrestling. We wish them every success.
Our focus is on the future and we will not have any further public comment on this matter.”
Matt Hardy’s wife Reby did not take the above lightly, taking to Twitter to voice her displeasure. Some select tweets below:
– Long story short: TNA tried a literal sales pitch on WWE re: #BROKEN gimmick (which isn’t legally theirs) & they said “LOLZ yeah no, thanks”
– Because it’s ALLLLLL coming out in court, honey. From the attorneys we hired back in MARCH. Where are those “logs” ?
– Should we release the phonecalls ? I kinda wanna release the phonecalls now… since we playin petty, apparently.
As you might expect, we’re not done with this story by a long shot.
In a move expected since the end of 2016 and one discussed on this site frequently, Anthem Sports & Entertainment officially announced Wednesday night they have entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a majority interest in TNA Impact Wrestling.
The media company also owns The Fight Network, a big player in combat sports in Canada and 30+ countries, as well as TNA’s exclusive broadcast partner in Canada.
In a press release, Anthem announced that Executive VP Ed Nordholm will become president of Anthem Wrestling Exhibitions, LLC. He’s been the managing director of the company’s Board of Managers since October 2016.
As for Dixie Carter, the release said she will step down as chairman of the board to join the advisory board of Fight Media Group “which holds all of the combat sports-related assets of Anthem, where her focus will be on the global growth of the combat sports-related brands owned by Anthem.” She will remain a minority equity stakeholder.
TNA’s financial woes have been well-documented and a major story throughout last year were the efforts to keep the company alive through various investor initatives. One of those initiatives involved musician Billy Corgan who ended up suing the company in an effort to gain control over moneys owed. Corgan eventually settled with Anthem and TNA after a judge rejected those claims.
From the release:
“Anthem has been a great partner for many years,” added Dixie Carter. “We have worked hard to find the right company who would acquire TNA, use its strategic influence and have a long-term commitment to the brand. TNA’s incredible fans, talent and staff deserved to see the brand continue to thrive after 15+ years of incredible growth. I’m excited to move to a new position and work with Anthem on their global strategic plan, and I am confident TNA IMPACT Wrestling is going to be a huge part of their success.”
We’ll have more on this story on the Wednesday night edition of Wrestling Observer Radio.
Shortly after an email was sent to talent and the staff, Anthem Sports & Entertainment and Impact Wrestling sent out a joint press release Thursday confirming what had previoulsy been stated about Anthem funding the company and taking over.
From the release:
“Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp. and Impact Ventures, parent company of TNA Impact Wrestling, today announced that Anthem has provided a credit facility to TNA to fund operations.
Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp. is a global sports media company that operates Fight Network, Impact Wrestling’s exclusive broadcaster in Canada, as well as exclusive worldwide digits streaming partner for all TNA programming. It is also an equity stakeholder of Impact Ventures.
The agreement includes the appointment of Anthem Executive Vice President Ed Nordholm to the Impact Ventures Board of Managers. The company will be managed by the Board with Mr. Nordholm representing the Board on all major operation and restructuring decisions. Dixie Carter will continue as Chair of the company, a well as her position on the Board of Mangers. Billy Corgan is no longer with the company.”
“We have had a successful long-term partnership with Fight Network as our Canadian broadcaster, and more recently as our global digital partner,” said Dixie Carter. “Anthem’s team has extensive media experience, and I am excited to have that available to us as we plan for the future.
“We have had consistently maintained that investing in content as we grow our distribution is important as a strategic necessity,and working more closely with a strong brand like TNA is in line with that. This financing is an extension of the support we have been providing since the beginning of the year,” said Leonard Asper, CEO of Anthem. “There are tremendous opportunities to support the company’s growth on all platforms and in all media alongside Dixie and the incredible talent and staff at TNA.”
Talent was told that Carter would remain on the board but would no longer be part of day-to-day operations.
What is also notable is that Corgan was supposed to be paid back his money owed with interest on Tuesday. As of today, he claimed he had not been paid yet.
“FACT: TNA was supposed to pay me two days ago, which they swore in front of a judge,” wrote Corgan on Twitter. “Yesterday they asked for a day to get $ together upon which, (yesterday or today), they’d reach out directly to settle all claims. So they lied again and have used the time as a weapon.”
Corgan is planning on continuing his legal battle for control of the company.
“FACT: I have still not been paid, and I’m exploring all remedies including new filings with court and converting to 36 percent equity.”
A very detailed story on the legal fight and current situation with the company is in the new issue of the Observer, available now for subscribers.
