TNA News

[Head Booker]

Credit: F4WOnline.com

According to Dave Meltzer, the current idea is that the new "THEY" will be the original members of the Main Event Mafia with Kurt Angle and Scott Steiner already locked in.

Most figure that Sting will be in, and even though he has publicly denied returning, people in the company presume that Kevin Nash will also be back.

Booker T's status is still unknown at this point.

Bobby Lashley's name has also been mentioned by people in TNA as possibly being part of the group. However, those involved with Lashley's business don't think there has been anything going on with Lashley and TNA up to this point. Lashley is currently a free agent since his Strikeforce contract expired.

[Head Booker]

Reported by Adam Martin of Wrestleview.com

Despite reports in the media stating that TNA star Jeff Hardy planned to plea guilty to at least one of the drug charges being brought against him, Jason Powell and Chris Shore of Prowrestling.net are reporting that the hearing held today in Moore County, NC has resulted in yet another continuance. The next hearing is scheduled for February 16, 2011. Hardy did not attend today’s hearing.

[Head Booker]

Ric Flair was left behind in Dublin, Ireland yesterday while on tour with TNA following an argument with live events coordinator Craig Jenkins.

The story goes that Flair requested a cash advance, was turned down, threw a tantrum, and later refused to board a bus that was transporting the rest of the crew to the airport for a flight to the next show in Germany.

The company called his bluff and left him behind at the hotel with no money or credit card.

“It’s a sad situation,” said one TNA source. “Ric basically proved that he’s not a team player.”

The same source noted that the majority of the crew were in favor of leaving him behind.

Flair, 61, is presently locked in legal battles with multiple creditors.

He recently lost a court case with a jeweler he did not pay, and also caused a scene last year at the NWA Legends fanfest in Charlotte when he held up promoter Greg Price

~~

UPDATE #2: - More details on the incident are coming out. As reported before, Flair wanted advance money for the tour. When the request was denied, Flair tried to play hardball by refusing to get on the bus that was taking the roster to the airport. The decision was then made to leave him behind.

Certain members of the roster were said to be in favor of leaving Flair behind and mocked him after the bust left, using his "signature promo lines" to do so. There was also discussion among the talent about how much of Flair's partying may have factored into the situation.

Flair was not sent home by the company; he was left behind and could easily catch up to the troupe in Scotland, if he chooses. [Credit: PWInsider]


UPDATE: A source close to the situation reports that Flair pulled out of the tour due to money. According to the source, the issue at hand was TNA not giving Flair an advance pay for the remaining dates on the tour. [Credit: PW Torch]


ORIGINAL: According to PWInsider.com, sources in TNA have confirmed that Ric Flair missed the TNA event in Germany due to, "Flair refusing to get on the plane to Germany". Those sources have also state that the reason he did not get on the plane was due to a blow up with a member of TNA Management in Dublin, Ireland.

The source went on to say the following…

"He threw a fit. He was playing 'Nature Boy' on the tour and got pissed off and threw a tantrum. As far as we all know, he's in Dublin still. He said he wasn't coming and he wasn't in Berlin."

This is not the first time Flair has been said to have an outburst since signing with TNA, but most of these incidents were after events, and didn't cause a change to scheduled cards. Flair was not advertised to wrestle in Berlin, but he is advertised for the Glasgow, Scotland show on the 27th. For that event, he is scheduled to team with Kazarian against Douglas Williams and Matt Morgan.

When reached for comment, TNA's head of publicity, Steven Godfrey stated the following…

"TNA does not comment on personnel matters."

~~

- Here is the latest on the situation between Ric Flair and TNA. As previously noted, Flair will be returning to the tour starting with tomorrow's event in Glasgow, Scotland. Some wrestlers rolled their eyes when they heard that he would be returning, but the decision to bring him back to the tour was a financial one. The Europeanshows are sold events, and with numerous changes having been made, (AJ Styles and Alex Shelley being injured, Kurt Angle returning home for a family emergency) TNA felt it best to get Flair back onto the shows to maintain good relations with the local promoters and the European fans, who kept supporting the company. This is also why Matt Hardy was added to the tour.

Among some of the wrestlers, the decision to bring Flair back will not be popular. Several performers spoke with management over the last 24 hours in an effort to have Flair sent home or even possibly let go from the company. Many performers were harsh in regards to Flair, stating that he had ruined the mood of the tour, which until this happened, was said to be calm and happy. Some are even comparing Flair to Booker T, as Booker fell out of favor with several in the company during the Germany tour last year. This was a factor in his dismissal from the company. Some talents feel sorry for Flair, including the following source…

"The whole thing was stupid but most of us feel more sorry for him than upset. If someone told you everyone is mad, that's a lie. But, there are some pissed because it makes the entire crew look like a**holes and we are certainly tired of his sh**. Flair's asked several of us for money when he's had his credit cards declined. When that happens, the bar tab comes and others get stuck paying for the very drinks he said were on the house in the first place. Everyone loves the "Nature Boy", but when the limousines and party lifestyle is based on bad credit and lies, it suddenly becomes more pathetic than anything else. There is nothing glamorous about a guy who has no concept of money management and then lies to try and get out of it. The fact he has no money should be a lesson every wrestler today should take note on. Don't let this happen to you. If you read the Gorgeous George book that came out and then take an honest look at Ric, you realize, wow, that book is pretty much predicting his future - and that's not a happy ending."

Another source believes that this may have been a good thing, since it may force management to deal with it first-hand and might make TNA a little more leery of continuing to bring in expensive veteran talent when the last year has shown no upside to it based on the current ratings. The source also says that the younger guys in the locker room have united against the veterans, feeling that they do all the work, while the veterans treat the company like country club. The source had the following to say…

"I respect what the older guys have done, but they aren't making us any money. Nothing reflects that. We would draw the exact same if 99% of them were gone. Sometimes you have to take a step backwards to take a leap forward and I really think more and more that's where TNA is. Obviously, you need some veteran talents but there's a crew here that wants to build a company and we want to focus on that, not paying someone's bar tab and having to wait for him to fight it out with Craig Jenkins [TNA Management] when he doesn't get his way."

[Head Booker]

According to Pwinsider.com, Ric Flair has arrived for the TNA house show in Glasgow, Scotland. When he arrived, he apologized to the locker room for the Dublin, Ireland incident.

[Icon Lord Sean "Magic" Fiery]

Well, that's such a shocker of a situation Good for TNA for standing up to him.

[Head Booker]

- Ric Flair is not at today's iMPACT! taping and is not scheduled for any episodes that are being taped this week.

Some are wondering if Flair has been released from the company after the incident in Ireland but there is no confirmation on that.

Source: PWinsider.com

~~

Booker T and Kevin Nash were in negotiations to return to TNA Wrestling as late as last week, but both grapplers instead opted to return to World Wrestling Entertainment. Booker T personally informed company president Dixie Carter that he had declined TNA's offer. Nash, however, did not. He verbally agreed to return to TNA and was slated to sign a contract this week. Carter discovered Nash bolting for WWE when the news broke online.

Source: www.F4WOnline.com

~~

- Ric Flair learned today that he suffered a torn rotator cuff on in his match with Doug Williams on Saturday night. No other details are known right now.

Credit: Wrestling Observer

[Head Booker]

ROH and TNA worked out an interesting deal regarding Christopher Daniels, who TNA wanted to bring back in its goal of trying to revitalize the X Division over the next few months.

Because Daniels is under contract to ROH, ROH agreed to allow Daniels to work in TNA under a mask for both TV and house shows until his ROH deal expires. Daniels debuted last night as Suicide, a character he played in the past.

~~

[Head Booker]

- Out of all the European wrestlers who got tryouts with TNA on their recent tour, Mark Hawkins impressed the most and will likely get a deal, if anyone does.

- Madison Rayne got sick on the recent European tour and didn't work the show in Manchester. Instead of the usual Rayne and Tara vs. Mickie James and Angelina Love match, they went with Love vs. Mickie with Tara as referee.

- TNA switched the dates for Destination X and Victory Road because the plan is to beef up the X Division and since it wouldn't be in the next month or two, they hoped everything would be ready by July and switched the dates.

- Abyss is out of action until the February 24th TNA iMPACT in Fayetteville, North Carolina. He's being kept off TV to sell injuries from Crimson stabbing in the back with Janice.

-- TNA Knockout Mickie James will be the opening musical act at The National in Richmond, Virginia tomorrow night for a concert featuring Randy Houser. For ticket details click here.

The recently relaunched MickieJames.com now features a fan club via paid membership. A brand new T-shirt and her debut album Strangers & Angels are also available on the website.

-- Suicide has been quietly added to TNAWrestling.com's roster page. The masked grappler returned to action Monday after a four month hiatus, defeating Brian Kendrick in a match taped for TNA Xplosion.

Due to the roster addition, Jimmy Hart was removed from the roster page for the second time in two weeks. The WWE Hall of Famer was added back to the page late last week when Kevin Nash's bio was removed.

Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

[Head Booker]

Monday Night Mayhem had Eric Bischoff on their nine year anniversary today live today.

Bischoff took questions from fans. When asked about the Super Bowl, Bischoff said he used to live in Pittsburgh.

A fan mentions the ratings of TNA and how successful they were. Bischoff said one of the things that's resonating with the audience is integrating reality with characters, and keeping an edge. Bischoff says the storyline arc started back in October at Bound For Glory and is continuing and leading up to March 3. Bischoff said investment in a long term storyline arc and reality, and keeping a sharper edge. He said it's a combination of those things.

A question was about Fortune being revealed as "they". Bischoff said he hates the three-part questions. Bischoff says it wasn't close to seeing the return of the Main Event Mafia. He said there were some shifts, but they knew way in advance that there was going to be an issue. There were plans to adjust the plans accordingly. He said Nash signed an agreement with WWE. Bischoff said he isn't involved in talent signs of things. He said Nash/TNA departed as friends. He said nothing caught them off flat-footed. When wheels were off original plan, it was a matter of time before "Plan B" took place.

Bischoff says Plan B was well received and caught everyone by surprise. He said the guys were pretty excited about it. He said Fortune is a strong, aggressive, emerging group of talent. He said he'd prefer that you ask the talent because he doesn't like to speak for others.

Immortal vs. Fortune. Was it meant to occur too fast? Bischoff said he prefers not to get into it. He says where they are now is where they would be in a matter of time. He said it caught them flatfooted a bit.

Why is everyone ducking the Sting rumor? Bischoff says he is not aware of whether Sting is with TNA or not. He's not involved in talent acquisitions or discussions/negotiations, so he's not in the front line of it. Bischoff doesn't think Sting would go to WWE, but if it was, it would be for a short time, maybe merchandise/licensing. Bischoff says anyone that expects Sting to show up in WWE as a full-time wrestler will be disappointed.

Bischoff says he hasn't seen Desmond Wolfe on the next set of tapings and is unsure about the future of Wolfe as he doesn't know.

How does Bischoff react to people that discount Bischoff's abilities, such as TNA's downfall? Bischoff said last he checked, TNA is doing pretty well. Bischoff said 10% of the people make 90% of the negative noise. The smallest percentage of the Internet are giving wrestling fans in general a bad name.

An opinion of WWE's product. Bischoff says he hasn't been watching. He respects Shane, Vince, Stephanie. He says the company has taken this business to a new level: a television juggernaut. Bischoff says the youth movement is good. Bischoff says WWE's business is down and finds it ironic? Bischoff says WWE goes back to the older talent to bring business back up (Nash, Booker T, Sting, Jerry Lawler going for the title).

Bischoff says Nature Boy isn't going anywhere. He said there are two sides to every story, there may have been a lot blown out of proportion. He says there isn't an issue that he is aware of with TNA/Flair. He said he sees Flair's name on the next set of tapings and he doesn't hope Flair is going anywhere.

Question: how do you take experiences and mistakes from the past and apply them to current situations today? Bischoff says he goes by feel when it comes to creative, characters. He elaborated a little more about this.

Is the Vince Russo hate uncalled for? Bischoff says no doubt. Eric says nobody is perfect or 100% all the time. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses and Vince is no different. Day in, day out, consistently, Vince is more than proven himself to be an extremely talented guy, proves he can change/adapt, strives to put out the best product. He says he never met anyone that worked harder and most of what people are enjoying right now can dfirectly be attributed to Russo.

How is Hulk Hogan doing? Bischoff says Hogan is doing well from all the discussions he has with him. He says you will see Hogan in Fayetteville on 2/24 - which will be March 3rd.

Bischoff says you will see a powerful show from a content point of view on March 3rd (2/24). He says you will see a show that is from a content point of view, going to be different than what you typically see. He says you will see a different kind of energy in an energized crowd. He didn't want to say better crowd. He says there are positives and negatives in Impact Zone. He says an audience that doesn't show up every tapings or hang out with the wrestlers at hotels. He says the show is going to "feel" much different?

Hulk/Eric's contract that is up this year - rumours. Bischoff doesn't comment on contractual issues? He won't comment on that.

Scott Steiner's return. Main event player at this point in his career? Bischoff says anyone that underestimates Steiner's in ring ability is kidding themselves. Bischoff says he is unsure about how he will be used, but he knows that Scott Steiner is a player, wherever he is. He's believable, intense, and is a workhorse in the ring.

Bischoff has a high opinion of Robert Roode as a talent. Final question. With the road to wrestlemania, Eric is not afraid of competition. With that said, with the recent spike in Impact ratings, how pleased is Eric to see the progression of the company over the part of the past several weeks. What can the fans expect in upcoming weeks/months?

Bischoff said this past year, there were 7-8 weeks of the highest ratings in the history. He said TNA is slowly but surely are hitting in the right direction. He said there were some speed bumps, he said they are building momentum and good talent. He wants to take the show in the road, inject the show with different kind of energy. He says they have a good future and is very proud of it.

The show went to commercial break and Kevin Nash is scheduled to be on the show right afterwards. This show aired on www.mondaynightmayhem.com and Eric Bischoff's page is and Monday Night Mayhem's Facebook is .

[Head Booker]

Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

The TNA lockeroom is said to have taken well to Matt Hardy after initial concerns regarding his state of mind during his post-WWE release in which he posted a number of strange videos on YouTube. Talent backstage find Matt Hardy easy to work with and friendly although there still is some concern of his condition and wrestling ability.

[Head Booker]

PWTorch.com is reporting that Kazuchika Okada's new TNA character was inspired by the character of Kato from "The Green Hornet" series. Word is that Samoa Joe pitched the character to TNA and wants him to be his on-screen sidekick. Okada is a Japanese wrestler that TNA signed last year and he was recently revealed on TV as the camera man Samoa Joe hired to follow The Pope.