WWE/TNA News Thread

[KillaCham]

- WWE has updated its talent Wellness policy with a section about concussions. Part of WWE's effort to limit the number of concussions sustained by its Superstars is a ban on chairshots to the head, which actually went into effect back in January. The section on chairshots reads:

*The WWE has eliminated using folding metal chairs to “strike” an opponent in the head.

*The WWE penalizes through fine and/or suspension the following:

-The intentional use of a folding metal chair to “strike” an opponent in the head.

-Any blow to the head that is deemed an INTENTIONAL act.

*The fine and/or suspension will be directed by the EVP of Talent Relations.

WWE spokesperson Robert Zimmerman recently commented to Connecticut’s Hartford Courant newspaper about the chairshot ban:

“In January 2010, WWE amended its Talent Wellness Program, specifically regarding the ImPACT™ Concussion Management Program originally instituted in 2008, eliminating the use of folding chairs or props to “strike” an opponent in the head.”

 

[KillaCham]

- TNA and Spike TV have decided to air the iMPACT replay on Thursday nights at 9PM after all.

- Ric Flair is telling people he is having more fun working in TNA than he has had in years because he loves being a top heel. Flair still thinks he can have one more world-class match, with Kurt Angle.

- Hulk Hogan was in tremendous pain after last week's TNA iMPACT and the tapings. He was icing his back for a long time. Hogan has been protecting his back in the ring and only did a few bumps but still is hurting. Right now Hogan's not expected to wrestle anytime soon but that could always change.

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- The segment where Sting kept beating Rob Van Dam down with a baseball bat on the March 8th iMPACT was not planned to go as long as it did.

It's being said that Hulk Hogan was slow in doing the run-in so Sting had to improvise but apparently that's not entirely correct. TNA had scripted a certain moment where Hogan would run-in in the early part of the second hour, based on a minute-by-minute breakdown of the January 4th iMPACT and when viewership peaked. The problem came when segments in the first hour ran short so they had to stretch things out going into the second hour.

Sting wasn't supposed to take out the referees on the ramp or go back to the ring but he had to kill time because he was sent to the ring too early for the match, based on the breakdown they had scripted from.

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- As noted before, this week's WWE RAW with Steve Austin scored a 3.7 rating with around 5.60 million viewers. The first hour drew a 3.68 rating and the second hour drew a 3.73. RAW was up 8.2% in ratings this week compared to last week and viewership was up 10%.

The first hour of RAW drew 5.57 million viewers, the most first-hour viewers since the August 24th, 2009 RAW - the night after SummerSlam. The second hour went to 5.63 million viewers, the most since January 4th, 2010.

iMPACT's first hour last night averaged an 0.88 and the second hour did an 0.80 rating. The iMPACT rating this week was down 15% from last week and viewership was down 21.4% from last week.

Just like last week, iMPACT followed the pattern of starting with a high number that dropped throughout the show, including the AJ Styles vs. Jeff Hardy main event. iMPACT opened with an 0.84 quarter-hour segment but bottomed-out with an 0.72 rating for the final 15 minutes of the show. The over-run for the end of the main event slightly increased to an 0.74.

 

[KillaCham]

Does anybody even read this shit??

- Karen Angle, ex-wife of TNA star Kurt Angle, has announced on her Facebook page that she and Jeff Jarrett are engaged to be married. No details yet about whether the couple has set a date.

Karen Angle made her debut with TNA back in 2007 and was with the company for about a year. Kurt and Karen were divorced in mid-2008. In July 2009, an anonymous TNA employee called into the Bubba The Love Sponge radio show to reveal that Karen and Jeff Jarrett were living together at Jarrett's home in Nashville, TN. TNA President Dixie Carter subsequently sent Jarrett home for several months following that incident.

While this may seem like another crazy twist in the Kurt-Karen-Jeff love triangle, Kurt Angle is said to be on good terms with Karen and Jeff.

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- After last night's RAW, David Otunga came back to the ring while John Cena was still laid out. Otunga said Batista didn't have to wait until Extreme Rules to get his rematch against Cena, he could have it now. Batista goes for a quick pin but ends up tapping out after only a minute in. Cena called Otunga back to the ring, hit him with the Attitude Adjustment and made him tap out.

That's pathetic how they're making Batista look, tapping out to Cena all the time.

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- Below is the official promotional poster for TNA's Sacrifice pay-per-view which takes place in May. This year's Sacrifice takes place on May 16th from the iMPACT Zone in Orlando Florida. This poster with RVD looks like it may be a placeholder poster so another one may be released before the pay-per-view.

 

[KillaCham]

In a correction from the John Cena story last week, he has only passed the 1,000 days as World Champion mark if you include his World Title run with his WWE Title runs. Cena is currently at 915 days at WWE Champion and 105 days as World Champion. Cena would be 6th place on the all-time list, not fifth as previously mentioned. Triple H has 1,148 days, if you include both belts. Cena will pass Pedro Morales on the all-time list, if you include both belts, on May 27th.

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- Donna Goldsmith also said at the JP Morgan conference earlier this week that WWE has talked about bringing back the Tough Enough concept for a new TV show soon. On a related note, Eric Bischoff has also been talking about doing a Tough Enough-like show in TNA this Summer.

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- Former World Champion Booker T returned to TNA last night at the TNA live event in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

The main event last night was scheduled to be Rob Van Dam vs. AJ Styles but it was announced that Styles wouldn't be appearing because his flight was detoured to another city.

The referee went to do a 10 count but at 9, out came Booker T to challenge Van Dam for the TNA World Title.