Weekly News Roundup (9/26 - 10/2) -- TNA's doom

[M.C.G. 31]

Whenever new news is posted in this thread (as long as it isn't legitimate spoilers, which belong in the spoiler thread) I will update the OP. New thread will be up every Monday from here on out for the week.

This also doesn't just have to be WWE news. It can be anything in the world of wrestling. Spoilers for other promotions need [SPOIL] tags, WWE/NXT spoilers need to go in the spoiler thread.

***

9/26

- Meltzer believes Jericho vs. Owens vs. Rollins may happen at HIAC because the original plan was Balor vs. Owens vs. Jericho at the event. Sasha vs. Charlotte is also expected at the event.

- Roman Reigns is not expected to be in the World Title picture until at least the Royal Rumble, possibly even later on.

"Reigns is still their guy, but they know they can't pull the trigger right now." - Meltzer

- Chris Jericho will be off to record a new album soon. No word on when it will be, but it's before the end of the year.

9/27

- Ryback is in negotiations with Bellator.

- TNA's Bound for Glory is up in the air at this point with TNA's financial state the way it is. Many potential buyers are pulling out and WWE has re-entered the race in hopes of acquiring the library.

TNA has more debt than it's actually worth.

- The New Day are likely to beat Demolition's tag title record because of Demolition being a part of the concussion lawsuit vs. WWE.

- Raw live events are doing brutal numbers to the point where WWE is papering those numbers now.

- Paige has not been cleared.

- WWE has a lot of interest in Matt Hardy.

9/28

- Matches and flights for TNA talent have been cancelled. Now more than ever, the worry is higher than it's ever been that TNA may be going out of business.

9/29

Meltzer says WWE's offer is very little and they would want Dixie and Corgan to sign a non-compete which would prevent them from starting another wrestling company.

TNA's debt is so large that if WWE bought it they wouldn't see a return on it for a very long time.

Earlier today, it was reported that WWE had pulled out again.

- Dixie Carter has reportedly made a mess of the negotiations and has created a lot of hurdles for anyone involved.

- The debt of TNA is similar to the actual value of the company and Dixie Carter is reportedly seeking $4-to-6-million.

- With no money by September 30, there will be no Bound For Glory PPV and no TV tapings for TNA next week which would put TNA in breach of their television contrats.

- NXT viewership is "way down" on the WWE Network.

- Paige may be heading towards surgery on her neck, posting on Twitter that she has two options in front of her after a consultation with a doctor.

- Wrestling Inc is sticking to their story of a veteran talent reporting to them that flights and matches have been cancelled and TNA telling them to stay on "standby". Some think TNA will just use local Florida wrestlers for their next tapings so they don't have to pay for flights.

Justin LaBar said PWInsider, who reported the contrary to WI's report, is "spin doctoring" for TNA.

- The New York Athletic State Commission is changing the guidelines for wrestling events held in the state, and it's not good news for plenty of smaller companies. It's unlikely to affect WWE, ROH or Northeast Wrestling but it will to other independent companies. Some of the changes:

• Promotions can no longer lend or "rent" their promoting license to other companies.
• Because another company can't promote another company's show under their banner, a promoter would need to get bonded which costs $20,000 and get their own license. Companies who regularly run under the umbrella of another company are screwed.
• It is required that “one ambulance with medical personnel consisting of at least one paramedic with appropriate resuscitation equipment must be continuously present on the scene at all events.” If there is no doctor, there will be no event. This is expensive for promoters to rent an ambulance and EMTs. In some cases, the cost of renting the ambulance and EMTs may cost more than the venue itself.
• Wrestlers cannot play heel by interacting with the crowd. “In no event shall a participant be permitted to threaten, molest, hit or abuse, physically or verbally, any spectator, or engage in any conduct endangering the health, safety, or well being of any spectator during the course of a professional wrestling exhibition.”
• The 11pm ET curfew is back for wrestling events. While it didn't happen when Raw ran in Brooklyn this past August, other promotions can have their show stopped by 11pm.
• Tables are unofficially banned since an incident in 2015 where the commissioner on duty didn't want any weapons or tables used and Sabu used them repeatedly in his match. He hasn't worked in NY since. No tables have been used at area events.
• Children are banned from attending wrestling shows, but this isn't enforced. Kids from 8-16 are allowed to attend if they're accompanied by an adult.

9/30

- Eric Bischoff sent out a tweet that makes it sound like he's going to open up a lawsuit against (Broken) Matt Hardy for saying he and Hogan raped and pillaged TNA.

- Jamie Noble got stabbed in a trailer park.

Apparently, NXT asked the New Age Insiders guys to do some promo work with Oney Lorcan (NAI do a lot of work with Chaotic Wrestling, an indy promotion in Boston). Part of this involved a lunch with the 3 NAI guys, Lorcan, and William Regal. They didn't record the conversation, but they reported that Regal said the following things:

-If WWE asked him to go into the Hall of Fame he would say no because he feels like he doesn't deserve it, and there are guys more deserving that should go in ahead of him (The British Bulldogs, specifically). If WWE forced him, he would begrudgingly accept.

-He believes the only accurate way to measure the quality of a wrestler is by how much money they draw. Nothing else. In this way, Regal sees himself as not a very good performer because he didn't draw as much as his contemporaries.

-He says that the company is EXTREMELY high on Cesaro, and the only reason he hasn't had a title run is purely politics. Every single person in the back has confidence in him as a performer and a personality. He speaks so many languages and comes off as very professional, so they see him being more valuable as a brand ambassador and liaison for the company.

-Apparently, Cesaro is one of the "panic buttons" the company has and that's the reason he's on Raw - in a pinch they know they can throw the title on him, and both the crowd and the company will be happy with it.

-He also talked about the "real world" implications of Nakamura coming up to the main roster. People forget he just uprooted his family and moved them halfway across the world. He has a wife and two kids, none of them speak English except for him, and this has been a difficult adjustment for them. So don't expect him up soon because he still needs time to get his family situated in this new country.

I guess they have more from this conversation they're going to be releasing next week. Full episode here: http://newageinsiders.podomatic.com/...19_33_17-07_00

- The Royal Rumble will be held in the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas on January 29th, 2017. This is the 20th year anniversary of the event beind held there in 1997.

- Regarding TNA, this is what we know. The talent has been told to come to Orlando and that everything is on. Nobody knows who is paying for it. Nothing has been announced regarding a sale. Nobody has officially said the shows are on, particularly Bound for Glory, but talent is under the impression that the shows are on.

Click to read more...

 

[Emperoreddy]

Meltzer expects the two matches actually inside the HIAC to be the Universal title match, and Sasha/Charlotte.

Still don't know who or how TNA's Bound of Glory will be paid for. Thinks we might hear something about the sale on Tuesday and expects Corgan to become the owner.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

Ryback is in negotiations with Bellator.

 

[Sacha Baron Corbin]

Ryback is in negotiations with Bellator.

A match made in heaven

 

[M.C.G. 31]

Fun fact: All three members of The Shield are one title away from being Grand Slam and Triple Crown Champions. Dean Ambrose needs to win a Tag Title and Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins need to win the IC Title.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Apparently a Roman/Seth double turn was discussed at one point. The Roman heel turn was abandoned, but the Seth face turn is obviously still happening.

Sasha only dropped the belt at Summerslam because they thought her injuries were more serious. If not for that she would still be champ right now. The plan is for her to win the belt by HIAC the latest. Sounds like they are at least considering doing a title switch next week.

 

[Balls Mahoney]

Notes from Wrestling Observer radio

Meltzer thought Roman Reigns didn’t look like a top star in his match with Rusev and how Rusev basically carried the **** outta Roman Reigns

The original plan for the Universal Championship was going to be Jericho/Balor/Owens. Now we have a variety of different options to choose from: Cesaro/Owens, Cesaro/Owens/Rollins, Cesaro/Owens/Rollins/Jericho, and Owens/Zayn/Jericho. Also the crowd didn’t seem to care all that much about the main event being Owens/Rollins saying how it didn’t feel like watching a WWE main event level match.

The New Day are getting booked to beat Demolitions record because Demolition is on the list of stars all suing the company for concussion testing. This unfortunately leaves us with little to no options for opponents to face The New Day less you want New Day/Shining Stars or New Day/Enzo @ Cass.

Brian Kendrick is the John Cena of the Cruiserweight Division existing to make all of the non-WWE experienced talent get over. TJ needs a little bit of work selling his offense but he’s gonna have another match with Kendrick at the next PPV.

Meltzer thinks the match should have been called off the second Cesaro botched his suicide dive which would have automatically given Sheamus the victory from Technical Stoppage. Meltzer says the options for Roman Reigns right now are Sheamus/Reigns or Cesaro/Reigns.

Jericho and Zayn somehow have no chemistry with each other. Every time they have a match together its never good. Its never -5 stars terrible but you can tell that Jericho can’t keep up with Zayn and due to this he’s making Zayn look like ****.

Nothing to report on Nia Jax/Alicia Fox. It was forgettable and Jax is still indecisive as to what she wants as a finisher.

The long term women’s angle is going to be Bayley vs Sasha Banks come the Road to Mania but for next month its Charlotte vs Sasha w/ Sasha booked to win in her home town.

 

[Isi]

TNA update from WOR (after Raw edition)

- no deal done
- time is running out, they've got til Friday basically
- dixie can sell to whoever she wants; wwe is back in the picture
- corgan will change the name of the company if he buys it.
- more debt than the actual worth of the company; corgan could buy Dixie's stake, but who pays for the money others have put in

 

[Isi]

i honestly can't believe i'm still listening to WORs where Meltzer says "Roman is so far from where they want him to be" and nothing has actually changed with Roman

Meltzer is now talking about attendance. "they're not drawing well now. they were papering" and cites Cena again. I suspect Meltzer will go into deeper depth in the Observer

 

[saintflannel]

I really hope WWE buys TNA's library. WWE Network and NJPW World would be pretty much all you'd need as a wrestling fan.

 

[Emperoreddy]

I really hope WWE buys TNA's library. WWE Network and NJPW World would be pretty much all you'd need as a wrestling fan.

It isn't good for business for a company to fold up into WWE

 

[Scandale du Jour]

TNA update from WOR (after Raw edition)

- no deal done
- time is running out, they've got til Friday basically
- dixie can sell to whoever she wants; wwe is back in the picture
- corgan will change the name of the company if he buys it.
- more debt than the actual worth of the company; corgan could buy Dixie's stake, but who pays for the money others have put in

Vince is going to buy them, close them, keep a few guys to boost his roster and exploit their library, isn't he?

 

[Fro]

wish Impact and ROH would just join and make things work...

 

[Kimi]

Vince is going to buy them, close them, keep a few guys to boost his roster and exploit their library, isn't he?

No.

If the WWE buys TNA it is because TNA has already closed down and gone out of business.

 

[Megahab]

Does ROH make money?

 

[joshyhockey26]

Does ROH make money?

I'm sure they have little "pay days" for certain shows. But from tv I highly doubt it. Sure the show can be seen in plenty of homes but I can't imagine the ratings are overly great.

 

[Kimi]

Does ROH make money?

Probably not.

They won't be failing to the extent TNA is or anything. Their pay roll is much lower than TNA, and their production costs is far lower too. But RoH is in a different situation to TNA so it's hard to really compare.

RoH is owned by the TV station, and are given a budget to make the show each year and they stick to that. Any investment in the product, like the new sets and production stuff this summer, have come from the parent company and not an additional cost for RoH to pay them self.

 

[yukoner88]

Apparently a Roman/Seth double turn was discussed at one point. The Roman heel turn was abandoned, but the Seth face turn is obviously still happening.

Sasha only dropped the belt at Summerslam because they thought her injuries were more serious. If not for that she would still be champ right now. The plan is for her to win the belt by HIAC the latest. Sounds like they are at least considering doing a title switch next week.

Notes from Wrestling Observer radio

Meltzer thought Roman Reigns didn’t look like a top star in his match with Rusev and how Rusev basically carried the **** outta Roman Reigns

The original plan for the Universal Championship was going to be Jericho/Balor/Owens. Now we have a variety of different options to choose from: Cesaro/Owens, Cesaro/Owens/Rollins, Cesaro/Owens/Rollins/Jericho, and Owens/Zayn/Jericho. Also the crowd didn’t seem to care all that much about the main event being Owens/Rollins saying how it didn’t feel like watching a WWE main event level match.

The New Day are getting booked to beat Demolitions record because Demolition is on the list of stars all suing the company for concussion testing. This unfortunately leaves us with little to no options for opponents to face The New Day less you want New Day/Shining Stars or New Day/Enzo @ Cass.

Brian Kendrick is the John Cena of the Cruiserweight Division existing to make all of the non-WWE experienced talent get over. TJ needs a little bit of work selling his offense but he’s gonna have another match with Kendrick at the next PPV.

Meltzer thinks the match should have been called off the second Cesaro botched his suicide dive which would have automatically given Sheamus the victory from Technical Stoppage. Meltzer says the options for Roman Reigns right now are Sheamus/Reigns or Cesaro/Reigns.

Jericho and Zayn somehow have no chemistry with each other. Every time they have a match together its never good. Its never -5 stars terrible but you can tell that Jericho can’t keep up with Zayn and due to this he’s making Zayn look like ****.

Nothing to report on Nia Jax/Alicia Fox. It was forgettable and Jax is still indecisive as to what she wants as a finisher.

The long term women’s angle is going to be Bayley vs Sasha Banks come the Road to Mania but for next month its Charlotte vs Sasha w/ Sasha booked to win in her home town.

Isn't most of this stuff considered dirt sheet or spoilers?

 

[MAHJ71]

The long term women’s angle is going to be Bayley vs Sasha Banks come the Road to Mania but for next month its Charlotte vs Sasha w/ Sasha booked to win in her home town.

Thank goodness.. Charlotte is getting into Reigns-annoying territory to me.

 

[Balls Mahoney]

I love ROH. Most of the premiere American/Canadian stars of today came through ROH. I consider early ROH with Danielson, Punk and Joe to be one of the best promotions I've ever seen. Those early cards were other worldly, especially at the time.

 

[Cor]

WWE and Dixie have been in negotiations for 5 days.

The death date seems to be Friday.


Maybe Broken Matt Hardy will appear in WWE afterall

 

[SeidoN]

#BROKEN Matt Hardy ‏@MATTHARDYBRAND Sep 26
Loyal @Vanguard1AAR, have your #AerialAttackMode ready to engage..

MeekMahan wants to obtain my #BROKENBrilliance more than EVAH currently.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

Isn't most of this stuff considered dirt sheet or spoilers?

"Dirt sheet" is what the thread is for.

I'll look at the spoilers and move/delete as needed when I get home.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Paige isn't medically cleared yet according to Insider.

 

[Scandale du Jour]

Broken Matt in WWE would be a blast, if Vince lets the Hardy get high as **** and write their own stuff. He will never do that so it'd suck.