TNA NOTES & NEWS ON IMPACT!, VINCE RUSSO, AJ STYLES, CHRISTOPHER DANIELS & MORE
by Mike Johnson @ 12:15:00 PM on 1/2/2005
Several readers in the New England area sent word that Impact! actually aired at Midnight last night on the Fox Sports Network, so it appears that the replay has already started in some markets. As of this Friday, the show will air "live" at 4 PM followed by the Midnight replay. I expect that the Midnight replay is going to do a lot to help the company as history showed that a number of ECW fans discovered Extreme Championship Wrestling while channel surfing late at night.
For those who have asked about TNA decreeing that 3PW has exclusivity in the Philadelphia market with Christopher Daniels and AJ Styles, I believe that decision was made out of respect to the fact that 3PW has built their main events around those two over the last six months. 3PW feels that it would be a huge blow to have their top two names working the same market for Ring of Honor, and I have to agree with their point of view there because they are right. A case can be made for the fact that the talent was working ROH first, but it's not going to work that way. If I was 3PW, I would make sure they don't cancel any more events at the last second or else they could find themselves in a position where the workers demand to work for ROH knowing that the payday will be there no matter what. AJ Styles is scheduled to return to ROH on 2/25 in Dayton, Ohio facing Jimmy Rave.
Styles and Daniels are booked for the 1/15/05 3PW event at the ECW Arena, teaming against Low Ki and Slyck Wagner Brown. That show also features Chris Sabin vs. Joey Matthews in a Loser Leaves Town match. For ticket information, visit www.3PWrestling.com.
TNA announced the winners of their Year-End website voting, which given the results, I believe are legitimate. You can check them out by clicking here.
The official website for Vince Russo's Ministry VinceRussoForgiven.com has been down for about 5 days now. The website had featured articles from Russo, Dave Sahadi, and Terry Taylor, among others about their spirituality, as well as excerpts from Russo's upcoming book.
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TNA NOTES & NEWS
by Mike Johnson @ 10:00:00 PM on 12/31/2004
Believe it or not, after TNA advertised that Impact! would be airing in most markets on 1/4/05, it actually aired today in a number of different markets including Florida and New York City. I hope that the show is going to replay this Tuesday at 4 PM or else TNA is going to have a lot of confused viewers.
Richard Trionfo was kind enough to send in an Impact! report. Storyline highlights of the show featured the announcement that Terry Funk was fired from the championship committee (He never once actually appeared) and was replaced by Roddy Piper, who would be working as an Enforcer. They began building a Trinity vs. Tracy Brooks feud with Brooks as the babyface. Scott Hall beat Hector Garza in the main event, which was surprising to me as so many in the company touted a big push in line for Garza now that Dusty Rhodes has the book.
Diamond Dallas Page's visit to Iraq a few months back got a mention in a Seattle Post-Intelligencer article about celebrities visiting the troops overseas. To read the complete article, click here.
NWA Florida's website has set up a link for fans to donate to the Ron Niemi Defense Fund, to help Niemi's legal costs defending himself against the battery charges from last June's incident with Jonny Fairplay at this link. The promotion is burying Fairplay on the site, painting the situation as an outsider taking on the business and disrespecting it by pressing charges. They also again reiterate Niemi's claims that there was no physical altercation between Niemi and Fairplay.
You can expect Dusty and Dustin Rhodes to team down the line in TNA.
SPOILER ALERT!!!! Don't read any further unless you want to :D
This from insidepulse.com
Chris Candido is set to make his TNA debut at the iMPACT! tapings tomorrow. I'm assuming this means he is no longer working in OVW in an attempt to make a WWE return
*sighs*
Never been a big fan of Candido myself. Hopefully he'll have a limited role with the company. Hes bland if you ask me, just like Shane Douglas always was. Shane Douglas has the right role for him in wrestling. Interviewing people and making his stupid facial expressions.
He's nothing special, especially since he's also past his prime. It would be like using Johnny B. Badd... To fill up space.
Marc Mero vs Skip vs Dean Douglas, next week on IMPACT!