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Posts Tagged ‘TNA’

Could Paul Heyman, no weight loss success stories he, end up going to TNA? Only under the rarest of circumstances.

Following UFC 116, Heyman announced that while he’s considered going to TNA, he has strict conditions on such a move; otherwise, he has no interest at all.

The upshot is this: if he could come in and have Vince McMahon-like control over the roster, the TV product, and everything else, then he’d consider it… so long as the deal included stock options and an IPO within five years.

Heyman, who at this point in his life seems to genuinely value being a father to his children, said the only thing that would make a return to the wrestling business attractive to him is the chance to set his children up for life.

Heyman had little respect for TNA’s current product and seemed confident in his ability to turn it around, if a bit disinterested in doing so.

I’ve been monitoring TNA owner Dixie Carter’s Twitter page to see if the “change TNA forever” surprise has been announced yet. If it has, it’s lame: TNA wrestling games are coming to Nintendo DS and Sony PSP.

That will change TNA forever? I kind of think that’s not the deal, but nothing else posted so far makes sense or even fits the description. Maybe she’s giving out Branson tickets to Hulk Hogan and friends?

Whatever. Looks like we’re stuck waiting for Dixie to give up her secrets… BOOO-RING!

Rob Van Dam may be the latest big-name wrestling free agent to sign with TNA; if he signs, his first appearance will be in a couple days, when TNA moves its signature Impact program to Monday nights permanently on Spike TV.

Of course, I wouldn’t bet the stone sink on it; RVD has actually been talking to both WWE and TNA; however, he has made public comments of late hinting that TNA may be the way he’s leaning, and considering how poorly WWE has utilized him in recent years, as well as WWE killing off the ECW brand, it wouldn’t surprise me if RVD signed with TNA.

Hulk Hogan, not content yet with his place in wrestling history, has announced he’s moving to upstart WWE rival, TNA. Can I go back to sleep now? You woke me for this?

This would have been huge news about 20 years ago, long before TNA was conceived. Might have even been interesting when TNA was first starting up. But now? Yawn. It’s about as exciting as term insurance quotes. Which isn’t to say boring, but isn’t to say world-shaking, either.

Mick Foley lost the TNA title at the Slammiversary PPV on Sunday, with Kurt Angle becoming the new title-holder after defeating Foley, Jeff Jarrett, A.J. Styles and Samoa Joe in a King of the Mountain match. It’s been a while since TNA switched champs without using Jarrett as a transitional title holder, so that was refreshing.

And that’s about the only thing that was refreshing, as the names Foley, Jarrett and Angle were a lot more interesting back when they were new, in the 90s. Until TNA develops and takes more seriously home-grown young talent like A.J. Styles and Samoa Joe, there’s just not much to be excited about here. The Attitude Era is over, and both ECW and WCW are dead everywhere… except on TNA, which is dwelling somewhere in the Outer Banks, where the houses are beautiful, but the wrestling is so 10 years ago.

With his contract expiring soon, Christian Cage is expected to leave TNA and return to the WWE in the coming months, according to online sources. While one might expect one or two Orlando vacations to break up the monotony between his last TNA match and his first match back to WWE, the leap is one that is certainly expected.

If he makes the leap, Christian would be only the second wrestler to leave WWE for TNA, only to return; thus far, Jeff Hardy is the only other superstar to do so. Christian would draw initial interest if he were sent to SmackDown to feud with former partner and SmackDown tentpole wrestler Edge. However, after that initial push, it will be interesting to see if Christian stays near the top of WWE’s project list, or falls by the wayside.

Of course, while Cage is hoping to return to WWE, there’s no official word on the company’s interest in bringing him back at this stage of his career. Time will tell.

An over-the-hill Mick Foley finally debuted on TNA last week, and the result was a nice surprise, but little Impact. It’s been almost a decade since Foley’s been an in-ring impact-player, so although his sudden appearance on the big screen at the arena was a nice way of introducing him, one has to wonder at how much Foley can actually contribute to TNA, which needs to be focusing on developing its own young stars and not remain just a hangout for old WWE castoffs.

While at WWE, Foley demonstrated a lot of selflessnes putting over younger talent; but will he do likewise in TNA, where there’s a lot less star power? Only time will tell, but right now Dixie Carter’s crew seems to be throwing everything, including farmhouse sinks, into the mix to see what sticks.

Not a good sign.

The UK Sun is reporting that once Mick Foley’s WWE contract expires at the end of this month, he will make the jump to NWA-TNA, WWE’s only potential competitor, and will become a part-time wrestler with a schedule similar to Sting’s. The article charges that Foley is not content being in an announcing or non-wrestling role at WWE.

But hold your horses! On his blog, good ol’ JR, Jim Ross, claims all of this speculation is a lot of hooey, and he plans to talk to Foley soon to “see how things are going.” That’s WWE-speak for trying to talk him into staying with WWE, of course.

Just like some Web sites that sell auto insurance compare rates from other companies before you buy, I’d hope Mick thinks long and hard about moving to TNA. At this stage in his career, it’s a move that cannot be undone in the eyes of the McMahon family, who would almost certainly lock him out of the WWE Hall of Fame or any potential return to WWE later on.

The UK Sun report claims Foley wants to help put TNA on the map; however, if WWE converts like Christian Cage, Jeff Hardy (before he came back) and Kurt Angle haven’t been able to pull that off, what could a broken-down Foley do for them?

Bad career move, Mick. Hope you don’t opt that direction.

After working out and hitting the ellipticals, RVD… Rob Van Dam… is finally headed back to the pro wrestling ring, though not for WWE and, surprisingly, not for TNA, either.

Instead, RVD will be appearing in a taping for Nu-Wrestling Evolution. The show will be taped in the Canary Islands. NWE is a minor pro circuit that mostly works Spanish-language territories. Other one-time WWE talent currently featured on NWE cards include Rikiski (wrestling now as Kishi), Jackie Gayda, and Juvi Guerrerra. Ultimate Warrior will also soon be added to their roster.

It’s certainly not the big-time, but only time will tell if RVD can build on the appearance and work his way back to either WWE or TNA.

Jeff Hardy is a great Cinderella story going into the upcoming Royal Rumble PPV.

Along with his brother Matt, the rainbow-haired warrior helped define high-risk tag-team wrestling throughout the 1990s. When the time came to split the pair up and allow the brothers to move on with their singles careers, the process caused so many migraines, Jeff left WWE for TNA, where Jeff Jarrett eventually put the championship strap on him.

So far, Jeff is the only WWE-to-TNA refugee that Vincent Kennedy McMahon has brought back into the WWE. That in itself is a minor miracle; even Kurt Angle hasn’t been offered that deal.

But now, the big question that is plaguing the McMahon family is whether they can swallow their pride enough to put the WWE title on a wrestler who once abandoned them for a minor-league TNA promotion and wore their strap. Certainly, there has been a huge push behind Randy Orton as a heel champ, and the preferred plan would be to keep the strap on him until John Cena returns.

But is that what’s best for Raw ratings and the WWE? That’s what we’re all waiting to find out.

One of the popular rumors of recent weeks is that Carlito was set to exit WWE and make the jump over to TNA. Well, forget about that; after a long talk with Vince McMahon, Carlito signed a new contract with WWE and won’t be going anywhere, and you can bet your tonneau cover on your Ford F150 on that!

Now, TNA is still a decidedly small-time promotion. However, in the last year, TNA has made a splash by signing away WWE’s castoffs, including Kurt Angle (who WWE wanted to sign to an out-of-ring role due to Angle’s neck and health concerns), Booker T, and more. While the condition of the rivalry between WWE and TNA doesn’t approach anywhere near the old Monday Night Wars between WWE and WCW, TNA could have gotten a lot of mileage out of signing Carlito so soon after snatching up Booker T.

So, in the end, while Vinnie Mac is probably not pleased with Carlito’s work ethic and development to date, he’s still too young and promising a talent to allow him to slip into a TNA role. For the foreseeable future, Carlito will still be spitting in the face of people who don’t want to be cool, rather than Vince McMahon’s face.