TNA and Indy News and notes

[andrew8798]

Regarding the story that Terry Taylor told a bunch of TNA guys that if they wanted their release they could have it, one person who has asked for a release in the past said that he definitely had not gotten the offer. I was also told that it didn't appear at least a few of the X-Division guys got them, and they were largely the ones who wanted out. One source said he was pretty sure that when push came to shove they wouldn't offer releases to most people because they knew that most of those guys had potential and could become stars elsewhere.

According to one source, morale is actually worse now than it was when the show was just an hour long. There were guys who have gone to tapings and not worked at all, and when they ask about it they're told that there are now over FIFTY wrestlers under contract and they have to make sure everyone gets used regularly. Talk about having utterly no clue how to promote pro-wrestling. In other words, if an undercard feud is heating up, sometimes the people involved just won't appear on TV the week after to make room for another act that might not be hot at all, just so the second act can get TV time.

There are also complaints from guys who get flown in for a taping they're not going to be used on, sit around doing nothing

Speaking of Gail, she was so nervous about her most recent promo that she actually started crying during it.

This is quite the story. The Georgia Athletic and Entertainment Commission is looking to regulate WWE. One of the guys on the board is Cary Ichter, an attorney who happens to also represent Michael Benoit. When Jerry McDevitt heard about this he mockingly said gee, I wonder why he's doing this? The key to the story is that wrestling is already regulated in Georgia, but two years ago a loophole was created that exempts any entertainment company with total assets of over $25 million. Is that not the most bullshit thing you've ever heard? So basically, any wrestling company that runs in Georgia with the exception of WWE (and I would presume TNA due to the ownership umbrella) is subject to drug testing and other regulations, but the big guys are not. "I'm going to fight like a dog to make sure that exemption is pulled from the law," Icther said. "I want to make sure we have a way to protect folks in Georgia from the shenanigans of the WWE".


Since he was there for the Cow Palace convention, Steve Austin was asked what he'd think about making an appearance at the ROH show. No such luck.

They announced that Dragon Gate wrestlers would be working the March 28th and 29th, 2008 shows in Orlando. It's the now-annual ROH/WrestleMania tie-in, which has also resulted in great business and great shows for the company.

Show in Vegas did not do well, drawing about 250 for the 2007 Survival of the Fittest tournament. Roderick Strong beat Brent Albright in a tourney match, Chris Hero beat Karl Anderson in Karl's debut with the STF, Rocky Romero beat TJ Perkins, Austin Aries beat Delirious in what was said to be an excellent match, Claudio Castagnoli beat Davey Richards, Nigel McGuinness and Bryan Danielson went to a 20-minute draw and were thus both eliminated from the tournament, and then Human Tornado, in his big ROH debut, made it to the finals beating Tony Kozina and Shane Hagadorn in a three-way. Hero ended up winning the tournament in impressive fashion, actually eliminating Tornado, Romero, Aries, Strong and Claudio, so they gave him the monster push. He's next in line for the ROH title shot, so this made sense. Semi-main saw Jimmy Jacobs & Necro Butcher beat the Briscoes in a non-title street fight, so presumably they're next in line for the belts.

credit:F4W Newsletter

[Michael Coello]

Speaking of Gail,

When we they speaking about Gail?


Put a lot of people on the show, they're accused of trying to put the whole roster on.

Put less people on there, and they're accused of misusing people and not giving them anything to do.

Hell, I'm happy that I saw more of Kaz, Raven, Petey Williams, Robert Roode, Jame Storm, Chris Harris, MCMG, and a couple of others since 2 hours.

[hollywood]

Sorry to hear ROH didn't do so well out west. The numbers in attendance don't sound like absolute bombs, but maybe they'll try expanding southward to my neck of the woods soon?

[poi zen rana]

i still say that the numbers of the roh show (at least in vegas where i attended) weren't that bad considering it was a new area for them and they did virtually no advertising. it seems they assumed if you know what roh is you will be there if you don't you wouldn't care enough to walk in off the street. i think if they wanted a spectacular showing they would have tried a bit more to get people to go. the building where it was located was set back from the street and even it didn't acknowledge roh would be there until a few hours before they put up a small poster beside the door.

[HMARK Center]

I hate NEWZ like this; it's clear the guy didn't really see or listen closely concerning the Survival of the Fittest outcome, as Hero wasn't given a "monster push", he was simply shown to be a brilliant, sneaky heel. And he wasn't next in line for a title shot, winning the SotF is the REASON he's in line for one!

It's not that he got something like that wrong that bothers me, its that I'm supposed to take this "reporters" commentaries and observations seriously when he can't even do his own homework.

[Mr. Mediocre]

poisonrana said:

i still say that the numbers of the roh show (at least in vegas where i attended) weren't that bad considering it was a new area for them and they did virtually no advertising. it seems they assumed if you know what roh is you will be there if you don't you wouldn't care enough to walk in off the street. i think if they wanted a spectacular showing they would have tried a bit more to get people to go. the building where it was located was set back from the street and even it didn't acknowledge roh would be there until a few hours before they put up a small poster beside the door.

Well, I think if they do go back, they'll have more than a month to advertise it and they could possibly get more people to show up. Then of course there's word of mouth.

[hollywood]

Is it just me, or do the stories regarding TNA's backstage resemble WCW more and more each day?

[thwak is T.hawk]

people seem to overlook that there was also an age limit at that ROH show.

whenever I go to ROH there's always a couple of kids, so that also probably hurt them.

[Legion]

This guy lost credibility the minute he inserted his own views on the Georgia regulations thing. What he says may be true, but as a reporter his job should be to give me the news, not what he thinks of it.

But meh, nothing that interesting here. Slow news week all round

[thestinger]

hollywood said:

Is it just me, or do the stories regarding TNA's backstage resemble WCW more and more each day?

Yeah, but for all we know that's all they are: stories.

More than a few have been debunked. Remember when Samoa Joe wanted out of TNA so badly, he'd even accept a lower paying job with WWE?

[Zane]

Austin in ROH would be interesting. I hope Shelley gets a release along with Sabin and they show up in ROH.

[hollywood]

thestinger said:

hollywood said:

Is it just me, or do the stories regarding TNA's backstage resemble WCW more and more each day?

Yeah, but for all we know that's all they are: stories.

More than a few have been debunked. Remember when Samoa Joe wanted out of TNA so badly, he'd even accept a lower paying job with WWE?

True enough. I tend to always take what newz sites report with a grain of salt, but when it's reported over and over that morale is low I start to wonder.

[thestinger]

hollywood said:

True enough. I tend to always take what newz sites report with a grain of salt, but when it's reported over and over that morale is low I start to wonder.

I won't even start to wonder until a credible person who actually works there admits morale is low.

'An anonymous source says things are bad' isn't worth my time.

[Mozenrath]

thestinger said:

hollywood said:

True enough. I tend to always take what newz sites report with a grain of salt, but when it's reported over and over that morale is low I start to wonder.

I won't even start to wonder until a credible person who actually works there admits morale is low.

'An anonymous source says things are bad' isn't worth my time.

Shelley hasn't always been exactly glowing in his attitude towards them on his site in the past.

[Lance Uppercut]

sinister1 said:

Speaking of Gail,

When we they speaking about Gail?


Put a lot of people on the show, they're accused of trying to put the whole roster on.

Put less people on there, and they're accused of misusing people and not giving them anything to do.

Hell, I'm happy that I saw more of Kaz, Raven, Petey Williams, Robert Roode, Jame Storm, Chris Harris, MCMG, and a couple of others since 2 hours.

too many people under contract, that won't allow them to work a lot of other places, and that stupid "we won't pay you if you're not on tv" rule.

At least WWe you get that nice "stay home and take this check until we figure out what to do with you" policy.

[Mr. Mediocre]

legion said:

This guy lost credibility the minute he inserted his own views on the Georgia regulations thing. What he says may be true, but as a reporter his job should be to give me the news, not what he thinks of it.

This gets said every week, and while you're right, this is what F4W and Alvarez do. It's what (he thinks) his customers pay for.