TNA’s Low Ki announced via Twitter that he decided to leave TNA for the third time in his career.
“I have decided to part ways with @IMPACTWRESTLING. My very best to them in their future. Thank you to all the fans who joined the adventure,” he wrote.
Low Ki, real name Brandon Silvestry, returned to TNA in April 2014 after a six year absence from the company (minus a very short stint in 2011). During this one year stint, he won the X Division title twice and was part of The Beat Down Clan.
During his time away from TNA, Low Ki wrestled for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, New Japan Pro Wrestling, and WWE where he was part of NXT and Smackdown. In WWE he used the name of Kaval.
During his time in TNA, he won the X Division title on four different occasions and also the NWA World Tag Team titles three times.
The rumor going around is that Jeff Jarrett will work with TNA past this Sunday’s Slammiversary pay-per-view and it’s possibly that Jarrett will be the next TNA Hall of Fame inductee this October.
It looks like Jarrett’s return is not only good for TNA, but Jarrett has apparently secured some TNA talent to appear on his Global Force Wrestling shows in the future.
Jeff and Karen Jarrett’s arrival on Wednesday was kept secret to everybody in the locker room, including TNA champion and Karen’s ex husband Kurt Angle. According to several rumors floating around, Angle wasn’t too pleased with the “blindside.” Jeff and Kurt had a pretty rough time in TNA for a while which also led to the temporary suspension of Jeff Jarrett after he was outed that he was going out with Angle’s wife. Eventually all three sorted out their personal problems and worked together for the best of the company.
There are also rumors that Jarrett will be taking a controlling interest in TNA, basically a role reversal of the current situation where Panda Energy controls the majority of TNA while Jeff is a minority investor. These rumors are just that and at the moment there’s nothing to them. Jarrett’s future is pretty much Global Force Wrestling and his return to TNA was simply to go out the way he wanted to go out in the first place and get some talent to appear on his shows in exchange.
All the participants for this Sunday’s King of the Mountain Slammiversary match have been announced by TNA just three days before the pay-per-view.
The five Superstars who will be wrestling in the main event are Matt Hardy, Bobby Roode, Eric Young, Drew Galloway, and the returning Jeff Jarrett.
So far there are seven matches on the card and none of them will be for a title. TNA is taping a month and a half worth of Impact this week at Universal Studios and all of these episodes will be airing following Slammiversary, making any title match on the pay-per-view a bit challenging to pull off.
13abc Action News in Ohio has a story about 92 year old WWE fan Alice Boraby who had a ticket to see Smackdown this week but health problems prevented her from attending. Her efforts did not go unnoticed and her favorite tag team, The New Day, had a surprise for her!
After going to the 13abc studios to promote the event, The New Day heard about the story and they teamed up with the news station to deliver a special message to Alice.
“Hey Alice, we hear you are not feeling too well but we have a special message from your friends The New Day,” said Xavier Woods.
“So we’re going to clap your worries away and make you feel good. We have a special clap just for you,” Kofi said, telling her to join if she likes. The trio then proceeded to do the ‘New Day rocks’ clap.
Alice, who is being cared for at Hospice of Northwest Ohio, was visited by 13abc and they brought a laptop with them with the video message.
“Oh my God that was wonderful,” a smiling Alice said. “They’re just as crazy as I am. You wonderful guys. Take care you guys!”
Alice has 6 children and said she can’t wait to show them the video! Her children originally bought her the ticket to go watch Smackdown.
In a video interview with ImpactWrestling.com, Jeff Jarrett explained why he returned and what it means for him to be part of Slammiversary this Sunday.
“I’ve got hundreds, maybe thousands of memories of the Impact Zone,” Jarrett said, recounting some of those memories. “It’s sort of surreal,” he added, saying that the promo he cut in the ring was as real as it gets.
It was a tough decision to leave TNA and start up Global Force Wrestling and he will be giving out more information about his new company as time progresses but this week it’s all about Slammiversary.
He said this is the 13th year anniversary of the company he co-founded with his father Jerry and he’s fortunate and blessed to be given this opportunity and will make the most of his last TNA match and go out the right way.
Jarrett said that it’s no secret that there were a lot of ups and downs between the Jarrett family and TNA over the years but he doesn’t want to bring up the negatives and look only at the positives. He’s excited to have this chance and get closure this Sunday being part of the King of the Mountain match.
Former TNA Tag Team champion Matt Morgan also made his return to Impact Wrestling last night during the live episode of Impact.
Morgan appeared during the match between Bram and Vader – yes, Vader – and helped saved the former WCW champion after Bram attacked Vader with the metal rod that keeps the turnbuckle attached to the ring post.
The man who used to be called The Blue Print then beat up on Bram and clotheslined him out of the ring. It was then announced that Morgan would be taking on Bram at Slammiversary.
Morgan’s last appearance for TNA was in June 2013 during an episode of Impact Wrestling where he was defeated by Magnus in a four-way 2013 Bound for Glory Series qualifying match which also included Kenny King and Rob Terry.
In January 2014, Morgan announced his retirement from professional wrestling full-time.
Tyson Kidd underwent neck surgery yesterday after he suffered the injury when he was on the receiving end of Samoa Joe’s Muscle Buster finisher during a dark match prior to Raw a few weeks back.
“Surgery was a success,” wrote Kidd on his Twitter account, adding a photo of his tag team partner Cesaro by his bedside. “This guy always reminds me what friendship means through and through. Pro inside and OUT.” One half of the current WWE Tag Team champions, Titus O’Neil, also visited Kidd at the hospital.
It’s not known how long Tyson Kidd will be out of action for but typical surgeries usually take around 9 to 12 months for a return to the ring.
WWE announced the hiring of Blake Bilstad as Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary. Bilstad will be a key member of WWE’s senior leadership team and report directly to WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon.
As General Counsel, Bilstad will be responsible for overseeing the legal and business affairs of the company and serving as the principal legal advisor to the Chairman, Chief Strategy & Financial Officer, and management team. He will also serve as Corporate Secretary to WWE’s Board of Directors.
The new SEC provisions under the Dodd-Frank Act also expand the scope and types of fraud to which the program applies. Previously, the SEC only paid rewards for information regarding insider-trading, such as that paid to the Kaisers for the Pequot insider-trading fraud. This could be particularly important in the area of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigations, which have international implications and have historically amounted for some of the SEC’s largest settlements and judgments.You can visit Home Page for more about the SEC defense attorney.
Many people are uncertain of the case and suspect the SEC might be making a purely political move. However, it’s important to note that the SEC is largely being accused of this as a defense to delegitimize their case. What’s more, based upon the SEC’s confidence to tackle such a massive corporation, it’s likely that they have a significant amount of evidence to leverage in their attempts to hold accountable.Where your attorney can help with the term sheet is to make sure that you capture and think about all of the nuances of whatever type of security you are seeking to issue. For example, if you are raising subordinated debt, you will need to think about intercreditor issues with the senior lenders and what type of standstill provisions need to be in place. A Jurewitz Law Group can draw on years of experience across a variety of transactions, deal structures and types of offerings.
Where you will spend most of your drafting time will be the term sheet, risk section and business discussion section. These are aspects of your offering that your attorney can help with by providing input around the edges, but generally will not be drafting for you.
Bilstad brings nearly 20 years of experience as General Counsel in digital media, internet, e-commerce and emerging technology companies. Prior to joining WWE, Bilstad was General Counsel and Senior Vice President, Legal & Public Affairs at Provide Commerce, where he spent more than 10 years overseeing all legal matters and public affairs for the e-commerce group that owns ProFlowers, RedEnvelope, Shari’s Berries, Sincerely, Personal Creations and Gifts.com. Prior to his tenure with Provide Commerce, Bilstad was the Senior Vice President, Legal Affairs at Vivendi Universal Net USA, the parent company that owned MP3.com, MP4.com, EMusic.com, GetMusic.com, RollingStone.com, the Flipside Network and Education.com.
Bilstad began his career as a business associate at the law firm Cooley Godward LLP, where he represented emerging technology and life sciences companies, venture funds and investment banks. He also clerked at the U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division.
He earned his Juris Doctor cum laude from Harvard Law School, and his Bachelor of Arts degree in History magna cum laude from Duke University.
Jeff Jarrett and his wife Karen returned to Impact Wrestling last night in the surprise of the night and Jarrett announced that he will be part of the King of the Mountain match at Slammiversary this weekend.
Sporting a Global Force Wrestling t-shirt, Jarrett said that he got the call last week from TNA management and was asked to come back for one more match. Jarrett recounted his glory days in TNA and all the good times at the Impact Zone but since April of last year all he did was work on GFW. His wife Karen cut a promo and said that Jeff didn’t go out of TNA the way he wanted to and this time, he’s going out his way, in his match.
Jeff Jarrett announced his resignation from TNA Wrestling on December 22, 2013, and was completely gone by January 6, 2014. He remained an investor in TNA. On television, Jarrett was fired in December 2012 after he was defeated by Jeff Hardy in a steel cage match at Final Resolution.
You can see a behind-the-scenes video of Jeff Jarrett’s return to TNA below.
Episode one of the new season of Tough Enough did a total of 1,209,000 viewers and a 0.4 in the adults 18-49 ratings.
That is in line with what Total Divas does on E! usually although totally different demographics. Just one third of the 8PM Raw viewership tuned in to see Tough Enough.
The last Tough Enough season in 2011 on USA Network did an average of 2.4 million. (Ratings credit: TV By The Numbers)
ECW Press, through their Marketing & Publicity Coordinator, announced in an e-mail sent to several wrestling websites that the publication of the book The Iron Sheik: Listen Jabroni! has been cancelled.
“WWE and ECW will continue to partner on more titles in the future, including an autobiography of Pat Patterson, set to release in June 2016,” the small statement read.
There was no explanation given as to why the book was canned.
The Iron Sheik’s story can be seen in a documentary titled The Sheik which is being streamed on Netflix.
Another movie is being lined up for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson according to Deadline Hollywood, titled Rampage, and it’s a video game adaptation produced by Beau Flynn.
The film is based on the 80’s Midway Arcade game involving three giant monsters – a gorilla, a lizard, and a wolf – that wreak havoc on major cities across North America. The exact plot is still “under wraps” but production is set to start in Summer 2016.
The plan is for Johnson to star in this film after he completes production on Fast & Furious 8. The former WWE champ is currently shooting Central Intelligence for New Line along with Kevin Hart. This would be the fourth collaboration for Johnson and Flynn.
The Rock already did a previous movie based off a video game, Doom, which ended up being one of his worst showings in Hollywood in terms of box office.
TNA will start a 5 day run at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, today as they tape several weeks of worth of Impact Wrestling shows as well as the live pay-per-view on Sunday.
Between today and June 27, the company will tape approximately two Impact shows every day on Sound Stage 20. Admission is free.
On Sunday then TNA goes live on pay-per-view for the first time this year also on Sound Stage 20 where admission is once again free.
TNA then returns to Orlando on July 22 for another five set of Impact television tapings. They will go on till July 27 with the day before being time off.
WWE’s reality competition series Tough Enough returned on the air yesterday live on USA Network and around the world with 13 hopefuls fighting for two WWE contracts.
Chris Jericho and Renee Young had hosting duties while Daniel Bryan, Paige, and Hulk Hogan were in charge of the judging. Booker T, Lita, and Billy Gunn served as coaches.
The judges picked their bottom three for this week – Hogan chose ZZ, Bryan chose Hank, and Paige chose Josh.
After the live voting finished, Hank was eliminated with 22% of the vote. Josh got 26% while ZZ was the most popular with 52% of the vote.
Monday Night Raw did not do that well in the ratings this week, suffering a 440,000 viewership dip compared to last week’s show.
Hour one did 3,594,000 viewers, followed by 3,606,000 viewers in the second hour, and then 3,812,000 viewers in the third and final hour. The only good news is that the show increased as time went on instead of crashing in the third hour.
Raw did not win the night as the Women’s World Cup football games scored almost 5 million viewers on Fox Sports 1. (Ratings credit: TV By The Numbers)
The new television show Ballers from Dwayne Johnson made its debut on HBO to 2.16 million viewers, making it the most-watched comedy episode since the series finale of “Entourage” in 2011 for the network according to Variety. The show also generated more social media buzz than any other half hour show in the history of HBO.
The Rock is enjoying a good Hollywood run even in theaters as San Andreas – currently sitting in 4th in the box office chart after four weeks – smashed the $400 million barrier worldwide this weekend. The movie has so far done $132 million domestically and $282 million in foreign box office according to Box Office Mojo.
The July 4 WWE Network special from Tokyo, Japan, is now being billed as The Beast In The East and it’s all being promoted around Brock Lesnar.
The show will feature Lesnar taking on Kofi Kingston in his first match since WrestleMania 31 and the NXT title will be on the line as Kevin Owens defends against Finn Balor in what many expect a changing of the guard.
The live broadcast will start at 5:30AM EST on Saturday, July 4, and will then be archived for on-demand viewing immediately afterward. You can see the promotional video below.
FoxSports.com has a 20 questions feature with WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan which was conducted during the recent media tour to promote tonight’s start of Tough Enough.
Hogan answered a variety of different questions, including who should be in the Hall of Fame, best entrance song, most embarrassing thing happened to him in the ring, trading places with any athlete for a day, and much more.
When asked what are the odds of him wrestling at WrestleMania 32 next year, the Hulkster simply replied, “50/50.” Hulk is really pushing for a match in Dallas next year and he said that Vince McMahon gave the blessing as long as he passes all medical tests.
The new season of Tough Enough kicks off tonight on USA Network starting at 8PM EST with Chris Jericho and Renee Young hosting the show.
The 13 competitors for this season – 7 men and 6 women – are Alex, Amanda, Daria, Dianna, Gabi, Giorgia, Hank, Joshua, Mada, Patrick, Sara, Tanner, and ZZ. One male and one female will win a $250,000 one year WWE contract once the show is over.
Training the 13 hopefuls are WWE Hall of Famers Booker T and Lita asa well as former WWE Tag Team champion Billy Gunn. The judging panel consists of Hulk Hogan, Daniel Bryan, and Paige.
Tough Enough will air on USA Network in the United States and internationally on TEN Sports, OSN, and SKY Italia. The rest of the world can watch the show on YouTube, where it will be broadcast live along with the other mentioned networks.
Following Tough Enough you can switch on to the WWE Network where The Miz will be holding a 30 minute after show talk with eliminated contestants, judges, and coaches.
Former WWE Tag Team champion Tyson Kidd will be undergoing neck surgery over the next few days to repair the damage he suffered at the hands of Samoa Joe and his Muscle Buster finisher.
Kidd posted a photo from hospital on his Twitter account in a neck brace with his wife Natalya by his side saying, “A little pre-op today. Grateful to have my best friend by my side. In 36 hours I unleash my mutant healing powers…“
Kidd was injured a couple of weeks ago during a dark match before Raw when wrestling Samoa Joe. Joe hit the Muscle Buster on Kidd but Kidd landed awkwardly on his neck. WWE never acknowledged what kind of injury he sustained.
The Canadian was having good momentum with his tag team partner Cesaro lately but that was cut short with the injury. Bret Hart, in comments to Sports Illustrated, said that Joe’s finisher on Tyson was “reckless.”
