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You reported that Impact sources were stating the move to Pursuit was going to be financially a positive for Impact. In your follow-up reporting, you pretty much make it clear that you don’t believe that to be the case. What do you think of the move?
At the risk of sounding ancient to younger readers, does anyone remembers the old arcade game Frogger? To me, Impact jumping to Pursuit HD is the equivalent of the frog in the game jumping on a log to travel a little to the left or right before having no choice but to jump forward or end up dead in the water. Impact sources tried hard to spin this for the positive, but let’s face it, they moved to a station their owner also has ownership in after trying to get anyone else to nibble but not getting any (as of this writing) bites. Then, even then, Impact weren’t put in a prime time shot by Pursuit HD AND the move was so important, the station didn’t even bother to Tweet about it. But, this is a better financial move than Pop was? Yeah, I am not buying that.
I guess there is truth to the idea that it was a financial positive in that the Pursuit HD deal beats not being paid anything for the content, but in my opinion, this move was about keeping the series out there, somewhere, anywhere, as they try to figure out the next move, if that next move comes along. Impact needed to still be moving forward creating new content. They accomplished that, but as I wrote yesterday, I am no accountant, but I’d love to see the math that shows that they are going to be better financially because of the Pursuit HD deal. I see it as “any port in a storm” with the storm being that they had to get off Pop before Pop finally removed them. I am happy the promotion is going to air somewhere, as the wrestlers deserve to be seen, but this is another degenerative blow the company has no choice but to absorb.
As for what I wrote, I noted that's what Impact sources were stating. Of course they are going to spin and make it look positive. My reporting over the course of the day made it clear those comments were very "pie in the sky" comments that didn't add up to scrutiny.
How much in danger Is Impact is they just lost all United States TV?
They wouldn’t go out of business as Anthem could choose to keep them running, plus they have a lot of international TV deals, especially the India deal, which is far and away the number one revenue maker for the company. But, it would be a complete embarrassment and probably near impossible to recover from in the long-term, as you don't want to break the chain, so to speak, hence, Pursuit TV.
I really like Sabu, but his Twitter is often filled with really jarring, insulting comments about people in wrestling, even some who have died. It really turns me off on him personally, which sucks because I loved him in ECW. My question to you is whether you think this might hurt him in pro wrestling. It’s not like he’s booked anywhere on a national level these days and I was wondering if there was a correlation?
I don’t know that there’s a direct correlation, but you have to think that some promoters would hold off on booking him given some of the stuff he tweets out of fear of being connected to the more controversial comments. Sabu’s always done whatever he’s want, but this certainly could be hurting him, but he's not going to change who he is at his age. It is what it is, sadly. If I was him, I’d stay off the social media and just let my work speak for itself, especially since his "character" was always about the mystique it had during his prime years, but I don’t see that happening. You don't go backward. If it is costing him bookings, it’s a shame as he certainly always gave more to pro wrestling than it gave back to him, but I can see why it could. If you are a fan and you don't like what he tweets out, it's not hard to think a promoter who might want to pay him could feel the same and want to keep a fair distance.
Is John Cena going to appear on TV during his few weeks back with WWE?
Cena has said that he will only be appearing live at the shows. I don’t think WWE should waste his return for a few short weeks, but it’s always possible they can have him make a quick few appearances.
Who trained Elias?
Elias broke into the business in the Pittsburgh area and was initially trained by workers Shirley Doe and Super Hentai. Once he was signed by WWE, obviously he refined his personality and his work at the WWE Performance Center.
Whatever happened to Nailz?
He violated his probation. Just kidding. He lives in Minnesota but has resisted all efforts by promoters to bring him in for independent appearances and conventions since the mid-1990s.
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