– Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com is reporting that ROH Pure champion Nigel McGuiness has agreed to terms with TNA and will debut for the company next month. McGuiness, a British worker who defeated Samoa Joe a few months ago for the Pure Title, has also been seen recently on WWE TV as an enhancement worker and in OVW. His official Web site is NigelMcGuinness.com.
– Spike TV issued this press release today:
TNA: iMPACT! WRESTLING PINS DOWN FIRST-EVER PRIMETIME SPECIAL PREMIERES ON SPIKE TV THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3 AT 9 PM ET/PT
Two-Hour Action & Adrenaline Wrestling Extravaganza Features NWA World Heavyweight Title Re-Match Between Rhino and Jeff Jarrett
National Cable Television World Premiere of Ultimate X Match To Determine Contender for X Division Championship Title
New York, NY, October 31, 2005 – It’s double the adrenaline, double the action and double the TNA: iMPACT! when Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) appears in its first-ever primetime special for Spike TV. The two-hour TNA: iMPACT! primetime event premieres Thursday, November 3 (9:00 – 11:00 PM, ET/PT), delivering its distinct brand of high-risk, high flying professional wrestling.
The main event will be the NWA World Heavyweight Title rematch between Rhino and Jeff Jarrett. The “Man Beast” Rhino captured the NWA World Heavyweight Championship earlier this month during TNA’s “Bound for Glory” in the biggest night of his career. Rhino won three matches that night, including defeating Jarrett for the belt. Now Jarrett, the self-proclaimed “King of the Mountain” has secured a rematch in this two-hour Spike TV primetime special to try and reclaim TNA’s biggest prize.
The “TNA: iMPACT!” special will also mark the debut of the Ultimate X Match, the most innovative match in professional wrestling. This is the World Premiere on national broadcast cable of the Ultimate X Match. The Ultimate X Match features two crisscrossed steel cables suspended 15 feet above the ring with an “X” hanging over the middle. The first man to navigate to the middle of the cables and dislodge the “X” is the victor. TNA stars Petey Williams, Chris Sabin, and Matt Bentley will take each other on in this high-wire, hard-hitting free-for-all. The winner then becomes the #1 contender to the X Division Title and will face “The Phenomenal” A.J. Styles in a future match.
Additional match-ups in the November 3 special are:
* Team 3-D vs. Team Canada (Eric Young & Bobby Rude) After being humiliated in the ring by Team Canada, Team 3D takes their first steps on their road to revenge against Team Canada
* “The Alpha Male” Monty Brown in Action Two-time Super Bowl participant (Buffalo Bills ’93 and New England Patriots ’96) and TNA star Monty Brown continues his quest for the NWA World Heavyweight Title and looks to deliver the ‘POUNCE’ once again to another victim on the Serengeti.
* “The Phenomenal” A.J. Styles, Sonjay Dutt and Austin Aries vs. “The Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels, Samoa Joe and Alex Shelley An all out aerial assault is expected when these X Division contenders show up to battle it out to a victory.
* “The Charismatic Enigma” Jeff Hardy, Sabu and Lance Hoyt vs. The “Diamonds in the Rough” Three of TNA’s most popular superstars team up to take on Simon Diamond’s rapidly improving team. Will The Diamonds follow up on their recent success or will Hardy, Sabu and Hoyt be too much to handle?
The new wrestling alternative, “TNA: iMPACT!” launched on Spike TV on October 1, 2005 as part of the network’s Slammin’ Saturday Night line-up.
Spike TV, the first network for men, is available in 89 million homes and is a division of MTV Networks. MTV Networks, a division of Viacom International Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B). For more information about the network, visit SpikeTV.com.
