– Spike TV’s new lead-in for Impact, starting on the 7th June, will be a sitcom called “Raising the Roof”. It stars Michael Roof Jr, whose beer-swilling backwoods family moves from rural Florida to Hollywood with him as he searches for acting roles.
– TNA is trying to change their key stars from per-show to guaranteed contracts. Top line talent will now get between $1,000 and $1,500 per week, while the lower-ranked guys continue to earn between $300 and $500 per TV appearance. If one of the top talents on a guaranteed contract is then booked on an indy show by TNA then around half the money goes to the office and the rest to the wrestler, who then receives a house show bonus every three months in addition to keeping his guarantee. This does not affect appearances booked by the talents themselves, but it can be difficult to arrange these due to scheduling conflicts with TNA. For instance, AAA were keen to use Ron Killings as a regular after he got over strong there but their TV tapings usually clash with TNA events.
– At the Greensboro house show on 27th May, promoted by Hermie Sadler, B.G. James was replaced by Rhino in the James Gang’s match against Monty Brown & Petey Williams. James was apparently upset that the James Gang, a regular and well-known tag team also working as the faces, were booked to lose to a makeshift, thrown-together duo like Brown & Williams on the show and refused to wrestle.
– Jeff Hardy competed on the same card, pinning Eric Young in the main event. On the previous night’s show in Mooreseville, Hardy teamed with Ron Killings to take on Young and Jeff Jarrett.
Credit: Wrestling Observer newsletter (click here for subscription information)
