TNAWrestling.com posted the following press release moments after the No Surrender PPV ended:
TNA WRESTLING MAKES TWO MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENTS
Signs Kurt Angle
iMPACT! Moves To 9 PM on Spike TV Starting Thursday, November 16
Nashville, TN, September 24, 2006 – Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling announced today that Olympic gold medalist and pro wrestling megastar Kurt Angle has signed exclusively with the company. It was also announced that TNA iMPACT! will move to 9:00 PM ET/PT Thursdays on Spike TV starting November 16.
“This has been a huge week in our company’s history,” said Dixie Carter, president of TNA Entertainment, LLC. “The signing of Kurt Angle and the move of iMPACT! to 9 PM are both significant benchmarks in the growth of TNA. The history of pro wrestling is marked with events that change the landscape of the industry and I believe that this week will be viewed in that context.”
Angle, a 2-time NCAA Division I champion and a 3-time NCAA Division I All-American, capped off his illustrious amateur career by winning a gold medal in freestyle wrestling at the 1996 Olympics, competing with two cracked vertebrae, two herniated disks and four pulled muscles.
On November 14, 1999, Angle made his on-screen debut with the World Wrestling Federation. Since then, this 5-time WWE World Champion has held every major championship belt in WWF/E. He was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2003.
“Kurt is considered the greatest wrestler in professional wrestling,” added Carter. “His in-ring ability is matched only by his leadership and attitude. We are thrilled Kurt is joining the TNA family and we look forward to a long, successful relationship.”
“Being with TNA feels like I found my home,” Kurt Angle commented. “TNA will be the most watched show on cable TV – it’s just a matter of time. Thank you TNA for saving my career, my life and my desire to do what I love.”
TNA also announced it will premiere in primetime on Spike TV starting Thursday, November 16, kicking-off with a two-hour extravaganza from 9:00 – 11:00 PM, ET/PT to celebrate the move. The following Thursday, TNA can be seen in its regularly scheduled timeslot (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT), with encores continuing to telecast on Saturdays (11:00 PM – Midnight, ET/PT).
“We’ve been impressed by TNA’s growth and the acquisition of Kurt Angle today continues to show us that wrestling fans, as well as professional wrestlers, know that TNA is the place to be and now primetime on Spike TV is the place for them to be,” says Kevin Kay, General Manager of Spike TV.
After twenty telecasts in the Thursday 11 PM ET/PT time slot, TNA iMPACT! is averaging a 1.0 HH rating, with a 1.1 in M18-49, a 1.3 in M18-34 and an average audience of 1.1 million viewers. Compared to YAGO in that timeslot, TNA is up +137% in HH, +211% in M18-49, +244% in M18-34 and +157% in average audience. Among ad-supported cable channels in the time period (11:00 PM – Midnight, ET/PT), Spike ranks #1 in M18-49, #1 in M25-34, and #2 in M18-34. (All ratings reflect Most Current viewing levels)
The new wrestling alternative, TNA delivers a distinct brand of high-risk, athletic entertainment. TNA’s roster includes new, fresh talent like AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Samoa Joe, Monty Brown and recognizable stars such as Sting, Christian Cage, Jeff Jarrett, Team 3D, and others. TNA features the innovative six-sided ring and the high-flying “X Division,” as well as concept matches such as “Ultimate X,” “King of the Mountain,” and “Six Sides of Steel.”
TNA Entertainment, LLC is a privately held company headquartered in Nashville, TN. The names of all Total Nonstop Action Wrestling televised programming, talent names, images, likenesses, slogans and all TNA Wrestling logos and trademarks are exclusive property of TNA Entertainment, LLC. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. For more information, visit www.tnawrestling.com.
Spike TV is available in 90 million homes and is a division of MTV Networks. MTV Networks, a division of Viacom International Inc.
The news is so big, it’s already caused TNAWrestling.com to crash (the site currently is only showing a splash page with a photo of Kurt Angle and text about the two big announcements). Similarly, trying to pull up the press release on Kurt’s home page takes forever.
The story was very well-guarded, with SOME speculation around the ‘Net that included Kurt’s name on a list of potential free agent signings TNA could theoretically anounce tonight, but nothing was confirmed. According to PWInsider, the video clips shown at the end of No Surrender were shot several days ago at a warehouse in Nashville, TN, with local wrestlers setting up the ring and signing nondisclosure forms so word wouldn’t leak out. TNA staff was notified of the news 15 minutes before it aired to the fans viewing the PPV. The segment can been seen on YouTube.com here:
Also, TNAWrestling.com has posted the following video of Jeff Jarrett’s back following the “Fan’s Revenge” match:
It’s been quite the busy week for TNA, with Vince Russo brought back to the creative team and now these two announcements. The Montgomery Advertiser has a story that mentions Russo’s signing, with Cornette making a comment about potential problems with the two coexisting. Reaction out of TNA and WWE camps about Kurt Angle — as well as reactions from the MMA world, which up until today thought that Angle was legitimately considering a shoot-fighting career — should be leaking out shortly, and we’ll have all the details here at Pulse Wrestling as they are available.
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