TNA was under the impression that Kurt Angle was going to work the Sacrifice PPV until the day of the show. Partly because they no longer do a live pre-PPV show the decision was made to not announce Angle’s removal from the main event prior to the show starting. TNA felt that the possible lack of goodwill would not be strong enough to offset the potential loss of buys from Angle not being able to compete. Meanwhile, a number of people in the company feel that Angle should not still be using Dr Hae-Dong Jho as his neck specialist as his procedure is nothing but a temporary solution that is not suitable for full-time professional wrestlers. However, considering the extent of the damage that has been done over the years, if Angle were to go for neck fusion surgery at this stage, he would require at least one year of recovery time and may in fact never be able to return to action.
Kaz and Scott Steiner were both injured in the makeshift Sacrifice main event. Kaz had injured his arm on a recent indie show, aggravated it during the Terror Dome match and hurt it again during the title match. He was meant to win a singles match at the post-PPV tapings but this was cancelled because his arm was in such bad shape.
TNA is looking to get all of their PPVs hosted outside of Orlando, away from the Impact Zone crowd. The feeling is that the regular fans there are too familiar with the product, which results in major matches having far less heat than they would do in fresher markets. Also, the venue can only hold 900 people and entrance is free, so holding PPVs in a 2,000 seat arena elsewhere makes things considerably more profitable.
The TNA creative team were very pleased with how the Kurt Angle/A.J. Styles angle on the 22nd May episode of Impact came across.
In light of WWE’s successful farewell to Ric Flair, TNA are preparing their equivalent with regards to Sting. His latest contract expires in December and, again, many in the company are convinced that this his retirement is imminent. The recent retrospective angles and the pitch for bringing in WOYAH to team with him are part of this. However, a lot of people were convinced that 2007 would be his last year in the business only for Dixie Carter to offer him a lucrative new deal for another year, so the odds of him still being in TNA in 2009 are still favourable.
Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter, 26 May 2008 (subscribe here)
