MY NEW HOME: THE DAILY DROPKICK

The Daily Dropkick

For the kind, lost souls that are still coming here…

Regrettably I have to inform you that TNAUK is no more. I’ve been so busy with other projects, including writing for other wrestling websites that I just don’t have the time to devote to writing, posting and editing the many contributions to the site each day.

Going forward i’ll be focusing my attentions on my other writing obligations at 1Wrestling.com and will also be posting regularly at my personal blog The Daily Dropkick, where you can still get your daily dose of news, rumours, interviews, reviews and ratings reports. All my regular features you know and love from TNA UK  will be available there.

I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished at this site over the last year and half, we’ve done a great job promoting TNA and i know for a fact it didn’t go unnoticed. The aim was ultimately to provide a place for UK TNA fans to congregate, get news and debate and we provided that, however with the advent of the Official UK TNA Facebook page, i’m not sure thats a service that we need to be providing anymore and if anything we’re drawing readers away from the official avenues.

I want to thank everyone who contributed to the site over its lifespan, your all very talented individuals and it was a joy working with you all and editing your work (even when submissions were late or you spelt D’Angelo Dinero wrong five times in a single article!) and I know many of you will be writing blogs of your own going forward and I for one will be reading.

And lastly you, dear reader. Thank you for visiting, commenting and making this blog relevant. I hope you’ll continue to do so over at my new home – dailydropkick.blogspot.com

Many Thanks,

Ray

**SPOILERS** RESULTS FROM IMPACT WRESTLING TV TAPINGS – MONDAY 25/07/11

IMPACT Wrestling Zone - Orlando, FL.

IMPACT Wrestling kicked off the first set of TV tapings yesterday (Monday) at the Impact Wrestling Zone, Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. These episodes of IMPACT Wrestling and Xplosion will air in the UK on Tuesday 2nd &  Wednesday 3rd of August on Challenge. WARNING THIS REPORT CONTAINS SPOILERS for upcoming episodes of IMPACT Wrestling and Xplosion – DO NOT READ on if you wish to avoid spoilers. Otherwise, click the “read more of this post” option at the end of this paragraph.

BFG SERIES WRESTLER OUT FOR SIX WEEKS?

Matt Morgan: Sidelined for 6 Weeks

Many sources within IMPACT Wrestling are reporting that Matt Morgan has had the results of his MRI returned and he is likely to be out for six weeks with a pectoral injury. More on this as it comes…

IMPACT WRESTLING HITS & MISSES 19/07/11

Sting becoming a 4 time TNA World Heavyweight Champion this week on Impact Wrestling

A little bit late this week but nonetheless, here is my weekly rundown of this weeks edition of Impact Wrestling Hits & Misses…

THIS WEEKS HITS

Evil Clowns
Since they are going down the “joker” thing with Sting, it only made sense they used the first part (minus the bus and they didnt shoot each other) of “The Dark Knight”. In a way im glad they didnt use this to introduce new wrestlers to our screens as that would have sucked, but using Fortune was great, as it kept the ongoing feud alive with Immortal alive by the clowns attacking members one by one, plus its quite funny to see Karen screaming and running in heels (should always look in the back seat of cars before getting into them). Gunner looked the strongest of Immortal by wanting to go out looking for them but didnt expect getting jumped by all 4 of them

Samoa Joe vs The Pope vs Robert Roode
Although I like the BFG Series and this week they have stated that there are 8 weeks left but they havent stated how many matches everyone will compete in? So someone like Crimson can have 10 matches but Gunner could have like 5 (in theory). However the match itself was good, playing up more to that Joe thinks he’s keeps gettng screwed by the referee. The match may have lasted 5 minutes or so but it kept all the action coming fast, which was good, the ending I thought was cleverly played out, The pope kicked off the apron and Joe constantly going for the 10 points in any match and it always backfires on him. Hopefully Joe bounces back soon and starts earning some points.

RIC FLAIR RETURNING TO THE RING?

Ric Flair: Will we see him go toe to toe with Angle or renew his rivalry with Sting?

The Albany Herald in Albany, GA has an article up on Ric Flair, which you can read at http://www.albanyherald.com/sports/.

Flair commented on his return to TNA, stating the following… “I don’t know for sure, but it will be either Sting or Kurt Angle. It just depends on whoever wins between them on Aug. 6. You got the scoop right there, brother.”

Ric Flair’s lawyer has confirmed that Flair’s online store has been up and running for a while. She also stated that Ric Flair is off of TNA TV due to a rotator cuff injury.

TNA XPLOSION REPORT – 20/07/2011

TNA Xplosion Championship Challenge: D'Angelo Dinero vs. Alex Shelley

TNA Xplosion
Wednesday 20th July 2011 – 10pm on Challenge

Originally posted on 1Wrestling.com

THIS WEEK ON XPLOSION:
Alex Shelley d. “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero in the Xplosion Championship Challenge Tournament
TNAOnDemand Match of the Week: Kurt Angle vs. Sting from Hard Justice 2009.
TNA Spin Cycle: Featuring Austin Aries, Tara, Magnus & Douglas Williams
TNA Rewind: Sting vs. Mr. Anderson from this weeks Impact Wrestling

Ray Mullan reporting for 1Wrestling.com. IMPACT Wrestling’s internationally syndicated program – “TNA Xplosion” goes prime time on Challenge TV in the United Kingdom following strong ratings. Find out what happened as “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero and Alex Shelley faced off for a place in the next round of the Xplosion Championship Challenge…

MR. ANDERSON: “I DON’T WANT TO BE WRESTLING IN FIVE YEARS TIME!”

Mr. Anderson: Wants out of the grapple game within five years.

IMPACT Wrestling star Ken Anderson told the Dover Post that he doesn’t plan to stick with wrestling for much longer.

“If I’m still doing this five years from now, please, just shoot me,” Anderson said. “I love the wrestlingbusiness, I love entertaining people, but it doesn’t define me. And for people who are defined by this, that’s fine. I don’t judge them or look down on them, but it’s not for me. After 13 years of taking abuse I have aches and pains, and my wife calls me the old man a lot — more than I would like for her to call me. But I know that I can’t do this forever.”

Anderson said he would like to continue acting once his career ends:

“‘E.T.’ was the first movie I ever saw in the theater, and I remember looking at my mom and asking, ‘How does somebody do that? I want to be Elliott.’ It just so happens to be that I live in the greatest country in the world where you can do anything you want. And if you want to be an actor and you work hard at it, you can do that.

“I’d like to transition into movies, TV, maybe some behind-the-scenes stuff here at TNA, or as a commentator. Eventually, my plan is to move to Wyoming on a big place of land and hunt, and fish, and spend time with my family and travel, and do some charity work.”

To read the full interview, visit Dover Post

IMPACT WRESTLING REPORT: “MIDSUMMER’S NIGHTMARE” – 19/07/11

IMPACT Wrestling: “Midsummer's Nightmare"

IMPACT Wrestling: “Midsummer’s Nightmare”
Tuesday 19th July 2011 – 10pm on Challenge

THIS WEEK ON IMPACT WRESTLING:
Immortal promised to gamble with peoples careers, Sting promised them he would leave with the title thanks to his “aces in the hole” (a bunch of creepy clowns in the rafters)
Bobby Roode d Samoa Joe & “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero to gain 7 pts in the BFG Series
The creepy clowns proceeded to pick off members of Immortal one by one!
Jeff Jarrett was back from Mexico to celebrate his birthday. He brought his own presents to the party, for the members of Immortal.
Austin Aries d. Shannon Moore after using a chain, is confronted post match by Alex Shelley
Tara d. Madison Rayne and revealed her “present” for Madison to be none other than Poison!
Kurt Angle cut a promo stating he had a bone to pick with Anderson after last year and he still wants to beat Sting as he never has, he’s ready for Hardcore Justice no matter who it is.
Mexican America d. The British Invasion to become #1 Contenders to the Tag-Team Titles
The clowns take out Gunner backstage and reveal themselves as none other than Fortune!
Bully Ray attempts to interfere in the World Title match but is taken out by yet another clown, who unmasks to reveal himself as Kurt Angle!
Sting d. Mr. Anderson to win the World Heavyweight Title!

Craig is off duty this week due to a family matter, so the following report comes courtesy of my good colleagues at 1Wrestling.com, I urge you to check out the original piece here.

Jeff Jarrett was back from Mexico to celebrate his birthday. He brought his own presents to the party, for the members of Immortal. Plus, Sting got his rematch against Ken Anderson for the World title.

The show opened with a look at Sting’s odd behavior in recent weeks. Bully Ray told Ken Anderson that he was either with Immortal or against them. Immortal got a new member with Ken Anderson

This Week’s Episode: Mid-Summer’s Nightmare

TNA UK TV RATINGS – WEEK ENDING 10TH JULY 2011

IMPACT Wrestling on Challenge

The UK TV Ratings are in for the week ending 10th July 2011 and it’s further good news for IMPACT Wrestling on Challenge!

According to the Broadcasters Audience Research Board – IMPACT Wrestling scored a huge 216,000 viewers, for the Tuesday 5th July “Please Stand Up” episode headlined by a Sting vs. Scott Steiner main event.

Sting: New "Crazed" side to his character has proved a hit with UK viewers.

This was down 20,000 from last weeks all time high viewership record of 236,000 but was nonetheless a very strong showing. This extends IMPACT Wrestling streak as the top rated wrestling program on UK television to 14 consecutive weeks.

It would be appear that IMPACT Wrestling on Challenge is beginning to consistently break the 200,000 mark and rank number 1 each week on Challenge, something I’m sure both IMPACT Wrestling and BSKYB/Challenge will be very pleased with.

The saturday night replay made the top 10 again this week, with its airing on Challenge+1 garnering 30,000 viewers.

TNA Xplosion, featuring a Jeremy Buck vs. Shannon Moore “Xplosion Championship Challenge” match, ranked outside the top 10 highest rated programs on Challenge TV and thus i’m unable to confirm the exact viewing figures for the episode. However the lowest ranked of the top 10, Play Your Cards Right, drew 128,000 viewers, meaning TNA Xplosion falls somewhere below that figure.

Here is the Top 10 ranked programs on Challenge for the week:

Challenge
w/e 10 July 2011

1	TNA PRESENTS IMPACT WRESTLING (TUE 2200)	216
2	CATCHPHRASE (SUN 1832)	151
3	BULLSEYE (FRI 2301)	142
4	CLASSIC WHO WANTS TBA MILLIONARE (THU 2100)	142
5	CLASSIC WHO WANTS TBA MILLIONARE (TUE 2100)	142
6	IN IT TO WIN IT (TUE 1959)	141
7	CLASSIC WHO WANTS TBA MILLIONARE (FRI 2059)	135
8	BULLSEYE (FRI 2330)	130
9	CLASSIC WHO WANTS TBA MILLIONARE (WED 2100)	128
10	CATCHPHRASE (SAT 1831)	128

WWE’s RAW, posted 118,000 viewers, down 34,000 viewers from last week. WWE’s other flagship show “Smackdown” drew 112,000 viewers, this was up 16,000 viewers from last weeks airing.

Weekly Ratings Summary:

1	TNA PRESENTS IMPACT WRESTLING (TUE, Challenge , 2200)	216,000
2	WWE LATE NIGHT RAW – LIVE (MON, Sky Sport 3, 2600)	118,000
3	WWE LATE NIGHT SMACKDOWN (FRI, Sky Sports 2, 2230)	112,000
4	TNA PRESENTS IMPACT WRESTLING (SAT, Challenge+1 , 2201)	30,000
5	TNA XPLOSION (TUE, Challenge, 2400)	Under 128,000

Weekly Ratings Wins so far (2011)*:
IMPACT Wrestling – 18
WWE RAW – 2
WWE Smackdown – 2

*Based on first showing viewing figures, not inclusive of +1 or replay figures.

CHAVO GUERRERO INTERESTED IN WORKING FOR IMPACT WRESTLING?

Chavo Guerrero was on Right After Wrestling Radio this week and mentioned who he would like to wrestle:

“I would love to work with AJ Styles. We always used to call him ‘AJ Steals’ because we thought he was always stealing our moves. But I knew him since he was just a kid breaking into the business. But I would also like to work with Kurt Angle again and to see him again. But in the WWE, I guess a heel Randy Orton would be good to work against.”