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#Post#: 32451--------------------------------------------------
TNA Stars Talk State Of TNA, When Downturn Happened, GFW, Paymen
ts & More
By: tnafanforum Date: August 10, 2015, 3:26 pm
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Thanks to Travis sending in this report from this past weekend's
Ringside Salute Tour in Bahrain. Travis spent around two hours
with several wrestlers during the afternoon, providing a tour of
his base and aircraft and another two hours last night during a
small Q&A session for fans and following the session with just
himself. Askers sent us this great report:
Chris Melendez has had two dreams since he was a kid: to serve
his country on the front lines and become a professional
wrestler.
Impossibility never crossed his mind, even after an IED took
most of his left leg in Baghdad's Sadr City in 2006. The 4th
Infantry Division soldier tackled rehabilitation with unusual
resolve, walking within 40 days and leaving the hospital in
eight months. Now, fitted with a prosthetic, Melendez, 28, has
taken his talents to the squared circle. Following months of
intensive training from professional wrestling legends, Bully
Ray and Devon Dudley (Team 3-D), he signed a multi-year
wrestling contract last June and made his television debut Sept.
10, 2014 with TNA Impact Wrestling.
I was extremely honored to meet Chris today and I was fortunate
enough to spend a couple of hours with him this afternoon while
visiting troops deployed to the Middle East. His story is one of
inspiration and dedication not only to his country, but to
himself and his dreams.
I had the opportunity to speak to Chris while giving him and
several other stars of the Armed Forces Entertainment Presents:
Ringside Salute, a tour of my aircraft and later following a
meet and greet with the troops. The tour, featuring Austin
Aires, Ken Anderson (Mr. Anderson), Shane "Hurricane" Helms, and
Thea Trinidad, was the brain-child of comedian Jonny Loquasto,
host of the Wrestling Compadres podcast with Booker T. Jonny had
performed on overseas tours before with Armed Forces
Entertainment. After discussions with Ken Anderson, he reached
out to several stars, who excitedly accepted the invitation to
travel to the Middle East and visit with troops who were
deployed, thus kicking off the first ever Ringside Salute, an
event he hopes to become an annual tradition.
I shared with Chris my memory of him standing in the middle of
the ring in front of a live TNA audience during television
tapings and being offered free training from Bully Ray and Devon
Dudley. For me as a fan, that was an inspirational moment. For
me a service member, that was a victory for those who have
returned injured and either missing parts of their body or parts
of their soul. I asked Melendez, as either a fan or a wrestler,
what was the most inspirational moment that he can remember?
Chris recounted a day that none of us will ever remove from our
minds, 9/11. His father worked just a couple of blocks away from
the World Trade Center and the day the towers were struck and
fell to the earth, taking thousands of lives with them, Chris
decided in that moment he was joining the Army and taking the
fight to those who brought the fight to us. His father returned
home that afternoon, a day Chris had decided to skip his high
school classes, covered in ashes and dust, appearing
unrecognizable and ghost-like. He still reflects on that memory
as the catalyst for enlisting and capitalized on his emotions to
propel him through the intensive training he would receive in
Army Boot Camp and following years later, in wrestling training
with them.
The others stars took turns answering my question. Responses
ranged from Hurricane remembering Wrestlemania III and the match
between Randy Savage and Ricky Steamboat to Austin Aires'
appreciation of pure wrestling from territorial stars of the
south and midwest.
Shane Helms said the pace of the Savage/Steamboat match and the
non-stop action was a stark contrast to the slow-developed
matches traditionally fought in the ring. Helms claims this
match was his inspiration to adopt his style of professional
wrestling and he knew that he wanted his performances to always
have excitement, providing fans a thrill from the opening bell
to the closing pin.
Following the serious conversation and questions, I decided to
take the opportunity to ask each wrestler more poignant
questions, specifically in regards to the state of TNA, their
thoughts on Jeff Jarret's GFW, and the WWE's Divas revolution.
I was quite surprised to receive very candid and honest replies
from each superstar when I asked about the state of TNA and
their relationships with Dixie Carter. It is very clear that the
TNA locker room has an extremely rocky relationship with Dixie
and trust between the roster and the their boss died years ago.
The saving grace of their working status with the company lies
in their ability to self-contract with other promotions and
being able to work independent dates throughout the month, which
typically only features 3 or 4 working days with TNA. Pay checks
are frequently delayed, a report we have all read numerous times
from production crew members, and the move of TNA from Spike to
Destination America was a very poor business decision, a belief
held by almost every member of the Impact roster according to
members of the Ringside Salute tour.
I explained to Ken and Austin, I do not receive Destination
America with my current cable package back home and in order to
watch Impact tapings and remain current with storylines while on
deployment, I have to rely on internet streams and reports from
wrestling sites such as Wrestling Inc. Currently the WWE
distributes Raw, Smackdown, NXT, and all PPVs through AFN,
allowing service members overseas the chance to view their
programming live and in replay formats.
Of note, I personally sent Dixie a message this week,
encouraging her to research a distribution deal with Armed
Forces Network in order to broadcast Impact and PPVs to troops
deployed overseas, but have yet to receive a response from her
or TNA representatives. However, TNA did Tweet several of my
pictures from yesterday, leading me to believe they have
received my communications in the past.
Two of the wrestlers, when asked, agreed that Hogan and Bischoff
began the downturn of TNA and its initial momentum. But they
also stated the move to Destination America accelerated TNA's
recent plummet in ratings and appeal to a wider audience.
When asked about Jeff Jarret and GFW, consensus between Aris,
Anderson, and Helms was only time will tell if his promotion is
legit or all smoke and mirrors. Most believe the Vegas tapings
were full of audience plants and based on ticket sells to live
events, the promotion is not as strong as Jarret is currently
claiming. Most also stated they would be willing to work for GFW
and confirmed TNA and GFW have a cross-promotional deal allowing
wrestlers from both rosters to perform at the other's live
events and eventually on television as well, once and if Jarret
is able to secure a distribution deal for GFW tapings. A
potential merger of the two promotions was not ruled out, but no
one was able or willing to confirm if any talks had taken place
between TNA and GFW. I was also led to believe they honestly did
not know either way regardless, because Dixie keeps the locker
room in the dark when it comes to matters of corporate business.
Thea Trinidad, formerly known as TNA Knockout, Rosita, and
girlfriend of Austin Aries, was perhaps the most charming of the
group. She continuously thanked each of us for our service and
was very gracious with troops who requested pictures with her.
Her story, much like Chris Melendez, is one that is centralized
around 9/11. Thea lost her father in the attacks on that day, a
fact that I did not know until spending the afternoon with her
and the other superstars of the Ringside Salute Tour. I also
learned her grandfather was a professional wrestling star in
Puerto Rico, who had to retire following an injury from the
hands of WWE Hall of Fame legend, Bruno Sammartino. Trinidad
explained that in order to honor her father's memory and to
continue a family tradition, she entered professional wrestling
at age 19. She reflected back to memories of her and her father
watching the WWF growing up and remembers attending events at
Madison Square Garden in New York City. The bond between her and
her father shared over their love and passion for professional
wrestling, guided her to the business and through her training,
which led to an eventual championship run with TNA, following
her try-outs with the WWE.
I asked Thea what her thoughts were on the WWE's current "Divas
Revolution" and if she believes there will ever be a time we see
Wrestlemania headlined by women. She said what Stephanie McMahon
and young stars like Charlotte, Paige, and Becky Lynch were
doing was great for the industry and exposure for female
athletes in the business world-wide. Trinidad remembered the
night that Lita and Trish Stratus main evented Raw and how
passionate the live audience was for that match. The fans were
really into the storyline and excited that a women's match was
the main event for WWE's flagship program and she believes the
fans are hungry for this once again. Thea was hesitant to say
women would ever headline Wrestlemania, but believes it could
happen and would love that very much.
I admit that at 34, I am still a mark for professional wrestling
and religiously watch Raw, NXT, Impact, and Ring of Honor. When
the entertainers that have brought joy and excitement to me and
my family for all of these years take the time out of their
schedules to travel 8,000 miles into the dangers of the Middle
East in 130 degree heat, that is special. When you get to spend
an entire afternoon and evening with them, just chatting like
regular normal everyday folks and receive their thanks for what
I do, that's priceless. While we might not have spent the day
with stars at the level of Hulk Hogan, The Rock, or Daniel
Bryan, we spent the day with folks who are more humble than most
people I know and provided candid honesty like no others in the
business. I would much rather have this experience and memory
than a 30 second meet and greet with someone who will forget my
name 10 seconds later. Say what you want about TNA vs. WWE or
cheesy comic book like gimmicks, but I'll tell you right now,
these individuals are great people, who genuinely care about
making a positive difference in the world, love what they do,
and give everything they have day in and day out to bring a
smile to our faces. This is a day that I will cherish and
remember forever.
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