WWE & TNA Tidbits

Courtesy of AngryMarks.com:

Right now TNA still believes Christian Cage will be leaving for WWE. TNA had a meeting with Cage, asking what it would take for him to stay, but in the end there was no commitment from Cage. TNA really wanted Cage to stay so that he could be the lead voice for TNA Frontline.

Speaking of Frontline, TNA changed the name because they decided TNA Originals was a weak name. One suggestion for a new name was "Team Xtacy" to play off the X Division members, until everybody realized how MONUMENTALLY STUPID that suggestion was.

There is no talk at this point of TNA taping anything at the Tokyo Dome this year. Last year the Global Impact special the company did was highly praised, but this year they are cutting costs so there are no plans to film in Japan or in the UK, not even for a Global Impact style special. Ironically they will be playing major arenas before the biggest crowds in company history at the UK shows.

TNA claims to have been profitable this year before the video game release, and even with the game doing poorly most of the losses fall on Midway. PPV numbers are largely the same as last year, and so are house show numbers.

With so many TNA contracts coming up early next year, some TNA talent have sent feelers to WWE or AAA. Since AAA already has a foreign group someone leaving would have to be a top name or would work for cheap (AAA would want the guys to be based in Mexico City).

Here's the word from Wrestling Observer tonight on several returning wrestlers - Umaga will come back to the "SmackDown!" brand and feud with the Undertaker. Tyson Tomko did officially re-sign with the company, but there is no start date for him on television as of right now. Last but not least Gail Kim is expected to debut on the "SmackDown!" brand when she returns.

WWE will be doubling up on "SmackDown!" tapings as much as possible through WrestleMania and then evaluate how well this is working out. Along with the recent releases, this is being done as a way to cut nearly $20 million in expenses out of the budget. Wrestlers will make less money per month as a result of the double tapings.

Lower card guys will lose out on around $1,000 a month, while upper card talent will stand to lose upwards of several thousand a month - the only upside will be two extra days off a month. By doubling up on tapings the company saves about $696,000 in production expenses twice a month.

Ironically if they wanted to save $20 million easily they could just clip the quarterly dividend Vince McMahon is getting from his WWE stock. His last dividend was $11,451,255, putting his annual dividend at $45,805,020.

Last but not least with the feeling in WWE that Steve Austin will be a part of WrestleMania 25 and the recent drama between WWE and Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling, the feeling is that Hogan will not be a part of WrestleMania 25 because the company "doesn't need him."

Quite frankly I think it's silly that WWE feels CCW "exposes the wrestling business" because they've long since been claiming they employ "entertainers" or "talent" as opposed to "wrestlers." If anybody has pulled back the curtain on wrestling, they did a LONG time ago when they admitted it was fixed and branded it "sports entertainment."

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