It’s a new day for TNA, yes it is. In the latest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer went into some detail about the current state of Impact Wrestling as well as some early troubles they are already experiencing.
Impact Wrestling is scheduled to begin taping with their new regime tonight (3/2/17) and the program is set to air next Thursday (3/9/17). Meltzer says the company is already having some issues with talent. Obviously they’ve lost a number of big names in the last week for various reasons, but the problems exceed those surface concerns.
Jarrett’s new idea for Impact is to tape four days in a row and shoot six episodes of Impact Wrestling during each set of tapings. This idea is partly because they want their air-date to be closer to the date in which they shoot the show, but there are also financial reasons as well.
Impact Wrestling is changing the way in which they pay their talent to coincide with this backstage change. In the previous administration, if a talent appeared at a television taping and shot footage for three episodes, then they would get paid for three separate appearances. But that is no longer the case. Now talent only gets paid on a per day basis, regardless of whether they shoot a match or segment which will air on a pay-per-view.
The promotion currently has commitments through August and they recently announced that Impact will be airing on Spike TV in the United Kingdom starting in May. Impact is also searching for a TV deal in the United States that will pay them for their television product. Meltzer says the only money they are getting from television at this point in time is from India, and that’s not nearly enough to keep the wheels moving.
