TNA/NYC Problems, Angle's Shoot Comments, Original Foley Plans, More
? In regards to the lower attendance for TNA's house show on 9/6 at the Manhattan Center (estimated to be around only 850 fans), those who attended the show noted that Tropical Storm Hanna hit the city that night and the rain and winds made it a terrible night to have to go out. Some fans noted that they had to pull over at times on the road due to poor visibility in trying to get to the show. Ring of Honor has ran the same venue many times and never had a problem with low attendance. ROH sold out other venues so many times that they moved to the Hammerstein Ballroom and drew 2,150 and 1,800 fans. Some have noted that the ROH events in New York seem to have a different feel as if they were major events where as TNA events seem very run-of-the-mill even with much bigger names on the card. The show also had problems with Ticketmaster, so that probably didn't help matters either despite TNA giving away free DVDs to every fans who attended the show as a way to make up for the issues.
? Kurt Angle's interview with The Sun in the UK where he had some harsh criticism of TNA was not an angle scripted ahead of time. Of course, it will be hard to convince many people this is true since the company decided to make an angle out of it that will air on tonight's iMPACT! on Spike TV. The company decided to do that in reaction to the interview. It should be noted that many within TNA were very upset with Angle's comments and some took it as a legit slap in the face. However, since it worked into current storylines they decided to use it to make the angle appear more real.
? Mick Foley's role as the special guest ring enforcer at Bound For Glory was originally planned for Steve McMichael as a local Chicago tie-in since he is still a well known character in the city. Foley was planned to have a different role, but plans were changed.
? Last week's iMPACT! finished with a 0.99 cable rating and 1.3 million viewers overall, which has to be considered a disappointment considering the show featured Foley's first live TNA appearance. In demos, the show did 0.70 in Males 18-34, 0.82 in Males 35-49, and 0.42 in Women 18-49. Here is the segment-by-segment breakdown: The segment featuring Jeff Jarrett talking about Kurt Angle's controversial remarks regarding TNA with the UK media gained 79,000 viewers following the Angelina Love vs. ODB match. The Motor City Machine Guns vs. LAX match lost 118,000 viewers. The Sheik Abdul Bashir vs. Jimmy Rave vs. Eric Young match for the X Division title lost 66,000 additional viewers. The Booker T & Team 3-D vs. Christian Cage, AJ Styles & Jay Lethal match drew 118,000 additional viewers. A taped sitdown face-off between Samoa Joe & Sting with Mike Tenay gained no additional viewers – but at least didn't lose any viewers. The rating then spiked with The Beautiful People vs. ODB & Rhaka Khan match, gaining 197,000 viewers, the biggest gain of the show. Mick Foley's first appearance in the Impact Zone with Kurt Angle coming out gained 118,000 viewers and drew one of TNA's biggest quarter hours in a while in a 1.19.