Post TNA iMPACT! Press Conference Report Inside Here

Killa Kev sent this along:

TNA Wrestling held a huge post-Impact press conference with promotional site MyContent.com.

Vince Russo was first up to the podium, I got to the conference a few minutes late, Russo was asked if TNA is looking to score a certain rating. "This is the first night we went head-to-head with Raw, and who knows what to expect. Again, at the end of the night, the fans are going to have the finally say." Russo is asked if the product fans watched tonight can compete with Raw. Russo suddenly went silent, shook his head and said, "That's not my call to make."

Don West immediately rushed onto the stage and practically shoved Russo off of the podium in order to shill a new limited-edition Hulk Hogan trading card and promotional photo package available on sale at ShopTNA.com. The moderator from MyContent.com noted that West's interruption was not planned.

Dixie Carter makes her way up to the podium next. Asked for her comments on the show, "I thought it went great. I have never felt such electricity in this place since we started. It was a special day, you could tell it was going to be a historic night, and I am very, very proud of our amazing talent tonight." Carter is asked if anything in particular stood out from tonight's show. "It was magic, I thought it was really great. A few things surprised me, but overall I was really, really happy with what happened."

Carter is asked about her reasons for bringing in Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan. "We have grown this business one fan at a time for seven years, and although we've had great success and can measure all of the things we were able to accomplish, we felt that it was time to get some rocket fuel, you could say. We needed exposure, and who could bring more exposure than Hulk Hogan? Just look at it tonight, TNA is the number one trending topic on Twitter, the number one search on ESPN today. This is why we brought Hulk Hogan and is is paying off dividends."

When asked what makes TNA different from WWE, Carter responded, "I think you're going to see a lot of surprises from us. I think you are going to see us try to do a lot of things different. I said this before, nothing is sacred. Whatever we done or accomplished in the past, it is time for us to try new things and see if they work. You will continue to see surprises and new faces, and as Hogan said, now is the time for everybody, even if you were with us to this point, to step up and take it to a new level."

Carter was then asked about the rating impact of tonight's show. "The ratings will not be as important as the fact that we made it here, that our network believed in TNA, to put us up live against our competition, and it is the first of many major steps that we will continue to take over the many months and years." When pressed about whether or not Spike TV was expecting a particular rating, Carter said, "No, the network has said that it would be happy if we would continue to hold our numbers that we traditionally get on Thursday night, they would consider that a huge success."

The last comment for Carter, she was asked if she feels that TNA is now ready to compete with WWE. "We are already competing with WWE. Tonight is about the wrestling fan. Tonight is about giving them the choice. Tonight is about raising the bar on every level. I'm sick and tired of people saying, 'Yeah, I admit it, I'm a wrestling fan.' Why should we have to admit it? Fans should be proud of it. We are a wrestling company, we are writing wrestling shows, tonight's main event was a wrestling match. Thank you to all who watched tonight, to all of our amazing talent, everybody working behind the scenes. We have worked very hard to get to this moment."

Jeff Jarrett then took the podium and is asked about his take regarding his return to the live audience. "Wow... I thought this night was going to be big, I just didn't know how big it was going to be. It's hard for Double-J to be speechless, but I'm honestly speechless, because from the beginning of the show to the end, everything was great, from start to finish. This coming April is going to be 23... 24 years... so that's taking in a lot of ground. You always remember your first win, your first main event, your first title match... When we secured the Spike TV deal it was monumental, and that was a big night. Tonight, as far as a company, as a whole, what I said in the ring, I said from the bottom of my heart. It truly is the biggest night in company history. Over seven and a half years ago, I founded it, so we have come a long way with a lot of hard work from a lot of people."

The moderator asks Jarrett if he has something to say to the fan at home watching who might want to become involved in professional wrestling. "First thing, off the top of my head, watch Kurt Angle and AJ Styles' match, that is first and foremost. Ten or fifteen years ago, I'm not sure when the guys up north started calling it not professional wrestling, but sports entertainment. Tonight was a three-hour showcase of professional wrestling. We're not ashamed to call it professional wrestling, we're very damn proud of it. Aspire to be Kurt angle, aspire to be AJ Styles, for those two guys to come down and put on that match was phenomenal, to borrow the phrase."

Jarrett is asked about Hulk Hogan's on-screen remarks regarding Jarrett needing to prove himself in the ring all over again. "Last year me and Kurt Angle had our battles. Mick Foley, we were coming to a head... I'm not sure I liked where that was going. It's in my blood. It's probably Hulk Hogan's first and foremost passion, Ric Flair's first passion, it's certainly mine. It's about stepping through the ropes, that's what I'm about. I look forward to doing a lot more of these Monday nights."

From here on out, the rest of the interviews are done by the wrestlers, mostly in-character.

Desmond Wolfe is up first, and is asked if he is shocked about his loss to "The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero tonight. "Yes, I was very shocked! People talk about this is the time for change. First thing that needs to change is referees like Andrew Thomas, quit counting me when I wasn't close to being counted out!" Wolfe is asked about the current state of professional wrestling in the United Kingdom and Europe. "It's huge. The influence in England and Europe, watching TNA, it has been a hotbed of wrestling in England, and it's great to be up there head-to-head against WWE."

Wolfe is asked what his future plans are from here on out. "That's a difficult question to ask. Obviously I have to avenge my loss to D'Angleo. But, after that, you gotta look at the show tonight. Top two guys on the show, main event, Kurt Angle and the champion... Kurt Angle and AJ Styles. If I'm going to set my sights anywhere, that is where I'm setting my sights." Wolfe takes time to stop his response to admonish the moderator for trying to interrupt him, "Hey! Pay attention when I talk to you, sunshine!"

Wolfe is asked for his final thoughts and to compare himself to TNA World Heavyweight champion AJ Styles. "Well, AJ is called 'Phenomenal' for a reason. He is phenomenal. He flips and he flies, and I've wrestled him on TV before, and he took me to the limit. If it wasn't for Daniels interrupting, I would have won that match. You can flip and fly all you want, but when you face a real wrestler like me, I will knock you on your ass!"

The new TNA Knockouts champion ODB takes the podium next, and completely in-character, is not taking anything seriously and gives the moderator a hard time. She shouts "Welcome to my box! Hahaha!" and then unzips her jacket to show off her low-cut t-shirt and breasts, obscenely pushing her chest out, commenting, "Damn these things are huge!" When asked to comment about her title win tonight, she simply says, "I won it! BAM! HAHA! Two times!" When asked who she wants to face next, ODB coyly replies, "Any woman in the world... Y'know what? I'm not gonna tell." ODB is then asked about what it was like to work with Hulk Hogan. "All jokes aside, it was a pleasure to work with Hulk Hogan tonight. Screw the other company, it's about getting the ratings up, we don't need the competition. Hulk, I'm ready for you, but the question is, is Hulk ready for the ODB? BAM, b—h!" ODB struts off the stage.

Former X Division champion Homicide is interviewed next. Asked for his comments about the surprise return of Jeff Hardy to TNA, Homicide said, "Jeff Hardy needs to mind his business. Welcome back, Jeff Hardy, I'm going to give him the beating of his life next time I see him." When asked about the reasons for attacking all of his competitors in the Steel Asylum match with a retractable baton, Homicide responded, "We got seven bums in the Terrordome, and I'm the greatest X Division champion wrestling in TNA. The other guys are not athletic like me. I'm from the hood, the streets. In the Terrordome that's what happened, I survived."

Homicide is asked about his thoughts on Hulk Hogan. "It's a great thing that Hogan name to TNA. We're going to push the limit. But the one thing I want Hogan to remember is the 1-8-7 Homicide, because I'm going to make an impact in 2010." With regards to going head-to-head with WWE, "The only competition I want in TNA is the X Division. It's no limit, it's what I'm about, it's no limit. There's no competition, I'm not about competition. I'm about beating people up and bringing my belt back to Brooklyn, and to Puerto Rico." Asked about his final thoughts for Jeff Hardy, Homicide said, "All I gotta say, today was my biggest moment, first time... Monday night... TNA history... I was going to become the winner of the Terrordome. Jeff Hardy better watch out, he's got a T.O.S. (Termination On-Sight) on his back!" Homicide leaves the stage shouting "BRAAAAAAAAPPP!" and imitating the firing of a handgun.

"The Blueprint" Matt Morgan & Homicide were interviewed next. First asked about possibly scoring the quickest win in TNA Impact history, Morgan quips, "We don't get paid by the hour! We're here to do what we do best, that's kick ass and take names. We proved that we are the top team in TNA Impact, we proved that tonight." Hernandez followed up, "That was to the whole roster of TNA, not just the British Invasion. Be prepared to see a lot more matches like that. We may be out there just ten seconds next time!"

When asked if they would be the next champions, Morgan said, "You really want me to answer that? Seriously?" Hernandez said, "It's not rocket science. You have this specimen of a man right here that can hurt everybody. You have wrestlers like the Machine Guns, Beer Money.. but you have a wrestler like me who can throw them around and dive on top of them." Morgan followed up, "There are not two big men in any company, on any planet, anywhere who can beat us." The moderator noted that Morgan and Homicide are both primarily singles wrestlers, and asked how they can put aside their egoes to work together. Morgan said, "You get into this business to make money and win titles. We're about doing that, the tag team championships are our goal. British Invasion, you have no clue what you're in for!"

The last, and possibly most entertaining, wrestler interviewed for the night was "The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero. Before even taking any questions Dinero made it clear that he was to be addressed as "My Pope" and chided the moderator several times during his interview when he failed to do so. Dinero was in full character and put on a promo clinic that could probably compare to any of the greats such as Billy Graham or Dwayne Johnson. "Talk to me, Daddy!," he said, "Because I understand, you always save the best for last. Let's get on with it!"

Dinero is asked about his win over Desmond Wolfe and where he goes from here. "About tonight's match, it's great! I mean, Pope stepped in the ring, Pope did what he had to do to overcome the odds, to overcome the obstacles. Because, quite frankly, when people look at the Pope they don't label him as a technical wrestler, they don't label him as a high-flyer in the X Division. Quite frankly, there's no label that you can put on Pope other than 'Pope'. Just like TNA, the label says TNA Wrestling, that's who we are, that's who we will always be, to be in the top. We don't need no sports entertainment, we're not actors, we're not entertainers, WE ARE WRESTLERS! And that's what we'll be, that's what Pope is, and Daddy, that's why I'm here in TNA!"

Dinero is asked about the big names that appeared tonight and how it affects him. "You talk about these big names, I mean, you talk about the greatest name in the history of professional wrestling, Hulk Hogan. You talk about the greatest wrestler wrestler to ever lace up the boots, Ric Flair. Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and so forth, all these new faces and old faces coming back together, it doesn't really necessarily affect your Pope, because quite frankly, while thy have accomplished all, brother, they have been known from this world and all parts in-between... I mean, Daddy, only Pope is pimpin', and Pope is ready to get it on in TNA like never before." Dinero then stops the interview and demand that the cameraman looks over his attire.

Dinero is asked to predict his future in TNA. "One year from now... TNA... Pope will be pullin' up here, as always, pimpin' as he only can. Maybe in his custom-made pimped-out Pimpmobile... and when he gets out of his Pimpmobile and pulls out through the mass of his congregation, Pope will be steppin' out with the biggest bling-bling that one can ever dream of having right here in TNA, I'm talking about TNA World Heavyweight Champion, Daddy!"

Pope then goes into what might possibly be the most quotable quotable of 2010 already: "If you're not in this business to be the absolute best – I'm not talkin' second best, third best, I'm not talking bottom-of-the-line, I'm talkin' about the top! And if you're not in this business to be the TNA World Heavyweight Champion, you're in this business for the wrong reason! Pope is here to win, Pope is here to declare his name in the history books forever, and ever, and ever more!" Dinero then leaves the stage.

Don West takes the stage one last time to shill the new Hulk Hogan trading card available for sale on TNA's website. The moderator for MyContent.com then takes the stage and concludes the conference, thanking everybody for attending.