Live TNA IMPACT! Rating Is In + Heyman/TNA Update

– Last night's live TNA iMPACT! drew a 1.33 (1.3) cable rating. The show's first hour had a 1.32 (1.3) rating, with a 1.33 (1.3) for the second hour. The peak of the show was the post-match of Flair/Foley which pulled in a 1.44 (1.4), while the lowest was the Shore's debut and the beginning of the battle royale. TNA and SpikeTV are very happy with these numbers as they maintained their audiance throughout the show.

– Paul Heyman has an interview up at MMAFighting.com. In it, he talks about how close he came to working with TNA: "It came real close with TNA. To me, it was more of a deal with Spike TV and then a stock and ownership deal involving TNA. I had a five-year plan. I was going to spend 18 months building the roster, the next 18 months exploiting that built roster, that's three years in, go public in three, stay for two more running it and get out at 50 [years old]. That was my plan. I had an exit plan. I had a five-year plan and I clued everyone into it. I told TNA what my plan was and I told Spike TV what my plan was and how we would capitalize on it and how we would make this thing move and an acknowledgment that wrestling is a diminishing market and it's not perceived as cool and here's how you, if not change course, at least present it differently so that at least you have a chance in today's marketplace to at least compete. When that didn't happen, that was it. I didn't have any other interest in doing it. It was close. I would have done it for that particular deal and that's it. That time passed. Now I'm looking at taking my abilities elsewhere and the logical step for me is this entry point right now both into MMA and into also just the branding world." This confirms our report yesterday that Heyman and TNA were very close to a deal not all that long ago.