IMPACT Wrestling Ratings for Genesis – Since 2014, IMPACT Wrestling has seriously struggled with perception and fan support. However, so far in 2018 things are starting off right. After last week’s “Barbed Wire Massacre III”, Genesis was last night and featured the first ever non-round Grand Championship title match, a triple threat cage match for the IMPACT Championship and other good matches. Fans apparently were apparently pleased with the Barbed Wire match, as more fans tuned in for Genesis. The number being reported is 310,000+, slightly up from Barbed Wire III. The good news also is that this is the highest rating the company has gotten on Pop TV in over five months.
This all coincides with the companies first live Twitch event happening next Saturday, as well as a “new era” starting this Thursday. Right now there is a lot of good buzz around IMPACT Wrestling, here’s hoping they continue it.
Shane Douglas Talks Walking out of ECW Main Event – Shane Douglas was wrapping up his run in ECW in 1999, mere weeks before joining rival WCW on a big money deal. The big issue with Douglas and ECW at the time involved ECW’s handling of his pay; as Douglas had gone a while without receiving any. Paul Heyman, owner of ECW at the time, was notorious for cutting corners, and not paying talent at all. Something even IMPACT was able to avoid. So Douglas sat down with the Two Man Power Trip podcast and revealed the details of the night he walked out of a long awaited for main event over missing payments and issues with Heyman.
Absolutely. How could it not? It had nothing to do with Taz (Pete Senercia) it had to do with me being around the business as long as I had and I knew what the score was. I knew what was going down and I knew what was happening. So when I got to the building that day…first of all I got there as late as I could and I sat in my car in the parking lot of the Millennium Center and just couldn’t bring myself to get out of the car. There was a part of me that was fearful of going in there and losing my cool and grabbing Paul by his throat, there was a part of me that wanted to shove it up his ass as a result and I just couldn’t get out of the car. I remember Axl Rotten (rest his heart) stopped by the car, Balls stopped by, Tammy and Chris (Candido) stopped by and I want to say maybe Lance Storm also stopped by and I remember multiple guys stopping by the car asking what was going on and if I was coming in.
I finally just said f*ck it I’m not doing it. I knew I was getting screwed and I knew that with that belt could leverage it with one of the other companies to make back at least the money that I was owed and probably more and so I drove away and I went to a Friday’s or a Bennigan’s and I ordered a beer and I sat there and was looking at when flights were leaving when Bam Bam called. We talked and I told him what was going on and brought him up to speed and gave him the nuts and bolts of it and he said that I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do but do you really want to screw the fans? (and) I’ve got to give him credit because he was exactly right and after I sat there and ordered a couple of shots and I thought about it as much as I knew I was getting screwed but even more so than me not deserving to get screwed the ECW fans didn’t deserve to get screwed. For me to walk away and them have to strip me of the title and have a tournament and give it to Taz or whoever would have been the sh*ts for the belt and the sh*ts for the company and would have been the sh*ts for the fans and that was what ultimately made me decide to go back to the building.
When I got there I had this HUGE chip on my shoulder. I forget who it was but there was someone standing by the door and they put their arm up blocking off the other side of the building and said you guys have to all dress over here and just because that person said that and because I had a chip on my shoulder I thought f*ck you I am going to go exactly where you tell me I can’t go. I pushed his arm out of the way and walked to the other side of the building where nobody was and opened up a dressing room door and there was a huge dressing room there all to myself. I walked in and short time after Francine came over and she knocked on the door (I had locked the door) and I told her that she wasn’t welcome in there and I needed to take care of business from here myself and I closed the door and locked it. A few minutes later the door knocked again and I thought it was Franny coming back and I said Franny I told you your not dressing in here and I hear the voice say; “Well God damn Shane I thought I could come in?” and it was Terry Funk.
I am sure he had spoken to Paul but I don’t know that for a fact and when he asked what was going on I told him. I said I’ll go through with the match and I’ll drop the belt as Paul wants and I’m done. We sat and talked for quite a while and then Taz came over. That is what got me back on a level playing field in my head. Just being able to talk with a guy I respected and that I would be working with and to start to hammer out what we would do in the match and how we would do it and how we would proceed with it but there was never any heat with Taz, I never once thought Taz and Paul concocted this because I always took to Taz be a straight shooter and if that is what he thought should be done he would have said that but that is the way things transpired until it was time to get to the match
Women’s Elimination Chamber Coming? – Alexa Bliss and Samoa Joe are featured on the T-Mobile Arena poster, hyping up the Elimination Chamber. That’s not the only time though both individuals might be featured next to the Chamber. Apparently there’s a rumor going around that says there will be a women’s Elimination Chamber match for the RAW Women. This would be the first women’s Elimination Chamber match in WWE history.
There’s no reason not to, especially after the Chamber re-design, which made it look like a Milton Bradley board game accessory. I would be shocked if there wasn’t one.
Quick Hits – Despite having a female ring announcer on staff, the WWE will bring in pop culture commentator Maria Menounos to serve as the special guest ring announcer for the match. Jerry Lawler claims he warned Jim Ross of his ‘puppies’ comment, but allegedly told Ross that Ross should chastise him for saying it. Molly Holly confirms that she won’t be in the Royal Rumble. IMPACT Wrestling and CRASH are no longer working together, as Konnan was the only reason they were even interested, and when Konnan left, so did their desire to work with them. IMPACT and AAA are still working together.