What’s the story?
After being on the verge of going out of business in late 2016 it seems as the TNA phoenix is to continue rising from the ashes in the shape of a partnership with the ITV television network in the United Kingdom. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer has reported that Anthem Sports and ITV have agreed to a deal and will be announcing their new working relationship over the next few days.
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Jeff Jarrett was known to be in the UK looking for partnerships and ITV was his main focus. If Meltzer is correct once more than the work of Double J may well have paid off.
In case you didn’t know
TNA ended 2016 on the edge of the abyss but the new year has seen Anthem Sports take over the company and set about rebuilding the ship. The promotion has been renamed Impact Wrestling and a number of top stars have departed with fresh blood coming in to take the spots. Much has changed backstage too, with Jeff Jarrett returning to take over day-to-day operations and Dutch Mantel (WWE’s Zeb Colter) back in the booking chair.
The heart of the matter
One of the key aims for Jarrett and Anthem Sports was to secure a television deal in the UK, as the British Isles has traditionally been a strong market for what many consider to be the number two promotion in North American professional wrestling. ITV themselves have been on the lookout for weekly professional wrestling programming but have been rumoured to be unwilling to run their own promotion.
World of Sport was revamped for a one-off special on New Year’s Eve with a view to potentially bringing back the product full time, but despite promising numbers, it seems as though that will no longer be the case. The needs of Jarrett (a British television deal) and ITV (weekly pro wrestling content) have allied and it seems as though an announcement is imminent.
It is unclear whether this means Impact Wrestling will be broadcast on ITV however, as Meltzer seems to think that this could lead to a new promotion being established to fill the time-slot.
What’s next?
Until the announcement comes this will remain speculation, but such a deal has been rumoured for long enough now that its confirmation is more a case of ‘when’ as opposed to ‘if’. If a new promotion comes out of the deal Jarrett will be hoping that it is more successful than his previous international wrestling venture, as his Ring Ka King promotion in India managed to last less than four months before closing its doors.
Sportskeeda’s take
The resurrection of TNA (or Impact Wrestling as it is now) continues to be one of the most fascinating stories in professional wrestling in 2017. Securing a TV deal in the United Kingdom would be a big bonus for Anthem Sports, as pro wrestling in the UK is arguably as popular as it has ever been with promotions such as PROGRESS, RevPro, ICW and WCPW making some serious waves.
We await the company’s next move with baited breath.
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