TNA Knockouts Draw Big, Anderson’s Statement Removed, SD! Rating, TNA/France

— Here are the latest ratings for WWE SmackDown!, according to tvbythenumbers.com: SmackDown! on January 1, 2010 scored a 1.8 rating with 3.154 million viewers and SmackDown! on January 8, 2010 scored a 2.2 rating with 3.731 million viewers. Reports of the January 15th edition of SmackDown! scoring a 2.6 rating are preliminary, as that is the overnight rating for the show. The final number should be out soon. Due to SmackDown!’s ratings coming out on the syndicated list, they are constantly delayed a week or so.

— As noted earlier, Ken Anderson posted the following statement on his Twitter account this afternoon: “I guess that those 6 copies of paperwork that my manager, agent, lawyer, and TNA officials toiled over for a month & I signed & overnighted weren’t contracts. I thought they were, I thought I had signed for a one year deal, but then again, what the hell do I know…?” The statement has since been deleted.

— TNA has now confirmed out report that its live debut in France has been rescheduled for 8:00 p.m. Monday, January 25 at the Zenith. Due to circumstances beyond TNA control, officials announced on Monday that the event would be canceled due to the Solidarity Concert for the Haitian earthquake victims, a charity event being broadcast live on French television.

— Last week’s episode of TNA iMPACT! scored a 1.26 cable rating with 1.8 million viewers. The show also drew 1.00 in Males 18-34 and 1.12 in Males 35-49. While thenumbers are higher than what the show has been doing as of late, it was also the first show in months that didn’t run either on a holiday or against major football competition. Before football, the company averaged a 1.22 in July and a 1.13 in August. In the segment-by-segment numbers, Kurt Angle’s promo with AJ Styles and the arrival of “The Band” gained 159,000 viewers. A Knockouts tag match pitting “The Beautiful People” against Awesome Kong and Hamada with the return of Angelina Love gained 100,000 viewers and did a 1.34 quarter, making it the highest rated segment on the show. Bobby Lashley attacking Jay Lethal and Consequences Creed, Team 3D in a seven second match and subsequent promo lost 86,000 viewers. Sean Morley’s confrontation with Daniels and Beer Money vs. Matt Morgan and Hernandez, with the Hal and Nash beat down, lost 14,000 viewers. Samoa Joe vs. Desmond Wolfe lost 71,000 viewers. The backstage confrontation between Jeff Jarrett and Hulk Hogan gained 143,000 viewers and did a 1.32 rating, achieving the second best number for the evening. Even with Ric Flair on commentary, the Styles vs. Tomko main event lost 186,000 viewers doing a 1.19 final quarter.

— For more great exclusive TNA coverage like what you just read above including another backstage fight at iMPACT! last night, visit our TNA website only at TNAWrestlingNews.com.

Report: Another Fight Backstage At Last Night’s TNA iMPACT! Tapings (>>)