Various: PCO Impact Contract Update, Tama Tonga on Talks with WWE & Signing New Deal with NJPW, Indies

Oct 27, 2023

PCO Impact Contract Status Update

As noted before, Impact Wrestling announced this past Tuesday that they had signed PCO to a new contract with the company. Prior to his signing, PCO’s contract with Impact had been set to expire at the end of this month.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that PCO’s new deal with Impact is for one year in length and expires at the end of 2024.

Tama Tonga Confirms He Had Talks with WWE for Potential Contract & Signed New Deal with NJPW

Fightful held a recent interview with New Japan Pro Wrestling talent Tama Tonga. One of the topics discussed included Tonga confirming the reports and rumors that he had been in talks with WWE for a potential contract with the company earlier this year. Tonga also stated that he decided to stay in NJPW and signed a new deal with them to remain in the company.

“Yes, I was in talks with them. Very much interest in myself and my brother. Out of respect for New Japan, I have to always give them the doors first and see what they can do. Yes, there was a period of a few months of myself working without a contract to give New Japan a chance. I know in this game, it can get messy with contracts and the way we’re talking right now. I was raised by my father on the way to go about business and treat loyalty and respect to those who put me through the door. New Japan, first and foremost. Yes, there was talks with WWE. I don’t know anything about the hiring freeze. I ended up choosing New Japan at the end, and here we are.”

Tonga also gave his thoughts about his loyalty to NJPW paying off for him in a big way in the end.

“Thank goodness, because you never know these days. The game has changed so much, the environment, the community, everything has changed and you don’t know what from who. Just doing everything I was taught and moving forward from there. That’s it. I was always taught to do good business, stick with your gut, and do good business. That’s it.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

Misc. Wrestling News & Notes

As noted before, former WWE NXT and Impact Wrestling talent Kimber Lee was arrested this past May following a DUI incident involving the assault of a police officer in Serbing, Florida. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that Lee is currently scheduled to attend a pre-trial hearing on November 28th before the Highlands County Court based on recent court records. Johnson reported that Lee was originally scheduled to attend a pre-trial hearing this past Tuesday but her attorney had filed a motion requesting for this hearing to be delayed until this November due to them needed more time to get ready. This motion reportedly was granted by the court resulting in her new hearing date for November 28th.

Beyond Wrestling recently announced that Emi Sakura will be making an appearance for the company on November 2nd in Worcester Massachusetts. It was announced that Sakura will be holding an open wrestling seminar that will take place prior to that night’s Wrestling Open show.

As noted before, Impact Wrestling announced at this past Saturday’s Bound For Glory 2023 event that the company will be rebranding itself back to its former name of TNA Wrestling in 2024. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that Impact filmed the TNA resurrection announcement video in a location right outside of Nashville, Tennessee.

Impact recently announced that Gail Kim will be making an appearance at their Turning Point 2023 event tonight in Newcastle, England. It was announced that Kim will be the special guest referee for the Impact Knockouts World Championship Last Chance match between Deonna Purrazzo and champion Trinity.

In a recent media call, Impact President Scott D’Amore gave his thoughts on Impact’s interest in potentially signing Will Ospreay to a contract with teh company. D’Amore stated “Will Ospreay is arguably the greatest wrestler in the world right now. I don’t even know how that is disputable that 2023, Will Ospreay has had one of the greatest years of any wrestler in history. Any company that says they don’t want Will Ospreay at the center of their universe would be lying. Will has been honest and upfront about what’s happening and the fact that he’s going to be a free agent soon, and the second his contract expires, he becomes the hottest free agent in professional wrestling. Would we love to have Will Ospreay? Absolutely. He’s a great talent. You saw two examples of that this weekend. You saw him and Mike Bailey put on a match of the year candidate, and the people will see it in the upcoming weeks on IMPACT television, Will Ospreay and Josh Alexander went out there and put on an unbelievable match. Ospreay’s comments, both to Josh Alexander and about IMPACT Wrestling, it’s cool. You look at the greatest wrestler in the world, about to be the hottest free agent, and he’s sitting there saying, ‘I want to come to IMPACT Wrestling. When I was young, I dreamed of being in a TNA ring.’ That opportunity is open to Will Ospreay and I can tell you that I’ve had conversations with Anthem Sports and they’re well aware of who Will Ospreay is and what Will Ospreay is. I don’t know where Will Ospreay is going to end up, but he certainly has a seat at the table here, and a meaningful one where he can be at the center of a lot of the change we talk about. In the meantime, he said he wants to wrestle in a TNA ring, we have to get that done and get it done quick.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

In a recent interview with WU Online, NWA talent Colby Corino stated that his father and ECW legend Steve Corino bringing him to a television taping for Ring of Honor when he was 12 years old motivated him to become a wrestler. Corino stated “I went to my first ECW show when I was three weeks old. I’ve always been around wrestling my whole life. Maybe in the back of my head, I knew maybe one day I would be a wrestler but it wasn’t until I was like 12 and went to a Ring of Honor HDNet taping, back when they were doing that, and it was my Dad’s first shows back at Ring of Honor. I remember watching a match…it was Davey Richards in the ring, and I was watching him wrestle, and I was like – THIS…THIS is what I want to do! I want to wrestle like this dude!” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

In a recent interview with Cleveland.com, NWA owner Billy Corgan gave his thoughts on what makes NWA’s product different from other wrestling promotions. Corgan stated “Our product is voiced for a casual wrestling fan. And I mean that in a positive way. I think we live in a very complicated society. People don’t always have time to follow every storyline. The greatest compliments I get are from people who grew up watching wrestling with a parent who’s no longer around and, as a result, they’ve lost touch with it. “[NWA] completely rekindled my love of professional wrestling.” The wrestling that I grew up with, you could pop in and out of and easily pick up on who the good guys and bad guys were right away. We have people who have never seen a professional wrestling show walk out at the end as fans because it doesn’t require more of them than just having a good time.“

In a recent interview with Tokyo Sports, New Japan Pro Wrestling talent Shingo Takagi stated that he is currently interested in the idea of having potential matches against Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, and Katsuhiko Nakajima in the future should he win the NEVER Openweight Championsip at this Saturday’s NJPW Strong Fighting Spirit Unleashed 2023 event. Takagi stated “[Ibushi is] has a record of one win and one loss, and his fight at the Tokyo Dome in July [2021] has already been postponed. He also said that it’s not zero possibility. I myself have a strong desire to fight Kenny [Omega]. In all my matches, that tense atmosphere against Nakajima] was the best this year. Even though I won, it was only once, and they have more wins than me, with a singles record of one win and two losses.” (English translation via Fightful.com)

House of Glory recently announced one new match for the card of their The Darkest Hour event on December 1st in New York City, New York.