Hailey's Newsies - Issue 66 - January 22nd 2010

Youtube's Favorite FCW Diva
One Diva gets eliminated.
Only 8 remain.
You get 4 votes.

9. ???

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMkO9nVoUcE

New Bret Hart Shirt
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Battle For Jeff Hardy

There's a battle brewing over Jeff Hardy. Both TNA and WWE want to have the Charismatic Enigma on their team.

Battle For Jeff Hardy
When it came to the war between WCW and WWE, most people will remember the things that happened on television and pay per view. Same thing will happen with the war between TNA and WWE.

However, there's another side of the war that a lot of people don't really remember. That side is the bidding war that takes place backstage over the wrestlers.

Back when Scott Hall and Kevin Nash were set to become free agents, WCW made a power play that would change the face of professional wrestling. They made highly lucrative offers to both wrestlers in order to get them to jump ship and create history.

It was a great time to be a wrestler back then. You had options of where you wanted to work. You had leverage in negotiations. Wrestlers lost that when WWE was the only big game in the business.

Well, with TNA rising up, things have become even better for the wrestlers.

One of the first big names that both companies have been bidding on is none other than Jeff Hardy.

TNA Wants Jeff Hardy
It doesn't take a genius to understand why TNA would want Jeff Hardy under their umbrella.

The guy is gold.

In WWE, very few people were able to sell merchandise as well as Jeff Hardy could. That's why WWE kept making new products featuring his likeness on a weekly basis. Look into the audience, and you can't miss seeing a Jeff Hardy merchandise.

He's also able to sell tickets. With one of the largest fanbases in the business, Jeff Hardy is capable of getting people into the arenas to see him.

Jeff Hardy won't be able to make nearly as much money for TNA as he did for WWE, but he's going to provide an increase in revenue regardless.

Adding Jeff Hardy also brings a little more credibility to TNA. A lot of wrestling fans are quick to dismiss TNA as a second rate company. However, it becomes a little harder to do that when one of the top stars in the entire world is working for them.

WWE Wants Jeff Hardy
When Jeff Hardy showed up in TNA, a lot of WWE fans were disappointed over the situation. Emotions were flowing like crazy that day. Those emotions turned into anger.

The anger especially kicked it a day later when it was revealed that he was indicted for his drug charges. WWE fans took that as an opportunity to bash TNA for wanting to hire someone that is in trouble with the law for drugs.

Of course, those fans had to back off of their statements, though, once word spread that WWE was still interested in bringing Jeff Hardy back.

Reports surfaced recently that WWE kept pursuing Jeff Hardy for a return to the company. There was contact made after his debut on TNA iMPACT! and his indictment. WWE wasn't too worried about the legal issues that the Rainbow Haired Warrior was going through.

They want one of the top stars back in their company.

AJ Styles Turns Heel

AJ Styles shocked the entire wrestling world at the Genesis pay per view by turning heel during his title defense against Kurt Angle.

AJ Styles Turns Heel
Going into the Genesis pay per view on Sunday night, most people were expecting just one thing from the main event TNA World Heavyweight Championship match between AJ Styles and Kurt Angle.

They were simply expecting a great in-ring performance from two of the best in the business.

Kurt Angle and AJ Styles delivered a great in ring performance as promised. However, they also managed to give something that wrestling fans weren't expecting whatsoever.

They produced quite a shocker.

Towards the end of the match, Ric Flair's involvement became even more evident. The former NWA World Heavyweight Champion helped turn one of TNA's most beloved superstar into a prime time heel.

As AJ Styles took the title belt and smashed it upon Kurt Angle's head, wrestling fans saw the dawn of a new era in TNA. It's an era where TNA will attempt to elevate AJ Styles into another level with the help of Ric Flair.

Phenomenal Protege
When word spread that Ric Flair was thinking about signing with TNA, wrestling fans came up with a million and one scenarios for which he would be involved in.

There weren't too many people that thought that he was going to be directly involved with AJ Styles.

TNA has made the brilliant move of aligning the heart and soul of their company with a man who was once the heart and soul of the entire industry. When you first look at them, AJ Styles and Ric Flair might seem like the odd couple. Upon closer examination, though, they might be perfect for one another.

The knock on AJ Styles for years has always been his character. Everyone knows that he can go toe to toe with anyone in the ring, but his character has never fully developed into someone that can go mainstream.

That's where Ric Flair comes in.

Throughout the history of professional wrestling, very few people have been able to portray a character as well as Ric Flair can. It comes as naturally to him as breathing is.

Then again, it should come pretty easy to the former leader of the Four Horsemen. The Nature Boy character is about as real as it gets.

The early word coming out of TNA is that the storyline that the company is going to go with is that Ric Flair is here to help AJ Styles learn how to act like a champion.

Awesome Kong Requests Release

The new regime consisting of Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan is already facing a tough challenge as Awesome Kong has requested her release from the company.

Awesome Kong Requests Release
When the damaging earthquake down in Haiti brought the entire world together last week, wrestlers all over the world voiced their concerns for the victims. They also pleaded with wrestling fans to join them in contributing to the aid of those that have had their lives thrown into shambles.

Awesome Kong was one of the loudest voices.

The former TNA Knockouts Champion used her Twitter account to help raise thousands of dollars in aid for the people of Haiti. She wanted to help out in any way possible.

Bubba the Love Sponge, one of the newest employees in TNA, does not share her enthusiasm for helping others. The radio personality known for his crude comments stated that it was foolish to care about the victims of the Haiti earthquake.

That did not sit too well with Awesome Kong.

The 7 year veteran reportedly walked up to Bubba the Love Sponge backstage and started punching him. Eyewitness reports stated that she managed to get in three especially hard punches to him.

Shortly after the incident, Awesome Kong went up to TNA management and requested her release from the company. Whether or not the company grants her the release remains to be seen.

Friends in High Places
Though the official word on why Awesome Kong requested her release has yet to come out, many are speculating that she's getting some heat from Hulk Hogan and his entourage.

It's no secret that Bubba the Love Sponge only got his job with TNA because of his personal relationship with Hulk Hogan. The former WWE Heavyweight Champion has frequented the radio show for years now.

After the backstage incident took place, Hulk Hogan was a guest on the show. Bubba the Love Sponge spoke in details about the event, going as far as praising himself for not fighting back. At the same time, Hulk Hogan was making jokes throughout the entire broadcast.

While both Awesome Kong and Bubba the Love Sponge were sent home by TNA after the incident, the guess is that he is not going to get punished whatsoever for the incident because he has friends in high places.

With that in mind, Awesome Kong probably feels that the deck is stacked against her. The situation isn't going to get any better and the emotions are high right now, so she requested her release from TNA.

Fire Bubba
New York Knicks fans used to let management know how disgruntled they were with former general manager Scott Layden by thunderously chanting "Fire Layden" during home games at Madison Square Garden.

We need to gather up all 19,000 of those fans and put them in a room with TNA president Dixie Carter.

Perhaps, they can convince her to fire Bubba the Love Sponge in order to keep Awesome Kong, a staple of their Knockouts division, from leaving the company.

Source: WrestlingRevealed