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TNA Wrestling announced yesterday a major agreement with AMC, which will allow them to bring their television product to a more visible channel. The news caught many by surprise, especially after rumors circulated that WWE was assisting TNA in negotiations with a channel partner of the company owned by Endeavor.
This afternoon, Carlos Silva, president of TNA Wrestling, has granted several interviews to talk at length about the new era the company is about to embark on. It was during his appearance on The Takedown where Silva assured that WWE had nothing to do with the negotiations with AMC.
No, we did all the negotiations ourselves, with me leading the process on behalf of TNA, and then (Creative Artists Agency) leading as our representative and partner in the agreement
"Look, WWE and NXT are very important partners for us. So we kept them informed. They knew what was coming. They knew about the agreement before you knew about the agreement. But no, they have their own agreements. They are very busy with theirs. So they let us go, close a deal, and enter a major network. I think they are happy for us. And we were satisfied with how everything turned out," he added.
Silva was also asked about the rumors circulating on the Internet about alleged discomfort on the part of WWE after learning that TNA Wrestling would move to a channel not related in any way to the company owned by Endeavor.
"Yes, sometimes I don't even understand the wrestling community when things like this come out. We have been in sports entertainment our whole career. I mean, we are announcing great news that TNA will be on a major network... and then the first report that comes out says that the partner who has been so good and with whom we have worked so well in these last nine months... is, frankly, nonsense. We have a great relationship," Silva replied.
"Everything will continue. There are many things in progress, working at the highest levels with both Nick (Khan) and Paul (Levesque), and then working with NXT with Shawn (Michaels), Johnny (Russo), Jeremy (Borash), and many others. Everyone has been great. So no, I have absolutely no sign or hint of anything other than everything going very well. And we will continue to maintain strong partnerships," he said in response.
The president of TNA also appeared on Ariel Helwani's show, where he was asked about the current plan for the weekly Thursday Night iMPACT! shows. "You told me the idea was 52 weeks live, is that still the plan?" Helwani asked Silva.
"I'm a live events guy. I've been in the live sports business my whole career. This year we did a little more live for TNA, and I think we're going to do even more live in the first 3 to 6 months. We'll get into a rhythm with our new partner and then in the second half, we'll decide how much more live content we can do based on operations, finances, and the logistics of going live weekly," he responded.
"We're going to be smart in the first 6 months and make sure we're doing everything right to kick off the partnership strong," he continued. "We don't want to add too much too quickly, which could be a hindrance. But yes, doing a little more live in the first 6 months is definitely in the plans. In some of those cases, we'll stay at the venue after the live Thursday night show and tape one or two TV sessions on Friday or Saturday for the following weeks. That's the plan."
"You know, I think everyone has staked their position in the wrestling week. We've been on Thursday nights for quite some time, and we've been a high-rated program on AXS TV. Working with AMC, they liked the idea of Thursday nights as a lead-in to the weekend — it fits well with their audience, so we stuck with it," he replied.
"The change we made was moving the program from 8-10 PM ET to 9-11 PM ET. That's the time slot AMC believes works best for both their viewers and our fan base, to attract the largest possible audience on Thursday nights," he added.
