The following press release was issued by TNAwrestling.com.
?TNA iMPACT!? ON SPIKE TV MOVES TO MONDAY NIGHTS BEGINNING MARCH 8
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling’s Flagship Series Will Air Live Every Other Week From Universal Studios In Orlando, Fl.
New York, NY, February 16, 2010 ? ?TNA iMPACT!,? Spike TV’s highly-rated two-hour weekly series, is moving from Thursday nights to Monday nights beginning Monday, March 8 (9:00-11:00pm ET/PT), it was announced today by TNA President Dixie Carter and legendary pop culture icon Hulk Hogan at a press conference at the ?TNA iMPACT! Zone? at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida.
?TNA iMPACT!? will air live on March 8, with subsequent telecasts live every other week. The series features many of the biggest names in wrestling including Hogan, Ric Flair, Mick Foley and Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle, as well as the hottest young talent in the industry: TNA World Heavyweight Champion ?The Phenomenal? AJ Styles, ?The Samoan Submission Machine? Samoa Joe and ?The Blueprint? Matt Morgan.
The first ever Monday live ?TNA iMPACT? broadcast on Spike TV, ran as a three-hour special head-to-head against WWE RAW on Monday, January 4, 2010, and drew a franchise-record 2.2 million viewers. Two wrestling companies have not broadcast head-to-head weekly since the ?Monday Night Wars? in the late 1990’s between WWE and WCW.
?On January 4 wrestling fans showed us they?re ready for a new professional wrestling alternative on Monday nights, and we?re answering that call. Bringing ?iMPACT!? to Mondays is our most exciting move yet in a year that’s already been filled with huge milestones for TNA? said Carter.
“Monday nights are now officially the best night of the week to be a fan of professional wrestling,” Hogan said. “My mantra has been ‘change is coming’ since partnering with Dixie Carter and TNA Wrestling. This change is great for the business and all fans of professional wrestling will benefit because of it.”
“TNA iMPACT! has emerged as one of cable’s top performers with young men, said Spike TV President Kevin Kay. “With NFL Football off the television schedule and with “TNA iMPACT’s” expanding roster of top wrestling talent, we see this as an opportunity to tap into the millions of wrestling fans on Monday nights.”
Since its founding in 2002, Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling has become the world’s fastest growing professional wrestling company, currently airing in over 120 countries worldwide.