Heyman headed for TNA?

Paul Heyman in TNA?

Just six months ago it would have seemed a near impossibility.

But it’s the latest rumor swirling around TNA circles, and it obviously has some credibility in the wake of recent talks between the former ECW guru and TNA president Dixie Carter.

Heyman, long regarded as one of the best minds in pro wrestling, has been viewed by many in the industry as the one individual who could make an immediate impact in TNA. While the roster is loaded with talent, the creative side has been blamed for the company not making more headway.

Creatively, the company has been torn in a number of directions over the past year, with Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff calling the shots in recent months.

The Hogan-Bischoff tandem, unfortunately, has fallen short of expectations. A bold move by TNA earlier this year to go live against WWE juggernaut Monday Night Raw lasted less than two months before the company retreated back to its Thursday night slot on Spike TV.

Hogan and Bischoff were not at last Sunday night’s Victory Road pay-per-view, nor did they attend Impact tapings last week.

Bischoff reportedly took the week off to spend time with his family, while Hogan was said to be recovering from back surgery.

Hogan and Bischoff’s contracts run through the end of 2010.

While Heyman has been regarded as a possible game-changer in TNA, until recently he has expressed no great desire to get back into the wrestling business. He operates a popular online site, the Heyman Hustle, and is currently helping UFC champ Brock Lesnar write his autobiography.

Heyman, 44, has intimated in recent interviews that TNA owners would practically have to hand him the keys to the kingdom in order to lure him into the company. To drag him away from his family, he says, would require a position that not only would be financially lucrative, but also would allow him free reign and autonomy.

WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross also had been courted earlier in the year by TNA but, perhaps realizing the potential pitfalls of such a move, politely turned down the offer and remained with WWE.

In retrospect, the decision to go head-to-head with WWE on Monday nights was a strategic blunder. TNA would be better served to put its efforts toward being the best wrestling company it can be, focusing on the business at hand and the things that the company can control.

The company continues to have a problem maximizing its resources, and trying to compete with WWE, at least at this point, is simply a waste of valuable time and effort.

Despite all the bluster and bravado coming from the Hogan camp this year, the fact is that TNA is a long way from WWE. The company is still searching for an identity, that special combination of chemistry and talent that will build an audience and bring new fans into the fold.

Could Paul Heyman be that special someone who can come in and build up the bottom line, cut losses and lead the company to serious profitability?

If he can, then he’s worth every penny the Carter family might be willing to invest. If not, then he’ll just be the latest failed experiment.

-- Assault charges against Ric Flair’s wife, Jacqueline Beems Fliehr, were dismissed last Tuesday in a Charlotte court.

The couple has reconciled since an incident in Charlotte last February in which Flair’s wife was arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault.

Flair, who refused to press charges, took the stand during the court hearing and would not testify against his wife. The judge threw out the assault charge due to the district attorney not having enough evidence to prosecute.

The two, who met in Chicago in 2004, were married last November. It is Flair’s fourth marriage.

-- Triple H won’t be part of this year’s Summer Slam pay-per-view due to recent surgery that could have him sidelined for the next few months.

He recently underwent surgery in Birmingham, Ala., to repair a torn tendon in his upper arm.

-- The Undertaker, meanwhile, is expected to make his return from a broken orbital bone at Summer Slam.

-- Ricky Steamboat, who suffered bleeding on the brain less than two days following his recent beatdown on Raw by members of Nexus, is still recovering in a Tampa hospital.

WWE officials claim Steamboat’s condition is not related to the Raw angle.

-- Scott Hall remains hospitalized in Florida due to a bout with double pneumonia

Hall’s MySpace page last week indicated that he would be in the hospital for a few more days, but that he had been taken off IVs and oxygen.

-- Midnight Express great Bobby Eaton remains under observation in an Arkansas hospital.

Eaton is on medication after having had fluid build up around his heart and lungs.

-- The voice of WWE Hall of Fame announcer Jim Ross recently was removed from the 20-second opening of Raw.

It was rumored that Ross was removed from the video package as a punishment for appearing on camera at the recent UFC 116 event which he attended along with Steve Austin, Bill Goldberg and Paul Heyman.

No problem, Ross later posted on his blog, claiming “too much had been made” of his removal from WWE’s signature open.

“I was on it for a long time and it was time to update the piece. In a year or so it’s likely that the open will be tweaked again and who knows who will be added or omitted?”

Ross, dating back to his days as Cowboy Bill Watts’ right-hand man in the Mid-South territory, has always been the consummate lieutenant who, while not always agreeing with company decisions and moves, obediently follows marching orders.

“For me to be replaced by Gorgeous George and Freddie Blassie (who were added to the open) is absolutely a non-issue to me as it relates to those who have contributed to the business in the days of yesteryear,” said Ross. “I don’t even belong in the same conversation with Gorgeous George or Classy Freddie Blassie.”

Ross went on to say that there were more important things than a sound byte on TV.

“When told by their doctors that one was 30 days away from dying, it puts things like TV time, or a lack thereof, who’s doing play by play on a given show, etc. and the minutia/politics that can be found in any vocation in its proper place. I thank God every day that I have regained my health and that I am now living a healthier lifestyle that I hope will add years to my life.”

Ross’s voice was replaced with that of Michael Cole in the intro.

-- Trade publication Multichannel News has reported that WWE will make a big marketing splash for its Aug. 13 Summer Slam pay-per-view in Los Angeles by posting WWE-related videos on a sports blimp flying over several Major League Baseball games.

WWE reportedly will buy ad space on DirecTV’s blimp as it hovers over the New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox game in New York on Aug. 6. WWE will run another blimp ad during a Florida Marlins-Cincinnati Reds game on Aug. 13.

-- Orlando-based indy wrestler Chasyn Rance, who also appeared on the VH1 reality show Tool Academy, recently was arrested for allegedly having sex with a teenage girl.

The California girl reported she was 15 years old at the time she had intercourse with a then-25-year-old Rance. Rance was released on $3,500 bond.

Rance, now 27, was arrested last Sunday and charged with lewd or lascivious battery. The charge is a second-degree felony.

He was released from the Orange County Jail on Monday on $3,500 bond, according to jail records.

The girl told the Orange County Sheriff’s Office in April that she had at least two sexual encounters with Rance in 2008 while visiting her father in Florida.

Rance, a University of Central Florida graduate, reportedly told the girl that he didn’t think he had forced her to have sex with him, said she was attractive and mature-looking, and apologized for hurting her.

-- Chris Hamrick, who for years has been one of the better workers on the indy circuit, reportedly attempted suicide last week.

Hamrick, 43, who declared he has been dealing with a series of mental issues, posted on his Facebook page that he had taken 25 sleeping pills. He was later hospitalized in the Rutherfordton, N.C., area.

-- Former midget wrestling star Cowboy Bradley (Robert Bradley) passed away at the age of 75 on June 24 in Amarillo, Texas.

Bradley performed in the ‘50s and ‘60s and, after retiring in 1970, moved to Las Vegas where he worked as a blackjack dealer.

Reach Mike Mooneyham at (843) 937-5517 or mooneyham@postandcourier.com.