Extensive Update On TNA Crew Member Death, Dutt's Push, More
Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter
– Even though the Pink Taco brawl with Jay Lethal & Sonjay Dutt last week on iMPACT! didn't come off as well as hoped, officials think Sonjay Dutt is doing a great job as a heel with his character and ring work.
– As noted earlier, a TNA crew member by the name of Kevin Sinex (brought in from Orlando) was killed at Slammiversary after the scaffolding collapsed when he was breaking down a metal backdrop and taking down the lights about 25 to 30 feet off the ground. "He was standing on some kind of beam, taking down the lights, when the beam collapsed," said DeSoto County Corner Jeff Pounders to the Memphis Commercial Appeal. A second worker from the Memphis area, Paul Martin, lost his thumb in the accident. Here are some more details on the accident that killed the TNA crew member shortly after the conclusion of the Slammiversary pay-per-view. The accident took place at about 11:20 p.m., roughly 25 minutes after the end of the pay-per-view. Nearly everyone had left as there were about five wrestlers backstage and they heard a large crash. The scene looked terrible as there was a lot of blood everywhere and people attempting to revive him through both CPR and shocking, but he could not be saved. Sinex was then rushed to the hospital where they couldn't revive him and was soon pronounced dead. TNA President Dixie Carter had already left the arena for a flight to the U.K. to do advance work on that week's tour. The accident left the crew extremely depressed going into television the next two days.
– In ratings figures from the 6/12 iMPACT!, the show opened at 0.97 for Samoa Joe vs. Kaz, plus a Joe-Booker verbal confrontation. Promos from Kurt Angle and Daivari following it lost 140,000 viewers. The first World X Cup tournament match featuring the Motor City Machine Guns vs. Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino gained 126,000 viewers. A match featuring LAX vs. James Storm & Robert Roode lost 153,000 viewers up until the screw-job part of the match. The return with LAX then winning, the post-match angle and Gail Kim vs. Velvet Sky gained 83,000 viewers. The second World X Cup tournament match featuring Alex Koslov vs. Curry Man gained 28,000 viewers. A match between Sonjay Dutt and Consequences Creed lost 97,000 viewers. The Impact main events usually aren't the highest rated segments of the show, but this one was. Styles vs. Angle drew a 1.06 rating and gained 278,000 viewers, one of TNA's best ratings growth segments of the year. Going up against the NBA Finals the show drew a 0.93 rating and 1.3 million viewers. The show did a 0.59 in Males 18-34 and an 0.87 in Males 35-49.