LG
06-07-2013, 12:22 AM
Spike TV released a transcript of yesterday's media conference with Rampage Jackson discussing his signing with the network, TNA and Bellator MMA:
Operator: Good day everyone. Welcome to today's Rampage Jackson conference.
Today's call is being recorded.
And for opening remarks and introductions I'd like to turn the call over to Mr. David Schwarz.
Please go ahead, sir.
David Schwarz: Thanks so much. Very excited to be here.
Thank you all for joining us at the Rampage Jackson press conference call.
Before we begin just want to let you know that a transcript will be available in a few hours, so if you need a copy please email myself or my esteemed colleagues Anthony Mazzuca or Beth Gebhard.
And without further adieu I'd like to turn it over to Spike TV President Kevin Kay.
Kevin Kay: Thanks, Dave. So thanks everybody for being here in the room. Thank you all for being on the phone.
I am really thrilled to be sitting here with a partner from Bellator -- Bjorn Rebney. We have Dixie Carter -- the President of TNA -- our other great partner on the phone. And we are announcing today what you probably read about yesterday some huge news for Spike, for Bellator, and for TNA.
We are joining forces with one of the biggest names in the history of mixed martial arts, a movie star, and just somebody that I have nothing but an enormous amount of respect for -- Quinton Rampage Jackson. And he is sitting here with us as well. And thank you for being here.
This is sort of a homecoming for Rampage in a lot of ways. His fight on Spike in 2007 against Dan Henderson delivered six million viewers. It was the highest rated fight ever on Spike. His season coaching on The Ultimate Fighter on Spike was the highest rated season in the history of The Ultimate Fighter on Spike.
So the partnership that we're announcing today is going to include Rampage fighting in the Bellator cage. He's going to be competing on TNA Wrestling on Impact. It's a game changing deal, and it adds tremendous star power to both Bellator and to TNA.
And we're excited about that. We're also going to be producing a four part reality series with Rampage. And we're working out sort of the creative and the details on that. And we'll have more on that in the days ahead. But that'll all lead up to Rampage joining us here on Spike.
Rampage is going to be appearing on Guy's Choice, which is Wednesday, June 12. I'm shooting that this weekend. We're excited about that. Another big benefit of, you know, being in the Spike and the Viacom family is that we have a great relationship with Paramount Pictures, and we took Rampage over there to meet those guys. And they're excited to work with him. And we're developing a script with Rampage on some potential movie ideas.
So, you know, there's just nothing but opportunity. Our goal is to build the Rampage brand and just make it as big as it deserves to be and could possibly be. So I'd like to turn it over next to our great colleague and great partner Dixie Carter -- President of TNA Impact.
Dixie Carter: Thanks, Kevin. I'm very excited to be with you guys here today. You know, we all know Rampage is a global star. TNA is a global product, and, you know, we're looking for him to make the same impact in our world the way he impacted the MMA world.
You know, the question is can he dominate TNA the way he's dominated in MMA. And that's our hope. I can tell you he's very confident that that will be the case. And that makes me pretty confident that that will happen as well.
You know, he's a tremendous talent, but really he's got a big personality. And Kevin just talked about, you know, the kind of success that he has brought to the ratings at Spike. And we're confident that that talent and personality is really the perfect fit for us at Impact. I want to be very clear. He's very serious about his deal with TNA. He's committed to doing whatever it takes to be the best at what we do. And I’m excited about that.
This is a unique partnership and is innovative. 2013 is a big strategic growth year for us, and we're in this expansion process on the show and in different things we're getting involved in. This works. This relationship works perfectly for us. You know, we're going to be supporting and working closely with Spike, with Bellator, with Paramount as we build Rampage. And, you know, I'm very confident that he -- pun intended -- is going to have the kind of impact on our show that we all think he can.
In fact, he will actually be joining us on Impact Live tomorrow night. We're live from Atlanta. And we're in a brand new time slot on Spike. It's from 9:00 to 11:00 -- two hours -- on Eastern Time. And so we're very excited to see him for the first time on our stage. So that will be exciting and interesting as well.
So that's really it from me to start with. So I get the pleasure right now of introducing someone who I enjoy working with tremendously. And I’m very excited to take it to another level with Rampage, and that is the chairman and CEO of Bellator -- Bjorn Rebney.
Bjorn Rebney: Bjorn Rampage.
Dixie Carter: I got it on the brain.
Bjorn Rebney: Thanks, Dixie. A little over four years ago I was sitting in my living room in a house that I used to live in about two miles from here. And I was putting on the finishing touches on a business plan to build out a mixed martial arts company the way I thought a mixed martial arts company should run -- the way that I thought the format should work. I had a second and then a third on my house. I had borrowed every dollar I could conceivably borrow from everybody who trusted me and some people who didn't to try to get it off ground.
And four years later I'm sitting here with my partner -- Kevin Kay -- from Spike Network with Dixie Carter on the phone from TNA Impact Wrestling, with the entire Spike family, with the whole Viacom team and family behind us. And it's those partnerships and really all of those partners working together in unison.
So all those partners working together to give me the opportunity to sit next to this gentleman -- Quinton Rampage Jackson, an icon in our sport, one of the best known combat sports professionals that exists in the entirety of combat sports competition, a guy who has drawn 6 million viewers to fights that he's had on Spike Network, who has been front and center as the main event in some of the largest Pay-Per-View events that have literally ever taken place in our sport. Really a worldwide icon, a guy who can go anywhere in the world and be recognized just like that -- regardless of the language or the culture.
So it is - I think the coolest thing about me sitting here today is that while I've got all these great partners today I get to announce that this gentleman is also joining that list. And I'm proud to say he is now one of my partners and one of our partners. So it's a great pleasure to be able to introduce the newest member of the Bellator, the Spike, the Viacom, the TNA Impact family -- Quinton Rampage Jackson.
Quinton Jackson: Thank you guys man. I'm very excited to be a part of this family. Like man you guys have no idea. Like this is something that I've been dreaming about and waiting for for years, you know. I put in a lot of work in MMA, you know what I'm saying. I've been fighting for like 12 years. And you guys - just you guys get it. Finally we have a promoter that gets it. He's like one of us -- like one of the fighters.
Like a lot of people don't understand that, you know what I'm saying, fighters - we're the ones that put our life on the line. And, you know what I'm saying, we go out there put our health on the line to entertain the fans. And sometimes - in the past relationships that I had with promoters I just felt like, you know, - sometimes I felt like I wasn't appreciated. But you guys get it. Like, you know what I'm saying, you guys - like you said they're setting it up so I can do pro wrestling.
I always wanted to be a pro wrestler. That's why I got started in there. That's why I started wrestling in high school, because I wanted to be a pro wrestler. And, you know, that's why I used to fight the way I used to fight when I was younger. I used to slam people and do Power Bombs and stuff like that, you know what I'm saying. And now my dreams come true. I get to go to TNA and do some pro wrestling.
And I always - since I did the little reality show back in the day I was like, "I can do this. I can be in front of the cameras and not be shy." You guys set me up to do a reality show and do movies. Since I did the A-Team movie I always wanted to like do more movies, and I wanted to be like a action guy. I always wanted to do action movies, and I think that's cool. I'm a big kid. I like to do all this stuff. And you guys are like basically making my dream come true. It makes me feel like all the hard work and all the things I did to my body in the past is all paying off now.
And, you know, I lost a lot of love for MMA. I'm not going to lie. I lost a lot of love for MMA back when I was in the UFC. Kind of like - honestly they just killed it. They drained it, you know what I'm saying. But this new deal got me so excited, and it instantly brought the love back, you know what I'm saying. I'm just, you know what I'm saying, - I'm honestly - it's hard to even explain the way I feel right now. I'm just real happy to be a part of this team.
Male: Great. That's awesome.
Male: We are happy to have you.
Male: Yes.
Male: Agreed.
Dixie Carter: Yes.
Male: Do we open it up for questions?
Dixie Carter: Sounds good.
PWInsider
Operator: Good day everyone. Welcome to today's Rampage Jackson conference.
Today's call is being recorded.
And for opening remarks and introductions I'd like to turn the call over to Mr. David Schwarz.
Please go ahead, sir.
David Schwarz: Thanks so much. Very excited to be here.
Thank you all for joining us at the Rampage Jackson press conference call.
Before we begin just want to let you know that a transcript will be available in a few hours, so if you need a copy please email myself or my esteemed colleagues Anthony Mazzuca or Beth Gebhard.
And without further adieu I'd like to turn it over to Spike TV President Kevin Kay.
Kevin Kay: Thanks, Dave. So thanks everybody for being here in the room. Thank you all for being on the phone.
I am really thrilled to be sitting here with a partner from Bellator -- Bjorn Rebney. We have Dixie Carter -- the President of TNA -- our other great partner on the phone. And we are announcing today what you probably read about yesterday some huge news for Spike, for Bellator, and for TNA.
We are joining forces with one of the biggest names in the history of mixed martial arts, a movie star, and just somebody that I have nothing but an enormous amount of respect for -- Quinton Rampage Jackson. And he is sitting here with us as well. And thank you for being here.
This is sort of a homecoming for Rampage in a lot of ways. His fight on Spike in 2007 against Dan Henderson delivered six million viewers. It was the highest rated fight ever on Spike. His season coaching on The Ultimate Fighter on Spike was the highest rated season in the history of The Ultimate Fighter on Spike.
So the partnership that we're announcing today is going to include Rampage fighting in the Bellator cage. He's going to be competing on TNA Wrestling on Impact. It's a game changing deal, and it adds tremendous star power to both Bellator and to TNA.
And we're excited about that. We're also going to be producing a four part reality series with Rampage. And we're working out sort of the creative and the details on that. And we'll have more on that in the days ahead. But that'll all lead up to Rampage joining us here on Spike.
Rampage is going to be appearing on Guy's Choice, which is Wednesday, June 12. I'm shooting that this weekend. We're excited about that. Another big benefit of, you know, being in the Spike and the Viacom family is that we have a great relationship with Paramount Pictures, and we took Rampage over there to meet those guys. And they're excited to work with him. And we're developing a script with Rampage on some potential movie ideas.
So, you know, there's just nothing but opportunity. Our goal is to build the Rampage brand and just make it as big as it deserves to be and could possibly be. So I'd like to turn it over next to our great colleague and great partner Dixie Carter -- President of TNA Impact.
Dixie Carter: Thanks, Kevin. I'm very excited to be with you guys here today. You know, we all know Rampage is a global star. TNA is a global product, and, you know, we're looking for him to make the same impact in our world the way he impacted the MMA world.
You know, the question is can he dominate TNA the way he's dominated in MMA. And that's our hope. I can tell you he's very confident that that will be the case. And that makes me pretty confident that that will happen as well.
You know, he's a tremendous talent, but really he's got a big personality. And Kevin just talked about, you know, the kind of success that he has brought to the ratings at Spike. And we're confident that that talent and personality is really the perfect fit for us at Impact. I want to be very clear. He's very serious about his deal with TNA. He's committed to doing whatever it takes to be the best at what we do. And I’m excited about that.
This is a unique partnership and is innovative. 2013 is a big strategic growth year for us, and we're in this expansion process on the show and in different things we're getting involved in. This works. This relationship works perfectly for us. You know, we're going to be supporting and working closely with Spike, with Bellator, with Paramount as we build Rampage. And, you know, I'm very confident that he -- pun intended -- is going to have the kind of impact on our show that we all think he can.
In fact, he will actually be joining us on Impact Live tomorrow night. We're live from Atlanta. And we're in a brand new time slot on Spike. It's from 9:00 to 11:00 -- two hours -- on Eastern Time. And so we're very excited to see him for the first time on our stage. So that will be exciting and interesting as well.
So that's really it from me to start with. So I get the pleasure right now of introducing someone who I enjoy working with tremendously. And I’m very excited to take it to another level with Rampage, and that is the chairman and CEO of Bellator -- Bjorn Rebney.
Bjorn Rebney: Bjorn Rampage.
Dixie Carter: I got it on the brain.
Bjorn Rebney: Thanks, Dixie. A little over four years ago I was sitting in my living room in a house that I used to live in about two miles from here. And I was putting on the finishing touches on a business plan to build out a mixed martial arts company the way I thought a mixed martial arts company should run -- the way that I thought the format should work. I had a second and then a third on my house. I had borrowed every dollar I could conceivably borrow from everybody who trusted me and some people who didn't to try to get it off ground.
And four years later I'm sitting here with my partner -- Kevin Kay -- from Spike Network with Dixie Carter on the phone from TNA Impact Wrestling, with the entire Spike family, with the whole Viacom team and family behind us. And it's those partnerships and really all of those partners working together in unison.
So all those partners working together to give me the opportunity to sit next to this gentleman -- Quinton Rampage Jackson, an icon in our sport, one of the best known combat sports professionals that exists in the entirety of combat sports competition, a guy who has drawn 6 million viewers to fights that he's had on Spike Network, who has been front and center as the main event in some of the largest Pay-Per-View events that have literally ever taken place in our sport. Really a worldwide icon, a guy who can go anywhere in the world and be recognized just like that -- regardless of the language or the culture.
So it is - I think the coolest thing about me sitting here today is that while I've got all these great partners today I get to announce that this gentleman is also joining that list. And I'm proud to say he is now one of my partners and one of our partners. So it's a great pleasure to be able to introduce the newest member of the Bellator, the Spike, the Viacom, the TNA Impact family -- Quinton Rampage Jackson.
Quinton Jackson: Thank you guys man. I'm very excited to be a part of this family. Like man you guys have no idea. Like this is something that I've been dreaming about and waiting for for years, you know. I put in a lot of work in MMA, you know what I'm saying. I've been fighting for like 12 years. And you guys - just you guys get it. Finally we have a promoter that gets it. He's like one of us -- like one of the fighters.
Like a lot of people don't understand that, you know what I'm saying, fighters - we're the ones that put our life on the line. And, you know what I'm saying, we go out there put our health on the line to entertain the fans. And sometimes - in the past relationships that I had with promoters I just felt like, you know, - sometimes I felt like I wasn't appreciated. But you guys get it. Like, you know what I'm saying, you guys - like you said they're setting it up so I can do pro wrestling.
I always wanted to be a pro wrestler. That's why I got started in there. That's why I started wrestling in high school, because I wanted to be a pro wrestler. And, you know, that's why I used to fight the way I used to fight when I was younger. I used to slam people and do Power Bombs and stuff like that, you know what I'm saying. And now my dreams come true. I get to go to TNA and do some pro wrestling.
And I always - since I did the little reality show back in the day I was like, "I can do this. I can be in front of the cameras and not be shy." You guys set me up to do a reality show and do movies. Since I did the A-Team movie I always wanted to like do more movies, and I wanted to be like a action guy. I always wanted to do action movies, and I think that's cool. I'm a big kid. I like to do all this stuff. And you guys are like basically making my dream come true. It makes me feel like all the hard work and all the things I did to my body in the past is all paying off now.
And, you know, I lost a lot of love for MMA. I'm not going to lie. I lost a lot of love for MMA back when I was in the UFC. Kind of like - honestly they just killed it. They drained it, you know what I'm saying. But this new deal got me so excited, and it instantly brought the love back, you know what I'm saying. I'm just, you know what I'm saying, - I'm honestly - it's hard to even explain the way I feel right now. I'm just real happy to be a part of this team.
Male: Great. That's awesome.
Male: We are happy to have you.
Male: Yes.
Male: Agreed.
Dixie Carter: Yes.
Male: Do we open it up for questions?
Dixie Carter: Sounds good.
PWInsider