TNA president Dixie Carter is pulling out all the stops for Impact Wrestling's debut on its new network home of Destination America and she is even looking to sign Alberto "El Patron" Del Rio to a deal, possibly as soon as Wednesday's show.
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According to Wrestlingheadlines.com, TNA is set to offer Del Rio big money, but Lucha Underground and Bellator MMA are also in play for him. Bellator is owned by Viacom, which is the parent company of Spike TV, which used to air Impact Wrestling until the network decided to get out of the pro wrestling business.
Carter was hopeful to land Del Rio to a lucrative deal that would see him appear at Impact Wrestling this Wednesday for the live premiere of TNA's flagship show on Destination America.
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TNA was in the market for a big star to truly sell this week's Impact Wrestling as something special in order to promote the launch on a new platform, but it appears as though Del Rio will not be signing on -- at least in time for the event -- and no other major signings have been reported.
While Bellator MMA is looking at Del Rio as someone who can make a splash like the UFC did when it signed CM Punk, there is a strong indication that Del Rio will stick to professional wrestling instead of going back to fighting.
Del Rio also made his Ring of Honor debut this past weekend in Nashville. Wrestlingheadlines.com reports that ROH officials were happy with their dealings with him over the weekend as he was said to be very excited and easy to work with.
Del Rio was fired from the WWE on Aug. 7 for slapping a social media worker who allegedly passed a racist comment about him by saying that it was Del Rio's job to clean off his plate in catering behind the former WWE Superstar's back.
The two sides recently worked out an agreement where Del Rio's no-compete clause was lifted in exchange for the former WWE Superstar not bashing the company publicly or panning it as racist..
Since leaving the WWE, Del Rio has worked for AAA and even became the World Heavyweight Champion in that promotion after defeating El Texano earlier this month.
2015 will be a busy year for Del Rio, but there's no word on if he'll end up in TNA at some point.
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