Message-ID:  

http://www.nwatna.com/news/2004/1/15/news.html

01.15.04 | Ex-Survivor Cast Member Joins TNA Wrestling 

The Man America Loves To Hate 

Ex-Survivor Cast Member Joins TNA Wrestling 

The men the American people admire most extravagantly are the most
daring liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try to
tell them the truth.                        – H.L. Mencken

January 15, 2004 ( Nashville , TN ) —TNA Entertainment, LLC announced
today that former cast member of Survivor: Pearl Islands , Jon Dalton
a/k/a/ Jonny Fairplay has signed a contract with TNA Wrestling. 
Dalton is scheduled to make his first TNA pay-per-view appearance
Wednesday, January 21, 2004 .

Known as the "Rasputin of the Pearl Islands ," Dalton 's infamy helped
catapult Survivor's viewership back to the top of the Nielsen
television ratings. Michael Booth of the Denver Post said, "Survivor
is back on top with its seventh season, in the Pearl Islands of Panama
, thanks in large part to ‘Jonny Fairplay', the consciously obnoxious
beach bum who fabricated his grandmother's death to buy three more
days on the island, and then bought three more days by swearing
allegiance on her nonexistent grave."

The Survivor season finale achieved an audience of 25.2 million
viewers and beat the combined offerings of NBC, ABC and FOX. For the
week of December 8-14, 2003 , Survivor: Pearl Islands was the second,
third and fourth most watched show, and it ranks fourth in household
ratings and share in the 2003-2004 Network Primetime Series to date.

"The most successful wrestling personalities evoke passion—one way or
another—from the fans," TNA President, Dixie Carter explains.  "Based
on the reaction Jonny drew from 20+ million viewers weekly, there's no
doubt he will ignite both controversy and intrigue each week on TNA's
pay-per-views."

"TNA is a wrestling company that is going to the top, and I'm going to
take them there," boasted Dalton . "I'm Jonny Fairplay, and I don't
play fair."

A native of Danville , VA , Dalton has a background in professional
wrestling with stints at independent promotions New Dimension
Wrestling and Portland Wrestling. Dalton also worked as a production
assistant for wrestling icon, Rowdy Roddy Piper.

TNA Wrestling is the first-ever weekly wrestling pay-per-view series
available every Wednesday night at 8pm ET / 5pm PT.   Available on iN
DEMAND, DIRECTV and TVN as well as Viewer's Choice and Bell ExpressVu
in Canada, TNA features some of the most recognizable faces in
wrestling today—including Sting, Raven, Jeff Jarrett, AJ Styles, and
more! With less talk and more in-ring action, TNA Wrestling has gained
recognition as the definitive alternative for today's wrestling
enthusiast.


--- Internet Rex 2.29