[quote name='JJSP']If you had any doubt whether or not the Aries/Hemme situation was a work, the latest report is that Aries will be punished live on Impact this Thursday. Go

yourselves, TNA - while I'm pretty positive it was a work all along, it's reprehensible to pass it off as anything remotely serious if you're going to just mock it for ratings.[/QUOTE]
Since none of us are privy to what is actually going on behind the scenes all any of us can do is speculate. I watched that segment and that didn't look anything like a work to me. The commentators made no reference to it at all. IMO, Aries did that in the moment. It was an incredibly stupid thing to do, particularly on live television. He literally had her cornered and then put his crotch just a few inches from her face. No matter how you slice it that will be construed as sexual harassment at the least. If his crotch touched her she could even make a claim of sexual battery (assuming Mississippi law is the same as Georgia law on this matter).
As for mocking it for ratings, David Schwarz, Senior Vice President of Communications for Spike TV, had this to say.
“We have a zero tolerance policy for sexual harassment,” said Schwarz. “We discussed [the incident] with our partner. [Aries is] being disciplined. I’m trying to get more information on what action is being taken. Dixie Carter took this very personally. He will be disciplined. Again, we have a zero tolerance policy for sexual harassment.
“I’m not sure specifically how [the discipline] will be handled. To what extent, I don’t know. This is certainly something we don’t condone and don’t tolerate. Such behavior is not welcome."
In response to whether Aries' discipline should be made public since Hemme was harassed on national television, Schwarz responded, "I think that a statement of some sort will be coming. That’s being worked out. But immediate action will be taken."
There is nothing in that quote or anywhere else in that article that would even imply that Spike TV and/or TNA will try to use it to bump ratings.
BTW, I'm saying all of this as a pretty big Aries fan. He did something incredibly stupid and then exasperated it further online. Pretty dumb couple of days for someone who seems to be a fairly bright guy.
[quote name='xilly']You say this like you're surprised that TNA would mock something for ratings...[/QUOTE]
Care to cite an actual event to back up this statement?