Going Into Slammiversary, TNA Has Some Major Problems To Deal With Thanks To Dixie Carter

TNA Impact Wrestling

I will admit. I have been one of the more vocal TNA supporters for years. Going back to the time when they had their weekly pay-per-views, I always thought that TNA could be that alternative to the WWE that I and many others were always looking for after the demise of both ECW and WCW. Yes, there were some hiccups (Vince Russo’s writing, Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff raping and pillaging the company for millions of dollars) but I always had hope that TNA was always on the cusp of getting to that spot of respect in the pro wrestling industry.

Impact Wrestling has even been good for what seems like months now. The storylines have made sense and a lot of the feuds have been drawn out and built properly. If not for injuries, the tag team division could have been the best in years in the industry and Kurt Angle as champion makes sense. With a young heel like Ethan Carter III, the torch and the TNA Championship could be passed to him from Angle and where better to do that than TNA’s annual anniversary show Slammiversary.

But of course things don’t always go the way it should. It was announced that at Slammiversary, Angle will not be defending the title against EC3. Instead the big title match that they have been building to for weeks will take place on Impact…for free…on Destination America. The explanation per PWInsider:

“TNA changed the planned Slammiversary PPV main event of Kurt Angle vs. EC3 from that night to the 7/1 episode of Impact Wrestling (which is titled “Bell to Bell”) as there was no way for the company to conceivably tape episodes that would air after the PPV without spoiling their plans.  The company is working on plans for a new main event, but it won’t have the TNA title on the line.”

So let’s review. On one of the biggest nights of the year for the company, you won’t have your biggest title on the line? I understand that you are trying to save money and tape a number of shows in a few days but to not have your World Heavyweight Championship defended on one of two pay-per-views you have the entire year is idiocy. This is where TNA irritates me and makes me wonder if they could survive long-term.

Another report surfaced this week of TNA being behind on payments to wrestlers. Just a few months ago, a similar report about TNA being late on paying not just performers but production people as well was major news on the internet. The funny thing about this report is what I listened to this week on an old Stone Cold Steve Austin podcast. During Wrestlemania 30 weekend last year, Austin interviewed Paul Heyman and Heyman mentioned that while he was in talks with TNA to come in as company President, many people told him that TNA was in bad shape financially (the TNA conversation begins at 38:55 of the video) even going as far to say that the company was in excess on $80 million in the hole…and that was about five years ago and before they began going on the road weekly. There’s no telling how bad it is now.

Add in the unresolved Destination America situation and the arrival of Ring of Honor on the network and TNA has a HUGE hill to climb. You look at all of this and you begin to doubt the long-term viability of the company. Then again, TNA has been around for 13 years after many believed that they wouldn’t be around for six months. Needless to say things need to change quickly and it starts with TNA President Dixie Carter.

Let me be clear, I am not one to try to get people fired from their jobs. However if they prove to be ineffective at their job, then it’s time to make a change. Carter still has no idea how to run a wrestling organization and has no idea what to do from a business standpoint. How do you sign with a network and not have a clause which states that TNA is the only wrestling show to be shown on Destination America? How can you be behind on pay checks and have a no big title match at your PPV but show off a flashy new X Division title on Twitter (I know it was only painted green but you don’t have a main event for Slammiversary). Heyman coming in would have been amazing but Dixie was dependent on older talent who Heyman didn’t want. Now that older talent in gone and TNA is in the crapper.

We are six months into the year and while TNA’s TV show has gotten better, the business of TNA is no better if not worse. I feel like I continue saying the same things about TNA week in and week out but I will continue to say the same thing. If things do not improve for TNA in the office and if their leadership does not change, the company will not make it through 2015. They still have a heartbeat but it’s getting fainter and fainter by the month.