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There is a lot of talk about TNA being in a bad way right now, and maybe the company will be sold. What is your take on that?
Note: I wrote this before Mike posted his report on Monday.
I have heard a lot of things recently, some off the record some not. Some I can confirm, some I can’t. What can’t be denied is that there are financial issues in the company right now and they are serious. Very serious. What it all comes down to is that Dixie Carter has come to her moment of truth. She has wanted to bring in an investor AND retain control. I don’t see that happening. I have heard there is one very legitimate candidate out there but they have seen how she has run the company they have no desire to leave her in a position of power. There is also the situation in play with the Harris Brothers, who doing the TNA’s TV production through their company Aroluxe where there are bills to TNA that need to be addressed asap as they are owed significant money. So one way or another, Dixie Carter needs to come up with a cash infusion. Unless she can get one from a friendly source, she just may have to realize that there is no way that she can keep control of TNA. My take is that the company is in the position that it’s in due to how she has run the promotion. The buck stops at the top.
While watching the Freebirds acceptance speech at this year's Hall of Fame ceremony, the one thing I kept saying to myself was, "Wow, Jimmy Garvin looks nothing like I remember watching him in the 80's." Even my wife recognized who Michael Hayes was despite having never watched WCCW or WCW. Most wrestlers still tend to somewhat retain their trademark look as they age, but unless Garvin broke out his "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!" at the podium, I almost wouldn't have recognized him without the long curly hair & beard. My question is, can you think of another hall of famer who looked more different during their acceptance speech compared to their in-ring days than Garvin did?
I would have to go with James Dudley. I didn’t recognize him at all when he was inducted. Seriously, no Garvin definitely looked the most different to me. I think part of it was that he left the business when he was young and has largely not been seen publicly since. We didn’t get to watch him age. Also, he let his old look go when he moved on.
We saw Sting go into the Hall of Fame even though his WWE career was very brief. If AJ Styles' career ended today, given his body of work over his entire career, would he be a Hall of Famer in your mind?
Absolutely. First of all, there is no set criteria so pretty much anyone could, including James Dudley. Beyond that, AJ has had a great career. I have no problem with him going in, especially if WWE were to end up with the TNA footage.
So as a lifelong Bret Hart fan (and of course I'm from Canada), it might be almost blasphemous for me to say but I'm getting really turned off by Bret Hart's attitude with all things WWE. During Wrestlemania weekend he has been quoted often that this card is the worst he's ever seen and glad he's not part of it. And in pretty much all the interviews he's involved with, he's always coming off as a broken, bitter man that desperately needs to be in the spotlight. He's done countless DVD's, given appreciation nights and other accolades but it seems every given opportunity, he throws WWE under the bus. Why do you think WWE keeps him still connected with their product? I respect him as a wrestler but as a human being, he's really coming off poorly recently.
I think they understand that Bret is the way he is and they just accept it as such. They continue to extend the olive branch to him so they come off as the bigger, better person in the relationship. With that said, Bret has a right to his opinion. He wants the business to be what is was, and that just isn’t going to happen. They are never going backward, at least not any time soon.
I believe that when Hulk Hogan went to Impact (can’t call it TNA anymore, cause they don’t have Total Nonstop Action) and changed the ring and went up against Vince on Monday that Vince Actually paid him do go over there and do these things so it would take out his competition. I think that was the start of their downward spiral.
Come on! That is ridiculous. Why? TNA has had Dixie Carter and Vince Russo running their product so Vince never had any need to seen in a Trojan Horse. TNA is in the position that it’s in due to its leader, and that is Dixie Carter. The decisions that she has made have gotten the company to the point that it’s at today.
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