Wrestling Forum banner

Dixie Carter on PWTorch Livecast

2K views 20 replies 15 participants last post by  shandcraig 
#1 ·
#4 · (Edited)
TNA President Dixie Carter was on PWTorch.com's LiveCast earlier today to speak on all facets of TNA. Below is a not-so-quick recap of the very lengthy interview.


On TNA lasting over 10 years:
its been a great 10 years we have done it all on our own fan by fan dollar by dollar. We haven't had a huge infusion from a parent company and the benifits that come with that. It's an accomplishment that I'm very proud of.

On TNA's striving to provide in a WWE dominated industry:
I think so available can be a negative. There can be too much of a good thing. I believe people love competition. Theres a reason why there's a lowes across the street from every Home Depot. There's a reason there is 31 flavors of ice cream.

On what separates TNA from the rest:
I think we got by far the best wrestling roster in the business. I think we have become very unique in how we deliver our product. We have found new techniques, new ways. Trying to take the quality of the in ring product and match it with stuff in the back. I think in the past we didnt do a good job of that weve been inconsistent and all over the board. I think we have hit our stride in the way we present is very unique, it is very different.

On how TNA makes money:
I think programming both internationally and domestic is a big driver of that but the interesting part is that it used to be the majority of the pie, it's now a very managable part and alot of pieces have grown.

On the massive chage in TNA ppvs
We have made a couple of really big bold moves this year. One theres just way too many ppvs in general. My problem is the ppvs have always been profitable both in the top line and the bottom line. so its lmaking a decision in walking away from that and with one domestic television show it's just so hard to come up with a driving relevant ppv every month. I think creatively it will allow the storylines to breath more.

On going on tour now as opposed to earlier
well we loved the feel of live tv. that was really great but then you start to think, well maybe we can be live and on the road. Now we can be live and on the road every other week. Live on the road every week, that would be our goal. I think it's just a progression, we made the decision on ppvs. You just know the elements, all of the different parts of the company are just starting to gel. In my gut i just felt this was the tipping point. We can handle this financially now so i just think its time.

On choosing the Alamodome for TNA Lockdown 2013
well san antionio is a market i wanted to play for a long time. we never even had a house show there and so i wanted it to be something big when we brought it there. sometimes when you have a big competitor and they have a lock on a building, you have to make business decisions. Are you going to let them lock you out of a city? absolutely not. the alamodome was the best decision in this market. It scales good.

Jeff Hardy
arguably one of the most popular wrestlers in the world today period. any company. when he worked with us in the early years i think his heart just wasn't into wrestling, period . Not with us and not with others or whatever. he goes out with the biggest ovation of the night every night. No matter who he worked for and no matter where he was.

I would always say to him cant imagine if you really tried, how great you would become. We parted ways and brought him back. We were very proud of where he was. He had a big fall yet i really felt in my heart that he had come so far. I worked with him hand in hand through that time and felt not just 100% confident but 200% confident that he was hungry and wanted to do this the right way.


Gut Check
We only have about 82 minutes of tv time. At the same time you have to develop these talents. The gut check contestants have been more relatively unknown names. thats not to say that someone like Colt Cabana can't say, hey, put my name in for Gut Check. Obviously these guys have had years of independent training and experience.

The removal of the six sided ring
the six sided ring truly was a marketing gimmick. it was to be different and distinguishing. We did our best to position it as theres more sides to do moves off of etc etc. The truth of the matter is, the guys didn't love it. it's not as easy to work off of. We want to bring it back for some exclusive x-division stuff. we want to keep it in some X-division things.

On Hulk Hogan working behind the scenes
its so interesting to me because he does so much behind the scenes. I think you have seen so much of the home grown talent take off in the last couple of years. He's worked with them hand in hand. He has worked with them on their characters. He's worked with them on what they do in the ring.

Some people say he is just looking for a big contract. He is so bought in, He is so a part of whats going on. He is at every agent meeting. He really in my mind is trying to make a mark in the wrestling industry. If he is out of surgery and shouldn't even be out of his house, he will be there.

is it TNA or Impact Wrestling
The name is TNA. well i think we started for better or for worst we built a lot of equity in. When we are in other parts of the world, no one is confused because we have Impact Wrestling, we have Xplosion, We have greatest matches. We have our RAW and Smackdown. In the united states it was always TNA Wrestling and TNA Impact became the name of the show. It's one is more the corporate entity and the other is the show. Hopefully in the near future we will be using another name that is associated with TNA. The name is TNA.

phasing out the TNA name
no not at all because Impact Wrestling is our corner stone show but the company is TNA Wrestling. If we had TNA Xplosion that would be a different brand that would be out there. but if Impact was the only thing we did, it would be a good business decision. It's not and in other places of the world and hopefully in the United States sooner than later we have these multiple shows with impact being our corner stone show, it wouldn't make sense to do that.

Drug policy
Yes it is, it is handled by a third party company that we hired several years ago after the horrible chris benoit tragedy. The government got involved in the steroids issue and i was the only person to offer to actually come to washington I set in front of a congressional congress comittee and went over for 8 hours, what we do, what the policy is, where we are going. It become much more strict after that time. I think its very very important, I've always gone on the record in saying i would rather have a healthy clean, normal body on my show that is incredibly talented than some jacked up person who is risking their lives. and when you look like that it atually inhibits your ability in the ring anyway.

On TNA not taking drug testing results public
The good news is that we have had very few issues. There have been suspensions dealt with all of them but when you have an issue is it easier for you to fix it with your family with the right doctors around you and the right program or does having to fix it in front of millions of people really help get it fixed.

The suspensions that we have had all worked and we have had tremendous results and have tried to put them in to a situation where we wanted to encourage them in a positive, fostered enviornment. We want them to be healthy, this is not what we want for them and i think taking it public sends a different message
 
  • Like
Reactions: Lariatoh!
#5 ·
If you skip into an hour or so in, maybe the 01:09:00 mark or so, you can see how fumbled she gets during the marijuana question. Maybe it was a legit stumbling of words, but even her lead in to the next question was botched and her demeanor somewhat changed. I highly doubt RVD would still be employed if there were legitimate consequences for marijuana use. So had answer seems a bit fake, especially because she avoided details/.

But all in all, it's a fantastic podcast. Anything and everything you could possibly want to know about TNA's current state financially, creatively, etc is covered. I really enjoyed it.
 
#12 ·
Is it just me or has anyone else noticed commentary making little in-jokes whenever RVD is in the ring?

I've heard things like, "No-one gets higher than Rob Van Dam!" and "RVD sure is blazing tonight!" amongst a few others. I don't think it's me reading too much into it as I could swear their inflection changes when they say this stuff.
 
#16 ·
During the Monday Night Wars, I believe Vince was on the show. Keller mentions it in the OP video... Saying that Vince had said if he had to move Raw to Tuesday's to stay alive because of WCW beating them in the ratings he would. Very interesting and something I've never years of before.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top