The Rise & Fall of Dixie Carter .

[SUPERECWFAN1]

No folks this thread is not about the lady from Designing Women. Even though that itself was a good show and one we all remember. No folks this is about the former owner of TNA (Total Nonstop Action). This Dixie Carter.




A few years ago I did a rise and fall of Verne Gagne here and how he had built an empire in the mid-west wrestling scene from the AWA that included toys , massive merchandise of wrestlers and a TV film. Plus Verne had his own wrestling school where he received a cut from the workers there. His school trained numerous legends and one was Ric Flair. Of course like any empire his crumbled to dust by 1990.

Now lets go look at Dixie Carter...


Dixie was born in 1964 to parents Bob and Janice Carter and in an old Sports Illustrated article from 2013 , it detailed her life growing up. Dixie would go on to college and graduate with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree. Her career would see her go to Levenson & Hill (a sports marketing firm) and go onto becoming a VP at age 32. She would soon go on and establish her own business in Nashville concentrating on sports and music representation.

Around the year 2002 , the Pro Wrestling business suddenly had a drastic shrinkage. Where there was once 3 brands competing across the United States as a whole (WCW , WWF and ECW) 2 of the companies went out of business. The WWF would swallow both and create a monopoly from 2001. Other companies tried to expand to fill the gap. In California , Rob Black's Xtreme Pro Wrestling (XPW) decided to branch out and acquire the ECW syndication network package. ECW once had a nationwide syndication package. Black even moved the company to the East Coast. But that failed once his legal issues came up and XPW was outta business by 2003.

Fox Sports was approached by Jimmy Hart and Hulk Hogan who shot a run of shows called XWF (Xcitement Wrestling Federation). The company shot a series of shows at Universal Studios where WCW Worldwide used to film at (and where TNA would later go). Anyhow the show was unable to get a TV order and after a series of house shows folded. Hogan would go back to WWF/E in 2002.

But there was a long shot in the failed landscape of pro wrestling company attempts. Jeff Jarrett and his father Jerry Jarrett sit at the kitchen table in 2001 and discussed putting a promotion together. Jeff himself brought up how he really didn't want to make a living traveling outside the United States anymore (he had been black balled by WWF at this point) and he debated retiring . But as this video shows us...his then wife Jill convinced him to do this.



Jeff & Jerry as the video brings up launched the company in June 2002 and with no cable companies interested , they decided on going to a risky venue of weekly PPV concept. One person told them that a weekly PPV concept could see them get 50,000+ PPV buys a week . They also decided to approach the NWA (National Wrestling Alliance) to use their titles. The NWA had struggled for a number of years since the relationship with WCW had ended and they hadn't been seen on a national level since the failed 1998 storyline in WWF.

So the company became NWA-Total Non-Stop Action . Which was a move to give them some legit credibility with established titles. Everything seemed to be fine of course as Toby Keith appeared as well as the Tennessee Titans football team in an early show. But after the 4th PPV , both Jarrett's received terrible news. The person who gave them the early estimates of the 1st shows was wrong. They hadn't earned 50,000+ buys each show...instead the company had did 10,000-20,000+ each week and suddenly things wasn't good.

The company was so bleak that if no one came in , the 5th show would have ended NWA-TNA right there. But Jeff Jarrett had a friend in Nashville he knew who could come in and buy a majority ownership of the company. Dixie Carter had been friends with the Jarrett's and soon met with her parents. Dixie's father had became a billionaire owner of Panda Energy and he had the pockets to buy a stake into the company. Panda bought a 72% stake into TNA and installed a number of executives and Dixie as President. Jeff Jarrett stayed on as Vice-President and kept his small stake in the company moving forward.

Without Dixie Carter , TNA dies in 2002 within 5 shows. But she convinced her parents that the pro wrestling landscape could have a company that was #2 to make money. Of course TNA as she claims was gonna lose money awhile til things got established better. As a whole no one knows exactly what TNA lost from 2002-2006 as no one knows exactly. But it was in millions range as the weekly PPV concept finally ended in 2004 and with Dixie's help they did Fox Sports awhile. Which its said TNA paid for that spot.


The Golden Era of TNA : 2005-2009


After the Fox Sports deal , Dixie really hit her prime as an executive. Where as both Jarrett's had tried back in 2002 to get TNA on a national cable network and failed ; Dixie in 2005 was able to secure a deal with Spike TV. Spike itself was stung by losing WWE TV rights back to USA Network and needed an alternative. So they signed a cheaper deal with NWA-TNA and decided to air the show in a 1 hour block on Saturday Nights. The show did better than expected and within months Spike moved the show to Thursday nights and gave it 2 hours.

As the ratings expanded and costs were cut filming weeks of shows at Orlando Studios in Florida , Dixie began signing overseas TV deals. These TV deals became a major success story for the company and showcased why Dixie Carter had been made President of the company. In all Impact would go on to air in 24 current markets overseas.

With an infusion of the company making cash on TV deals , merchandise and more ...they decided to start signing wrestlers. This would have a good and bad effect. By signing established stars like Kurt Angle , Christian , Booker T , Sting , Scott Steiner , and Kevin Nash ...the ratings did go above 1.0's for the 1st time. It also built a very big main event roster to mix with the home grown stars of AJ Styles , Jerry Lynn , Samoa Joe and more. Spike liked this move as the more stars the company brought in the better it gave them attention as a network.

During this time however another effect happened , The NWA itself was no longer really needed. The NWA board had started to object to TNA's moving the title to different people. One rumored objection was the idea that Jeff Jarrett would end his run as champion and pass the belt onto Christian. But the NWA objected. It was then that TNA ended their relationship with the NWA and rebranded the titles as TNA belts. The NWA sadly was never the same again.

TNA's success was so big that Midway Games decided to do a TNA Wrestling video game for them. The game sold 1.5 million copies and plans were made to do a sequel. But due to Midway as a company having financial problems the sequel never happened. Midway would close in 2010. Jeff Jarrett himself in an interview claimed that TNA had started turning profits in 2006/2007 and was doing good. This interview was in 2009.

Then as fast as Dixie's success launched...her failure began.


End of Part #1

[SUPERECWFAN1]

THE DOWNFALL...




Spike TV while pleased with TNA and helping them at times (its rumored they helped pay Sting's $750,000 salary a year) imagined bigger things. TNA had averaged a 1.2-1.5 rating each week in that range. But Spike wanted more and Dixie felt pressured. During this her 1st bad move was to remove Jeff Jarrett from his VP role. Jeff at this stage had started a relationship with Kurt Angle's ex-wife Karen. He never felt he had to reveal this to Carter and its claimed he lied about it when asked. (Jeff's 1st wife if ya watched had passed away if you saw the video) . Many felt Dixie over-reacted and should have set down all parties instead of firing Jarrett from his position.

Dixie was in a spot as Jeff had steered the company creatively and while there was questionable moves , he hadn't done a terrible job. He had established working relationships with Japan , Mexico and others. He had brought in many talents who had been built into major stars. So replacing him was a big issue. Dixie approached Paul Heyman and things got closer than many expected. Heyman himself claimed later that Dixie agreed to give him a 10% piece of TNA and that he was inspired by Dana White who had that piece of UFC. But a big obstacle that ended the deal was a problem Dixie Carter would become known for...she wouldn't fire any talents.

Heyman claimed that he wanted to fire everyone over 40 except one star (Angle) and make a young hungry roster. Carter objected and wanted to keep Sting , Nash , Booker T and others. He realized the 2 would never work well together and talks ended. Then Dixie went with a suggestion that Spike TV executives wanted. She approached...Hulk Hogan.

Now as the video above details , Hogan nearly signed with NWA-TNA back in 2002/2003 when the company 1st began. But Hogan decided against that and went to the WWF/E again. Years later Hogan was semi-retired , was racked with a bad back which required numerous surgeries and barely could walk to the ring. Let alone work. But the idea was to make Hogan an onscreen GM and behind the scenes co-Vice President alongside his friend Eric Bischoff.

Hogan had never has this position before behind the scenes and Bischoff hadn't ran a company since 2000 for WCW. Both men were paid a huge fee and Hogan himself credited TNA for actually saving his life and earning a living after his divorce. But both men were now being paid millions of dollars that really was a job Jeff Jarrett was doing for way , way less.

Hogan & Bischoff took a big move in signing talents to the roster. They brought in Ric Flair , Sean Morley , The Nasty Boys , Orlando Jordan , The Young Bucks , Rob Van Dam , Jeff Hardy and others. In some cases Morley and Jordan were outright busts to bring in while the Nasty Boys were so beaten up at this stage they barely could work. The money continued to flow like crazy as the 2 men came up with another silly move. They wanted to recreate the Monday Night War again.

The WWE didn't take it seriously due to TNA suddenly being thrown on Monday's. Also they just didn't go to Monday Night's , they suddenly decided to start touring the product. A fact that TNA had done shows out of Orlando and a couple live each year. But they were well planned and ones to make the company money. Overseas tours was really where the company made a lot of money on as the UK shows would draw huge for the company. This however was them suddenly deciding to go live every 2 weeks and do shows across the United States.

Within months TNA blew through a reported $13 million dollars doing this. It was said that Dixie had to end this or the company was projected to lose close to $30 million by the end of 2010 had it continued. Panda was less than happy and finally her father did the one blow that would hurt Dixie Carter and end her run a couple years later. He cut off the money.

Panda itself had grew tired of TNA's costs and now within a 2 year span of 2010-2011 , the company it was rumored spent more than it had from 2002-2005. So they pulled support and told TNA that they would have to stand on their own and it quickly became apparent that would be a struggle. By 2013 things were in such dire straits that Dixie had to fire a bunch of wrestlers who were part of her main 1 year storyline. PPV's were now scaled back as well. Where as TNA would run 12 monthly PPVs a year , to cut costs and save money , they were now paired down to 4 the next 2 years and finally in 2015 and 2016...2 due to costs.

As things snowballed Dixie suddenly had to watch as valuable stars wanted out due to cost cutting. But the biggest blow hit at the end of 2013. At this point Hogan & Bischoff were about to have their contracts expire. Bischoff was already at home due to a lawsuit he would later file over unpaid money due to his production company and his son Garrett Bischoff. Unable to pay Hogan his huge salary , Dixie was forced to watch him leave the company at the end of 2013.

Spike TV executives started to notice as well that the company was losing stars and they saw Hogan's exit as a sign that it was time to walk away. They informed Dixie in 2014 that they would not be renewing the show beyond 2014. After 9 years this was over. At this stage Dixie herself was forced to buy Jeff Jarrett's last percentage out of the company as he was wanting to pursue his own new wrestling company in 2015.

Jarrett himself had wanted to get back in charge of a company and even discussed in 2014 at bringing in Toby Keith to buy TNA Wrestling fully. Yes folks...country music star Toby Keith wanted to buy the company and fix it. Jim Ross touted that Keith had spoken to him about how he planned to run things and seemed like a generally smart business man. (he had built his own country music publishing empire and is worth half a billion dollars). Dixie however suddenly walked from the deal when she learned she would have no power.

The final 2 years was a blur of bad negotiations and deals. Carter signed with Discovery Channel and suddenly within months the direction of the channel changed as the new program chief did not want pro wrestling on the network. They were due to be removed in 2016 but Dixie managed to get them on POP TV. During this time as money issues became a bigger deal Dixie would need help making payroll and got loans from a variety of sources. (The extent of these loans we know were from Billy Corgan ...yes that Billy Corgan ....The Harris Brothers and Anthem Sports).

As the end of 2016 ticked down Dixie Carter was left in no shape to walk away from selling the company. She hired Billy Corgan who it was thought was coming into buying the company. Suddenly however he would learn that Dixie actually was gonna sell the company to Anthem. Corgan would file a suit case , settle and go buy ...the NWA ! In January of 2017 the deal was announced. TNA was done as a company and Dixie Carter now owned only 5% of it. She also had a small minor office role and no longer President.

Anthem as a company rebranded the company Impact Wrestling (a short while GFW but that ended quick) and installed their own people to oversee things. But sadly this was the downfall of Dixie Carter running the show.

What is amazing is the show is still around even through how Dixie Carter ran things at the end. Somehow the company survived and is still producing content and has seemingly came back from the fire. Rebuilding and refocusing around new stars they can build. Almost what Jarrett and Carter did at the start. In the end Dixie Carter will always have to look back at her decision in 2009. The company was making money , she had a capable VP in Jarrett running the office. Instead she reacted too fast and the end result she hired 2 men who literally within a year or two blew the money structure the company had in place out the window.

This was the rise and fall of Dixie Carter. The lady who in one hand saved TNA and nearly in the other years later nearly destroyed it.

[Kirby101]

There is a very active Wrestling thread in TV/Films for folks interested in that.
This should be posted there.
There is no need for this to be it's own thread.

[Gray Lensman]

Employing ATM Eric at a company that needs to watch what it spends it always a colossal mistake.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Employing ATM Eric at a company that needs to watch what it spends it always a colossal mistake.

It wasn't til later that Bischoff himself admitted that TNA was not WCW and didn't have the money it had. Possibly Eric believed that Panda would fit the bills like Turner had. I mean as detailed in the Death of WCW , that he'd take folks out to expensive seafood dinners on Turner's dime and not think twice.

[ed2962]

Shoot, I was expecting the Designing Women actress...

[wjowski]

There is a very active Wrestling thread in TV/Films for folks interested in that.
This should be posted there.
There is no need for this to be it's own thread.

If this board can handle 5,000 Star Wars threads scattered all over the boards, it can handle more than one wrestling thread.

[Kirby101]

If this board can handle 5,000 Star Wars threads scattered all over the boards, it can handle more than one wrestling thread.

There is now a Star Wars forum for all those threads.

But that drives me crazy too. We would have a big active "Last Jedi" thread, and someone decides that they need to start a new thread about Dameron Poe's jacket or some such nonsense.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

If this board can handle 5,000 Star Wars threads scattered all over the boards, it can handle more than one wrestling thread.

There is now a Star Wars forum for all those threads.

But that drives me crazy too. We would have a big active "Last Jedi" thread, and someone decides that they need to start a new thread about Dameron Poe's jacket or some such nonsense.

I'm in the camp of ...I'll post what I want , when or how I wish to do it. I could post tomorrow about something and not care how it fits into something , somewhere else. Its a message board. If someone wants to post about Poe's jacket ...let em. All power to them. Who cares if Poe's jacket fits into some other thread.

[DebkoX]

I love wrestling, but this could have been on the wrestling threa.

[GindyPosts]

Quit hating, sug.

It happens.

... seriously, can we step back and think about #ItHappens? A 50 year old, non competitive human being without any actual training in the performance arts (or at least understands the human body does not desire to fall down in any capacity), decides to have her ass smashed through a table. And for what?

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Quit hating, sug.

It happens.

... seriously, can we step back and think about #ItHappens? A 50 year old, non competitive human being without any actual training in the performance arts (or at least understands the human body does not desire to fall down in any capacity), decides to have her ass smashed through a table. And for what?

I don't think anyone is hating here. In one hand she grew a business to a point where it was getting overseas deals , TV and video games as we saw. Then she made some errors that started a downfall for her. She tried to hold onto the company but it was clear after Panda pulled out , Dixie was in trouble.

[GindyPosts]

I don't think anyone is hating here. In one hand she grew a business to a point where it was getting overseas deals , TV and video games as we saw. Then she made some errors that started a downfall for her. She tried to hold onto the company but it was clear after Panda pulled out , Dixie was in trouble.

No. "Quit hating" was actually a meme we had on another forum, Freakin' Awesome Network, after Dixie replied to someone critucal of the product on Twitter by saying"Quit hating", and we just ran with it because it was so tone-deaf.

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

At the end of the day Dixie was a money mark who had no sense of the business and hired people who had success at points but ultimately imploded. She hired everyone who was part of the process of WCW dying and that was a company that had so much backing it needed to completely fall to absolute shambles to have the plug pulled. In the end TNA became a toxic brand and that’s the worst thing you can say about ownership. Someone thinks you’re product is viable but doesn’t sand the association of the brand you built.

TNA had EVERY advantage a post Monday Night Wars wrestling company could ask for and they squandered it.

[Crazy Diamond]

The weird part is Impact Wrestling/TNA somehow outlasted WCW despite not having near the same impact or success. I keep pulling for them to succeed despite everything but with there being more options to watch now than in 2002 I'm not following them much.