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For years, TNA has been labelled as the “black sheep” of professional wrestling. While fans and critics have been predicting the demise of the company, somehow they managed to stay afloat. However, more recently, the voices have gotten stronger, and the foundations on which the company was built, have been crumbling under pressure.
Not too long ago, TNA was seen as an answer to WWE’s monotonous product- an organisation that could possibly end WWE’s monopoly in North America. Starting a wrestling company has always been a tricky proposition, but a decade ago, it seemed as if the pieces of the puzzle were coming together.
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Under Jeff Jarrett, TNA wasn’t exactly thriving, but it was unquestionably growing. With an influx of some of the best and overlooked talents (such as Christian), TNA found itself behind WWE as the second-biggest North American promotion.
TNA had ended its deal with Ring of Honor and claimed the exclusive services of the likes of AJ Styles and Samoa Joe.
However, with Dixie Carter acquiring complete ownership (including the minority share of Jarrett), the company has seen a drastic decline in its ratings, as well as mismanagement which led to numerous influential figures walking away from the company.
But where did it all go wrong for TNA? Today, we put the events that unfolded under the microscope and see exactly when the walls started crumbling.
The early years - TNA makes all the right noises
The reason people started tuning into TNA programming, was because it offered an alternative to the fans, who were vexed with what WWE was putting out. One of the key requirements in any succesful business is healthy competition, and TNA offered a more “smarky” product, which when combined with the dwindling interest in WWE’s product, bode well for the company.
After getting exclusive rights of its performers, TNA, catered to the smart fans. TNA achieved cult status among the niche fan base, and they brought in big names to get more eyeballs to the product. TNA also signed deals with YouTube and New Motion, Inc. to reach a wider audience, while their association with Spike TV helped the company grow.
TNA understood its fan base, but also put on a product which attracted viewers of different demographics. TNA’s partnerships with AAA, NJPW and CMLL, also helped the company grow internationally while achieving their targets in North America.
Dixie Carter becomes more prominent: Brings in Hogan and Bischoff
While Dixie Carter (with Panda Energy) bought 71% of the stakes in the company - thereby the controlling interest back in 2002, she became more prominent from 2009 as an on-screen personality.
Once Jeff left the company, Dixie brought in the likes of Hogan and Bischoff, along with a host of former WWE and WCW talent. Thereby moving away from what made TNA successful in the first place.
Along with Hogan and Bischoff, Vince Russo, who was still the creative head, started making some bad decisions, which included storylines that didn’t go over with the fans. While Hogan’s association with TNA brought a few eyeballs in the initial few months, the interest started dwindling, and the people within the company began to look after their own interests.
TNA then moved to Monday Nights on Spike TV, directly competing with WWE’s Monday Night RAW. The move proved to be a colossal disaster, while Dixie and Hogan’s decision to take TNA on the road crippled the company financially. Hard as it is to believe, Dixie blamed TNA’s financial woes on their “One Night Only” PPVs.
Releasing a host of TNA originals, topped by firing Jesse Sorensen
It was either TNA’s miscalculation, or their unrealistic expectation that saw TNA going on the road, and even to several international markets frequently, which considerably impacted their wallets. Soon, Dixie found out that offering lucrative deals to “has beens” such as Mick Foley, Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan and Booker T was not the solution to their problem.
However, this came about a little too late.
A number of stars left the organisation as 2013 came around, including several “TNA Originals” - AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian, among others. TNA couldn’t afford to keep Hogan, Sting, RVD and others on their payroll, while the drop in ratings put TNA in a spot of bother with Spike TV.
Panda Energy divested itself of its ownership, with Dixie’s mother putting a tight leash on the cash outflow. This, with the PR nightmare TNA and Dixie endured, after firing Jesse Sorensen - a former TNA star who broke his neck, during a bout did TNA no favours.
Vince Russo costs TNA their deal with Spike TV
Vince Russo is one of the most controversial figures in the industry and has always given prominence to “edgy content” over in - ring action. During his tenure with TNA in the first decade, he was heavily booed and jeered by the TNA faithful and left the company in 2012.
One of the main reasons as reported by many outlets, for him parting ways with TNA, was the dissatisfaction of Spike TV, with what Russo was doing.
However, it was later revealed that Russo was secretly working with TNA as a consultant. This revelation was made when Russo accidentally leaked an email, which he was supposed to send to TNA.
In the following days, Russo admitted on his website that he was indeed working for TNA as a consultant - an admission which was mysteriously deleted a couple of days later.
Spike TV decided to drop TNA from its line-up because they did not have faith in TNA’s leadership. In short, Spike was not convinced that TNA would be able to turn their fortunes around. However, rumours later surfaced that Spike was upset about TNA’s association with Russo - something they were against in the first place.
Dixie Carter makes the same mistakes - Destination America parts ways
TNA found a second home on Destination America, and while the Network and the organisation sounded optimistic about their partnership, there were growing concerns about Dixie’s ability to dig TNA out of its existing financial troubles. One of TNA’s biggest troubles was to break even or make profits, which they hadn’t been able to do.
While Destination America did try its best to advertise TNA’s move, they faced two issues - the Network wasn’t able to break even, with the costs to put TNA on air, and they weren’t able to attract advertisers during the program.
In fact, it was reported that Destination America’s regular advertisers had specifically asked the Network not to air their ads during the time slot given to TNA!
A new beginning on Pop TV - TNA’s nightmares continue
After Destination America dropped TNA, the company signed a deal with Pop TV and has been on the Network since. TNA has since cut back on its production, a number of tapings/live events, PPVs and cut ties with talent. In simple terms, TNA has been doing whatever it possibly can to stay afloat.
However, recent revelations shed more light on just how Dixie Carter and TNA have found themselves in a ditch.
In layman’s terms, TNA has been taking money from one party to pay off the other, all the while not making any headway financially. Fight Network, Billy Corgan and Aroluxe Marketing have all poured in money at one point or the other to help TNA with its tapings.
At the same time, with Corgan claiming that TNA is insolvent, the future looks bleak for the organisation.
In hindsight, a host of bad decisions over the past decade have led to TNA finding themselves being sued by multiple parties. While Aroluxe has made its intentions clear about re-paying Corgan, this might very well signal the demise of TNA Impact Wrestling.
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