Billy Corgan is the New President of TNA

[three count bout]

http://www.pwtorch.com/site/2016/08/12/breaking-tna-announces-major-executive-shake-corgan-carter/

Apparently Billy Corgan has been named President of TNA and Dixie Carter has become the Chairman of the company. The article states that Dixie wanted to give him a role that reflected his commitments to the company and he will be in charge of day to day operations.

The article notes that the company struggled to find investors with Dixie at the helm and that Corgan vows to use his connections to take the company further in 2016. Whether another investment group will join with Corgan remains to be seen.

The article doesn't seem to be in kayfabe so it looks like there has been some major shake ups in TNA. IMO TNA has had a great year of television since the move to POP and can only build on this. Getting away from the LOL Dixie mind-state might actually attract some viewers who left due to certain perceptions about the companies management.

Assuming this is all true what are your thoughts about this change in management?

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

The best advice any TNA fan can give Billy Corgan and Dixie Carter is...

....stay off the television screen. Let the wrestlers tell the story, both Corgan and Carter are fucking terrible with a mic and should just stay behind the scenes.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

Titles in a corporate setting are as much props as titles in professional wrestling. This may make no difference to the quality of the product or the product's ability to shrink or grow.

Dixie probably heard, "Belieeeeeve, believe in me, belieeeve, believe" on the radio and decided to make the change.

 

[Alex]

The best advice any TNA fan can give Billy Corgan and Dixie Carter is...

....stay off the television screen. Let the wrestlers tell the story, both Corgan and Carter are fucking terrible with a mic and should just stay behind the scenes.

Hey Billy Corgan is awesome on a mic. I love Bullet With Butterfly Wings.

Seriously though Dixie is seen as incompetent and turns some people off because of the history of stupidity she's done. Billy Corgan at least is known as the creative leader of Smashing Pumpkins and is a known fan of wrestling. Being a creative powerhouse in his day job and a fan of wrestling would lend itself to people hopefully checking out TNA under his leadership

 

[nwocongo]

It's a miracle this company has survived through Dixie's stupidity, the more hands-off she is with the product the better off TNA will be, assuming that's what will become of this.

If they insist on having an on-air authority figure, its probably better Corgan than Dixie but would it kill TNA to go another direction and keep them both behind the scenes? The "Authority Figure" gimmick has yet to produce a compelling storyline since Stone Cold vs. Vince yet it keeps getting beat into the ground. Let the commentators convey to the audience the decisions made by commissioners/presidents or whomever and get back to telling most of the story in the ring. It is called Total Non-Stop Action after all..

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Corgan has really climbed the executive ladder since coming in 16 months ago. Really, like no one before him. Not even Bischoff and Hogan were able to see this kind of inter-company growth.

I'd like to understand more about exactly what goes into the day-to-day operations of being TNA's President, and specifically how it differs from John Gaburick's title of EVP of Creative and Talent Relations. Is Corgan going to have direct access to pay structures, or be the final say on who is or isn't brought in and/or retained? Things like this.

From the outside, it's a nice PR move, because Carter's reputation not only precedes her but is overwhelmingly negative. Even if it's not warranted (I'm torn on this), the public perception of her is poor, so from that respect this can really only be met with positivity IMO.

 

[Lowdown]

I'm with Jeff in saying that they need to stay off TV. Nothing against Corgan, but the last thing TNA needs again is one of the real authority figures being a regular on TV. Dixie still gets crapped on constantly regardless of her on screen character or behind the scenes.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

I actually find Corgan compelling as an on-screen character. Carter is the polar opposite. She's too contrived. Billy is actually genuinely awkward, and for some reason it really works with his authority character IMO.

 

[Vintage]

I actually find Corgan compelling as an on-screen character. Carter is the polar opposite. She's too contrived. Billy is actually genuinely awkward, and for some reason it really works with his authority character IMO.

He gets the benefit of every athlete being able to look at him like, sit your singing ass down while he stands there and tries to be threatening. With Dixie it's more like your hot mom who doesn't use cuss words standing there scolding you.

 

[rmp0012002]

Corgan didn't even run his own promotion and other than being a musical name has done nothing for TNA. With his own music and Smashing Punkins reuniting how can he actually run a wrestling company. It's business, the less you do the bigger title you get.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

Corgan didn't even run his own promotion and other than being a musical name has done nothing for TNA. With his own music and Smashing Punkins reuniting how can he actually run a wrestling company. It's business, the less you do the bigger title you get.

And Bischoff ran his own promotion prior to making WCW into the monster it became?

Land of the solid steel arguments.

 

[Trill Co$by]

I honestly think Billy Corgan can do a lot for TNA. Just like with Dixie, I don't mind him being on camera. I just don't like him being on camera all the time. WWE does the Authority Figure angle, and it's gotten stale. I wish Billy would become the sole on air authority figure and just be neutral. Sure, individual workers can sway the wordings to favor their own agendas, but at the end of the day Billy would be unbiased and fair.

Also as far as behind the scenes, I think that if Corgan got his independent company to at least where they could develop a few pilots for a series on AMC, then he might be able to get them onto a valuable network and negotiate a contract that benefits them all. I really think that if he can get TNA onto like The CW on a Thursday night, then they'd be in the land of peaches and cream. Especially if the network helps with budgeting.

And Bischoff ran his own promotion prior to making WCW into the monster it became?

Land of the solid steel arguments.

To be fair, Bischoff had prior knowledge on how wrestling worked, but he also had the business savvy to get the front office to do what he needed to do.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

i'm not really surprise since from what i've read, he'S one of the main reason that TNA still exist right now because he gave them a lot of money to pay for some of the tv tapings and the slammiversary ppv. Having said that, i don't think that this will change anything, TNA is a very damage product right now and that'S because of decision that Dixie made throughout the years. The fact that they always push former WWE stars in front of homegrown talent as been another problem throughout the history and it seem like they are continuing that trent with sandow which is a big mistake in my opinion.

They're also the eric bischoff lawsuit to take into consideration, i don'T know what the lawsuit is about but if it goes to court and it'S for a big amount of money and that Bischoff wins then it won'T matter who is in charge of TNA because i don'T see them getting out of this one no matter who in charge.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

To be fair, Bischoff had prior knowledge on how wrestling worked, but he also had the business savvy to get the front office to do what he needed to do.

Corgan has made it painfully clear that he's been obsessed with wrestling since he was a child. I assume much like you and I, except with much more hands-on experience.

On top of that, Corgan is the front man of one of the most popular bands of the last 20 years. Making a band successful involves just as much business sense as promoting a wrestling company. There's a product, there's a market, there's an audience and there's an industry standard. Okay, how do we make this work, how do we make this appealing to that audience so we can carve out a piece of the market.

The field is different, the mechanics are very similar. Similar enough for him to dive in, adapt, adjust and thrive.

I do agree that Billy should be the main man. Dixie's involvement is still bothering me. I'm hoping this is a way to phase her out. In the end, if Corgan proves that he can be successful at the helm then he gets to push his weight around a lot more and who knows, maybe Dixie can get sacked.

I want to see what the next 6 or so months will bring. We won't know what Corgan can do in a week or two, we won't know in a month. To gauge how good he is for TNA we need at least a year. A bare minimum.

I want to see what his vision is, I want to see if he makes smart decisions that benefit TNA, the fans, investors and advertisers. I'm really curious and for now I think this is good for TNA. Whether it stays good is another story.

 

[Trill Co$by]

Corgan has made it painfully clear that he's been obsessed with wrestling since he was a child. I assume much like you and I, except with much more hands-on experience.

On top of that, Corgan is the front man of one of the most popular bands of the last 20 years. Making a band successful involves just as much business sense as promoting a wrestling company. There's a product, there's a market, there's an audience and there's an industry standard. Okay, how do we make this work, how do we make this appealing to that audience so we can carve out a piece of the market.

The field is different, the mechanics are very similar. Similar enough for him to dive in, adapt, adjust and thrive.

I do agree that Billy should be the main man. Dixie's involvement is still bothering me. I'm hoping this is a way to phase her out. In the end, if Corgan proves that he can be successful at the helm then he gets to push his weight around a lot more and who knows, maybe Dixie can get sacked.

I want to see what the next 6 or so months will bring. We won't know what Corgan can do in a week or two, we won't know in a month. To gauge how good he is for TNA we need at least a year. A bare minimum.

I want to see what his vision is, I want to see if he makes smart decisions that benefit TNA, the fans, investors and advertisers. I'm really curious and for now I think this is good for TNA. Whether it stays good is another story.

Okay but your original statement made claims that would indicate that any businessman can make a promotion work. And as Daddy Carter proved, that's just not the case. Only few people can maintain the constant backstage politics of wrestler while delivering a quality televised wrestling broadcast. It takes special people. People like Heyman, Bischoff, and McMahon who know how to handle things. Someone who knows how to talk to the boys while also talking to the suits.

That's not to say Billy Corgan can't do it. I'm just saying that Bischoff, having been a broadcaster for AWA, had previous experience working with wrestling but he also had business sense to conduct meetings with AOL up until they sold WCW. I really hope Corgan does have the ability, but as of yet we don't really truly know.

 

[TDFG]

It doesn't bother me if Corgan is or isn't on TV each week, if TNA is going to have some sort of boardroom figure on Impact then Corgan is better than Big John or Dixie Carter.

The development here is interesting as reports where that any takeover would have to involve Carter being involved on screen with storylines.

Whether it's a restructuring move or perhaps a sign that they know a takeover is nearing getting Carter off TV is a good move.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

Okay but your original statement made claims that would indicate that any businessman can make a promotion work. And as Daddy Carter proved, that's just not the case. Only few people can maintain the constant backstage politics of wrestler while delivering a quality televised wrestling broadcast. It takes special people. People like Heyman, Bischoff, and McMahon who know how to handle things. Someone who knows how to talk to the boys while also talking to the suits.

That's not to say Billy Corgan can't do it. I'm just saying that Bischoff, having been a broadcaster for AWA, had previous experience working with wrestling but he also had business sense to conduct meetings with AOL up until they sold WCW. I really hope Corgan does have the ability, but as of yet we don't really truly know.

Nah, then you misunderstood. I certainly don't think just anyone can do it.

But in terms of Corgan, he's been involved with wrestling before. I'm a little iffy on the details, but he either ran a promotion back in the day or he was part of it in some form or fashion.

So my whole point is that Corgan has experience in the industry as well as a legitimate passion for it. To me, that's not a bad combination.

 

[Weems2k]

I won't deny that Dixie has done some boneheaded things. Out of curiosity, any chance someone can list all these things she's done in the past say 5 years?

 

[nwocongo]

I won't deny that Dixie has done some boneheaded things. Out of curiosity, any chance someone can list all these things she's done in the past say 5 years?

I don't follow TNA very closely anymore so some of the more hardcore fans may be able to shed more light on it, but off the top of my head... she has mismanaged the company to the point that they couldn't pay and therefore lost Roode and Young. The fact they are on Pop tv, formerly known as the TV Guide channel should be an immediate red flag.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

I won't deny that Dixie has done some boneheaded things. Out of curiosity, any chance someone can list all these things she's done in the past say 5 years?

Can't list everything that she's done since 2010 but I can list some of the biggest boneheaded things that I remember

1. Hiring hogan and bischoff.
2. Hiring legends like ric flair, mick foley and sting and not using them to make the youngers wrestlers look like main event stars.
3.immortals, ace of eights and all the other invasion faction storylie they did over tje ueas.

4. Going head to head and live with wwe raw.
5. Lying to spike tv executive about them hiring vince russo.
6. thinking that hiring wwe stars and giving them main event slot over tna homegrown talent would attract fans
7.copying everything wwe did.
8. Not focusing on what brought them to the dance (x-division, tag team division, knockout division)

And that's just the stuff that I remember and I'm sure their are way more bonehead stuff he did over the years.

 

[Trill Co$by]

I don't follow TNA very closely anymore so some of the more hardcore fans may be able to shed more light on it, but off the top of my head... she has mismanaged the company to the point that they couldn't pay and therefore lost Roode and Young. The fact they are on Pop tv, formerly known as the TV Guide channel should be an immediate red flag.

"As of February 2015, Pop is available to approximately 75,255,000 pay television households (64.7% of households with at least one television set) in the United States."

That's never a red flag when your product can reach literally over half of the US population. That's not exactly SpikeTV exposure, but it's definitely a lot better than Destination America. So really the move was a good move as far as opening for more exposure goes. And if PopTV invested the same way SpikeTV did, then TNA would be better off.

Dixie's problems isn't in the networking department. She's really good at going out there and securing TNA's livelihood on television. She did it when they got on FOXSports, SpikeTV, Destination America, and PopTV. That's one of her extremely valued assets.

Her problems come with handling talent and booking. She's rating hungry and therefore cashes in big time potential attention grabbing storylines for the shock value of gaining ratings. It also doesn't help that she's still using a 1970s taping format in the year 2016. I realize that the taping schedule isn't her fault considering they're just following their contract with Universal Studios, but they can do a lot better. Maybe tape once a month, similar to NXT.

And they also need to get back in the PPV market. WWE is cashing out and heading to the Network, so companies have to be offering huge payouts to places like UFC, TNA, ROH, etc. In fact, by them not doing PPVs, they've closed out another source of revenue in DVD sales. By having more PPVs, you can record those to DVD, send them out, and make a lot more money.

Another problem she has is letting her talent get too big and then not be able to sign them to better contracts. How you manage to lose guys like Eric Young, AJ Styles, and Bobby Roode is beyond me... but they managed to do so, and now she could be paying the price for it.

And her final problem is venue hosting. TNA's television tapings draw roughly what 8,000-10,000 people? Well that should tell her that when she goes on tour (which they need to do again) that she needs to find venues that can hold 500-2,000. That way you can make money off the venues.

 

[Weems2k]

Can't list everything that she's done since 2010 but I can list some of the biggest boneheaded things that I remember

1. Hiring hogan and bischoff.
2. Hiring legends like ric flair, mick foley and sting and not using them to make the youngers wrestlers look like main event stars.
3.immortals, ace of eights and all the other invasion faction storylie they did over tje ueas.

4. Going head to head and live with wwe raw.
5. Lying to spike tv executive about them hiring vince russo.
6. thinking that hiring wwe stars and giving them main event slot over tna homegrown talent would attract fans
7.copying everything wwe did.
8. Not focusing on what brought them to the dance (x-division, tag team division, knockout division)

And that's just the stuff that I remember and I'm sure their are way more bonehead stuff he did over the years.

I'll only agree with #5, and to an extent #6.

1. As bad as those 2 turned out to be, I'll still agree with that move. Impact's highest ratings were when they were there, and they brought a huge name recognition with them. Unfortunately, when the Nasty Boys, Val Venus, and Bubba the fat sponge showed up, everyone got that uh oh feeling.

2. Not sure what you were watching, but Sting was one of the main reasons guys like Styles, and Joe became huge main events. Foley, and Flair were there for maybe a year, and they didn't really do too much.

3. These storylines were quite good at first, but unfortunately either from backstage politics, or running too long left a bad taste in peoples mouth. I still think the heel Jeff Hardy had huge potential, minus the drugs.

4. A chance worth taking. Just like with any business, you have to take chances to expand, but they don't always pan out. I was never expecting a rebirth of the Monday Night Wars, but if Impact's ratings got a boost just enough to push the creative teams, why not. All the wrestling fans will benefit.

7. Everything is copied, and recycled these days. There's really nothing original left to do in pro wresting today.

8. While TNA did have some of the best X Division, and Tag Team matches for awhile, you still need the traditional heavyweights to get that more mainstream type crowd.

 

[nwocongo]

"As of February 2015, Pop is available to approximately 75,255,000 pay television households (64.7% of households with at least one television set) in the United States."

That's never a red flag when your product can reach literally over half of the US population. That's not exactly SpikeTV exposure, but it's definitely a lot better than Destination America. So really the move was a good move as far as opening for more exposure goes. And if PopTV invested the same way SpikeTV did, then TNA would be better off.

Dixie's problems isn't in the networking department. She's really good at going out there and securing TNA's livelihood on television. She did it when they got on FOXSports, SpikeTV, Destination America, and PopTV. That's one of her extremely valued assets.

Good point about her networking abilities, however not being able to stay on one network seems to be a problem. How much of the blame she gets for this could be up for debate but as the president of the company it was ultimately her responsibility to take whatever steps necessary to produce a quality program.

Having her business connections and tons of her parents money to burn through makes it even more puzzling/problematic that they can't remain in good enough standing with any of these networks to remain in the same place.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

I'll only agree with #5, and to an extent #6.

1. As bad as those 2 turned out to be, I'll still agree with that move. Impact's highest ratings were when they were there, and they brought a huge name recognition with them. Unfortunately, when the Nasty Boys, Val Venus, and Bubba the fat sponge showed up, everyone got that uh oh feeling.

2. Not sure what you were watching, but Sting was one of the main reasons guys like Styles, and Joe became huge main events. Foley, and Flair were there for maybe a year, and they didn't really do too much.

3. These storylines were quite good at first, but unfortunately either from backstage politics, or running too long left a bad taste in peoples mouth. I still think the heel Jeff Hardy had huge potential, minus the drugs.

4. A chance worth taking. Just like with any business, you have to take chances to expand, but they don't always pan out. I was never expecting a rebirth of the Monday Night Wars, but if Impact's ratings got a boost just enough to push the creative teams, why not. All the wrestling fans will benefit.

7. Everything is copied, and recycled these days. There's really nothing original left to do in pro wresting today.

8. While TNA did have some of the best X Division, and Tag Team matches for awhile, you still need the traditional heavyweights to get that more mainstream type crowd.

Not to disrespect your opinion but outside of lying to spike tv about the russo hiring, the hogan/bischoff hiring was the worst thing that happenned for tna, they had one week with high ratings because of them and then the ratings went down so much that they almost kill the company because of all the dumb idea they had and bringing all of hogan friends and not focusing on young talents. The fact that bischoff is suing them for something isn't helping them either and we can't forget that during the whole time hogan was with tna, he never did any promotion for tna because he didn't want to waste a tv apparence on promoting tna and sign a videogames deal with thq to appear in wwe videogames during the time he was with tna. Signing hogan was the dumbest thing dixie ever did since it didn't bring any new viewers and almost killed the company.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

something that kinda bothered me by watching last night episode of impact and it was the way he played is character especially during the lashley segment and the backstage segment afterward. It's his promo about the titles made it fell like both the x-division title and the worthless king of the mountain title meant nothing, he monotone delivery make him a even worst on screen character then dixie was. I hope he won'T be on tv every week because i'm going to be missing dixie being on tv after a month of corgan.