Cornette says TNA could go under in 2 years?

[mayhem]

Jim Cornette who recently left TNA and joined ROH stated the other day on a wrestling radio show that he believes that TNA owner Bob Carter aka Dixie Carters father could drop TNA Wrestling from his business initiatives as he owns Panda Energy and could lead to the fall of TNA if not desired anymore. This would leave TNA in limbo with no major financial backer if so.

This was Cornettes response in relation to being asked about the promo from the TNA President on last weeks Impact episode.

TNA just acquired the biggest name they could get in Hulk Hogan so what's your thoughts on Cornette's opinion in regards to TNA?

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Well, I'd imagine that a bit of that is Cornette simply being Cornette – a loud mouth with no one to answer to at the moment.

But with regard to TNA being dropped? Well, that's a purely financial concern. If TNA is able to acquire an increase in ratings, and start turning a bigger profit, then Carter will have no reason to drop it from his business initiatives. If TNA continues to flounder, or the ratings drop? Well, kiss it goodbye, then.

It's difficult to really gauge something like this from two years out.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

Well, Cornette is a bitter guy, so a lot of what he has to say, I take with a grain of salt these days. I liked the guy and I agree with his political views (which are a refreshing change to listen to), but he has gotten to be an angry guy due to the wrestling business changing around him and he not liking one bit of it. Nor can he seem to remotely accept it.

I do think it's quite possible that Panda could sell of TNA, and this may be Dixie's way of saying to the troops "Now, or Never" .... and that they have to simply read between the lines.

And that is the reason I think it's great that Bischoff comes in, because at least I know with him ... he would be in it for the long term if he would be a partial owner, and that he would always be around.

So I definitely see Panda dropping them as a possibility if it isn't making enough money. But in a way, that may be a great thing for the long-term if Bischoff and/or Hogan secure control of some level of ownership in the company.

 

[AjStyles]

I am kind of criss-crossed Jim cornette was tna mmanager for years so he knew what was going on behind the scenes on the other hand Tna has never looked better with all of the new talent and spokespeople for it right now I just don't know what to think however with booker t going back to the wwe and with rumors of scott steiner leaving the wwe it seems like some of the long-time porfessional wrestling veterans aren't too pleased with whats going on

 

[Midnite Express 2009]

I am not sure if Cornette is bitter at TNA or the wrestling business in general. He somewhat comes off like Bruno and a host of other ex-wrestlers/persons in the business who "grapple" with the change of times. I can agree to a certain point with Cornette's logic, however, he wasn't saying that when he was doing the backstage promo work for TNA or appeared as an on-air personality. That being said, Cornette needs not worry about TNA, yet he should focus his attention on his current situation, that getting ROH off the ground.

Let's face it, Cornette has always left promotions with a bad taste in his mouth, and probably leaving them with a bad taste in theirs. If Jim was a TRUE wrestling puriest, he'd not make claims that dozens of lives could be altered due to them no longer having viable employment. The financial situations of TNA shouldn't be Jim's concerns whatsoever and again, if he really cared about the business and/or the wrestlers as well as the fans, for everything negative he has to say, he'd try to make sure those men and women kept their jobs.

I'm not sure if Cornette wishes they'd go out of business, and if so, I'm not exactly sure why. But the bottom line is that Jim needs to grow up, stop being so damn bitter and realize that wrestling, like life, is an ever-changing thing. Besides, it wasn't always The Midnight Express and Jim Cornette before he came, and he changed the face of tag-team wrestling...why can't he accept change now?

 

[GameOver]

Cornette has always been a loudmouth lol, as a promoter as a manager backstage talent.
the guy can't say 1 sentence without dropping the F-Bomb lol

and most of what he's sais is full of shit. He's as self serving and opinionated as the next guy, if not more

i dunno about TNA going under, and he never said he wanted ithem too, he merely said it could happen. but what he talks about in relation to current events like Hogan running the show and Vince McMahon seems very logical.

the Carters are not wrestling, they are what Ted Turner was. people with money that want in on something that was a global phenomenon. Soon as they lose money left right and centre they've got no incentive or passion but to shut up shop

And the way things are run or appear to be run you gotta think do they have an clue? or are they trying to kill off the small amount of success they've managed to achieve despite the obsticles? Stop listening to Russo, and the retirement home wrestlers and take a page out of ROH's book

Same could be said for Vince McMahon, is he serious, it's like he's reliving over and over again that promo where he introduced the nWo into WWE saying he was gonna kill off his own creation. and with each passing week they are making it a reality

 

[johnbragg]

I don't think that Cornette has inside information here, or at least not much. He's giving an informed opinion.

No one except Bob and maybe Dixie Carter know what their thresholds are for losses or their definition of "success" for TNA is. If TNA's ceiling is a modest annual profit and a 1.5 ceiling in the ratings, I don't know if the Carters stay in the game.


If they don't? I don't know if there's a buyer that would cover or partially cover the years of losses. Vince would pay something for the tape library and very few of the talent contracts, but not much--not nearly enough to cover Panda/TNA's losses over the last 6 years. For anyone else, the assets are the tape library, some talent, the PPV and maybe the Universal Studio contracts, the Spike TV slot if they still have it, and a TNA/Impact brand with serious negatives attached. If you were starting up "USPW", say, that stuff is worth somewhere over $1,000,000, I'd say, but less than $10,000,000.

Do the Carters hang in there, settling for modest profits or modest losses, after they've decided that they're never going to own WCW 2.0? Do they hang in there hoping to find a better buyer? Do they just walk away?

I guarantee this: No one not named "Carter" or "Salinas" knows.

 

[Jack Tunney's Ghost]

I've said it in the forums before, and I stand by it... the sudden "rush" of activity by Dixie Carter by signing Hogan, the urgency of getting more TNA time on TV with new shows, rearranging the writing staff, ousting Jarrett and his cronies, and that odd speech by Carter on Imapact! last week -- still has me thinking that Panda Energy is threatening to pull the plug on TNA... and probably sooner than anyone would like to believe.

Sure, Panda COULD sell TNA... but, who'd want to buy it? Hell, Time/Warner couldn't sell WCW back when there more people who had interest in wrestling as opposed to now... and WCW was a STEAL... Time/Warner was looking to dump WCW in a hurry and the asking price was in the bargain basement discount binned range. Some believe Shane McMahon may be a part of this scenerio as a possible investor in TNA. Not sure about that idea, but, it'd be a helluva story if true... and he'd be about the only one with the funds and more importantly, cash (thanks to selling off his WWE stock shares earlier this year) to pull it off. Whatever the case, I really don't see Panda Energy being in the wrestling business for too long.

I don't know how freaked out Panda Energy is about TNA's financial situation, so, if they were to sell, they may have the luxury of taking their time trying to sell TNA as opposed to Time/Warner's eagerness to unload WCW. So, it may be a better ending than WCW's.

And I think Cornette was being generous by saying 2 years. I'd be amazed if TNA were to be around in it's current incarnation (management/financial backing-wise) a year from now.

And I wouldn't put too much stock in TNA's interest in TV ratings. TNA is more interested in the dollars than the TV numbers right now. TNA knows that they've pretty much peaked on TV ratings wise. For TNA to be extremely excited by TV ratings, they'd have to jump significantly for ratings to really "matter." That means topping WWE's numbers... actually... they'd have to be a couple of points above Raw numbers wise. But, with TNA's current product and television situation, they know that's not going to happen anytime soon.

TNA is in a weird position -- they need to invest more money into getting good TV ratings. But, TV ratings aren't enough of a pay off to make it worth investing more money into ratings. Although, better TV ratings can mean some more money for the company, but, again, not worth the money investment to get more "less" money.

 

[CuddleBuns84]

Hey, it's a good opinion, with some good facts attached. I mean let's face it, Hulk Hogan is the big name, and with the style of Wrestling some of these guys have, you have a big name and some crummy matches. You can get some draw, but not enough to make something happen. TNA within a five year period should be dead.

 

[Jack Tunney's Ghost]

I just checked a few websites about Panda Energy... interesting to note that the company, being privately owned, isn't too transparent about its operations.

Their website really doesn't list anything much other than their big power projects and that has not been updated since October 2008.

What I found REALLY interesting is that Panda Energy's fiscal year ends in December.

I would assume that the end of TNA's fiscal year ends in December as well.

I may be reading too much into it, but, it may also help to explain why Dixie signed Hogan when she did and is doing everything in such a rushed fashion before their fiscal books for the year close.

It may also mean that TNA's budget will be somewhat different for the 2010 fiscal year. Better or wose, I guess we will see... my bet is, it'll be a smaller budget for TNA in 2010, and she's spending this year's (2009) fiscal "extra" budgeted money while she still has it.