There's so much wrong in here I don't even know where to begin. Well, let's give this a shot.
Paul Heyman is by far the worst thing that could happen to TNA. The guy wanted to incorporate UFC crap in a pro wrestling product. Are you kidding me? For what? To draw in a portion of the UFC crowd?
Well considering UFC draws bigger PPV buyrates than WWE except for Wrestlemania, I'd say they have a big crowd to draw from. TNA hasn't brought in new fans in years as evidenced by their stagnant TV ratings. Trying to appeal to a new fanbase wouldn't be a terrible thing. There are certainly ups and downs to this idea and I don't know how it would be executed, but to try and appeal to the UFC crowd isn't a bad idea. Hell, Undertaker did that with WWE by using the gogoplata submission in his repertoire. Small example but he's a fan and wanted to show that he was incorporating that into the wrestling product.
He wanted to fire everyone over the age of 40? Well, for one, like Nash said - that'd be okay if he's the first in line, because he's over 40. And what happens to all the other wrestlers TNA has that are over 40 and are good? What happens in a few years when guys like AJ and Anderson turn 40? Was he gonna have Jay Lethal and Amazing Red Main Event his shows?
I can't tell you who would main event the shows in a few years. In 1995, could I have told you that the recently debuted Hunter Hearst Helmsley, The Ringmaster and the yet-to-debut Mankind and Rocky Maivia would be main eventing? The idea is that like sports, wrestlers have a finite timeline that they are a draw. That's less an age thing than it is a time on top. One of the main reasons the WWE ended up beating WCW was because the WWF had the forsight to create new main eventers. You always have to be looking forward and giving the fans something new. People got tired of seeing Hogan the heel dominate everything in WCW, especially when his main events were against old opponents that were purely nostalgic. They had two chances to change things with Sting and Goldberg and they fucked both up. Heyman can see that you need to mix things up. You comment on Cena later and maybe part of the reason people boo him is because he's simply the same guy that's been on top for 6 years. In the instant gratification age where there are 13 PPVs a year, that's a lot of time. The fans want something new and they are getting it now with the youth movement. Some guys will stick, others won't. In the late 90s, the WWE tried pushing guys like Test, British Bulldog (briefly), Billy Gunn, Ken Shamrock, and others, but what stuck was Steve Austin, The Rock, Triple H, and Mankind (Taker was already there basically). Later on, you had Kurt Angle and Chris Jericho join the fray as well, with Lesnar to follow. The point is that you have to continue to try and push guys and see what the fans respond to. Heyman sees that you need to always be looking that way instead of saying "wrestler x draws, we'll keep him around until he's dead.
And Bischoff did hold on to the nWo for too long, as if McMahon didn't hold on too long on John Cena. See, if that was the only factor WCW would still be alive.
It's not the only factor and I will soon show you where more of the fault lies.
If it was just Bischoff fucking up the nWo thing, I doubt it'd kill the company. But there were a ton of other reasons. That's why WWE is still in business despite McMahon fucking up left and right.
The difference is that Vince is a stron-willed owner who knows the business better than anyone else. Yes he's messed up, everyone has, but clearly he's done so less than anyone else because his business is incredibly successful. The difference with Bischoff and his major flaw is that he's an outsider that got appointed to the president's spot. He's not a guy that grew up in the business, he's a guy trying to infiltrate it. Bischoff as president wanted to be "one of the boys" and that fatally wounded WCW. This led to Hogan and Nash basically booking the thing into oblivion because they knew more wrestling than Bischoff ever could but Bischoff was fine with it. Who cares that they never looked towards the future and they continued to push "the boys" when no one wanted to see it anymore. It's the old "inmates running the asylum" thing and the major difference that every wrestler points out in the difference between WWF and WCW was that WWF felt way more professional. Their locker room was a more controlled place because Vince is the unquestioned leader of the company. He can be a hard ass, but you need to be in order to be successful. Bischoff has been a pushover and that's what scares me about him leading TNA. I hear the same things about their locker room and I fear that he's learned nothing and history will repeat itself.
He still controls his own money, and as long as he has that (and marks to pay for an absolutely fruitless product and give him ratings every week), he'll be in business. More power to him.
He's a guy who took a regional promotion and made it into an international superpower of a company that expands well beyond wrestling. That's why he's in business, because he's a damn good business man. Millions of people watch his product every week, tons own their stock, and their international business plan is top notch. The fact that you took a needless shot there, which is incredibly typical of your posting style, is irrelevant. You know he's a damn good businessman and that TNA sits there WISHING for the success WWE has. Hate the player, don't hate the game. They are damn successful whether the one fan known as Zevon Zion enjoys Monday Night Raw or not.
IF this is true, and I'm starting to believe it isn't, Bischoff is the right and only choice. He knows a heck of a lot more than Dixie, he can do better than Hogan, it's risky to bring in a complete nobody, Shane McMahon is pure science fiction and Heyman is not even an option. Yes, he knows how to book, but that fucker wants the company and that's suicide for TNA. I'd take a sound stage over bingo halls any day.
I'd say TNA are at a crossroads. You had Dixie Carter running the ship as president, a woman who wants success for TNA as she enjoys wrestling but has no idea how to achieve it, she's not "in" the wrestling insiders so she kept trying to bring in wrestling names to steer her product in the right direction. If you handed off to Bischoff, it's the SAME PROBLEM. Bischoff thinks he knows more, but he doesn't. He was Dixie years ago but with a bigger checkbook and a much bigger ego since paying superstars worked for a couple of years. Without that option, you simply have a kiss-ass who will continue to push his one idea and continue to buddy up to wrestlers. He's fine to produce the show (though stop with the camera cuts ever second and a half!), but don't make him your president.
If you want a good president, it needs to be someone who understands all aspects of the business. They need to also surround themselves with good people and be a hard ass businessman or businesswoman. A sense of order is needed and the inmates need to stop running the asylum. You want to make TNA work? Have someone come in and clean house! Jeff Hardy and Kurt Angle, can you get clean? Go get help and only come work for us if you aren't a death risk/media nightmare. Are you planning to be a star, let's book you on any show we can to get our people out there. We only work two tv tapings and then have like 3 house shows and that's it. Use that extra time to promote the business! Then the name starts going out there. You also need someone who's a good scout that can see talent waited to be taught. Jim Ross would be PERFECT but he's doing that with WWE and not going anywhere. He's the guy that signed talent like The Rock, Edge, Christian, Kurt Angle, and more. You need to see the future in talent but then you need the right trainers and such to further that talent. That's where TNA is currently lacking. You have these young dudes that won't go anywhere because they simply aren't getting any better. Hell, Mr. Anderson has come in and gotten worse! These talents need direction and taught every little nuance of the business. You think Steve Austin woke up one morning and just "got it"? Hell no! He worked 10 years to get to the main event and even then he wasn't satisfied and always trying to get better. To do that, you need people constantly analyzing your stuff. I'm a writer and I always have other writers look at my stuff and edit it. You have to if you want your piece to be the best it can be and if you want to improve. I'm going off on a tangent here but I think you are seeing my point.
The president of TNA needs to be someone tough minded and willing to surround themselves with the right people. THAT is where money needs to be invested. I guarantee you that you could build a great company and product without most of the current main eventers if you brought in the right talent scouts, teachers, etc. and worked with your midcarders and such. There's potential in a lot of them and you could have, if done right, a attitude era-like main event in that the guys there would all be relatively new but all would have worked hard to get there and will be awesome in their own way. I personally don't think a pushover like Bischoff can be that guy. I think he can be a TV producer as him and Hervey are good at that, but keep him to that. You have to identify where people are talented and that's his talent, not being the head of a company. Hogan WOULD be better because I think he could grow a spine if he had to. Plus, he's just asshole enough to make it work. I'm not sure he's right for it, but he'd be A LOT better than Bischoff who basically feeds off of Hulk anyway.
As for the truth to this, Dixie asked on twitter today if she should stay on Twitter given that she's stepped down as president so I don't know if that confirms it but it's out there.
One of the most hilariously misguided streams of "logic" I have seen the IWC trumpet in a while. When it comes to the business side on a large scale give me Bischoff 10/10 times.
