Who should Dixie kick out of the "family"

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

The following is from Mark Madden's most recent column on the Wrestlezone.com main page:

"A TNA employee recently told me that Dixie would rather fail with people she considers family than succeed by exercising good business sense and doing what’s needed."

It's common knowledge that Dixie is way too nice for business. She brings in whoever wants in, and does everything she can to keep people around. She won't get rid of anybody, and she's too nice to fire the people that really need to leave. Because of this, Paul Heyman refuses to come to TNA. He wants full control, and Dixie won't let him have it, because she knows people are going to get the axe. Heyman could be TNA's last chance to do something good with their product, and Dixie is throwing that away for the "family".

1.) Do you think Dixie Carter is too "soft" to get TNA to the next level?
2.) Are there people in TNA who need to go? If you had to "trim the fat", who would you get rid of, or repackage as a character?

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

I personally think that Hogan was actually the guy who brought in WAY more fat for the company that Dixie ever has. He brought with him the Nasty Boys, Scott Hall, and Syxx-Pac. I mean, did he really expect those people to do ANYTHING for the TNA product, expect sit around waiting to collect a pay check? But you can't blame everything on Hogan. Dixie is the gal in charge, and she could have made the call and told Hogan "no, they can't come to TNA, because their lazy, sloppy, no-talent workers that won't grow the product one bit".

As far as the fat that needs to be trimmed, I actually don't think there's too many guys that need to go right now. The Knockouts division is getting pretty big, with 12 ladies that are either wrestlers or announcers. With Hall and Pac and the Nasty Boys leaving, I'm actually alright with the roster now.

 

[Mr_billy]

Honestly, most of the talent is on Pay per appearance, so no talent, but, I'd probably thin out some of the higher ups on creative an booking, like Russo. I have never had any problems with TNA talent, and enjoy the matches, it's the stories and lack of direction which bother me. I'm not anti TNA, but I would enjoy a little bit of consistency in the story lines. I'm currently enjoying some of it though, and have been noticing some improvement. I hope the Current Abyss and Sting stories meet up, and Sting is right. The Flair, fortune, and Jay Lethal is enjoyable. The 3d, Jesse Neal is decent, and I'm enjoying the Angle angle, I just hope it stays consistent, or creative has got to go. And maybe Dixie can go too.

 

[Reddannihilation]

LOL thread is LOL. Mark Madden articles are about as useful as a parachute underwater. Dixie's cut plenty of people, look how fast Morely and the Nasty's were out the door. You can't fault her for giving people a chance and when it hasn't payed off she's ditched them. It's all good.

 

[xN Starksx]

Sure, she might be a a little soft on everyone. But, if you think about it.. A lot of people haven't stayed for long. Hell, even the people Hogan brought in our gone, with the exception of Flair. Though, I can see her being soft could be the downfall of TNA. So, in all reality.. She's the only person from TNA I would get rid of. 'Cause talent-wise, I think their doing pretty good. Each division has stars, for the most part, and they're not trying to crowd a two hour show with a thousand people anymore.

I also don't see anyone in TNA that truly needs to be repackaged. Maybe Eric Young, but they repackage him every five minutes away, so he's the exception. Well, I guess you could also take Mr. Anderson.. wait for it.. wait for it.. Anderson back to being a heel, or a tweener at best. But, that's about it for the twisting around and repackaging.

 

[Soapguy]

I don't think any of us can really say because we don't do business with her on a daily basis, but judging from the quickness in which Hogan's buddies were dropped, the manner in which the company released Roxxi, and the fact that some of the knockouts weren't being paid like the midcarders they are leads me to disagreeing that she's too soft.

Of course, that's pure speculation on my part. Also, thecontracts of the non-exclusive wrestlers don't include a downside, so there isn't much a fiscal problem with TNA having a large roster of talented individuals. Especially considering their expansion of television time coming soon.

Of course, this type of speculation (on the part of Madden) often happens anytime a woman is control of anything. It's almost aways judged as one extreme or the other. Female bosses are rarely called anything other than bitches or pushovers. I suspect he (Madden) has about as much knowledge of what's going on behind company door as the rest of us, so I don't really hold his opinions in high regard.

 

[LitasRevenge79]

I agree with this thread. I was pretty skeptical at first of this thing when Nastys, Hall and Pac, Morley and LoveSponge were hired. I though ::facepalm:: "This will NOT be good." But then I remembered an old saying "The bad parts will eventually weed themselves out." Pretty soon you did have Morley gone, then Nastys. Then after much controversy Sponge was gone, shame it was also at the expense of Kong (helluva wrestler) and then Hall and Pac.
I do agree she's not the most business savvy, but they say you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar. She seems like a very sweet lady, and I think even if I was some new comer wrestler looking for a start/finish with a company that seemed to have a pretty reliable schedule where you taped your 3 episodes for the month in a row, I would probably look at her with her Southern Belle sweetness and be hooked. I'm sure some people may say "She's just a girl trying to get by in this biz," but looks can be deceiving, she's probably not as dumb as she looks.
There are LOTS of people who would rather do right and not hurt people's feelings and risk their position by trying to give 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th chances and so on. I think eventually this could work, and I'm sure Dixie has enough people on board to hopefully work with on this.

 

[shattered dreams]

Yeah, that soft Dixie really let Jeff Jarrett walk all over the future of her company. She just could not let go of all the stuff they had done together building up the company. Or wait did she get tough, take charge and put Jarrett in his place? Is Daniels presently working for the company? She did not cut a ton of old deadweight over the past few months? This and many other examples is why people need to stop the disturbing trend of using that Mark's columns as newsworthy events. If Dixie wants to spend what is essentially her money, who are we to tell her not to? It is not like any of us really know TNA's financial situation anyway. This "nice idiot" has done pretty well with the company thus far. I am inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt at the moment over some nameless employee. Oh snap the janitor has an opinion, halt the presses!

 

[UFOcalling]

I really want TNA to succeed just because I like their product more than the WWE...they are succeeding, just not in the way that they want to. The product is making money, but they're not beating the WWE in the ratings (which they desperately want).

Every time I read an article written by Mark Madden, I want TNA to succeed beyond their wildest dreams just so Madden will shut his fat-ass up. I really can't stand that guy. He sits there and bashes the product, but then basically says that he wants a job with TNA? WTF? Madden quote:

it’s safe to say I could return to wrestling, adapt, and excel. I won’t. But I could.

I don’t think Dixie Carter would hire me, though.

I could be wrong, but it seems to me like he's basically BEGGING for Dixie to ask him to be a TNA employee. That's really fucking crazy, Mark. I'm sure that the company you bash on a semi-weekly basis (or more often, I don't listen to his radio show) probably wouldn't be interested in hiring you.

Before I turn this into a complete anti-Madden post, let me answer your question: I really don't think TNA needs to trim any "fat" at the moment. If getting Heyman on board means you have to lose Russo, Hogan & Bischoff, I'd say keep Heyman away from the product. Ask him again if those three guys decide to leave on their own.

Not that bringing Heyman in would hurt. The guy is great (creatively), and if he could work along side everyone it would be fantastic. The whole "I need complete control" thing is bullshit. I think he only said that because he knew Dixie wouldn't give it to him, and he doesn't really want to come to TNA anyway.

They've already got Tommy Dreamer, who I believe has been responsible for the last few shows we've seen. This past month TNA has given us great TV, and I think things are getting to be fantastic. Impact has been better than I've seen it in a while now. I love the idea I read where Dreamer said that he wanted Hogan & Sting to take an "Undertaker-type schedule" (or words to that extent). They should add Jeff Jarret to that list as well. I think the REAL fat has already been trimmed in the past few weeks; we've been seeing FAR less of Hogan, and more of the younger guys. Keep that up, and everything else will work itself out.

I don't think Dixie is "too soft" to get TNA to "the next level"...maybe she would be if she was on her own, but she pays people to make the "tough" decisions for her (I think?). If she doesn't, then she should. Maybe she should take a less active role in the product, but keep providing for the company. It's quite possible that she's got enough people in her ear already, without adding Heyman to the mix at the moment.

To sum it all up, I like the way things have been going lately. Less Hogan, less Jarret, less Bischoff, more younger guys. Keep it up TNA, I love the way things seem to be headed.

 

[Joe's Gonna Kill You]

I personal think that she Shouldn't get rid of anyone right now and its also unfair to say that she is to soft to because she's has gotten rid of the trash when she released the Nasty Boyz, Hall, Waltman, BTLS and Morley. Right now their is no one that I think should be released.