– Dixie Carter recently spoke with Doug Mortman and Dave Lagreca on Busted Open to promote TNA Impact Wrestling on Destination America. You can hear Busted Open on SiriusXM 92 and on the SiriusXM app. Here are some highlights:
Negotiations and choosing Destination America:
“I’ve never had that in previous years’ negotiations. This year, we had more interest from more different networks and the negotiation was really good, but I took my time, honestly .I wanted to make sure we talked with everybody who was interested and really get a sense of where their head was at. I’m not interested in not just having iMPACT on your network…Status quo was not gonna cut it for us. We needed some changes…We needed to have more shows. We needed to have support. We wanted to be at a place that has cross promotional opportunities and it doesn’t get any bigger than Discovery…It is a show that they are going to promote all over 10 networks…They’re making a serious statement and we’re really excited about it. I’d rather not move forward than not have what we deserve.”
Kurt Angle, Jeff Hardy and TNA’s main event stars:
“For Kurt Angle and Jeff Hardy, for those guys to be the cornerstone of your show, it doesn’t get any better than that. Now we have somebody that can work all the time and bring so much exposure to the company. Then you have James Storm, Bobby Roode, Abyss, Austin Aries, all these guys who have been there since the beginning, they’re out main event Guys, and then we brought in new talent. In the past 18 months, we’ve had more talent…real meaty storylines that have established themselves as important in our company. We absolutely have the ability, it’s just a matter of signing the right talent at the right time. The future is really bright.”
Sting leaving TNA and moving forward:
“As much as I would have loved to have Sting, our focus on the show is trying to bring this younger talent in and making these changes to the show…So I’m very happy for him, and I hope it’s everything he hopes it could be.”
Why she let Bully Ray put her through a table:
“I felt like we had to pay it off. It had become such a big storyline. You say Bully Ray, but the reason that was so successful was that all of the other talent that came out of it, that were either brought back for period of times. The Rhinos, if you look at EC3 during that period, Magnus, Rockstar Spud, that was the whole reason we did that. I think it was executed so well, and I didn’t hesitate to do it.”
If the door is closed on Bully Ray in TNA:
“I would never say closed. Especially with somebody like him…He’s been a part of of top storylines for the past several years. And it’s hard when you have a certain amount of real estate, but you have to allow other characters to grow…I would love to have him back. I just think right now, it’s giving him a little bit of a breather.”
TNA’s taping schedule and plans going forward:
“I don’t think we’re gonna get too far ahead, but the changes we want to make, if we don’t tape the way we want to, we’re not going to pull it off from a timing perspective. Some of the things we wanted to try, technology was not there. Now we can do that, but with the help of post production…We’re going to be filming stuff that people don’t know what it is. So there will be surprises…To make it a true television show and to put the kind of time and do these new things we want to be doing, it’s going to take post-production. The shows will be different.”
If TNA will be doing pay-per-views:
“I think the PPV is a declining business, but it’s an important business. When we do it, we want to do it big and want to do it right. You will see a few PPVs this year, but we’re trying to find the right time to do them. When we do PPVs, they’re going to mean something and they’re going to be worth people spending their hard earned money.”
