10 Big Changes To Make TNA Great Again
The ship might be sinking, but it's not beyond salvation.
After weeks of endless rumours, misdirection, and hearsay, it looks like the TNA ownership saga is finally reaching an end. It’s now widely being reported that Billy Corgan is set to acquire Dixie Carter’s 70% stake in the company, with WWE acquiring the Nashville promotion’s video library as expected.
Carter and her colleagues have denied the reports, but it feels like an inevitability, and the only logical conclusion that doesn’t involve the company shutting down. The Carter family’s constant drip of cash injections has sustained TNA for too long, and they can’t keep throwing money down the drain. It’s time for them to cut their losses, move on, and place TNA’s future in someone else’s hands.
Corgan faces a huge set of challenges if and when he takes over. The company’s problems are too numerous to summarise, particularly when it comes to public perception and leadership. Years of mismanagement has transformed them from an exciting WWE alternative to an industry laughing stock, and it’ll take flawless execution for Corgan to turn things around.
Hope isn’t completely lost, though. For all their woes, TNA retains a loyal fanbase, a decent roster, and a set of useful international TV contracts. The company has its problems, but a new owner with new ideas coming in to clear the decks and start afresh might be exactly what they need to mount a comeback.
Here are 10 big changes to make TNA great again.
10. Banish The Perpetrators
First and foremost, Billy Corgan’s first course of action shouldn’t just be to remove the people that got TNA into this mess in the first place, but make sure they never come back. Dixie Carter cannot be allowed to retain a role with the company after selling her shares. It is her short-termism, lack of wrestling nous, and willingness to hand the keys to figures like Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff that has ground TNA’s reputation to dust, and her influence must be completely eliminated.
Furthermore, figures like Hogan, Bischoff, and Vince Russo must never be allowed to return. It’s likely that Corgan, who has only been in the business for five years, will look to bring in some experienced industry leaders to aid his operations, but the aforementioned names shouldn’t be among them. Though Carter empowered them, their creative mistakes played a huge role in TNA’s downfall, and if they come back, there’s always a chance of history repeating.
Then there are names like Bob Ryder and John Gaburick, whose negative impact is hard to gauge as an outsider, but whose names are always brought up negatively when former talents leave the company.
If Corgan’s serious about rebuilding TNA, he must start by removing the poison and bringing in a team he can trust. The root of TNA’s problems starts with the leadership, and if he doesn’t address this, nothing can ever change.