The Rise & Fall Of TNA | Wrestling Timelines

7. November 11, 2016 | Double Cross The Vacant And The Bored

And you thought the storylines were too complicated. 

The incoherent dreck that is TNA’s fiction is the work of Aesop compared to the offscreen events of the Billy Corgan era, which draws to a close in November 2016. What follows is an attempt to simplify the saga. 

In April 2015, the Smashing Pumpkins songwriter joins TNA in the capacity of Senior Producer of Creative and Talent Development. The lifelong wrestling fan describes it as a dream come true; to borrow an ominous turn of phrase from TNA’s delightfully over-the-top voiceover guy, that dream soon becomes a nightmare. 

Panda Energy divests itself from TNA in April 2016, leaving Dixie as its full owner and financier. She is not a self-made tycoon, so she’s short of money, and TNA faces complete financial peril. Corgan funds various TV tapings and makes a play to purchase the company outright when he only agrees to a third loan if, in the event that the company becomes insolvent, he gains control of it. 

Things go so wrong that Corgan sues TNA in the same month, August 2016, that he becomes its company President. And, when he is President, he claims he has no authority to get anything done. Even by TNA standards, this is farcical. A new word needs to be coined to capture just how awe-inspiringly daft this is. 

He sues under the belief that TNA had obscured from him the extent of its debt. A Nashville judge rules that TNA is only obligated to pay back the loan with interest. 

Meanwhile, TNA signs a deal with the lowly Pop TV in November 2015. The era of the rights fee is over; TNA is forced into a situation wherein the ad revenue is shared and next-to-no revenue is generated at a time when the promotion is very, very late with various payments. TNA is so late, in fact, that by October 2016, the promotion receives a tax lien from the state of Tennessee resulting from unpaid bills. 

What’s strange about all this is that, in 2016, TNA for the very first time actually carves out something of an identity for itself across the spring and summer when Matt Hardy becomes ‘Broken’. His preposterous English accent, supernatural gimmick and cinematic matches allow TNA a way back into the elusive conversation. The act is a divisive sensation that briefly becomes the talk of the industry. TNA cannot capitalise; the promotion is in systemic disarray, and Hardy’s success persuades WWE into picking Matt and Jeff back up in time for WrestleMania 33 on April 2, 2017.