10 Wrestling Decision-Makers (And Their Biggest Mistakes)

3. Dixie Carter

Biggest mistake: Inability to push home-grown talent When TNA launched in 2002, it was meant to be an alternative to WWE, and for the first few years it certainly was. Several names come to mind when one thinks of TNA: AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Christopher Daniels, Abyss, €˜Black Machismo€™ Jay Lethal, The Motor City Machine Guns, Petey Williams, Senshi/Low Ki, and others. These men alone had the skill and ability to carry the company, had they been booked properly. Unfortunately, when Dixie Carter joined the company, a new policy came to play: push the ex-WWE guys. Instead of giving some of the aforementioned names the spotlight, especially AJ Styles, who could€™ve truly carried the company as its face, non-TNA originals were given more emphasis than was needed. Kurt Angle, Sting, Rob Van Dam, Ken Anderson, Jeff Hardy, Ric Flair, Bobby Lashley, Booker T, Kevin Nash, Scott Steiner, MVP, Tyrus (Brodus Clay), Team 3D, Raven, Roddy Piper, and many others were given more attention because they were former WWE Superstars and thus, should be, according to Dixie Carter, big draws for the company. While some of these performers, like Kurt Angle and Sting, have certainly given fans some great moments and matches, in the end, the home-grown talent suffered as a result. It has reached a point where there are few people within the company that can really be considered draws, as some of their best wrestlers have moved on. AJ Styles has moved on to New Japan Pro Wrestling, both Christopher Daniels and Kazarian now work as free agents for Ring of Honor, and Samoa Joe, the last big-name TNA original, has been booked so poorly in the last few years that he has lost a lot of relevance; which is sad, given his immense skill. Because of Dixie€™s policy, TNA eventually became a revolving door of sorts, where former WWF/E wrestlers could find more fame for a lighter workload. Unfortunately, this was one of the biggest reasons why TNA lost popularity, along with their TV deal with Spike.