Could Dixie Carter Possibly Appear On WWE Raw Next Week?
Carter appeared on the excellent, emotional 24 Homecoming to briefly discuss Angle’s run in TNA. This was no smear job; Carter was depicted in a light both sympathetic and savvy. Dialogue has been opened, and Carter is evidently contractually free to appear on WWE broadcasts. The only work for which she drew universal acclaim at the helm of TNA was her Dixieland stint as an onscreen authority figure. The question isn’t a matter of can, but would.
Would WWE debut Carter in an onscreen capacity as Angle’s secret lover? There is a precedent. Eric Bischoff was persona non grata in WWE before he debuted his General Manager persona in 2002. Money just about supersedes ego in wrestling, and Carter’s association with the former TNA isn’t even ceremonial at this juncture. She is only a minority equity stakeholder and Advisory Board member for an Anthem affiliate.
The evidence for her case is circumstantial. RAW ratings continue to tumble - so much so that WWE has reportedly altered their plan for WrestleMania 34 and brought forward the meeting between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns to SummerSlam. WWE is running out of short-term injections with which to recover from their creative coma - which has long been their policy, favoured well above patient, long-term, grassroots star creation. Part-time returns have diminished in recent years from Brock Lesnar to Shane McMahon. Goldberg has been done. Ditto Batista. Really, only CM Punk is big enough to cause a true, industry-shaking ripple. A Carter appearance is nowhere near that big, but then again, what is?
If nothing else, a Carter appearance is firmly in keeping with WWE’s “moments” mentality. Her entrance is something WWE could replay on Blu-Rays and Network specials for years on end. It’s pure Countdown list fodder - 10 Times Hell Froze Over In WWE! - which is precisely why the proposition is so feasible.
There might - might - even be a match to reconcile both cases. Triple H needs the Angle match because he needs to keep himself relevant. Angle and WWE management need the Triple H match because the investment requires a great deal of protection. Kurt Angle & Dixie Carter Vs. Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, on paper, reads utterly ludicrous - but that is the power of this storyline. Great mysteries generate impossible and sometimes utterly inane answers. Just visit any Twin Peaks or Lost message board. To WWE’s immense credit, they have managed to generate the right sort of discussion. This is almost the anti-James Ellsworth angle. WWE, for once, has not divided their audience through short-term trolling. They have united them in a quest for answers.
The Father’s Day business dampens the Dixie fire. It seems more likely that we’re in for a retread of the illegitimate offspring angle - what with the talk of family and pride - and that Kurt Angle’s son or daughter is the one set to debut on Monday. Of course, this could always lead to Stephanie admonishing Kurt for polluting RAW with his personal business and despatching Trips to sort him out, or something. Maybe even Carter could be the mother of this bastard son? Is creative competent enough to drop breadcrumbs, or did it just happen to be Father’s day the previous day?
Unanswerable questions are WWE’s stock in trade in 2017. Why did the company’s top face attempt to kill the top heel after losing a match through his own stupidity? If we are expected to take Kevin Owens seriously as a former and future top-tier champion, why does he get called fat all the time?
We don’t have the answer to the Kurt Angle mystery ahead of this coming Monday which, fuelling the speculative fire, is live from Nashville, home of Dixie’s business interests. For once, that is no bad thing.
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