It is inarguable that TNA is a shadow of what it once was. The shrinking audiences and
dwindling roster brought with them the elimination of basic production staples – pyro,
titantron entrance videos, proper lighting, and on and on. And while TNA’s few
remaining fans have been screaming for months that the shows are better than
they’ve ever been, the facts are clear – TNA might as well be an indy promotion
right now. Matching production and less star power. Wave hi to AJ Styles!
TNA’s
current situation reminds me of two people – celebrity chef Paula Deen, and golfing
demigod Tiger Woods.
Paula Deen
was a great chef, with full product lines and TV shows to her name. However,
she lost it all when it surfaced that she had used racial slurs. Sponsors
dropped her left and right, she lost her TV deals, and she was effectively
booted from the limelight. Tiger Woods, meanwhile, got thrown out by his wife
over his infidelity. Tiger’s pristine public image shattered, he lost all his
sponsors, and he basically fell off the map.
Both Deen
and Woods lost their sponsors and nearly everything they had due to the
shattering of their public image. And how they reacted to their predicaments is the point.
Paula Deen
went on the PR warpath. She did interview after interview, TV spot after TV
spot, making excuses and profusely apologizing, trying to convince people to
feel sympathy for her and to come back to her side. And while she did get some
loyal supporters (mostly ones she never lost to begin with), it all fell flat.
She spent months on this, and it didn’t matter. Sponsors, gone. TV shows, gone.
Product lines, off the shelves. Thank you, come again.
Tiger Woods,
meanwhile, gracefully stepped into the shadows. He did the odd interview here
or there, sure, but that was it. He spent several years getting over his
issues, and much more time slowly getting his suffering game back. He didn’t
ask for cameras, he didn’t constantly try to get back in the good graces of his lost
sponsors, he didn’t try to get interviews left and right after every game. He
took his lumps and he left the spotlight for several years.
What
happened? For Tiger Woods, after only a couple of years, people got over it. Tiger Woods, as a
brand, is coming back. He has sponsors again, and his past transgressions are
all but forgotten. Paula Deen, meanwhile, has yet to recover anything. At this
point, who knows if she ever will.
The public
loves a comeback story. The public loves a redemption story. But redemption
can’t be rushed. And everything TNA has been doing for the past couple years
just screams of Paula Deen. TNA has spent nearly a decade making stupid
decisions, giving us horrible storylines, blowing money, spitting in the faces
of their devoted talent, and all the while giving the same tired speech over and over.
“We know we’ve made mistakes in the past, but this is a new day, and now,
the show will be all about each and every one of you!”. I’m pretty sure Jeremy Borash, Mike Tenay, Dixie Carter, Hulk Hogan, AND Kurt Angle have given that same speech at some point in the past five years. And then, every single time, back to
the same old stupid decisions.
TNA’s public image is shattered. They are now the company of bad storylines, washed up WWE has-beens, disrespected talent, and Vince Russo. Agree with it or not, that’s what TNA has become to the average fan. TNA lost so
much money, lost so much talent, and even lost their TV deal. Yet still, Dixie
Carter refuses to give it up. She seems convinced that the company is just one
good storyline and one big hire away from a complete turnaround. She wants the
Cinderella story, she wants the comeback, she wants the redemption. And
frankly, it’s not going to happen. Not like this.
If Dixie
truly wants to have a great wrestling company, the first thing she needs to do
right now is give up. Shut it all down, no more TNA wrestling, lay off
everyone, pack it up, sell your trademarks, GONE. Go away for a few years.
Preferably learn some more about the wrestling industry, but key point, LEAVE.
And in, say, 2020, she can come back and announce her brand new wrestling
promotion, which she can build from the absolute, 100%, bare bones ground up.
That amount of time, and that strategy, is the only way she will cast off the stigma that she and
her company have gained. As it is, she can keep hiring people and keep producing
a show that the few remaining fans insist are the best TNA episodes ever, but
the millions and millions of fans and wrestlers that TNA has offended the
sensibilities of will not come back.
Dixie, if
you’re reading: Don’t be a Paula, be a Tiger.
