UPDATE: Yesterday we posted highlights from a Grantland
article on TNA. In that article, they discussed a backstage pep talk Dixie
Carter gave the TNA roster. Carter told Grantland she was “fired up” during the
pep talk to the point where she was cursing throughout her speech to the roster.
She also added that numerous TNA talents went to her and told her they believed
in TNA and its future.
According to an anonymous TNA employee that was at the meeting, these things
did not happen during or after her speech.
ORIGINAL: A new article has been posted on
Grantland focuses on the history of TNA and the current
state of the promotion. It features quotes from TNA President Dixie Carter and
others. Here are highlights:
Dixie Carter on Jeff Jarrett’s
departure from the company: “I will always give props to Jeff. Out of
the thousands of wrestlers out there he’s the only one who decided to create
something with his own money. I have mad respect for that, always have and
always will. I love Jeff as a person. I wish him and his precious family nothing
but success.”
Dixie Carter on the TMZ/TNA TV deal
reports: “TMZ asked me, ‘Hey, is this story real, should we run with
it?’ I was watching a movie and didn’t see it until some little wrestling site
ran it. Then I gave TMZ a quote, which said we’re still negotiating. That never
made it to print.”
Dixie Carter on the company losing AJ
Styles: “I hate that we lost AJ. Are you listening? I hate it. I felt
like we gave him a great offer. I really did. I felt like we gave him a great
offer and I think he made a mistake.”
AJ Styles on the problems
with Bischoff and Hogan: “I don’t think Eric and Hogan knew the roster
at all. In fact, I don’t even know if they watched the show before they came in,
and if they did it had to be very little. No one knew who I was. No one knew who
[Samoa] Joe was. We added Rob Van Dam because everyone knows
him.”
John Gaburick on his creative changes: “I think
the audience was challenging us to give them something a little more
straightforward — good old-fashioned wrestling instead of laborious talk or
long, drawn-out stories. The long-form story lines that take forever to play out
were not that effective.”
Carter on fans who want TNA to go out
of business: “All these people say, ‘I hope you go out of business’ —
why would you ever want that? You don’t think we make wrestling better just by
exposing more people and giving people more options? It’s the most ludicrous,
shortsighted thing — the sheer absurdity and stupidity of it blows my mind. I
feel sorry for the wrestling business if we’re not
around.”
Carter on Vince Russo: “He’s a lightning rod.
People hate him, but sometimes people love what he does but they don’t realize
he does it. He’s a really talented guy.”
Bobby Roode on the TNA
talk: “I’ve [worked] 95 percent of the shows this company has run, and
from day one the Internet, the public, has tried to bash TNA. We’ve been here
for 12 years and after all the negativity and all the bullshit — ‘They’re going
down, they’re going under, they’re done’ — we’re still here.”
