A few years back Bob Carter was worth an estimated $4 billion, I can't imagine someone would be in his line of work for as long as he has and not be that rich at least. That's why TNA has been around as long as it has, them losing millions is a drop in the bucket for the family. In fact, Bob probably considers it the cost of doing business just to keep Dixie occupied so she won't get any ideas of trying to run the company.

 

If you can find a reference for that, I'd like to see it. Thing is, there isn't anyone named "Carter" in the Forbes billionaires list, nor is Panda listed in their largest private company list. Doesn't mean you're wrong, but I'd figure someone that wealthy would be on their radar.

 

For TNA losing over a quarter billion, hard to say. That would be over a period of around a decade, and Panda still generates revenue. You're looking at losing around $20-25 million a year. I don't know, there isn't a clear path.

Kazarian gave a pretty candid interview here which he confirms the obvious about the state of p(l)ay:

http://www.betweentheropes.com/2014/05/20/frankie-kazarian-parting-ways-tna-wrestling-bad-influence-whats-next/

 

On the last few months with the company:"Honestly, since after Bound for Glory, there just wasn't any direction for Bad Influence the tag-team. We continued to ask questions, we continued to pitch ideas and it was just like 'OK, we're thinking of this or that' but we never got a straight answer and we were just kind of floating. It kind of bothered us because, honestly, we're too good for this. We should really be involved in something. When Davey (Richards) and Eddie (Edwards) came in, we were kind of licking our chops. Sweet! This could be six months, a year. A lot of folks on the internet and within the wrestling community were excited for the potential matchup of us and The Wolves. So were we and so were they when they came in. So we thought we were going to get back in the fold and it never happened and we never got a straight answer other than we're going with other teams. What can you say other than OK? After the UK, we did Lockdown with Muta and Sanada. That was great and after that we were left off television. Right then it was like OK, they literally have nothing going on for us. And here we are now."

On seeing so many longtime TNA wrestlers no longer with the company: It's different. My last day at TNA, I said this to a few people, I didn't feel like I was leaving TNA because I didn't feel like I recognized the company. There was still people I'll miss but it didn't feel like I was leaving TNA. Honestly, there was a couple of red flags, and this was even preceding when I was starting to make up my mind about my current situation, AJ Styles leaving obviously, because I'm very close to AJ and knowing what he was going through and talking to him, that was huge. I was like wait a minute. I say this as his friend and I say this selfishly, I don't understand why they didn't do whatever it took to keep him there. And I'm not just saying that because he's a friend. I'm saying that because he's a franchise guy. He's one of the best in the world. He's a good human being. He's a guy you can continue to build the company around. He leaves and real soon thereafter Jeff Jarrett leaves so that was a big red flag being waved. Wait a minute ... things are changing. I don't know that they're changing for the better. It could just be me. Internally, management, complete turnover, people on the creative team, people in management. It really is just different.

 

 

I guarantee ROH will get some good houses out of Bad Influence.

I will say this about TNA. Velvet Sky is the best looking woman in wrestling right now and I don't know if anyone else is even close.

I guarantee ROH will get some good houses out of Bad Influence.

 

Yep for the same reasons as AJ Styles and they are both excellent at PR, social media and they have their media agent.

I will say this about TNA. Velvet Sky is the best looking woman in wrestling right now and I don't know if anyone else is even close.

 

Different strokes for different folks, but I've never seen the attraction of this girl.

She's not hideous or anything, but saying that no other woman in wrestling "is even close" is absurd to me. She looks like she came off an assembly line set to "Generic Man's Fantasy." I can think of at least a half dozen women in wrestling who have a more unique look that, to me, makes them more attractive. Again, though, different strokes...

Maybe "not even close" was hyperbole but there's pics of her online with almost no make up on and dressed down and she's gorgeous. I'm someone who found Torrie Wilson and Daffney both gorgeous so there's a million different ways women in wrestling can be beautiful

Can only think of how hideous some of Velvet Sky's earliest pics were.

 

Veronica Lane from is probably the most conventionally pretty woman in Wrestling since Torrie Wilson.

Decided to tune into Impact tonight. Haven't watched in at least a year. MVP, Lashley, Kenny blabbing about the business, money, blah blah. American Wolves come out to interrupt. Guessing they used to be aligned with MVP? Brawl starts and Lashley spears one of them off the stage. This came across as very forced, Lashley should never be allowed near a microphone and MVP wasn't much better. I'm not even sure who's still on the roster, gonna be fair and watch this all the way through.

Not watching tonight, as I usually catch my Impact in the following few days or so...

 

But that's a shame. MVP killed it on the mic last week. He gave a damn fine explanation for the heel turn, which (in theory) is still honestly far from a bright idea. But at least his logic made sense, and the promo he delivered was great. Just heel arrogance at its absolute apex, and he managed to tie it into current events with Sterling and whatnot. He basically emphasized the importance of holding the World Championship, calling it the ultimate source of power in pro wrestling. At least he made it SOUND like a big deal, which is something I enjoyed.

 

Eric Young's title reign has been vastly underrated up until this point. I know I keep stressing it, but it's true. If you watch the stuff, it's clear as day. So if his momentum is going to stall or be derailed by this new Ebony Evolution (Negrolution?), then that surely does suck. But it wouldn't surprise me, to be brutally honest.

I didn't get any of that from his mic work tonight. Just seemed like a forced early 2000's HHH or Jarrett promo bullshitting about power, THE BUSINESS, etc. MVP cosplaying as a main event heel is not interesting.

Like I said, that's too bad. I hated the switch initially, and then was beginning to turn around on my opinion after last week's episode. I'll probably drop some more comments in the thread after I've actually had the chance to see it myself, but yeah. Such a waste.

Hopefully they shift Roode and Aries over into the title picture with EY and MVP before too long. I think that'd liven up the mix a bit and at least add a bit more depth to things.

 

And I'm guessing this means the Wolves will get matched up against a Lashley & King combo next? Seems strange, considering they were teasing the idea of Kenny pursuing the X-Division belt soon. But the Wolves clearly need challengers beyond the Bro Mans, and TNA has been (seemingly) booking on the fly a lot lately anyway.

 

Sure does suck that we never got a program between the Wolves and Bad Influence. One big wasted opportunity there.

I thought the way MVP was brought in as an investor was kind of clever (if you remember back to when he debuted on SD his gimmick was that dumbass Teddy Long gave him the most lucrative contract in WWE) but man the authority struggles/owners/gms/"powers that be" stuff is SO played out. I'm ok with it with Hunter/Steph and whenever Vince is around because it's common knowledge that they own and control the company, it's reality based, and they actually draw money and get people over with it. When has TNA ever drawn a dime with all their bullshit? They haven't. If you had to list em all they've probably had 50 different authority figures over the years, and often 3 or 4 or 5 at the same time. What is the point of all of it? It doesn't draw money, there's never any real consequences or consistency, it's the laziest lamest wrestling trope at this point and probably turns off more people than it attracts

Actually I think it could be a fun exercise to try and list every on screen authority figure TNA has had since the first weekly PPV.

People point to the "What" chants as the worst thing to ever get over since it ruined other people's promos for over a decade, but I have to think Vince getting the evil boss gimmick over so well has been worse because every other promotion in the US has been copying it nonstop ever since.

 

What makes it worse is 95% of the time the evil authority figure is someone who can be overruled by someone else, so what the hell is the point?

Russo

Erik Watts

Jarrett

Cyrus

Dusty

Zbyszko

Bischoff

Hogan

Brooke Hogan

Sting

Foley

Cornette

Dixie

I'm guessing Eric Young had match making power at some point because why the hell not

 

thinking any more about this will break my brain

Add Ricky Steamboat & Bill Behrens to that list as the two original authority figures (even though there were technically more) They had more than 1 from the very first weekly PPV so I guess we shouldn't be too surprised how things continued. Bob Armstrong might be able to go on the list also from that time period.

TNA is reaching the point WCW was at where I subconsciously block out large periods of their history because it causes my brain to weep uncontrollably.

You are also forgetting KO Law Traci Brooks and Brook Tessmacher. Also, TNA Xplosion commissioner Desmond Wolfe.

Eric Bischoff got the heel authority figure over

Eric Bischoff got the heel authority figure over

 

This.

 

Although Vince perfected it, and had even dabbled with it years earlier in USWA, Bischoff was the first one to leave a real mark on the role to large American audiences.

Yeah, but it's just one of those things. People tend to remember who did it best over who did it first. Just the way it goes. Vince is always going to be more closely associated with the role.

 

But hell - before ANY of that, Tom Renesto was playing heel promoter as far back as '85 Mempho anyway.

According to the Von Erichs' Facebook page, Ross and Marshall Von Erich will be wrestling at TNA's Slammiversary pay-per-view on June 15th in Arlington, Texas. Their opponents have yet to be announced although their manager/publicist, Lisa Renee Andrews, revealed that they were slated to face the Bro Mans on the card.

 

Ross and Marshall – the sons of Kevin Von Erich – have been training and competing as a tag team with Pro Wrestling Noah in Japan over the past two years.

 

Write your own joke.

Just noticed this but was this thread really started in February 2007?