TNA Wrestling has managed to last over a decade after first being founded by Jeff Jarrett, who managed to deliver a great promotion with a ton of amazing workers who are now seen as some of the best wrestlers in the world today. The likes of Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, Bobby Roode, Chris Daniels and so many others got their start in Ring of Honor but managed to see a major audience when teaming with TNA and Jarrett.
Sadly, Jarrett would eventually be pushed out of his own company, and Dixie Carter, along with Panda Energy, officially took charge. Carter would land on television as an on-air character for the business and become one of the most hated people in wrestling, regardless of gender. While Vince Russo was initially around helping creatively, once Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff came in the business, Russo was pushed out and Hulk and Eric basically ran things.
TNA only got worse, and with things continuing to go down, both men jumped ship. Eventually, almost all the TNA Originals left, including the ones mentioned earlier. Some would end up in WWE, while others would be spread out across other places such as Ring of Honor owner Sinclair Broadcasting. Now, TNA is seemingly continuing to lose money, and Carter finally wants to sell. The Carter Family owns about 70 percent of TNA, the other is owned by investors such as Billy Corgan, who was named the president of the company not too long ago.
The problem that TNA is currently facing is that they need money to put on both the upcoming Impact Wrestling television tapings and TNA Bound for Glory next week. They need everything by Friday, and they are clearly not going to see enough by then.
The Wrestling Observer reports that WWE is back in play due to the need for something to happen quickly in terms of a sale. WWE wants TNA due to its great library of great matches from many of the stars they have signed over the last few years, including AJ Styles and Samoa Joe. However, they also contain around a decade of matches from Sting and Kurt Angle, including matches involving both Matt and Jeff Hardy.
Really, the TNA library is quite valuable and would do well on the WWE Network. On top of this, Mike Johnson of PWInsider reports that Dixie Carter has been in talks with WWE about a potential sale for the last five days, which is huge considering others are in play too. It is noted that Carter can sell to whomever she chooses to, and if WWE gives an offer she likes, she could obviously go with them despite what it means for TNA, which is pretty much a total shutdown.
Johnson claims that “the fuse on the TNA bomb is close to the end.” There is still a good shot Billy Corgan can manage to cut a deal with Dixie because he is already close to the situation. But with as much as TNA needs right now, WWE makes more sense than any other bidder. They are good for the money, and they are not going to continue the promotion most likely.
Mike added that things are moving fast and someone is going to have to give soon, and there is no way to avoid it. This is a big deal for TNA and it surely is the biggest story of this week. Before their biggest event of the year, TNA could be sold off, and WWE certainly looks like the best bidder right now. WWE obviously has the safe money play, and Dixie Carter knows this well by now.
It was noted via the Wrestling Observer that it would take Billy Corgan weeks to get ownership material into play, which is way too long for TNA when they need something just days from now. We literally could see a full sail at any point this week. That said, it should be interesting to see what happens with WWE and TNA over the next couple of days.
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