TNA News: Impact Wrestling Reportedly Several Million Dollars In Debt
Professional wrestling isn’t as popular as it once was. During the late-1990s, Monday Night Raw was getting numbers in the five and six range. On a consistent basis, pro wrestling was a staple of pop culture and changed with the times. The WWE mastered those techniques during the Attitude Era where rebellion was popular. It’s 2016 and the ratings are down for everyone, but the WWE is still keeping afloat. TNA Impact Wrestling is not.
Through all of the hardship over the last few years in TNA, it has literally never been worse. Their prime superstars have left for greener pastures, or more realistically, the WWE. Within a one-year span, Bobby Roode, AJ Styles, Austin Aries, and Eric Young left for the WWE. Three-out-of-four are in WWE NXT. Styles is the WWE’s best wrestler and WWE World champion on SmackDown Live. Meanwhile, TNA continues to meander with Matt and Jeff Hardy carrying the company on their backs.
Brother Nero and Broken Matt Hardy have gained worldwide fame with their consistent skits that provide great entertainment and interest from wrestling fans everywhere. Nero and Hardy are just the 1 percent that gives fans a reason to tune in to TNA wrestling. Billy Corgan and Dixie Carter aren’t making the job easier, which is where all the controversy lies. They can still deliver with their tapings, but it comes at a price. Money is becoming tighter than ever.
Not only is money tight, but their audience is nearing historic lows. WrestleZone is reporting that TNA only averaged 284,000 viewers, which is close to their worst ever. They are in complete calamity and it’s only getting worse. According to a report by SEScoops and F4WOnline, Impact Wrestling is reportedly several million dollars in debt.
“It was extensively reported this week by David Bixenspan that TNA currently owes money to several different parties. Billy Corgan, Audience of One Productions, Aroluxe Media, Anthem Sports, and MCC Acquisitions all say TNA owes them substantial amounts of money.
“The total amount TNA officially owes is listed at $3.4 million — and that doesn’t include any money owed to Billy Corgan or Audience of One Productions, or taxes owed in Tennessee.”
Bixenspan also reported exclusively that Dixie Carter also owes money personally to Billy Corgan. That ultimately led to the lawsuit Corgan filed against several people, Carter being one of them. Corgan’s attorney and TNA’s public relations team didn’t comment to PWInsider. Altogether, TNA’s president filed a lawsuit against TNA, its parent company Impact Ventures LLC, Carter, TNA Chief Financial Officer Dean Broadhead, and Carter’s husband, Serg Salinas.
Are there any answers for TNA Impact Wrestling? Carter didn’t get the job done and that’s why she’s out as TNA president. That’s not to say Corgan is the savior they need to keep their company alive. Currently, they are on a downward spiral to a buyout from a bigger company. That bigger company could be the WWE, but Carter insists that will not happen. Truth be told, Vince McMahon just wants the tape library and possibly a superstar or two.
In a recent article by the Inquisitr, TNA wrestlers are getting prepared to call themselves free agents and are presumably looking elsewhere for work. Carter, Corgan, and the rest of TNA Impact Wrestling management have let all of the wrestlers down. They have no other choice than to look for other promotions to work for. The WWE is an option, but that’s not a popular option right now and it’s hard to imagine McMahon wanting all of their stars.
[Featured image by impactwrestling.com]