Tuesday could prove to be quite a memorable day for TNA and Impact Wrestling. TNA President Billy Corgan and his attorneys have been granted permission to file a redacted version of the lawsuit they filed on October 12 against TNA Entertainment, Impact Ventures LLC, Dixie Carter, Dean Broadhead and Serg Salinas, according to a report from Wrestling Inc .
If a settlement is not reached before 4 p.m. eastern time Tuesday, the redacted version of the lawsuit will be made public as the documents would be unsealed around that time by the Chancery Court of Nashville. Corgan has claimed that some of the information in the original lawsuit contains sensitive materials, and therefore he wants that to remain private so that none of TNA’s competitors (including WWE) could obtain it.
Prior to the developments that have taken shape in TNA over recent weeks, the biggest issues facing the company seemed to be the problems with paying talent on time, not developing marquee superstars and losing wrestlers to other organizations including WWE. But that all pales in comparison now to the power struggle and what some believe to be the impending demise for TNA as a whole.
As we reported Monday, BankDirect Capital Finance LLC filed a lawsuit against TNA at the end of September for more than $207,000 which didn’t even factor in interest and late fees. BankDirect claimed that they entered into an agreement to pay more than $400,000 to TNA so that insurance premiums could be paid. A payment plan was then set up and agreed upon, which would have TNA make 10 consecutive payments of $41,032.45 to pay off their loan. TNA was only able to pay half of that by the time the 10-month loan period concluded.
This adds to the growing list of organizations who have filed lawsuits against TNA in 2016 alone. That list includes American Express and TNA’s own former production company, Audience of One Productions.
Last week, Corgan filed a motion against Dixie Carter and Impact Ventures (TNA’s parent company) after he felt he was misled and lied to about his role with the company. Dixie maintains that Impact Ventures and TNA’s assets have more value than all their compounded debt, and are therefore not insolvent per the state of Tennessee.
If it’s determined that TNA is insolvement, then Billy would have the right to take over the company per his initial agreement. It would also give him full control over personnel and management decisions, including firing or hiring any key staff members. The motion also included a restraining order against TNA in that the company could not approve anything without his consent. That means TNA could not sell the company or any of its assets, which includes the tape library, a hot topic over the last few weeks.
“As far as public perception is concerned, Billy Corgan is the face & Dixie Carter is the heel in all this mess” – #BustedOpenLive pic.twitter.com/JBqvdroUuH
— SiriusXM Busted Open (@BustedOpenRadio) October 24, 2016
If TNA ends up defaulting on its loans (which BankDirect already claims has happened) or becoming insolvent, Corgan claims that he gains the voting rights to the shares of TNA Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer Carter Dixie Carter per an “equity pledge agreement.” Corgan would then assume full power and autonomy and the inevitable right to remove any Impact Venutes managers he sees fit.
An astonishing 17,000 pages of documents have been reviewed over the last few weeks by Corgan and his attorneys, documents they received from TNA. Corgan has also asked that the ownership of the TNA library be published and to identify in detail “each member’s” ownership interest, that the company identify all of the current officers, directors and managers, identify all of it’s assets, and for the LLC to produce financial statements.
At the very least, TNA appears to be on the verge of a major shift in power that could come to fruition by Tuesday afternoon. Whether Corgan can save the company in light of all the recent lawsuits remains to be seen, but many believe Dixie Carter’s leadership was misguided anyway and it would at least be a step in the right direction.
[Featured Image By TNA/Impact Wrestling]