Jason Powell of ProWrestling.net is reporting that a Spike TV official has been backstage at more than one Impact Wrestling taping. They have been described as friendly visits. Obviously, Impact is looking at TV deals outside of the United States but they also need to secure their United States TV deal for 2018. The current deal with Pop TV is a barter deal so, unless Pop is willing to start paying money to keep Impact Wrestling, I think they will probably land on another network next year. Spike TV would be a huge upgrade and would help bring them a larger audience. It does help that Dixie Carter is out of the picture. Many people point to Dixie Carter being the main reason why Impact was kicked off Spike TV and there were business people that did not want to associate with the company as long as Dixie Carter was in charge.
Jeff Jarrett, who is now in charge of the company, spoke to Newsweek about the past, present, and future of Impact Wrestling. Regarding the issues from 2016 with Dixie Carter, Billy Corgan, late pay, etc., he said, “It wasn’t fruitful for anyone—whether you’re a fan of, a wrestler, an employee. It was a really ugly, unfortunate situation. It wasn’t good for the industry.”
Anthem EVP Ed Nordholm was also quoted in the story.
Regarding Dixie Carter, he said, “The reality is the company got into a dire position and she was CEO. There was never any question [she wouldn’t be involved in the day-to-day operations], but not out of any particular animosity.” While she is completely gone from TNA/Impact, he denied reports that she has a token role with Anthem and said that she has a consultative role.
I can say that there are people within the company that are relieved that Jarrett is in charge and there is real optimism now about the company’s future.
Click here read the entire Newsweek interview.
