Less than 48 hours ago, Total Nonstop Action’s parent company, Impact Ventures, made an astonishing announcement. Their press release stated that Impact Ventures names Billy Corgan as its new President, current President Dixie Carter becomes Chairman.
Corgan, former lead singer of Smashing Pumpkins, was brought on as Senior Producer of Creative and Talent Development for TNA a little over a year ago. Corgan has always been a huge fan of professional wrestling, having founded Resistance Pro Wrestling in Chicago some four years prior to his start in TNA. Having an acute mind for the business, he seemed to have been a strong force in helping to right the sinking ship that TNA was in 2014-2015.
Dixie Carter, ever the company woman, seems to have no ill will about the recent changes invoked by the powers that be. In her statement, she was more than complimentary of Corgan’s ability to captain this ship:
“Billy is a visionary, an iconic artist and savvy businessman with an incredibly gifted creative mind. He has built a decades-long successful global brand and also has a deep passion and understanding for professional wrestling. In working with Billy over the last sixteen months, he has impressed me to the point that I’ve been in discussions with him to take an elevated strategic leadership role within the company. The more we discussed our vision for the organization, the clearer it became that position needed to match his commitment. We are entering an exciting new era for Impact and will be working to continue to define our brand, develop global strategies for success and structure for future investment and growth. These moves, effective immediately, signify the team’s determination to work together to effectively cover more ground and capitalize on TNA’s current momentum that has seen ratings rise in recent months.”
Carter is correct in that now is the time for TNA to make big changes. The quality of their weekly Impact Wrestling television show has improved drastically since its move to Pop TV at the beginning of this year. Though ratings slowly declined, they were able to generate a huge spike in ratings since last month’s segment, The Final Deletion. Matt Hardy has brought the spotlight to them in a way they haven’t had in years. Stars like Ethan Carter III, Bobby Lashley, Drew Galloway, etc, are the future of this business. The only thing that was holding them back, unfortunately, was the albatross of having Dixie Carter as an on air personality and in a creative position. Hopefully, with this move, Corgan will help TNA reach the heights of fame that the hard working staff there deserves to reach.
