Earlier today, Smashing Pumpkins front man and former TNA President Billy Corgan announced that he seems to have come to a settlement with TNA. Corgan was seeking repayment of several loans for funding TV tapings of the Impact Wrestling show on Pop TV. Corgan claims that the amount is somewhere in the vicinity of $2.7 million. He was not repaid in a timely manner, so he had to take legal action. However, the courts found that the deal between Corgan and chairwoman of TNA, Dixie Carter, was not a legal and binding one in the state of Tennessee. Not only was Corgan’s injunction and restraining order against Carter made null and void, but payment, which was promised over a week and a half ago, was yet to have been made.
Anthem Sports, the owners of the Fight Network, entered into a credit based relationship with Dixie Carter and TNA. They all seemed to be on the same page when they effectively pushed Billy Corgan out the door, stating he was no longer with the company as of last week. Corgan launched a series of angry tweets, stating that the company lied to him again and was using the time as a weapon against him.
Corgan sent out some encouraging tweets today, alluding to the fact that the people he was embroiled in litigation against have finally decided to honor their part of their agreement.
“Just signed my settlement with TNA/ANTHEM. And to fill in the blanks I’ll do a few interviews next week to spell out what is/isn’t in it.
For the true story on TNA involves a lot of men and women I respect and appreciate (both roster and crew), and they deserve the best”
While no exact dollar amount was given, this should seem like Corgan, as well as the fans, should utter a sigh of relief. But TNA seems to be back to square one again. Confidence in Dixie Carter’s ability to lead this company has faded long ago. Fans respected Corgan’s vision and his creative mind. Only time will tell if Carter is able to finally right this ship, or if the Titanic has ran out of evasive maneuvers and can no longer avoid the next iceberg.
Another piece of news was broken by PWInsider. There was a conference call that confirmed that Eric Nordholm of Anthem Sports will now be a part of TNA’s board of managers. The biggest piece of news is that TNA is seeking to launch a streaming network, similar to WWE Network. This would likely have their 14 years worth of content and specials.
This business move is disconcerting, as WWE Network took huge losses when their network first launch. Neither Anthem Sports, Aroluxe (who handles the television tapings for TNA), nor Dixie Carter can afford to take the kind of losses that WWE Network took during that first 12-18 months.
Do you think that Billy Corgan will somehow pull off getting back into the fold, or do you believe he will try his hand at another wrestling promotion? And is a streaming network a viable option right now for TNA?