The Death (Sale) of TNA ?

wintear

Has Dixie backed out of another deal or added last minute stuff?

Lithium93_

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Corgan files a lawsuit against Dixie & TNA.


They will get a Made for TV Movie out of this yet.

You really couldn't write stuff like this, the plot thickens further.

Lord TSC

Apparently the case details are sealed, so we don't know what he is going after or why, but Corgan has requested a jury, an injunction and a restraining order!

As per PW Insider... (most of it we already knew...)

After months of speculation of what was going to happen with the company, it's ownership and it's finances, TNA President Billy Cogan filed a lawsuit against TNA Impact Wrestling, it's parent company Impact Ventures LLC, TNA Chairman Dixie Carter, TNA Chief Financial Officer Dean Broadhead and Carter's husband Serg Salias on 10/12 in the Chancery Court of Nashville, TN.

PWInsider.com is currently working on acquiring details of the lawsuit. Requests for comment from Corgan's attorney and TNA's Public Relations were not returned as of this posting.

Corgan, the frontman for Smashing Pumpkins and a long-time fan of professional wrestling, began investing in TNA this past June, helping to finance the TNA Slammiversary PPV and subsequent TV tapings as part of a deal that saw him purchase a minority share in the company. Additional investments in the company led to Corgan acquiring a larger share in the company and on 8/12, TNA issued a press release announcing that Corgan had replaced Dixie Carter as the President of the company and would be handling the day to day operations of the company while Carter would "focus on long-term planning, strategic partnerships and global growth."
In the press release touting Corgan being named President of the company, Carter stated, "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 16 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."

Shortly after being named President, Corgan announced his intentions to purchase the company and potentially change it's name from TNA. During promotional appearances to push the Bound for Glory PPV, Corgan admitted that he had financed the three previous rounds of TNA Impact Wrestling tapings, describing those deals as last minute agreements where the "ink was drying" as talents were heading to the ring.

Corgan had been in negotiations to purchase the company, but had been, as of the filing of the lawsuit, unable to close a complicated deal that would see Corgan not only buy the company from Dixie Carter, but other minority owners including Aroluxe Productions and The Fight Network.
Corgan made it clear he would not be financing the Bound for Glory PPV tapings and subsequent TV tapings, noting on a SiriusXM interview that he had done everything in his power to make sure that Bound for Glory took place from a personal and financial level - noting that he was using money from "his own pile" to attempt to purchase the "majority ownership" of TNA - and that he had put everything in place on his end.
In that interview with "Busted Open", Corgan said that funding the PPV and tapings were part of the negotiations and the question was what are the people funding the show getting for their money? Corgan said that where it got complicated was that it was one thing to fund the company, but it's another to set the company up to be solvent and successful. At the time Corgan said he didn't want to be having the same conversation three months after the PPV because what would be the point. At that time, Cogan also stated that in conversations with TNA talents he had spoken with, they were all on board with him taking over the company and that they were hopeful he would "win" and steer the ship from that point on.

"Enough air has gone out of the balloon," Corgan said last month. "It's time to put air back in the balloon and let this thing be what it can be."
In the end, Bound for Glory and the October TV tapings indeed took place, but the question that was left (one that has been raised here on PWInsider.com) was who funded the tapings and what deal did Dixie Carter make in order for the tapings to take place.

In a locker room meeting with TNA talents on 10/4 in Orlando, Carter told her roster that the PPV was never in danger of not taking place but did admit the company had to do some "scrambling" in order for everything to fall into place. What that "scrambling" was has never been explained or revealed publicly. During PWInsider.com's reporting of the locker room meeting, we noted that Corgan declined to be in the meeting despite being invited to do so.
A number of TNA personalities noted over the course of the BFG PPV and October TV tapings that there was obvious tension between Corgan and Carter and wondered how it might be resolved, especially if Corgan is supposed to be overseeing the day to day business of the company. What the resolution will be remains to be seen, it appears that it will get uglier before it gets better and that that resolution may very well take place inside a Nashville courtroom.

Monokne

I know Dixie is apparently a really nice, caring lady, but she really does deserve to be slaughtered for this mess she's created. In giving Aroluxe, Corgan, and Fite TV shares in TNA she's engendered a situation whereby selling is impossibly complicated.

I think the most likely scenario at this point is the company goes out of business in the next 3 - 9 months when all the money marks have stopped paying and the whole situation is stuck in court. At that point WWE will pick up the library and the trademarks for a song.

leggo

Hmmm...did Corgan fund BFG and the tapings under the impression it'd seal the sale for him then find out otherwise at a later date? Meltzer's latest is that he's unlikely to get it, whereas last week whoever the 'source' was (hmmm has Billy been on The Ross Report yet?) seemed very sure he was getting it.

PTH2009

Vince just buy the company and move the good talent to the WWE family and end the mess that tna is becoming

Monokne

leggo wrote: »

Hmmm...did Corgan fund BFG and the tapings under the impression it'd seal the sale for him then find out otherwise at a later date? Meltzer's latest is that he's unlikely to get it, whereas last week whoever the 'source' was (hmmm has Billy been on The Ross Report yet?) seemed very sure he was getting it.

Corgan definitely didn't fund the tapings, that much is clear. Wasn't Aroluxe either. My best guess is Papa Bob jumped in and rescued his darling Dixie one more time.

A Rogue Hobo

The fact that she can't even sell the company without creating a huge cluster is pretty evident that she should never have been in a position of running the company day to day in the first place. I really want TNA or whatever form it eventually takes to work though, I know it's easy to point and laugh at but as wrestling fans, we lose out on the company going bust.

Monokne

Completely understand your viewpoint and your logic, felt the same until about a year ago. To me, now, with TNA past the point of being salvageable the best thing that can happen as a fan is to have their entire library up on the network and the company to go bust. Bound For Glory is a good example as to why. It was the culmination of a lot of decent to good TV wrestling storylines but it still had that trademark feeling of a dead company in front of a dead crowd. And I'm not giving opinions without knowledge, I watched the show.

I just feel reliving some of the great moments & matches on the network is better value to me as a fan in 2016 then what TNA is now.

A Rogue Hobo

No I agree with you it is depressing watching their shows these days and everything about it from the quiet sparse sounding crowd to the building make it feel so stale. But I am desperate for a true "Number two" promotion in America which at one point TNA were so close to scratching that surface and fumbled it in spectacular fashion. It just makes wrestling in general more exciting to watch.

Monokne

I agree, but the TNA brand is too damaged to ever be that. ROH with more investment from Sinclair could be that.

More info on TNA from Meltzer this evening:

- It appears the Fight Network or a subsidiary of it funded the tapings last week and Bound For Glory

- There is a lawsuit out against TNA from America One, the production company they used to do BFG 2015 as well as some TV tapings around that time. They used this company as they couldn't afford the Harris Bros company (not Aroluxe) anymore. When they stopped paying America One, America One stopped producing. They then went to Aroluxe who did production and then put money in, buying points in the company. America One are owed about $300k.

- Corgan's lawsuit is based on the fact that his investment was on the basis that it was a downpayment on buying the company, however Dixie will not sell it to him and has kept him in the dark and allegedly lied to him about negotiations to sell to other companies. His ultimate goal is to own the company and to get Dixie out.

- TNA Talent are due to be paid next week and it is not yet clear if the company got enough from the Fight Network to cover payroll. If they don't pay, a number of talent have stated privately they will consider themselves free agents and move on as there have been many instances of non payment.

- TNA is in breach of its Indian TV deal which stipulates they must tour India once a year. No word on how Sony Six feel about this but they could cancel.

- TNA TV ratings are way down in the UK. No word on whether Challenge TV are unhappy about that.

- Meltzer didn't say but I think it's important to note that lawsuits are EXPENSIVE to fund and it's unclear how they can afford to fund them or how this impacts (pun intended) their ability to pay talent.

It is very, very difficult to put into words just what a mess Dixie has gotten this company into!

beakerjoe

Monokne wrote: »

I agree, but the TNA brand is too damaged to ever be that. ROH with more investment from Sinclair could be that.

More info on TNA from Meltzer this evening:

- It appears the Fight Network or a subsidiary of it funded the tapings last week and Bound For Glory

- There is a lawsuit out against TNA from America One, the production company they used to do BFG 2015 as well as some TV tapings around that time. They used this company as they couldn't afford the Harris Bros company (not Aroluxe) anymore. When they stopped paying America One, America One stopped producing. They then went to Aroluxe who did production and then put money in, buying points in the company. America One are owed about $300k.

- Corgan's lawsuit is based on the fact that his investment was on the basis that it was a downpayment on buying the company, however Dixie will not sell it to him and has kept him in the dark and allegedly lied to him about negotiations to sell to other companies. His ultimate goal is to own the company and to get Dixie out.

- TNA Talent are due to be paid next week and it is not yet clear if the company got enough from the Fight Network to cover payroll. If they don't pay, a number of talent have stated privately they will consider themselves free agents and move on as there have been many instances of non payment.

- TNA is in breach of its Indian TV deal which stipulates they must tour India once a year. No word on how Sony Six feel about this but they could cancel.

- TNA TV ratings are way down in the UK. No word on whether Challenge TV are unhappy about that.

- Meltzer didn't say but I think it's important to note that lawsuits are EXPENSIVE to fund and it's unclear how they can afford to fund them or how this impacts (pun intended) their ability to pay talent.

It is very, very difficult to put into words just what a mess Dixie has gotten this company into!

I wonder who would claim breach of contract if that happened.

The Hardys wouldnt consider how much creative freedom they have, Eddie Edwards doesnt look like going. Moose only signed as did Mike Bennett.

Agent Coulson

The State Of Tennessee now wants unpaid taxes from TNA.

TNA owes so much back taxes the State of Tennessee could seize the company.

This is a better downfall than WCW's.

leggo

Agent Coulson wrote: »

The State Of Tennessee now wants unpaid taxes from TNA.

TNA owes so much back taxes the State of Tennessee could seize the company.

This is a better downfall than WCW's.

I was only thinking that I can't wait to read the books about all of this.

Agent Coulson

I'd say Borash has 3/4 of the book already written.

Monokne

Agent Coulson wrote: »

The State Of Tennessee now wants unpaid taxes from TNA.

TNA owes so much back taxes the State of Tennessee could seize the company.

This is a better downfall than WCW's.

Is this a gag or is this true?

I read it and assumed it was a gag, but then...it's TNA. It must be true.

Monokne

Meltzer has just given some figures and MAN OH MAN things are a lot worse than I'd thought.

"They owe at least $3.4 million to people who have filed claims against them at this point. $3.4 million is just the money they owe Fight Network and Aroluxe. Billy's debt and other debts to Audience of One, talent and others is on top of that.

Billy Corgan had no idea the debt was so high and he filed suit since he was trying to buy it and was not told how much they owed all over the place when he put his money in."

Considering Corgan put in more than Aroluxe, it's probably safe to bet their debt is in the $6 million+ range.

So the talk of a sale for $4 million is way off base. Probably 2.5 or 3 times that. Fu<king catastrophe.

jaykhunter

The brand has been damaged so it's not a smart buy, but who would purchase it to assume the debt? Is there a way to hire the people in the same position (to keep the company backbone the same)?

Ben Gadot

Trust the tax man to get in there at this point, lol. You really do have to wonder why they spent money on tapings up to thanksgiving when it's clear it's just propping up a dead corpse at this stage.

There had to be some majorly shady **** going on if Billy didn't have the full picture when putting his money in. It's either that or he just didn't do his due diligence.

DEFTLEFTHAND

A sad end.

We can always remember 2005, 06, 07.

There was a time there where I thought they would become a genuine rival to WWE.

Monokne

It has now been uncovered that not only does Corgan have a stake, Dixie owes him money personally.



Also, they have allegedly given part of the tape library to ANthem entertainment as part of a debt they owe.

leggo

This is the kinda story that ends with someone going to jail, Jesus....

Lord TSC

leggo wrote: »

I was only thinking that I can't wait to read the books about all of this.

Death of WCW is one of my favourite books of all time. I would say Death of TNA could be a beautiful sequel to it all.

If TNA have sold off some of the library already, that makes things harder for WWE I guess. A real ****show.

Chain Smoker

leggo wrote: »

This is the kinda story that ends with someone going to jail, Jesus....

Considering how much of a fool Billy has come across this whole time, I'm gonna bet on him being the one somehow.

Bounty Hunter

I think the title may be becoming more and more appropriate as this is looking more like the companies Death than Sale at this point.



Who will want to take it on now that the true measure of the debt is apparent? Who will see it as a decent investment with TV deals in jeopardy moving forward? and even the WWE may be put off by the fact that the tape library is incomplete. Plus who would really want to deal with Dixie atm given how bad her reputation must be?

Plus if nobody comes in who is going to fund the next round of tapings? It's not like they ever seem to be able to pay back the people who do and that is now coming to light for all to see.... The end of TNA seems more and more likely (not that that has stopped them somehow struggling on in the past).




Is there anything to stop Sinclair (ROH) or someone similar approaching POP tv / Challenge / The lads in India etc and saying that should TNA go under they would be more than willing to take up their deal with a far less tarnished brand name in wrestling?

Chain Smoker

No way anyone'll touch them at this stage, they struggled but managed to find two potential buyers and screwed over both of them.


Fight Network bailing them out is a bit interesting. I'd imagine they either wanted some ownership over the tape library or at least a pretty sweet deal for the rights to use it.
If I were them I'd've angled for long term rights to use the whole back catalogue, wouldn't actually devalue the back catalogue to someone who wants to own it but would provide them with thousands of hours of footage to use whenever and however they felt like.

A Rogue Hobo

Chain Smoker wrote:

Considering how much of a fool Billy has come across this whole time, I'm gonna bet on him being the one somehow.

I personally don't think he's come off as much of a fool? Joined the company, made a deal so he could get more control of the company when they came to him, then it happens again and cuts another deal and they don't met their end of the deal so he brings them to court and refuses to attend meetings by Carter and co, showing to all employees that he is not in a position under them. I don't get how he's been foolish? In fact I'd say he's been the only transparent one in the whole situation.

leggo

I agree he hasn't been a fool, especially compared with Dixie, but if you think his attempts at transparency were anything more than manoeuvring to get what he wanted, you're kidding yourself. And I'd imagine his public posturing didn't stand well to him in trying to get the sale.

Always assume all of these guys have an angle. None of them care about 'the fans' or any of that malarkey.

Chain Smoker

To me, Billy comes across as nothing other than a huge mark and once they had him reeled in they took him for as much as they could get. What's he doing getting involved in wrestling at all beyond having some novelty indie promotion. The guys wealthy but I seriously doubt he has huge money.

He's not a fool for getting fed up with it all or suing them, he's a fool for getting involved in the first place and playing along for so long.

Monokne

On Corgan - Keller mentioned recently that he'd been led to believe Corgan's net worth to be in the $50 million range but that he did not want to put more than $10 mill into TNA.

In terms of who is foolish, while you can see Corgan has some business savvy, I'm sorry but I'm just not having the idea he doesn't come off a fool here. I've been through this in prior posts, but if you look at in depth, TNA has literally no major income streams and no way of being profitable and he has sunk millions into it. May as well have just set fire to that money.