With TNA coming off of their inaugural episode of Impact Wrestling on Destination America on Wednesday, the company has continued to buzz about all of the changes 2015 has in store. TNA president Dixie Carter recently spoke about several TNA topics, including the return of Kurt Angle.
Carter spoke with the Ring Rust Radio crew and touched on TNA launching Impact on Destination America following a lengthy search for a new network home after Spike TV dropped it from its schedule at the end of 2014.
"Well I think it is critical for the company," Carter said. "We were in a position where in negotiations I went to every network saying, 'Look, we are not interested in just licensing our two hour show Impact for your network. I am interested in a partner, someone who will help build our brand, give us more exposure, provide new programming for us', and that's exactly what we have gotten and more with the support of Discovery and Destination America. We are very, very excited about all that they are giving us across all ten Discovery networks; support, print advertising, PR, radio, digital. It is everything we had hoped it would be."
One of the main faces in TNA going forward is Angle, who almost re-signed with the WWE, but couldn't get anywhere with them in negotiations.
Angle announced on Impact this week that he is no longer the Director of Operations in storyline because he is returning to the ring. The Olympic Hero also got involved in the TNA World Heavyweight Championship match with Bobby Roode and Bobby Lashley and fought MVP in a Street Fight.
Carter discussed Angle re-signing with the company and being a big part of it going forward.
"Well I think Kurt was a game changer for us when we first signed him," Carter said. "I think it is important at such a new beginning for us to still have him as a corner stone for our company. Kurt looks at all the positive changes that are happening. Our signing with Destination America out in Los Angeles, the new network deal, the commitment from them, he sees the big picture and he gets it. He is a joy to work with and a real leader for us. We are thrilled to have him."
With TNA's myriad changes, there have been some concerns that the company may not put on any pay-per-views anymore, but Carter said that there are still plans for some special events in 2015.
"We will still have several live ones a year, but when we have them they will mean something and be worth people's hard earned money," she said. "I think that the creative team really wanted to start the year off with a bang and something special on the network. So we decided to take the Lockdown theme live and free on Destination America. I was supportive of that and we will have a couple of live pay-per-views a year and then we will still do some of the One Night Only specials that have been really successful for us."
TNA's new Impact Wrestling can be seen on Destination America Wednesday nights at 9 p.m. ET.
For more coverage, follow us on Twitter @SportsWN and Like Us on Facebook
© Copyright 2024 Sports World News, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
