MVP believes poor management played a significant role in TNA’s decline and ultimately drove several top talents away from the promotion.
The current AEW star, who had multiple runs with TNA beginning in 2014, reflected on the company’s struggles during episode 68 of “Marking Out with MVP & Dwayne Swayze” (full episode below). According to MVP, TNA had no shortage of talent during its peak years, but the problems behind the scenes eventually became too much to overcome.
“Gross, gross mismanagement. People in positions that should not have been in those positions. Dixie was funneling money into the company, so you had to placate her and give her some sense of importance and allow her to contribute on screen because that’s what she wanted.
“And, you know, everyone else has told the story. Everybody was in Dixie’s ear, how great she is and how awesome she is, and just doing everything to keep the money flowing in and to be on her good side, etc., etc.”
MVP specifically recalled working under John Gaburick during his first TNA run, claiming Gaburick wasn’t qualified for the position he held.
“When I was there, I came in during the time when John Gaburick was in charge, and he had no clue. He lied about his qualifications to get that job. He had never done any of those jobs in WWE, and me and Austin Aries used to joke about wishing we could be a fly on the wall when Dixie and Gaburick were just lying to each other during his interview.
“So for me, my experience, the biggest what-if, I think, would be: what if Spike was actually allowed to buy Impact?”
MVP said there was interest from Spike TV in purchasing the promotion after the network lost UFC programming. However, he claimed Spike did not want Dixie Carter involved in an on-screen capacity and also didn’t want Vince Russo writing the show.
“But I know at one point, because Spike lost UFC and that was a big deal for them, and they were, as I understand it, there was interest. Spike, because behind one or two other shows, I think Impact was the highest-rated show on Spike, and it had the Cops lead-in.
“And if you think about the talent that they had, one thing Impact never had a problem with was talent. The talent was Grade A. You had AJ Styles, you had Samoa Joe, you had all of these guys over there, men and women. Gail Kim, Awesome Kong, Taryn Terrell, just phenomenally talented. There was no issue with talent. It was management.”
MVP went on to recall witnessing backstage incidents that he believes contributed to prominent names deciding to leave the company.
“But I know I saw gross incompetence in management when I was there, to the point that, again, I was there when Big was drunk and popped off out the mouth to Samoa Joe, and Samoa Joe said, ‘Got you. I’m out.’
“I was there when, again, Big was drunk. It was after the Wembley show. He was drinking wine, bald, looking like Santa Claus with a cherry face and big old belly, popping off slick, and Bobby Roode, one of the coolest, even-keeled guys in the world, ‘Glorious,’ he got hot. I watched some bad business go down, and some really big talents left because of that guy.”
TNA’s roster during that era featured a number of performers who would go on to have major success elsewhere, including Styles and Joe in WWE, while the company eventually underwent several ownership, management and branding changes in the years that followed.
