Billy Corgan on ESPN.

[¡Tranquilo!]

Transcript Via Reddit user Mr. Teapot

Brief Rundown of What was Said (A lot of what we already know confirmed)

• When asked by LaBatard how you win a bidding war with Vince McMahon, Billy says you don't. Briefly summing up that if Vince wanted a bidding war he would win. He is not aware of any bid by Vince for the company.
• Wrestling is a tough sell for advertising. Billy wants to update the image to try change this. There are disagreements over what this image should be. Corgan wants to provide a different product than WWE but lacks the financial resources.
  
  
• States the need for consistent capital which has been lacking from TNA in the past to realise his changes. Mentions that he doesn't want a deal that is going to put them in the same position in a few months time.
  
  
• When asked if Bound for Glory would definitely go ahead he stated that everyone is committed to making it go ahead and that they have been in this situation before.
  

Nothing really new. But I'm confused, some reports say WWE is in the picture, others say no, WTF is going on !?

 

[Roadster]

Corgan*

 

[Jacob Fox]

Nothing really new. But I'm confused, some reports say WWE is in the picture, others say no, WTF is going on !?

That is very typical in situations like this. I am not really sure what's going on fully because I don't follow TNA much anymore, but if people are putting in bids for the company, it could give leverage to make claims like that.

For example, Billy Corgan is pretty correct that if Vince enters a wrestling bidding war, he's going to win. That is, unless a third party who is not really involved with wrestling and has more money gets involved. So say that I wanted to purchase TNA but I knew there were bidders out there who had better financial resources than me. It might be in my best interests to make it seem like WWE was involved in order to scare them off.

On the opposite end, say WWE was involved. It could benefit the owners of TNA to say that they were not for the same reason. WWE's involvement could scare off potential investors who would not wish to compete with WWE's financial resources. But if WWE then decides to not make a bid at all, then they have lost actual interested parties who were only scared away because of the possibility of competing with WWE. It's not easy to always get that interest back either.

 

[C.M. Shaddix]

Most likely They are, but NO DEALS have been made, tomorrow is basically it because Saturday and Sunday are not business days.

If it's true that Carter is out of touch with this sale for the company... if anything she could lying and that she doesn't wanna give up the company so she is faking that she talked to WWE. But that's probably not true as WWE really is in the picture.

I am just ball parking stuff here

 

[Jacob Fox]

I am sure others disagree with me, but Vince buying the company seems like the best thing for it. Even if Corgan buys the company, that is not immediately going to solve all of their problems. He neither has the financial resources that WWE does nor do I think that he would want to put all of his money into it because the company has not been sustainable for years. The only option is to try and dig the company out of the hole it is in... the problem with this option is that the hole is so large and they have NOT been digging out of it... they have been digging it deeper.

Anyone who buys it would take on their debts as well. I don't see this as something Sinclair should even want to do.

TNA has been on life support and that support has been slowly failing for a long time. Anything that Corgan can do will be nothing more than a little band aid that will not heal the wounds. They have been losing fan interest and that's the bottom line here... you can't repair the wounds without the money coming in from the fans.

Vince has the money coming in from the fans. Even if he didn't, he has deep enough pockets to deal with it. He can decide whether to continue the promotion, as it was rumored. If this happens, then it's likely that some of the wrestlers would continue to be employed. But even if they don't, there is little to no doubt they would air the past events on the WWE Network which is a lot better than going into complete obscurity.

I know a lot of people are saying that we shouldn't "root for a company to fold," but sometimes you have to put a dying company to sleep. When the company employs people that they cannot pay, why are we worried about these people's jobs? Any TNA executives will definitely lose their jobs, but they're more responsible for the decline of the company than the wrestlers are. I have no doubt that the wrestlers will find work in this wrestling industry, oversaturated with wrestling companies. Trying to keep a wrestling company afloat when it has been in dire straits such as TNA has for such a long time makes a lot less sense to me. Sometimes, you have to pull the plug.

 

[Jacob Fox]

Most likely They are, but NO DEALS have been made, tomorrow is basically it because Saturday and Sunday are not business days.

If it's true that Carter is out of touch with this sale for the company... if anything she could lying and that she doesn't wanna give up the company so she is faking that she talked to WWE. But that's probably not true as WWE really is in the picture.

I am just ball parking stuff here

Carter still owns 70% of the company and since it is still a privately held company, I highly doubt she is not involved. In American business, the majority owner of a privately held company still holds all the cards. So she could technically sell the company without involving Corgan at all.

In fact, since TNA is a limited liability company, Dixie could force Corgan to sell his stake to WWE as well. Of course this stipulation would have to have had been previously written into the operating contract BUT it is pretty common. In fact, as the LLC was incorporated before Corgan owned a minority share, if the stipulation was put in the operating contract BEFORE he purchased a share, he would still be legally bound by it. Sincee Impact Ventures LLC was incorporated right AFTER Jeff Jarrett sold his minority share back to Dixie, I find it EXTREMELY likely this was in the contract. It was well known she wanted that minority share back from Jarrett. So she gets the minority stake back and then reincorporates the company as a limited liability company. We could speculate that this was done to prevent such a minority owner from holding onto a stake indefinitely in the chance that she either wants to force them out or force them to sell.

Still, if Dixie cannot force Corgan to sell, being that he is the minority owner of an LLC, she can cancel his dividends and basically make his share in the company financially worthless to him and thereby force him out of the company.

All in all, I really don't know what WILL happen. But all of these things CAN happen. As majority owner, Dixie is likely the person managing the bids on the company.

 

[Roadster]

I personally believe that TNA is best as a WWE subsidiary. It's come to a point where they are in survival mode, and have been for almost 2 years. TNA could preserve it's memory, the owners could make the buck, their workers can have an opportunity to hop over to WWE.

It's kind of a mercy kill, and that's coming from a fan of TNA.

 

[Jacob Fox]

I personally believe that TNA is best as a WWE subsidiary. It's come to a point where they are in survival mode, and have been for almost 2 years. TNA could preserve it's memory, the owners could make the buck, their workers can have an opportunity to hop over to WWE.

It's kind of a mercy kill, and that's coming from a fan of TNA.

Although I have a lot of animosity towards TNA, it's mostly about Dixie. From its inception until around 2010, TNA was my favorite promotion. I have never wished for it to die, though. But it has been struggling so much that people talk more about the companies problems than the company's product.

This company hasn't shown signs of recovery. Vince McMahon would definitely preserve its memory by having a lot of content on the Network and he might even use it as a subsidiary like you mentioned. A show on the Network might not be a bad idea. Or if he chose to continue it on TV, I have no doubt Vince would be successful in getting a TV deal for it.

Here's basically what it looks like 1. They continue slouching towards destruction or 2. They find some sort of new life with a company that can pay their employees and can insure that their product will be aired.

At this point, even if Vince doesn't continue the company's product, I am sure he'll have it end in a much better way than it is going with all of this behind the scenes drama and business problems. Any end Vince has in mind would have to be much more dignified than what the company is going through right now.

 

[Roadster]

The thing is, they aren't going to recover. The second they got kicked from Spike was the last nail in the coffin. Spike isn't NBC, but it's a major television network. Business wise, when you see a company get kicked for misconduct and a lack of growth/profit, you are going to stay away. That's what they've done. Moderate-to-big advertisers aren't going anywhere near TNA, and that's who they need to get cash flow. They've been discharged from the media world, in a way. They will have to fight really hard to get the trust of any company, and as history has proven, they aren't too keen on keeping the trust with anyone.

 

[Jacob Fox]

The thing is, they aren't going to recover. The second they got kicked from Spike was the last nail in the coffin. Spike isn't NBC, but it's a major television network. Business wise, when you see a company get kicked for misconduct and a lack of growth/profit, you are going to stay away. That's what they've done. Moderate-to-big advertisers aren't going anywhere near TNA, and that's who they need to get cash flow. They've been discharged from the media world, in a way. They will have to fight really hard to get the trust of any company, and as history has proven, they aren't too keen on keeping the trust with anyone.

I completely agree. Which is why WWE might be the best hope for them. Anyone can simply buy TNA, but it's still going to be seen as the same company. The one option that changes this would be them being bought by WWE. WWE's name recognition is enough to have advertisers and other companies not stray away... they would see it as a completely different company. This won't happen with Billy Corgan owning it. It's simply Corgan at the helm of the same company.

But yeah, they're not going to recover. If WWE is seriously interested, it's the company's best option at the time.

 

[RedDwarfTechy]

If WWE does end up buying TNA, would they still keep it alive? or kill it off ala WCW.

 

[Roadster]

WWE wouldn't need to keep it open. They would likely assimilate the roster into their's, hold onto their trademarks, profit off the video library and make some documentaries.

 

[Jacob Fox]

If WWE does end up buying TNA, would they still keep it alive? or kill it off ala WCW.

That is the million dollar question. If WWE buys TNA and keeps it alive, could they reasonably expect TNA fans to keep watching? They have to decide if the TNA fanbase is going to want to watch it still with WWE at the helm. However, seeing as TNA's current fanbase isn't keeping the company alive, they could consider if it is worth the risk to try and develop a new audience or try to win old TNA fans back to the show.

It's really hard to know what WWE might do. I think a good case could be made for either.

 

[Jacob Fox]

WWE wouldn't need to keep it open. They would likely assimilate the roster into their's, hold onto their trademarks, profit off the video library and make some documentaries.

I think this is the most likely outcome.

 

[RedDwarfTechy]

WWE wouldn't need to keep it open. They would likely assimilate the roster into their's, hold onto their trademarks, profit off the video library and make some documentaries.

Yeah that's what I thought, a network show would be cool though. But chances are TNA is only going to live on archives if the sale happens.