I think you're spot on about Hogan. He convinced her that he was someone who he wasn't. By coming out and claiming that he taught Vince McMahon how to run the WWF, he was able to pull the wool over her eyes. Upon Hogan's arrival is when Jarrett's influence took a severe dive and also where the product started to suffer. Bischoff destroying the 6 sided ring on TV was a great sign of this.
I can't really blame Dixie for being taken in by Hogan and Bischoff. She doesn't really have roots in the business and Hogan's name likely seemed good to bank on at the time. Bischoff did run WCW successfully for a short period of time, but he mortgaged the future of the company for short term gain and it seemed like he was trying to take TNA on that path as well.
I admit I am biased towards Jarrett, since I am a huge fan of the guy. But I am not claiming he's a promotional genius or anything. Still, he grew up in the business and he grew up the son of a promoter, so his instincts as a behind the scenes promoter were likely better than she would have. But oh well. I hope she can still succeed. Even though I've lost my enthusiasm for TNA, I think it still needs to be around and I don't like watching people (not named Hulk Hogan) fail. But I was only able to get through a small portion of the show yesterday... when the guy in the four way match started knocking other guys down with his beer belly, that was the end of it for me.
Fortunately, I was such a big fan of TNA that when it started I taped all the weekly PPVS and the Fox Sports Channel show and bought all the Spike TV episodes off iTunes. It's fun to go back and watch TNA in what I consider its glory days