Source: ProWrestling.NET
James Powell is reporting that Paul Heyman is not in Orlando, Florida for tonight’s Victory Road pay-per-view. You can scroll down to read his report after the dividing line.
While we all know that Heyman and Dixie Carter have been in negotiations for weeks regarding what situation would be right for Heyman to enter the promotion, I have to wonder if a deal will ever be reached that satisfies all parties. Heyman gave an interview to some reporters after last week’s UFC event where he indicated that the “right” situation for him would include owning a portion of the company as well as having complete control of the promotion. As a businessman, I have to assume that whatever Heyman says publicly is an expression of his “best of all possible worlds” scenario and that he’d be willing to take something less. However, no one knows what that negotiated “less” would be and if I had to speculate, I’d suggest that it would be a smaller ownership interest in the company and a partnership with Eric Bischoff to run the company. I’d also speculate that any “partnership” with Bischoff and Heyman would be arranged so Heyman was the lead booker and Bischoff was the lead producer.
Anyway, that’s just my speculation!
Paul Heyman is not at the TNA Victory Road pay-per-view in Orlando today despite many rumors to the contrary within the industry. Dot Net broke the news regarding their initial discussions, and all indications are that Carter continues to court Heyman.
It is widely assumed that Heyman met with Dixie Carter on Thursday to discuss the possibility of joining the company. Carter posted a note on her Twitter page to tease that her followers wouldn’t believe who she met with that day, which led to the widespread assumption that she was referring to Heyman. However, this information has not been confirmed by either party.
From a business standpoint I don’t believe it would make economic sense to just give Heyman a piece of the company as compensation. There would have to be some sort of growth clause in the contract that would kick in an escalator warranting this compensation. For instance if the company under his direction had a revenue growth of x% he would receive x amount of shares.
As much as I like many of Heyman’s ideas, he has yet to prove his ideas are a profitable enterprise. Dixie and Panda would be a fool to offer a stake in the company without results.