Source: Wrestling Inc.
Mick Foley recently did an interview with Wrestling Inc, discussing a variety of subjects including TNA:
“I really enjoyed the people there. But once you had five non-wrestling talkers in the company…my role now is what it should be. The guy who occasionally comes back. I love doing the Saturday Morning Slam. If a different GM opportunity comes up, I would appreciate being considered. But I don’t need to be a big part of any show ever again. I probably outstayed my welcome by a little while.
“One nice little story about Dixie Carter. I never should have said that tweet about the empty arena match with the Rock, a.k.a. a TNA house show. That was the one that rubbed people the wrong way, because it was a slap in the face to everyone who works there, even though it was kind of funny. I was doing a show in Nashville, so I reached out to Dixie. I texted her, ‘hey I’ve got this show in Nashville, it would be really nice to see you and Serge and maybe you could come along.’ I get back in my car about an hour later and I see a text from Dixie and it says, ‘that’s ok.’ I thought to myself, ‘well, that bridge has burned. That relationship is unsolvable.’ It wasn’t until an hour after, that I saw the ‘that’s ok’ was just on the tail end of a much longer message that said, ‘ I really appreciate you thinking of us. We would love to go, but I may have to be somewhere. Can I get back to you if,’ and then the last line, ‘that’s ok.’ She did come to the show and honestly she was the first person to message me after they put me in the Hall of Fame. I wish I could have done more for them. I really do.”
Thanks for posting this up here, William. You know, from time to time I think about the way that Mick Foley, Kevin Nash, and some others left TNA – with an air of arrogance (which, to Foley’s credit, he at least admits and apologizes for in interviews). I think that the way these performers exited TNA tells volumes about their real drawing power.
Put the discussion about their character aside and what it means for large “superstars” to bash a company as they exit. One of the things I learned about these guys on their way out of TNA is that they really aren’t big draws any more. If they were, they would have put more asses in seats at TNA house shows, they would have sold substantial merchandise while in the company, and they would have elevated the show’s television ratings. Mick Foley, Kevin Nash, Booker T, Bobby Lashley – none of them did a thing to improve TNA’s performance on any of these indicators.
Now, some ignorant idiot is going to read my comment and suggest that by exposing these men for their lack of drawing power and not mentioning Hulk Hogan, Mr. Anderson, etc. that I’m biased towards Hogan and these guys and that I won’t call a spade a spade. Not true. These men also haven’t done much to elevate the statistical performance of the company (except for Jeff Hardy who is a big merchandise seller). Then again, with these guys on board, TNA was able to achieve a level of profitability that allows it to tour around the country on a weekly basis, so perhaps Hogan and the new crew really are providing a benefit to the company…
Anyway, my final point on this topic is that the lesson here isn’t so much whether or not these men are big draws any more (I would argue that none of them – from Foley to Hogan – are big draws any more… except Hardy). The lesson, rather, is that WWE is a machine. They are a machine that is built for success. You can be a mega-talented guy like Bryan Danielson and they’ll make you a superstar. You can be an athletic guy with tons of potential and WWE can stick you with a ballroom dancer gimmick and you’ll be a hit across several sports and is several countries. Hell, you can be a guy who eats worms and calls yourself the Boogeyman and WWE will make money off of that gimmick!
WWE is a marketing and promotions machine. TNA is not. WWE makes Kevin Nash, Mick Foley, Booker T, and others the type of superstars that people will actually pay money to see – not because they are any more or less worth seeing than Dolph Ziggler, Austin Aries, AJ Styles, Jack Swagger, or any of the next generation of professional wrestling megastars. Rather, people pay to see these guys because of the WWE machine. It’s the pageantry, the pyrotechnics, the entertainment value – that’s where WWE excels and where TNA has not yet really started to build out its brand.
But I think TNA will eventually build out that portion of its brand. And I think that TNA can build a powerful machine. No, it won’t be the same type of machine that WWE has built, but it will be a powerful machine for it is… and I can’t wait to see it!