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By Wade Keller, PWTorch editor

First, here's a few emails regarding my story last night on Brother Ray injuring Chris Sabin and the match not being stopped to be sure Sabin was okay followed by Kevin Nash blowing up over it:

Ingres: "All these veteran blow-ups could be a prime opportunity for Dixie Carter to clean house! Let Booker T and Nash go, and add in that she apparently isnt too keen on Scott Steiner, and here is a chance to change direction and let the younger guys have their moment. What is the fear? That they'll go to WWE? Doubtful in some cases, and if they do, and even if they have a nice little nostalgia run there - so what?? They're not really helping things at TNA, although one could argue about higher ratings the past year, however, are they boosting buy rates? getting over younger guys? Perhaps Russo & Ferrara will have to update their booking style with these '90s stars gone."

Grangshifter: "Kevin Nash is the voice of reason in TNA. Roll that around in your head. Say it out loud. Oh yeah. Some very bad shit is about to happen in Dixie's vanity project. You remember? Russo and Ferrara in.Nash and Sullivan in. Bankruptcy betrayal. The end. Inmates take over the asylum.Yeah..."

Patrick Ward: "Kudos to Nash for calling a Spade a Spade in regards to the Sabin incident... I was never Big Kev's greatest fan, but compared to the other members of the Kliq... he truly seems to have a heart and passion for making the business better and safer and helping the young guys out...he seems to realize that he's not the main but can still contribute his knowledge and understanding of the Business."

In our online poll, readers are siding by a wide margin with Nash for calling everyone out for not stopping the match when Sabin wasn't moving after a botched move by Brother Ray. In fact, 78 percent say Nash shouldn't be punished, while the rest say he should be fined, suspended, or fired for his outburst. I agree with the majority. Nash needed to speak out because the well-being of a friend of his was put at great risk because there's an authority figure with the experience to see what should have been done at that moment and instantly make that call. (I have no idea what was going through Brother Ray's head at that moment, but moving a wrestler when they're limp and failed to kick out after a botch moved is a mistake even rookies are usually cognizant enough not to make.)

I can report this. The morale within TNA is pretty low right now, with more talk of it being like WCW in the last year or two than ever before. There is lost faith in Dixie Carter's ability to lead or her knowledge to make sound decisions, and it's at the point where there's pandering to her whims at the expense of what the bookers think is best for business just to keep her happy. She's probably most comparable to former WCW V.P. Kip Frey in that she entered wide-eyed and with good intentions but just didn't have the knowledge base to make the right decisions.

Jeff Jarrett was a terribly flawed leader, but he was a leader with the respect to talk around backstage, give orders, and have them followed. There was a sense that he would recognize wrestlers trying to get away with things or play political games. Now, with no one with official authority who also has a wrestling background, it's breaking down quickly. Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara don't carry the gravitas to force wrestlers to do things they don't want to do.

What can Dixie do now? Bringing Jarrett back is one option, although you know what you're getting with him, and it's a mix of good and bad, and the ceiling for success with him in charge is established and quite low. She could look outside the company for a better booker than Russo and hope he can earn the respect of the wrestlers. This list is limited to Paul Heyman, Jim Cornette, and Gabe Sapolsky as far as experienced contemporary bookers who would have the respect of enough wrestlers to keep law and order.

She could also find a veteran wrestler to play a variation of the role Jarrett played, but finding someone trustworthy who is engaged and in-touch with the product might be tough. It'd have to be someone not wrestling (or who's willing to quit wrestling), such as Brother Ray, Kevin Nash, or Kurt Angle, or a retired wrestler on staff like Terry Taylor or Tazz, or bringing back Dutch Mantel or finding a wrestler who is near the end of his career and willing to be that "heavy" who could enforce Dixie's and her new booker's wishes. Finlay, for instance, might be a candidate. The women wrestlers I've spoken to over the past couple of years have nothing but love and respect for his style. I'd seriously consider Al Snow, too, if I were Dixie, but I think he'd be best deferring to an autonomous head booker and concentrating on managing the wrestlers and agents. I wouldn't make Sting a top candidate because coddled top stars generally don't work in high management positions, plus he never worked for WWE, and as much as I don't think being a star in WWE should factor into whether TNA hires or pushes a wrestler, I think to be in a management position, you need to have seen how WWE runs its ship.

It just seems like Russo is quickly losing the wrestlers with his undisciplined, nonsensical approach to booking storylines. In almost every category, it's a mess and the wrestlers are noticing and losing faith quickly. But what makes the situation seem hopeless it that Dixie may simply not have the background necessary, just as Kip Frey didn't 18 years ago, to make the right call and stick with it.

Send feedback on this article to pwtorch@gmail.com and we'll regularly publish reader feedback in the "Torch Feedback" category on the Main Listing.

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