MITCHELL – A few words of advice for new TNA owners – time to repair the damage and rebuild your reputation

I don’t know if Jason Brown from Aroluxe will continue to run TNA or Bill Corgan will prevail in his legal proceedings against the company. The one thing that is clear after Monday’s ruling is that Dixie Carter is no longer in control.

That should change things for the better. I’m not writing about whether that means TNA can return to its status as the number two company in the pro wrestling market, or how management would go about making that happen. I’m not even concerned here with TNA having anything other than short-term prospects.

This is certainly not any kind of guide to how to get TNA up and running creatively.

It is, I hope, just common sense advice.

The very first thing Jason Brown should insure happens in taking the day to day operations is that there is a square accounting of what the company owes, and that the wrestlers, employees, and independent contractors who are owed money are paid in full, immediately. This isn’t something that can be done casually. It’s going to take a thorough forensic accounting from independent, diligent, and thorough professionals to sort out the mess Anthem has now bought.

The people that TNA stiffed lived up to their side of the simple contract our capitalist system is based on. They did the work expected of them by TNA, and TNA didn’t live up to their promise to pay them the agreed upon amount.

The Tennessee legal proceedings have provided a small window into the negligence of the company, a negligence that caused chaos and suffering for many people who just wanted to pay their own bills and provide for their family. Jerking around people who worked for you in good faith, particularly when you come from money yourself, as both Dixie Carter and the family behind Anthem do, is despicable.

If Anthem and Aroluxe want to somehow make TNA an on-going concern, they need to do what’s right to build a reputable business reputation in the industry. They also need to recognize than TNA is now a division of their own companies, and their own business reputation is also at stake. TNA’s obligation to repair this damage is now their own.

It should be done as quickly and accurately as possible.

TNA has already lost their UK television deal. Their remaining business associates will want to know if things in the company have changed. A clear chain of command and straight-forward communication should be put in place. Aggressively showing that they have turned over a new business leaf may give them a second (or eighth) chance with some of them.

TNA obviously ought to invest in doing whatever it takes to build a strong business reputation.

Obviously the most important of these is the TV deal with POP TV. Brown should make sure that TNA is living up to whatever expectations, if any, the network now has for the Impact show. Anthem needs to hold their own with the current TV deal if they ever have any hopes of gaining one that could make a financial difference. Fight Network or not, TNA will need a viable cable television contract.

Brown should also put together a solid business plan. He should decide what revenue streams beside The Fight Network, pay-per-view, house shows, merchandising, and appearances are viable opportunities to someday bring money back into the company.

Brown should ensure that TNA is run exactly opposite from the way Dixie Carter ran it all those years, and becomes a square shop. If he can’t figure out a sensible way to do that, well, the TNA story should come to a logical conclusion.

(Bruce Mitchell has been a PWTorch columnist since 1990. He hosts the PWTorch Livecast every Friday night at 7 ET with Travis Bryant at www.PWTorchLivecast.com. The weekly two-hour Bruce Mitchell Audio Show with host Wade Keller is a VIP audio staple for years and is part of over a dozen VIP exclusive audio shows that run usually daily or weekly that online members have access to with their VIP password. Follow Bruce on Twitter: @mitchellpwtorch.)