The story behind TNA Slammiversary almost not happening

TNA’s Slammiversary event on Sunday night nearly did not happen.

PWTorch learned early in the week that TNA had not paid for the PPV/TV tapings scheduled for Universal Studios in Orlando, pushing the deadline to secure the soundstage.

This was on top of TNA/Aroluxe Media still behind on paying production staff for tapings earlier this year and not returning inquires on the status of payment. The issue for many production workers is some are owed money directly by TNA and some from Aroluxe, which took over the production side of TNA’s operation.

The combination of TNA being short on cash to air a live PPV broadcast and pay production workers made for a tenuous situation throughout the week.

Dean Broadhead, TNA’s CFO, wrote on his personal Facebook page (cited by PWInsider) that he spent the entire weekend trying to secure enough financial and logistical support to get the PPV on the air Sunday. It led to a stripped-down production set-up for the Slammiversary event.

You'll probably notice some of the production is off tonight.

— James Caldwell (@jctorch) June 13, 2016

In addition, TNA executive/”Smashing Pumpkins” lead singer Billy Corgan reportedly provided a short-term influx of cash to make it through this week’s tapings.

It remains to be seen what TNA’s future is after this set of tapings. The company needs to secure a long-term investment to avoid these types of situations going forward and to have funds for Aroluxe to pay the production team, which includes many workers who are now months behind on being paid.

PWTorch learned in April that Sinclair Broadcasting, the parent company of Ring of Honor, expressed interest in investing in TNA during a second set of discussions.

The company was not impressed by the initial offer earlier this year. However, a second set of talks piqued Sinclair’s interest after TNA submitted a better offer.

PWTorch has not heard an update on possible TNA/Sinclair talks since the April Report.