Dixie Carter won’t be appearing in Dark Side of the Ring’s upcoming TNA documentary series, and Missy Hyatt clearly thinks she had plenty to answer for.
Carter turned down multiple invitations to take part in the three-part TNA-focused season, which premieres July 7 on Vice TV. That is a pretty big absence, considering she ran TNA for years and was one of the most important figures in the company’s history.
Missy Hyatt saw the news and jumped on Twitter with a whole list of questions she thinks Carter should have asked herself while running TNA. Hyatt started with the creative side, questioning whether TNA ever really had the right people steering the ship.
“Cant wait to see the @DarkSideOfRing on tna. Questions dixie carter should had asked herself: Who has a creative mind with actual success & not inflated tales of previous success?”
She also took aim at TNA’s decision-making when it came to going live and trying to run bigger buildings, especially when the company was already struggling to draw on the road: “If i can barely draw on the road, going live & booking a big building might not be a good idea?”
Then Hyatt brought up WCW, and not in a flattering way. She suggested Carter should have studied what went wrong there before bringing in people connected to that company’s collapse.
“Maybe i should read the book ‘death of wcw’ by @bryanalvarez & not hire some of the cast that contributed towards wcw demise?”
Hyatt did give credit where she felt it was due, saying some former WWE names helped TNA. But her issue was with the company bringing in too many castoffs and putting them ahead of the wrestlers TNA had built itself.
“A few wwe cast aways like kurt angle can contribute great matches, upgrade brand perception, & draw. Hiring every castaway & putting them over the home grown talent was not a good idea.”
She also went straight at the Hulk Hogan era, questioning whether the short-term attention was worth the cost to the rest of the roster.
“Hulk hogan will get you a few more eyes on your product short term. What can he contribute long term? Is he worth your roster taking pay cuts, when he cant actually wrestle?”
Hyatt then argued TNA might have been better off leaning into a workrate-based identity like ROH, but with stronger episodic storytelling. Instead, she suggested the company leaned too much into outdated crash TV.
“Should you had made it a work base promotion like roh, but with episodic story lines? Utilize the ufc countdown specials as inspiration to what you want to present or go with outdated crash tv?”
She kept going, saying TNA should have focused more on long-term stories instead of short-term chaos. Hyatt also said TNA should have treated its non-WWE homegrown names as franchise players, pointing to names like AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, the Motor City Machine Guns, and Abyss.
“Storylines that had long term build over crash tv with no foresight for the future? Have your pillars that were not from wwe (aj styles, samoa joe, machine guns, abyss, etc) & make them into franchise stars.”
Then came one final shot, and it was aimed at how TNA handled international relationships and talent. Hyatt brought up NJPW and AAA before pointing to Kazuchika Okada’s infamous TNA run as Okato.
“Utilize international talent relations with njpw & aaa. Not take talent like okada and make him o-kato.”
That is a lot to throw at Dixie Carter right before the TNA episodes air. Carter may not be sitting down for Dark Side of the Ring, but Hyatt clearly believes the former TNA president should have had to answer for the decisions that shaped the company’s most chaotic years.
Do you think Dixie Carter should have appeared in Dark Side of the Ring’s TNA series, or was she right to stay away? Let us know in the comments below.
