In an interview with TNAwrestling.com, TNA President Dixie Carter talks about the company’s recent seven-year milestone. Yadda yadda, as interesting as it may be, we were much more interested to hear her comments on the Knockouts division — after all she is in a unique position of being a female head of a wrestling company. Dixie says:
I’m very proud of the Knockouts. As a woman, it’s important to me that these ladies be represented properly. They are the best in the business, and the recent addition of new Knockouts, such as Tara and Sarita, will only further strengthen this division.
I’ve always wondered about the politics that come into play when it comes to women in wrestling and female figures in management. You look to women like Dixie and Stephanie McMahon who is in charge of WWE’s Creative Team [for the most part], and you think: “Are you being serious?” While Dixie’s Knockouts division is far more respected in terms of wrestling, I’d venture to bet that behind the scenes, the women in TNA are treated much the same as the Divas of WWE. We’ve heard multiple times about the Knockouts getting lowballed in their contracts, with top attractions like Gail Kim during her time in the company earning less than $100,000.
And I have said this over and over again; the Knockouts are consistently the highest rated segment of Impact but do they get anything to show for it? Not so much. Why not try doing a Knockouts main event on Impact to push the envelope a little more? I know they did it once, but haven’t done it since. Show you are truly commited to the division. Because while WWE can justify through it’s ratings why the Divas are booked the way they are, in an ideal world, TNA would be booking Impact around the Knockouts in a way rather than the men because they are bigger ratings draws than Kurt Angle, Sting, Booker T etc.
It’s just good business; if something draws ratings — you do more of it, surely?
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July 3, 2009 at 3:32 pm
I agree completely, Melanie. I could understand dismissing it if it happened only a few times or sporadically, but virtually every week since the inception of the division the Knockouts have been involved in either the highest rated segment of the show or very close to it, if there should happen to be a particularly interesting main event that week. At this point it’s very clearly statistically significant. I know they didn’t start their business with the mindset to highlight women’s wrestling, but when you’re still for all intents and purposes a fledgling company trying to make it in the big leagues and the people at home are sending you glowing red signs that this is what they want to see, this is what will boost your ratings, it seems like a ridiculous business decision to ignore them due to – I don’t know what it is, really. Macho fervor?
I also agree with your comments in the round table about introducing a new belt. I’d like to see a tag belt, though. They’re coming up around 15 Knockouts or so, most of them with no direction other than the two or three going after the title at any given moment. With so much talent sitting around backstage, it would seem to be totally doable and quite the statement in terms of mainstream wrestling.
July 3, 2009 at 4:05 pm
im just love dixie shes super nice and look so cute and also so happy that she give importanse to the knockout division