Powell's Blog: Dixie Carter's big "TNA changing" announcement tease needs to live up to the hype

By Jason Powell

Saturday, June 12 – 1:51 P.M. (CT)

Dixie Carter created a lot of buzz on Friday with her tweets regarding the "TNA changing" announcement that she is teasing. Or did she? Based on the reaction I've been reading in the Dot Net Members' forum, it's safe to say that a number of readers have given up hope.

"Wow TNA is changing again? Another surprise? Holy crap! Here's my vote for the surprise: That the most overrated wrestler in the history of the business (Sting) isn't going to be in a Main Event of a national promotion in 2010. Eh...It's probably just Tommy Dreamer." - Daneboy91.

-"Maybe (Scott) Steiner is hosting a talk show segment!!" - JStarr187.

-"Perhaps Vince Russo and David Arquette are going after the tag titles." - ADM101010.

-"Maybe they are replacing TNA with episodes of Kaiju Big Battel?" - Ravage.

-"Is it that time of the month already? I'm guessing this game changer will be the return of Bobby Lashley. Or Kristal Lashley. Or Booker T. Or Dixie got a new haircut." - El Duke.

-"The Slammiversary surprise is probably a Sting-(Hulk) Hogan double-turn, and the big announcement is probably something stupid. - Kid Mojo.

-"It's going to be a letdown, whatever it is." - Airforce Rambis.

And the list of cracks, jabs, and shots goes on and on. Sure, we've been known to get a little sarcastic in the forum from time to time (that's putting it mildly), but the pessimism regarding TNA's latest big announcement is stronger than I anticipated.

TNA needs to deliver something that will live up to the hype. Jim Ross jumping ship to head up the office would qualify. Paul Heyman taking over creative would qualify. However, Carter has ruled out both of those options (lie to us, Dixie, lie to us!).

Carter isn't saying much about the big surprise, but she is hyping it to people within her own company as a major move. In other words, this isn't just something she's hyping in hopes of selling a few more pay-per-views on Sunday. She believes in what she's saying.

It's worth noting that the big announcement may not even be made on Sunday. Rather, Carter is teasing two different surprises - one for the pay-per-view, and then the big one with no reveal date set.

Is it a new television deal? Additional programming time on Spike TV? Moving out of the Impact Zone? A new investor? A new creative leader? A new office leader?

Despite many conversations, text message and email exchanges with various people in the industry, I'm sorry to report that your guess is as good as mine at this point. For TNA's sake, I just hope it lives up to the hype. TNA needs a shakeup, and the company clearly needs to regain the faith of some frustrated fans.

I will be covering the TNA Slammiversary on Sunday. You are invited to watch along with me or just check in for the results as they happen.