For months and months, there has been so much speculation and a lot of rumors going around regarding the future of TNA Impact Wrestling on Destination America. After all the guessing and talking, it appears as if the truth is finally known and the rumors can stop. As of January 2016. Destination America will no longer be airing TNA Wrestling, and this has been confirmed by owner Dixie Carter.
Dixie Carter spoke with Sports Illustrated and discussed a number of things in the wrestling world. She talked about current stars, past stars, Jeff Jarrett, Global Force Wrestling, and so much more. During the interview, she also revealed that the partnership between TNA and Destination America is quickly coming to an end.
“The biggest challenge for us is building a brand in the U.S. That’s where we need to grow. We’re contracted to Destination America through the end of the year, and we are in discussions going on for 2016.”
With that, there is no real word on where TNA will end up landing on television by next year. Carter did say that there are discussions going forward, but it’s hard to believe that Destination America will want anything to do with them after their current deal is up.
Stranger things have happened, but the relationship has been strained almost from the very beginning.
Upon bringing TNA Impact Wrestling onto the network, the shows have not brought forth the kind of ratings that Destination America had been hoping for. Then, out of nowhere, Ring of Honor was brought to Destination America in a move that apparently blindsided TNA.
There’s been no word on the future of ROH on Destination America either, but it’s been said to have been pulling in decent ratings for an hour-long show.
Since ROH began airing, it has worked as a strong lead-in for TNA, but ratings then continued to fall for the two-hour long episodes of Impact . Stars began leaving the company on their own, and others just weren’t brought back or re-signed.
Add on top of all that, the rumors and confirmed information about late pay or no pay and it spells nothing by trouble.
Others, such as Ethan Carter III, are very happy and thankful to be working with TNA. WrestleZone even reported how Carter talked about the negativity thrown at Dixie Carter, but he thinks there is no reason for it and it’s uncalled for.
Still, with Destination America done with TNA Impact Wrestling as of 2016, it’s going to be interesting to see where the company lands. Maybe they will get more clout and pull if they truly partner with GFW, but that all remains to be seen and their future is now incredibly uncertain.
[Image via TNA]
