Low Ki Says TNA’s Mismanagement Wasn’t Dixie Carter’s Fault, Says She Was ‘Used’

– Speaking with Jeffrey Harris for the 411 Wrestling Interviews Podcast, Low Ki discussed the issues in TNA during the Spike TV era and says Dixie Carter was simply “used” for her money. Low Ki talked about how those in the company relied on Carter as an outsider for her resources through Panda Energy and said that the old ways of pro wrestling prevented the company from properly utilizing their top talents. Some highlights are below:

On if Impact’s in a better place with their change of management: “No. It depends on the leadership. Because if these people don’t know what they’re doing, they’re going to run into a lot of trouble. This is a very unique business, and the operation of the wrestling business, the business side that not many people are aware of, not many people are familiar with. You get glimpses of it when wrestlers talk about it, but the business side, it engulfs a whole lot of stuff. And to be successful, you have to really do a good job at keeping yourself straightened out and organized. So if they don’t have that in place, they’re going to keep running into the same issues as other people who tried to run the company. The Spike TV era, it was just on a larger scale of mismanagement. And that’s unfortunate because if you look back at the talent that’s been there, the people who would genuinely do a good job, how many chances they had to do well. And unfortunately they had to take a huge hit. So now they’ve moved on, they’ve got the management. Hopefully they know what they’re doing. Because this stuff is not easy. And if they’re not doing it well, it does worse.”

On Dixie Carter’s issues running TNA: “It wasn’t her fault, though. She was an outsider coming in with her resource, which was Panda Energy. And she was being used for it. So whatever they did to her, was sell her the idea to get her money. Then she’s operating TNA, but it’s not operating efficiently because they start hemorrhaging money, especially with Spike TV. Hogan and Bischoff show up, and with all that money that’s invested how much of a return was there? You have the guys who are on top now like [Samoa] Joe and AJ [Styles], I had a good run in MLW this past year. So all the guys are really high skill, where are they now? They’re doing really, really well, why? Because their stuff was authentic. They weren’t there stealing money. They were there working their butts off and showing the world why they’re as good as they are. I’ve been in the ring with those guys, I know the degree of competitiveness that they have. Those guys are the real deal. But the old style of pro wrestling was not necessarily to be authentic. It was to sell the idea of, ‘This is the biggest show on Earth. Come check it out.’ It’s the old carnie method.”

In the full interview, Low Ki talks about his WWE run, the mismanagement of TNA and the infamous appearance of Pacman Jones in the company, his contract status with MLW, the current state of the wrestling industry and much more. You can listen to the full interview below.

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Introduction (0:00)
On working with Tom Lawlor in MLW (1:00)
On his MLW contract status and if he is open to a long-term contract (2:02)
On the current state of the wrestling scene and rise of options outside of WWE (3:40)
On the launch of All Elite Wrestling (5:03)
On why his WWE run didn’t work out and being put in NXT (6:05)
On how he’s adapted his in-ring style over the years (7:15)
On his match with KENTA at ROH Final Battle 2005, and if he’d like to work with KENTA again (9:17)
On rumors of heat between him and Jim Cornette in ROH (14:22)
On if he has been given a bad rap by people in the industry (15:06)
On if he’ll be at MLW Fury Road and what Court Bauer’s done with the company (16:17)
On if Impact Wrestling is in a better place now than during the Spike TV era (18:16)
On his time in TNA and Dixie Carter being “used” by the company’s management (19:42)
On hating the Pacman Jones storyline in TNA (21:41)
On the most upstanding talent that he’s ever worked with (21:51)
On where fans can find him (25:51)

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