Dixie Carter‘s run in IMPACT Wrestling has often been met with mixed reactions, but Nick Aldis believes she might’ve been misunderstood.
Carter entered IMPACT (TNA at the time) in 2002, before taking on the role of President the following year. She remained in this role until 2016, with a blend of duties backstage and on-screen. While she faced criticism for her tenure, some talent still believe she had a big heart, but the execution of her decisions didn’t always support that. Former TNA World Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis (Magnus in TNA), recently spoke about Carter’s legacy.
Responding to a reference that Dixie was “misunderstood,” Aldis admitted he agreed with the sentiment. “I can understand that, I think her heart was in the right place most of the time,” Aldis told The Universal Wrestling Podcast.
“I will say that she remains a friend to this day. She sent us a Christmas card this year. We occasionally get together with her and Serge [her husband] and the kids. I owe Dixie a lot, and I always will. I’ve always been grateful to Dixie for sort of sticking a neck out for me. She’s certainly not innocent as far as like, she was ruthless. She made judgment calls. She did what she thought she had to do. But again, how is that any different to any other top executive in professional wrestling?”
“I think, sadly, a lot of the reason that her stuff comes under more scrutiny is the fact that she was a woman. The fact that she is perceived to be — her family are extraordinarily wealthy. And I think that maybe, because she was portrayed for so long as this sort of clueless, ditzy, kind of easily manipulated person — she was aware of all that. She wasn’t naive to the fact that this narrative was out there about her. And I think that maybe, unfortunately, she tried to overcompensate then.”
“She then tried to ‘I’m going to be ruthless and I’ll show these wrestlers who’s boss,’ which, of course, then, makes you a heel in a totally different way. It’s just difficult because it’s difficult to navigate these waters. There are people who have been in the business for years and still find the whole, navigating the political landscape of professional wrestling, impossible to do. It is, without question the worst part of the profession you’re dealing with, because we’re in the business of manipulation. Our jobs are to manipulate the audience into emotionally investing in what we’re doing so that they buy a pay-per-view or buy a ticket to see us wrestle or whatever.”
“So, of course, those skills transfer into how we conduct ourselves business-wise. The sad thing about it is that business flourishes when everybody backstage is honest. Right? If we’re all on the same page, ‘hey, we’re trying to work them. We’re not trying to work ourselves’. So many of the problems that happen in wrestling are because guys work themselves into a shoot. I’ve seen it and I’ve been involved and I’ve been part of it.”
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