After old TNA Wrestling footage with Dixie Carter’s talent speech from November 5, 2009 surfaced online that made talent irritated and upset, TNA Hall of Famer Velvet Sky made negative comments regarding Carter’s speech. Sky called Carter’s comments, ‘Vile.’ Sky also said that Carter’s talk was filmed so she could have her ‘my way or the highway’ ego stroked even more.” Sky also then went on to say that Carter was not well received by most in the company due to the way she treated people who could do nothing for her.
“I remember this day. The consensus of the locker room and staff during this “meeting” was not one single person gave a shit what she was saying and we actually had to take time out of production day for this nonsense from her and it had to be filmed so she could have her “my way or the highway” ego stroked even more. She was not well received by most because of the way she treated people who could do nothing for her and the way she would talk down to people. Vile.”
TNA Wrestling had announced the signing of Hulk Hogan, at a time when talent were said to have been requesting their releases weeks before the company signed him. Carter, up until that point, had rarely made appearances on TNA TV. She opened up the November 5, 2009 episode of IMPACT, basically telling her roster, who all looked very unhappy, that “When you question things in this company, you’re questioning me. And I cannot allow that to happen.” She even went as far as to say that whomever chose not to support her, would “need to find another place to work.”
“Nobody likes drastic change. Nobody likes big moves. I understand that. And it affects different people different ways. And while I respect that those of you out there that might have differing opinions of the decisions that I’m making, I expect you to support me 100%. When you question things in this company, you’re questioning me. And I cannot allow that to happen…Business is about choices. I’ve made the choice to put my finances, my reputation, my passion, my love behind each and every one of you and this company. And it’s time for you to do the same thing. You have a choice to make. You can choose to support me, you can choose to support the direction TNA is going, or you can choose not to. But you’ll need to find another place to work.”
Dixie Carter took over the day-to-day operations of TNA Wrestling after her parents Bob and Janice Carter, owners of Panda Energy International in Dallas, Texas, purchased 72 percent controlling interest from Jerry and Jeff Jarrett in October 2002, just four months after the promotion’s debut. In 2017, the Carter family sold TNA Wrestling to Toronto, Canada based Anthem Entertainment Sports and Entertainment.