Ric Flair And Bruce Prichard Talk TNA's Problems, Dixie Carter Not Being Straight With Talent, More

On episode 16 of WOOOOO! Nation with Ric Flair, 'the Nature Boy' talked with Bruce Prichard about many topics, including the problems within TNA.

Flair said that he was so glad when Prichard arrived at TNA to become the Senior Vice President of Programming and Talent Relations. Initially, Flair believed Prichard would be the person to turn the operation around, but later realized it was too far gone. Prichard acknowledged that his stint with TNA was rough and said it was because he did not have the backing of the company and having a talented roster and knowledgeable staff behind the scenes could not make up for that.

Flair stated that it was difficult for Prichard to get things done because his decisions were never the final say, as "Bruce had to deal with Hulk [Hogan], and in came Eric [Bischoff], and in came [Vince] Russo."

"Bruce has all this to deal with and then he [has] got Dixie [Carter] out in the parking lot, and I don't know why, to this day, she likes to pull the talent aside or the talent will pull her aside, whichever way it goes, and they'll make a deal with her, and, of course, she doesn't relay it to Bruce," Flair said.

Flair admitted that Carter's conduct was not malicious, but said that it was a very difficult way to do business after you've been in the professional atmosphere of the WWE. Prichard admitted it was difficult for him to do his job when he would put something into motion only to find out that someone else has put something else into motion when it was too late to fix.

Flair suggested that as nice as Carter is, what she would tell the talent was happening was "lightyears apart" from what was really taking place. Prichard said that the right hand didn't know what the left hand was doing and people would just go into business for themselves.

Prichard claimed that there were too many examples of mismanagement within TNA, but one such example involves performance contracts. Prichard indicated that out of 50 talents on the roster, there were seven or eight different versions of contracts at the time. Some talents were guaranteed 150 dates per year when the company would only run 70 events in a year.

According to Prichard, Panda Energy International, Inc., the energy company that owns TNA, simply does not understand the professional wrestling business. He noted that for example, to them, an independent contractor is a plumber, so when one independent contractor is gone, you would just replace them with another. He pointed out that in professional wrestling, you can't just replace Ric Flair with another contractor if he were to leave.

In addition to talking about TNA's struggles, Prichard discussed the rivalry between the Rock and Triple H, whether Hulk Hogan was difficult to work with, and so much more. To listen to the entire podcast, click here.

Source: WOOOOO! Nation with Ric Flair