The Heyman deal is cold, but those close to the situation say they don’t believe it’s dead, only because at the end of the day, TNA has nowhere else to go and they see Heyman’s asking for points in the company as a negotiating tactic and not something he’d hold fast to. There is still a belief the sides need each other, but that the deal probably won’t be made all that soon.
Heyman actually emphasized that meeting with Carter that he didn’t believe in drastic changes or resets, but felt the only way to make it work was go with new talent as the key stars, use a few veterans for their credibility (similar to the role of Terry Funk in the 90s version of ECW) and try to do what WWE did when it comes to recruiting talent to wrestling and doing a developmental program. He expressed it was a multi-year plan and that expecting big results right away would be at the expense of building the necessary foundation.
According to one source close to the situation, Heyman outright told Carter of the older legends that they could keep one, but would have to get rid of most if not all the others, and she didn’t seem to understand why. That right there is an issue because Carter has been loyal to the stars of the past, and Eric Bischoff, Vince Russo and Jeff Jarrett all had the idea that the stars of the 90s when wrestling was hot were much bigger than the stars of today. And at an autograph convention, they are, but in getting people to watch TV week-in and week-out, it hasn’t been successful and if there’s anything TNA PPV numbers have shown, it’s that it’s kick ass shows consistently, and not soap opera, stips and matches that don’t deliver in the ring that is the key. And there is no building the future when concentrating on stars of the past.
And for better or worse, Carter seemingly won’t give anyone the power to hire or fire. Vince Russo wanted to get rid of people and she blocked that. Ironically, he may be the beneficiary here since she made it clear to Heyman that Russo has to stay. When the company talked with Jim Ross months back, and they wanted him to turn the company around, he still wasn’t going to be given that power.