We often forget that Dixie comes from a public relations background, so this sort of scenario is second nature to her. It can also be said that unlike the WWE, TNA does not have a public stock option, hence there is no one that is fiscally invested in the TNA product aside from Spike TV & Panda Energy. And if both Spike & Panda have been willing to put up with the chronic ineptness of TNA for the past eight years, then who are the wrestling fans to get upset. We can vote with our remotes whenever we change the channel or opt to buy a TNA Pay-Per-View. If we don't like it, we can watch something else.

Dixie, despite her perceived ignorance & unwavering optimism in the floundering TNA product, knows exactly what she's doing in this scenario. I would like to know what the general wrestling fan base was expecting going into this interview? Two hours of bearded, spectacled dudes in ROH T-shirts volley their hate-filled invectives at a crying woman on stage? Shoot interviews are about compensation, plain & simple. Wrestlers need money, and there are companies that will shell out exorbitant amounts of cash just to get them to even sit in front of a camera. With the exception of Raven & The Honky Tonk Man, shoot interviews fall into three categories:

(1.) The ex-wrestler who saved his money and is financially set for life, hence willing to talk more openly about your basic wrestling road tales & chronology without naming names and incriminating their buddies (i.e.: Jim Mitchell & DDP)

(2.) The recently released wrestler who needs immediate cash to maintain their upper/middle-class lifestyle for just a little while longer, but knows that if they keep active in Japan or on the independent scene, they'll get hired back in six months to a year (i.e.: Chris Masters & Cryme Tyme)

(3.) The broke-as-f*ck '80's wrestler who has a John Holmes-sized addiction to [insert drug or gambling here] and needs every bit of cash to support it, even if it means going batsh*t crazy on video and ranting about conspiracies, medicine, & alleged gay sex in the locker room (i.e. The Iron Sheik, Billy Jack Haynes, & Paul London)

By entering this largely sordid world of wrestling shoot interviews, Dixie Carter has found a way to make TNA seems even less significant. It's one thing to have Kurt Angle or AJ Styles do radio & newspaper media junkets to promote the TNA brand. The WWE does it all the time, and for the most part, these interviews serve to give us personal insights into the performers, offering an emotional talon for the reader to latch onto in hopes that they will purchase a Pay-Per-View or a house show ticket. A shoot interview does nothing to help the TNA business model other than to give us a two-hour tap dance from the company president.

That, to me, is the most frustrating part of this whole deal: the notion that a company figurehead would view this sort of venture as a creative use of her time. And sure, I bet Dixie got paid for her appearance, but did she really need the cash that bad? I hope she gave it to charity or maybe put some extra cash in the Knockouts' paychecks that week.