Dixie Carter | |
|---|---|
 Carter in 2011 | |
| Born | (1964-10-06)October 6, 1964 (age 61) |
| Alma mater | University of Mississippi |
| Years active | 1993–present |
Dixie Carter-Salinas (born October 6, 1964) is an American businesswoman. She is best known for her time as president of theprofessional wrestling promotionTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).
Carter was in a backstage role during her early time with the company, though began to appear on TNA programming from 2009, and became an on-screen storyline character in 2010. In 2012, Carter purchased the majority share of TNA fromPanda Energy International, making her the majority owner.[1] In 2016,Billy Corgan succeeded Carter as president, with Carter becoming chairwoman of the promotion. Following a restructuring period,Anthem Sports & Entertainment purchased the majority of the promotion from Carter. The promotion was subsequently renamed Impact Wrestling in 2017, and Carter would remain a minority owner until she left.
Carter was born inDallas, Texas[2] to parents Robert W. and Janice Carter (died 2025).[3] She graduated fromThe Hockaday School in 1982 and subsequently attended theUniversity of Mississippi, graduating in 1986 with aBachelor of Business Administration. While a student, Carter was active on the Student Programming Board, and was a member of theKappa Kappa Gammawomen's fraternity. In addition, Carter worked as anintern with Levenson and Hill, a marketing and advertisement firm in theLas Colinas suburb ofDallas, Texas. Upon graduating, Carter became a full-time employee of Levenson and Hill, receiving a promotion to the position of vice president at the age of 32. In 1993, she started her own business in Nashville, focusing primarily on sport and music representation.[2][4][5][6]
In 2002, the president of Monterey Peninsula Talent (a booking agency) contacted Carter and informed her thatTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling, a professional wrestling promotion, required a marketing and publicity outlet. Carter began working with TNA, but, two months later, was informed byJeff Jarrett (a part-owner of TNA) that a key financial backer (HealthSouth Corporation, which was having financial problems due to its being investigated for accounting irregularities) had withdrawn support from TNA, and that the company was in dire straits as a result.[4] Carter, claiming to "[See] the potential in a marketplace that had one companyWWE with aUS$900 million market cap and no competitor", contacted her parents, the owners ofPanda Energy International, a Dallas-based energycompany. In October 2002, Panda Energy purchased 71% of TNA from the HealthSouth Corporation for $250,000. On October 31, 2002, TNA (which originally traded as "J Sports and Entertainment") was renamed "TNA Entertainment".[4][5][7] Carter was appointed president of TNA Entertainment in spring 2003.[8] In December 2007, Carter voluntarily appeared beforeUnited States Congress to be interviewed regardingprofessional wrestling in the wake of theChris Benoit double murder and suicide.[8] Carter served as the president of TNA until August 12, 2016, when she became the new chairwoman of the promotion, withBilly Corgan taking over the presidency.[9] Soon after, however, Corgan sued the company and Carter, as he was lied to about when he would get his money back. On November 30, it was reported that Corgan had settled his lawsuit against TNA, with Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp. acquiring the loans Corgan made to Carter in the process. In late November 2016, it was reported that, once Corgan's lawsuit was settled, TNA would go through a restructuring period that would see ownership change, with Anthem taking 85%, Aroluxe 10%, and Dixie Carter retaining 5%, making Carter the minority owner and leaving her with no decision-making power in TNA going forward.[10] On January 4, 2017, Anthem Sports and Entertainment purchased 85% majority stake of TNA Wrestling and Carter resigned as chairwoman after fourteen years in charge. Ed Nordholm of Anthem took over as president.[11] Carter joined the Advisory Board of Fight Media Group, the division of Anthem that deals with the combat sports-related assets of the company where she would focus on the global growth of the brands in that division, while also remaining as a minority shareholder of the company until she left in the same year.[12]
After making only occasional appearances onpay-per-views, Carter made her first appearance onTNA Impact! on August 27, 2009, interviewing new signeeBobby Lashley.[13]
In early 2010, after the debuts ofHulk Hogan andEric Bischoff, Carter became a regular authority figure onImpact!, before losing her on-screen power to the two of them, on the October 14, 2010, edition ofImpact!.[14][15] However, Carter would make another appearance on the November 25, 2010, edition ofReaction when, in storyline, she informed Hogan and Bischoff that a judge filed aninjunction against the two on behalf of Carter over not having signatory authority.[16]
On the March 3, 2011, edition ofImpact!, the result of the court battle between Carter and Hogan was revealed, with Hogan declaring himself as the new head of TNA Wrestling.[17] Carter returned to TNA on October 16 atBound for Glory, whenSting defeated Hogan to bring her back to power.[18] Carter made an appearance on the December 8 edition ofImpact Wrestling, along with Sting to confrontTNA World Heavyweight Champion,Bobby Roode. The segment ended with Roode spitting in Carter's face.
In the summer of 2012, Carter was also the focal point in a storyline whereKazarian andChristopher Daniels accused her of having an affair with company TNA mainstayA.J. Styles.The duo provided compromising footage of Carter and Styles entering a hotel together as well as photographs of them embracing. Carter's real-life husband Serg Salinas made a televised appearance onImpact Wrestling where he knocked Styles to the ground. It was ultimately revealed that Carter and Styles were merely helping a mutual friend, Claire Lynch, work through drug addiction issues.
Carter appeared at the ending segment ofImpact Wrestling on September 19, 2013, to (in character) confront AJ Styles over the remarks he has made about the way she was running the company. Carter responded by saying that Styles was not a great wrestler and claimed that she was the one who created the Styles' persona to get marketing for the company. She added that Styles would still be living in poverty if her father didn't pay him, and she was the one who created this house (TNA). She was about to leave when Styles was going to respond, she decided to end the show by cutting off the microphones and turning off the lights, thus turning into avillainess in the process.[19] On the following episode ofImpact Wrestling, Carter ripped up AJ Styles' new contract as awarded by Hulk Hogan, then gave Hogan an ultimatum to join forces with her by next week. Hogan declined her offer and quit, Carter initially begged him to reconsider, but then claimed Hogan could not quit because she had fired him, though Hogan had already walked off camera by this point.[20] AtBound For Glory, the evil Dixie interfered in the main event and ordered refereeEarl Hebner not to count Styles' pin; however, Styles would ultimately defeatBully Ray to become the TNA World Heavyweight Champion.[21] Next week, she tried to convince Styles to sign a new contract with TNA, but Styles refused, leaving the company with the title. On October 29, 2013, Carter vacated Styles's title. However, Styles announced a title defense in Asistencia, Asesoría y Administración promotion (otherwise known asLucha Libre AAA Worldwide) . When Dorian Roldán, AAA owner, announcedJudas Mesias as AJ's rival, Carter said that she talked with Roldán attempting to cancel the match. Meanwhile, she announced a tournament to crown a new TNA Champion, as she refused to recognize Styles' reign.Magnus eventually won the tournament and the championship atImpact Wrestling: Final Resolution by defeatingJeff Hardy in the eponymousDixieland match, with the help ofRockstar Spud and Dixie'sstoryline nephewEthan Carter III. They formed "Team Dixie" in the process.[22]
On January 9, 2014, Magnus defeated AJ Styles upon his return to TNA, unifying the titles. Styles left TNA after the match.[23] On January 30, 2014,Montel Vontavious Porter debuted in TNA as an investor and entered into a feud with Carter. AtLockdown 2014, Dixie Carter's team ofBobby Roode,Austin Aries, andBroMans (Robbie E andJessie Godderz) lost toMVP's team of himself,The Wolves, andWillow in aLethal Lockdown match after interference from the special referee,Bully Ray, who was initially intended to be the "insurance" for Dixie's team. As a result of her team's defeat,MVP took control of TNA as the (storyline) Director of Wrestling Operations. Following the events of Lockdown, Dixie feuded with Bully Ray, who promised that he would put her through a table. On the June 27 tapings ofImpact that aired August 7, Carter was put through a table byBully Ray.
At the June 26, 2015 tapings for the July 8 episode ofImpact Wrestling, Carter made her first televised appearance after a nearly year long absence. After her nephew, Ethan Carter III, finished his match with Kurt Angle, Carter admitted that she was on a power trip whose ego got the best of her, and that the company doesn't belong to her or her nephew, but to the fans and apologized for her actions for the past year and a half saying that she would not make those same mistakes again, this would turn Dixie into ababyface once again.[24]
On the January 5 live debut ofImpact Wrestling onPop TV, Dixie opened the show feuding with Ethan Carter III and ended up leaving abruptly whenEric Young attackedMatt Hardy, who was confronting Carter.
Carter is married to Serg Salinas, former music producer for TNA with whom she has two children; a daughter Reese and a son Tanner.[25]In November 2017, Carter appeared onAnt & Dec's DNA Journey as it was revealed that she is a distant cousin of British television hostDeclan Donnelly.[26] She has also appeared on WWE'sKurt Angle: Homecoming episode of theWWE Network seriesWWE 24.[27]
On March 24, 2025 it was announced that Carter's mother had died.[28]
Carter has been criticized due to her decisions about TNA.AJ Styles, once dubbed as "The Face of TNA", said that Carter ruined TNA because of her "not knowing what's best for business".[29]Konnan claimed Carter is "incompetent" and "she doesn't know what she is doing".[30]Vince Russo has also been critical of Carter's management style stating, "Dixie just did so much more damage than good, just not being upfront and not being honest and everything was underhanded and behind people's back. I can't tell you how many times as my boss, she would tell me something and then it always ended with, 'but you can't say anything, you can't tell anybody' and that was just so hard to work under that umbrella".[31]
Kurt Angle praised Carter as a "great boss", stating, "Sometimes, having a woman in charge is a lot better than a man, because they're so much more understanding, more compassionate".[32]Hernandez praised Carter as "smart" for delegating responsibilities to others with more knowledge of the professional wrestling business.[33]Eric Bischoff also praised Carter as an "intelligent woman" who could sell her product to corporate executives but criticized her for not having an overall vision for the company.[34] Meanwhile,Bruce Prichard described Carter as "very gullible",[35] and criticized the corporate structure within TNA.[36]
Various women who performed for theKnockouts division criticized Carter.Velvet Sky said that Carter "ruined it for all of us".[37] Sky also stated thatSpike TV canceledImpact Wrestling after they got tired "of Carter's shit".[38]Angelina Love, Velvet Sky's tag team partner, said that working with her was "a disaster".[39]Tara ended on bad terms with TNA, complaining of that the company was disorganized under Carter's leadership.[40]
