Is he happy with TNA’s progress?: You look at where we’ve come. We’ve gone from a .7, .8 to a 1.3 on Spike. You can look at ECW. They started in the high 2’s, and now they’re in the 1.2, 1.3 range – a tremendous drop. Smackdown you can’t really count because they’ve changed networks. They’ve had their issues, but as a matter of fact, they’ve done extremely well. You look at Raw. They went, over the last three or four years, they went from the 4’s to the 3’s, and now they’re back up there. So it’s an ebb and flow. And they tout themselves as the longest running series. It’s phenomenon that from 1993 to 2009, they’ve been on 17 years. They’ve got a 14-year, 15-year head start on us.
So am I satisfied? Absolutely, I’m very satisfied. Talk to the network heads at Spike TV and ask them. Am I happy? As a businessman, we’ve got to keep growing. We’ve got to keep growing the product internationally, domestically. We’ve got to keep hitting on all cylinders. So I think that’s maybe a two-sided question. I hope I’m articulating myself right.

Is Ring Of Honor competition?: If you’re in the game on national, network television, for us to say it’s not competition, that’s just being blatantly arrogant. The reason we have to pull talent is contractual issues, not, “Oh boy, they’re on television.” Any exposure for your talent is good. But, from a contractual standpoint, the contracts are in place to keep the business in line, and that’s all that is.

On not having any WWF or WCW footage for his DVD’s: I call it the “Bret Hart syndrome.” Bret has literally, probably laid awake many, many nights. His entire career is owned by Vince McMahon. Bret, he worked for WWF for all those years, and then briefly for WCW. But Vince owns it all. So, it’s a little bit frustrating, but that’s the business. Vince is smart businessman, and that’s why he bought the libraries. The way he acquired WCW, it nothing short of sheer genius. I’ll say there’s a personal relationship with the entire McMahon family and Jeff Jarrett. As far as a working relationship – absolutely not. We’re competitors. But a personal relationship? The entire McMahon family was very, very good to me during the passing of my wife, and that’s something I’ll never forget.

On Vince McMahon calling TNA reprehensible: That’s classic Vince being classic Vince. He didn’t get where he’s at by being a dumb ass. But for him to call us reprehensible is laughable. You always want to cross that line. But then, you don’t want to explode it or nuclear bomb it. You just want to step over it, and cross the line. We want the competitors in our organization to cross the line, and try new things and be innovative in the ring. It is professional wrestling.

On hiring Vince Russo, and other criticisms: I’ll tell you this: Without risk, there’s no reward. So if we don’t risk trying anything – if we just sit back and keep ourselves in a little box and just give them a very cookie cutter, a very non-exciting, non-suspenseful – If you just give them a very straightforward product, that’s very, very boring. I’ve seen that. I’ve done that. I’ve been a part of that. It’s not successful and it’s never been successful. Do we bat 1000? Absolutely not. A great hitter in baseball – what do they hit the ball, one out of three times? So you have to try things.