Nightmares in Nashville, a look at backstage tna

Ricci told me the story of one intern he worked alongside with, which he felt perfectly illustrated the unreasonable working conditions many in TNA face:

“There was this intern that came to work for us. Nice kid. He was hired simply to do some assisting in shipping. First month he worked for nothing. After that TNA paid for his travel as he handled merchandise for live events. TNA then gave him a rather pitiful salary because by this point he was exceeding 50 hours a week. This kid then ended up running ALL of the live events merchandise, as well as working 40 hours in the office. And that's not even including travel time. Unsurprisingly, he began to burn out as all the long hours and pressure of being put in a position he wasn't ready for took their toll. Terry and I would often find ourselves turning back around half way to the hotel to help the poor Bar Steward inventory, figure out what he sold, and then help him pack up.

“This kid was smart and talented; he didn't deserve all this. Andy Barton kept stringing him along and promising him TNA would reward his hard work and sacrifices later, making him an official employee and giving him a very good raise. So the kid struggled on, even though he was exhausted, for six more months. In addition to the low-paying TNA job, he also spent the few spare hours he had working at a bar so he could afford an apartment.

“You know what great offer TNA made him in the end? $20,000 a year. And this was for the same long hours, hard work, and constant travel. To make matters worse, it was made clear to him he was expected to work even harder than he already was, because now they were giving him insurance. Flabbergasted, he gave his notice on the spot.”

One former Knockout echoed the general sentiment about Taylor: “Dixie could easily change the issues with money. People honestly think it's beyond her to pay Jesse Neal enough to feed himself? But instead she chose to hide behind Taylor when dealing with wrestlers, using him as the bad guy who was making us these crummy offers and saddling people with huge medical bills. All while she kept her saintly image and pretended not to have a clue about what the f*** was going on.”