Dixie Carter
Dixie Carter (right) with Jerry Jarrett.
Born	October 6, 1964 (1964-10-06) (age 45) Dallas, Texas[1]

Dixie Lee Carter-Salinas^[2], (born October 6, 1964)^[3], more commonly known as Dixie Carter, is an American businesswoman and wrestling promoter currently serving as president of the limited liability company TNA Entertainment. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, TNA Entertainment produces professional wrestling television programs, live events, pay-per-views and associated merchandise such as video games. ^[4]

Contents 1 Career 2 Personal life 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Career

Carter was born in Dallas, Texas. She graduated from The Hockaday School in 1982 and subsequently attended the University of Mississippi, graduating in 1986 with a Bachelor of Business Administration. While a student, Carter was active on the Student Programming Board, and was a member of the Kappa Kappa Gamma women's sorority. In addition, Carter worked as an intern with Levenson and Hill, a marketing and advertisement firm in the Las Colinas suburb of Dallas, 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 27. In 1993, she started her own business in Nashville, focusing primarily on sport and music representation.^[4][5][1][6]

In 2002, the president of Monterey Peninsula Talent (a booking agency) contacted Carter and informed her that Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, a fledgling professional wrestling promotion, required a marketing and publicity outlet. Carter began working with TNA, but, two months later, was informed by Jeff 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Corporation, which was having financial problems due to its being investigated for accounting irregularities) had withdrawn support from TNA, and that the company was in dire straits as a result.^[4]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 company with a $900 million USD market cap and no competitor", contacted her parents, the owners of Panda Energy International, a Dallas-based energy company. In October 2002, Panda Energy purchased 71% of TNA from the HealthSouth Corporation for $250,000 USD. On October 31, 2002, TNA (which originally traded as "J Sports and Entertainment") was renamed "TNA Entertainment". ^[7][4][5] Carter was appointed president of TNA Entertainment in spring 2003. ^[2]

Carter was instrumental in securing a television deal with Fox Sports Net in 2004, and in July 2005 she announced that she and several other TNA employees, including vice-president Jeff Jarrett, had negotiated a more lucrative television deal with Spike TV. Carter brought a bottle of champagne to the meeting in order to celebrate. Her creative influence on TNA storylines has been less publicized, although she is known to be a fan of Jonny Fairplay, a reality television contestant who has worked for TNA in the past as a manager. She has also expressed admiration for the work of Vince Russo, a controversial booker. In September 2006, Carter personally negotiated a contract with wrestler Kurt Angle.^[8][9][10]

Carter has ruled out any possibility of becoming an on-screen character, however, made an appearance on TNA Impact! on August 27, 2009. While so, Carter has also stated on assuming further say in relations to the company's product. Recently, Carter has been making more appearances on TNA programming including pay-per-views and a promotional video for Bound for Glory 2009.

[edit] Personal life

Carter is married to Sergio Salinas, with whom she has two children.^[9]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• PandaEnergy.com - the official website of Panda Energy International
• TNAwrestling.com - the official website of TNA Entertainment
• Dixie Carter on Twitter