A current member of the Impact Wrestling roster reportedly had serious issues with the repeated criticisms of the previous regime during Impact's recently completed round of tapings.
According to a report by PWInsider, Eli Drake confronted Jeff Jarrett during the taping, where he was said to be the spokesman of sorts for frustrations that were common throughout the locker room. Specifically, several members of the roster were upset about the shots being taken at the old regime, because those talent felt disrespected for their hard work and loyalty to the promotion, in spite of all the turmoil that took place throughout 2016. Drake has been present for many of those ups and downs, since joining the Impact roster in February of 2015. Drake also had a conversation with Bruce Prichard, where he reiterated his displeasure with the company taking shots.
From the perspective of the new creative team, the shots at the previous regime were intended to slight the prior management team, led by Dixie Carter, and not aimed at the wrestlers themselves.
Drake was not the only individual who felt the frequent criticisms of the prior regime were a bad idea. In a blog entry posted on Friday, Jim Ross gave his review of the latest episode of Impact, noting that he hoped "that Impact will move on from bashing the previous regime and use their valuable TV time to better build the talents and Impact titles plus the personal issues that develop."
Last night's episode of Impact was the first from that set of tapings, the first since a new creative team took control of the promotion that is led by former promotion co-founder Jeff Jarrett. There were several major changes during the tapings, including a re-branding that all but exorcised use of the TNA moniker and the debut of a plethora of new talents.
