Tonight on Raw, Kurt Angle will expose a shocking secret to the world. This is something that he has said could destroy his family, and on Raw last week, he spoke to someone over the phone, inviting them to come tonight and saying, “I love you.”
Some fans have speculated that Angle had an affair (within kayfabe) and that the affair is with none other than Dixie Carter. That’s a name wrestling fans who have only watched WWE content will not recognize, and so if she does show up tonight, there’s is bound to be some confusion.
Just in case the resolution of this storyline really does involve Dixie Carter, here’s a look at who she is.
1. She is the Former President of Total Nonstop Action
Dixie Carter is the former chairman and president of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, one of the WWE’s competitors.
Carter is not the founder of TNA, but she joined back in 2002 and became the president in 2003. She remained president until August 2016.
In January 2017, Anthem Sports and Entertainment purchased an 85 percent majority stake of TNA, and Carter resigned as chair. She remains a minority shareholder in the company and is an advisor to Anthem Sports & Entertainment.
Kurt Angle, of course, spent 10 years at Total Nonstop Action after leaving the WWE in 2006, so he would know Dixie Carter from when they worked together.
2. She Has Appeared on ‘Impact Wrestling’ as an Authority Figure
Dixie Carter did not just operate TNA from behind the scenes, though; she appeared on screen as a character, just like Stephanie McMahon, Shane McMahon and Vince McMahon are characters on WWE programming.
Carter has served both as a heel and a villain, but she was most notably villainous in a storyline from 2013 through 2014 during a feud with AJ Styles. On an episode of Impact Wrestling, she confronted AJ Styles and turned off all the microphones and lights before he could respond. She continued to hold a grudge for AJ Styles going forward, even trying to prevent him from winning during a match at Bound for Glory. When Styles won the championship, she refused to recognize him as the actual champion. He actually left with the title at one point, similar to the way that CM Punk left with his title in the WWE.
Soon, Dixie and several other heel wrestlers formed what become known as Team Dixie. Over the next few months, this team would consist of a wide variety of wrestlers including Austin Aries and Bobby Roode.
Dixie turned face again in 2015 when she returned after an absence and apologized for a lot of her past actions.
3. She Was Once in a Storyline in Which She Was Accused of Having an Affair With AJ Styles
If the WWE really does go for a Dixie Carter affair storyline tonight, this would not be the first time that Carter has been involved in a plot like this.
In 2012 on Impact Wrestling, Kazarian and Christopher Daniels accused Carter of having an affair with AJ Styles, showing footage of Carter and Styles going into a hotel together. This led to Carter’s actual husband, Serg Salinas, making an appearance and knocking Styles out.
As it turned out, they weren’t having an affair; they were just helping a mutual friend kick her drug addiction.
4. She Recently Appeared on WWE Programming for the First Time
Here’s how WWE handled Dixie Carter & Kurt Angle’s TNA years on the ‘Homecoming’ documentary t.co/QVIrD3AD63
The speculation that Dixie Carter will be involved in this storyline with Kurt Angle didn’t come completely out of nowhere; it’s partially fueled by the fact that just recently, Carter made an appearance on WWE programming for the first time.
Last Monday, right after the Raw in which Angle told a mysterious person on the phone that he loved them, the WWE aired a documentary called Kurt Angle: Homecoming. Dixie Carter is interviewed as part of this documentary.
It was pretty surreal to see Carter on WWE content like this, but the WWE really hyped up her appearance, with a giant banner showing up on WWE.com promoting that Carter would be in the documentary. Some speculated that part of the reason for this was to seed in the idea of Carter making her way onto Monday Night Raw for the Kurt Angle storyline.
5. She Is Married & Has Two Children
In real life, Dixie Carter is married, and she has two children.
Carter’s husband is Serg Salinas, who spent 14 years working as the vice president of merchandising and music publishing for Total Nonstop Action.
Kurt Angle, too, is married in real life, and he has five children.