Eric Bischoff says Dixie Carter wanted to be the "female Vince McMahon"
Vince McMahon is regarded as one of the most important personalities in pro wrestling history, someone who has changed the face of the business. The WWE Chairman transitioned from being a backstage figure to one of the most hated heels on-screen during the Attitude Era.
No other person has been able to have as big an impact as Vince McMahon off-screen and on-screen in pro wrestling, and it's unlikely that anyone else can replicate the success he has had.
But, one other key authority figure in pro wrestling apparently tried to ape him in the past. Former SmackDown Executive Director Eric Bischoff recently revealed that Dixie Carter, the former President of TNA, tried to recreate Vince McMahon's incredible character on screen.
Eric Bischoff on Dixie Carter trying to be like Vince McMahon
Eric Bischoff, on his 83 Weeks podcast, discussed about Dixie Carter and how she enjoyed being on-screen on TNA. He said that Carter tried to be the "face of the company", much like Vince McMahon did in WWE.
"Dixie liked to be on T.V.. It's not a criticism, but she really wanted to be the face of that company. She was right to a degree because when you're the face of the company, when you're on camera, that has value when you take a meeting with somebody. To be able to have that added patina of being a character on the show and the authority figure, it's an advantage in some cases. Vince McMahon has made himself a billionaire doing the same thing. Once we had made that decision and commitment, then it was all hands on deck trying to make it work as well as we could. She wanted to be the female Vince McMahon. That was her goal." (H/T WrestlingInc)
Eric Bischoff himself knows a thing or two about balancing the on-screen wrestling character to a role off screen, which he did with aplomb when he was in WCW. Bischoff, like Carter, was the President of WCW at one point, while also playing a character on-screen, similar to Vince McMahon in WWE.