TNA Wrestling is making significant changes to its behind-the-scenes staff.
First reported by Fightful, TNA sent out an internal email on Tuesday announcing that Gail Kim, Ariel Shnerner, Rob Kligman, and Michael Shewchenko are departing the company’s senior leadership team. Of those four, Kim — a TNA Hall of Famer and one of the top wrestlers in company history — is the best known to fans. She had been working in talent relations for TNA.
Kim has not yet publicly commented on being let go. She is retired from the ring but did return for a match in 2023 on the 1000th episode of Impact.
Shnerner was Senior Vice President of Content, Distribution & Marketing for TNA’s parent company Anthem Sports & Entertainment and had been overseeing TNA’s creative following the firing of Scott D’Amore in early 2024. PWInsider reports that former ROH booker Hunter Johnston (wrestler Delirious) will now be the head of creative. Tommy Dreamer will head talent relations and remain on the creative team, with both Johnston and Dreamer reporting directly to TNA President Carlos Silva.
A former WWE executive, Kligman was named Chief Revenue Officer of Anthem Sports Group in June 2024.
Shewchenko was Anthem’s Vice President of Digital Operations. He will remain with Anthem until April 30.
The internal email also listed Rafael Morffi, an entertainment industry veteran who has worked for both WWE and AEW, as departing TNA. He had been consulting with TNA on its business strategy for live events and touring.
“In addition to these leadership departures, we also say thank you and goodbye to Karen Clevett, Sebastian Dastranj, Romy Glazer and Rafael Morffi,” the email said. “Our company is built on the strength and dedication of our team and these changes do not diminish the value or the contributions of those affected.”
TNA’s next events are a set of television tapings in St. Joseph, Missouri this Friday and Saturday.
The TNA Wrestling roster is looking to find a path forward following Scott D’Amore’s departure from the company.
Last week, Anthem Sports & Entertainment announced that it had terminated D’Amore’s contract. Anthony Cicione was named the new president of TNA Wrestling following D’Amore’s firing. Cicione is also the president of Anthem’s Entertainment Group.
Members of the TNA roster publicly voiced their support for D’Amore on social media after the announcement. Today, Fightful published a letter that members of the roster sent to Anthem Sports & Entertainment CEO Leonard Asper and D’Amore. In the letter, the TNA wrestlers expressed their belief that D’Amore is still the best possible person to protect TNA’s present and future.
“We feel strongly that a ‘wrestling person’ needs to be intimately involved at a high level to ensure that the amazing company we have all built and product we have provided to our fans continues to grow and flourish,” the letter said. “It is our opinion that the best possible person for that role was, is, and will be Scott.”
The TNA talent stated that Asper and Anthem have been instrumental in building the company back up, and the promotion would not have survived without them. The talent expressed that their goal in writing the letter was to open a line of communication and reunite the TNA family.
“We remain steadfast and hopeful that this letter can be a first step to opening, and keeping open, productive lines of communication to ensure the TNA/Impact family continues to be a wonderful, unique place to work for years to come,” they wrote. “We ask and implore you both to come together and create a resolution that will reunite this family once again.”
The full letter can be read below:
Len and Scott,
TNA/Impact is not just our employer and the company for which we work. It is a family. A family that each of us has grown to love and cherish and trust with our bodies and our careers. A family for which we feel deeply and that desire, above all else, to protect.
We are deeply saddened by the decision to remove Scott D’Amore from the TNA/Impact family. Scott is a brilliant wrestling mind that has guided this company and has it positioned to take the next step upward in our industry. Scott is also so much more than this. He is a trusted friend, confidant, teacher, advisor, brother, and mentor to so many within the TNA/Impact family. Scott has been the heart of the TNA/Impact family for over two decades.
Len and Anthem have been instrumental in supporting and building this company back from the ground up. The contributions of Len and Anthem have never gone unnoticed by anyone in the company, and we want to make sure Len knows this. TNA, simply put, would not have survived without Len and Anthem. Not just financially, but with the undying faith in Scott and us to revive the company that was on the brink of death. Len and Anthem are the foundation that TNA has been able to build upon. We would not have made it back to this point without BOTH of you. The fans know this, and the TNA family knows this.
We come to you to voice our concern for TNA/Impact, our family, and its future and direction. We, like you, wish to safeguard what we have all worked and sweat and bled for to build. We want TNA/Impact to continue grow and to continue to be an enviable place for all professional wrestlers to work.
We understand and appreciate that professional wrestling, at its core, is a business, and that the company must provide a fiscally responsible, financially viable product. At the same time, professional wrestling is uniquely situated. The business of professional wrestling is so much more than balance sheets, downloads, and ratings. The wrestling business is and must be its people, its characters, and its storylines. That is to say, there is no wrestling business without the wrestling creative vision and the right people bringing the creative vision to life.
To thrive, a wrestling company must have both an eye toward business decisions, and its fingers on the pulse of creative decisions and the ever-changing appetite of our fans. It is in light of this concern and our desire to uphold the high standards of TNA/Impact that we offer this letter.
It is our desire to have a dialogue with you and with the company in an effort to protect the present and the future of TNA/Impact for you, for Anthem, for the fans, and for professional wrestlers. We feel strongly that a ‘wrestling person’ needs to be intimately involved at a high level to ensure that the amazing company we have all built and product we have provided to our fans continues to grow and flourish. It is our opinion that the best possible person for that role was, is, and will be Scott.
We recognize that we do not necessarily know all the facts or details around the decision to remove Scott. In life there is always the rumors, the opinions, and, somewhere in between, the truth. We rarely get to know which is which. It remains our hope and desire that everyone can set aside the past few days and any hurt feelings or unkind words that may have been exchanged, and meet to discuss a path forward that preserves the TNA/Impact family we all hold so dearly.
We remain steadfast and hopeful that this letter can be a first step to opening, and keeping open, productive lines of communication to ensure the TNA/Impact family continues to be a wonderful, unique place to work for years to come. We ask and implore you both to come together and create a resolution that will reunite this family once again.
We look forward to hearing from you and continuing this dialogue.
Signed, Your TNA Family
Dave Meltzer reported in last week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that some people in TNA, including D’Amore, had been expecting the management change for a few weeks, but talent were not anticipating the change:
There were those in TNA who had expected changes for a few weeks, including D’Amore, although the talent did not. Some noted that Cicione and Ariel Shnerer, the Vice President of Business Development at TNA had been talking with staff and wrestlers about the business and getting feedback.
Nothing official has come out as the reason. Several different sources had it that with TNA having its most successful period in eight years that he was hoping to expand the business. One person close to D’Amore noted to us that he was very wealthy independent of wrestling with other business interests but loved working in pro wrestling. They said he had pushed for years for a bigger budget and there had been threats to quit with the idea that he was a key person they didn’t want to lose and they were aware he didn’t need the job, but also very much wanted it.
The parent company of Impact Wrestling announced some restructuring and key hires on Monday that includes a longtime combat sports executive joining the company in a leadership position.
Anthem Sports & Entertainment announced a reorganization that will see its sports properties now operating under the newly-named Anthem Sports Group. As part of the move, longtime combat sports executive Richard Schaefer will be president of the new division.
Impact Wrestling, Invicta Fighting Championships and Fight Network all fall under that group.
Former WWE director of marketing Lou D’Angeli will also join the company as vice president of marketing under Schaefer. D’Angeli was with WWE from June 2006 through July 2010 before moving to Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group.
ASG will also retain Mike Pine & Talon Partnerships as strategic advisors who will be “focused on securing sponsorships and new revenue initiatives for Impact Wrestling and Invicta FC.”
As part of the moves, longtime Impact vice president Scott D’Amore was promoted to president of Impact and will report directly to Schaefer.
The parent company of Impact Wrestling has acquired an MMA brand as Anthem Sports are the new owners of the all-female Invicta Fighting Championships.
ESPN’s Ariel Helwani broke the news Thursday morning. Terms were not disclosed.
Invicta will air on Anthem-owned AXS TV in the U.S. starting in May, moving from UFC Fight Pass where they had been since 2014. In Canada, they will air on the Anthem-owned Fight Network. The first show is scheduled for a Friday, May 21st, but it’s unknown whether that will be their regular night going forward and how many events they are planning on holding per year.
The company was founded in 2012 by former UFC and Strikeforce executive Shannon Knapp who will now be part of Anthem’s board. Former UFC executives Jaime Pollack and Ant Evans are also both part of the Anthem family.
Invicta alumni include double UFC champion Amanda Nunes; Bellator featherweight champion Cris “Cyborg” Justino; former UFC strawweight champions Rose Namajunas and Carla Esparza, former Strikeforce bantamweight champion Marloes Coenen and more.
In addition to Invicta, Impact and Fight Network, Anthem owns HDNet Movies, the Pursuit Channel and GameTV/Game+.
Impact Wrestling’s parent company Anthem Sports & Entertainment released a statement Friday in response to sexual abuse allegations against several of its talents.
“It is a core value of the Anthem organization that we conduct our business with respect and integrity, providing a safe and secure work environment for our employees and performers. We are following carefully the various allegations being made through social media, and are reviewing all incidents involving Impact Wrestling talent and personnel to determine an appropriate course of action.”
The allegations are against Dave Crist, Joey Ryan, and Michael Elgin:
A wrestler named Ziggy Haim tweeted that after she met Crist, she was sent unwanted photos but was blown off because she was only 20 and Crist did that to everybody. She added that Crist said he had feelings for her even thought he had a girlfriend. She later retweeted several other stories about Crist shared with her by other women. One school announced they are ending their affiliation with Crist’s school.
A wrestler named Corinne Mink tweeted that she picked Ryan up at the airport for a show and he groped her breasts and thigh, attempting to get Mink to his hotel room after kissing her. She said she told the promoter about the incident, was apologized to, and told they wouldn’t book him again only to rebook him 18 months later.
Female wrestler Kaitlin Diemond tweeted that Elgin, under a different name, sent her an unwanted picture of his genitals in addition to emails and other messages in 2016. She said he didn’t acknowledge he sent her anything after she confronted him, but the messages stopped at that point.
The allegations come as the pro wrestling world continues to deal with the fallout of the #SpeakingOut movement in which women are telling their stories about harassment. Neither of the three men have publicly commented about the allegations.
Impact Wrestling has officially confirmed its upcoming move to AXS TV.
In a press release that was issued this morning, Impact announced that it has “entered into an agreement to broadcast its flagship weekly two-hour program IMPACT! nationally across the U.S. on AXS TV.”
“Immediately following IMPACT Wrestling’s biggest pay-per-view event of the year Bound For Glory, which takes place on Oct. 20 in Chicago, IMPACT! will begin airing weekly on AXS TV,” the press release announced. “The program will continue to simulcast globally on IMPACT Wrestling’s official Twitch channel.”
The day of the week and time slot that Impact will be airing in on AXS TV have yet to be revealed. The show currently airs at 10 p.m. Eastern time on Fridays on the Pursuit Channel and Twitch.
“IMPACT Wrestling is a perfect fit for AXS TV’s slate of live sporting events and combat sports content,” Anthem Sports & Entertainment Chief Corporate Officer and Impact Wrestling president Ed Nordholm said. “The newest addition to our growing portfolio of media assets, AXS TV’s audience perfectly aligns with our passionate IMPACT Wrestling fan base, and this move increases the reach for our weekly program with distribution in over 50 million homes. We could not ask for a better home and are excited by the opportunities to work with Mark Cuban and Anschutz Entertainment Group, our partners in AXS TV, to bolster IMPACT Wrestling’s presence in the market, as we continue to deliver action-packed and innovative weekly programming featuring some of the most athletic and gifted stars in the professional wrestling industry.”
It was announced earlier this week that Anthem Sports & Entertainment (the parent company of Impact Wrestling) has acquired a majority interest in HDNet LLC (the parent of AXS TV and HDNet Movies) and is assuming operating management of the channels.
New Japan Pro Wrestling and Women of Wrestling both air on AXS TV on Saturday nights.
“Anthem has been public that it has not made any decisions regarding current programming,” Nordholm said in a statement. “We have been long-time broadcast partners with TV Asahi for NJPW at Fight Network and hope to build on that relationship. We are in the middle of a season with WOW and about to tape another series of episodes next week, so no reason to make any decisions there in the short term. We’re looking forward to getting to know them better.”
Impact Wrestling’s parent company has finalized a deal that is expected to lead to a new television home for the promotion in the near future.
In a press release that was issued today, it was announced that Anthem Sports & Entertainment (Impact’s parent company) has acquired a majority interest in HDNet LLC, which is the parent of AXS TV and HDNet Movies.
Anthem “will assume operating management of the two popular channels that cater to music, sports, entertainment and lifestyle audiences. The deal also includes AXS TV’s extensive library of owned programming, including wrestling, MMA and entertainment content.”
New Japan Pro Wrestling and Women of Wrestling both air on AXS TV on Saturdays. Season two of WOW premiered on AXS TV this past weekend.
“We are very excited to add these two successful channels to our portfolio,” Anthem Sports & Entertainment CEO Leonard Asper said. “Anthem was founded with a mission to deliver compelling, targeted content and experiences to passionate fans globally on the platform of their choice. The music, sports and entertainment communities served by these channels are a natural extension and perfect complement to our existing properties. The addition of AXS TV and HDNet Movies will allow for increased content ownership, digital expansion and even more compelling programming for consumers and our distribution partners.”
The press release stated that “Mark Cuban and AEG will continue to participate as equity partners, and AEG Global Partnerships, AEG’s advertising and sponsorship sales unit, will continue to support the channels in conjunction with Anthem’s sales team.”
“Anthem’s combination of targeted brands, enthusiastic audiences, operational expertise, international footprint and vision makes them an ideal partner to take AXS TV and HDNet Movies to their next levels,” Cuban said. “Given Anthem’s portfolio of premium content and complementary programming networks, we could not ask for a better home, and we are looking forward to the results we will collectively generate for this new partnership.”
Steve Harvey is joining Anthem as an investor and is entering into an agreement for content development and promotion of Anthem’s portfolio. Harvey’s Steve Harvey Global will have a seat on Anthem’s board of directors.
Dave Meltzer had reported last week that talks of Impact going to AXS TV were said to still be quite active.
Impact currently airs at 10 p.m. Eastern time on both the Pursuit Channel and Twitch. Anthem also has an ownership stake in the Pursuit Channel.
