Tag: Carlos Silva

MJF pumping the brakes on criticism of TNA President Carlos Silva

Posted on by Joseph Currier

MJF is softening his tone in regards to TNA President Carlos Silva.

A match between MJF and TNA star Nic Nemeth was scheduled to take place for indie promotion Create-A-Pro earlier this month, but the bout ended up being canceled after a new policy was instituted by Silva. Citing partner conflicts, Silva put a stop to any indie matches that would have pitted TNA talent against wrestlers from AEW. The decision was made after an episode of AEW Collision was moved opposite TNA Impact on April 2 due to the NCAA men’s college basketball tournament.

In the wake of this, MJF called Silva a “dumb motherf***er” and accused him of lying. But the former AEW World Champion was a bit more cordial during his appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show this week. MJF said he’s heard from people that Silva is a good guy who is learning on the job after having no prior experience in pro wrestling.

“The truth is he didn’t want AEW talent to go up against TNA talent because he thought that my boss intentionally put, I believe it was a Collision, on the same night as TNA,” MJF said. “Even though every single year, I believe it’s the college basketball playoffs, I’m not sure, but I just know every single year during a specific season of the year we get pushed to — are they on Tuesdays or Thursdays? I don’t even f***ing remember. Thursdays, sorry. We get pushed to Thursdays. He thought that we intentionally asked Warner Bros. Discovery. We were preempted. And he didn’t know that, so because he didn’t know that, he got offended. And then he pulled a couple of matches off. I was offended because, A: You’re taking a match away from me that I was looking forward to, I was looking forward to beating the sh*t out of Nic Nemeth, formerly known as Dolph Ziggler. And B: You’re taking money out of people’s pockets.

“So I was a little upset, but I have been informed that this guy’s getting smarter to the business, he’s fairly green, he’s fairly new, and he’s learning on the job. And I’ve been told that he’s a good guy, so I’ve pumped the brakes a little bit on ol’ Carlos Silva. He’s learning on the job.”

Silva was named president of TNA in February 2025. Already an executive for TNA’s parent company Anthem Sports & Entertainment, Silva did not work in wrestling prior to this but was a top executive for MMA promotions PFL/World Series of Fighting.

AEW Forbidden Door & TNA Slammiversary no longer set for direct competition —

AEW and TNA were set to go head-to-head on June 28 when the companies present their respective Forbidden Door and Slammiversary pay-per-views. However, Slammiversary has moved its start time to the afternoon and will not be going directly against the AEW event.

Carlos Silva responds to Will Ospreay’s criticism: ‘Business is business’

Posted on by Vincent Verhei

Will Ospreay is not a fan of TNA’s decision to pull its talent out of scheduled matches during WrestleMania week. Carlos Silva, however, is standing by his decision. 

Silva, the president of TNA Wrestling, discussed the issue in an interview with Josh Martinez of Z100 New York. 

Silva began by saying he didn’t need to respond to Ospreay’s comments. “Business is business,” he said. “Every pro wrestling business is going to protect themselves, and we’re going to continue to do that. What I would say to the fans is, I got a lot of heat, and it’s okay. The fans can bring the heat, but there is only one reason that I did it, and that was to protect TNA and have our house protected.”

With TNA World Champion Mike Santana by his side, Silva implied that he was still bothered after Warner Brothers Discovery moved an episode of AEW Collision to Thursday night, head to head against TNA Impact on AMC.  

“If people are going to come at us, we’re going to do thing to protect TNA,” he said. “We were asked when we were looking at our TV deal, ‘What would be the best night?’ We started looking at all the nights and we said, ‘Everyone has their nights. We’re on Thursday night. We should be on Thursday night.’ So, if someone is going to come onto Thursday night against us, we’re going to take that seriously.” 

Silva then suggested that an unnamed rival organization was maneuvering TNA from running in certain buildings. 

“If someone is going to block us from going into a venue because they are not allowed to talk to us because another organization is there, we’re going to take that seriously,” he said. “That’s the kind of stuff that happens. When I hear all of the chatter, I smile. It’s okay. Will Ospreay and everyone can come at me, but we’re going to do what’s best for TNA, our champions, and the fans.

Ospreay spoke out on the subject while talking with Martinez a few weeks ago. 

“TNA, of all people, who the f*ck do you think you guys are?” he asked. “I’m sorry. All the f*cking talk they were giving about being number two and you want to get permission for these guys to do that match and then pull them? I think that’s cowardly sh*t. I think that says everything about what you view your talent as. You view them as less than AEW talent, and that they don’t want to grow and they don’t want to develop and they don’t want to give back to fans.” 

MJF addresses Carlos Silva’s comments on pulling TNA wrestlers

Posted on by Shounak Chakrabarti

MJF has broken his silence on Carlos Silva’s explanation of pulling TNA wrestlers away from independent wrestling bookings.

During WWE WrestleMania 42 week, multiple TNA wrestlers were booked for indie shows as well as matches against AEW wrestlers. However, at the very last moment, TNA President Carlos Silva canceled the matches and pulled his talent out of it.

Recently, after Silva appeared on Busted Open Radio and offered his explanation for the decision, former AEW World Champion MJF reacted to it on social media. Just hours before the April 29 edition of AEW Dynamite, MJF accused Silva of lying. “I think it’s cool that you can just lie,” he said.

MJF was previously scheduled to face Nic Nemeth on May 1 for Create-A-Pro, while TNA X-Division Champion Leon Slater was scheduled to face Ricochet at WrestleCon on April 16, 2026.

Speaking to Busted Open Radio, Silva revealed that the decision to pull TNA wrestlers was made to benefit the promotion and TNA talents. “We’re gonna make decisions that are good for TNA. And we gotta protect TNA.”

Carlos Silva ‘compensated’ TNA talents pulled from TNA-AEW matches

Posted on by Shounak Chakrabarti

Just days before WWE WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas, Nevada, multiple scheduled TNA vs. AEW talent matches were scrapped by TNA President Carlos Silva.

As Silva called back his wrestlers, the announced cards were later changed. Silva’s decision received widespread backlash on the internet from fans as well as a few wrestlers. Recently speaking to Ariel Helwani, TNA legend Matt Hardy revealed how Silva “compensated” the TNA talents he pulled from their scheduled matches.

“The thing that I can tell you is the guys who he pulled out of those matches, he compensated them and paid them their full fee. I know he talked to Mike at Highspots and compensated him for the plane ticket and everything else. He did everything he could to try and make it right,” Hardy said.

He also opened up in the same interview and revealed how these matches should not have been booked in the first place based on WWE’s partnership with TNA. “But what should have happened most likely is that because we are partners with WWE, and AEW is this own entity that is a competing force, these matches probably shouldn’t have ever been cleared in the beginning.”

AJ Francis tells critics to ‘cut that victim bullsh*t out’ regarding TNA pulling talent

Posted on by Shounak Chakrabarti

AJ Francis has a message for the critics, calling out TNA for pulling out their talents from matches against AEW wrestlers.

Just ahead of the WWE WrestleMania 42 weekend, multiple TNA talents were scheduled to face AEW wrestlers. However, at the last moment, those bouts were canceled and replaced by other matches.

While TNA President Carlos Silva received major backlash for this, multiple TNA talents spoke out defending the decision, including Matt Hardy and now AJ Francis.

On social media, Francis praised Silva’s recent explanation for pulling Leon Slater from his scheduled match against AEW’s Ricochet. When asked by a fan if Silva was wrong for pulling his talents, Francis replied:

“No, because nobody had a problem w/ AEW not allowing Powerhouse Hobbs to lose to me at 4th Rope even though the next night in the SAME BUILDING I was in a SOLD OUT MAIN EVENT vs Nic Nemeth for the TNA WORLD TITLE… cut that victim bulls*it out. Every company protects interests,” Francis wrote.

Carlos Silva addresses pulling talent, says other companies have ‘come at’ TNA

Posted on by Ian Carey

Carlos Silva has commented on TNA Wrestling pulling talent from matches recently.

Earlier this month, several matches involving wrestlers from TNA and wrestlers from AEW on independent shows were scrapped after having previously been approved by TNA. Planned matches including Nic Nemeth vs. MJF at a Create-A-Pro show and Leon Slater vs. Ricochet at the Mark Hitchcock Memorial Show were among the bouts canceled.

Silva appeared on Busted Open Radio on Wednesday and when asked about the situation, alluded to there being other companies that have “come after” TNA, saying:

“We’re gonna make decisions that are good for TNA. And we gotta protect TNA,” Silva said.

“And we’ve had some other folks come at us, and they’ve moved into our nights. They’ve made some decisions. They’ve tried to block us in arenas and venues. And that stuff’s real, and it’s out there. And it’s okay, because everyone’s got to make the decisions for their business. But we’re also just not gonna lie down and not make decisions that are good for our business.

And unfortunately, sometimes, those decisions are tough. And we’re very thoughtful about them. And we try to do the best to make good when we have to make those decisions. And in the case of Nic and Leon and a few of the matches that had to get shut down, we tried to make good and make calls and take care of the business as best we could.“

WrestleCon confirmed last week that TNA reimbursed the promotion for Slater’s travel and hotel accommodations after Slater vs. Ricochet was pulled from the event.

A clip of Silva on Busted Open Radio is below:

Carlos Silva reimbursed WrestleCon for Leon Slater’s flight and hotel

Posted on by Shounak Chakrabarti

Booked to face Ricochet at WrestleCon on April 16, 2026, in Las Vegas during WWE WrestleMania week, Leon Slater was pulled from the match just days before the scheduled date.

Not only Slater, but also multiple other TNA wrestlers booked to face AEW talent were pulled from recent events by the TNA President. Carlos Silva soon received major backlash for it, but WrestleCon has now come forward and revealed that Silva reimbursed them for Slater’s expenses.

“He took a beating the last few weeks, so I want to give [Carlos Silva] his props today. A week ago, he called me personally to explain his reasoning for pulling the match. He then asked if there was anything he could do to make up for it. I simply asked that he reimburse me for Leon’s flights/hotel since he was no longer wrestling for us. Today, I was reimbursed for the flight/hotel as promised. Thank you Carlos,” it said.

The WrestleCon Mark Hitchcock Memorial Supershow on April 16 was previously supposed to be headlined by Ricochet and Slater. However, after things got scrapped, The Demand vs. Mike Bailey, Kevin Knight, & Michael Oku main-evented the show.

Steve Maclin relives scary moment from TNA Sacrifice 

Posted on by Rosanne Raphael

Steve Maclin recalled the scary incident at TNA Sacrifice where he was knocked out within minutes into the main event. The match was against Mike Santana for the TNA World Championship. 

On the latest edition of Boots To Boots Podcast, Maclin detailed what led to the TNA Sacrifice scare and his immediate reaction.

“The energy was there. They were cheering for him. They were booing the crap out of me. And then the bell rang. We got about two and a half minutes into exchanging. We tried to wrestle a little bit to still be kind of there, be a little physical with it, and then we just said, ‘Ah, f*ck it. Let’s throw the gloves off and just start hitting each other.’ And back and forth, back and forth. Mike took off, gave me a good old TNA kick to the gut. I hit him with a forearm and the ropes, and then I hit the ropes, and next thing I remember, the next thing I know I’m on the ground trying to figure out what’s going on with my body even though my head from the neck up is normal.” 

“This is the first time I’ve ever been rocked in a match where that’s the complete opposite. Normally, my body is good and you’re in autopilot moving and your brain is like, ‘We’ll get there, get to where you need to’. But this was the complete opposite and it scared the hell out of me at first too, because you see me grab the rope.”

Maclin had a special shout out to referee Alice for her alertness in the matter noting how he often requests to work with her for the same reason. When the incident first occurred, she checked up on him and asked what needed to be done next before deciphering something was wrong and immediately threw up the X symbol. 

“Ref Alice, she was there and she was instantly the savior I needed. That’s why I asked for her for the match. I always ask for her in all my big matches, any match in general because she gets it. The referee is always a third person in the ring that you need a part of the match. And for me, she gets it, she listens to me. I call my audibles to her beforehand, and she knows to relay that. She’s good at her job. And she proved she’s very professional at her job that night because she stepped in, she knew something was wrong. And when she was talking to me, I was coherently talking to her, ‘I’m good. Just give me a minute.’ ‘Tell, Mike’s asking what to do’. I’m like, ‘just tell him to give me a minute, just hold on a sec, it’s going to freaking drop down, it’s going to drop down, leap frog, drop down, elbow.’ Seeing me do that with the way I had deer legs probably would not have been entertaining to watch. I knew what was coming next, but my body said no. She called for the ‘X.’”

Maclin detailed that even TNA President Carlos Silva instantly picked up on what had gone wrong given his previous association with MMA. 

“That’s when Carlos said even talking with him he knew what happened because he comes from watching MMA for so long with all the fighting in that industry and seeing so many different types of knockouts and what really happened was the whiplash got me so much off and he hit drilled the side of my neck where the nerve is, dangerous spot to get hit. Luckily, I didn’t have any problems after the scans and the concussion protocol I went through at the hospital.”

Following the incident, Santana issued a statement on his sentiments with what transpired. Last week, Maclin took to social media stating that he was back to training in the ring, two weeks after the injury scare.  

Nic Nemeth explains Carlos Silva’s decision to cancel MJF match

Posted on by Shounak Chakrabarti

Former TNA World Champion Nic Nemeth has now opened up in detail about TNA President Carlos Silva’s decision to scrap his match against MJF.

After a recent back-and-forth on social media, a match was recently booked for Create-A-Pro Wrestling, where TNA’s Nemeth was scheduled to go against current AEW World Champion MJF. However, just days before the event, Silva scrapped the match. Other matches featuring TNA wrestlers against AEW wrestlers were also canceled.

Speaking to Youngstown Studio, Nemeth opened up on the canceled match and Silva’s explanation for it.

“So a lot of things happened at once. I was out of the country doing a couple of UK dates and I found out that a couple of different things were happening. Our President Carlos Silva is very open when it comes to a lot of things, behind the scenes deals, things people don’t always know about, we put out there, he’s very open to constantly being ‘here’s why I can’t do this thing,’” Nemeth said.

“We had a phone call, he said, because of certain deep into contractual obligations, certain companies might have crossover with certain other companies that we are with their rival, or a streaming service, or a cable company. He goes ‘because of the situation, and it’s debatable, and there’s a few of them, we have to do the right thing now’. It’s gonna be a hard choice, but long-term it covers their butts legally for everything,” Nemeth concluded.

Nemeth is now scheduled to face Bear Bronson, while MJF will feature in an open challenge match.

Nic Nemeth shares his own feelings on the canceled MJF match

In the same appearance, he further opened up and shared his own feelings about the match getting canceled.

“I’m crushed, obviously, because you can have the business aspect, you explained to me and showed me the legal basis of why we can’t do this right now, but also the part where I was like ‘this is such a cool thing that’s gonna happen,’ Nemeth continued.

“Rarely you get these extra special cool moments, dudes from other companies, dudes from other generations, or in this case both, where you you know it’s going to be good, and big, and awesome and you just can’t get it done, and I’m absolutely crushed, because I go ‘this is gonna be something special down the line’.”

Nemeth further added that he is determined to make his match against MJF happen no matter how long it takes.

“I like to let everyone know once in a while I can still go, I don’t get tired, I got my stamina from St. Eds and Kent State wrestling team, it’s never going away. I want to show anybody, whether they’re 28, or 35, or the next guy who’s got the torch for AEW for the next 20 years, which really appears to be MJF dominating, I wanted to go ‘hey listen, I can go too, and I want to see if you can hang with me’. This is something we thought we’d never see; that’s what makes it extra special.”

MJF slams TNA President Carlos Silva: ‘Actively a dumb motherf***er’

Posted on by Joseph Currier

AEW World Champion MJF isn’t happy about his planned match against Nic Nemeth being canceled.

A match between the two was supposed to happen for indie promotion Create-A-Pro in New York on May 1. However, that bout is now off due to a change that’s been made by TNA Wrestling. The promotion has started pulling talent from indie matches against AEW stars, with TNA President Carlos Silva citing “partner conflicts” as the reason.

Fightful reports that Silva was unhappy about AEW Collision airing opposite TNA Impact last Thursday. The Collision episode was moved from its normal Saturday time slot due to TNT’s coverage of the March Madness college basketball tournament.

In response to the report, MJF sent out a tweet slamming Silva.

“It’s called being preempted due to March madness,” MJF wrote. “This guy is actively a dumb motherf***er. Congrats. You pay your talents sh*t. [Then] force them off shows where they can make money. #lolTna”

MJF and Nemeth had been building up their match on social media and Busted Open Radio, where Nemeth is a regular co-host in addition to his role with TNA. It was announced earlier this year that the former Dolph Ziggler has re-signed with TNA, where he is one of the company’s top stars.

An MJF match against Bear Bronson was also reportedly supposed to happen for Game Changer Wrestling last month before being blocked by TNA.

MJF calls out TNA’s Carlos Silva, Nic Nemeth match officially off

Posted on by Josh Nason

The match between AEW World Champion MJF and current TNA roster member Nic Nemeth is officially off, according to our Dave Meltzer with the titleholder calling out TNA president Carlos Silva himself.

Built up for several weeks on social media and Busted Open Radio, the bout was supposed to take place for Create-a-Pro Wrestling’s event on May 1 at the All Sportz Melville in New York.

However, Wednesday brought news that TNA was going to pull some talent from indie shows that was possibly to include Nemeth and Ricochet who is scheduled to face Leon Slater next week at the Mark Hitchcock Memorial Supershow during WrestleMania 42 week in Las Vegas.

Meltzer confirmed the reports, followed by Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful reporting Silva has said some TNA talent have been pulled from shows due to “partner conflicts.”

While Slater’s status is still unknown, Meltzer said the Nemeth match with MJF is off.

Nemeth has yet to address the situation on social media, but that didn’t stop MJF from sharing some thoughts about Silva on X, shortly before Dynamite was supposed to begin.

He said both Nemeth and TNA are afraid of him, and that he will still be there at the event and “Let’s see if Nicky still has the balls to show up to Long Island.”

He added, “Shame old, Carlos doesn’t care about the fans or his roster getting paid.”

We’ll have more on this situation tonight on Wrestling Observer Radio.

Former Knockouts champion signs contract with Carlos Silva on TNA

Posted on by Shounak Chakrabarti

Former Impact Knockouts champion Rosemary signed a contract with Carlos Silva on TNA.

On Thursday, during the March 5th episode of TNA Impact, fans witnessed TNA President Carlos Silva waiting with Tommy Dreamer for Rosemary to appear.

However, as the segment moved ahead, fans noticed Dreamer vanish before Rosemary emerged and took her spot next to Silva. The 41-year-old proceeded to bring out a contract and hand it over to Silva, before poking her finger with a pen, leading to blood oozing out.

Rosemary then gave the contract and the pen to Silva, who signed it using the blood ink, without giving it a proper read. However, things took an interesting turn when Rosemary shook hands with Silva, and their hands glowed red in the dark.

The entire vignette had a mysterious and thrilling feeling to it. Although, TNA has yet to explain what Rosemary’s contract was all about. The segment concluded with Rosemary laughing and taking a look at the contract, while a bloodied bunny appeared behind her.

Carlos Silva: AMC deal is going to ‘change the game’ for TNA

Posted on by Joseph Currier

TNA President Carlos Silva believes his promotion’s new media rights deal is a game-changing one.

Earlier this week, it was announced that AMC will become the new television home of TNA Impact starting in the middle of January 2026. Financial details have not been publicly disclosed, but Silva is delighted that TNA is coming to one of the “foundational” cable networks in the United States.

Silva told the Battleground podcast that the biggest change for TNA with this deal will be the bigger audience and profile that AMC provides. He said TNA and AMC will be working closely together to help promote Impact across the network.

“Look, I think the first and most obvious [difference] is that AMC is a foundational cable network in America. It’s on the first page of everyone’s guide. It’s probably a network that you might have watched over the last couple of days already. You’re going to see promotion throughout the network every day about what’s going to be happening on Thursday Night Impact on AMC,” Silva said.

“And, you know, aside from all of the other integrations and things we can do together and the teams working together and the sponsor teams working together and the creative teams working together — we’re going to be on a network that everyone is going to be able to find, see, and with a big, huge audience. And that’s going to change the game for our wrestlers. It’s going to change the game for the team. It’s going to change the game for TNA.”

Silva said AMC doesn’t want to just stick Impact in a time slot on the channel. AMC wants to be a true partner and help TNA grow and do some new things together.

The premiere date for Impact on AMC is Thursday, January 15, 2026. The episode will air live from Garland, Texas on AMC and its streaming service AMC+.

Carlos Silva confirms Joe Hendry’s WWE signing, updates TNA future

Posted on by Shounak Chakrabarti

Joe Hendry has officially signed with WWE, says TNA President Carlos Silva.

Recently, reports had emerged about Joe Hendry’s WWE status and TNA future. For the past year, Hendry has been a regular presence on both TNA and NXT programming. Since the two promotions began collaborating, he has played an active role in the partnership. Now, after months of appearing on both brands, Silva has confirmed Hendry’s move to the Stamford-based promotion.

Appearing on the Ariel Helwani Show, Silva confirmed Hendry’s move and stated, “Joe (Hendry), you’ll see on NXT all the time. As part of our partnership, you may see Joe come back and be on TNA shows because that’s part of what we do with WWE and NXT, we share wrestlers.”

When Helwani further asked to confirm Hendry’s signing, Silva responded, “That’s right. I’m super happy for Joe. Super happy for WWE. We all kind of worked on it together. Joe is a great talent and a super good guy.”

Having signed a new media rights deal with AMC, Silva then explained how Hendry’s move fits into their latest partnership model.

“Part of the partnership is that we share talent. So I don’t want to say you just never know who’s going to show up — you know — in a TNA event, an NXT event, or a WWE event,” Silva noted. “I think we’re going to keep working on that partnership. I would never say that you’re not going to see Joe in TNA.”

Carlos Silva also dropped an interesting update on Hendry’s TNA Status.

“Joe is now on the roster at WWE NXT, and he’s doing a great job. But that doesn’t mean he won’t also show up at a TNA event. Those things happen. That’s all part of the partnership. I look forward to seeing where he pops up next — but also who pops up where next — because that’s been part of the appeal of the partnership.”

Hendry is now set to compete in the Iron Survivor Challenge at NXT Deadline.

Carlos Silva details how TNA deal with AMC came together

Posted on by Ian Carey

President of Anthem Sports Carlos Silva appeared on The Ariel Helwani Show on Wednesday to promote his company’s new media rights deal with AMC.

When asked how difficult it was to get the deal done, Silva responded that the changing media landscape was challenging for them.

“It was hard,” Silva responded. “It’s been a long year. We started it in April. We’ve had many, many calls. As you said, especially now the media landscape around all the moving parts – whether its properties moving from platform to platform, platforms changing, platforms being live, platforms not being live.”

“Just a lot of moving parts. You’ve got to find the right moment. You’ve got to get a little lucky and you’ve got to find the right partner. And in the end, we did. We found a partner that’s really excited about putting their big toe into live and live sports entertainment.”

“None of these deals are easy, but it’s always great to get them done.”

Asked how the relationship with AMC came about, Silva responded that they worked with CAA to set up calls with different outlets, and that the first call with AMC was the best first call they had with anyone.

“We had a great first call with AMC. They were literally the best first call we had. There was just something about them being very intrigued about wanting to have a weekly show, wanting to start to get into the live sports and entertainment business.”

“They liked TNA and I think they felt that they can also help to lift TNA.”

Regarding how often TNA plans to go live, Silva said they will go live more frequently in the first half of 2026 and then reassess midway through the year.

“We did a little more live this year, I think we’re going to do a little more live in that first 3-6 months, and we’ll sort of get our rhythm with our new partner and then I think we’ll decide in the second half we’ll decide how much more live we can do.”

Silva was the first guest on today’s episode of The Ariel Helwani Show. His full appearance is available below: