Tag: scott d’amore

Scott D’Amore: ‘Door is open’ for CM Punk in Impact Wrestling

Posted on by Ian Carey

Scott D’Amore says Impact Wrestling’s “door is open” for CM Punk. 

D’Amore told PWMania recently that it was a pleasure to have Punk visit backstage at the promotion’s recent tapings in Chicago.  

“It’s not a secret, CM Punk was backstage the day after Bound for Glory,” D’Amore said. “That’s nothing new. He was backstage earlier this year when he was under contract at AEW and they were just getting ready for the debut of Collision, so we have a pretty open policy.”

“If you want to come by and visit, as long as you’re respectful to our crew, you will be respected. He was a pleasure to have when he came around, so is there a possibility he is here in the future? You never know.”

“Is there going to be a place for veteran talent and senior talent in TNA Wrestling? Of course, you know, the value can’t be understated of good senior veteran talent right now with name recognition and drawability as well. The door is open.”

Will Ospreay was also at Impact Wrestling’s Chicago TV tapings. At Bound for Glory the night before, he wrestled Mike Bailey in what some are calling the best match in Impact history. It was given a rating of five and one-quarter stars by our own Dave Meltzer, the highest rating a match in the promotion has ever received. The only other five-star match in Impact history was Christopher Daniels vs. Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles from TNA Unbreakable 2005. 

D’Amore says Ospreay was also a pleasure to have backstage. 

“Will Ospreay just came in and did three events for us,” D’Amore continued. “He was a pleasure to have around you know, and I mean, I think it’s great for Will to let his his feelings be known about how much TNA Wrestling meant to him. You know, he said he’s a TNA kid. He was inspired to be a wrestler watching AJ Styles on TNA Wrestling.”

“And to me, that’s one of the cool things, that we are part of inspiring a guy whose contract is up in February of 2024. Where’s he going? Who knows? For him to sit there and say no, matter what happens in February of next year, you know, I’m always going to be supportive of what’s going on at TNA was so special to me, that’s cool to come out of the mouth of the arguably you know, in my opinion, the greatest wrestler in the world right now.”

Scott D’Amore: TNA Wrestling would ‘love’ to have Will Ospreay

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Scott D’Amore would “absolutely” love to have Will Ospreay in TNA/Impact Wrestling.

Ospreay competed for Impact twice over the weekend, defeating “Speedball” Mike Bailey at Bound for Glory and then facing Josh Alexander at a television taping. After those matches, Ospreay made a post on social media saying that he’s “had the best time” competing for Impact.

Ospreay’s NJPW contract is scheduled to expire in February 2024. Ospreay is looking to explore every possible option in contract talks, including potentially signing with Impact.

During an interview with Tom Hannifan on Tuesday, D’Amore — the president of Impact Wrestling — stated that Ospreay is arguably the best wrestler in the world right now. D’Amore said any pro wrestling company would love to have Ospreay at the center of its universe.

I mean, look, Will Ospreay is arguably the greatest wrestler in the world right now. And I don’t think anybody — I don’t know if it’s even disputable — that 2023 Will Ospreay is having one of the greatest years of any wrestler in history. So I think any company that said they didn’t want Will Ospreay at the center of their universe would be lying.

Will’s kind of been pretty honest and upfront about what’s happening and the fact that he’s going to be a free agent soon. And the second that his contract expires, he becomes the hottest free agent in professional wrestling. Would we love to have Will Ospreay? Absolutely. Will Ospreay is a great talent. You saw two examples of that this weekend. You saw him and Mike Bailey put on a match of the year candidate. Only the people there have saw it live so far, but you’ll see it on an upcoming week of Impact weekly television, Will Ospreay and Josh Alexander went out there and put on an unbelievable match.

D’Amore thinks it’s cool that Ospreay wanted to come to Impact Wrestling and dreamed of being in a TNA ring when he was younger. D’Amore said that’s an opportunity that’s open to Ospreay when TNA Wrestling makes its return. It was revealed at Bound for Glory that the TNA name is coming back starting with the promotion’s Hard to Kill pay-per-view in January 2024.

That opportunity is open to Will Ospreay. And I can tell you that I’ve had conversations with Anthem Sports (Impact Wrestling’s parent company) and everything else and let them know. And they’re well aware of who Ospreay is and what Will Ospreay is. And, you know, don’t know where Will Ospreay is going to end up. But there’s certainly a seat at the table here and a meaningful one where he could be at the center of a lot of that advancement and change that we talk about.

Ospreay will be in action again for Impact this Friday (October 27). He’s facing Eddie Edwards at Impact’s Turning Point special in Newcastle, England. The event will be available to watch on Impact Plus starting on Friday, November 3.

Ospreay is NJPW’s current IWGP UK/US Heavyweight Champion. He’s wrestled several matches for AEW this year as well.

While speaking with the Metro recently, Ospreay said he’d be open to the idea of signing with WWE and potentially moving to the United States.

“It’s on the table, that’s all I can really say,” Ospreay said about possibly relocating to the US. “That means I am open to all options going forward.”

Scott D’Amore: TNA Wrestling ready for ‘second golden era’ under true name

Posted on by Joseph Currier

During an interview with Tom Hannifan on Tuesday, Impact president Scott D’Amore discussed the return of TNA Wrestling.

It was revealed at the conclusion of Bound for Glory that Impact Wrestling is changing its name back to TNA. The name change will officially go into effect starting with the promotion’s Hard to Kill pay-per-view in January 2024.

D’Amore addressed what went into the decision to revert to the TNA name.

When I got here and took over the helm going into 2018, the company had gone through so much. It had been TNA Wrestling, then Impact Wrestling, then I think it might have briefly been TNA, then it was GFW, then it was Impact. Coming in, the last thing it needed was another name change. What it needed was to figure itself out. What it needed was stability, it needed consistency, it needed respectability. And we spent a lot of time under the Impact banner doing that. And I think we’ve proven ourself.

But the fact is, when this company was formed, when this idea was first hatched — three men on a boat with Jeff and Jerry Jarrett and Bob Ryder — it was Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. That’s what they were looking for. And I think that while we found that stability under the Impact banner, and very proud of that, I think what we now have is we’re ready to go there and have our growth and our true success. Our true second golden era under our true name. TNA Wrestling.

D’Amore said he thinks the Impact and TNA brands both have value, but TNA is who the company really is at its core. Their weekly television show on Thursday nights will still be named Impact.

“I think TNA at our core is who we are,” D’Amore said. “And I think it gives us back that swagger that maybe we’ve lacked. When I talk about too much apologizing, that’s done. Are we going to make mistakes? Absolutely. But when we do we’ll get up, we’ll dust ourselves, and we’ll just get back at it.”

D’Amore pointed to how TNA changed the industry by pushing smaller wrestlers, showcasing tag team wrestling, and giving women a platform to be athletes. D’Amore said people have asked for a long time what the identity of Impact Wrestling is. He believes you’ll now see a clearer vision of that.

D’Amore was asked what he’d say to those who assume this means a return to the Dixie Carter/Jeff Jarrett/Vince Russo era.

This isn’t about looking back, this is about looking forward. Certainly TNA/Impact Wrestling has had its ups and downs over the years. But we’re looking at taking the things that worked, bringing them back. We’re looking at doing a better job of managing how things are handled. And like I said, are we going to make mistakes? Absolutely. But we’re going to do more great than we do missteps.

This isn’t about any one person. It’s not about Jeff Jarrett, it’s not about Vince Russo, it’s not about Scott D’Amore. This is about a locker room and a company that feels something special. And this is about a fan base that I think is starting to feel something special.

D’Amore stated that new title belt designs for the promotion’s championships will be unveiled. The current champions will all remain champions and the lineage of the titles will continue.

TNA will also be debuting a new set. D’Amore said it will honor the promotion’s history while also being forward-looking.

D’Amore confirmed that the six-sided ring will not be making a return. D’Amore said the six-sided ring causes more injuries and wear and tear on the wrestlers.

D’Amore said the idea for the TNA name to return was first formulated in early 2023. He thinks it’s a testament to the type of people they have in the company, both on camera and behind the scenes, that the news never leaked before their announcement. 

Hard to Kill 2024 is taking place from the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas on Saturday, January 13.

The full interview with D’Amore can be watched below:

Eric Young returns at Impact Slammiversary after gaining WWE release

Posted on by Josh Nason

Former Impact World Champion Eric Young returned from the dead at Slammiversary, teaming with Scott D’Amore in a surprise appearance.

Young and D’Amore, part of the former Team Canada from the early TNA/Impact days, defeated Bully Ray & Deaner in a tag team match. Young was the mystery partner for D’Amore after PCO was taken out by Ray and the injured Steve Maclin several weeks ago. Deaner replaced Maclin due to the injury.

Former Team Canada member A1 also was in attendance and got involved in the match.

In late-November 2022, Young was killed off in storyline in brutal fashion by Deaner who then took over The Design faction. The reason for that was because Young signed with WWE in early-November for an eventual in-ring return in either WWE or NXT.

Fightful reported that Young asked for his release a few months later and in April 2023, it was granted with his 90-day non-compete clause running out last week. They also reported that it wasn’t a coincidence he requested it after Vince McMahon returned to the company as he had no interest in working for McMahon or the eventual new TKO company.

“WWE sources confirmed to Fightful that Young had cited moral, creative and personal reasons as why he didn’t want to work with Vince McMahon,” they stated.

Scott D’Amore & PCO vs. Steve Maclin & Bully Ray set for Impact Slammiversary

Posted on by Josh Nason

The blood feud between Impact president Scott D’Amore and Bully Ray will rage on at July’s Slammiversary.

D’Amore will return to the ring alongside PCO to take on Ray and former Impact World Champion Steve Maclin at the Saturday, July 15th show from Windsor, Ontario. Canada.

After Maclin defeated PCO at last month’s Under Siege to retain his then-World title, Ray made his surprise return and put D’Amore through a flaming table, putting him out of action. D’Amore returned at last Friday’s Against All Odds to hit Ray with a chair during the 8-4-1 match as Ray was about to lay out Jonathan Gresham.

On Thursday’s Impact on AXS TV, Ray filed an official complaint with Anthem Sports about D’Amore who is taking a storyline leave of absence. He then attacked Ray which brought out Maclin. As the two were attacking D’Amore, PCO came out to even the odds. D’Amore then said he was coming out of retirement and the match was made.

The 48-year-old hasn’t wrestled since November 2022 when he took part in a handicap match at Impact Wrestling’s comedy spinoff IPWF promotion.

Here’s the current card for the PPV:

  • Impact World Champion Alex Shelley defends against Nick Aldis
  • Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo defends against Trinity
  • Steve Maclin & Bully Ray vs. PCO & Scott D’Amore

Impact Wrestling’s parent company announces hires, restructuring

Posted on by Josh Nason

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.

Impact Wrestling, Scott D’Amore pay tribute to Jerry Jarrett

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Scott D’Amore has paid tribute to Jerry Jarrett.

Through Impact Wrestling’s website, D’Amore paid tribute to Jarrett, who passed away on Tuesday morning at the age of 80.

Today we mourn the loss of TNA/Impact Wrestling Co-Founder and a true legend in our business.” said IMPACT Wrestling executive vice-president Scott D’Amore. “Wrestler, promoter, entrepreneur, and visionary in our profession, Jerry Jarrett is one of the most influential individuals in the history of our sport.

Second generation before that was even a term, Jerry literally grew up in the wrestling industry. His knowledge of professional wrestling was second to none and his fingerprints are in every aspect of modern professional wrestling.

Personally Jerry was such a massive influence on my career and my life. The lessons I learned from him I still use to guide me every day in and out of the pro wrestling business.Our deepest condolences to his wife Deborah, Jeff, and the entire Jarrett family.

Let’s take a moment to mourn his loss but let’s not lose sight of the fact that Jerry let a life that deserved to be celebrated.

Impact on Twitter wrote the following: “We are saddened to hear of the passing of Jerry Jarrett, a co-founder of TNA/IMPACT. His legacy in the wrestling industry is decades-long, multi-generational, and he certainly played a key role in today’s IMPACT. Deepest condolences to Jeff Jarrett, Jerry’s family and fans.”

In 2002 Jarrett, along with his son Jeff, founded NWA Total Nonstop Action, which later became Impact Wrestling. He left the company in 2005. Jarrett was also the promoter for Continental Wrestling Association in Memphis, which later merged with World Class Championship Wrestling in 1989 to form the United States Wrestling Association, which ran weekly television in the Memphis area through 1997.

Impact’s Scott D’Amore explains moving PPVs to Fridays, future on AXS TV

Posted on by Ian Carey

Scott D’Amore spoke with our own Josh Nason regarding Impact’s live event schedule, the promotion’s future on AXS TV, and the upcoming Bound For Glory pay-per-view. 

During an episode of JNPO released on Tuesday, The Impact VP was asked about the company’s recent switch to presenting pay-per-views on Friday nights. 

“It is a busy night but one of the things is the way people consume content differently in this day and age. You see sometimes what we think is competition isn’t as much competition as we really think because there are people that are going to watch it. This isn’t as much of a live content-consuming world as it used to be,” D’Amore said. 

“There is great stuff out there on Friday nights,’ he continued. “I’ll be totally honest with you, Josh, we might turn around and look at this in a handful of months and go ‘you know what? Fridays isn’t the day to do.'”

“There is so much competition on every night of the week out there these days that we went and looked at it and said, ‘You know what? Friday and Saturday are great nights to block for live events, let’s take a look, and let’s see how the Friday night pay-per-views do.'”

“Friday night is a night that we might look at it and we might find that Friday night people are already in the wrestling groove. They might decide they want to DVR SmackDown and Rampage and watch our show or they might want to watch SmackDown and Rampage and DVR our pay-per-view.” 

“One thing we’ve always been, Josh, is open to trying different things. Sometimes you invent Ultimate-X and sometimes you come up with the Reverse Battle Royal.”

D’Amore was also asked if he is happy with how things turned out regarding Impact’s collaboration with AEW last year. 

“We had our ups and downs and we felt our way through a lot of things, and that always happens. I know some of our fanbase was frustrated at times as we got to it, but to me, to culminate in a guy like Christian Cage, who is as Impact Wrestling as Impact can be, a guy who has always said coming to Impact Wrestling is where he was allowed to make his bones and become a world champion and prove that he could be the guy, to have his return here to basically be the passing of the torch to Josh Alexander, to me, was a great culmination.” 

D’Amore would continue to praise Impact’s relationship with AAA. 

“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a better partner than what we’ve had in AAA from Mexico. They have been fantastically supportive of us, we’ve done our darndest to always be supportive of them.” 

Nason asked D’Amore if he feels Impact will remain on AXS TV or move to another network. 

“We’re open to exploring anything. I can tell you this, I sit here, I wear a couple of hats, I’m the EVP of Impact Wrestling and I’m also the EVP of Anthem Sports and Entertainment Sports Media Group and Impact is such a juggernaut on AXS TV for us. I know it’s, at times, frustrating for fans. It’s one of the reasons why we added the show weekly on the YouTube subscription for 99 cents,” D’Amore said. 

“We will always look to keep Impact Wrestling as one of the staples of AXS TV and frankly, our other broadcast networks both domestically and in Canada and such but we will also look for other growth opportunities. To me, it’s a great opportunity to serve two masters. We’ve got Impact Wrestling, which is so great on AXS TV, especially paired with New Japan, but if we’re out there and the right deal pops forward, we would be more than happy to sit in a room and look at a deal with a different network. The other thing is we’ll continue to work at other streaming platforms and opportunities.”

Regarding a rumor that he met with then-free agent Braun Strowman earlier this year in Detroit, D’Amore said, “I spend a lot of time on the Detroit side of the border and yeah, got together, sat with Braun, had a nice bite to eat, had a drink. We weren’t hiding, we we’re doing nothing.”

He continued to say that they made plans to meet up as Strowman was in the area for a comic con. 

“We got together, we chatted, was a great talk, wish him all the best,” D’Amore continued. 

D’Amore and Nason would also discuss where Impact fits into the current wrestling ecosystem, the build to Friday’s Bound For Glory, and more. The show is available here.

JNPO: Impact’s Scott D’Amore on Bound for Glory, state of the company

Posted on by Josh Nason

With their Bound for Glory pay-per-view coming this Friday, it was the right time to welcome first-time guest and Impact Wrestling/Anthem Sports & Entertainment senior vice president Scott D’Amore to Josh Nason’s Punch-Out.

In our thirty minute chat found below, we talk about a few of the top matches this Friday and the overall state of Impact in October 2022.

A few specifics:

  • Where does Impact fit in today’s wrestling landscape?
  • Why did the company make the recent move to have PPVs and monthly specials on Fridays vs. Saturdays?
  • Was he happy with how last year’s AEW storyline played out?
  • Were the rumors of him meeting with Braun Strowman in a Detroit airport true?
  • Is there a desire to get Impact on a more traditional and widely-available cable network?
  • The current title picture in the World, Knockouts and Knockouts divisions

Get all this and more on this week’s Josh Nason’s Punch-Out, available for free by clicking below.

Click Here To Listen

Scott D’Amore invites Hiromu Takahashi to challenge for Impact X-Division title

Posted on by Ian Carey

Scott D’Amore has invited NJPW’s Hiromu Takahashi to challenge for Impact Wrestling’s X-Division Championship. 

Takahashi defeated the current champion, Ace Austin, in the Best of the Super Juniors on Saturday. Following the match, Austin congratulated Takahashi on his victory in a tweet he posted in Japanese. 

“Congratulations. I am forced to respect you, but I will meet again,” reads a Google translation of Austin’s post. 

“A man never breaks his word, right? I want your belt!” Takahashi responded. 

This led D’Amore to invite Takahashi to travel through the forbidden door and challenge for the X-Division Championship in an Impact Wrestling ring. 

“Well @TIMEBOMB1105, there is an open door for you to walk through. Come step in an @IMPACTWRESTLING ring anytime. Your title shot awaits…” he wrote. 

Both Takahashi and Austin went into their match on Saturday undefeated with 2-0 records. Austin defeated Clark Connors and Yoshinobu Kanemaru in his first tournament matches. Takahashi defeated Ryusuke Taguchi and Francesco Akira in his opening contests.  

Rhino on 27 years in wrestling, planning to wrestle for five more years

Posted on by Denise Salcedo

On his 27th anniversary in pro wrestling, I spoke to the “War Machine” Rhino. With nearly three decades as a professional wrestler, Rhino (real name Terrance Guido Gerin, 46) has seen and done it all in this business.

Rhino on what keeps him motivated to keep wrestling after 27 years in the business

Rhino explained that he keeps wrestling because he’s afraid that there won’t be any wrestlers left to connect between the older and newer generations of wrestling fans. He also explained that is why he never changed his appearance.

“That’s another reason why I never tried to change my look, or style, or my hair color or cut my hair, the only time I wear my hair down is when I wrestle and I can’t wait until the day that I can cut it. I try not to change too much, you never want to see your heroes get older, that’s why I try to keep the same look so I don’t change,” Rhyno explained. “I am that connection from when a kid went to watch me in ECW with their dad, and now they are taking their child to watch me wrestle twenty years later.”

Rhino says he plans to still wrestle for five more years

Currently Rhino is still an active member of the IMPACT Wrestling roster, so I asked him what he still would like to do in the wrestling world. He informed me that he would like to wrestle a few more years and slowly transition to a producer role to help younger talent.

“Well hopefully, God willing, I can have five more years in the wrestling business, I wanna slowly taper off, and then move more to the behind-the-scenes as a producer and along the way work with people and boost up their careers and and help them get on the path that they are supposed to take,” Rhino said.

When asked about who he would like to wrestle that he has never wrestled before, Rhino named Kevin Owens.

Rhino says he left WWE In 2019 when his contract expired because he was unhappy

Rhino confirmed in our conversation that he was offered double the money to stay with WWE in 2019, however due to the lack of house show appearances and traveling, he decided he would rather take the pay cut and do more for the business outside of WWE.

“Well I was very fortunate that they were even thinking of signing me, and doubling [the pay],” Rhino said. “I am not in [the pro wrestling business] because I am looking for glory, I am in it to be in the ring with the younger talent to show them a little bit here and a little bit there, and I also learn because I never stop learning.”

“With WWE, I would have been sitting at home more, because they had I wanna say close to 250 people under contract,” Rhino added. “And I understand that. I never wanted to be a focal point. I would have liked to do the live events and travel with some of the guys because you learn the business in the car traveling town to town [without having] to be on TV. But the thing is they wanted guys to get experience, so when I was only on the road once a month I was starting to hate life. So I chose. Do I collect a paycheck or do I leave, make less money but make more of an impact in wrestling to help other guys, to go on the indies, try to find the next Rock, the next Stone Cold, the next Lita. So that’s what my decision was and IMPACT was such a good fit because Scott D’ Amore is the guy that trained me, and I had seen how he built this roster. If you look from 2019 to now, the roster is a world series team.”

You can check out the entire conversation with myself and Rhino below. 

The Young Bucks appear at Impact Against All Odds

Posted on by Bryan Rose

The Young Bucks appeared at the end of tonight’s Impact Against All Odds event, helping Kenny Omega retain the Impact World title.

The Bucks appeared at the end of the Impact World title match, which was held at the Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida. After a ref bump, the Bucks appeared and superkicked Moose, then laid him out with the BTE trigger. They then helped Omega lift up Moose so Omega could pin him with the One Winged Angel to retain the title.

After the match, the lights went out and Sami Callihan, who is set to challenge Omega at Slammiversary next month, appeared and attacked the Bucks with a bat. He then went to Omega and prepared to attack his eye with the bat. Don Callis, who was doing commentary with Tony Schiavone and Scott D’Amore, was angry and ended up firing him, as in storyline he is still an Impact executive vice president. The show closed with D’Amore and Callis leaving, clearly not on the same page.

The idea to move to the Daily’s Place was made on this week’s Impact, with the idea being that The Good Brothers couldn’t interfere in the match. The Good Brothers instead wrestled in Nashville, Tennessee, where the rest of tonight’s card was held. They lost to the team of Tommy Dreamer and Sami Callihan in the opener.

Tag Team title match set for Impact Wrestling Rebellion

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Impact has announced a Impact World Tag Team title match for next month’s Rebellion pay-per-view event.

The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows) will get their Sacrifice rematch, facing off against new champions David Finlay and Juice Robinson. 

Good Brothers confronted FinJuice on tonight’s Impact, demanding a title match, saying they were not ready to defend the titles against them at Sacrifice last weekend. Finlay and Robinson said they were going back to Japan and wouldn’t be back until April. The two teams ended up brawling.

Backstage, Good Brothers complained to Scott D’Amore about the champions leaving to go back to New Japan Pro Wrestling. D’Amore then made the rematch for Rebellion on April 24.

The only other match announced for Rebellion thus far is also an interpromotional match. After unifying the Impact and TNA Heavyweight titles last weekend, Rich Swann will defend the unified title against AEW World Champion Kenny Omega in a title vs. title match.

Impact Wrestling media call: Scott D’Amore, Brian Cage, Taya Valkyrie

Posted on by Josh Nason

Impact Wrestling co-executive vice president Scott D’Amore, Impact World Champion Brian Cage, and Knockouts Champion Taya Valkyrie were part of an hour-long conference call Thursday, hitting up a variety of topics on the company’s past and future ahead of their official weekly AXS TV debut this Tuesday.

The whole call can be heard below, but a few highlights:

  • D’Amore addressed the rumor of the TNA brand returning for one night in April during WrestleMania weekend in Orlando. He said it’s early in the process, but that “we don’t run from our history, we embrace it.”
  • On Kylie Rae returning to the company, “the door is certainly open if she is interested.”
  • D’Amore and Valkyrie were asked a lot about intergender matches which D’Amore said they are proud to be at the forefront of. Valkyrie jokingly challenged Cage to a title match and Cage retorted with that it didn’t go well for Valkyrie when they wrestled in another organization.
  • D’Amore said their rebuilding process is over and that they have spent two years putting out a great product. He talked about restoring trust in the Impact name. He said they had to rebuild that when he and Callis took over two years ago. After a lot of negativity in ’18, he feels they have reclaimed a lot of that trust in ’19, but need to keep at it.”
  • D’Amore said that other wrestling organizations are competition, but in a good way. “While other companies are competition, they aren’t enemies. For us to success, they don’t have to fail. Competition breeds innovation. We need to answer the challenge,” he said.

Other topics include Joey Ryan’s signing, co-promoting with New Japan Pro Wrestling and WOW, Killer Kross’ status, returning to the UK, some prank calls, and running on Tuesday nights.

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Scott D’Amore & Don Callis named executive VPs of Impact Wrestling

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Impact Wrestling announced two additions to their executive team this morning.

Scott D’Amore, who had already been working with Impact, and Don Callis were named executive vice presidents of the company. They join Ed Nordholm on a three-member executive committee that will handle the responsibility of “developing the creative direction for the company and managing the execution of the company’s business plan.”

Impact’s press release notes that Callis will continue in his role as color commentator for New Japan Pro Wrestling. Callis has filled that spot on the English-language broadcast team next to Kevin Kelly since January following the departure of Steve Corino.

Callis clarified reports that he’d be leaving New Japan for Impact in November by saying that he’ll be with NJPW for as long as they want him. Dave Meltzer reported then that it wasn’t out of the question that Callis would end up with Impact in a behind-the-scenes role at some point while still maintaining his job with NJPW.

“I am excited that Don and Scott have made this commitment to the company,” Nordholm said. “The 50 years of experience and success in the wrestling industry brought by Don and Scott, combined with the global media, marketing, sales and financial expertise of Anthem, provide the management depth and expertise that will propel Impact Wrestling to greater success as we continue to expand our footprint, embrace digital opportunities and grow the brand.”

Jeff Jarrett had led the creative side of Impact until his leave of absence, with the promotion later announcing the end of their business relationship with him.