Tag: Tom Hannifan

TNA extends contracts of commentary team

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt are sticking around as the voices of TNA Wrestling.

While speaking with Sports Illustrated’s The Takedown, TNA President Carlos Silva confirmed that the promotion has extended the contracts of Hannifan and Rehwoldt. The two anchor TNA’s broadcast team with Hannifan serving as the play-by-play voice of the company and Rehwoldt working alongside him as the color commentator.

The Takedown says the length of their renewals is not known at this time.

“Silva told The Takedown on SI in a new interview to be dropped later this week that the company recently extended Hannifan and Rehwoldt’s contracts. The length of the renewals is unclear,” the article said. “He also noted McKenzie Mitchell will remain in her role as the promotion’s ring announcer.”

Both Hannifan and Rehwoldt formerly worked for WWE, where they were known as Tom Phillips and Aiden English prior to their respective releases. Rehwoldt transitioned to commentary near the end of his WWE run before later making it his full-time focus.

The two have been TNA’s commentary team since 2022. Hannifan recently got emotional speaking about how hard everyone in TNA works trying to make the promotion great.

TNA is on the road to Bound for Glory 2025, with the pay-per-view set to take place in Lowell, Massachusetts on October 12.


Impact announces new contract for announcer Tom Hannifan

Posted on by Ian Carey

Tom Hannifan is remaining with Impact Wrestling. 

Anthem Sports Group released details of the company’s first quarter on Monday and noted that an agreement was reached with the 33-year-old announcer. 

Anthem wrote of Impact’s first-quarter signings:

Additionally, IMPACT Wrestling was proud to announce the signings of popular tag-team “The Motor City Machine Guns”—Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin—as well as rising Knockouts star KiLynn King and announcer Tom Hannifan.

The length of the deal was not disclosed.

Hannifan debuted at the Impact commentary table at Hard to Kill 2022 last January. He previously performed under the name Tom Phillips for WWE from 2012 until his release in May 2021. 

Anthem also noted in the report that it plans to establish a new boxing promotion as a way to utilize president Richard Schaefer’s background in the sport. Schaefer was previously the CEO of Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions. 

Anthem wrote:

With Schaefer at the helm, ASG will pursue additional acquisitions in the combat sports and professional wrestling arenas, and will also seek to expand its offerings by establishing a new boxing promotion platform—utilizing the new President’s wide-ranging background in the sport.

Tom Hannifan joins commentary team for WES debut show

Posted on by Ian Carey

Tom Hannifan will be on commentary for the inaugural Wrestling Entertainment Series event. 

The promotion revealed the news on Instagram Wednesday. Jonathan Coachman & Matt Rehwoldt had previously been announced as the commentary team. Rehwoldt pulled out of the event when it was rescheduled from June 4 to July 9, however. 

CJ Perry (FKA Lana) is also no longer advertised for the show. She had originally been scheduled to face Lina Fanene (Nia Jax). The lineup on the promotion’s website now reads that Fanene’s opponent is TBD. 

The debut event for WES will take place on July 9 from the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, England. It will air live on FITE TV. The full lineup for the show is as follows:

  • Alistair Overeem vs. Moose for the World Championship
  • Lina Fanene (Nia Jax) vs. TBA for the Women’s World Championship
  • The Legion of Pain (AOP) vs. BT Gunn & Kez Evans for the World Tag Team Championships
  • Steph de Lander (Persia Pirotta) & Anastasia vs. She Wolves for the Women’s Tag Team Championships
  • Samuray del Sol (Kalisto) vs. Lince Dorado
  • Dean Muhtadi (Mojo Rawley) vs. Damo Mackle (Killian Dain)
  • Pre-Show: Eric Young vs. Zac Zodiac
  • Pre-Show: Levis Valenzuela Jr. (No Way Jose) vs. Jody Fliesh

Impact Wrestling launches ‘Outside The Ropes’ interview series

Posted on by Josh Nason

Impact Wrestling announced Wednesday that they are launching a new interview show called Outside The Ropes on Impact Plus, hosted by lead announcer Tom Hannifan.

The first 14-minute episode dropped Wednesday with former X-Division Champion Trey Miguel and is available for free.

It will be a “regular and ongoing series.”

From the verbiage in the announcement, the show will feature shoot-style interviews with Impact talent.

In the interview above, Miguel addressed the passing of the woman who became her mother, the feeling of wanting his former Rascalz teammates there when he first won the X-Division title, and this Sunday’s Ultimate X match at Slammiversary.

After being released by WWE, Hannifan joined Impact in January, taking over as lead announcer for that month’s Hard to Kill pay-per-view.

From the release:

“What happens in the Impact Zone is not always the full story” said Hannifan. “With Outside The Ropes, we want to bring you the stories that mean the most to Impact wrestlers. No bullsh*t, no walking the line. This is as real as it gets.”

Tom Phillips debuting at Impact Hard to Kill as new play-by-play announcer

Posted on by Josh Nason

The former Tom Phillips in WWE is now the new play-by-play announcer for Impact Wrestling.

The news was first revealed by Renee Paquette as she announced that Phillips, now going by his real name Tom Hannifan, will be on her podcast Tuesday to discuss the news.

Hannifan will begin his duties starting Saturday at Hard to Kill. He replaces Matt Striker as the news of his end with the company broke earlier this week.

Hannifan was cut by WWE last May as part of the beginning of a large internal restructuring and combining of several departments. He had served as the lead voice on Raw, SmackDown, NXT UK, and NXT in his time there, but was replaced by Adnan Virk last April on Raw.

Saturday’s show from Dallas, Texas, features four title matches including Impact World Champion Moose vs. Matt Cardona vs. W. Morrissey and ROH World Champion Jonathan Gresham vs. Chris Sabin.