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Eli Drake, LAX, Sienna, Alberto el Patron, Sonjay Dutt and KM are scheduled to work the 12/9 WrestlePro event in Rahway, NJ, which will double as a One Night Only PPV taping. For details, visit www.WrestleProOnline.com.
Don Callis has denied he is leaving New Japan Pro Wrestling, but did not deny he is Impact Wrestling-bound. He is still slated to do commentary in Japan this weekend. The story, as we have been told, is that Impact has yet to present him with a contract and he's not doing anything until he has the contract in hands. Our original source on the story noted that if he didn't start in November, January would be likely.
Also of note in regard to Callis: When Impact management visited Pro Wrestling NOAH a few weeks back, they made a visit to one of the New Japan events and while there, Scott D'Amore addressed the NJPW locker room and told them Impact would love to work with New Japan again and specifically mentioned Callis was coming to work for Impact. D'Amore also, during that same meeting, specifically apologized to IWGP champion Kazuchika Okada for how he was used in TNA years ago. At the time, Okada was booked to dress like Kato from The Green Hornet and play Samoa Joe's lackey. It was not good, and it looked even worse when Okada returned to NJPW and exploded into one of the best workers in the world overnight. We are told that New Japan already have two potential replacements in mind as an announcer if/when Callis does depart. We were also told New Japan is quite aware how badly Impact wants to work with them but NJPW is still focused on working with Ring of Honor.
As of today, Ricochet is not working the TV tapings in Canada and it appears Impact's attempts to get him for them have fallen through. Tessa Blanchard will be at the tapings.
Sami Callihan is 100% debuting next week as you probably guessed from the video tease with OVE.
Expect lots of Canadian talents at the tapings next week as well as the company will be using as many Canadians as possible, which is smart, as if they hit a certain level of Canadians on the shows, they will be eligible for production tax breaks. The belief is that Canadian locals will likely be referees, underneath talent and ring announcing. There will be a lot of production rolled back from the usual Orlando tapings as we are hearing they are not bringing a portion of the regular team into Canada.
The word making the rounds is that the company is not bringing Braxton Sutter or Dutch Mantel to Canada for the PPV or TV. Sutter is an odd choice as he's been a regular on TV with Allie and lives in Buffalo. Mantel has been working on creative but with the rise in power of John Gaburick, D'Amore and Sonjay Dutt, has not been as involved.
I can't believe someone asked this, but they did. No, Jim Cornette is not changing his mind and he will not be at the tapings or the PPV. He has offered to drive to Nashville and shoot content if the company needs him to film material explaining his departure. The original plan for the post-Bound for Glory TV was for Bruce Prichard to return and take his spot back, but that may be out the window with the creative changes.
Online now for PWInsider.com Elite section are interviews with James Storm and Petey Williams discussing Bound for Glory and more. In a 31 minute conversation, James Storm discusses his long run with Impact, the ups and downs, why he'd be angry if they put him in the Hall of Fame before he was retired, his short exodus to NXT and why he turned down a WWE deal, Chris Harris, ideas pitched to creative in Impact, whether he'd like to be involved in the creative process, why he hopes in 2018 the focus is on the in-ring product for the company, Team AAA vs. Team Impact, BFG memories and much more. The 38 minutes Williams interview features discussion on his decision to retire three years ago, the changes in pro wrestling's landscape while he was gone, deciding to come back, his family's reaction, the X-Division championship match at Bound for Glory, putting together a match involving so many talents, We'll be joined by Sonjay Dutt this Thursday as well. You can check out the ad-free Elite section at www.PWInsiderElite.com.
Homicide, who is slated for the TV tapings next week, is working on opening a wrestling school in the Northeast. We should have more details on that in about two weeks.
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