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With Impact Wrestling presenting one of their biggest events of the year this Saturday with the 2021 edition of Slammiversary, Impact's Executive Vice President Scott D'Amore sat down with PWInsider.com to reflect on not just the last year but the entire roller coaster of Impact since Anthem Media took over ownership of the company. This interview was conducted on July 13th.
Mike Johnson: Scott, first of all, I appreciate you sitting down talking to us for a little bit. I think the last time we spoke, at least on record, we were standing in the lobby of Madison Square Garden when AAA made the big announcement that they were going to run the Garden, which Impact had some involvement in. Slammiversary is coming up this week. The first time you get fans back in the door since the pandemic took hold. There is a lot of big matches that have been built up, including what I like to describe as what would happen if Superman was no longer around to defend the world. And it fell on the shoulders of Lex Luthor to save the day. With Sami Callihan challenging Kenny Omega this weekend. Thoughts on the pay-per-view, thoughts on fans coming back and thoughts on Impact coming out of a most unique and unfortunate situation just like everybody else in the wrestling business over the last year or so.
Scott D'Amore: Yeah, I mean, look, we're obviously over the moon excited with the idea of having fans back in the Impact Zone. It's been far too long, since we've and especially the talent have heard that crowd reaction that they so much deserve. And it's going to be a great night. So this Saturday, I mean, coming from Nashville, Tennessee, from our pandemic home. But now, with fans in attendance, it's going to be an amazing night, we got a great card. And I truly am happy and just so excited for the fact that the talent, not just in Impact, but all through wrestling now is getting a chance to get out there and perform in front of fans. That's how pro wrestling was meant to be meant to be. It's meant to be interactive, it's meant to be in front of a crowd. And finally, knock on wood, it looks like we're back now and we get to go back to doing wrestling the way it was meant to be.
Mike Johnson: Okay, so I'm going to jump ahead here and I realize this question might be a little premature, you might not be able to answer it just logistically, you may not have the answers yet. Obviously there's TV tapings coming out of this weekend's pay-per-view, you're going to have fans in attendance there. When do you perceive Impact going out on the road and beginning to tape in different locations in front of fans again? Is there some sort of strategy yet is it we're going to wait and see and stick to Nashville? With fans coming back obviously, there's an expectation of the next step is Impact goes on the road. Are we there yet?
Scott D'Amore: Yeah, I mean, look, from day one, we've always been consistent in saying that we were going to be extremely conservative. We weren't going to be the first group out there having fans in the building, we weren't going to be the first group out there going on the road. But as things start to move forward towards hopefully, some type of normal. I think we're getting close. And I think the fact that we're going to have fans in attendance on Slammiversary. And the fact that we have fans in attendance with the TVs that follow there. believe that we still have very limited tickets available for the TVs, we'll be doing a matinee and evening show each day, to give people an opportunity to come and see it. And I think it's not quite single digits, but it's pretty darn close to what's available for tapings. So if you're going to be in the Nashville area, grab your tickets come on by for a great show. So I guess Mike, I think you're just slightly cart before the horse. But let's say this, if I was interested in what's going to happen next for Impact Wrestling, I'd be tuned in Saturday night.
Mike Johnson: Let's talk Saturday night obviously, Kenny Omega and Sami Callihan is the main event. Thoughts on that bout and the creative leading up to it with Sami Callihan sort of becoming... Everything that has been dastardly about him on camera now becomes something that the audience wants to get behind because the idea is to wrest the championship away from Kenny Omega and AEW in some way, shape or form. Thoughts on Callihan versus Omega and why that ended up being handpicked to become the Impact main event for Slammiversary this weekend.
Scott D'Amore: I loved your analogy where basically Superman's out of play and it's Lex Luthor that has to stop in and try to save the day which I think they've done once or twice if you follow through the TV shows, movies and certainly the comics. But look, Sami Callihan is a guy who eats, sleeps and breathes Impact Wrestling. So love him, loathe him, one thing he's always been somebody who's, as we like to say in the industry flown the flag. I think that I've been pretty through consistent heading into Rebellion when there was the title versus title match with Rich Swann and Kenny Omega and since. I've always said I personally... I don't have a problem with Kenny Omega being the Impact world's champion. Kenny Omega is one of the best, most talented, most creative wrestlers not just now but in the history of this sport. So I really have no issue with Kenny Omega walking around as the Impact World Champion. Lots of other people do. Lots of other people feel that it needs to come home, it needs to rest with an Impact talent.
Boy, what a unique story with Sami Callihan, a guy who's been the villain of villains. If he's the guy who finally does that. And I think he's a great representative in a way for Impact Wrestling in the past, it's taken over the past many years. Impact Wrestling is a company that's been counted out many times, much like Sami Callihan. Impact Wrestling is maybe people have looked past it and overlooked it much like they have the Sami Callihan but Impact Wrestling was out there night in and night out and performs, goes night in and night out every Thursday night, every pay-per-view, every Impact Plus special it puts on an amazing show and performance just like Sami Callihan and Impact Wrestling just like Sami Callihan from myself through everybody in this organization loves and has a passion for pro wrestling. So despite all of his dastardly-ness and everything else, in some ways Sami Callihan really is... He's not the guy you'd ever pick and say this is the guy we want to be our poster child.
I heard Josh Matthews saying maybe Sami Callahan might not be the person we chose, but he may be the person that we need. And he's certainly somebody who's willing to go out there, willing to do whatever. Sami Callihan certainly has a history of going out there and having great big matches. And when you look at what we've had with Kenny Omega versus Rich Swann and title versus title, then Kenny Omega versus Moose. In some of the interactions we've had even on television in the specials with Kenny Omega and Chris Sabin and with Eddie Edwards in it, there's a style there. And it's amazing. And there's a whole new dynamic here for the main event of Slammiversary this Saturday, because Kenny Omega's match is going to have to be completely different with Sami Callihan, which I think is great. There's no opportunity to go out there and play the hero. Sami is unique, Sami is different, Sami's a brawler, he's going to be much more aggressive. And it's going to give us a very different style of match in our main event this Saturday. So I know that Kenny Omega is certainly not somebody who can just work one style. Kenny Omega can work any style, whether it's with of a six year old girl, a blow up doll, or one of the greatest technical wrestlers in the world, or a crazy roller. And I think we're going to get to see that this Saturday night. And I'm excited to see it. I think it's going to be an amazing match. I think Sami has delivered every time he's been putting a key slot, whether it was Bound for Glory, whether it was Slammiversary, anywhere where he's been put in the slot, to go out there and have a main event style, world title style match. I think Sami has always done that. And I'm excited to see him and Kenny this Saturday.
Mike Johnson: I wanted to take it back to when Anthem took over Impact because the promotion, at that point, it seemed like the company was in dire straits. And then Anthem took it over and little by little they were positive changes. And obviously, like anything else, there's dips and there's high points in the journey. AXS TV becomes part of the Anthem family, Impact finds a home on Access, there's tons of Impact programming on Access TV now. The creative seems to kind of settle itself down and when I watch the show now I feel like there's so many old 1980s and 1990s concepts, just old school concepts that are not used anymore. Just like W. Morrissey wrestling three opponents a couple of weeks ago. That's old school, Andre, the giant style handicap match makes him look like a great monster. These are kind of elements that aren't used anymore. When you look back on, from a creative and a business standpoint, getting the company from the point that it was, when Anthem took over from Dixie Carter and the previous regime and where it is now what do you think are the biggest accomplishments and what do you think were the most harrowing moments where you guys really had to work hard to kind of write the ship?
Scott D'Amore: I think one of the things that I'm most proud of that we've done under the Anthem flag is I think we've gotten to the point where... Look, certainly not every fan, but a large fan base now knows when they see Impact Wrestling, they're going to be entertained. When they see Impact Wrestling, there's going to be a entertaining, enjoyable event show that's going to feature great wrestling, going to feature some deep storytelling. I'm very proud of the fact that we as a company, Impact Wrestling doesn't just look after the top four, or top six people. If you look at it through our show, person who's 12, 14, 16, on the depth chart, give him something, we have something to dig their teeth into. And that's something we take pride in. On a corporate level, I think it boils down to the fact that, I know we said it to from day one, it was about earning trust back. Because I think the most valuable commodity that we have in wrestling just like in so many aspects of life is trust.
Respectfully, I think over the years, and I mean look, I'm not pointing fingers at anybody but I think there was trust lost in Impact Wrestling. And at the end of 2017 and the start of 2018, when we really looked and said we're going to take this, we're going to revitalize this. Our goal was to go out there and make sure that people know Impact Wrestling says it's going to be something it does it. Impact Wrestling says it's going to have a great short it does, when Impact Wrestling says it's going to deliver it does.
We wanted people to have faith that if they gave us a little bit of faith, if they trust in us a bit we reward them. Because in many ways from talking to fans, and from talking with people out there, it's like they almost felt like Charlie Brown, they had the football pulled from them too many times. Just didn't want to run up and kick with Impact anymore. Because they felt like they had had that football pulled from them at the last second too many times. So we really worked hard to try to say what... We tried to be very clear, Mike, I've said it. I'm sure I said it to you back in the day, we've sent it to everybody. There was no Band-Aid. There was no quick fix. This has been small, incremental, day in and day out grinding to improve and prosper. And if you look at that everything we've done from rebuilding the roster, from rebuilding the production team, from going out there in a monumental move, like acquiring AXS TV. That didn't happen overnight, that was in play for weeks, months, months and months.
All those things have built to where we feel like we have a great strong base, we have a great roster, and we put on a strong product. So the end of the day, what I'm proud about that we've done under the Anthem era is when I talk to fans, when I talk to people there that are passionate Impact Wrestling, they're saying thank you. Thank you for almost like allowing them... Giving them the grounding to love the company allowing them to enjoy something that they love. Because so many people grew up on TNA and people in our company, on our roster grew up watching TNA. There's so many fans out there. And then the fact that they were disillusioned and left and bringing those people back and getting people to believe in Impact Wrestling again to me is one of the things that I'm certainly proudest of in the Anthem era.
Interview continues on Page 2!
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