Want more wrestling news, rumors, and results? Be sure to visit PWInsider.com and PWInsiderXtra.com.
Mike Johnson: Obviously, Slammiversary last year was built around a lot of mystery with debuts and returns. Most notably, Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson. Just this past week, we had Gail Kim return to Impact Wrestling TV and tell Deonna Purrazzo she's going to be facing a mystery challenger at Slammiversary this Saturday. Compared to last year, how much in terms of surprises debuts, swerves that people aren't looking towards that they're surprised happened. Should we expect going into the pay-per-view? Last year all the marketing was about all these talents who had been released. There had been some of that in the build to this year's version of the show. But I feel like as we've gotten closer to it, Impact has kind of backed away on some of that marketing to build to this Saturday. So what should we be looking forward to or what you would be expecting in terms of surprises, debuts, returns, et cetera?
Scott D'Amore: Well, I think one of the big differences between this year last year is we're in such a better position as a company. When you look at what we're coming out of the gate with just card wise. If there was no surprises, there was no swerves. You look at this Saturday night we've got a world championship match with Kenny Omega and Sami Callihan, it's going to be off the charts. We have the return of Ultimate X where Josh Alexander who's on one of the hottest runs in the industry, he's in there with multiple other guys that are out there and put a just a unbelievable display on, and a unique match that has meant so much in this company and it's history. Josh Alexander when he brought so much. Ace Austin and Petey Williams, who's been in so many of these great matches. Chris Bey, he's such an amazing talent and Trey Miguel who is an unbelievable athlete. They're all going to go through and just really tear it up.
Then you've got Moose and Chris Sabin, what a great match. Personally it means a lot to me to, two people that I trained going up there, but that's going to be a totally different style match. That is going to be an amazing matchup. You've got Morrissey and Eddie Edwards, a great thing man versus classic like a badass wrestler in Eddie Edwards who's undersized against Morrissey. But he has so much fight to get the Tag Team Championship match with four great teams battling out a championship. You alluded to Deonna Purrazzo and a mystery opponent. And you have the Knockout Tag Team. We have so much of this show, if nothing else happened other than this it'd be a great show.
Yeah, we've worked hard to add some little spice. And I feel very strongly that if somebody tunes in Saturday night for Slammiversary, you order it on a pay-per-view, you order it on Fite.TV, you sit down and watch the show. You watch the performances in the ring, you watch these matches, you watch all of this kick ass action. You see the little dips and swerves and everything else that are sprinkled in. See at some point in time, when you don't quite have the steak, you need to have a lot of sizzle. Now as we start to have a little more steak. We don't need as much. But I still think there's a great amount of sizzle on this, Mike. I think when people tune in, there's a couple of "Oh, sh**" moments where people are going to go, "That is not what I thought."
You're going to see multiple times where it's like, "Okay, that was cool." They're delivering a great card that they've advertised, that is worth my money on its own. And then now here's multiple things that make me go, "Oh, shit, I didn't expect that." And I feel pretty confident that if somebody goes out there and purchases this pay-per-view, and watches the show with an open mind and go out there and wants to be entertained they're going to be amazingly entertained, and you're going to be surprised on multiple instances in a good way. Where it's like, "Oh, shit. That's cool."
Mike Johnson: What's the sleeper match? You just mentioned a bunch of the Slammiversary matches. For you, from a creative standpoint, what's the sleeper match that you expect, is going to surprise people when it unfolds this Saturday. That perhaps you're looking forward to because you have a bit more of an inside track into what you expect these talents to be able to pull off on Saturday?
Scott D'Amore: I would certainly say Ultimate X. I mean, it's Ultimate X. I think people almost expect to be wowed when it comes to Ultimate X. And so to me, personally, I alluded to it briefly earlier. And like, totally paint me with a brush of being biased, the fact that you have Moose who is quite possibly the best athlete in professional wrestling right now. When you talk about checking every box, he checks every single box and some. I mean, in baseball they always say, call it a five tool player. Moose has all five of those tools and tools that nobody even thought of. Plus, he's in there with a guy who I think is one of the most underrated wrestlers of the modern generation in Chris Sabin. And personally I've had the opportunity to see both of these guys from when they were first stepping foot in the ring, and seeing them develop over years. When you have a guy like Moose, who's that amazing of an Athlete, who's that big and strong and powerful.
Then, you have a guy like Chris Sabin who I think is completely revitalized, in the last year or so. He's came back to active competition here with Impact. I think he's been unbelievable. He's always been great in a way. He's always been great, he's a former world champion. He's an icon of the X-Division, he's one of the best tag wrestlers out there, but he just had a little extra pep in his step. And I think if you see it, he's got a little bit more edge, he's shown a little more character, he's had a little more pop when he's hurt. I think he's just in a great space, not just in wrestling and in life. And when he first came back to Impact Wrestling, he was out injured. He was not under contract with anybody. He was hurt. He needed to rehab for months. I remember calling him and saying look, "Come on in. Come and try this being a producer, working behind the scenes. You might like it, you might hate it, but come back, check it out." And he was a little timid and he came in and did it and he's actually excelling behind the scenes so much as well. But I think one of the reasons to wrap this up, but he's back and he's been so good on all cylinders.
I remember after he was with us, we had done multiple days of TV. He actually talked to me at the end of the last day after a long ride. We went outside and he just kind of looked at me and with tears in his eyes he goes, "Thank you." And I go, "Yeah, no, thank you." He goes, "No, no, no." He goes, "For the first time since I left TNA Wrestling I feel like I'm home." And I think that feeling in that comfort and that pride in being an original I think shines through every time he's walked out on that stage and gotten in that ring, since he's gotten back. He's at a point in his career, where he knows there's a lot more in the rearview mirror than there is ahead of them. He's going to make the most of it. And I think that him and Moose are going to blow the roof off in having a packed Skyway Studios, wrestling fans in there that are just so chomping at the bit to scream, holler. I think that those guys are potential show stealers. And with this lineup top to bottom, it's going to be one hell of a difficult show to steal. But I think those two have all the attributes to do it.
Mike Johnson: How has the creative process and even the managerial process changed since Don Callis has acquiesced his power and moved on to just performing full time for the company as opposed to having his hands in behind the scenes material from an executive level?
Scott D'Amore: You mean because our friend Tommy Dreamer canned him?
Mike Johnson: Yeah, if you want to go that route, then yes. [Both laugh.]
Scott D'Amore: No, no, no I'm good. I think we're in a great place. I think Don's right where he should be. I think he is one of the best talkers in the business. I think he's a great mind. I think he's a guy who's also at a point in his life. It's easy to forget that me and Don have been friends for so long. And when you're in your, your 20s, your 30s... Whether you're 23, or 29, or 30 you're in a much different place. As we get older... I mean, Don respectfully has got a handful of years on me. I know, last week on the show, he said 47. But I think we all know that's not true. Where he's at in life, I think he's in a great place. Me and him talked for 90 minutes last night. And it was just great. I think we have a great crew. One of the things that I've always strived to do and it's not just with Impact Wrestling, it's not just in the restaurant business but it's with any business or any organization I'm involved in, I was taught this many years ago. If you really have built a strong organization, then you can take any one piece out, and the machine's going to keep going. Because you're going to backfill and go. And Don's contributions over the years, we're very grateful for having him. But this has been a process over the course of the last couple of years. Like it's not like, "Oh, shit tomorrow, we're making this change." It's been a gradual thing. From 2018 to 2019, 2020 and '21 this is the direction we've been heading. And I think he's where he should be. And I think we're where we should be.
We've got some great people here that I think the contribution's been overlooked sometimes because people talk about Scott and Don. I think Tommy Dreamer who I joked about... I said because he always says he fired Don Callis. But he's an amazing veteran, and has so much respect, and so much experience. Having him in a consigliere kind of role but hands on is great to have there. Jimmy Jacobs is a creative force. RD Evans, Robert Evans is a great writer and a wrestler, and all those people. Tommy, myself, Jimmy, Robert, Gail, Kim, Chris Sabin, Petey Williams, all these people are wrestling minds. That's a great thing I love about this company is we're not shunning being pro wrestling, we lean into it.
I think that the team that we have together, I think it really... I think we're in a great position. And I think that if tomorrow for some reason, I wouldn't be able to go to Nashville, Tennessee. And I wouldn't be there for Slammiversary this Saturday night, I wouldn't be there for the TVs that follow. I know that the team we've put together would still go out there and kick ass because Impact Wrestling isn't about Scott D'Amore. It isn't about Don Callis, it isn't about Ed Nordholm, Impact fricking Wrestling, from top to bottom, from the Johnny Bravos and Ingrids to Ross Formans and the Josh Matthews to the ring crew to the people that work backstage to the people in the truck, I mean, to the people that they don't even get to come to the show. Those who don't don't even get to come experience but put so much of the grind in behind the scenes. That's what drives Impact Wrestling.
So whether Scott and Don are here or anybody else, as long as we keep Impact Wrestling in a position where it has good people that care about it, and want it to grow and thrive and succeed then I feel we're good. So I mean to answer your question. I don't think we miss a beat moving on to just being a talent. I think it's a good role for him. I think it's a great spot for us. Because when there is an opening up there's an opportunity. It goes back to 2018 when me and Don and Ed during those first round to media, both domestically and around the world, we got up and on a plane, we flew to places and did media and say "Hey, this is new, this is different."
People said, "Oh, well this person is leaving, this talent's leaving, this talent's leaving." And so what, because this talent leaves, we're going to bring in somebody else, and they're going to grow into that spot. It's the same thing behind the scenes. So when somebody moves on, what it does, it's not a loss. It gives you an opportunity for somebody else to step in and thrive and grow.
Mike Johnson: I want to ask you about the commentary situation. We get a lot of questions asking if there is a potential for Mauro Ranallo to return either, obviously not Slammiversary. You have not announced it by now, but down the line. Also, what's the status of Matt Striker who had been doing commentary? And then he kind of disappeared for a bit with Josh Matthews returning to commentary with D'Lo Brown. Is there possibility of Striker returning anytime soon, or Mauro Ranallo popping up again?
Scott D'Amore: It was great having Mauro at Rebellion. Mauro Ranallo was somebody that I met over 20 years ago from Stampede Wrestling. When me and Sabu went out to Stampede Wrestling, Mauro Ranallo was on the announce team. Mauro has been a dear friend for many years. We keep in touch we even if it's just texts and jokes. Over the years, we've always wanted to work together on a wrestling project. We got that opportunity at Rebellion and I know that I feel and I think that Mauro feels that taste wasn't enough. Mauro is the best commentator in combat sports. If you want to say this guy's a better wrestling announcer okay, like everybody has their opinions. You want to say this guy's a better boxing announcer. Okay, everybody has their opinions. Or this guy's better at MMA. But is there one announcer who's ever been so freaking good at every combat sport, the way Mauro has been and I truly believe with respect to all the other amazing answers out there that there isn't somebody who's been so good at all those different genres. But at the end of the day, and me and Mauro talked about this a little bit ago, his passion's pro wrestling. Watching pro wrestling with his father was what he loved when he was young when he was growing up. And that was his passion.
So is there opportunity? Absolutely. And when the time is right when circumstances align are we open to it? Absolutely. Is Mauro open to it? Absolutely. Is Mauro one of the busiest human beings in entertainment. In some way he's the new Jimmy Hart but he enjoyed being at Rebellion. He loved being there. He loved the vibe and we freaking loved having him. So when the opportunity's there, absolutely. I could certainly see that happening.
As for Matt Striker, I've seen comments, I've seen questions. So Ross Forman, for those that don't know, is our Impact Wrestling publicist and so many other things that he handles, too numerous to mention. He's going to give me crap for this, but I'll say it right here, Matt Striker will be at the desk at Slammiversary. He's chomping at the bit to get back. Matt needed some time and we gave that to him. We were happy to support him and give him the time he needed to take care of what he needed to take care of. And he's excited to get back in that chair and call one of the best damn pay-per-views out there this Saturday night on Slammiversary.
Mike Johnson: For fans who are listening to this, but might not be watching Impact Wrestling programming on Access every week, or maybe haven't ordered a show for some time. Why would Slammiversary this Saturday be a good jumping back on point for them? And why should they spend their time to... Spend some money, spend some time and invest in Impact this Saturday night when there are so many other choices for professional wrestling at the moment?
Scott D'Amore: Yeah, I mean, there's so many choices. And that's one of the great things about wrestling right now. But I think if people give us the opportunity, if they put down their money, if they purchase, they support, then I can tell you that from top to bottom none of us take that support for granted. None of us take that purchase for granted. To me, one of the strongest things that I believe is yes, 100% going there and plucking down your money and purchasing the pay-per-view is a huge investment that you're making. You're taking your hard earned money, and you're investing it into this product, and trusting us. The other thing that you're investing and the other thing that you're trusting us with is your time. You're giving us three hours on a Saturday night where you can do a plethora of other things and instead you're spending it being part of our event and part of our story. And I assure you that we worked very hard to go out there to put a kickass event together.
If there's somebody who orders the show this Saturday, who puts down their money and can honestly say that they were not entertained, that can honestly say that they didn't get their money's worth and more, then hit me up. Because I just don't think it's going to happen. I think from when we've covered it, that card from top to bottom, from the world's title match, all the way through. One of the hardest decisions for us right now with the depth of the roster was who doesn't make the cut for the pay-per-view. That was agonizing. We get a kickass show.
Like I said, we've got some real "Oh shit" moments. We've got that wow moments where you're going to say, "Holy sh**, I didn't see that coming." So tune in and see it. Marketing is marketing, promotion is promotion. And you alluded to it earlier, we've done some teasing, we didn't want to lean fully into it. But I think, and it's not necessarily... Hey last year it was here comes the Good Brothers, here comes these changes. I think, in many ways, as we've said, our world changes again.
I think what happens at Slammiversary is going to be an unbelievable night. I think it's going to give everybody who goes up there a great return on their investment of money for entertainment, and time for entertainment and joy. And I think it sets the stage for a real kick ass coming out after that, when we've got a whole new set of stories to tell. We wrap up a lot of amazing things on Saturday night, we launched a whole new path with cool things coming that I think people are going to really enjoy and be able to sit back and say like, "Sh**, I'm really glad that I spent my Saturday night watching Impact Wrestling Slammiversary."
Mike Johnson: Well Impact Wrestling is going to take place this Saturday on fight.TV and all the pay-per-view outlets. For complete details on that you can check out Impact wrestling.com and of course, you can always subscribe to Impact Plus at Impactplus.tv. Scott, I want to thank you for sitting down talking to us and spending so much time with us. I know you're basically trying to put out fires and keep plates spinning up in the air at the same time in a week like this. So we appreciate you sitting down.
So, the last question I guess I have for you is obviously you're in the grind and there's a million things that you have to do. But when you look at the current era of Impact Wrestling, and you compare it to the past, when you've been in different positions of power, either booking or managing or working behind the scenes, how fulfilling is it right now to be running and being part of this era of Impact compared to other time periods in TNA/Impact Wrestling history for you on a personal level?
Scott D'Amore: Yeah, look, when I first started with TNA, it was in its infancy, it was year one. And I was just a kid. I was 28 years old, I had had multiple concussions, I had struggled with post-concussion, I didn't know where my life and where my career was going. And that's why I'll always say, I don't care about anything else, I will always have a spot in their heart for Jeff Jarrett. He's a friend of mine, has been for many years and should be for any more. And he's somebody who took a chance on a 28 year old me, who he really didn't need to and gave me an opportunity to be on the ground floor and build something out. And that was so cool.
There's something to be said... Almost you don't realize what you're doing, you're so young and you've never experienced like so much. It's all new. And sometimes you don't really have the perspective. At this point in my life, having spent three decades of my life in this industry, and being part of building TNA and being part of launching so many other careers and everything else, to be able to come back in a time when I find at one point, when I left in 2009 or '10, whatever it was, I never envisioned myself coming back to wrestling on this type of basis. I thought it was a part of my life that was behind, I moved on, I did other things, and I enjoyed them.
To be back here at this point in my life. And being able to be part of building a great organization again, and having the experiences that I've had both good and bad to learn from, and having the perspective. The first time through it's like there's times where it's like every high was so high, every low was so low and you just didn't know what to expect. I mean, now with a little perspective, I think I get to sit and enjoy it a little more. And then the other thing is at this point in my life, and at this point in my career... I think the first time it was so much it was me, me, me, me. Obviously we're a company, but I was building a career. I was building a resume, I was making my life.
Now at this point I got my life. Now at this point if I never walk out and do another thing I'm going to live a great and blessed life. But I choose to be in this industry because I love it. And I choose to be with Impact Wrestling, because I love it. And one of the best parts to me now is I get to look around and I get to see people who are in similar positions in their life to where I was at 28 years old, being given this opportunity to be part of something, and I get to watch them experience it.
I get to watch them have their moments, and I get to watch... And it can be talent, it can be production people, it can be front office, people. I get to watch people grow and experience and be part of this thing. And there's something cool to being part of something, it binds us all together. It's the same reason whether we're part of the company in working active capacity or whether we're fans. Those moments, those are what binds us.
You know, watching something, you remember those amazing moments. I could go, it still exists, I could go to Pontiac Silverdome and show you on the floor where my chair was right by the guardrail where Hulk Hogan picked up Andre the Giant or when Ricky Steamboat and Randy Savage hav that amazing Intercontinental title match. I remember all of it. I remember my two cousins that I was with to watch it. The one that was my age, that was just a kid and the one, my older cousin Tommy who can drive and drove us there. Those binds us together forever. It's the same thing with being part of this company being part of these shows. And there's going to be a time in two years, five years, 10 years, 15 years where much like I can look back at the first TNA Anniversary Show so many years ago, this group that goes to battle, that goes in there and puts on this kick ass event Saturday, that's going to bind us. And I take great pride in being part of providing that opportunity to people and I take great joy in watching them succeed at what they do, what they love to do.
Mike Johnson: Well, we're going to see how well the stars of Impact Wrestling succeed in the ring and beyond this Saturday night on Slammiversary. We'll have complete coverage here on pwinsider.com. We thank everybody for their support. Scott, we hope everything goes smooth and as planned. And we hope everything goes exactly as perfect, as can be for Impact Wrestling. And we want to thank everybody for their support. Scott, I want to thank you for sitting down with us and I look forward to when we get you back on here again to talk Impact and beyond. And thank you so much for the time.
Scott D'Amore: Awesome, appreciate it, Mike, thanks to you and thanks to all the listeners and readers.
You can order Slammiversary at www.FITE.TV.
If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!
Bang On Casino
