Brian Myers has reflected on his 2020 WWE release as part of the company’s COVID-era cuts, telling Insight with Chris Van Vliet listeners that the release still leaves a sore spot because WWE was the only company firing people at the time, and that Tommy Dreamer called him about TNA in the first week.
Myers was released by WWE in April 2020 as part of the wave of cuts the company made during the early COVID-19 pandemic. The cuts hit a large number of WWE wrestlers and staff, with the timing being one of the most-criticized elements given WWE’s financial position.
“That one, I still have a little sore spot, because no wrestling company fired anyone at that time, but WWE, the most powerful, richest one. I thought that was a little strange, and I just signed this contract, so I was very blindsided by it, but like most things, it was just the blessing in disguise. Who would have known? I mean, looking back on that last year, it was not so hot. We won the tag titles, and then once we lost them, it was like we weren’t doing anything of significance.”
Myers talked about the cheat code he and Matt Cardona had during their final WWE run.
“The cool cheat code we had would be Matt and I would show up, do what we’re told the best of our ability, and then we’d go record the podcast and have fun and kind of forget about it and talk about toys.”
Myers also recalled the call with Tommy Dreamer.
“That first week in that firing, Tommy Dreamer, my wrestling dad, called me and said, what do you think about Impact? I hadn’t really. I was so blindsided; I hadn’t thought about anything. Like, what is Brian Myers now in wrestling? I had no idea. It was just one of those things that all worked out.”
The Tommy Dreamer reference is to the ECW legend who has been one of Myers’s central wrestling mentors. The “wrestling dad” framing positions Dreamer as the figure who helped guide Myers into his TNA run. Dreamer has been a central TNA figure across the company’s recent stretch and was instrumental in bringing Myers into the company.
Myers shifted to his TNA fandom growing up.
“Oh yeah, huge. I’m still, I mean, that’s one of the things. I first meet Abyss, I’m like, yes. My dad eventually got us the hot box because he got sick of paying for pay-per-views, so I really consumed everything, and I saw all those early asylum stuff. Everything I saw.”
The TNA fandom framing connects to Myers’s broader loyalty to the company. His childhood TNA fandom, including the early “asylum” era of TNA programming, gave him a personal connection to the company that has shaped his six-year run.
“It was just like a blessing in disguise.”
If you use quotes from this article, please credit Insight with Chris Van Vliet and include a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
