Scott D’Amore Opens Up on TNA Release, Reveals Role in WWE Partnership
In a candid interview on “The Ariel Helwani Show,” former TNA Wrestling President Scott D’Amore discussed his recent release from the company, the emotional impact of losing the reins after its rebranding, and his pivotal role in initiating the burgeoning working relationship between TNA and WWE.
Reflecting on his departure, D’Amore didn’t shy away from expressing his strong connection to the TNA brand and a sense of disappointment over the decision. “Decisions get made. I can be a strong cup of tea or a biting sip of whiskey, whatever analogy you want to use. I was passionate about Impact Wrestling. I spent a long time fighting to make Impact Wrestling, TNA Wrestling again, because TNA wrestling mattered to me. Impact Wrestling never really did. I was happy to tackle it, but in my heart, it was always TNA wrestling. I fought hard for that branding. If it was left to Anthem upper management, I don’t know if you’d ever see TNA again because they went back to all the old stuff about the connotations with TNA, you know, tits and ass and everything else, and wanted to focus on Impact, which I understand, but me and a small group really believed in the in the TNA branding. I think that’s what led to a lot of the surge.”
D’Amore admitted to feeling that the direction of TNA, particularly the resurgence of the TNA name, was something he passionately championed and felt was ultimately taken out of his hands. “Would I like to still be there heading TNA wrestling? Absolutely. Do I feel like it got pulled out of my hands? Absolutely? Does Len Asper and Anthem Sports have every right to do that? Absolutely. I get a little frustrated. There’s times where I look at it and, you know, especially when I see them pulling the trigger on Joe, which was part of our plan, moving the tent pole pay per views to bigger venues. That was part of our proposal, and a lot of the decisions we see in the talent that we signed and fostered being featured, but that’s the name of the game.”
Despite the frustration, D’Amore acknowledged the business aspect of the decision and took pride in the work he and his team accomplished in revitalizing the brand. “The guy in charge that’s holding the purse strings made a decision to make a pivot, and he made that pivot. Is it frustrating? Sure, especially as the guy who made the reach out for the WWE relationship, it’s bittersweet to see, like the stuff with Jordan Grace when she went. It’s bittersweet to see the stuff with Joe, because it’s great to see, and it’s like you’re seeing your your vision seen through in some ways, but it kind of kicks in the gut a little to to have it happen without you. But at the end of the day, I was a paid executive. I was a paid consultant, technically, I think was my title for for Anthem Sports, I think myself and Don Callis and Jimmy Jacobs and, there’s so many people that I can’t name them all, did an amazing, amazing job of taking a brand that was completely effing dead and putting life into it, and bringing back that TNA name, no matter where it goes from now. If that’s part of my legacy, I’m comfortable with that. So would I like it to have continued? Yes. Do I think I would have done good with it? Of course I would, because I have an ego, but that wasn’t the case.”
Shifting the conversation, D’Amore revealed his crucial role in initiating the current working relationship between TNA and WWE, a partnership that has seen TNA talent appear on WWE programming and vice versa.
“It started with me reaching out to Ed Norholm, who was my primary contact on a day to day basis from the senior level of Anthem Sports, and saying, ‘What do you think about this?’ It’s something that has been discussed. Even Richard Schaefer, who was with Anthem at the time, who is very well known in boxing and pay per view circles, that had been discussed was like, ‘I think the times are right. Let’s reach out.’ I won’t say the name of the person who reached out to because I’m not sure they would want to, but I reached out to somebody at WWE. I had a conversation. I got a text from a number I didn’t know. I had to send the number to somebody and say, ‘Is this really Hunter’s number?’ and they wrote back, yeah. I had a nice chat that got the ball rolling.”
D’Amore emphasized that while he was the initial point of contact, the relationship has evolved beyond his direct involvement. “A lot of the stuff that we talked about in those initial calls is still going, which is great. I want to be very clear about this. I’m the person that reached out. I wasn’t the only person that was involved in the process. I was able to get the conversation started, get Jordynne in the Rumble, get Jordynne on NXT. I was able to get them into the works, but the relationship has been picked up and handled without me since then. I think there’s certainly been some upside to it. There’s some people that argue some downside as well, but if you look at it, the relationship is growing. I always say, don’t judge us today, don’t judge us tomorrow, judge us in a year, two years, five years. We’ll see where it goes. It was exciting to be one of the catalysts for that. It was exciting to be the point person on that. Triple H was great to deal with for the period in time in which I was that point person. He was good even after, you know, one of the first people to reach out after the news broke that I was let go.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit Ariel Helwani Show with an h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
