It has been talked about for months, but Impact Wrestling made it official via press release early this morning. New Japan Pro Wrestling’s English language color commentator Don Callis has been hired by Anthem to join Impact President Ed Nordholm and fellow Executive Vice-President Scott D’Amore as the three-person team who will guide the promotion.
That would be newsworthy on its own, after years of ownership and management turmoil from the former TNA. But the announcement’s confirmation that Callis will remain with New Japan, and New Japan’s partnership with Ring of Honor (ROH), that once again has some fans fantasy booking a team-up of the biggest non-WWE companies.
Nothing in the press release confirms or even hints at that. But with Callis’ friend Chris Jericho working for New Japan, imaginations are running wild.
Whether or not anything comes of those fan dreams, it continues a pretty amazing career resurgence for the man who worked as The Jackal in WWF and Cyrus in ECW.
Here’s the press release from Impact:
IMPACT Wrestling Hires Senior Executive Team
TORONTO – Anthem Wrestling Exhibitions LLC, a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp.and parent company of IMPACT Wrestling, announced today that Don Callis and Scott D’Amore have joined the company as Executive Vice Presidents. Reporting to Ed Nordholm, President of the Company, they will form a 3-member Executive Committee with overall responsibility for developing the creative direction for the Company and managing the execution of the Company’s business plan.
Don Callis has built a critically acclaimed 15-year career in the wrestling business as a performer, color commentator and writer for WWF, ECW and TNA. After retiring from wrestling in 2004, he obtained an MBA and established another successful career in international business. Callis recently returned to the world he loves and is now the color commentator for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (a role that he will retain) and co-hosts the hit podcast “Killing the Town” on The Jericho Network.
Scott D'Amore has held just about every position in the wrestling industry, including performer, trainer, promoter, writer and producer. D’Amore is an IMPACT Wrestling original, having been with the company from its early days in the Asylum until his departure in 2010. In his time away from the organization, D’Amore applied his entrepreneurial spirit to transform The D'Amore Group from a family-run construction company into a multi-faceted real estate development company. He has kept his hand in the industry, running Border City Wrestling in Windsor in collaboration with the Entertainment Technology program at St. Clair College. He also owns and operates Can-Am Wrestling, a successful professional wrestling training facility that has produced numerous top talents in the wrestling industry today.
”I am excited that Don and Scott have made this commitment to the Company,” said Ed Nordholm, president of Anthem Wrestling Exhibitions, LLC. “The 50 years of experience and success in the wrestling industry brought by Don and Scott, combined with the global media, marketing, sales and financial expertise of Anthem, provide the management depth and expertise that will propel IMPACT Wrestling to greater success as we continue to expand our footprint, embrace digital opportunities and grow the brand.”