Since Anthem announced the new Impact Wrestling management team late last year, the promotion has set out to improve their image.

Scott D’Amore, Don Callis, and Ed Nordholm have now run two sets of TV tapings, a pay-per-view, and several live events since taking over the helm. While ratings and fan response have both seen moderate improvement in the last few months, the bookers know it will be an uphill battle to erase some of the promotion’s past in the minds of wrestling fans.

The three members of Impact’s management team took part in an interview with Pro Wrestling Illustrated recently.

Don Callis on Re-Building Impact Wrestling

“The brand has not been cool,” Callis stated to PWI. “And we all know that if we create a great product with compelling storylines and excellent talent, and we have an open environment, working collaboratively with talent and with other promotions, we all of a sudden are breaking paradigms of the wrestling business. That will then make us cool and give us a buzz.”

Callis can also be heard on his weekly podcast, “Killin the Town w/ Storm and Cyrus”, giving his theories on wrestling booking. This week, Callis discussed how he is not in favor of scripted promos for wrestlers as he believes few wrestlers are good enough actors to pull this off.

“It’s going to be destination programming,” he said of his plans for Impact. “And we’re not going to have to ask for it. I just think we’re going to get it. And that may sound a bit brash, if I have my executive hat on. But if I and Scott and Ed and the team did not believe we could be the best, then we have no business in this position.”

Impact Wrestling features a branded show this Thursday night. Austin Aries challenges Pentagon Jr. for the Impact World Championship at “Under Pressure”.

Don Callis recently took part in the weekly Impact Wrestling media call and delivered his “State of Impact” address.

From fan feedback to ratings, Impact Wrestling appears to be on an upswing. Callis broke down the promotion’s future and recent history during today’s State of Impact address.

.@CyrusOverHuge is the guest on this week's Media Teleconference as he delivers a State of IMPACT address. Listen along with it NOW!

Facebook: https://t.co/N9KD5TQcXG

YouTube: https://t.co/PhTxvxdhhr pic.twitter.com/TnOxFQmVM9

— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) May 16, 2018

Don Callis on Impact Wrestling

Callis immediately began the call by addressing the storyline situation involving Sami Callihan. Last week on Impact, company officials only chose not to fire Callihan due to the urging of his rival, Eddie Edwards. Tomorrow night on Impact, Edwards and Callihan will face each other in a street fight hosted by House of Hardcore.

“Some people see help as being told what to do and they don’t like it,” Callis explained. “That’s probably the nicest thing I can say about Sami in that situation, at this point.”

Callis touched on the relationship between Impact Wrestling and Lucha Underground. While the next season of Lucha Underground is set to begin airing later next month, many of the promotion’s stars have become regulars on Impact programming. SEScoops had the chance to ask Callis his thoughts on Impact’s relationship with the rather unique Lucha Libre promotion.

“With respect to the Lucha Underground relationship, I think that’s been one of the more exciting stories in the wrestling business the last 3 months,” Callis stated.

“I think us and LU doing this is is symptomatic of what’s going on in the wrestling business,” Callis continued. “We have broken the traditional old school wrestling paradigms of ‘you only work with who you work with’.”

Stars such as Brian Cage, Johnny Impact/Mondo, Taya Valkyrie, Sami Callihan/Jerimiah Crane, and many others now compete for both promotions regularly.

Impact Wrestling’s X-Division Update

Callis also gave a couple of updates on the company’s X-Division. In response to a media question, Callis stated he is not looking to separate the division from the rest of the roster. The recent signing of former WWE Cruiserweight Champion, Rich Swann, to the division also was addressed by Callis.

“As you probably know, his wife works for us and was an advocate for him coming in,” Callis explained. “He’ll be at our next set of tapings and he’s going to get an opportunity in the same way other talent that come in gets an opportunity to show what they can do.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rBuJJaorGA

Sami Callihan has assaulted Impact Wrestling Vice President, Don Callis. The incident took place at an independent wrestling event near Anthem Sports and Entertainment’s head office in Toronto. Impact Wrestling is stating they plan on addressing the issue tomorrow night.

In the mean time, they have a poll on their website asking fans if Sami Callihan should be fired. As of this writing, more Impact Wrestling fans feel the controversial wrestler should be fired than not.

Sami Callihan Assaults Don Callis

Callihan attacked Callis at an event promoted by Santino Marella’s Destiny Wrestling promotion on April 29th, 2018. The attack is just being acknowledged by Impact Wrestling now, however.

The actions and behavior of @TheSamiCallihan at a recent @DestinyWrestle event were absolutely unacceptable. IMPACT Wrestling are considering all options regarding Callihan's future in IMPACT Wrestling as a consequence.

MORE: https://t.co/wCyiOqxeAa

— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) May 8, 2018

Callis was being given an award for “Comeback of the Year” and had his family in attendance when he was attacked by Callihan.

Callihan responded to Impact’s comments with the following:

How about you consider not being such bitches. This is OUR company now. Sit back and just watch your ratings go up. #TheDRAW #oVe https://t.co/rAMJR65G1J

— Sami Callihan (@TheSamiCallihan) May 8, 2018

THIS THURSDAY – after his reprehensible assault of @CyrusOverHuge, we will learn the decision of IMPACT management regarding the consequences of @TheSamiCallihan's actions.

What repercussions await Sami? #IMPACTonPop

MORE: https://t.co/wCyiOqfDIC pic.twitter.com/x5qEiok3kj

— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) May 9, 2018

Don Callis in 2018

Callis began his career in 1989 wrestling in various Canadian independent promotions. He was brought into WWE as a manager in 1996. He managed the Truth Commission and the Parade of Human Oddities before being released in 1999.

After leaving WWE, Callis ended up in ECW where he was a color commentator and representative for “The Network”. He signed with TNA Wrestling in 2003 but would opt to retire from the wrestling industry in 2004. He would later say the business was too unstable at the time. Callis went to work in local government and by 2012 became the President, CEO and Executive Director of the Manitoba Trade and Investment Corporation.

In 2016, Callis began a podcast with his longtime friend, Lance Storm, titled “Killin the Town with Storm and Cyrus”. The following year, fellow Winnipeg native, Kenny Omega, pitched the idea for Callis to become the new color commentator for New Japan Pro Wrestling. Following that, another Winnipeg native, Chris Jericho, served as a reference for Callis to Anthem Sports and Entertainment President, Ed Nordholm. Impact announced Callis as their new co-Vice President on December 5th, 2017.

Don Callis is firing back at those criticizing Impact Wrestling over recent departures.

It’s no secret that times have changed at Impact Wrestling. With Dixie Carter and Jeff Jarrett out of the picture, president Ed Nordholm has placed Callis and Scott D’Amore at the helm to help steer the company into a positive direction. Changes at the top have also led to talent departures.

Notable names such as EC3, Lashley, and even Jeremy Borash have departed. EC3 and Borash have made the jump to WWE’s NXT brand, while reports claim that Lashley wants a WWE return and the feeling is mutual.

While Callis admitted to Metro.co.uk that the talent changes can’t be ignored, he also said people are only looking at the negatives:

“Here’s the problem with the narrative that goes around with that. I’m not knocking wrestling journalism because it is what it is, but the narrative that’s been kicking around is that all these people are leaving. That’s fine, and that’s true, but the context is not there. Are we okay with them leaving based on the new talent? They talk about who has left, but a lot less about who came. Yes, EC3 is a tremendous performer, he’s gone on to NXT and we wish him all the best. But, people just say he’s left, they don’t say that Brian Cage or Austin Aries debuted.”

Callis believes the best has yet to come as far as talent is concerned.

“We use a lot of sports analogies around here. If you have new Head Coach for a team, they’re going to change talent and they’re going to draft new players that fit their particular system. That’s what we’re doing. It is a process, there will be more people coming in. And we also have Alberto El Patron, who to me is one of the best pieces of talent I’ve ever seen in this business since I was seven-years-old.”

In case you weren’t aware, IMPACT recently revealed that Don Callis and Scott D’Amore would set to be positioned as the new Executive Vice Presidents of the company. IMPACT sent out the following press release on the hiring:

“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.”

As you may of noted, Callis is part of Chris Jericho’s podcast network and good friends with the Winnipeg native. During a recent interview on ‘Talk is Jericho’ Callis revealed that it was in fact Jericho who reached out to Anthem Executive Len Asper and told him to hire Don Callis and Scott D’Amore to run Impact Wrestling. Whether this is an elaborate rib being played by both Callis and Jericho remains to be seen but if this is true then Jericho’s influence across the wrestling landscape seems to be broadening in recent months.

Getting your buddies a job? Jericho invented that.

Former WWE and ECW personality Don “Cyrus” Callis has joined the New Japan World English commentary team. He’ll handle the color commentary duties alongside Ring of Honor commentator Kevin Kelly, who does play-by-play.

The official announcement came on Callis and Lance Storm’s “Killing the Town” podcast, which you can check out at PodcastOne.com.

https://twitter.com/lancestorm/status/821359389168668673

This is Callis’s first regular commentary gig since the end of ECW, when he worked with Joey Styles. He is replacing Steve Corino, who is now working as a coach at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando.

NJPW announced that all of their iPPV shows moving forward will have English commentary, starting with the upcoming New Beginning iPPV show on February 5.

• NJPW World To Feature English Commentary for 14 Events in 2017