Sami Callihan will face Pentagon Jr in a Mask vs Hair match at Slammiversary on July 22nd, 2018. He was this week’s guest on the Impact Wrestling teleconference media call.
Callihan is currently a featured wrestler for 3 different promotions. Impact Wrestling, Lucha Underground, and MLW all have Callihan on their roster. He believes this fact is proof that he is the most revolutionary wrestler going right now.
“I’m making history right now, I’m one of the first people, if not the first person, to work for 3 national television programs at the same time,” Callihan said. “I’m on TV every Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Who else in professional wrestling history could ever say that?”
Out of everything he is currently doing, however, there is nothing more important to him than taking Pentagon’s mask at Slammiversary.
“I’m starting a revolution, I’m changing wrestling from the inside out.” – Sami Callihan
Mask vs Hair Match
Sami Callihan vs Pentagon Jr.
Slammiversary
July 22nd, 2018
Callihan didn’t mince words when talking about his plans for Slammiversary. “Slammiversary I’m going to take Pentagon’s mask once and for all,” Callihan said. “A lot of people outside of Impact’s world don’t realize that me, Pentagon, Fenix, Dave & Jake (Crist, oVe) we’ve been doing this for years all over the world. Now, we get a chance to do it on national television, on live pay-per-view and there’s nothing that’s going to stop me from taking his mask once and for all.”
“(Pentagon) may have the rest of the wrestling world fooled that he’s some undead Mexican Zombie but I know his secret. He is just a really good professional wrestler that wears a mask. I’m going to take that ask from him and he’s not going to be special anymore.”
Should Callihan lose at Slammiversary, however, he’ll have his head shaved bald. In the past, having their heads shaved has caused many wrestlers to spiral into madness. We asked Sami if he was worried that this could be his fate at Slammiversary.
“Well, I’m not going to have my head shaved, that’s the point,” Callihan said. “I’m going to beat Pentagon, I’m going to take his mask. Then I’m going to parade all around the world wearing it. Maybe I’ll become Pentagon. I don’t know if you saw TV a couple of weeks ago (it was last week), I wore his entire outfit and at this point, I’m pretty sure I make a better Pentagon than he does.”
Impact Wrestling is back tonight with an episode taped from Windsor, ON, Canada. It will be the second last show before Slammiversary on July 22nd, 2018.
The OGZ (King, Homicide & Hernandez) Kick Off Impact
The first segment for this week is scheduled to be King, Homicide, and Hernandez.
Last week’s episode concluded with LAX in tatters due to a civil war. King admitted being behind the hit on Konnan. He attempted to recruit Santana and Ortiz but when that didn’t work, Homicide and Hernandez took them out.
We still don’t have an Impact tag-team championship match at Slammiversary. Perhaps we could see King’s OGZ challenge Konnan’s LAX for the straps.
Austin Aries Speaks The Truth
In the build-up to Austin Aries vs Moose at Slammiversary, it’s been a war of words.
Aries went on vacation shortly after winning the title back from Pentagon but tonight he will have a chance to say whatever he wants to his upcoming challenger.
Aries has been criticizing Moose for being a failed football player trying a second career.
Moose, on the other hand, says he left the NFL for pro-wrestling and is here to chase a dream.
DeAngelo Williams Returns To Impact
DeAngelo Williams will return to Impact Wrestling tonight. He’s been helping Moose train for his World Title match and will likely have plenty to say regarding his chances against Austin Aries.
Allie In Single’s Action
Allie is back and she’ll be involved in a single’s match tonight against an as of yet unnamed opponent.
This is a new version of Allie, however, one that is a little darker and not quite as bubbly as before. She’ll need that new attitude too as she has a potential new rival waiting in the wings.
Last week, Tessa Blanchard interfered in Allie’s match in which she was teaming with Madison Rayne and facing Su Yung and one of her undead brides. Blanchard wanted at Rayne because of the two straight upset losses Rayne has handed her lately. Perhaps Allie and Blanchard are on a collision course.
Madison Rayne Sit-Down Interview
In just 10 days, Madison Rayne will go one-on-one with Su Yung. Tonight, she takes part in a sit-down interview to discuss her career, Slammiversary, and, of course, her opponent on that night, Su Yung.
Pentagon, Fenix, and Rich Swann vs Sami Callihan and oVe
Callihan has promised that during this match not only will he take Pentagon and Fenix’s masks but he plans to rip off Rich Swann’s face!
We will get a build-up to the Mask vs Hair match between Pentagon and Callihan here.
While Fenix and Rich Swann are on the same side in this match, they will be opponents at Slammiversary. They are two of the four competitors (along with Taiji Ishimori and Johnny Impact) involved in the fatal 4-way match.
Sami Callihan has called out the entire Ring of Honor roster. The Impact Wrestling star who will meet Pentagon in a Mask vs Hair match at Slammiversary sent out the following video message directed to the ROH roster:
Last year, Jericho announced that Ring of Honor would be part of his cruise. After his longtime friend, Don Callis, took over Impact Wrestling at the end of 2017, however, Jericho announced his promotion will be on the tour as well.
Jericho revealed the first round matchups for the Sea of Honor tournament earlier this summer.
On July 19th, 2018, Major League Wrestling will air a special 2-hour event on BeIN Sports.
The featured match of the evening will be the 40-person Battle Riot match itself but the promotion recently announced 2 new championship matches to take place on the card.
MLW World Heavyweight Champion, Shane “Swerve” Strickland, will defend his title against Sami Callihan.
the New Hart Foundation (Teddy Hart & Davey Boy Smith Jr) w/ Brian Pillman II vs ACH & Rich Swann
MLW World Middleweight Championship (Vacant)
Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs Joey Ryan
MLW Tag Team Championships
Pentagon & Ray Fenix (c) vs Aerostar and Drago
MLW Heavyweight Championship
Shane “Swerve” Strickland vs Sami Callihan
40-Person Battle Riot Match The winner will receive an MLW World Title shot
Battle Riot Confirmed Participants
Tom Lawler
Pentagon Jr.
Pierre Carl Ouellet
Rich Swann
Jason Cade
Joey Ryan
“Taskmaster” Kevin Sullivan
ACH
John Morrison
Lance Anoa’i
Swoggle
Konnan
Jake Hager
“Worldwide Desperado” Sami Callihan
Davey Boy Smith Jr.
Teddy Hart
Barrington Hughes
Jimmy Yuta
“A mash-up of a battle royal, royal rumble and anything goes street fight, this super-sized main event will feature 40 wrestlers with new participants entering the ring every 60 seconds.
Elimination is by pinfall, submission or by throwing an individual over the top rope.”
Court Bauer on MLW Battle Riot Airing Live For Free
“I heavily considered pay per view, but I want to give the fans something special and do it for free,” Bauer said. “Some promoters put a price tag on everything and I could see the temptation here, but I want to reward fans that have been supporting us. Disruption is key for MLW, and a free two-hour special is the ultimate disruption. BeIN is a great partner and I’m glad they agree.”
Tonight’s episode of Impact Wrestling will be the first from the company’s television tapings in Windsor, ON, Canada earlier this month. The city is home to Scott D’Amore’s Border City Wrestling.
Not every segment will be from Windsor tonight, however. Eddie Edwards will travel to Philadelphia and confront Tommy Dreamer. The segment was filmed at a recent House of Hardcore show from the 2300 Arena. There will also be a match on tonight’s show which was filmed at a PCW show from Los Angeles.
Tonight’s show will continue the build to Slammiversary on July 22nd from the Rebel nightclub in Toronto, ON, Canada.
Sami Callihan has said he wants to take Pentagon’s mask. If his feud with Eddie Edwards is any indication, it’s clear Callihan will go to great lengths to do damage to his rivals.
Last week, Callihan took a bat to Pentagon following a brawl after oVe took on Pentagon and Fantasma.
This could be the beginning of a feud which will carry over until Slammiversary.
2) Matt Sydal vs Dezmond Xavier
It looks as though this will be a non-title match. You can bet if Xavier is able to defeat the champion tonight it will put him in line for an X-Division title match, however.
Speaking of the X-Division, we still don’t know who the champion’s challenger will be at Slammiversary. Xavier is likely hoping he can improve his chances of earning a title shot tonight.
3) Rich Swann vs Trevor Lee
X-Division champion, Matt Sydal, Tweeted out that he will be keeping his 3rd eye fixed on this match. It will be Swann’s second match for the promotion after wrestling Austin Aries at the recent One Night Only PPV, Zero Fear, from Mississauga, ON, Canada.
Trevor Lee’s “Cult of Lee” tag-team has hit a rough patch as of late. He might be thinking it’s time for him to climb back up the single’s rankings.
Major League Wrestling’s upcoming Battle Riot match has 3 more confirmed participants. So far, the promotion has confirmed 17 of the planned 40 participants.
The Battle Riot match will take place July 19th, 2018 from the Melrose Ballroom in Queens, NY.
Sami Callihan, Joey Ryan, and Jason Cade are the latest 3 wrestlers to be confirmed for the match. A recent report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter also stated MLW was hoping to broadcast the show on pay-per-view. As it stands now, however, the event is scheduled as a TV taping for MLW Fusion on the BeIN Sports Network.
List of Confirmed Battle Riot Participants:
Pentagon Jr.
Pierre Carl Ouellet
Rich Swann
Jason Cade
Joey Ryan
“Taskmaster” Kevin Sullivan
ACH
John Morrison
Lance Anoa’i
Swoggle
Konnan
Jake Hager
“Worldwide Desperado” Sami Callihan
Davey Boy Smith Jr.
Teddy Hart
Barrington Hughes
Jimmy Yuta
In addition to the Battle Riot match, ACH and Rich Swann will team up to go against the New Hart Foundation. Teddy Hart will team with Davey Boy Smith Jr for the first time in years. Hart and Smith will also be managed by Brian Pillman Jr.
Major League Wrestling describes the rules of Battle Riot to be a mash-up between a Royal Rumble and Lucha Underground’s Aztec Warfare.
“A mash-up of a battle royal, royal rumble and anything goes street fight, this super-sized main event will feature 40 wrestlers with new participants entering the ring every 60 seconds.
Elimination is by pinfall, submission or by throwing an individual over the top rope.
Anything is possible July 19th in a Battle Riot!”
Where Can I Watch MLW?
MLW signed a television deal with BeIN Sports and has broadcast 10 episodes on the network thus far. The episodes air on Friday nights but viewers who are unable to get BeIN Sports can check out the full episodes on YouTube the day after they air.
IMPACT Wrestling star Eddie Edwards recently did an interview with Wrestling Epicenter to talk about several professional wrestling topics. Edwards first discussed what it’s like to play a more unhinged persona:
“I’m enjoying it. It is a chance for me to do some things I’ve never done in my career, obviously. To be able to go and try this here, that there. It’s cool! It definitely has my creative juices flowing. And also, with vignettes and stuff behind the scenes also … a lot of things are going on. It is definitely a change of pace, but it is a welcomed change of pace for me.”
He then discussed some elements of his persona mirroring Tommy Dreamer during his old feud with Raven in ECW:
“I don’t know how much thought went into it. It just so happened that Tommy is my guy and was around at that point. It just so happened that it resembled that Tommy Dreamer in ECW type look. We were definitely going for that grungier type look especially going out there to oVe’s territory. But, I think it was a happy accident. That is the direction we were going for, a more gritty, hardcore style.”
Edwards then discussed his brutal feud with Sami Callihan and how quickly it has escalated:
“We kind of found ourselves in this. Obviously, it began with the baseball bat. We had to escalate from that. As tough as it was to escalate from that, things have escalated! We’ve had to step it up and step it up and step it up time and time again. This has been a perfect storm of incidents and accidents – A perfect storm of emotion, really!”
You can check out Edwards’ full interview with Wrestling Epicenter by clicking this link here.
Impact Wrestling airs a show tonight main event’ed by a “Fight in the Woods” match between Sami Callihan and Eddie Edwards.
The tag team championships will also be on the line and Josh Matthews will sit down with 3x and current Impact World Champion, Austin Aries.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DpkLH5HiEE
Impact Wrestling 6/7/18 Preview
Eddie Edwards and Sami Callihan Fight in the Woods
Edwards has spiraled in recent weeks, arguably becoming just as sadistic as Callihan. Several people in Edwards’ life, including his wife and Tommy Dreamer, have attempted to calm him down but Edwards won’t move forward until his business with Callihan is finished.
Callihan and Edwards will face each other in an unsanctioned “Fight in the Woods” tonight.
Impact Tag Team Championships
Z&E (c) vs Aerostar and Drago
Luchadors from Lucha Underground will get a chance to win tag title gold on Impact tonight. It will be the last episode of Impact before the next season of Lucha Underground begins airing next Wednesday.
Z&E won the titles from Steiner and Eli Drake recently but there is no rest for the champs, they will be in tough to keep the titles around their waists throughout television leading up to Slammiversary.
Will the Mystery Attacker Come Forward?
Last week, X-Division veteran Sonjay Dutt was attacked in the backstage area. Joseph Park and Jimmy Jacobs have also been attacked in the back. Sonjay has said he has no memory of what happened let alone of who it was who attacked him.
Will the Mystery Attacker come forward tonight? Or will someone else be attacked in the back?
Su Yung Segment
Impact Wrestling has promised a segment tonight will be devoted to the new Knockouts Champion, Su Yung. The deranged undead bride has been the talk of the promotion as of late. Last week, Yung defeated Allie in a Last Rites (coffin) match to win the Knockouts title. She’s now locked both Rosemary and Allie in coffins, so a new challenger will have to be determined for the undead bride before Slammiversary (her opponent was actually announced earlier this week but it will play out on television).
Sit-Down Interview with Madison Rayne
It appears Madison Rayne’s in-ring career will be continuing in Impact. She recently pulled off a victory over the highly-touted Tessa Blanchard last week. Blanchard had controlled much of the match, however, before Rayne scored a victory on a roll-up.
Tonight we will find out more about the 5x Knockouts Champion’s plans for the future.
LAX vs the Cult of Lee
LAX returns to action tonight but will still be without their leader, Konnan. In his place, however, will be Eddie Kingston (now known as King).
The Cult of Lee could be in some trouble. Trevor Lee recently had this to say regarding his partner and their challenge tonight against LAX. “As long as Caleb listens to me and follows my instructions, we will be just fine,” Lee said. “We aren’t worried about LAX or any other tag team in IMPACT Wrestling. The fact that Z&E or E&Z or whatever they are called are tag team champions is a joke! We prove that tonight on IMPACT against these guys.”
Austin Aries interview w/ Josh Matthews
After regaining his Impact World Championship in controversial fashion last week, Austin Aries will be on vacation this week. He sat down with Josh Matthews for an interview regardless, however. That interview will air tonight.
At the press conference in Toronto this week, Aries announced he was merging the Impact Grand Championship and World Championship. This will probably be mentioned tonight as well.
Impact Wrestling and MLW star Sami Callihan is threatening to show up on Chris Jericho’s cruise this fall. Callihan is not officially booked for the cruise, but his recent comments suggest he might show up there anyway.
Cameras caught up with Callihan yesterday as he was arriving for the Impact Wrestling TV tapings in Windsor, ON, Canada.
Sami Callihan Threatens Chris Jericho and Ring of Honor
”I don’t care if it’s the Chris Jericho cruise, a cruise I didn’t even get booked on, which is bullshit,” Callihan said. “What are you guys, afraid? Chris Jericho, are you just afraid of Sami Callihan? Ring of Honor, are you afraid of making money with The Draw, Sami Callihan? That is my question. I am sick of being disrespected because I am The Draw and there is not one person that will tell me differently.
The way I’m looking at it right now, the only bigger bitches than Impact management is Ring of Honor and Chris Jericho. So here’s the thing: I might just have to get my baseball bat and show up on this cruise because I do what I want, when I want.”
Ever since the promotion’s TV tapings in January, Callihan has been playing up the “loose cannon” gimmick. He broke Eddie Edwards’s orbital bone during a segment filmed in January which received a lot of coverage.
Since that time, Callahan and Edwards have wrestled on Impact Wrestling and in Tommy Dreamer’s House of Hardcore promotion. They are scheduled to face each other on Impact Wrestling again this Thursday in a match filmed in the woods.
The feud between Eddie Edwards and Sami Callihan continues to roll on in Impact Wrestling. The rivalry has spilled into other promotions as well such as Tommy Dreamer’s House of Hardcore and Santino Marella’s Destiny Wrestling.
Last night on Impact Wrestling’s “Under Pressure” it was revealed that Callihan and Edwards will face each other once more next week. The match will be a “Fight in the Woods”. By the sounds of it, Impact will film (or already has done so) a match between the two in the middle of a forest with no fans present.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wxEasAFw9g
Sami Callihan vs Eddie Edwards
So far in 2018, Eddie Edwards and Sami Callihan have faced each other on 4 occasions. Here are the results:
Impact Wrestling January 13th: Edwards defeated Callihan
Redemption PPV (Hardcore Rules): Callihan and oVe defeated Edwards, Moose, and Dreamer
House of Hardcore 41 (Street Fight): Edwards defeated Callihan
House of Hardcore 42 (Street Fight): Edwards defeated Callihan
Edwards spoke to the Mirror UK website about the recent changes in Impact Wrestling.
“Since (the new management team) came in it feels like a new regime but in a good way,” Edwards said. “Feels like at this point from the guys in the locker room to the guys in the office, Scott, Don, Sonjay and creative are all on the same page. We are trying to slowly but surely turn things around and get back to where we were in the heyday.”
Edwards continued to say he is pleased with the level of creative freedom and communication which currently exists in the promotion.
“Right now the lines of communication are open between everybody which is great,” he continued. “To be able to go back and forth with ideas and creative stuff. It’s nice to just have the team all on the same page going forward and that’s the biggest thing. We can’t have people going in different directions that doesn’t work. Right now it’s a good time.”
During today’s Impact Wrestling Media conference call featuring Matt Sydal, Sami Callihan called in and insisted on being heard. He demanded Impact Wrestling show footage of his recent attack on Don Callis during tonight’s episode.
Callihan attacked Callis recently at a Destiny Wrestling event in Toronto. The show was being promoted by Santino Marella and Callis was scheduled to receive an award.
Audio of Callihan interrupting the media call can be heard in the player below:
https://youtu.be/qcdVQYD-KVQ?t=19m12s
Sami Callihan on Impact Wrestling
Impact Wrestling officials announced they will show the footage of Callihan’s attack on Callis during tonight’s episode. They also said there would be an announcement regarding whether or not Callihan is fired tonight.
The company had previously placed a poll on their website asking fans if Callihan should be fired.
“Impact management knows the numbers I put up and Impact management knows exactly what they need to do, whats best for their business model.” – Sami Callihan
Callihan continued to complain about the lack of exposure his Ohio Vs Everything group gets from Impact management. He mentioned the faction aren’t even in the show’s opening video.
Matt Sydal, who was the scheduled talent for the call, expressed both positive and negative sentiment towards Callihan’s interruption.
“Props to Sami Callihan for thinking for himself and questioning authority. What a great attitude,” Sydal said. “I hope when he hung up the phone he didn’t accidentally hit himself in the eye and break his orbital bone,” he then added.
Callihan’s feud with Eddie Edwards has been a focal point of Impact Wrestling for several weeks. The rivalry was thrust further into the spotlight following the spot which broke Edwards’ orbital bone during the promotion’s January television tapings in Orlando.
In recent weeks, Edwards accidentally struck his own wife with a kendo stick. To further torment his rival, Callihan was shown visiting Edwards’ wife in the hospital last week.
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.
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#oVehttps://t.co/rAMJR65G1J
THIS THURSDAY – after his reprehensible assault of @CyrusOverHuge, we will learn the decision of IMPACT management regarding the consequences of @TheSamiCallihan's actions.
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.
Former WWE/TNA/ECW talent Tommy Dreamer recently spoke with TheWrestlingEstate.com, and during the interview, he shared his thoughts on the recent Sami Callihan – Eddie Edwards controversy during an episode of Impact Wrestling on Pop TV.
Dreamer, who runs his House of Hardcore promotion, has worked for Impact Wrestling as an agent as well in the past.
For those who may didn’t see or remember the incident, back on the March 1st episode of Impact Wrestling, Edwards was accidentally struck in the head by a baseball bat during a post-match brawl with the former NXT star.
There was chair was placed near his Edward’s heard and Callihan swung a baseball bat into the chair. The strike caught Edwards in the head, near his eye and nose. He was immediately taken to the hospital where had a CT scan done. This is where he found out that he had broken bones in his face and a broken nose.
Here is what Dreamer had to say:
“It’s a case of two things. One is social media. Everybody sees it and they want to comment and know about it. They want to base their own opinion on it without knowing the facts. It’s the society we live in. There are some people who will chime in that it was an accident or other people chime in it was reckless. Everyone has an opinion.
For me, I would be a hypocrite. At ECW One Night Stand, Bully Ray hit me so hard with a Singapore cane that I went deaf and the doctor said I may lose my ear. In the back, he asked if I was alright, and I said yeah, man, you messed up my ear, but I’ll get my hearing back. Back in the day, if somebody hurt somebody, we’d go to the hospital with them or make sure we’re contacting them.
I don’t think Sami meant to do it. It happened, but when everybody else jumps on it, I think Sami would be a fool not to jump on it. Here’s how the world is. Someone can say something on social media and then they can backtrack. In pro wrestling, guys would say stuff and then they’d be confronted in the locker room, and then, hey, you fight. I do it the same way. If people want to start talking smack about me, cool. You want to do it online? That’s one thing because you’re going to make it public. Then let’s settle it like men or just go fight.
That’s Sami Callihan’s battle to fight. I don’t want to say everybody should mind their own business because they can’t. That’s the world we live in. Everybody likes to quickly put out there about what’s the current topic and then when you find out the facts, you’re like, ooh. That’s why I always lean back when I see stuff like that on social media because everybody wants to hit their opinion without knowing all the facts, and that’s the worst you thing you can do.”
Eddie Edwards defeated Sami Callihan this week on Impact Wrestling but was attacked after the match by his opponent. During the post-match beatdown, Callihan placed a folding chair on top of Edwards and struck it with a baseball bat. The bat grazed the chair and then struck Edwards in the head.
This is exclusive behind the scenes footage of @TheEddieEdwards moments after @TheSamiCallihan brutally struck him in the face with a baseball bat. It includes alternate angles of the incident that weren't seen last night and is tough to watch. pic.twitter.com/RdxAWM6DMG
Eddie Edwards spoke to TMZ Sports about the incident:
Edwards suffered a broken nose and orbital bone.
Jim Cornette was not impressed and expressed as much below:
OK, I just saw this for the first time– @TheEddieEdwards should have beat the shit out of this stupid fuck–he set it up shoddy, was careless with his shitty swing & they shouldn't have been doing it to begin with. Who the fuck "trained" @TheSamiCallihan ? I'm fucking hot. https://t.co/lpTIqxca29
Sami Callihan recently appeared on Wrestling Epicenter to talk about various topics. Here are the highlights:
Being one of the first talents to request to leave WWE:
“I don’t think I was a trendsetter. I just was… mediocrity is dead with me. I’m not complacent just sitting around collecting a paycheck. It really didn’t matter about being a trendsetter. I wasn’t going to just sit around collecting a paycheck, even though it was a very good paycheck to do nothing. I was ready to go out and show them why they hired a 5’7 kid in the first place.”
His debut at Bound for Glory:
“It was great, man! One of the things I really pride myself on is I like to be unpredictable. You don’t know when or where I’m going to show up. I can legit show up anywhere. I think that kind of adds to my aura and makes me cool.”
Negative media attention towards Impact:
“Well, the first week I was there man, it is pretty bad a**. They are pretty much giving us the opportunity. I think the big thing is management hasn’t always been the best. The best way I can describe it is if you were a fan of WCW back in 1992-1993, when people were running WCW that wasn’t wrestling fans, that didn’t know wrestling, that kind of thought, “I’m going to run this company and do what I want.” I kind of attribute it to that. That kind of is where TNA (Impact) was for a while, but now, they have smart people on top. They have guys on top that were on top when TNA was at their best. Now, Scott D’Amore is helping with, majorly helping with the company. Sonjay Dutt, majorly helping with the company. Abyss, majorly helping with the company. These are guys that were helping with the company when it first was amazing. Change doesn’t happen overnight, but these guys are slowly putting plans into motion to change TNA back to what it was. Within the next year, TNA is going to totally pull a 180 and people are going to start noticing it again.”
New Japan Pro Wrestling has been making some big moves recently, most notably with the signing of Chris Jericho vs Kenny Omega for January 4th’s Tokyo Dome show.
NJPW has now also announced some of the teams heading into their upcoming World Tag League event starting on November 18th, the event will be shown live and for FREE on Njpwworld.com.
Former NXT star Sami Callihan will be making his NJPW debut when he joins forces with Juice Robinson. Callihan had previously been rumored to debut as part of the ‘Switchblade’ promo packages leading up to the Power Struggle event this past Sunday. Jay White was eventually revealed as ‘Switchblade’ after much speculation.
Lucha Underground star Jeff Cobb will also be making his way to New Japan for the World Tag League. Cobb had previously been slated to join forces with Matt Riddle, however his confirmed partner for the tournament has been unveiled as NJPW standout Michael Elgin.
New Japan released a teaser video earlier this year for a potential new signing. The ‘Switchblade’ video heavily hinted at former NXT superstar Sami Callihan’s impending debut for New Japan.
The company has released a further video confirming the debut of ‘Switchblade’ at the Power Struggle event on November 5th.
Who do you think will be debuting? Let us know in the comments.
Sami Callihan, who worked in WWE NXT from 2012-2015 as Solomon Crowe, recently spoke with ESPN to talk about various topics. Here are the highlights:
Feeling like he was walking on eggshells in NXT:
“When I was in the WWE, I’ll be the first person to say that I walked on eggshells and I became a shell of the person that I was when I signed. I allowed too many people to get in my brain. Too many people to pull me in different directions. I didn’t know who I was anymore. I felt like I didn’t know how to wrestle anymore.”
Leaving WWE:
“I’m not gonna lie, it was scary. When I finally pulled the trigger and really bet on myself that was a scary thing, but I had to bet on myself. I wanted to be a guy remembered for going out on his own way. By leaving on my own terms, it kinda made me a badass character. I quit WWE. Not a lot of people can say that.” You can read the entire interview here.
Sami Callihan, who worked in WWE NXT from 2012-2015 as Solomon Crowe, recently spoke with WSVN-TV Entertainment Reporter Chris Van Vliet about various topics including the reason he asked for his release from the company, Triple H and more. Here are the highlights:
If leaving WWE was the best decision of his professional career:
“Absolutely. Because I’ll be the first to say that I wasn’t Sami Callihan when I went there. I changed who I was, walked on eggshells and for lack of better terms, I became a b—h. I wasn’t myself and if I could go back and do it again I feel like it would be a whole different story. But I tried to change. I tried to become everything they wanted me to be instead of sticking to my guns and ride or die. But I think everything happens for a reason because now I’ve left and become one of the biggest stars in the world again despite not being backed by that WWE machine.”
“I was lucky that everything I did at WWE was on good terms. I was a model citizen. Like everything I do in my life, I don’t half ass things. I was a model citizen at the Performance Center and did everything they wanted me to do. I did extra training. I would help with promo class. Anything that was every asked of me. When I was injured, I would do commentary just to show my face. I made really good relationships and when I left they said the door is open, just go out and do what you gotta do.”
Working with Triple H:
“Triple H is one of the boys. People can say about him what they want, but being in the power position that he’s in he would stay after NXT tapings for hours. NXT wrestlers would be lined up out the door waiting to talk to him and maybe not every time, but the majority of the time he would stay there until he talked to every single person that wanted to talk to him. We knew that that was the boss and his input was what we actually needed.”
New Japan has released a video which may be hinting at an upcoming debut, possibly as early as the ‘Destruction’ shows in September.
You may remember the TIME BOMB vignettes that New Japan aired before the return of Hiromu Takahashi, fans at the time believed the promo packages were hyping the debut of former WWE superstar Ryback…
Well this time fans have reason to believe that the ‘switchblade’ video is referring to none other than former NXT star Sami Callihan. Callihan tweeted a few hours after the video was posted and it strongly hints at a possible debut in the near future.
Check out the video below and let us know what you think in the comments.
Here are the results from PWG’s latest event Nice Boys (Don’t Play Rock N’ Roll) from the world famous American Legion Post 335 in Reseda, California:
Brian Cage b. Keith Lee & Sami Callihan – Cage won the bout after hitting a Falcon Arrow on Keith Lee
Chosen Bros (Jeff Cobb and Matt Riddle) b. Jake and Dave Crist – Riddle took the win for his team after making Crist tap out to the Bromission
Lio Rush b. Trevor Lee – Rush won the match with a small package counter
Shane Strickland b. Dezmond Xavier – Strickland won the match after hitting a Cuerno Killer
Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent?) b. PWG World Champion Zack Sabre Jr. and Marty Scurll – Trent? Won the match for his team after hitting Sabre Jr with a Cradle Piledriver. After the match Sabre and Scurll powerbombed Chuck into chairs
PWG Tag Team Title Match – Rey Fenix and Penta El Zero M b. The Young Bucks and Ricochet & Matt Sydal – Fenix and Penta are the new PWG Tag Team Champions after hitting a Cradle Piledriver in to a Destroyer on Ricochet.
PROGRESS will be making their way to the Orlando Live Events Center on March 31st as part of the WWNLive Experience 2017. As well as the planned PROGRESS vs EVOLVE super card the promotion will be hosting their own branded show at 12pm EST which will be available on iPPV: wwnlive.com/product/progress-wrestling-presents-progress-orlando-ippv-live-viewing-video-demand/
The full roster for PROGRESS’ first ever show in America has now been revealed:
PROGRESS Champion – Pete Dunne
Trent Seven
Zack Sabre Jr
PROGRESS Atlas Champion – Matt Riddle
Tyler Bate
Mark Andrews
Shane Strickland
Mark Haskins
South Pacific Power Trip (TK Cooper, Travis Banks and Dahlia Black
Toni Storm
Jinny
James Drake
Sami Callihan
Rockstar Spud
Jimmy Havoc
Tickets for the event are still available to purchase via morethanmania.com and if you’re in Orlando for Wrestlemania weekend then definitely try and make it to this event, you will not be disappointed.
The annual wXw 16 Carat Gold Tournament has become one of the most prestigious events in today’s Independent wrestling scene and some of the biggest perfumers in the industry have won the 16 man competition. Former winners include Chris Hero, El Generico, Tommy End, Zack Sabre Jr and Sami Callihan.
This year’s iteration begins on March 10th in Oberhausen, Germany. The full event will be available to view in full on wXw’s on demand: www.wxw-wrestling.com/pages/media/wxwnow.php
wXw have now announced the first round matches for the 3 day event and they are:
The Easter Weekend Fight Club: Pro events were already looking like some of the most must see shows in the UK this year, and now they have announced that Will Ospreay will be appearing on Friday 14th April at the Fixxion in Wolverhampton and Sunday 16th April at the Bush Hall in London.
Other stars announced for these shows are:
Pentagon Jr
Sami Callihan
Moustache Mountain
Travis Banks
Zack Sabre Jr
Rey Fenix
Pete Dunne
Chris Brookes
Shane Strickland
Marty Scurll
FSU – Mark Andrews and Eddie Dennis
Kenny Omega
The Young Bucks
Mark Haskins
Dan Moloney
Guess you can't put on one of the best shows in the country without one of the best fighters in the country… pic.twitter.com/MmFWe0tVK6
The UK scene has never seen more exposure on a global scale and even some of the smaller promotions on the British Isles are starting to benefit from the boom in popularity over the past year.
One of these promotions is Wolverhampton based Fight Club: Pro who have recently announced a big string of shows on Easter weekend featuring the likes of Zack Sabre Jr, Sami Callihan and Lucha Underground stars Pentagon Jr and Fenix.
Fight Club had a very impressive string of events throughout 2016 that showcased some of the best British talent around, this included WWE UK Tournament competitors Tyler Bate, Pete Dunne and Trent Seven who have made Fight Club their home over the past few years.
If you’ve never had the chance to check out a Fight Club: Pro event then you can purchase one of their shows quite cheaply through Vimeo. Alternatively if you are based in the UK then I would highly recommend going to to either the Wolverhampton or London legs of their Easter tour, check out their Twitter account below for more info:
