Note: This article about the internal TNA video calls that took place today about Scott D’Amore and his termination was first released for all Haus of Wrestling ClubHaus Members. If you would like to become a ClubHaus Member and get early access to Haus of Wrestling exclusive news, interviews, and other content, please click HERE.
Not long ago, it was announced that Scott D’Amore had been terminated as TNA President. The news surprised many, as D’Amore has publicly been passionate about the former Impact’s rebrand back to TNA. No word has been given regarding why specifically D’Amore was released, but Haus of Wrestling is continuing to look into it.
Haus of Wrestling has spoken with multiple sources who have confirmed there were two internal TNA video calls today. The first was just with talent and was run by Tommy Dreamer and Gail Kim. It was said to have gotten chaotic after they broke the news that D’Amore was no longer with the company, as many were loyal to him. Kim asked everyone to mute their lines, and we believe some talents were allowed to speak.
The all-talent call concluded with Tommy Dreamer telling talent that if they were unhappy and wanted to be released from their deals, they could have those discussions with the company privately. We had initially been told that talent was outright told that if they wanted out of their deals, they could, but after speaking with others, that does not appear to be the case. One source said that possible releases would likely be based on how important the talent was considered to the company. Jordynne Grace, for example, was mentioned as someone the company would be unlikely to let go, considering the buzz she has coming out of the WWE Royal Rumble.
The second call included the production team and other staff members, along with the talent. Multiple Anthem executives were on the call, including President and CEO Leonard Asper, CCO Ed Nordholm, HR advisor Michelle Hall, new TNA President Anthony Cicione, VP of Business Ariel Schnerer, and VP of Sales Anthony Burroughs. We are told Burroughs spoke on the call and let everyone know they wanted to do more TNA integration on other Anthem shows, like how Eric Young and Frankie Kazarian have done. It was generally described to us as a “rah-rah speech.”
Today’s calls were a surprise to many, with one source telling us they got an email about a “mandatory town hall” ninety minutes before it began. Another source we spoke with noted they would have preferred the press release go out after the second call was over, as some found out about his termination about a minute before the public knew.