Sami Callihan: TNA Has Played It Safe On AMC

TNA Wrestling debuted on AMC in January, breathing new life into the promotion as they finally landed on a major cable network after being on AXS TV for years.

While viewers started strong on AMC, it has declined, and many fans have criticized the creative direction, which could soon change after Tommy Dreamer, one of the creative leaders, departed the company.

Sami Callihan, who filled many backstage roles, also departed, and he opened up on Busted Open Radio about the perception of TNA in the wake of the departures and how President Carlos Silva has run things.

“This seems to be the trend in pro wrestling with anyone outside of the stratosphere of wrestling that comes in from a corporate level. As great as they might be in business, as great as they might have ideas, as good of a person as they might be, people don’t understand pro wrestling. In a business world they might see something and be like, ‘That’s messed up. I’m going to call that out.’ In the world of wrestling, that’s normal. It was one thing after another. Carlos said in an interview that he was mad AEW was running Thursday against them. If you did any research, AEW had done that every year during basketball season. You can’t just say that. I understand not wanting bad stuff happening to your company, but having someone from the wrestling-sphere, they would have known that. That’s not against him, but little things like that could’ve made the company better. Hopefully, he continues to get better. I don’t want to see TNA die, but you need proper scouting and bringing in proper independent talent and big names, long-term storytelling, being able to create those viral moments. Since we’ve been on AMC, we’ve played it so safe and it’s been a detriment,” he said.

TNA came under criticism in April for pulling talent scheduled to face AEW wrestlers, with Carlos citing AEW Collision running on Thursdays, a long-standing schedule change throughout the year for the promotion, as a reason why.

Fans can find Callihan’s comments on his TNA departure here.

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