While some wrestlers blur the line between reality and kayfabe on the internet, Sami Callihan is rarely one of those people. The man he portrays on social media is the man he is on television, which is completely different from the person he is in real life.
Callihan has had his share of detractors over the years, especially after he accidentally struck Eddie Edwards in the face with a baseball bat, which turned into a heated rivalry between the two on-screen and through social media. Still, many of Callihan's detractors would be pleased to know that he is in the business of keeping kayfabe alive.
"There are so many old-timers who are like, 'kayfabe is dead.' Kayfabe is dead because people like Jim Cornette want to go out and bitch and complain about the wrestling business to everyone and saying what's wrong instead of just enjoying it. Now, there's a different form of kayfabe. Now, I think it's easier to work fans because people think what you say on Twitter is real life. They don't think it's a character," Callihan told Chris Van Vliet.
Callihan continued, discussing the Eddie Edwards incident and how he continued to play it up online in an effort to make money with Eddie.
"When the Eddie Edwards situation happened, I put out something like, 'I broke Eddie Edwards' face but my bank account looks the same.' People like Chris Hero, who I thought was one of my friends at the time, buried me and said 'How dare you bring money into this.' How are all these people idiots?"
Callihan's work with Edwards might be the most memorable, but it's not the only time others in the business have bought what he's been selling. In 2018, Callihan worked a match against Kevin Sullivan where Sullivan ended up bleeding. After the match was over, Callihan continued the work by making it seem as if the match, and what he did to Sullivan, was more violent than it actually was.
Kevin Sullivan wanted to run his mouth tonight @RockstarProWres... So he got his old ass beat. I don’t care who you are, or what you’ve done. Just add his name to my list of victims. My give a fuck is broken. #TheDRAW #Unsafe pic.twitter.com/f0Q1ZoBXPb
— TheDRAW (@TheSamiCallihan) April 19, 2018
As Callihan explained, images that appear on online may not always be real.
"People still think I hurt Kevin Sullivan. I photoshopped that entire picture. He had a little nick on his head because he gigged in the match after getting hit with a chair. I photoshopped it by using an inflate and post a picture of him half dead and said, 'This old man stepped to me.' He worked into it too. He went on social media and interviews and buried me, saying, 'When we got to the back, my guys and the oVe guys got into a fight and the cops were called.' He worked it to the point that Ric Flair called him and was like, 'We need to bury this dude.' Kevin is like, 'Ric, it's a work.' Kevin has said many old-timers have hit him up and been like, 'This kid is dangerous. He hurt Eddie Edwards. He hurt you.' People don't realize, I went my entire career without hurting anyone. You hurt one person ,and you're public enemy number one," he said.
Callihan went on to say that fans want him to apologize for what he's done, but he doesn't know why he should have to apologize to fans.
If you use any of the quotes above, please give a h/t and link back to Fightful for the transcription.
