Sami Callihan will always fly the IMPACT flag.
Callihan is set for arguably the biggest match of his career on Saturday at IMPACT Slammiversary when he takes on Kenny Omega for the IMPACT World Championship. Omega, who is signed to AEW, came into IMPACT as an outsider and not only taken the World Title, but has successfully defended it against IMPACT standout Moose.
Speaking to Alex McCarthy of TalkSPORT, Callihan weighed in on Omega having the belt.
"Kenny Omega came to IMPACT Wrestling and not only disrespected our locker room, he disrespected the company I love. Everybody wants to look at me like the bad guy, but I’ve been fighting for IMPACT Wrestling since I stepped foot in the company. Why? Because I love IMPACT Wrestling. There might be some people on the roster that tries to use IMPACT, but IMPACT is where I always wanted to be. Everyone else is like ‘I want to go to WWE, I want to go to Japan’ – I’ve been there and I’ve done that. End of the day, my goal was to make IMPACT relevant again and I think over the past three years, without a shadow of a doubt, I have helped make IMPACT one of the top wrestling promotions on the planet once again," he said.
Like most wrestling companies during the pandemic, IMPACT continued to run shows, dong bulk tapings without fans at Skyway Studios. The promotion will welcome back fans at Slammiversary.
Speaking about fans returning, Callihan said, "Fans are everything. They’re just as big a part of the show as the wrestlers in the ring and the people in the back – they mean everything. But, on the contrary, I think IMPACT did ‘Covid wrestling’ better than anyone else. I think it truly gave people a chance to see how good IMPACT’s storytelling is and how good it is on an episodic basis. I don’t think there is a better show weekly, I don’t think there is a more reliable and consistent show than IMPACT and I think we show that each and every week. As far as pay-per-views go, I don’t think anyone has better PPVs than us and that’s any company. That’s not me just tooting the horn of the company I work for; if you look at our track record for PPV, every single one we have is a PPV of the year contender and Slammiversary is our biggest show of the year and I think this is the PPV where it makes people go, once again, ‘Yo, IMPACT Wrestling is here to stay.'"
Callihan signed a new two-year deal with IMPACT in January 2021.
You can view the current lineup for IMPACT Slammiversary by clicking here.
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