TNA held a meeting with Zoom with talents to inform them of Scott D’Amore’s departure this afternoon and to introduce everyone to new TNA President Anthony Cicone, who will be heading the day-to-day of the company going forward. Anthem Head Len Asper was on the call as well.
A number of talents on the call relayed to PWInsider.com that during the meeting it was stated that D’Amore had “stepped down” from the company, which was not the case and not even what was stated in the company's official statement. We are told by several that this did not sit well with some of the talents and as one wrestler said, “This wasn’t the way to start off” a relationship with the locker room, especially since so many talents had a connection with D’Amore and that the vast majority liked D’Amore.
Cicone read what was described as a “prepared statement,” which some didn’t like but others noted that he was in a no-win situation given he was replacing D’Amore.
There was nothing specific stated about creative going forward, but the remainder of the creative team beyond Scott D’Amore are still with the company.
The meeting did not give talents a chance to ask any questions, which we can confirm did not endear some talents to the changes, either. The beginning of the call, when talents were informed about Scott D’Amore’s departure before Anthem execs joined them, was very angry for some talents before the execs joined while others tried to calm the waters.
One TNA personality who was on the call commented that Anthem “had a lot of work to do” moving forward.
There are some taking a "wait and see" stance as they look to see how it shakes out and whether there are additional changes. There are others trying to keep the faith in the fact that the remainder of the team was still in place and that they had to bear down and get back to work when the No Surrender PPV comes in New Orleans.
It should be noted that one story making the way around talents is that Anthem wanted the TNA brand to be more in-line with the parent company going forward and that the brand had been too D’Amore-centric with Scott as the face of the company. That was not addressed on the call, however. While D’Amore was regularly on TNA programming as the head of the company, he was also the company’s biggest cheerleader, no different than Paul Heyman in ECW or even Tony Khan in AEW, someone who was living 24/7 for TNA and in many ways, his life was entangled with TNA brand, at least, until today.
A number of talents on the call relayed to PWInsider.com that during the meeting it was stated that D’Amore had “stepped down” from the company, which was not the case and not even what was stated in the company's official statement. We are told by several that this did not sit well with some of the talents and as one wrestler said, “This wasn’t the way to start off” a relationship with the locker room, especially since so many talents had a connection with D’Amore and that the vast majority liked D’Amore.
Cicone read what was described as a “prepared statement,” which some didn’t like but others noted that he was in a no-win situation given he was replacing D’Amore.
There was nothing specific stated about creative going forward, but the remainder of the creative team beyond Scott D’Amore are still with the company.
The meeting did not give talents a chance to ask any questions, which we can confirm did not endear some talents to the changes, either. The beginning of the call, when talents were informed about Scott D’Amore’s departure before Anthem execs joined them, was very angry for some talents before the execs joined while others tried to calm the waters.
One TNA personality who was on the call commented that Anthem “had a lot of work to do” moving forward.
There are some taking a "wait and see" stance as they look to see how it shakes out and whether there are additional changes. There are others trying to keep the faith in the fact that the remainder of the team was still in place and that they had to bear down and get back to work when the No Surrender PPV comes in New Orleans.
It should be noted that one story making the way around talents is that Anthem wanted the TNA brand to be more in-line with the parent company going forward and that the brand had been too D’Amore-centric with Scott as the face of the company. That was not addressed on the call, however. While D’Amore was regularly on TNA programming as the head of the company, he was also the company’s biggest cheerleader, no different than Paul Heyman in ECW or even Tony Khan in AEW, someone who was living 24/7 for TNA and in many ways, his life was entangled with TNA brand, at least, until today.
Iceberg_Taylor
Kill em With A Smile!!
welp I wonder if this means no WWE / TNA crossovers
I never knew about this. Every new thing that comes up is just as disgusting as the last
Johnny going to tell it all to save his sorry ass
willhustle
OG
And Johnny Ace will still probably get fucked over... Fuck him! Fuck Vince and anybody that was in a higher up position at the time that didn't say shit but knew what was going on.
Black_Samson
OG
Yeah that Ashley shit sound just like the girl that let Vince shit on her.
Loneshot
Active Member
Everyone under Vince will be in this boat. You just know a lot of legacies are about to change as more stories come out. I was always surprised that Linda thought it was OK to run for office considering everything we have all "heard" or suspected about Vince over the years.
willhustle
OG
This company is pathetic... Jesus...
already home_17
Attitude Still on “Fuck It”
i wonder if she was given a woman’s title match at WM23 to ensure she keeps quiet
willhustle
OG
The way I'm looking at either they gone do Rock vs Reigns and that match is going to get seriously hi-jacked by the Philly crowd (especially if Rock beats Roman for the title) or their going to be forced to do Reigns/Rock/Rhodes due to so much negative press.
Between the Vince/Johnny Ace scandal & Rock trying to pull a hostile takeover on the creative decisions the WWE brand might be damaged for a good 5 years or more.
And that match was trash. I went to the bathroom before it began and when I was done peeing, it was already over lol
