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Scott D’Amore is out as TNA President, but he tried to hang on.

Fightful Select has learned that although the news was a shock to many, including the roster, the wheels were in motion for D’Amore’s termination a month prior.

D’Amore adamantly did not want to leave TNA, though Anthem had stated that they wished to present it as a mutual departure.
D’Amore was insistent that the two sides did not refer to it as his decision to leave or a mutual departure. There were talent who claimed that it was relayed to them that D’Amore stepped down, but that wasn’t the case. Beyond that, Ontario, where Anthem is based, has strict employment laws for employers, and not agreeing that the departure was mutual was in the best interest of D’Amore moving forward.

There was correspondence between the two sides to aid in the transition to new President Antony Cicione into the role. We’re told that D’Amore has spoken highly of Cicione, but was reiterated that he didn’t want to leave the role. A couple of weeks after his termination became evident, D’Amore made efforts to buy TNA, which were outright rejected. There were rumors that D’Amore tried before his termination. However, that was only before the firing was publicly known, not before D’Amore became aware.

Regarding recent reports about Braun Strowman having talks with TNA years back, TNA sources confirmed that they did speak with Braun Strowman and met with him. They negotiated with his agent and even discussed creative, but we’re told it was “far from a seven figure deal” as rumored.

There was much made about the increase in budget and production upgrades coming to TNA, but sources that we’ve heard from within Anthem claim that many of those were actually related to software upgrades compared to anything else. The schedule for TNA looks to be the same this year, but word is they wanted to reduce some of the cost compared to 2023.

Talent we’ve heard from were overwhelmed and unhappy about the move away from D’Amore, as many were loyal to him.
 


Austin said a potential match "would be a good one” before continuing, “I like Punk, and I think Punk likes me -- so, as long as he can take a [Stone Cold] Stunner. I consider him a great friend, a great guy, and a great wrestler who's had a great career. We'll see."

Austin noted that he loves wrestling more than anything he’s done in his life and how it can be addicting. "I get excited, and I'll start talking too fast. But it's not gonna happen. But it could."
 
Matt Camp, who had been with WWE for a number of years hosting The Bump as well as a lot of other content, was released last week, PWInsider.com has confirmed with multiple sources.

The reaction to Camp's release has been something of a shock among a number of people in the company we spoke with over the last several days as PWInsider.com worked to confirm the story. There's been no real explanation as to why he was cut and the company hasn't made any statements internally, we are told.

Camp had been with the company from September 2019 on and during his tenure, never missed one episode of WWE's Wednesday talk show The Bump once it was launched until last week, as it went on the air after he was quietly released. There was no mention of Camp's departure last week at all, nor any reference to him missing the show.

Beyond the Bump, Camp appeared on up to four shows a week for WWE including Raw Talk and Smackdown Lowdown on the WWE Network and Peacock, was a regular on the PPV Kickoff Shows, most recently the WWE NXT Vengeance Day Kickoff and lots of WWE Network compilation specials. He was absolutely seen as a reliable, no drama workhorse for the company and someone that was knowledgeable about the product, able to speak about the history off the top of his head and nail it factually every time.

Before joining WWE, Camp was the lead announcer for Tommy Dreamer's House of Hardcore promotion, was a regular on SiriusXM's Busted Open and was the lead Fantasy Football Analyst for WBD's Bleacher Report.

There is no word on what Camp’s next move may be as of this writing.
 
QT Marshall is All Elite….again.

Fightful has learned that QT Marshall is returning to All Elite Wrestling, but in a much different capacity. Sources indicated to Fightful that Marshall and AEW worked out their prior issues, and he’ll be coming back in the VP role that he once held. However, he is not planned to return as an in-ring talent.

Those that we spoke to say that an agreement was in place as of a couple of weeks ago. He has not started back with the company as of yet.

We’re told that Marshall is free to wrestle outside of AEW, with the exception of WWE. The 38-year old Marshall hasn’t wrestled since his AEW deal officially ended on December 31, but has shown off his physical transformation on Twitter.

Marshall has teamed up with Teil Rhodes to revive Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling, which was a creation of Dusty Rhodes. Their first show was February 8 in McDonough, GA and featured former WWE Superstar Matt Cardona as well as Scotty Riggs, Glacier, Aaron Solo and more.
 
QT Marshall is All Elite….again.

Fightful has learned that QT Marshall is returning to All Elite Wrestling, but in a much different capacity. Sources indicated to Fightful that Marshall and AEW worked out their prior issues, and he’ll be coming back in the VP role that he once held. However, he is not planned to return as an in-ring talent.

Those that we spoke to say that an agreement was in place as of a couple of weeks ago. He has not started back with the company as of yet.

We’re told that Marshall is free to wrestle outside of AEW, with the exception of WWE. The 38-year old Marshall hasn’t wrestled since his AEW deal officially ended on December 31, but has shown off his physical transformation on Twitter.

Marshall has teamed up with Teil Rhodes to revive Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling, which was a creation of Dusty Rhodes. Their first show was February 8 in McDonough, GA and featured former WWE Superstar Matt Cardona as well as Scotty Riggs, Glacier, Aaron Solo and more.
Thank heavens he won't be on-screen. He was one of the main examples of AEW featuring too many jobbers as rising stars.
 
With Bron Breakker and Baron Corbin winning the WWE NXT Tag Team Championship, we've been asked whether this has any ripple effect on Breakker moving to the main roster.

PWInsiderElite.com is told that Breakker is still scheduled for this Friday's Smackdown taping in Salt Lake City, so it would appear not. If there are any changes, we will update. Stay tuned.
 
As PWInsider.com noted yesterday, WWE is advertising Drew McIntyre for their Italy event this summer, which would take place after McIntyre's contract is slated to expire.

In asking around, PWInsiderElite.com is told by WWE sources that they are obviously working together on the idea that McIntyre will be remaining with the company but we are told pen has not been put to paper, so there's always a chance for things to break down.

We are told both sides want to strike a new deal, however
 
Punk may be done as a regular performer. It seems like he's hurt after every return match. At this rate he's only good for a 1/4 of the year. WWE will need to protect him. Put him back in a faction, let someone younger take all of his bumps and exhibition matches until big events.
 
I’m good on Austin Punk.

Yea… it’s one thing to have a brawl with KO but Austin/Punk supposed to be a classic dream match. Maybe if Austin was willing to do it back in 2011/2012 it could of possibly been the shit.
 
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