Last Wednesday, TNA Wrestling issued a press release stating that Scott D’Amore had been terminated and Anthem Sports executive Anthony Cicione had been appointed the new President of TNA Wrestling via their social media Twitter account.
Since this massive changed has happened, many people have been wondering what led to the firing and how it went down. We don’t have answers for all of those questions, but now we have some answers for some of it.
As far as when Scott knew this was happening, Fightful Select hints that it was prior to their Hard To Kill PPV.
“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.”
The statement was released on February 7th. A month prior would’ve been January 7th, which was a week before Hard To Kill.
Apparently, Scott was being let go and Anthem wanted to paint it as a mutual departure.
“D’Amore adamantly did not want to leave TNA, though Anthem had stated that they wished to present it as a mutual departure.”
After reaching out to Scott himself, Fightful Select can confirm that,
“D’Amore was insistent that the two sides did not refer to it as his decision to leave or a mutual departure. 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.”
Fightful also confirmed a previous PWInsider.com report that Scott had tried to purchase TNA from Anthem.
“A couple of weeks after his termination became evident, D’Amore made efforts to buy TNA, which were outright rejected.”
Regarding other reports about the budget and production cuts, Fightful Select learned that:
“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.”
What the cost cutting means remains to be seen. As of right now, almost a full week later, no talents have been released of their contracts and nothing has been reported about talents requesting a release either.
Bodyslam will keep you all updated as more information becomes available about this subject.
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