Last week, Anthem announced that Scott D’Amore had been ousted as the TNA President. Anthony Cicione has assumed the role, upsetting a lot of talent.
On a recent edition of his “Strictly Business” podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Eric Bischoff shared his belief that AEW should hire Scott D’Amore following his release from TNA Wrestling.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On TNA firing Scott D’Amore as President: “You know, I don’t know [what to make of it]. I’ve never heard anything but positive things about Scott from people that have worked with him going way back to my time in TNA. I never worked with Scott at all, so I don’t have any personal experience with him that I can talk about. But I can’t think of one person — and there’s been many that I’ve talked to — that didn’t have good things to say about Scott D’Amore. Add to that the recent — look, success or not? How do you measure success if you’re engaged in a long-term strategy and a long-term business plan? You know, success is incremental, if you want to look at week to week television ratings or ticket sales, that’s something to look at. But there’s not one data point that determines whether or not something is being successful.
“That being said, it’s their — from my perspective, and I don’t watch the product a lot. I’ve dropped in on it like everything else. But for my impression, all the moves have been kind of leading in the right direction, and the goodwill amongst the audience that I’ve seen publicly has been very, very, really increased. Seeing a lot more volume of positive TNA kind of comments and conversations, just through the course of day-to-day social media activity. So if you’ve got a guy that’s generally really well-liked and respected by his peers or the people that work with him, and you’ve got these positive signs of at least indications of growth, it seems odd that you would let someone like that go. Unless there are reasons that we don’t know about, and there could be a million of them. It could range from Scott having very firm beliefs in a creative direction and strategy that he was not willing to compromise on, or chemistry issues. Who knows?”
On Anthem’s stated reason in their press release for replacing D’Amore: “Blah blah, blah bah corporate blah blahspeak! What a waste of time.”
On whether WWE would be interested in hiring him: “I don’t see it in WWE. I don’t think — Scott hasn’t played at that level. Scott D’Amore, for as long as he’s been in the industry, has played in a creative capacity at a very low level. [A] meaningful level. TNA — initially, yes, meaningful. Some good stories, some good creative. Scott D;Amore has never played major league ball. He’s played minor league ball. Does that mean he’s not capable of playing major league ball? Absolutely not. But there’s no perceived immediate high value there based on his track record of playing minor league ball, because none of those successes have been extraordinary in that minor league. We’ll see.
“What I was trying to say… was that I see a path for Scott in AEW much more easily than I see in WWE. WWE right now doesn’t need creative horsepower. They need structure, and we’ll talk a lot about that, I’m sure. There are a lot of things that creative needs right now, which is all just about stability because of the recent changes, right? And it’ll get there. But AEW desperately needs somebody like Scott D’Amore. There’s a pre-existing relationship with Jeff Jarrett within AEW that would be beneficial to Scott D’Amore. At least, I think so. Maybe, they got heat that I never heard about. But I’ve always kind of heard good things about Scott from Jeff. So — and because the need is greater. Scott could have a much more significant, no pun intended, impact in AEW than he would be one of 18 other actually more experienced writers.”
Last week, Anthem, the parent company of TNA Wrestling, made the surprising announcement that Scott D’Amore had been removed from his position as TNA President. This news has upset many talent within the organization. However, WWE Hall of Famer Eric Bischoff believes that AEW (All Elite Wrestling) should consider hiring D’Amore following his release from TNA.
Bischoff shared his thoughts on his “Strictly Business” podcast, stating that he has only heard positive things about D’Amore from people who have worked with him in the past. He acknowledged that he never personally worked with D’Amore, but he couldn’t find a single person who didn’t have good things to say about him. Bischoff also mentioned the recent positive signs of growth and increased goodwill among the audience for TNA.
Anthem’s stated reason for replacing D’Amore was not well-received by Bischoff, who dismissed it as corporate jargon. He believes there may be undisclosed reasons for D’Amore’s departure, such as creative differences or chemistry issues.
When discussing the possibility of WWE hiring D’Amore, Bischoff expressed doubt. He stated that D’Amore has primarily worked at a lower level in the industry and hasn’t played at the major league level like WWE. However, Bischoff sees a potential path for D’Amore in AEW. He believes AEW needs someone like D’Amore due to their existing relationship with Jeff Jarrett, who has spoken highly of D’Amore. Bischoff believes D’Amore could have a significant impact in AEW, as they have a greater need for his expertise compared to WWE.
Overall, Bischoff’s comments highlight the positive reputation of Scott D’Amore within the wrestling industry and suggest that AEW could benefit from hiring him. While the reasons behind D’Amore’s departure from TNA remain unclear, his potential future in AEW seems promising according to Bischoff’s analysis.
It will be interesting to see how D’Amore’s career unfolds following his departure from TNA and whether AEW or any other wrestling promotion decides to take advantage of his talents and experience in the industry.