Don Callis comments on his return to NJPW.
Callis was notably absent from the commentary table during NJPW's annual G1 Climax over the summer. He could not make the trip as he was attending to his duties as the Vice President of IMPACT Wrestling. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer reported that Callis' time at the NJPW commentary table was coming to an end as Callis was too busy with IMPACT and other ventures.
Needing a replacement alongside Kevin Kelly, Lanny Poffo was brought in for a tryout during the Road to Power Struggle tour. Many fans noted that Poffo had a rough time on commentary. Before the Road to Power Struggle tour had ended, NJPW announced that Callis would be brought back for Wrestle Kingdom 13 and other upcoming NJPW events.
On his Killing The Town podcast, Callis discussed his relationship with NJPW.
“I am going back to New Japan,” Callis said. “For all the people out there who were claiming I’d been fired and that they didn’t want to use me anymore, that sort of thing. There were some people who said that and had all sorts of reasons for it that they would speculate about. As I said before....I’m busy enough that it’s not that I didn’t notice I wasn’t going back but I hadn’t given it a lot of thought because I’d been so busy.” Callis continued, “They reached out to me and we had a discussion. I don’t think I’m telling any tales out of school, that they were quite intent on getting me back. I love the company and I love the boys in the back and I like the product. Once we were able to resolve everything to mutual satisfaction, I made a deal to go back.”
Chris Jericho was one of many who voiced their displeasure over NJPW's decision to not to bring Callis back. Meltzer later reported that Jericho's tweet and the bad publicity the company received over their decision opened a dialogue between Callis and the company.
Callis announced that he will be doing commentary for the Nov. 17 and 18 shows.
