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.
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