Scott D’Amore is the Vice President of IMPACT Wrestling and somebody who has been ingratiated into the foundation of the promotion since its beginnings.
Speaking to Fightful's Denise Salcedo, D'Amore opens up about what an exciting time it is for everybody involved with IMPACT.
"It is a very exciting time for all of Anthem Sports for IMPACT Wrestling, specifically the acquisition of AXS and this announcement that IMPACT's moving over there is all of us here feel so strongly that we've been putting out one of the best wrestling products out there in the world on a consistent basis, week in and week out," he began. "And now with a platform like AXS TV to distribute it on, we now feel we can reach a larger audience for that amazing product."
Scott D'Amore reveals that IMPACT will be on AXS TV for the long-term future, comparing the current relationship between Anthem Sports and IMPACT to the heyday of WCW when it was owned by Turner.
He said, "IMPACT Wrestling, over the course of the last handful years, has bounced around quite a bit. So having a steady home where, you know, we now know where our home is, you know, today, tomorrow and for the foreseeable long-term future. And that type of stability is something that's rarely seen in professional wrestling. The last time that a wrestling organization and a major broadcast network were owned by the same entity was the WCW-Turner days. And that was certainly part of a golden age of wrestling. So we're very excited for that," he said. "We just think it adds the broadcast component to what is already-- in these last few years, we built such an unbelievably robust digital presence. The number two wrestling platform in the world, far-reaching anybody behind us, New Japan, Ring Of Honor, all the other great options out there. We're just a huge digital platform. And now having this is our domestic broadcast platform, it just allows us to reach out more tentacles, to reach and touch fans."
Scott D'Amore was a featured player in IMPACT's predecessor, TNA Wrestling's history on Spike TV as the manager of Team Canada. Now, as an executive, he underscores the importance of regaining the trust of the audience after some trying times for IMPACT in the recent past, "I think the biggest challenge [at the] beginning of 2018, when myself and Don Callis came in, along with Ed Nordholm, was really earning trust back over the course of many, many years, previous regimes here have lost the trust. They had lost the trust of wrestling fans." Scott noted.
The man formerly referred to as Canadian Bacon by his TV rivals now wants to prove to fans, old and new, that IMPACT can consistently bring home the bacon and deliver the best TV product possible
"So to us, the key thing was slowly but surely delivering on a consistent basis. So over the course of a long period of time, we knew it wasn't going to be a short period of time, it was going to take a long track record of showing that we deliver week after week, day after day, month after month. So I think the trust that we've seen and we've been able to earn back from wrestling fans is something that we take very seriously. And I think it's one of our great accomplishments. And as you know, we just announced, you know, Bound for Glory is officially sold out. That's something that never even could have been conceivable two years ago. So to have something like that now on the eve of this major premiere on AXS is proof that what we're doing is working and that fans are starting to say, 'you know what, I can invest with them.' Because one of the biggest things is, when you have a real fan and they're invested emotionally and financially in your product, they take ownership of it. And we now have fans, not just viewers, but fans that care passionately about what we're doing. And that that's been one of the biggest challenges. And I think that's been one of our great successes."
IMPACT Wrestling has indeed expanded its digital presence. You can watch their weekly television series on Twitch and there is also the IMPACT+ subscription service that will allow you to see all of the major moments in the company's 17-year existence.
