Skip to main content
Inside The Ropes
  • News

    WWE News

    AEW logo for their Dynamite TV show

    AEW News

    IMPACT Wrestling logo

    IMPACT News

    New Japan Pro Wrestling

    NJPW News

  • Features
    Poster for WWE Royal Rumble ft Roman Reigns

    WWE Royal Rumble 2023 Predictions

    NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17

    NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17 Predictions

    WWE Superstars With The Most Wins In 2022

    WWE Superstars With The Most Wins In 2022

    Breakout WWE Superstars In 2022

    Top 10 Breakout WWE Superstars In 2022

  • Interviews
    20 Questions Deonna Purrazzo FI

    20 Questions With Deonna Purrazzo

    Rick Boogs

    Interview With Rick Boogs

    JONAH

    Interview With JONAH

    Rosemary Interview

    Interview With Rosemary

  • Podcasts
    What’s Going Down #99 – Austin Theory, Bray Wyatt & Tyrus

    Listen
    What’s Going Down #98 – SmackDown Main Event, Crown Jewel & More

    Listen
    Jeff Jarrett stands in-ring on AEW Dynamite 2022

    Listen
    Power Slam Podcast #264 – Steve Austin Comeback, Full Gear Preview & More

    Listen
  • Quizzes
    Play Word Rumble

    Play Word Rumble

    WWE logo

    Can You Name Every WWE Pay-per-view?

    WWE Survivor Series sole survivors quiz

    Can You Name All The WWE Survivor Series Sole Survivors?

    WWE Smackdown logo

    Can You Name Every Wrestler That Competed On The First SmackDown?

  • Live Tours
  • Shop
    Magazine
    Clothing
    Accessories
    Collectibles
  • Trending
  • Follow us:
    • Facebook Facebook
    • Twitter Twitter
    • Instagram Instagram
  • Watch us on YouTube:
    • YouTube YouTube
  • Subscribe to the Magazine
  • Play Word Rumble
IMPACT News

“I Wanted To Run The World Wrestling Federation” – Don Callis

By Matt Tennant. Published 15th January 2021.
Don Callis Thumb

Executive Vice President of IMPACT Wrestling, Don Callis, has spoken out about being offered a position in WWE creative but turning down the role in order to be the boss.

A former employee of World Wrestling Federation, Callis was a regular on the company’s television output as The Jackyl – manager of The Truth Commission – after plans for a team with Rick Martel who would have been known as ‘The Models’ fell through. It was Callis’ actions in ordering the imposing Kurrgan to attack his teammates in a Battle Royal at WrestleMania XIV that caused the team to disband.

Following his stint with the military faction, Callis put together The Oddities and went on to a brief dalliance with Faarooq and Bradshaw before being released from the company thanks to, in his own words, getting himself over.

However, the aid to AEW World Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega has spoken to Chris Van Vliet about his time with the WWF and how they offered him a spot on creative which he turned down because he didn’t want to work for a boss and instead wanted to be the boss:

“If you were to look at a couple of promos I did in WWF in 97. I was, I think the first person maybe one of the first people anyway to come out as I was a total unknown and I came out in one of my first promos I did in on a live Raw was, not calling out a wrestler, I called out Vince McMahon. I said that I wanted to run the World Wrestling Federation. I wanted to run the wrestling business and people thought, ‘oh that’s an interesting kind of bullet point’ or whatever.

But it was true. I never had an interest in being a pro wrestling manager or being a colour commentator. I wanted to be the person pulling the strings. I was twenty-nine years old when I said that and I don’t think the time was right. Vince McMahon was clearly not a guy who was going to allow other people into the tent they had they had offered me jobs to move to Stamford on three different occasions which I turned down. But that’s always been the goal. You don’t want to be the person acting in the movie. You probably want to be the studio or the person that finances the studio that finances the movie.”

As Don Callis revealed, he was the creative driving force behind Kurrgan who he wrote over a month of television for:

“As I recall I was one of the first people ever to I wrote six weeks of television for Kurrgan to try to get him to a different level and I wrote it out in a week-by-week format that would be fairly common now, in 1997, it was pretty unheard of for a wrestler to write out his creative in the way of formatting that we do now when we write episodic TV. So that was new and different and they were like ‘Oh, maybe you should be on creative.’ I did not want to be boxed into working in a cubicle for anyone in any office anywhere doing anything. So I just kind of pushed back and said, ‘that’s not why I signed here. I signed here to be a wrestler.’ Ultimately, that didn’t work out. But we’re all a product of our time in the business. So all of those things I think grow us as people.”

In recent years, Don Callis has had partnerships with New Japan Pro Wrestling and most recently All Elite Wrestling who now have a close working relationship with Callis’ IMPACT Wrestling allowing talent to cross borders and wage inter-promotional wars.

Credit for the interview: Chris Van Vliet

h/t for the transcription: Fightful

  • Facebook
    Share
  • Twitter
    Tweet
  • WhatsApp
    Send
  • Share

Popular Stories

  1. Iconic AEW Segment Left TBS Furious
  2. Former WWE Superstar Once Had S*x With Snow White At Disneyland
  3. Details On Backstage ‘Scuffle’ Between Top AEW Talent
  4. Matt Riddle Shows Off Bizarre Look During WWE Absence
  5. Cody Rhodes Commited A “Cardinal Sin” During The 2023 WWE Royal Rumble
  6. Missing WWE Championship Resurfaces During NFL Pro Bowl
  7. Adam Cole Gives Update On Absent AEW Star
  8. Bray Wyatt Shows Off Horrifying Injury
  9. Ric Flair Names The Worst Match He’s Ever Had
  10. Bray Wyatt Becomes Uncle Howdy At WWE Live Event
Inside The Ropes
  • News
  • Features
  • Interviews
  • Podcasts
  • Magazine
  • Write For Us
  • Facebook Facebook
  • Twitter Twitter
  • Instagram Instagram
  • YouTube YouTube
© 2023 ITR Digital Media Limited. Read about our privacy policy.