Scott D’Amore has opened up about the relationship between Impact Wrestling and AEW. The Impact executive believes that collaboration is the future of professional wrestling.
Fellow Impact executive, Don Callis, had appeared as a guest commentator for AEW, announcing his long time friend Kenny Omega’s matches. This escalated when Don helped Kenny defeat Jon Moxley for the AEW World Championship. Since then the two companies have seen talent appear on both shows. Omega would headline an Impact event with The Good Brothers. That 3 man team is scheduled to main-event AEW’s Beach Break event in February. In addition, AEW tag team Private Party have become the number one contenders to the Impact Wrestling Tag Team Championships.
In an interview with Wrestlezone, D’Amore would explain why he felt like now was the right time for this partnership.
He explained:
“I think it’s something where the stars just aligned or the right cards came up in the deck…You know, Don Callis is an outside-of-the-box thinker and certainly, Don’s thoughts and actions have been a huge part of leading to this place where it is, where there’s a collaboration, and the driving force is no doubt, Kenny and Don are right at the focal point of it. You’ve also seen The Young Bucks express their thoughts and excitement for it. I mean, ultimately you’ve seen Tony Khan appear via his paid ads on IMPACT Wrestling as a way of getting out there and doing it and I think that timing-wise, I think the timing could always be right if the right people are at the table and are willing to consider doing it.”
AEW President Tony Khan has credited Kenny Omega with presenting the idea to him for such a partnership.
Scott D’Amore would go on to discuss Impact Wrestling having its arms wide open for other collaborations:
“IMPACT Wrestling has always said its doors were open to doing business with anybody, and I think we’ve done that. Where it was on the local level and doing some of our collaborations with independent promotions, which I think produced a win-win, even though we were partnering with companies that were on a more independent level than us. We still certainly got some great value out of it, with both content and the ability to scout and work with some great talent that ultimately ended up on our roster…You’ve seen it here with AEW with the little bit that’s been done. It certainly has created a buzz and excitement with fans and with people in the wrestling industry alike.”
Impact Wrestling has also seen in recent months competitors such as TJP and Chris Bey compete in New Japan Pro-Wrestling.
Credit: Wrestlezone