Sami Callihan Details Finding Out He’d Been Let Go By TNA Wrestling

Sami Callihan opens up on the moment TNA told him they were parting ways.

Following a wave of recent departures, yesterday saw Tommy Dreamer announce that he and TNA Wrestling had mutually agreed to part ways. Later that day, reports emerged claiming that Sami Callihan was also no longer with the promotion, news that Callihan himself would later confirm.

Speaking on Busted Open, one day after news of his departure emerged, Sami Callihan detailed how he learned that he was being let go by TNA Wrestling. He also touched on initially believing he was being called in to join the creative team following Tommy Dreamer’s exit.

“I woke up at 11 and my phone was blowing up, ‘Hey, Tommy is done in TNA.’ The amount of people on the roster had messaged me like, ‘It’s finally your time. You’re getting added to creative.’ Within five minutes of me waking up and getting all those text messages, I got a notification, ‘We need to have a conference call at 1.’ In my mind I was like, ‘Oh sh*t, I’m getting added to creative.’ This is what I’ve been lobbying for years. I looked at who was in the meeting and I was like, ‘Hmm…. Why would that person be in the meeting? Why would this person be in the meeting?’ So I started, ‘Oh, I might be actually getting fired.’ I put two and two together and going into the meeting, I talked to my wife. I talked to a couple of my friends on the roster. I was like, ‘Yo, today is either gonna be the highest of highs or the lowest of lows.’ It came to, ‘We’re sorry, we’re gonna have to part ways.’ And I kind of went off. I’m not one of the people who usually goes off like this. I try not to be very profanity-laced. I don’t think it was a thing of screaming or yelling, but I stated my case. The people on that call were like, ‘Oh, well this is…’ And I was like, ‘You’re gonna listen to me now.’ I’ve given my life to that company. There has been multiple times where I could have left that company. I broke my leg for that company. I was World champion for that company. I loved TNA. — I stated my case. I was like, ‘Hey, this is why I think you’re making a terrible mistake. This is why I think this isn’t happening right now.’ And I was told it’s part of that workplace reduction act. I went, ‘That should not be me. That’s not me. That should not be me in a million years.’”

-Sami Callihan

Taking to X to confirm his departure from TNA Wrestling last night, Callihan revealed that he initially believed he was being called in to discuss a potential creative role with the company, only to learn that his time with the promotion had come to an end.

The departures of both Tommy Dreamer and Sami Callihan follow confirmation that Tessa Blanchard, Myla Grace, and Steve Maclin have all recently had their release requests granted by TNA Wrestling, with the company stating that its workforce reduction was “designed to streamline operations and sharpen strategic focus and profitability”.

Sami Callihan, however, believes that the recent departures are primarily the result of TNA Wrestling losing money and claimed that the promotion likely circled those who don’t tick certain boxes.

“There was a lot of people that parted ways with TNA two days ago. I think it boiled down to… I think the company lost a lot of money. And I think a lot of people under salary that they may not have been like, ‘Okay, well, this person doesn’t wrestle. This person doesn’t do that.’ I do think it’s a money thing.”

-Sami Callihan

After retiring from in-ring action in 2025, the former Impact World Champion served as TNA Wrestling’s Director of Live Events while also running his own independent promotion, Pro Wrestling REVOLVER.

With TNA Wrestling seemingly making operational changes as both on-screen and behind-the-scenes talent depart, the company is reportedly in talks with Ohio Valley Wrestling as it looks to form a working relationship. You can read more about that here.

As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on Sami Callihan’s future as soon as we hear more.

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