Top Stars Possibly Leaving Impact Wrestling Soon, Backstage Roster Change News, New Executive Team
As noted, Impact Wrestling announced today that Scott D'Amore and Don Callis have been hired as Executive Vice Presidents of the company. They will report to President Ed Nordholm and form a three-member Executive Committee with Nordholm. The committee has an "overall responsibility for developing the creative direction for the Company and managing the execution of the Company's business plan."
Callis will officially start working with the company on January 1st, 2018. PWInsider adds that D'Amore has been Nordholm's right-hand man for several months but he now has the title and the power to match. There's been no word yet on Callis also appearing on-camera for Impact but it is very possible as he's had successful on-air roles for various promotions over the years.
Today's press release from Impact noted that Callis will continue announcing for New Japan Pro Wrestling and Callis is planning on keeping that gig, according to PWInsider. NJPW had planned on replacing Callis and they even had several replacements in mind, but word today is that it's believed he will be staying. Callis' future with NJPW will depend on if he can balance the two jobs, especially if NJPW increases the number of events that have English commentary. It will be interesting to see if this helps Impact develop a working relationship with NJPW, something Impact officials want.
Regarding talents leaving Impact, it's believed that there will be several wrestlers that depart the company over the next month or so, including some main event talents. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter notes that with James Storm recently leaving the company, the next two top talents who may be leaving when their contracts expire are Bobby Lashley and Ethan Carter III, who currently holds the Impact Grand Title on TV. As noted, Storm left the company because he had a high guaranteed money contract that Impact would not renew.
Two stars who will be staying for a while are Johnny Impact and Taya Valkyrie. They both recently signed deals that will allow them to continue working for Lucha Underground when the series films the next season.
On a related note, the belief is that Impact will feature a much larger contingent of Canadian-based wrestlers going forward as the company is now based out of Toronto, Ontario due to parent company Anthem being located there.