Scott D’Amore says he knew he was being replaced two days before TNA Hard to Kill
Scott D’Amore revealed when he knew his time with TNA was over.
On Busted Open Radio, the former President of TNA said that he knew of his departure two days before January’s Hard to Kill event, the company’s first show after rebranding itself as TNA once again. Anthem officially announced on February 7 that Anthony Cicione would be replacing D’Amore as TNA President.
“Here’s your scoop for your headline: I found out that what was happening with me two days before Hard to Kill…I was about to get on a plane, I found out kind of what was in the cards. [Anthem CEO] Len Asper and I had a chat about it. Even though I had seen some signs, it still hit me pretty hard, but I did what professionals do. I locked that in that place in my brain and kept it there and flew to Las Vegas with Tommy [Dreamer] and the rest of the team. I hate when people give me all the credit and I hate when people give me all the blame. TNA succeeded because of the team we were able to assemble. I’m proud to have led that team and I’m proud to have assembled that team.”
D’Amore said that the company has sent him home and is being paid to do nothing, which he said was “kind of nice.” He also dismissed rumors that the falling out was over him attempting to purchase the company, saying he did so only after he went home.
“I dutifully finished out the Florida tapings and I left the building that night thinking that’s it, okay, I fulfilled my obligations. I woke up the next morning and did two things. I put Jordynne Grace in the [Royal] Rumble and I started looking about where I could raise funds to acquire TNA. Any of the BS that I tried to buy the company, and that’s what led to me leaving, was not the case. It boiled down to a difference of opinions on how things should be. There was no f you, no, f you. I’ve spoken with Len Asper since then. Like as I said to him the day we talked about it, or it might have been the day the announcement went ahead, he said I hope there is no hard feelings. I said I can’t say there are no hard feelings, but there are no personal feelings.”
Overall, D’Amore said he felt conflicted over his departure, as it came right at the time of a momentum shift within TNA.
“It was very conflicting. I was very proud of what we had done as a group and what we accomplished and where we came, and I was very upset that the reigns got taken away from me at a time that I think we were perched and ready to continue to explode.”
D’Amore announced on Thursday that he was reviving Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling, having obtained the rights to the promotion from the Tunney family, who originally held events under the name between 1930 and 1984.
Bryan Rose is an editor from California that has been covering professional wrestling for well over a decade. He officially joined F4WOnline as an editor in 2017.