In a move that surprised just about everyone in the wrestling industry when it happened last week, TNA Wrestling announced the departure of president Scott D’Amore and his replacement with Anthony Cicione, an executive in the Entertainment Group of TNA’s parent company Anthem.
Messages of support for D’Amore were plentiful in the aftermath of his dismissal, but the wrestlers and employees of TNA took things a step further today. As shared by Fightful Select (subscription required, though this particular post is free to all), some of the talent has approved a letter to Anthem, signed “Your TNA Family,” that expresses concerns over the move and hopes that a dialogue can be started that could lead to D’Amore’s return.
One sentence near the end stands out as it is underlined: “It is our opinion that the best possible person for that role was, is, and will be Scott.”
Anthem has not released a statement about why D’Amore was fired, though reporting from industry insiders has painted a picture of his ambitions for the promotion — which rebranded at the beginning of the year from Impact Wrestling to its previous name — clashing with Anthem’s desire for relatively low-cost programming.
Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer described a “standoff” between D’Amore and Anthem management over TNA’s budget. Fightful Select also reported that D’Amore attempted to buy TNA outright from Anthem before he was terminated, but his offer was “outright rejected.”
That report also noted that TNA talent were “overwhelmed and unhappy about the move away from D’Amore, as many were loyal to him.” The letter seems to back up that assertion, and it will be interesting to see how Anthem responds and how TNA moves on from here.