Don Callis’ Comeback of the Century
Impact Wrestling’s resurgence owes a lot to Cyrus the Virus.
Just when Don Callis thought he was out, they pulled him back in.
After 15 years up and down the road, from the cold, rugged indie circuit in Canada to the glitz and glamor of McMahonland, the former wrestler and manager had left the business in 2004 after a stint in TNA.
It wasn’t necessarily a career unfulfilled; he achieved notoriety as The Jackal in WWE and Cyrus the Virus in ECW. However, the appeal of a steady government job in international trade was enough for Callis to leave the business behind.
More than a decade later, he was invited to Madison Square Garden for his buddy Chris Jericho’s 25th anniversary in professional wrestling. “It didn’t make me want to get into the business, but it led to Chris and I talking a lot more,” Don Callis said during an Impact Wrestling teleconference in 2019. Jericho was building a podcast network, and wanted Callis to partner with fellow pal Lance Storm for a show. The dominoes continued to fall as Callis interviewed Kenny Omega on an episode of Killing the Town – Omega’s uncle The Golden Sheik helped train Callis, who returned the favor by giving his nephew his first break.
Two weeks after the interview, Omega recruited Callis to do color commentary for New Japan. As older fans remembered his wit and a new generation was introduced to his dry style, he quickly became one of the most popular broadcasters in wrestling. Content to making the trip overseas every few weeks, he had no plans to make a full-time return to the squared circle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEgqkDbm26M
Until Leonard Asper, an incredibly well-known businessman in Callis’ hometown of Winnipeg, made headlines. As the CEO of Anthem Sports & Entertainment, he decided to add Impact Wrestling to his portfolio. That inspired Callis to capitalize on the company’s transition, offering his combined business background, knowledge of the industry and love of wrestling as valuable assets.
“Over the course of a month it went from Scott (D’Amore) and I having phone discussions to us having a meeting and me going, holy cow,” Callis said. “In that scenario, you look at reasons why you wouldn’t do it and I had a real hard time finding any reasons why I wouldn’t do it.”
In December of 2017, Impact announced that Callis and D’Amore had been named executive vice presidents. They unveiled their vision for the tired brand on Talk Is Jericho, and the wrestling world responded with cautious optimism. After all, Impact had been rebranded time and time again, with each new leader claiming to have all the answers.
Over two years into the new regime and it sure seems like the Canadian power brokers have the solution. Thanks to cherry-picking top talent on the indie scene, incorporating mature, dramatic storylines and partnering with promotions like MLW, WrestlePro, Lucha Underground and House of Hardcore, Impact has gained renewed interest in the product.
“Of course there had been a tremendous amount of negativity toward the brand before I got here,” Callis said. “The media is waiting for the other shoe to drop. It hasn’t.”
Despite some major departures like Bobby Lashley and EC3, as well as controversy surrounding Tessa Blanchard, Austin Aries, Alberto El Patron and Sami Callihan, Impact continues to persevere with Don Callis at the helm. “People will say EC3 left, but they don’t follow up with Brian Cage came in,” he said. “Any roster is going to be constantly changing, but we think surprises that are good for the fans will continue to come.”
Not bad for a guy who wasn’t following wrestling just a few years ago.
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