Scott D’Amore was celebrating TNA’s return at Hard to Kill, but behind the scenes, he already knew his own time with the company was finished.
While appearing on The Ariel Helwani Show, D’Amore revealed that he learned about his exit only days before TNA officially brought back its old name at Hard to Kill in January 2024. The news came after he forced a conversation with Anthem Sports president Len Asper before boarding a flight to Las Vegas.
“I got the call a few days before Hard to Kill, where TNA was coming back. We had done the announcement and the build. I only got the call because I literally told Len Asper, ‘I’ve been trying to talk to you. I’m not getting on this plane to Vegas tonight if you and I don’t have a conversation.’”
D’Amore still agreed to handle the Las Vegas events and finish the job. That included Hard to Kill, the first television tapings under the restored TNA name, Will Ospreay’s match against Josh Alexander and Kazuchika Okada’s return to the company.
“We did those shows in Vegas, which I’m so proud of. That Hard to Kill pay-per-view, I thought, was amazing. The next night, we did the first two television episodes of TNA, and that had the Will Ospreay-Josh Alexander match, which I thought was such a huge match for TNA and wrestling in general.”
“Then we had Okada, which was a big thing to me—finally putting to rest this Okada-TNA thing, which I was never a part of, but had lingered.”
The emotional moment came during the television tapings when TNA needed additional material to complete an episode. Tommy Dreamer sent D’Amore to the ring with almost no preparation and told him to speak from the heart.
“We were short on time. We had to fill out the television episode so we could get it aired. Tommy Dreamer came to me and said, ‘You’ve got to go to the ring and cut a promo.’ They were literally putting my jacket on me as I was walking through the go position.”
Fans saw D’Amore tear up while discussing what professional wrestling and TNA meant to him. What viewers did not know was that the promo was also his private farewell to a company he had spent years rebuilding.
“I went out there and cut that promo, tears in my eyes, talking about what wrestling meant to me. It was part me talking about TNA being back and, in some ways, kind of grieving my own.”
“I knew at that point. Going into Hard to Kill, I knew that I was done.”
D’Amore kept the news to himself, delivered one of TNA’s biggest weekends in years and stood in the ring promoting the company’s future while knowing he would not be part of it. That puts an entirely different meaning behind the emotion fans saw that night.
What do you think about Scott D’Amore finishing the Hard to Kill weekend after learning that TNA was cutting him loose? Sound off in the comments and leave your feedback.
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