WWE Retaliation Incident Led To TNA Landing Spike TV Deal

Former WWE producer David Sahadi says a personal situation involving his family became the unexpected turning point that helped TNA secure one of the biggest television deals in the company’s history.

Speaking during an appearance on the 83 Weeks podcast with Eric Bischoff and Conrad Thompson, Sahadi reflected on his departure from WWE and his later work with TNA. While discussing that transition, he claimed that after he joined the rival promotion, WWE retaliated in a way that deeply affected him and ultimately pushed him back into the TNA fold full-time.

According to Sahadi, he was told about a meeting involving several WWE officials where the discussion turned to how they could hurt him personally. He claims the conversation eventually centered around targeting his father, who had been receiving a WWE Legends contract payment.

“There’s a meeting that was held in Kevin Dunn’s office between Kevin Dunn, Adam Ponucci, Chris Chambers, John Gaburick, Jim Johnson and a couple other people. And I know this from somebody who was in that meeting. They said, ‘How do we get back at Sahadi?’ And somebody said, ‘Let’s get him where it hurts.’ Someone says, ‘How? He doesn’t work here anymore.’ And they said, ‘Well, he loves his father more than anything. So let’s get Vince to take away his father’s check. That will really stab him in the heart.’ And that’s what they did to get back at me.”

Sahadi said the decision became real when Kevin Dunn allegedly called his father to inform him that the payment was being discontinued. He explained that he was listening on another phone line during the call, which took place during the holiday season.

“Kevin Dunn called my father during the holidays and I’m listening on the other line. ‘Lou, good to hear from you. I hate to give a good man bad news, but I got some bad news. We are losing money and we’re having to make budget cuts. Unfortunately we have to take away your legends check.’”

The situation hit Sahadi hard, especially because his father had long-standing ties to the McMahon family dating back to the Vince McMahon Sr. era. Instead of pushing him away from wrestling, however, Sahadi said the incident motivated him to double down on his work with TNA. He recalled reaching out to Jeff Jarrett shortly afterward with a clear goal in mind.

“When they did that to my father, I called Jeff Jarrett two days later and I said, ‘Jeff, do you want me back there full-time?’ He said, ‘I’d love to.’ And I said, ‘Good, I’m coming back. And not only that, I’m going to get your TV deal within six months.’”

According to Sahadi, that promise was fulfilled even faster than expected. He said TNA secured a television deal with Spike TV just four months later after meetings that involved contacts he knew from his previous work in television.

“And we got one within four months on Spike TV. It just so happened that we were having a meeting. WWE was leaving and I knew Kevin Kay who was head of Spike TV at that time because I knew him from the NBC days… next thing you know we have a deal on Spike TV.”

Looking back on the situation, Sahadi suggested the chain of events may have played a role in shaping the direction of TNA during that period.

“In a way, you can say that if that never happened to my father, I might not have gone back to TNA full-time and maybe we wouldn’t have gotten a TV deal.”

The Spike TV agreement became one of the most important moments in TNA’s growth, giving the promotion a major television platform during a time when WWE was exiting the network.

Do you think moments like this helped fuel the rivalry between WWE and TNA during that era? And do you believe the Spike TV deal could have happened without the circumstances Sahadi described? Let us know your thoughts and leave your feedback.

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