Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Hey guys, this is Denise Salcedo with Tommy Dreamer on the Busted Open Podcast. Today I talk with Tommy about his time with TNA and how he looks back on it. Plus we talk about the road to AEW Forbidden Door. Coming up next, Tommy and I break down the road to AEW Forbidden Door. This is the Busted Open Podcast.
Chapter 2: What reflections does Tommy Dreamer have about his time in TNA?
Tommy, when we kicked off the show, you had mentioned how this has been a kind of a week for you, you know, and anybody here that you know, has been online has seen, you know, the news and everybody listening on busted open heard you break the news on busted open, and that you are no longer with TNA. I want to go ahead and talk about that a little bit more.
I know when you first broke the news, it was, you know, very, very fresh. Now that you've had a couple of days to, you know, think about this, let it sink in. Where are you at right now?
Like I said, I'm at peace in my life. Everything is okay. I'm going to miss the people also so much. And what was it? Thursday. Thursday I woke up. And it was the first time since 1996 I literally had nothing to do. And I was just like, hmm. Um, okay. It was weird.
Chapter 3: How does Tommy Dreamer feel about leaving TNA after so many years?
Like I didn't have meetings. I didn't have, uh, anything to do. So I started cleaning my garage and, you know, found so much memorabilia in my garage. And, you know, this is your, I, like I said, I'm at a crossroads. You're 55. What do you want to do with your life? And, uh, I'm just going to really miss. I love being creative. I love dealing with people. It's a 24-7 job.
I'm going to miss working with the people that were part of my life for so, so long and I loved and love dealing with people and, uh, kind of from my days of ECW with trying to find talent to, uh, WWE where that was my job. And then to TNA where, listen, I, I'm still to this day. I just want to be a wrestler. But I was always kind of put in those situations and I'm okay with it.
And I was actually becoming very okay with it. And I also said if my career is over on that type of level, I'm okay with it. But I will truly miss the people. The good things, you see the amount of text messages I received and how people... I felt like in...
I was getting my either flowers or I felt like I was getting... People were telling me their tales, like I was dead, but I'm still alive and I enjoyed it. So that was it. Again, I'm going to miss the people that I work with all the time. And we'll see. We'll see what happens.
Of course, you mentioned all of the people that you're going to miss. And it's one of those things where yes, like the end of the day, like you build relationships, and you have, you know, people that you see every single week. And not only that, but you're thinking about them every single week, because you know, you're helping with ideas, you're putting things together.
So it is this, this big change. And, but I think one of the things that I want to dive into is
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Chapter 4: What are the emotional challenges Tommy faced after his departure from TNA?
I don't know, you know, obviously me and everybody here listening. We've never been in your shoes. We've never had a role like that in pro wrestling. So I do kind of want to dive a little deeper into, you know, the last 10 years where you were in a role in creative and then obviously, you know, took over when you look back at how you swear you started with that and where you ended up.
How do you look at that whole period?
I'm super happy, super proud. There's so many people that think they understand and they don't. And you hear just different aspects of what... There's so many things that go on to it. We were just discussing Rhea Ripley and her injury. You can... Is this person going to be good for...
To wrestle and if they're not what's the pivots you always have to make so many pivots or so many changes I learned a lot you know, of course, from other people, Paul Heyman and, you know, Dusty Rhodes, Terry Funk, Mick Foley, all these people have helped me so, so much.
But then, like, you could also listen, if you really pay attention, Shawn Michaels had said something that Triple H said something that Dusty Rhodes said something. And I remember Dusty saying that to me as well, but Dusty put it differently. And Shawn was like, if you could get 80% of your vision
to happen it's a win because it's your vision but getting executed is a whole other thing if you're a head coach and you design the play your play will be perfect and you're going to win every game but it's not because of something else could happen or like there's a The other team has their coach that wants to do it. That's in real sports.
But in this execution, I've had things that have been executed 100%. I've had things that were executed not even 1%. And then it's like, how do you get back on the drawing board? And then there's also people's contracts coming up. You don't know if they're re-signing. So you have to make arrangements. A lot of times, like... That is a key where your decisions go.
And then, you know, for me, it also always had to be business. And that's hard because you're also friends with people. I have always been very, very truthful for people. I also don't know if that's always the best policy because people only want to hear things that they want to hear. And I've literally, we've said something and then it'll go back because I'm not the final boss.
And then the final boss will come and say something and be like, that's not what was said. And then you have to back it up with, well, I was there when we told this person exactly what it was. But it's like that in every job. It's the entertainment industry. I'm very happy. And there's always a lot of highs, right? The success of Slammiversary last year into Bound for Glory, obviously.
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Chapter 5: What insights does Tommy provide about the creative process in wrestling?
And just to see her success and everybody's success. The rebirth of the Hardys. Mike Santana's story. I'm so close with Mike and his daughter and his family. And when I talk about... The internet. Everyone wanted Mike to win at Slammiversary. And it's cool. Then who do you face at Bound for Glory?
And when then Bound for Glory beat Slammiversary in attendance, you know you made the right decision. Because yes, it's so easy to make everybody happy, but you also have to make people mad to get you to where you want to go. And then when you draw more people, it's like you did your job right. And no one's going to give you that credit for it.
It's a thankless job, but I'm thanked by the people and their text messages. The growth of Leon Slater, Joe Hendry, and also like seeing, and I told this to people a long time ago, It's my job to get you where you want to go. And if another company doesn't want you, then it's my job to keep this place going. It's not my job anymore.
I tried building a culture and I can't worry about that anymore because it is all going to change. And I hope everyone realizes how much it's going to change.
Chapter 6: How does Tommy Dreamer view the current state of AEW and Forbidden Door?
Seeing the growth of Elena Black as a performer, I would say my favorite moment of everything, man, there's so many, but like, or I was so proud of Naomi, right? And her becoming the champion that I always knew that woman was like, and I, you know, I don't know these people and then I get to have a relationship with them. My favorite moment has to be Chicago. Matt Hardy versus Moose.
And we hit Jeff Hardy. And I was downstairs. It's a smaller venue. And I'm just... I'm working. I'm all over the place. And I just wanted to see all the boys watching the Jeff Hardy. Because nobody knew he was there. And when the music hit... I remember Leon Slater standing up and he goes, no way. And when Jeff walked out there, Leon started jumping up and down. And he was going, no way, no way.
And he starts high-fiving the other wrestlers. And we're wrestlers, right? And he literally was jumping up and down because that was his favorite wrestler. And he got to be a fan again. And freaking out, he does all the piece of business. And I go to Leon. He's like, did you know? I was like, yeah, I knew. And I go, do you want to meet him?
and he's like what and he's like okay so I go and Jeff's coming down and I introduce I go Jeff this is Leon Slater you're the reason he's a wrestler and Jeff's like oh cool man thank you so much and Matt just turns and goes 450 Swanton and Jeff goes oh my god dude how did you do that and Jeff uh Leon's like wait you know who I am And then I got to put them together because it's a real story.
But seeing Leon's excitement, because it could become bitter, which I never will be because I love wrestling. But it was just like, this is why we do this. And I remember when Paul Heyman came to me and said, Dusty Rhodes is here. And I was like, wait, what? And I was cool-ass Tommy Dreamer. And then he's like, you want to meet him? I was like, yeah, I want to meet him.
And then I was like, hang on. I was like, I got to be cool-ass Tommy Dreamer. And then the moment I meet Dusty, Paul was just like, Tommy Dreamer, it's the American dream, Dusty Rhodes. And Dusty had just this amazing smile. And I shake his hand and he goes, I'm a big fan of your work. And right then and there, I go, oh, my God, you're the reason I became pro wrestler. You're my hero.
And then I become friends with Dusty, just like I'm friends with Leon. But moments like that, because it is my job to create moments. And I did. And I have also, like, I kept my word to everybody. At first, like... At times, the internet loves them. At times, the internet hates them. AJ Francis, man.
I was just like, I'm going to prove to the world that you can wrestle and just shut up and you got to trust me. And at one point, people are saying AJ Francis should be world champion. And I'm just like, I did my job with that guy. It's funny talking with Leon Slater. And I've gotten this from somebody. I'm a hard coach because I expect perfection all the time.
And Leon's like, man, you don't talk to me that much anymore. And I go, because I don't need to correct you. And he's like, wow. And I go, you don't want me to always talk to you after your match. Because it means you usually did something wrong.
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Chapter 7: What are the anticipated matchups for AEW's Forbidden Door event?
I don't like to share personal stuff, but Jeff Hardy, man. I love Jeff. I've known him forever. And Jeff sent me one of the nicest texts. And he was just like... And I've said this before, but I won't share everything in the text. But he's like... You've made the visions in my head come to reality. And I thought that was really, really cool in a very, very Jeff style. And I like being creative.
I like... It was never a dictatorship. When people talk, like again, online, there's so many people who were brought into those meetings or I listened to everybody's ideas. If I had to shoot them down, it was like, well, here's why. Or, no, we're going to go with this. Or to see like Elijah, the way he's come from, because a lot of people...
any relationship that you end is difficult you know and then if you're coming back or coming back into the wrestling you're starting a new relationship with somebody and i'm happy i was able to be that buffer i was happy i was able to be that way and nothing is perfect but like I'll look at Heather and Em by Elegance. Those two women are stars. And they just started.
And you see them emerge and become... Again, if I was there, Maggie would probably be the top girl in the company by next year. Just because she's so good in the ring. And when Ash left... Maggie stepped up and so did Heather. And like, I love that whole dynamic or like, you know, meeting Mr. Elegance on an indie and like this kid's really good.
And he, I want looking for a guy to be part of this group because I also think the personal concierge is really good at his job. And just that. Mustafa Ali's group and everybody. I could go on and on. But yeah, super proud and super happy of my time there. And no regrets. I did. I loved TNA. I realized I've been in TNA longer than I was in ECW. And I was in WWE longer than I was in ECW.
And yes, people always remember me for being in ECW because of the impact that it had in the industry. But TNA had a lot of growth going after that. But I was also... I was part of a great team and I could not have done the job at all without a delirious hunter. He was my partner and another guy named George and then another man named George.
And when other people jumped on calls, we took everybody's. Tom Hannafin jumped on calls. There's another guy named Eric Tompkins who does so much good stuff with production. Bringing Allie back into wrestling and making her be Allie again and making her love wrestling again. Stuff like that will stay with me forever.
So I have a few questions on kind of a bunch of different points of that. And I kind of want to start off with, you know, that moment where you did find out like, hey, this is done with you're moving on. Did you see this coming? Or was this a moment where you were?
I know you know you're looking at this and you're like okay what to do next right you took it very you took the news very well from what I can tell but was there any piece a part of you that was angry any piece of you that thought damn I really wanted to make sure I finished this maybe this should have happened after Slammiversary you know just the timing of all of that where it's like so abrupt right before this you know big show you know where were you at with that initial reaction
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Chapter 8: What are the challenges and benefits of cross-promotional wrestling events?
Could I have done things better? Absolutely. But it's also the nature of the industry. And I say this all the time, man. I was part of a team, and that's the culture that I wanted. And if I was the head coach of the team, and that's it. And that brand will move forward, hopefully. And it will always forever be different now because I'm different.
But whoever's doing that, better make sure it's, you know, or else you just got to make sure you have that type of mentality. And it is, it's one of the harder jobs, but it's a job, like very few can do it. And then you also like, There's so many different outside sources. It's just, you can't let it get to you. You just have to have a different temperament and different mindset.
Because again, you could have... I think people have seen this other places. Like, hey, I want this to happen. But then it's like, well, no. This has to happen. Okay. You can't fight City Hall sometimes. So, again, but nothing but pleasurable moments. And... I did. I love my time there, and I love the people, and I'm going to be friends with a lot of people. So that's where we go.
Coming up next, Tommy and I break down the road to AEW Forbidden Door.
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Forbidden Door, you know, when it was first announced, I still remember the first time I saw the graphic and everybody was like, oh, shit, Forbidden Door, I can't believe it. You know, the really big thing. However, since then, there has seemed to be a little bit of a drop off. It's almost,
every single year i feel like forbidden door is the show that people are least looking forward to throughout the year for aew but the weird thing is it always delivers though like it never like it never sucks or anything but the my question to you is what can because in in terms to addressing some of the critiques that people give like Should we still be doing Forbidden Door?
What can they do differently? Do you think that this show doesn't get a fair shake from people? Maybe it's the company's presentation of it. I don't know. What are your thoughts in terms of doing the Forbidden Door show every year?
Well, when they first came out, I don't want to say it really was like a forbidden door, but New Japan had talent that was under contract with New Japan, and they were bigger stars. New Japan has lost a lot of their stars to AEW, so they're already there.
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