For much of Scott D'Amore's time at TNA/Impact, WWE was the enemy.
Sure, TNA still employed former WWE stars, watched their own talent leave for the promotion, and, on occasion, welcomed said talent back when things didn't work out, but when it came to actually dealing with the top name in Sports Entertainment, it was hostile if they talked at all.
But how does that differ now that Paul “Triple H” Levesque is in charge of the promotion? Well, while D'Amore doesn't work for TNA anymore, his dealings between the two sides were very much improved from how things were handled under Vince McMahon, as he detailed in an interview with Chris Van Vliet regarding Jordynne Grace appearing in the Royal Rumble.
“One of the last things I get (before leaving for the Jericho Cruise) is a text from Triple H, which was just like, ‘Hey, I know you might be out of touch this weekend, just wanted you to know we finalized this, this and this, everything's good, just how we discussed, have a safe trip, have fun.' And that is just so freakin' cool,” D'Amore explained via WrestleTalk.
“That's just how wrestling a lot of times hasn't been. A lot of times, it'd have been like, ‘Oh, he's gone, he's at the sea, we can do whatever we wanna do now and really screw some people over.' But it just wasn't.”
While D'Amore has been away from TNA since the promotion went a full-on collaboration with NXT, getting to enjoy the moment with Levesque when Grace made her Rumble debut must have been pretty cool, as it marked a big moment for both promotions in a way not even Mickie James' appearances a few years prior could match. With Joe Hendry now slated to wrestle ex-AEW star “All Ego” Ethan Page at NXT No Mercy, it's safe to say the wrestling world has never been more open than it is in 2024.
Scott D'Amore weighs in on Joe Hendry's success in WWE
Elsewhere in his interview with Chris Van Vliet, D'Amore commented on the “Prestigious One's” recent string of success in WWE, which will see him compete for a top title at No Mercy in Colorado. While D'Amore has been a fan of Hendry for some time now, this current run is beyond his admittedly lofty expectations.
“It's something that should have happened ages ago but never did. It's great that it's happening now. My massive ego loves the fact that I got to be part of starting it. But to be clear, it didn't happen because of me, it happened because of the right thing. I'm honored to be part of that, and I can look at it and smile. Look, here's Joe Hendry. Joe grabbed me one day and he goes ‘Scott, Did I ever tell you why I chose to come to IMPACT?' I'm thinking, he probably did, and I don't remember. I was like, ‘I don't think so.' He told me a story. First, he told me a story about he was someplace else, and his music was playing. It's like, okay, here I am, and it was a big moment. His music has a spot where he comes out, and somebody pushed him and said, ‘Go!' They pushed him out before it was the moment,” Scott D'Amore explained via Fightful.
“He's kind of like, ‘These guys don't get me.' Then he goes, ‘In that moment as I went to the ring I thought of an interview you did in the UK years ago.' I think it was like 2018-19, long before he ended up coming, because he ended up going to Ring of Honor. He goes, ‘You did an interview and they asked you a question about future World Champions, you mentioned Moose, Josh Alexander and Joe Hendry.' I was like, ‘Oh, so glad I did that.' He goes, ‘I heard that, and I was like, there's a guy who gets me.' He didn't come then, but then when he became free again, he's like, ‘Okay, maybe there's more money for me somewhere else, but right now, I want to go somewhere where there's people that that get me.' Let me be clear, it's not like I was the only one. But that's the type of stuff that really makes me feel good. The fact that he gambled on coming to us at IMPACT, to TNA, because he trusted us, that we would handle him right. I think we have, and he's obviously delivered. Those types of things make me happy.”
What would it be like to have a TNA wrestler hold a title in the WWE Universe, even if it says NXT across the nameplate? Honestly, it's impossible to say, as such a situation has truly never happened before. Still, just because it hasn't happened yet doesn't mean it can't, let alone won't happen soon. No, if there's anyone from outside the company who could justify such an honor, it's probably Hendry, as he is truly one of the most over men in wrestling today.
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