Scott D'Amore Fired As President Of TNA
Highlights
- Anthony Cicione appointed as President of TNA Wrestling, aiming to further integrate the company into Anthem's Entertainment Group.
- Scott D'Amore fired as TNA President after playing a vital role in the growth of the company and the successful return of the TNA Wrestling brand.
- TNA talent surprised and upset by D'Amore's removal, with many expressing gratitude and admiration for his contributions to the company.
January 2024 had been a great month for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Gone was the Impact Wrestling name, with TNA returning. The former Dolph Ziggler, Nic Nemeth, debuted for the company, and Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace appeared in WWE's Women's Royal Rumble match. Today, however, brought shocking bad news with the announcement that Anthem has fired Scott D'Amore as TNA President.
This statement was released by TNA Wrestling:
Anthony Cicione Named President of TNA Wrestling
Anthem Sports & Entertainment Inc., a global multi-platform media company, announced today the appointment of Anthony Cicione as the President of TNA Wrestling.
The move aims to further integrate TNA Wrestling into Anthem’s Entertainment Group, of which Cicione is the President, leveraging the entire Company’s resources to add more value in areas including production, distribution, marketing, viewership, customer acquisition, digital revenue streams, ad sales and sponsorships, digital tech operations, and more.
Cicione replaces Scott D’Amore, whose contract with Anthem has been terminated. D’Amore has been a part of TNA since 2003. He held many key leadership positions and played a vital role in the growth of the company leading to its strong industry reputation today, including the successful return of the TNA Wrestling brand in 2024. Anthem thanks him for the commitment he brought to the business, the talent, and the people who work outside the ring.
In addition to these duties as President of Entertainment, Cicione will now manage the day-to-day business operations for TNA Wrestling. He brings more than 30 years of executive-level management experience to the organization. Cicione has been with Anthem for the last 16 years, managing technical operations and multiple cable and digital channels. Prior to his time with Anthem, Cicione was a producer of sports content including catapulting The Score to success by bringing WWE to the channel. (h/t Fightful)
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The removal of Scott D'Amore was not one that TNA talent saw coming. According to Mike Johnson of PWInsider, Anthem held a Zoom call today with several TNA wrestlers. It was there that they announced Scott D'Amore had stepped down, but that was not the case. Why was D'Amore removed? PWInsider said:
"The idea is that this will allow TNA to become embraced more by Anthem and have a stronger synergy, in order to maximize what each side has to offer the other. As part of that integration, D’Amore has been removed from power and is gone, effective immediately."
They also reported that it didn't sit well with the talent, as Scot D'Amore was liked by a vast majority of the roster. No one was allowed to ask questions, and many were said to be very angry.
A number of TNA wrestlers, from Josh Alexander to Jordynne Grace, have tweeted out tributes to Scott D'Amore. Former Impact Wrestling announcer David Penzer put it best, tweeting:
"I'm just going to say it. Without @ScottDAmore Impact/TNA would be a video library probably owned by WWE. I saw him strip that thing down to the studs and rebuild it on a less than skeleton budget to where it stands today which is ready to take off. Hope it survives-Massive loss!"
