The world of professional wrestling was shocked and appalled, from other wrestlers, promoters and personalities to fans around the world, following last Thursday’s Impact Wrestling. In the main event, Sami Callihan faced Eddie Edwards in a hard hitting affair that ended with an errant baseball bat, swung by Callihan, that ricocheted off the chair Edwards was holding and struck Edwards in the face, breaking his orbital bone. TMZ picked up on the story, causing Sami Callihan to respond to TMZ the following day, with seemingly no remorse for the incident.
While many were outraged at Callihan’s callousness, “The Death Machine” took the opportunity to continue to build his brand as “the most dangerous man in wrestling”, employing something that fans have long branded as being extinct: kayfabe. Through all the backlash and controversy, Callihan has remained stone faced, very much the character seen in recent promos on Impact Wrestling, offering no regret or compassion to his fallen fellow wrestler. In an interview on Busted Open Radio on SiriusXM, the controversy was the principle topic and Callihan weaved around the kayfabe of the situation, saying “(t)his is what really bothers me. This is professional wrestling. ‘Is it real or is it fake, because someone needs to tell me because I really don’t know at this point.’” In an era where fans clamour for the intrigue of kayfabe, that was seemingly lost with the rise of the internet, those same fans seem outraged when something is done in kayfabe to continue an angle outside of being on their TV screens on any given night of the week. The same fans were outraged over Velveteen Dream’s recent comments against indie wrestling, seemingly forgetting the fact that as Patrick Clark, Dream was himself a former indie wrestling star with MCW and CZW.
"If I have to apologize to the fans, I'm not coming and working for your company anymore. Sh*t happens." @TheSamiCallihan says he doesn't feel bad about what happened to @TheEddieEdwards on #IMPACTonPop @IMPACTWRESTLING
Hear the full interview on demand on the SiriusXM app! pic.twitter.com/iGIoNKznec
— SiriusXM Busted Open (@BustedOpenRadio) March 5, 2018
Yesterday, Callihan began to tease throughout the day that at 9pm he was going to make an official statement on the whole ordeal, leading many to believe that we’d finally hear from Sam Johnston, the man behind Sami Callihan’s persona, but when the time came, it was all Callihan.
This is STUPID. I’m officially done with this garbage. If any “Professional’s” or fans have a problem with my “work”… Please look at my overbooked schedule and come find me. Just know…I won’t be alone. #Unsafe #EyeAintFake #KissMyAss pic.twitter.com/enzJPWwxA7
— Death Machine (@TheSamiCallihan) March 6, 2018
Sami continued to fuel the rage of the naysayers even further this afternoon, when he released a brand new T-Shirt over at ProWrestlingTees.com, that featured the now famous photo of Eddie Edwards with a bandaged eye and blood running down his face, with simply the words “I Broke Eddie’s Face (With A Baseball Bat)”.
Let’s see how much my bank account goes up now. Now on Sale: https://t.co/TiiKTsNnsV pic.twitter.com/LwlQSI6jUh
— Death Machine (@TheSamiCallihan) March 6, 2018
It drew the attention of at least one of his Impact co-workers, as “Mr. Impact Wrestling” Moose tweeted the following in response:
https://twitter.com/TheMooseNation/status/971132051721195520
In an interview with WrestleZone.com today, Callihan likened the incident to previous injuries in pro wrestling, like those from the hands of Owen Hart or Bubba Ray Dudley, and how they maintained the kayfabe to keep the angles going. “Did Owen Hart apologize to Stone Cold after he broke his neck? Did he go out and say, “I am so sorry for hurting this guy!” Did Bubba Ray Dudley go out on TV and social media and apologize after the first One Night Stand PPV for almost ripping off Tommy Dreamer’s ear with a reckless kendo stick shot? I don’t think so. That’s why this is such a stupid, status quo conversation. Sure, I hit a dude in the face with a baseball bat. You can see in my eyes I’m thinking, “Oh crap, I just hit a dude in the face with a baseball bat,” but I didn’t feel bad about it and I don’t apologize for it.” (Read the full interview here)
