Nic Nemeth Addresses This Week’s TNA Exits, Says It’s Felt ‘A Little Weird Backstage’ in Recent Months

There have been multiple surprising exits from TNA Wrestling this week. As noted, TNA confirmed that former World Champion Tessa Blanchard and former on-air wrestler and TNA creative team member Tommy Dreamer are both gone from the company. Later, it was confirmed that another former World Champion, Sami Callihan, who had transitioned to a producer role behind the scenes, had also parted ways with TNA. During today’s edition of Busted Open Radio, TNA star and former World Champion Nic Nemeth addressed the news.

Nemeth had high praise for Dreamer’s work as the creative lead, and he also admitted that things have felt “a little weird backstage” in the last two months. Below are some highlights (via Fightful):

Nic Nemeth on the Recent TNA Exits

“I don’t exactly know what I can give. I like that I don’t have inside business stuff; I just happen to know everybody at work. For the most part, morale when we were working to get the TV deal couldn’t get any higher. As we move on, it has to drop down just a little bit. Then it’s like, ‘Oh, some people are leaving.’ I don’t know exactly what’s going on. When you hear something at work, I don’t want to hear something second and third hand, and then apply it to someone and the office to where I’m hating two different people without knowing the story. I’m going to get the scoop on what’s happening now in two weeks at the pay-per-view. The locker room is such a huge aspect. It’s what got me to sign on to TNA, and I thought we were in a really good place, but the last couple of months, it has been a little weird backstage and it’s been different. I don’t exactly know why, and I can’t put my finger on it.”

On Tommy Dreamer’s Influence on Creative and the TNA Product

“The influence Tommy has had on our show and creative, I’ve only been there two and a half years. He’s been there a decade doing so many different roles. So many of us pride ourselves on, ‘I can be the opening match and steal the show, I can be the main event, I can send us to intermission happy.’ I don’t think I can do those other roles that you don’t see behind the scenes, where everyone in the company and any independent wrestler is probably texting and calling every single day, because that’s what you think you’re supposed to do to get ahead. Imagine that every single day. I would throw my phone in a river. Tommy lives off of that because he actually knows everybody and knows what they are capable of. It’s such a valuable aspect to any company. I guess it wasn’t working out with TNA.

“I don’t even have a story or a cool bullshit story. On the feel and morale of everything, Tommy not being with us hurts, but going forward, we can pick up with our talent and possibly some surprises at the pay-per-view, and people coming on board. There have been several people leaving, but that’s not a crazy thing to happen. There will be real stories that I’m sure there was an issue because you don’t just separate ways with someone if there’s not some kind of issue, so I won’t pretend there isn’t one, but don’t base it just because several contract negotiations were coming up this summer. The locker room, for the most part, is not at the highest it’s ever been, but it’s a pretty tight locker room.”

In a press release from TNA parent company Anthem Sports & Entertainment, the recent exits were referenced as a “workforce reduction.”