Sami Callihan on Opting Out of His Non-Compete Clause When He Left WWE, the Creative Freedom You Get After Leaving

– Fightful recently interviewed Sami Callihan, who discussed his career, including passing on a 30-day non-compete clause from WWE when he left NXT and the creative liberation that’s felt when you get outside WWE. Below are some highlights.

Sami Callihan on the creative liberation on leaving WWE: “Pretty much all these guys are friends and guys I’ve known pretty much my entire career, for 10-15 years. I think it’s one of those things, I think all the guys that’d recently came into IMPACT! Wrestling are like, ‘Oh, my God, I can do that here?’ or ‘Oh, my gosh, are you serious? I can do that here?’ It’s like taking handcuffs off. It’s letting a bird out of its cage and letting it back into the wild. They’re either gonna strive or they’re gonna fail. A lot of the guys IMPACT! brought in, if not all the guys, are going to be very successful or else they wouldn’t be at IMPACT! I think IMPACT!’s track record over the past three years of the guys they’ve brought in pretty much kill it every single time.”

Callihan on opting out of his 30-day non-compete clause when he left WWE: “I think there was maybe just a hint of uncertainty. I was one of those guys, I didn’t take the 30 day paycheck to sit at home. I was like, ‘I’m gonna go out, create a buzz in two days.’ So, that’s why I showed up at two indie shows, and made more money than I would have made at NXT that week. I’m not taking all the credit, but I think I’m one of the guys that really launched the indie wrestling level back up to where it was when I left WWE because it showed that indie wrestling really could be a successful place. From there I’ve pretty much wrestled for every major wrestling company on the planet.”