Rich Swann Discusses Sami Callihan Getting Personal With His Promos, Willie Mack Signing With Impact
Rich Swann spoke with Wrestling Inc.'s Managing Editor Nick Hausman on a recent episode of our WINCLY podcast to discuss his current role within Impact Wrestling. Swann spoke to his personal feud involving Sami Callihan, the mentorship of former ECW performers, and Impact signing Willie Mack.
Swann said that his feud with Sami Callihan may be finished but will never be truly over. According to Swann, the two performers vicious and brutal history have created moments that are difficult to forget.
"Right now, it may be finished but I don't think it's ever done with Sami Callihan.," Swann said. "He likes to hold grudges. He likes to let things fester in his mind until he thinks he's got his way. He's not going to ever be done with me. That match at Rebellion, my gosh, I'm not going to say I won by the skin of my teeth cause it was a fight, It was a knock out drag out. But we had staples, barbed wire. When you do that to a person, you never forget. When you stick somebody...you ever step on a lego, bro? It's never done. You remember that for the rest of your life. It's never done".
Speaking about his own past, Swann said that he likes to be open about what has occurred in his life because it might be utilized has hope for someone going through something similar. Swann also admitted he doesn't mind Callihan getting personal about his life because it generates fan interest.
"It's things that I've brought up in the past, it's things that I've shed light on to the wrestling fans and community," Swann professed. "I'm not ashamed of what my life is. I'm not ashamed of what has happened in my life because I feel like, if I share that, there might be somebody out there that will hear that and be like, 'Maybe I can become a wrestler. Maybe I can do what they want to do'.
"But Sami putting things out there, just puts more fuel to the fire. It's just interesting to hear things come out of his mouth and I like it because then the people are going to get more interested and they're going to get more drawn in and then they're going to see what I'm going to do to him. When you say some over the line stuff like he did, people are going to want to see Sami Callihan get his just desserts. And that's what I gave him"
Regarding Callihan even further, Swann praised the ECW alumni currently in Impact for their mentorship on younger talents. Despite Sami saying their is no room for performs like them, Swann rejects Callihan's notion and endorses the veteran's presence in Impact.
"There's room for everyone in professional wrestling," Swann said. " I think there's room for everybody in Impact Wrestling. I think those veterans that come in, they do nothing but give the younger talent nothing but insight and lessons and to help the younger talent. They show them the way. They lead the path and help them create their own path. I have a blast having Sabu, and RVD, and Tommy in the locker room. Screw, Sami Callihan."
Speaking to Willie Mack, Swann oozed of Mack's talent given his size. Being friends in the wrestling business, Swann expressed joy to have Mack involved in Impact.
"It's awesome," Swann admitted. "Willie Mack is a great talent. He does some of the most unbelievable things that you wouldn't even picture a guy his size to be able to do. But that's a lot of the roster. Like, Michael Elgin, he does some stuff that you wouldn't expect a heavyweight to do. Brian Cage, he does some things that are unbelievable. The guy is 300 pounds he looks like friction machine but that's why they call him the machine. He can do everything under the sun. I wanted to align myself with Impact Wrestling, there's just so much crazy talent."
Rich Swann is the current Impact Wrestling X-Division Champion and can be seen every Friday night on Pursuit and Twitch as part of Impact Wrestling.
Swann's full interview with Wrestling Inc was included in a recent episode of our WINCLY podcast. The full audio can be heard via the embedded player at the bottom of this post. In it Swann discusses why he chose to sign with Impact Wrestling after WWE, Jon Moxley's criticisms of WWE's creative structure, why Michael Elgin is good for pro wrestling, wanting to lead the X-Division, Sami Callihan's controversial promos about him, Willie Mack signing with Impact and more.
You can check out past episodes of the WINCLY here. Subscribe to Wrestling Inc. Audio on iTunes or Google Play. Listen to the show via Spotify here or through TuneIn here.