New TNA President Issues Statement, Thanks Scott D'Amore For 'Years Of Dedication'

TNA Wrestling was shaken to its core by Wednesday the news that TNA President Scott D'Amore had been removed from the company in the wake of a successful rebranding. Following the move, Fightful Select reached out to newly-appointed TNA President Anthony Cicione, who released a statement that didn't give a direct reason for D'Amore's departure, but did provide an idea as to TNA's future within the Anthem corporate structure.

"This move is intended to further integrate TNA Wrestling into the Entertainment Group of Anthem Sports & Entertainment as we work to leverage the resources of the entire company to add more value in areas such as production, distribution, marketing, viewership, customer acquisition, digital revenue streams, ad sales and sponsorships, and digital tech operations, among others," Cicone wrote. "Everyone at Anthem Sports & Entertainment is appreciative of and thankful for the years of dedication that Scott D'Amore gave to Anthem, and TNA Wrestling. Scott has been a part of TNA since 2003, holding many key roles."

Cicone went on to note that he understands the uncertainty that D'Amore's departure has caused, but that Anthem is "fully committed" to this new direction. Anthem executives reportedly had a meeting with TNA talent, who were said to be furious at D'Amore's departure, which was initially reported as a "firing" but was described to TNA talent as D'Amore "stepping down," leading to more uncertainty.

D'Amore had been essential to TNA's rebranding from "Impact Wrestling" to the company's original name, which occurred just weeks ago at TNA Hard To Kill and the TV tapings that followed.