Tommy Dreamer: "The Word Hardcore Has Been Bastardized By WWE"
Tommy Dreamer faced Eddie Edwards at Slammiversary this past Sunday. The Innovator Of Violence recently took part in a media call where he discussed his company House Of Hardcore. Impact Wrestling's Global Force Network includes a lot of content, but Dreamer explained why HOH will not be made available there. He already has an exclusive deal with Twitch so this makes it an impossibility. He then proceeded to praise the service Twitch offers and its huge viewership potential as well.
"I'm already on Twitch [with House Of Hardcore] so I have my own streaming service," Dreamer said. "I think it's a wonderful idea for Impact Wrestling [to offer multiple promotions on the GFN]. They have offered me to do that but I have an exclusive with Twitch where I am getting paid for my content already. So that's why I didn't do it.
"I've looked at the wrestling business and a lot of times the wrestling business will repeat itself. I don't want for bad history to repeat itself in the sense of I don't want the territories to get swallowed up just like they did in the 80's. When I say territories there are some really good independent companies that are out there running consistent shows.
"If Impact was putting crappy quality on their app then you get what you get what you pay for. I think they're putting out nicely produced shows so it's all about content. That's what Hulu wants and Netflix [...] they just want content and wrestling has such an amazing fan base that it's the content that's watched. You know its funny most people don't know what Twitch is... Impact has a Twitch channel. Twitch has more subscribers than the WWE Network. It's just getting the word out there."
Dreamer has influenced a generation of hardcore wrestlers after him. As he approaches his 30th anniversary in the pro wrestling business, Dreamer mentioned a couple people in Impact Wrestling who could carry on his legacy.
"The word hardcore has been bastardized by WWE. People think about blood, or tables, or chairs. To me, hardcore is a work ethic. You know it became hardcore was WWE's version was early ECW and in ECW we did every single thing we could to put on a great performance for the fans.
"In Impact, I want to say every single wrestler could be hardcore. Becuase everybody goes out there an busts their butts to entertain the fans. No matter what situation they have been in."
He listed names like Sami Callihan and Pentagon Jr as two guys who could carry on his legacy of hardcore wrestling. Dreamer also praised the current Impact Wrestling roster and pointed a spotlight on some people who he feels have an especially bright future.
"I am a huge fan of LAX. I think they have such amazing talent. Brian Cage, he's another guy although he's a pain in my ass at my House Of Hardcore shows. I wanna say the biggest impact I feel to come out of the [Knockouts Division] is Tessa Blanchard.
"[Blanchard] is money and she is signed a long-term deal with Impact Wrestling. I have never heard such a buzz about anyone in the industry."
If you use the quotes in this article please credit Wrestling Inc.