Sami Callihan On How He Celebrated Impact World Title Win, Joey Ryan, Wanting Ken Shamrock Match

Thirteen years into his pro wrestling career, Sami Callihan is finally the world champion at a major promotion. He won the Impact world title during the company's premiere on AXS TV and he talked about how it feels when he spoke to Wrestling Inc. on our WINCLY podcast.

"It is pretty obvious [how it feels] as it trended worldwide last night and everyone is talking about it. It feels amazing because now the entire world has to shut up and listen to me because I have the platform," Callihan said before admitting that he doesn't look like the kind of guy that people want to see as the face of their company as opposed to someone like Brian Cage.

"I think I truly am that beacon of light that right now. Lots of other wrestlers like to say that, but I'm a beacon of light to an entire generation to prove that mediocrity is dead. You don't have to be complacent just collecting a paycheck. You can pave your own destiny because you create your own future."

It says a lot that Impact chose Callihan defeating Cage for the world title to be the main event of their AXS debut. Callihan said that it means you can achieve anything by grinding and not taking no for an answer.

"It's everything that it should be. I told all of the haters and critics to kiss my ass because I'm the face of the company. People like me don't get a chance to be the face of a company very often. But now that I am I showed that you've gotta bet on yourself and when you do that, then you can do whatever you wanna do," stated Callihan.

"I understand that I'm a 5-foot-7 white kid from Ohio, but a 5-foot-7 white kid from Ohio that never took a no for an answer stepped up and set the wrestling world on fire."

Callihan then shared how he celebrated his win afterwards and who he celebrated it with.

"I put down a couple cold ones because men drink beer and I don't drink bubbly like a b*tch. Because bubbly is for b*tches at the end of the day," Callihan said before adding what oVe had waiting for him after the win.

"They had a 1982 El Camino parked out back that we got into and had a good time. It's my dream to own an El Camino and it's a gem. I finally own one because I'm the Impact world champion and now I'm gonna start driving it around the country and pissing people off."

In addition to moving to AXS, Impact also recently signed Joey Ryan and Callihan talked about what he brings to the company.

"Joey is one of the biggest assets in all of pro wrestling right now. People can love or hate him but Joey Ryan equals numbers and he equals money," Callihan said before bringing up that Ken Shamrock called Ryan "the penis guy" on the AXS TV debut. "Next week when Shamrock wrestles Joey Ryan, that's a style of match that you're only gonna be able to see on Impact Wrestling. This is the kind of stuff that people have been watching for years on indie and loving. Joey Ryan's built up a cult fan base and now he can show the entire world because there is a group of the world that wants this style of wrestling and Impact is gonna give it to them."

Callihan then called Shamrock "the man" and said he's one of the most bad ass characters in pro wrestling history. The fact that he isn't afraid to get weird is a big staple and factor in how much of a legend he is in the business.

Callihan was then asked about the possibility of a title match between him and Shamrock.

"We were supposed to wrestle 5-7 years ago in AAW but there was some sort of miscommunication and we didn't get a chance to wrestle," revealed Callihan. "I would love to get in the ring with The World's Most Dangerous Man because as much as I respect him, Sami Callihan deserves that title because I am The World's Most Dangerous Man.

New Impact Wrestling World Heavyweight Champion Sami Callihan can be seen every Tuesday night, 8/7c, as part of Impact Wrestling on AXS TV. His full interview with Wrestling Inc aired as part of today's episode of our WINCLY podcast. It can be heard via the embedded audio player at the bottom of this post. Featuring Sami discussing his big title win, who he thinks should get a title shot first, Impact's debut on AXS TV, Joey Ryan signing with Impact Wrestling, Ken Shamrock's Impact future, which Knockout he'd like in oVe 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.