Tom Hannifan Reveals New Day Prop That His Dad Wanted
New Impact Wrestling commentator Tom Hannifan joined Oral Sessions with Renee Paquette and talked about his old job with WWE, who will be using Impact Wrestling Knockout's Champion Mickie James at the upcoming Royal Rumble event. When asked if there could be even more crossover or surprises, Tom Hannifan didn't dismiss the idea.
"It depends," Hannifan said. "Moments like the Royal Rumble are the perfect opportunity for those things. So I wouldn't be shocked if we got more surprises by the end of this month. We'll see what happens there."
One thing Hannifan and Paquette agree on is the disappointment in WWE revealing the surprises prior to the Royal Rumble match itself. For Tom Hannifan, he prefers a situation similar to Edge's return at the 2020 Royal Rumble that caught everyone off guard.
"I like to be surprised," Hannifan said. "We talk about Edge returning at the Royal Rumble a few years ago and everyone's mind was blown. You don't have those moments all the time, but still, to get those instances where you feel like a kid again and you're just transported to that moment when that person was really lighting the world on fire. And just to have them back for a few minutes, it's amazing."
Hannifan also shared some funny stories from his time in WWE that his family experienced. He revealed that his sister had been there live to see him get "caked", and that his father had once asked him to get pancakes from the New Day while sitting several rows behind him.
"My sister went to that show," Hannifan recalled. "So she's sitting close to the hard camera, right? And she sees the cake thing happen and is like, 'what is going on?' And I didn't know it was happening either. I was equally surprised. So I text her after the show and I was like, 'how do I get cake out of a suit?' And she was like, 'I don't have the answer to that.' So I had to throw my suit in a trash bag, which we were in Philadelphia, thankfully right down the road for me. I threw it in a trash bag, but I didn't come to the arena with a change of clothes. So I had to borrow basketball shorts and an undershirt from somebody, just so I could walk to the parking lot not in my underwear. And then coming home with a suit caked in a trash bag and going to a dry cleaner and being like, 'please help me.' So my sister got to see that.
"One of my favorite experiences, like, whenever my family would come, you know how it is with WWE. If there are seats open right behind the announce desk, they try to fill that in because it looks better. So my mom, my dad, my sister, and my brother, I think they all came, they were literally like three rows behind me to the point that I could just turn right around and they were right there. My dad is still texting me as the show is going on. And this is where New Day was throwing pancakes a lot. He was like, 'can you grab a pancake from Big E?' I'm like, 'dad, you don't want these pancakes. You don't want them.' He's texting me saying, 'we're right behind you.' 'Dad, I know you're right behind me.' I turn around, there's my dad waving. There's nothing better."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Oral Sessions with Renee Paquette and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription