Don Callis is just playing the game the same way it’s been played for decades.
Speaking to McCully on Rock 95, Don Callis was asked about the Forbidden Door and how he was working with AEW/IMPACT before moving to AEW on a regular basis. Callis said the initial partnership was one that’s not often seen in wrestling and it came as a result of being more open-minded.
“I think you gotta credit Tony Khan, myself, Scott D’Amore for being open to doing what so often in wrestling doesn’t happen, and that’s working together as a group, coming together and trying to put something out there that is art for the masses. Those fans got to see something they never thought could happen, just like we did at the Tokyo Dome. We did it again in AEW. Tony Khan was open to it, and I think that during that time, you have a lot of close-minded thinking, and sometimes it’s like, you have to convince people.
“You have to convince, there was people in the back in both companies who said, ‘This is a bad idea. Don’t let Don go there. If Don goes there, something bad is gonna happen.’ People in my own company would say that. People in AEW I’m sure told Tony Khan, ‘Don’t let that guy in here. He’s the Invisible Hand. He’s hiding in plain sight.’ People said, ‘Oh, there’s this storyline that he’s trying to take over.’ Sometimes life imitates art, not just art imitates life, and so there was a lot of those backstage machinations going on in both companies.”
Callis went on to explain that there was some jealousy, but Tony Khan saw results and that sometimes you need to be a little selfish in the pro wrestling business.
“Let’s face it, I’ve been running roughshod over every wrestling company I’ve ever been in. Because to me, and I get criticized for it, but here’s the deal; this is a selfish business. This is a carny business at base, it has been for 200 years, so don’t criticize me for playing it the way that history has played wrestling the whole time. This is how it’s intended to be done. The people that are truly successful are quote-unquote selfish. I see it as, I’m just playing the game, that’s it.”
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