Sami Callihan says Kenny Omega has disrespected IMPACT Wrestling and Slammiversary will be pay-per-view of the year

Sami Callihan is the staple of IMPACT Wrestling who has the chance to bring the title back where it belongs when he faces Kenny Omega at Slammiversary this Saturday.

IMPACT Wrestling’s biggest show of the year has Callihan challenging for the world title in the main event and it caps off a remarkable couple of years for the promotion who have surged back into the top tier of pro wrestling companies.

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Omega is the ‘belt collector’ of pro wrestling right now.

He currently holds the AEW and AAA world titles and Callihan is not only fighting to become champion, but bring some respect back to his home company.

Ahead of his date with Omega on Saturday, which you can watch on FITE TV, Calliham took the time to speak to talkSPORT and explain why he believes Slammiversary is going to be the pay-per-view of the year.

On if Callihan always wanted to face Omega and not Moose at Slammiversary...

“100 per cent. Moose is the most opposing dude on the IMPACT roster. You’ve seen his body transformation over the past six months, he looks like a damn Greek god. 

“But at the end of the day, Kenny Omega came to IMPACT Wrestling and not only disrespected our locker room, he disrespected the company I love. Everybody wants to look at me like the bad guy, but I’ve been fighting for IMPACT Wrestling since I stepped foot in the company. 

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“Why? Because I love IMPACT Wrestling. There might be some people on the roster that tries to use IMPACT, but IMPACT is where I always wanted to be. 

“Everyone else is like ‘I want to go to WWE, I want to go to Japan’ - I’ve been there and I’ve done that. 

“End of the day, my goal was to make IMPACT relevant again and I think over the past three years, without a shadow of a doubt, I have helped make IMPACT one of the top wrestling promotions on the planet once again.”

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On having fans back at Slammiversary...

“Fans are everything. They’re just as big a part of the show as the wrestlers in the ring and the people in the back - they mean everything. 

“But, on the contrary, I think IMPACT did ‘Covid wrestling’ better than anyone else. I think it truly gave people a chance to see how good IMPACT’s storytelling is and how good it is on an episodic basis. 

“I don’t think there is a better show weekly, I don’t think there is a more reliable and consistent show than IMPACT and I think we show that each and every week. 

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“As far as pay-per-views go, I don’t think anyone has better PPVs than us and that’s any company. 

“That’s not me just tooting the horn of the company I work for; if you look at our track record for PPV, every single one we have is a PPV of the year contender and Slammiversary is our biggest show of the year and I think this is the PPV where it makes people go, once again, ‘Yo, IMPACT Wrestling is here to stay’.”

On the Slammiversary card...

“The show is stacked. There’s not a match on the card where it’s filler for time or anything like that.

“IMPACT Wrestling pay-per-views; everything has a meaning, everything has a story. I’ll say it again, Slammiversary is going to be one of the best pay-per-views of the year.”

On Ace Austin and Trey Miguel...

"He’s [Austin] a beautiful man. He’s 23 years old. Already been X-Division champion. He’s a guy that in the next 5-10 years will be the next AJ Styles, I truly believe that. 

“And Trey Miguel, I think him separating from The Rascalz and being able to go out on his own and find his own character and own person and being able to spread his wings - the things he is doing are innovative. Every pay-per-view it seems like he does something that goes viral!”

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On the talent on the IMPACT roster..

"I think we’ve got one of the best rosters now we’ve ever had and we’re supremely underrated. I think as far as a full package, IMPACT Wrestling is about as full as you can get.

"We’re not about one style, we’re about a buffet of professional wrestling. If you want technical wrestling we got it. You want Japanese strong style? We got it. You want lucha libre? We got it. You want hardcore? We got it and we do it better than anyone else.

"Josh Alexander and TJP are two of the best if not the best technical wrestlers in the world and I don’t know why they don’t get brought up in the conversation more.

"Then you look at our young guys right now; Trey Miguel, Chris Bey absolutely murdering it. And we’ve got the best women’s division in all of professional wrestling."

Tune into IMPACT Wrestling’s Slammiversary this Saturday, July 17, on FITE