Anthem terminates contract of Scott D’Amore, names new TNA president

Scott D’Amore’s contract with TNA has been terminated. D’Amore had been in charge as president of TNA and executive vice president of Anthem Sports Group for Anthem Sports & Entertainment.

TNA announced that news along with the naming of new president Anthony Cicione. The press release states:

Anthem Sports & Entertainment Inc., a global multi-platform media company, announced today the appointment of Anthony Cicione as the President of TNA Wrestling.

The move aims to further integrate TNA Wrestling into Anthem’s Entertainment Group, of which Cicione is the President, leveraging the entire Company’s resources to add more value in areas including production, distribution, marketing, viewership, customer acquisition, digital revenue streams, ad sales and sponsorships, digital tech operations, and more.

Cicione replaces Scott D’Amore, whose contract with Anthem has been terminated. D’Amore has been a part of TNA since 2003. He held many key leadership positions and played a vital role in the growth of the company leading to its strong industry reputation today, including the successful return of the TNA Wrestling brand in 2024. Anthem thanks him for the commitment he brought to the business, the talent, and the people who work outside the ring.

In addition to these duties as President of Entertainment, Cicione will now manage the day-to-day business operations for TNA Wrestling. He brings more than 30 years of executive-level management experience to the organization. Cicione has been with Anthem for the last 16 years, managing technical operations and multiple cable and digital channels. Prior to his time with Anthem, Cicione was a producer of sports content including catapulting The Score to success by bringing WWE to the channel.

The news of D’Amore’s dismissal comes as a complete shock. There are not a lot of public details yet on why Anthem decided to make this drastic change in leadership. D’Amore was in his second stint with the promotion, having returned in 2017 shortly after Anthem purchased TNA and rebranded it as Impact Wrestling. He’d gradually taken on bigger roles there, and was seen as the driving force behind the revival of TNA and restoring the brand’s reputation in a positive light. Now, he’s out less than one month after TNA officially changed over from Impact.

Just listen to this promo from D’Amore to understand the passion he has for TNA.

PWInsider.com chimed in on the matter with a little bit of context:

The belief among those we have spoken with is the decision came directly from Anthem owner Len Asper.

TNA parent company Anthem Sports and Entertainment will be stepping in and taking a much larger role in the day to day management and strategies of the promotion. TNA will be folded into Anthem’s entertainment arm going forward, as opposed to existing in its own corner of the company. The idea is that this will allow TNA to become embraced more by Anthem and have a stronger synergy, in order to maximize what each side has to offer the other. As part of that integration, D’Amore has been removed from power and is gone, effective immediately.

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