WWE has finally creaked open the forbidden door and Tom Hannifan says he wouldn’t be surprised to see it open up even more in the weeks to come.
Tom Hannifan, formerly Tom Phillips in WWE and the new voice of IMPACT Wrestling, recently appeared on Oral Sessions with Renée Paquette and discussed WWE recently announcing IMPACT Wrestling Knockouts Champion Mickie James would be entering the 2022 Royal Rumble match. Hannifan said it not only speaks to James’ talent, but also the current landscape of professional wrestling.
“I think it’s two things, one, we all know how good Mickie James is and what a pro she is. So, obviously getting somebody like her for the Royal Rumble match makes all the sense in the world. Somebody reliable when you’re putting together a match of that ilk, it’s huge, so you need a lot of smart people in the ring and Mickie James is that.
“It also speaks to the way that IMPACT Wrestling does business. I think Scott D’Amore put something out there how IMPACT has worked with WWE, AEW, AAA, New Japan, Ring of Honor, the list goes on and on and they’re just open for business,” Hannifan said. “The forbidden door is pretty wild, I don’t know how to describe it, we’re living in bizarro world in professional wrestling in 2022, already.”
Hannifan also said he wouldn’t be surprised if more names from outside WWE were brought in for this year’s Royal Rumble match.
“It depends and you know, moments like the Royal Rumble is the perfect opportunity for those things,” he explained, “so I wouldn’t be shocked if we got even more surprises by the end of this month and we’ll see what happens there.”
Related: Tom Hannifan Explains How His IMPACT Wrestling Deal Came Together
