Scott D’Amore believes Team Canada worked because it took the Pinky and the Brain concept and applied it to a group of great wrestlers.
The faction debuted in 2004, and it featured competitors like Petey Williams, Bobby Roode, Eric Young, Teddy Hart, and Jack Evans. Together, these performers enjoyed plenty of success; Williams won the X-Division Championship, and the duo of Roode and Young held the NWA World Tag Team Championship twice.
Speaking with Tom Hannifan ahead of IMPACT Slammiversary, D’Amore, who now serves as the Executive Vice President of IMPACT Wrestling, looked back on Team Canada and shared his thoughts on why it worked. He credited the talented performers and the true team-like nature of the group.
“I think there’s a few reasons,” said D’Amore. “First and foremost, let’s be very clear. There was so much talent in that team. Bobby Roode is one of the all-time greats. Eric Young is among the most underrated wrestlers who can do everything out there, and that’s why you see him in the main event of Slammiversary. Petey Williams, is, out of all the people that I’ve coached, and there’s been a lot, ones that I’ve coached from day one or ones that have been wrestling ten years when I came and started coaching, Petey was as cerebral and smart as any athlete that I ever worked with. Johnny Devine, as Dusty would him, Canada’s Tom Cruise, baby. Had his own schtick, and in the early days, for the first incarnation with Teddy Hart and Jack Evans, who were both unique talents, you’ll see Jack as part of the Ultimate X on June 19th at Slammiversary. It’s great to have him coming back.
“But I think the athletes were so darn good, the matches were so good. The other thing was, and we talked about this, a few of us were together a couple years ago, but we really were a team. Those guys picked each other up. And If Eric Young was hurting, then we shuffled the deck to make sure that we protected him. They always looked out for each other. It’s one of the things I was proudest about in this business.”
D’Amore emphasized the bond of the teammates by noting that Roode and America’s Most Wanted worked together to highlight Young at a time when the latter was on the chopping block. In doing so, they ensured that the company couldn’t fire Young after such a great performance.
“There was a pay-per-view where it wasn’t supposed to be known but word got out that Eric Young was on the chopping block,” said D’Amore. “So Bobby and America’s Most Wanted, two other key parts of IMPACT/TNA history, kinda got together and laid out this whole match, they put it together just to be like a Eric Young highlight reel. And after the pay-per-view was over, a certain individual in the front office came up to us and said, ‘Well you effed us.’ And I go, ‘What do you mean?’ He goes, ‘You effed us.’ I go, ‘Why?’ He goes, ‘You know damn well Eric was being let go.’ I go, ‘We don’t know what you’re talking about.’ He goes, ‘Now we can’t after that.’ And I was like good, then I’m glad we effed you.
D’Amore also described how Team Canada had a unique dynamic; while other groups were “evil Canadians”, this stable operated with a philosophy that was comparable to Pinky and the Brain because they constantly tried and failed to take over.
“I think the dynamic worked because we were all friends and we all cared about each other,” said D’Amore. “And it had a unique dynamic. I mean you’d seen it, you know, with the Team Canada with Bret and you’d seen it in WCW, like it’s a pretty simple formula. Even back then, you can’t have a lot of, even back then, you couldn’t have a lot of controversial heels. You couldn’t do the cheap heat tactics that had been done in wrestling.
“So what do you take? You take a bunch of Canadians and you make them evil Canadians. And that’s where Pinky and the Brain comes in. Somebody had said to me years ago, like describe what is the philosophy behind Team Canada? And I said it’s Pinky and the Brain. That’s all it is. I go it really is. We set out every single week with a master plan to take over TNA wrestling and then it blows up in our face. And then the post-credit trailer could be us walking away and me goin, ‘Come on guys, we gotta go get ready for next week.’ ‘Well, what are we gonna do next week?’ ‘Same thing we do every week; try to take over TNA!’ And it worked.”
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