sami callihan

Sami Callihan Shares A Pro Wrestling Vision With Jon Moxley, Wants To Make New Stars With Wrestling Revolver

By CJ Applegate

The Wrestling Revolver will present “A Night At The Moxbury” on Thursday, February 2 on FITE. The event will feature appearances from Jon Moxley, as well as matches with Speedball Mike Bailey, Alex Shelley, Rich Swann and Marina Shafir. One name, however, that isn’t on the poster is Sami Callihan, IMPACT Wrestling star and Wrestling Revolver promoter.

Sami Callihan spoke with WrestleZone’s Bill Pritchard about his role in his promotion and what fans can expect from the show, noting how his main goal is to help other competitors find a bigger spotlight.

“Here’s the thing about my company. Do I wrestle for The Wrestling Revolver every once in a while? For sure. But I don’t use my company like a lot of other independent wrestling promoters to put myself over. I use my promotion to build other people and to build good stories. If I don’t fit into that every time, then so be it,” Callihan explained. “There’s so many things I do at a show from running Gorilla, to running cues, to running everything else. Do I make appearances at every show? Absolutely. But I don’t think I need to wrestle at every show when 100% my other priority is making other people and putting other people over. I’m already over, brother. I don’t need any more help.

“I think it’s one of those things that our entire fanbase and anyone that tunes in on FITE TV knows it’s my company. It’s pretty common knowledge that the Wrestling Revolver has been my baby since 2016 when I left WWE and started the company. It’s one of those things where I might come out if something needs to be said on the mic. I’ll come out and make sure the live crowd’s having a good time,” Callihan explained, “but it’s one of those things I enjoy the backstage aspect of professional wrestling. I enjoy that aspect just as much as I enjoy being in the ring. The Wrestling Revolver is my vision of professional wrestling and a lot of other people from my generation’s vision of professional wrestling. I think right now, we do it better than nine out of ten independent promotions on the independents today, and I think we have better production that almost every independent company on the planet.”

Jon Moxley signed a new contract with AEW in October. It was rumored that one provision in signing that deal would see Moxley take less independent bookings, where he would only wrestle sporadically. Moxley is advertised as hosting the MOXBury event rather than an in-ring role, and Sami Callihan was asked if there’s any protocol to follow as far as booking matches with outside talent like Moxley. Callihan said that he and Moxley have been friends for nearly 20 years, and it helps that they have similar visions for professional wrestling.

“With Moxley, I fell into a really good spot that nine out of ten times, he’s always going to be there helping out at Wrestling Revolver shows, either wrestling or doing something because he believes in the vision as much as I do. Right now, I’m one of the only independent promotions on the planet—I have a great relationship with IMPACT Wrestling, I have a great relationship with AEW, I have a great relationship with New Japan,” Callihan said. “I have good relationships with other Japanese wrestling companies and pretty much every major company on the planet. We’re one of the only companies where you’re going to be able to see stars from everywhere all around the world, including the television companies in the United States, working under one roof specifically.”

One of those matches features Alex Shelley vs. Rich Swann, a match that Sami Callihan expressed his surprise in the fact it has never happened yet.

“It’s first time ever. How are we in 2023 and that match has never happened before? That blows my mind. They’ve been in tags, they’ve been in a couple of multi-mans, but they’ve never had that one-on-one singles match. This Thursday at A Night At The Moxbury, the stakes got even bigger. We just announced the working agreement with Prestige Wrestling out of the west coast, another one of the best independent companies in the world right now doing great things,” Callihan said. “And with that working agreement where we’re going to have title defenses on multiple shows. That starts this Thursday at Moxbury when Alex Shelley defends not only the Revolver Remix title, but also the Prestige World Championship.

“For those who don’t know what the Revolver Remix title is, it’s one of those belts where whoever holds it, it’s gonna be different. Whoever holds it picks the rule set. So Alex Shelley gets to pick the rule set for that match,” Callihan explained. “For example, if there was a deathmatch wrestler that had that championship, they could make every match that they defend it a deathmatch. If a technical guy like Alex Shelley [defends it], he could make it an Iron Man match or a submission match. Any match you wanted to. That’s the cool thing about the Revolver Remix title.”

Callihan said that he aims to make fans happy with his shows and wants to add as many elements as they can, referring to Wrestling Revolver as a “true buffet of professional wrestling.” Callihan praised the talented roster Revolver has, but noted just as much work goes into production as building the match card.

“There’s a certain way I want the product to look,” Callihan said. “I think we have one of the best rosters in independent wrestling right now, and it truly is not one style. You’re not gonna watch a Revolver show and ever get bored. We’re gonna hit every element in professional wrestling.”

A Night At The Moxbury airs live on FITE at 8 pm EST; more event information can be found here.

CJ Applegate
CJ Applegate

Colby Applegate earned his BFA in Creative Writing and is also the author of the annual "Ring Post Journal: Women's Wrestling Year in Review."

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