Tom Hannifan Describes How His Commentary Style Has Changed Since He Joined IMPACT

Tom Hannifan describes how his commentary has changed since he joined IMPACT Wrestling.

Tom Hannifan describes how his commentary has changed since he joined IMPACT Wrestling.

Hannifan, formerly known as Tom Phillips, worked as a commentator in WWE for several years; he called the action on Raw, SmackDown, NXT, NXT UK, and 205 Live at different points. WWE released Phillips in May 2021, and he signed with IMPACT Wrestling in January 2022. He debuted at IMPACT Hard To Kill 2022, and he has been with the company ever since.

In an interview with Lucas Charpiot of VL Media, Hannifan was asked whether he thinks he has changed the way he commentates since he joined IMPACT. He noted that he has changed his approach, and he stated that the biggest difference is that he doesn’t have to use WWE verbiage, whereas the company wants its broadcasters to use certain words. Hannifan explained that the lack of these rules has allowed him to show more of himself on the show.

“I do think I have changed the way I do things. The biggest change, I think, is that I don’t have to talk with the WWE verbiage. When you do commentary for WWE, there are certain words, certain phrases, that you are forced to use because that’s how they want to promote their product on the air. Not having those rules at Impact allows me to show more of myself on the air. People don’t hear Tom Phillips anymore, they hear Tom Hannifan. I am really myself at Impact. I think that it allows me to be more authentic on the mic. Then, because of Impact, I can afford to try some things on the air that I couldn’t do at WWE. The fact that our shows are taped helps because we can see what works and what doesn’t. If I try something that doesn’t work, I’ll be able to see it and correct myself. Moreover, if I try something that doesn’t really work, we can always change it in post-production. Those who watched Hard to Kill 2023 could see that I used some pretty crude language for the Full Metal Mayhem match. That’s a style of commentary I could have never done in WWE. I’m grateful for the chance to do that at Impact. When the timing is right, it’s fun to be able to announce matches of our era with an “old school” style of commentary,” Hannifan said.

Hannifan previously praised Michael Cole’s commentary. Click here to see what he had to say.

Check out the card for the March 16 episode of IMPACT Wrestling here.

Click here to check out the updated lineup for IMPACT Sacrifice 2023.

IMPACT continues to load up the card for Multiverse United: Only The Strong Survive; a tag team title match was recently announed for the show. More information is available here.

Thanks to Lucas Charpiot of VL Media for sharing the quotes in this article.