Exclusive: Konnan Speaks On Promotions Working Together Outside WWE

The wrestling landscape is significantly different now than even five years ago, and Konnan has been around to witness it for 25 years.

When speaking to Fightful.com recently, the former NWO member and LAX leader Konnan told us how promotions sharing talent has helped the world of wrestling outside WWE. He also recalled a story during the “Broken Universe” days where a referee being used caused issues. 

“I’ve been advocating that people should work together for years. I’ve always been a guy who has tried to break the exploitation and monopoly that there is in wrestling. For example, I remember when I was working with CRASH, we did this thing with the Hardy Boyz, and just because the referee — Marty Elias — showed up on CRASH and he worked for Impact, they sent a cease and desist letter and we digitized his face. It was that petty, said Konnan.

As Konnan looked back on past experiences, he looked forward as well. He says that the leveraged has seen a major shift to the performers, whereas promotions used to hold much of the power.

“We should all be uniting. At the end of the day, we’re fighting for bread crumbs. If we all get together, we can make a big pie. Impact is working with AAA, and everybody is starting to work together. The power is in the wrestlers’ hands. Guys like Sami (Callihan), Young Bucks, Joey Ryan, Matt Riddle, Lucha Brothers Ricochet before he went to WWE are examples of that. You can make really good money. The power has gone back to the wrestlers and the promotions are recognizing that. Unless they’re fair with how they work with talent, talent isn’t going to want to work with them,” he said.

It’s worth noting that while Konnan would leave Impact Wrestling’s weekly show shortly after we spoke to him, he’s constantly referenced in LAX promos almost weekly. 

You can see the full lost clip of our conversation with Konnan and Sami Callihan above.