Sami Callihan Wants To Make Sure His Hacker Character Isn’t Hokey, So It Will Thrive

Sami Callihan has had a “hacker” character in the past, but didn’t exactly have the time to sort it out. 

That’s changed now. Callihan is a fixture in IMPACT Wrestling. A once promising character development has returned, and we’ve seen Sami Callihan refining it over the last several months. Speaking with Fightful, Callihan says it’s a work in progress.

“I think it’s still being developed. It’s something that IMPACT! gave me that opportunity to think outside of the box. I’m a guy that likes to recreate myself every couple of years. If you look at all the greats in wrestling, they’re not guys who’re just staying to the same thing forever. The guys who really learned how to evolve over the years. I think it’s one of those things, we’re only touching the surface of what that character can be. Hell, one of the things with COVID, I’ve been beaten down for years with injuries and everything else. Kinda got a little out of shape, but over the past 42 days I’ve lost 27 pounds. I’m getting back in really good shape. So, I think coming into the pay-per-view coming and the next set of tapings, you’re gonna see a whole different Sami Callihan,” he told us.

Callihan, a huge horror fan, agrees that some of the scariest scenarios are ones that are based in reality. You could say that he’s returning to his roots, so to speak, as his father’s preference in movies may have helped motivate things

“My family’s a huge horror movie family. I started watching horror movies when I was still in diapers. But, I remember the scariest movie to my dad was the movie Hackers. ‘Cause he was like, ‘This could really happen. They could just drain your bank account and your life’s done.’ This is stuff that could happen in real life. If you look at everything in politics right now, all the different hacking scandals. If you look at everything in the celebrity / Hollywood scene—things get out because of hacking. Hacking is a real life thing and it’s something that can be, if done right, extremely big in the world of professional wrestling,” he said.

Few things are as realistic in horror and movie plots than hackers, and Callihan knows that. The fear in the unknown and what can’t be predicted plays on the emotion of the viewers.

“It’s relevant. It’s relevant in the entire world. Every aspect of life is ran by technology. So this character is something really special, but it has to be something that’s not that hokey. It has to be something that’s done real. The whole purpose of this character is to be unsettling, to not have that feeling of being in control. It’s controlled chaos,” Callihan closed.

Callihan briefly portrayed a similar character during his NXT days as Solomon Crowe before asking for his release from the company. 

You can see our full interview with Sami Callihan at the top of the page. Check out IMPACT Wrestling’s Bound For Glory on Saturday, October 24, availble on FITE and other PPV platforms.