Sami Callihan is officially back in TNA Wrestling.

‘The Death Machine’ resurfaced in the Anthem-helmed organisation during the 2024 Rebellion pay-per-view, fending off Kon and The Good Hands during Jordynne Grace’s Knockouts World Championship defence against Steph de Lander following the lights going out. ‘Lights Out’ had been the tagline going into Rebellion, though it’s unknown if Sami Callihan was the only tease.

Sami Callihan joined TNA at the 2017 Bound For Glory, assisting Jake and Dave Crist in retaining the World Tag Team Championships against The LAX. He would become a staunch member of the roster over the ensuing six years, often being hailed as the face of the company through its many adversities, which brought him one reign with the World Championship. Iconic rivalries included tussles with Eddie Edwards, Trey Miguel, and Tessa Blanchard, who defeated the Ohio native to end his World Championship reign, becoming the first woman to lift the title.

Callihan’s final TNA match was taped on September 23, where he and Rich Swann unsuccessfully challenged The Rascalz for the World Tag Team Championships.

Sami Callihan: “Content Equals Everything”

Sami Callihan would discuss his surprise exit from TNA in an interview with Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp, explaining that despite having been a World Champion and wrestled for multiple major organisations, he was never fully content (H/T Fightful):

"[I want to create] Great content. In today’s day and age, content equals money. Content equals everything. We’re in a rare time in society that anything you do is gonna be put out for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years. I want to leave my mark, not only on professional wrestling, but just [on] people in general. I’ve always lived my life like that. I’m never just gratified by one thing. I’m never content by like, ‘You know what? I’ve been World Champion, I’ve wrestled for every promotion on the planet’. That’s not good enough for me.

I want to continue to evolve. I want to continue to recreate myself. I want to continue to make other people. I want to continue to take people that I think have potential and help them get to that next level because I’ve seen someone that you have your hands on make it to the next level, getting on television, scoring the contract, having their entire life change. That? That’s its own form of gratification."

Post-TNA, Sami Callihan remained in wrestling headlines for an angle in his Wrestling REVOLVER promotion with Golden Globes-winning actor Paul Walter Hauser. This concluded in a match between the two during WrestleMania 40 weekend, where Hauser pinned Callihan in a Philadelphia Street Fight.