As noted, Lou D’Angeli, formerly known as Lou E. Dangerously in ECW, parted ways with TNA Wrestling this week.
D’Angeli was the Vice President of Marketing for all of Anthem, the parent-company of TNA, and was one of the promotion’s highest-ranking officials.
His exit was shocking because of how much his role within the company grew over the last year or so in particular. He was said to be responsible for Naomi coming in off of her WWE run, helped establish conversations with Mercedes Mone for a potential rivalry with Mickie James that never materialized, as well as lots of additional creative and production work well beyond his actual job description.
One TNA source noted that there has been some fraying of the relationship between D’Angeli and the company in recent months, specifically because of the slow process of locking in and confirming dates and cities for TNA shows. D’Angeli had long been trying to get the company to break their normal routine of running the same cities back-to-back nights, however upper-management never pulled the trigger on that strategy.
Additionally, there was said to be issues with dates and cities being relayed to staff and wrestlers, only to have scheduling issues change several times. Due to D’Angeli being in charge of that division, it put him in the unfortunate situation of being questioned consistently by wrestlers and staff, only to not have the necessary answers or information relayed to him from those above him in the company.
At some point last week, there was a meeting between Anthem executives and D’Angeli, which resulted in the two sides deciding that it was time for them to end their business relationship.
The story that made the rounds was that D’Angeli was later contacted by Anthem executives and informed that they were moving forward without him, which he reportedly agreed with.
D’Angeli’s release comes days after the advance for ticket sales for TNA Slammiversary 2024 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada spurred on the company’s best pre-sales in a decade.
His team in his division would have been largely responsible for the return of TNA to The Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada this year, which resulted in the company’s highest-grossing ticket sale revenue in a decade.
When asked about his significance to the company, one source spoke specifically about how the ticket sales for the company grew every year under his guidance.
The final shows set up under his regime would be the upcoming TNA Against All Odds 2024 pay-per-view weekend at Cicero Stadium in Chicago, Illinois on June 14 and June 15, which are both expected to sell out, and the aforementioned pre-sale for TNA Slammiversary 2024 in Montreal.
As previously reported, TNA has live events planned out through August in Tampa, Florida, and are already looking at potential options for who will take over the live events aspect of the company, which would include a permanent home for potential television tapings. This is something that has been in the works dating back to the controversial exit of former TNA President Scott D’Amore.
In addition to D’Angeli, at least one additional member from his team also parted ways with TNA Wrestling.
It is considered a possibility that TNA could look at former ECW live events head Gregory Bagarozy, who has worked with the company over the years, although there has not been any definitive word in that direction.
The response to D’Angeli’s exit from TNA from talents within the company over the last 24 hours has ranged from disbelief to sadness, particularly because of how much of an advocate he had been behind-the-scenes pushing for talent to take on additional roles beyond just being wrestlers. It was viewed as D’Angeli coming off as someone who cared about the talent past the point of what they have to offer in the ring, and genuinely cared about helping them with their transition after their in-ring careers end.
(H/T: PWInsider.com)
