Tom Hannifan is loving his time with IMPACT Wrestling.
The play-by-play man spoke about his current home during a recent interview with VL Media, where he explains what WWE expected from him on commentary, and how IMPACT allows him to be his more authentic self. Hannifan, who worked as Tom Phillips in WWE, specifies that there was certain verbiage he wasn’t allowed to use prior to his run with IMPACT. Highlights from the interview can be found below.
How he doesn’t have to talk with WWE verbiage anymore:
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.
Says he is grateful for the chance to strengthen his game in 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.
In a separate interview, Hannifan spoke about WWE hiring Wade Barrett and how it came from his suggestion. You can read about that here.