IMPACT play-by-play commentator Tom Hannifan recently appeared on the NotSam Wrestling podcast to discuss his time in WWE, and how it compares to his new home at Impact. Highlights from the interview are below.
Says he called the WrestleMania 36 Kickoff match from his home due to COVID concerns:
Technically, the year before, I sort of did [commentate WrestleMania from my home]. Pickup lines and then the — what was it? The Kickoff show match for WrestleMania — oh God. The one that was in the PC, WrestleMania PC. I think it was Liv Morgan versus Natalya. I called it solo but I called it in my house. When that came up, I was like, ‘All right. My health and my safety comes first’ and same thing with everybody else around me so, easy [decision].
On his transition from WWE to IMPACT:
It’s been an adjustment for a number of ways [WWE to IMPACT Wrestling commentary]. The funniest thing man was this past taping. We just did one in Fort Lauderdale so all those shows are gonna start rolling out. ‘No Surrender’ is February 19th in New Orleans and I was calling a match and I kept saying ‘superstar’, and I’m getting it in my ear, they’re like, ‘You don’t have to say that. You don’t have to say competitor, performer, you know, superstar. You can say wrestler’ and it’s not even like — and they’re like, ‘It’s fine, we promise.’ It’s just muscle memory at this point so I’m breaking some habits that I no longer have to adhere to and it’s discovering, ‘Okay, Tom Phillips was a –’ not actually this big character but a character on a TV show and it’s like who am I now as a performer and a broadcaster so, it’s a brave, new world.
(H/T and transcribed by Post Wrestling)