WWE To Officially Sign Sami Callihan

[The Dragon Saga]

Gabe Sapolsky (head booker of DGUSA and Evolve) said the following in his daily news alert WWNLive.com:

"We can now announce that Sami Callihan has already wrestled on his final DGUSA/Evolve event.

We want to extend a heartfelt 'thank you' to Sami for being an important part of DGUSA/Evolve history. Calihan started at the bottom of (the) card and through hard work and determination became a main player in the WWNLive family."

Callihan is scheduled to face Adam Cole on June 15th for the PWG World Heavyweight Championship in a Sixty Minute Ironman match and that will be his final major independent appearance before linking up with WWE, so on the plus side Pro Wrestling Guerilla much like they did with El Generico benefit from this by gaining a top indy talents final match.

For those of you unfamiliar with Sami Callihan he is basically the missing half of Dean Ambrose. He and Mox were a tag team on the indies known as Switchblade Conspiricy which both credit as getting them the most positive notoriety because it took them out of the CZW stereotype "well, they can only wrestle death matches so they mustn't be able to wrestle at all" which blows back in most people who say its faces eventually.

Hes came through the ranks a lot like CM Punk, started out as someone with a different alternative look, got noticed in IWA:MS where chances are Ian Rotten paid him shit to risk his life. Started getting more and more accolades, better bookings before he really started getting noticed as a wrestler teaming with Mox and working for Gabe's DGUSA/Evolve promotions.

Hes quick, hes strong, hes different, he can cut a good promo, can work several styles, is a benchmark for intensity, the only negative is that opinion on his look varies depending on who you ask. But this is WWE again snapping up another top independent talent. There is also rumors the deal to sign Samuray del Sol is complete but nothing has been confirmed, no word on Mike Bennett or Shaun Ricker.

But Callihan is more-or-less a done deal. Discuss as you will.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

With regards to his look, it's something WWE can work with - he can go dark if they want a Taker beater or they can totally change him up as they have proven recently with guys like Bray Wyatt.

It'll be interesting to see how all these new talents fit in,as it seems with the NXT releases and call ups they are clearing the decks for a new intake.

It's encouraging they seem to be going for quality first, but also seem to be making a concerted effort to take "all the best" of the Indy scene which could harm them in the long term. If places like ROH, DGUSA et al all keep losing their money makers, then it's gonna be tough for them to keep developing that calibre of worker. On paper this next generation of NXT will be the best since 2001-2002's OVW crop which gave us Lesnar, Orton, Cena, Batista and Shelton Benjamin.

With any of these new talents, they could be a WWE Champ in 3 years or back on the Indy's, there is no guarantee they will "click" in the same way Punk did. This guy seems to have enough to at least stand out from the herd, although coming in with a big rep is not going to mean an easy ride.

 

[MINISTRYrising]

WWE have been doing really well with Indy tallent as of late and i'm sure Callihan will be no different. Danial Bryan, Dean Ambrose and Seath Rollins have all done extremely well since coming through NXT and have all now established themselves on the main roster with guys like Adrian Neville, Kassius Ohno and most recently El generico/Sami Zayn all looking impressive down in NXT I have no doubt that Sami can do the same thing. Sure there is going to be some tweaking need to his character and more then likely to his look but otherwise there is not much work that needs doing before can make his Debut on NXT and I'm sure once he is there that it won't be long before he is called up to the main roster.

 

[James]

I've never seen the guy wrestle, but I need WWE to let him keep his look. We need a very dark character similar to The Undertaker; I am probably one of the only guys who still believes in gimmicks from the 90s. WWE is in a good position right now, all they need to do is not screw up the characters they have.

 

[John Stevens]

We really need something. I like all the new guys debuting. All a matter of time before they all hold titles. Ryback for Payback, Shield already has em.. All that remains is the IC title in which I would like Fandango with. Barrett is stale now.. Sorry guy, you had your time.

 

[flawd101]

looks like a quality tag partner for connor o'brian on nxt. they both have a similar look. they could do some big things in the tag division. his friendship with ambrose might get him a push