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Sami Callihan took some time out to chat with Alex McCarthy of talkSPORT about his career, promoting the Hard to Kill PPV in 2020 as well as his time in WWE NXT. He said that he left NXT because he wanted to be the top guy and that wouldn't have happened if he had stayed.
When was Sami Callihan in WWE?
Callihan was in WWE from 2013 to 2015 as Solomon Crowe. He made his NXT debut in 2014 and wrestled the likes of Kevin Owens, Xavier Woods and Baron Corbin. He was released from his contract in 2015.
Why did Sami Callihan leave WWE?
Callihan believed that WWE wanted to change everything about him and it wouldn't have worked. Callihan felt that had he stayed, he would have just been the third or fourth guy on Raw or SmackDown. He explained,
"I quit NXT because I wasn’t complacent. I wasn’t happy just collecting a paycheck and just being a toy on the shelf. I saw myself as a top guy, I had to go out and prove it and I’ve done just that. As soon as I got there, they wanted to change everything about me and I knew it wouldn’t work.
" I could have sucked it up probably been on RAW or SmackDown right now, but I’m not complacent to be the third or fourth guy, I want to be the top guy and I’ve been able to do that, I’ve proven that a normal white kid from Ohio can be the face of a company when that’s not the norm, because I connect with people."
Callihan is currently the Impact World Champion and will be defending his title against Tessa Blanchard at Hard to Kill on January 12, 2020.
