IMPACT Talks Departing Stars – Ed Nordholm, Don Callis and Scott D’Amore talked with Newsweek this week about the talent turnover and they had some interesting takes.

On Jeremy Borash and his leaving:
Nordholm:

[Borash] is leaving and joining the WWE. We wish him all the best. He’s a talented guy and has been with the company forever. But we have a lot of talented guys—change is good and it gives other guys a chance to step up.

D’Amore:

We always wish Jeremy well. I got one of my first breaks [from him]—Jeremy hired me to be a producer at World Wrestling All-Stars. But we have editors on our team who don’t get the notoriety that Jeremy does. We have great players ready to step up.

On EC3 and Lashley Leaving:
D’Amore on EC3:

His contract was not up. He came to us, we had a frank discussion about where he saw himself going. We decided to sit down and work something out that worked for us on how we’d wrap up this portion of his career. I didn’t watch NXT TakeOver but when he showed up on screen and my phone started blowing up, I texted him: ‘Congratulations. All the best to you. You’ve got nothing but love and support from us here. And if you need anything, you know where we are.’ And he wrote back the same thing.

Nordholm on Bobby Lashley:

Bobby is free to figure out what he wants to do next, whether it be wrestling or mixed martial arts. We wish him all the best. He’s a great talent, it’s foolish to say, ‘No, we wouldn’t want to retain him,’ but he has his own ambitions about what he thinks is good for him next in his career.

Don Callis is also on the record saying the talent turnover is good, citing Brian Cage, Austin Aries and Johnny Impact joining.

Bad News NJPW Fans – After losing his Intercontinental Championship to Minoru Suzuki, Hiroshi Tanahashi is finally taking time off. Tanahashi has been dealing with elbow and shoulder isues, yet it’s acute osteoarthritis on his right knee that finally sidelined him. He’s expected to take a few months off to heal up.

Quick Hits – Take it for what it’s worth, but Batstool Sports is reporting that the WWE will be returning to the New York/New Jersey area again, on April 7th, 2019. Bruce Prichard reiterates that he only left IMPACT Wrestling due to scheduling conflicts but emphasizes he enjoyed his time there. Tyler Bates and Roderick Strong are now members of the 205Live roster; even if only part-time. WWE star Epico has undergone shoulder surgery and will miss a few months. IMPACT Wrestling star Moose shares his thoughts on working in Japan as part of Pro Wrestling NOAH and reveals what it’s like in this new interview with the Fight Network;