Tommy Dreamer Talks HardCore Justice, Restarting His Career in TNA and More

HARCORE wrestling legend Tommy Dreamer has revealed why he left WWE and joined TNA — creative freedom.
He was a key component of ECW in the 1990s, both as a top talent and helping Paul Heyman behind the scenes.

After the company folded in 2001 Dreamer joined WWE and played a major role in Vince McMahon's revival of the brand.

But when that hit the scrapheap of wrestling history after failing to live up to the original, Tommy headed to TNA where once again he has been involved with resurrecting the legendary Extreme outfit.

The Innovator of Violence booked and produced the company's HardCORE Justice PPV event, which is being shown on the Extreme Sports Channel in the UK (Sky 419 and Virgin 527) at 10pm on Friday.

He told SunSport: "When I left WWE I had no hatred towards them, I still talk to many of the people there. I hired many of them and still keep up with things.

"The difference here in TNA is the creative freedom I have got and the confidence they have in me and my abilities.

"My problem in the WWE was their version of ECW. It was like my baby and I couldn't stomach where they were going with it.

"In TNA I have the control I never had before and that's why I love it here.

"I booked this entire PPV and had input in everything from the people involved and the event itself to changing the look of the Impact Zone.

"If you are a fan of the original company you will feel very nostalgic when you watch it. If you've never seen it, you will be blown away by these guys

"Rob Van Dam v Sabu is awesome, they really tore the house down. Myself and Raven stepped up to the plate and went all out and guys like Too Cold Scorpio went out there and showed no signs of missing a beat.

"Nobody held back or took a breather."

Dreamer added: "I feel I had my closure for ECW at One Night Stand in 2005, but then they brought 'ECW' back and it wasn't what I thought it was supposed to be.

"I spoke to fans and they didn't like what became of it either.

"But it worked out OK in the end I guess, that version finished and they made the NXT show and I'm happy to see them do well with that.

"Now what I'm finding is that all the guys at HardCORE Justice have been thanking me for the show and people like Hulk Hogan has said how he enjoyed what we came up with.

"To be honest I was just fortunate enough to be able to jump that guardrail and perform in the ring, after being a lifelong fan of the sport."

Dreamer, a wrestling aficionado since the age of nine, only has words of praise for his childhood hero Hogan and TNA President Dixie Carter.

He added: "Dixie is amazing. She asked to meet all the guys before HardCORE Justice and spent time with them. She goes above the call of duty all the time.

"Hogan himself has been very supportive of what we are doing and approved of what we have done so far. I'm proud to say that the ratings are picking up since we turned up, so things are going very well indeed."

One thing TNA fans have called for is Dreamer's old boss Paul Heyman to join the company.


Known as a creative genius, many feel that the former SunSport columnist can help the company really challenge WWE for the spot of world's No1 wrestling outfit.

Dixie Carter, Eric Bischoff, head writer Vince Russo and many wrestlers have asked Heyman to come and work for TNA.

But so far he has refused.

Dreamer has an intriguing take on the situation, telling us: "Paul loves the rumours and enjoys the game of that almost as much as being there in the centre of things."

"He has always been his own man. He marches to his own drum. He is an amazing man, with a wonderfully creative mind for this sport and if he comes in we'd welcome him.

"But if not we will still go on without him. If I left it would still go on, that's just how it works."

Without Heyman, Dreamer is carrying the ECW flag in TNA, albeit under the new name EV2.0.

Many of his friends from the ECW era came back for the HardCORE Justice PPV and will now be hoping for long-term jobs in TNA. There were also some he couldn't get on the reunion show.

Tommy told us: "I really wanted Terry Funk there, but it just wasn't possible.

"One match I really hoped for was Super Crazy, Tajiri and Little Guido in a three-way-dance, but sadly I then found that Crazy and Tajiri were booked elsewhere so couldn't do it. But then that opened up things for other guys.



EXTREME ... TNA's HardCORE event
"I lost Jerry Lynn two days prior to the event. I literally rewrote the main event match on the flight to Orlando.

"That's why I love this business, it's never predictable and you just never know what's gonna happen next.

"As for the future, personally I'd love to help behind the scenes. If I can lend my skills and help out with writing, booking or whatever, I will.

"I also want to get out there and keep going. I'm 39-years-old so there's still some time left in me.

"EV2.0 has some left in the tank, yet believe me.

"But for now I just want you guys to watch the Extreme Sports Channel and see how everyone stepped up to the plate to raise the bar at HardCORE Justice."



PWI