Tommy Dreamer has the opportunity of a lifetime in front of him as he was offered by Rich Swann the opportunity to challenge for the IMPACT World Heavyweight Championship on his 50th birthday at IMPACT No Surrender on Saturday, February 13, 2021.
IMPACT is already advertising the match and booked a contract signing for the upcoming episode of IMPACT on AXS, but there’s one more catch—Tommy Dreamer hasn’t actually accepted the match yet. Swann issued the challenge and IMPACT signed the match without Dreamer ever saying he accepted, but that will change this Tuesday as Dreamer says he will finally explain himself on the upcoming episode of IMPACT.
Speaking on the IMPACT Press Pass Podcast, Dreamer said it’s an amazing opportunity he has in front of him. He added that life comes full circle, and called back to a “long, long time ago in the Land Of Extreme” where a young 26-year-old gave up the title shot he earned for a then-53-year-old Terry Funk. [Funk won the title at ECW Barely Legal in 1997]
“In hindsight, I’m that guy that was given this gift by Rich Swann. It’s funny too, that I haven’t given my response yet, and you’re going to have to listen to my response on Tuesday’s episode of IMPACT Wrestling. It’s a lot to think about and I take a lot of pride in what I do—yes, it was a gift and there are so many more deserving men and women in the back, but Rich asked for it. He has defeated everybody.
Tommy Dreamer went on to say that he used to think 50 was old in wrestling, but now that he’s at that stage himself, he has a new outlook and says he doesn’t feel old at all.
“If I accept it—and there is a big if—it’s something that I really, really cherish and it’s going to go down as a benchmark in my career.
“I’ve been dieting, I’ve been training, I’ve been doing cardio. I’ve actually been going to [Brian Myers] Create-A-Pro out on Long Island and training. I haven’t trained for a match in a long time. The biggest thing is your wind. It’s weird, having crazy brawls, you’re on a different type of adrenaline, but I’m going in there against– rich is my friend. There is no angst, there’s no hatred, there’s nothing to motivate me, except for, ‘hey, you could win the title.’ But it’s going to be a wrestling match and wrestling is hard… I don’t want to embarrass myself.”
SEE MORE: Tommy Dreamer: You Can’t Hate WWE Or Vince McMahon For Making Business Decisions
WrestleZone will have live coverage of IMPACT on AXS TV beginning this coming Tuesday at 8 p.m. Eastern.
Should you use any portion of the quotes above, transcription credit should go to Robert DeFelice for WrestleZone.
