TNA veteran reveals reason for refusing Hall of Fame induction

TNA wrestler Amazing Red was caught off guard by the promotion’s announcement of him being inducted into the Hall of Fame. 

Red was unaware of the upcoming TNA Hall of Fame induction headed his way. He recalled Frankie Kazarian telling him to stay back in the ring after the Ultimate X match at Slammiversary for the TNA X Division Title. He told Chris Van Vliet his initial thought was Kazarian was going to hype and praise his wrestling career.  

“Yeah, I didn’t know what was happening. All I was told by Frankie was, ‘Stay here. There’s gonna be a shot between both of you.’ That’s all I kept hearing. Then before the last part of the match was happening, Frankie said, ‘Stay close. Stay close.’ As soon as people were powdering. He grabs the mic, and as soon as he grabbed the mic, I instantly knew something’s happening. Something’s up.” 

“I thought he’s gonna cut a promo on me. So the last couple of matches I’ve had were dream match-type kind of things, and a lot of the guys would take it upon themselves to grab the mic and big me up and put me over and very grateful for it and I thought this was one of those things that he was gonna do. But I’m thinking this is not an indie, this is TNA, you can’t really do that here and then when he started talking he said, ‘Pay attention to the monitor in the back.’ Oh man they got me. They reached out a couple of times before about this situation about the Hall of Fame, and I just kind of, I’m good, I’m good. Thank you. I’m good.”

Red had earlier refused a Hall of Fame induction explaining that he did not view himself as a wrestler worthy of the spotlight. 

“To tell you the truth, man. I’m not that kind of a guy. I just feel like I’ve done one thing in my life, wrestled, and I think I’m good with doing that. And I think when people come up to me and say all these great stories, it just kind of puts me in a box. I’m like, I’m just doing my own thing in my own lane, and I’m very appreciative I helped you out and stuff like that. But I think Hall of Fame is such a big, I don’t know, I just didn’t want to accept it.” 

Red agreed with Vliet perceiving the induction as a career-ending accolade, stating that he is still an active competitor.

“That’s actually a good way of thinking about it for sure. And a lot of times, I don’t feel like I’m old. I know I’m older. I don’t feel like I’m Hall of Fame bound yet. It’s kind of the same thing you’re saying, because a lot of times I did feel like I called it quits, and then I came right back to wrestling. So I think from here on out, I’m never gonna retire. I’m just gonna let it happen. Let it just happen. Let’s see what happens.”