Following his surprise departure from TNA Wrestling in June 2026, Sami Callihan looks to have landed himself a position in AEW, but is the former TNA World Champion officially "All Elite?"According to Bodyslam.net, Callihan has been working backstage at some of the recent tapings of "AEW Dynamite" and "AEW Collision." It was confirmed that Callihan was present for the Beach Break edition of "Dynamite" on July 8 and the July 11 episode of "Collision" in Roanoke, Virginia, while also being a part of the tapings that took place in Boston, Massachusetts on July 15 and 16 respectively. Callihan was simply working as a backstage producer according to AEW sources, one of the many roles he had during his time with TNA, but this recent string of shows seems to be outside of an official deal.AEW sources told Bodyslam that Callihan doesn't look to have a contract with the company at the time of writing. It wasn't relayed whether Callihan has been helping out free of charge or if he's on some sort of handshake agreement, though this scenario is very similar to the one Chris Hero was in during the summer of 2023 when he was brought in as a backstage producer, and he did eventually land himself a full-time deal shortly after his supposed trial period.Callihan has experience in a variety of different backstage roles outside of being a producer, such as working with TNA's marketing and merchandise departments, helping produce pre-taped vignettes, and thanks to his Wrestling REVOLVER promotion, he even knows a thing or two about booking. All of this experience led Callihan to believe that he would actually be promoted to the TNA creative team in the wake of Tommy Dreamer's departure from the company in June. However, when he received the call that he thought would be a job promotion, he was informed that his contract wouldn't be renewed and that he would be leaving the company.
