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Source: TNAsylum, rédacteur JSO.
Vous pouvez écouter l’entièreté de l'interview en suivant ce lien.
Voici le résumé proposé par le site:
You’ve reinvented your body, losing over 100 pounds. Was that something TNA approached you to do, or was that something you did to enhance your marketability as well as extend your career?
"Nobody ever came to me in pro wrestling and said, ‘Hey, you have to drop weight.’ Even at my heaviest at 400 pounds, I still could go with the best of them. Nothing ever held me back. I was one of those rare breed of athletes like a Bam Bam Bigelow or a Terry Gordy, and in no way am I comparing myself to those great legendary wrestlers, but bigger guys who could go and really bring it. But I knew once I went off on my own that I had to do something drastic to reinvent myself. And the main way I can reinvent myself is to change my look, because everybody is going to start talking. People are going to be like, ‘Wow this guy dropped 100 pounds, he’s been hitting the gym like crazy. He looks better than he ever has, and he’s 40 years old. How the hell is he doing it?' I always knew that my in-ring ability and my microphone skills would carry me through. The reinvention was the hardest part."
There’s a Sons of Anarchy influence within the Aces & Eights. Where did the faction come from?
"It was totally my idea. I have never ever seen Sons of Anarchy. My whole idea behind the Aces & Eights really came from my good friend Zakk Wylde and Black Label Society, because Black Label Society was kind of like the rock and roll version of a biker gang. I wanted to take Black Label Society meets the biker gang in a pro wrestling ring. That's where the idea came from."
You are one of the best in the business on the microphone. Is that something you had to develop, or is that just a skill you naturally had from your days watching the business as a fan?
"Being a good communicator on the microphone and being able to elicit reactions in pro wrestling is nothing that I believe you can learn. You either have it or you don’t. You can either talk or you can’t. I’ve always been a pretty good talker. Paul Heyman realized that back in the day and said, ‘Let this kid talk, let him do what he does.’ To this day, people can’t believe the riots that we started in ECW. Once I got to WWE, I wasn’t allowed to be that true version of myself. They let me and Devon be a great tag team in the ring, but they didn’t let us do a whole lot of talking. TNA gives me the freedom to say almost anything I want. One thing I pride myself on is being able to go out there and dive deep into people’s souls and pull out more emotion than most others can."
What have the crowds been like on the road? The way it comes across on television, that is a very smart, very wrestling-savvy crowd that understands the product you’re trying to put out there.
"It is a very smart, very savvy crowd. Which is why I would like to see TNA go in a direction as a more adult oriented, mature product. TNA will never be as edgy and as in-your-face as ECW – I don’t think anything ever will be – but that is the direction I would like to see the company go in. I believe that the wrestling world is ready for a TV-14 product or even once in a while, a Rated R product. Entertainment fans and wrestling fans are very smart; they want to see some stuff go down. I think TNA is the right company for that type of entertainment to happen. Marketing to families and kids, I understand the business end of that. You always want to attract investors and sponsors, but I think there’s a way to get sponsors on board that want to market to adults as opposed to kids. I would like to see TNA go that route a little more. That’s just personal preference, that’s just my opinion."
We've seen TNA bring in MMA fighters such as Tito Ortiz and Rampage Jackson. Do you look at them as bringing more eyes to the product, or do you look at them and think why are they here?
"Anything that can bring more eyes to the product is a good thing. The one thing that I think TNA needs to improve on is product awareness. If guys like Rampage Jackson and Tito Ortiz can bring MMA fans over to pro wrestling so we can expose our brand of entertainment to a new set of eyes, I think it’s great. It’s sports entertainment. Do you really think that Vince McMahon does business with Donald Trump for any other reason but to get the average water cooler fan to watch WrestleMania? This is business. TNA has their built-in fan base. We have the people that watch our show every week, and we have the people that come to all of our live events. Now it’s time to branch out and get a new set of eyes – maybe the diehard WWE viewer or maybe the diehard MMA viewer. By bringing in guys like Rampage and Tito, I believe we can do that. As long as they have respect for our industry, which both of those guys do, the wrestlers are fine with it. A lot of MMA guys will tell you this, a lot of football guys will tell you this, hell even Kurt Angle will tell you this. Pro wrestling is the hardest thing to do out there, period. Not until you walk in a pro wrestler’s shoes do you realize just how difficult it is."
Vous pouvez écouter l’entièreté de l'interview en suivant ce lien.
Voici le résumé proposé par le site:
You’ve reinvented your body, losing over 100 pounds. Was that something TNA approached you to do, or was that something you did to enhance your marketability as well as extend your career?
"Nobody ever came to me in pro wrestling and said, ‘Hey, you have to drop weight.’ Even at my heaviest at 400 pounds, I still could go with the best of them. Nothing ever held me back. I was one of those rare breed of athletes like a Bam Bam Bigelow or a Terry Gordy, and in no way am I comparing myself to those great legendary wrestlers, but bigger guys who could go and really bring it. But I knew once I went off on my own that I had to do something drastic to reinvent myself. And the main way I can reinvent myself is to change my look, because everybody is going to start talking. People are going to be like, ‘Wow this guy dropped 100 pounds, he’s been hitting the gym like crazy. He looks better than he ever has, and he’s 40 years old. How the hell is he doing it?' I always knew that my in-ring ability and my microphone skills would carry me through. The reinvention was the hardest part."
There’s a Sons of Anarchy influence within the Aces & Eights. Where did the faction come from?
"It was totally my idea. I have never ever seen Sons of Anarchy. My whole idea behind the Aces & Eights really came from my good friend Zakk Wylde and Black Label Society, because Black Label Society was kind of like the rock and roll version of a biker gang. I wanted to take Black Label Society meets the biker gang in a pro wrestling ring. That's where the idea came from."
You are one of the best in the business on the microphone. Is that something you had to develop, or is that just a skill you naturally had from your days watching the business as a fan?
"Being a good communicator on the microphone and being able to elicit reactions in pro wrestling is nothing that I believe you can learn. You either have it or you don’t. You can either talk or you can’t. I’ve always been a pretty good talker. Paul Heyman realized that back in the day and said, ‘Let this kid talk, let him do what he does.’ To this day, people can’t believe the riots that we started in ECW. Once I got to WWE, I wasn’t allowed to be that true version of myself. They let me and Devon be a great tag team in the ring, but they didn’t let us do a whole lot of talking. TNA gives me the freedom to say almost anything I want. One thing I pride myself on is being able to go out there and dive deep into people’s souls and pull out more emotion than most others can."
What have the crowds been like on the road? The way it comes across on television, that is a very smart, very wrestling-savvy crowd that understands the product you’re trying to put out there.
"It is a very smart, very savvy crowd. Which is why I would like to see TNA go in a direction as a more adult oriented, mature product. TNA will never be as edgy and as in-your-face as ECW – I don’t think anything ever will be – but that is the direction I would like to see the company go in. I believe that the wrestling world is ready for a TV-14 product or even once in a while, a Rated R product. Entertainment fans and wrestling fans are very smart; they want to see some stuff go down. I think TNA is the right company for that type of entertainment to happen. Marketing to families and kids, I understand the business end of that. You always want to attract investors and sponsors, but I think there’s a way to get sponsors on board that want to market to adults as opposed to kids. I would like to see TNA go that route a little more. That’s just personal preference, that’s just my opinion."
We've seen TNA bring in MMA fighters such as Tito Ortiz and Rampage Jackson. Do you look at them as bringing more eyes to the product, or do you look at them and think why are they here?
"Anything that can bring more eyes to the product is a good thing. The one thing that I think TNA needs to improve on is product awareness. If guys like Rampage Jackson and Tito Ortiz can bring MMA fans over to pro wrestling so we can expose our brand of entertainment to a new set of eyes, I think it’s great. It’s sports entertainment. Do you really think that Vince McMahon does business with Donald Trump for any other reason but to get the average water cooler fan to watch WrestleMania? This is business. TNA has their built-in fan base. We have the people that watch our show every week, and we have the people that come to all of our live events. Now it’s time to branch out and get a new set of eyes – maybe the diehard WWE viewer or maybe the diehard MMA viewer. By bringing in guys like Rampage and Tito, I believe we can do that. As long as they have respect for our industry, which both of those guys do, the wrestlers are fine with it. A lot of MMA guys will tell you this, a lot of football guys will tell you this, hell even Kurt Angle will tell you this. Pro wrestling is the hardest thing to do out there, period. Not until you walk in a pro wrestler’s shoes do you realize just how difficult it is."
