By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Main Event Radio with PCO
Host: Ryan Rider
Interview conducted for MainEventRadio.com
On signing an exclusive deal with a major company, believed to be Ring of Honor:“It’s the best deal in my entire career. Between the opportunities they are giving me, and the money involved, it is my best deal ever. It is only the beginning of a new adventure, a good challenge. I’m a bit stressed but I feed off a good challenge like this. It gives me a huge chance to step up to another level and be able to accomplish that. It is something great. I’m hoping for things to turn out the way I want them to.”
Making a comeback at the age of 50 years old: “Whatever it takes to accomplish my goals. There is already a lot of talk about making a movie about this comeback. At my age to make a deal like this, it’s a miracle. I have a lot of good vibes, positive energy. I have a lot of people behind me wanting me to succeed. I’m really making all the efforts and sacrifices to make it happen. Working out every day. Sometimes I can’t see my daughter for many nights in a row, but I know at the end of this run I’ll be able to have quality time with her later on. I was put on earth for this purpose. I’ve been working on this dream since the age of 14 years old and it’s been mostly failures. But you have to keep going and keep the faith and go work hard and not care about negative comments and things like that. We all have something that we want to accomplish and want to do. When I started this comeback, some people looked at me like I was stupid and laughed at me. You have to listen to that voice inside of you and know for yourself.
His match with Walter: “I was working in 2017 around different promotions in Quebec and Ontario and I got in touch with a promoter in Indiana who wanted to bring me in for a match in January 2018. It was a snowstorm and I barely made it in time, the flight landed and I headed right there for my match against “All Ego” Ethan Page. The crowd was stunned and chanting “This is Awesome” and “You’ve still got it”. On the way back to the hotel, Joey Janella asked me if I wanted to be a part of the Joey Janella Spring Break. He was telling me that he had a big buzz for the first one the year before and there were now huge expectations for the second one. So he wanted to put me in a match against the big German guy Walter.
“I took the deal, didn’t ask for much money I just wanted the exposure and the break. They asked me if I would drive there [from Montreal] and it took me 40 hours to get there. It felt exactly like Rocky 4 when they did my introduction. It was a sold out show, but the reaction was so cold. They didn’t care really at first. Then the way the match started with the chops back and forth, with my purple chest, and it turned into a real war. Then I hit a split-legged moonsault, a dive off the top rope, moonsault to the floor, all kinds of moves like that. And on the second exchange of chops we were going from one corner to the other and crowd erupted like in the movie Rocky 4, chanting “PCO” “PCO” “PCO”. When I got the win, with the swanton bomb 1-2-3 it was pandemonium. On Twitter everyone was talking about the match, about the comeback. It was unbelievable, to steal the show and be part of the best match of Wrestlemania weekend.”
On appearing for ROH at Madison Square Garden during WrestleMania Weekend 2019: “That would be great, it would be awesome. Makes me feel like I’m getting to where I want to be. It’s another step towards that direction. Ring of Honor are running at a more prestigious building than WWE at Wrestlemania weekend. The marquee name, Madison Square Garden. It’s great for a company like ROH that they could have done that against all odds. Because WWE tried to stop them from renting it and the lawyers put on a fight. I’m really impressed. It’s looking really good for 2019 as far as what the wrestling scene will be.”
Who would he like to face: “There’s a lot of people throwing names. For a long time I’ve been hearing the names of Minoru Suzuki and Tomohiro Ishii. Those two Japanese guys always pop up with my name in conversations.”
His influence on Kevin Owens: “I got a text from Kevin [Owens] last night. We have always been pretty good friends. I was so happy for his success and he’s worked so hard. His dedication as far as going from Montreal to New Jersey every weekend making $50 and losing money and doing that for 14 years before he made it big. He was asking me which path he should take to get to WWE and I told him he should listen to himself and go the path that he felt he should take. He went on the road and the rest is history. You can’t expect to make it staying at home with your regular job and hoping that you will get a break. There are so many wrestlers in every city, every city, every country. You have to go above and beyond to make a name for yourself.”
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