By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Main Event Radio with PCO
Host: Ryan Rider
Interview conducted for MainEventRadio.com
On his ROH World Championship match against Rush this Friday at Final Battle: I’m popped right now, getting ready. I’ve had a few title matches in my life, in my career. This one is without a doubt the most important one and the one with the most interest and publicity. The video package that was put together by Ring of Honor is unbelievable. This is something that has been planned for a long time. They made sure that it was promoted the right way. Starting last year at Final Battle and culminating 12 months later. I think I’m the wrestler with the best stats in the whole company. Rush has gone undefeated so far but I came in before him and I think I only had one loss with more total matches than him. This past year was something I dreamed about for so many years and I got to live that perfect year and it’s a great feeling of achievement as an athlete. Winning the ROH Tag Team Championships, winning the ROH 6-Man World Tag Team Championships, the Crockett Cup, and the NWA World Tag Team Championships. I was supposed to go to the Tag League with Brody King but he tore his ACL so I missed that trip to Japan. I had a championship match in Toronto this year against Matt Taven which was tremendous. However this one has a lot more momentum, a lot more build-up going into it. And it feels like the whole province of Quebec is rooting for it and behind me. I’ve been contacted by a lot of people on social media who told me they are coming with Winnebago’s and campers and buses. It will be pretty crazy. Hopefully I am coming back home being the Ring of Honor World Champion and ready to start the new era of ROH in 2020.
How his body is feeling: People I grew up with who have other professions, from other walks of life – doctors, lawyers, secretaries. Friends of mine when I was a kid. They aren’t even able to play hockey any more. And me I’ve never been as healthy as I am now. As far as injuries, I am doing great. I’m really not human. When you say something so many times you become what you believe in. It’s really part of my mentality, my DNA now. I do things like I’m not human and that’s how I live my life.
The current morale in the ROH locker room and the professionalism of the company: We got a great team spirit in Ring of Honor. Overall, you don’t see jealousy much. We don’t always travel everyone together, but when we all get together we all get along. The atmosphere in the locker room right now is excellent and we are all there to steal the show and do the best that we can do. We had a big meeting in Baltimore two weeks ago with the office talking about the future. The big Sinclair Broadcasting office, it’s like Titan Tower. They own 217 TV stations across the US. The current state of Ring of Honor is very good. The President of Sinclair is so happy with the product that he has because they could put the program on every syndicate stations and also sell it all across the world to Canada, United Kingdom, and South Africa. Even if the attendance went down a little bit, the company is still doing very well and is healthy. They have a lot of people subscribing on honor club, so they are making money on that, and they are making money on the merchandise.
Marty Scrull spoke up and said one time he had five stitches in his mouth and it cost $5,000 since he’s from the UK. The company paid for everything. They had me go to the hospital one when I landed on the cement floor and split my head open. They had me go through a CAT Scan to make sure my head was okay and it didn’t cost me a thing. The office takes care of the boys, they take care of me, they pay for the bills. They are a first class organization. As far as treating their talent professionally and humanly, only WWE can compare. Even WWE never treated me as good as ROH has treated me. We all stay in first-class hotels, they ask you which airline you prefer to fly with. They are so professional, it’s unbelievable. [ROH COO] Joe Koff comes up to you and shakes your hand and asks you how everything is going. They have a lot of heart, and I could only see this company growing and getting better. We have been hurt by losing a lot of talents in a short span of time. We are rebuilding and some new things are coming up for 2020.
Wanting to be more competitive with WWE and AEW: As wrestlers, you want to compete with the big guys. We are launching a plan to be more competitive with All Elite Wrestling and WWE. We want to make our show better and be part of the picture with the big guys.
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